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8KW basement grow questions

A

ackula

New member
Hey all, I'm thinking about a 8KW sealed flower room in a commercial basement in a room about 13x20.

I have 36,000 btus of A/C, the only problem is that the ceilings are only about 8' and i need to grow 1 plant per light due to marijuana laws in my state.

So I will have 8 plants each in a 4x4 area, each under a 1kw HPS. I am trying to figure out which hoods to buy, the air cooled seem like they may allow the canopy to get higher, but at the expense of lumens. Which route would be best for that?

I have a separate veg room that has 2 1000w LEDS, how long should I be vegging these? Do I just expect the height to double after flowering them?

Thanks
 
dansbuds

dansbuds

Retired from the workforce Bullshit
ICMag Donor
Veteran
ackula said:
Hey all, I'm thinking about a 8KW sealed flower room in a commercial basement in a room about 13x20.

I have 36,000 btus of A/C, the only problem is that the ceilings are only about 8' and i need to grow 1 plant per light due to marijuana laws in my state.

So I will have 8 plants each in a 4x4 area, each under a 1kw HPS. I am trying to figure out which hoods to buy, the air cooled seem like they may allow the canopy to get higher, but at the expense of lumens. Which route would be best for that?

I have a separate veg room that has 2 1000w LEDS, how long should I be vegging these? Do I just expect the height to double after flowering them?

Thanks
Click to expand...

with hoods your going to get many different answers , its all personal preferance IMHO . i like sealed hoods ( block buster 8" ) but i don't run a sealed room .

but i will comment on your veg , to get big squat bushes to stay at a reasonable distance from the lights , your veg time will be longer than flower , with all the topping & training that needs to be done . expect 8 to 12 weeks veg (strain dependant ) to get plants big enough to get between 1 & 2 lbs per light .

i run half the wattage you want to do & a 3rd of the AC Btu's , but i know the low ceiling scenario all to well !!!!
i run 4 to 6 plants per light with a months veg & only really top mine a couple times before i let them grow out .

picture.php


picture.php


I hope i've helped answer a couple questions .:tiphat:
 
H

Hookah79

Active member
Open reflectors all day!!!.The harvest outweighs your cooling costs.You can try 1 parabolic reflector per plant.

You can also go vertical ,with 8 foot ceilings sky's the limit.Personally,i am doing away with vertical for now,not enough room to navigate around always have to worry about not getting burned by hanging bulbs,harder to prune imo,and having eye sight issues if you don't end up sporting some eye wear.
 
A

ackula

New member
thanks for the replies guys, couple more questions now...

what do you mean by vertical grows? I've never come across that in my research yet. I'm guessing the lights go on the side of the plants instead of above? not too sure... would the bulbs just be open with no hood?

Also I am very new to the idea of topping and training, are there any guides out there that can give me an idea of what to do in order to do a 1 plant per 1000kw grow? I'm at week 2 of vegging from clones and have yet to do any training or topping
 
Trich_Tyson

Trich_Tyson

Active member
I'll be watching these responses. I'm looking to run 4K. Unsealed air exchange. Leaning toward parabolic for the winter. But I'm sure a/c hoods will be easier to manage enviro.
Dans right tho. In my research all I get is opinions. And many times the opinions are not directly related to your situation. Sometimes the opinions are based on folks using one or the other only.

If I was sealed I would absolutely go Parabolic or wing

Butttt.. I think that 35k btu puts you at 4.5k per 1000w. Seen folks claiming anywhere from 3-5k per. Co2 gen will throw a bunch of heat as well. Soo. With numbers like that I'd be fuckin with some blockbusters or radiants to keep it easy on ur ac.

Fuck what I know tho. This is all regurgitated info. Sorry if any is wrong.
 
FunkBomb

FunkBomb

Power Armor rules
Veteran
It all depends on how much money you want to spend. I would suggest LEDs and plenty of airflow with carbon filters.

-Funk
 
Tonygreen

Tonygreen

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Couple examples different examples and my thoughts...



:tiphat:

Depends on how precise you want to get but if 1-2 a light is good for you id go with the air cooled.

IMHO the extra temp control is gonna make more a difference then the couple percent the glass snags.
If yer really trying to dial in 1000 percent and got the cash for the big equipment then go with no glass.
If you can handle the heat fine already taller canopy isnt an issue you can adjust accordingly like the pic I posted.

These were in a 6'6 tall tent and were 1-2 each. air cooled cheapy refelctors




I couldnt see hitting 3 each in there in these old set ups with low ceilings but 1-2 is no prob.
Hope this helps give ya some ideas.
 
Tynehead Tom

Tynehead Tom

Well-known member
ackula said:
thanks for the replies guys, couple more questions now...

what do you mean by vertical grows? I've never come across that in my research yet. I'm guessing the lights go on the side of the plants instead of above? not too sure... would the bulbs just be open with no hood?

Also I am very new to the idea of topping and training, are there any guides out there that can give me an idea of what to do in order to do a 1 plant per 1000kw grow? I'm at week 2 of vegging from clones and have yet to do any training or topping
Click to expand...


Vertical as in the light hangs straight up and down with the plants around it. In my experiments over the years I found 9 plants in 3 gallon, wide pots (grow store calls em 5 gallon) around a 1000 watt bulb, vegged to 12 or 14 inches and flipped to flower. The base of the socket stays even with the tops of the plants. I hang my bulb by the cord, with a 4 foot round parabol reflector some distance above it. I attach the ducting from an inline exhaust fan to the hole in the center of the parabol above the light and I put a14 inch fan with the stand removed in a basket under the light blowing straight up. Keeping the fan on medium speed.
Works like charm, and some guys also add screen walls to do 'vertical scrog" with the plants to maximize light exposure.
Size of room should be looked at in 6x6foot squares per 9 plants in a multi light room. Each light set up with the fans and parabols mentioned. Just one man's take on it, I'm far from an expert and the plants I'm growing measure in ounces, not pounds unfortunately hahaha. generally my clones only get maximum 10 day veg and yield in the 2 to 3 ounce ballpark.
 
Itsmychoice

Itsmychoice

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
My opinion

My opinion

I like the acde hoods. They hang 7' to the bottom of the hood and canopy trellis is at 50-55" and cover a 5x5. It will be all about veg and I would bet it has to be bigger to get the next run big enough to reach a 2 lb a plant goal. I would say 12 week veg at minimum, more like 16 until you find the perfect mom, which would put veg plant count at 20 minimum. As they develop in veg the plants that flip next might fit 3 under each 1000 watts. I would think to produce 8 2lb plants every couple of months veg would need 5k. I think you would be looking at 10-15 gallon coco pots or 15-30 gallon soil. 2 lb plants indoor is an accomplishment. I think you might equal production in flower with fewer lights if you can only grow 8 plants in flower.
 
Tonygreen

Tonygreen

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
This has not been mentioned. But deep planting works extremely well in cannabis. In the big pots if you deep plant you can save anywhere from 15-18 inches. That middle pic of the giant I posted wast deep planted, you can see how dense it got. That is alot, you basically saved yourself the room from the glass to the canopy. :)

What you do is lollipop all the lower shit and bury the nodes you trimmed off.
Bury a bunch of the stem in other words. People will give this advice to fix leggy seedling sprouts but it works even better with bigger plants.
 
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