A little help from some friends.

[madb]

G'day,

I am about to make the step from outdoor growing to indoor and while i think i have thought over everything twice there is still of couple of questions i hope some of you maybe able to help me with.

To give a brief outline of my grow space I have constructed a 2.2m x 2.0m room in my garage over the last month or so and intend to construct 2 of 1.1m x 1.1m cupboards inside it (it needs to be stealth). These cupboards will go floor to ceiling (2.4m) and have standard doors that open outwards. 1 will be for a flowering room and 1 will be for clones/mothers.

I intend to build shelves in the top of each unit to house the electrics etc. For heat removal i will have ducting running from the top of each unit into the ceiling space into a single y connector and then thru a carbon filter and exhausted out away.

I am going to use a 400w hps for flower and a 130watt fluro for mothers/clones etc. Heat will be an issue here in summer as it is a tropical location with high humdity. I have not really considered a cooling option yet so i am open to ideas but may have to cross that bridge when the time comes i.e. i am going to put temp/hum meters in each room to see where the temps/humidity sit.

The couple of questions i have are:

Am i better using a carbon scrubber or ozone generator due to the high humidity in summer?

Can anyone see a problem with my exhaust design? Should i have the carbon filter in the grow room? If so that could be a problem as i may need 2 (1 for each cupboard). I have found most of the information from searching so any more advice is thankful.

I hope i have explained the room layout ok, any questions please ask. Here is a couple of pics from my outdoor hashberry grow, thanks Mandala Mike!

 

[littlebud]

ac you will need it...thats the biggest bridge keeping your space cool...carbon scrubber...i put two inches of kitty litter over the top of the activated carbon to extract any moister that passes through...the concern i have is if your garage is not climate controlled..it will be hard to cool the cab without a climate controlled space for it to sit in

 

[PharmaCan]

Madb - nice buds!!

I have a similar set-up, cabs in the garage and such, and with good ventilation I can keep my temps at about .5* above ambient temps - which doesn't do a whole hell of a lot of good when it's 36* outside.

Your post is a little confusing when describing your vent plans, at least to me anyway. Does the garage have an attic/crawl space that is accessible?

What's your budget & gear like? Will you get a cooled reflector?

Your cooling requirements for each cab are going to be completely different. You should probably forget the "Y" idea and concentrate on cooling each cab individually. In my mother/veg cab I have a 4', 4 bulb T-5, plus some 65w cfl's that come and go as needed, and that cab cools well with an axial fan on the intake and one of those $25 inline booster fans for exhaust. The flowering cabs have 6" Vortex fans.

You probably aren't going to be very happy with the results of a 400 watt light in your cab. You should consider at least a 600 watt IMO.

PC

 

[madb]

Your post is a little confusing when describing your vent plans, at least to me anyway. Does the garage have an attic/crawl space that is accessible?

What's your budget & gear like? Will you get a cooled reflector?

Your cooling requirements for each cab are going to be completely different. You should probably forget the "Y" idea and concentrate on cooling each cab individually. In my mother/veg cab I have a 4', 4 bulb T-5, plus some 65w cfl's that come and go as needed, and that cab cools well with an axial fan on the intake and one of those $25 inline booster fans for exhaust. The flowering cabs have 6" Vortex fans.

You probably aren't going to be very happy with the results of a 400 watt light in your cab. You should consider at least a 600 watt IMO.

PC

Thanks for the sound advice mate, i see the cooling issue will become a major problem so i may have no choice but to install an a/c. I expect the temps to hit around 34 deg max with up to 95% humidity....

The "Y" idea was for extraction only and yes i do have a crawl space in the attic which i can access. Budget is really not an issue unless i spend over $1500. I have been given a 400w ballast, reflector from a friend so i was hoping to use it so i can spend money in other areas. If i can't well i guess i have to just get the right equipment....

I have been looking at an air cooled reflector, i think i am going to need it or mod this one.

Am i better sitting the scrubber in the cab where the temps might be lower? the attic will get damn hot in summer.... Hope this helped clear some things up.

 

[PharmaCan]

Take a look at this thread and see if it answers some of your questions.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=96743

PC

 

[Don Cotyle]

Yo madb, Go ahead and run the 400W lamp...you should get good results for your area and spend your funds as you need em to keep your cab cool!!! After a grow or 2 you can allways upgrade to a larger 600W if you feel the need, then you can use the 400W for your mother veg cab. If you go with a 600w now you may not have enough funds left over to cool it properly!!!!!

Ypu'll get great results with a 400w, even a tree or 2, just pull the branches to the side walls to let the light down into the canopy...you can even remove the hood and have your lamp up high for a few days then move it down to the center or your area for a few!!! You may have to spend some of those funds on a dehumidefier to keep things dryer dureing flowering to prevent mold!!!

Here's a 5' ThaiHaze x Skunk "tree" grown with a 400w HPS from start to finish =P



Don