Grow-Lab Construction - DESIGN

[Dr.Funkenstein]

Hello everyone! I'm about to set up my Prop 215 Grow-Lab/cab within a closet and I'm looking for as much feedback as possible on my new closet Grow-Lab design. For starters, I'm going to post a few images of the blueprints I have put together to see what kind of response I get. As I get more feedback, I will add more details from my agenda to the post.

ROOM SPLIT ISSUE#1:
Well the totall length of the grow space is 4'/2.5", but I'm not quite sure how I want to divide the space exactly. I know the Flowering Room needs more space to grow and branch out, so that must be bigger than the Vegging Room as depicted. Just unsure of the exact measurements I should go with, that would best fit the number of plants I want to harvest per month. (1/2-Lb. per month, ideally.)

Exaust/Ventilation:
Now I realize the temps must remain fairly similar in both the flowering and vegging rooms, so the current exaust system doesn't appear to be a problem, but considering the humidity levels differ in both grow chambers, I'm wondering if I should either move 'InLine Fan#1' above the grow chamber(or lower 'InLine Fan#3') to exaust the vegging room seperately, to enable more control over humidity levels?

Also, the 'sky-blue' color at the bottom of the grow environment represents the cool air coming thru the intake. The 'red' color represents the flexible ducting that will exaust the hot air. I am debating on whether or not I plan to use a passive intake or non-passive. I am still confused between the differences of the two. My intake will be drawing air from another room on the other side of the closet and I will also be exausting into this room.

Lighting/Electricity:
In the Vegging Room you will see I have my light of choice listed as either a CFL or MH light. Any advice on that would be tremendously helpful. As for the Flowering Room, I am positive I want to use an HPS light, yet still unsure of what size or the number of lights I want to use. I aim to run the most energy efficient system, while producing the most quality medicine I can (without burning the house down)



ROOM SPLIT ISSUE# 2:

Now here is another 'Room Split' issue. The room that my Grow-Lab closet is in has carpeting. Even though I plan on removing the carpet from the closet itself, there will still be carpet right outside the closet space. I have pets, and I am concerned about pests invading my Grow-Lab. So my question is, should the depth of my grow chambers be only 2 ft deep, to allow for a 1ft margin of uncarpeted, sanitized work-space/walking-space before the start of the carpeted room, the closet is in? As shown in the image above? Or should I utilize that extra space, and use it for plant growth? As shown in the following image:

Sure, most would say to sacrifice the sanitary issues, for more plant space, but I also have minor security issues I have to deal with. I'm assuming by leaving 1ft of walk space, I would also have the option of adding more insulation, thus containing any undesirable odors within the grow environment. Or do you think with such a small space, and the level of odor control I have instore, that this will not be a problem?
Also, I must remember that I need room outside of the grown environment to mount my controls and possible breaker box( which I need more help on, obviously) There may be times when I want to monitor things while my babies are sleeping. So I am slightly stumped here.


Thanks for your help. Any advice, or suggestions on how I can improve my current designs to be top notch would be extremely appreciated. Help me, and lets watch this project grow. I've been researching things for about 4 months now, read a couple books, spent many nights trolling forums, websites and a grip of videos/tutorials, and hopefully will be ready to launch soon. It's so close I can smell it!


Talk soon!

Dr.Funkenstein

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Fan 3 should be at the end of the run after the scrubber. I would take fan 1 and stack it with fan 3 at the end of the run. This will help with the pressure the scrubber and the boxes you envision will place on the system.
Run fan 2 right out the box, and not through the scrubber. There is no need to scrub the light cooling air, as long as your hoods are sealed well. That light cooling air should be enough air flowing out of your veg box. (if you have a smelly strain in veg, you could run the light air into the flower chamber)
Make certain you have enough sq inches of intake area. It must be at the very least a bit larger than your exit port.

 

[messn'n'gommin']

I don't know if you have seen this thread or not, so I will post it anyway. It is a kind of dual tutorial of sorts, as the second half may or may not be relevant to you. But, the first half is about as good a short guide to planning a cab as I have seen anywhere! Good luck!

Starting a Med Cab
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=89615

Namaste, mess

 

[sleepyrz]

also that ballast box you have there is simply a bad idea

you have it placed after the lights

thats gonna cook the hell out of those ballasts


what I'm saying is have one separate system for the lights that never encounters the grow room air and therefore does not need to be scrubbed and you can place the ballast box at the intake to this run so it cools the ballasts with cool air


FAN ~> BALLAST BOX ~> intake~> lights ~> exhaust

or

FAN ~> intake~> BALLAST BOX ~> lights ~> exhaust

or

intake~> fan ~> ballast box ~> lights ~> exhaust

the idea is to keep the ballasts before the lights so the lights dont cook them


and then the other fan and carbon scrubber are simply attached together and vented out the box and this takes care of the smelly air

 

[Dr.Funkenstein]

Fan 3 should be at the end of the run after the scrubber. I would take fan 1 and stack it with fan 3 at the end of the run. This will help with the pressure the scrubber and the boxes you envision will place on the system.
Run fan 2 right out the box, and not through the scrubber. There is no need to scrub the light cooling air, as long as your hoods are sealed well. That light cooling air should be enough air flowing out of your veg box. (if you have a smelly strain in veg, you could run the light air into the flower chamber)
Make certain you have enough sq inches of intake area. It must be at the very least a bit larger than your exit port.

Thanks Hoosierdaddy! I appreciate your time and consideration. I was thinkin the same thing about Fan3, but then I read somewhere that extraction fan should be placed caddy-cornered from your intake vent to create the negative pressure we need to exaust the cabs. But then again, it makes a lot of sense to have a fan at the end of the line, pulling the air out. Also, when discussing this on another forum, someone had mentioned that I didnt even need Fan1&2. Nor did I need the ozone treatment box. They said it seemed kind of 'over-kill'.

I was also advised to go with CFL's for my Vegging Room, since the heat would be too much with a MH in such a small grow space, and to possibly use either a 400wHPS,dual 250wHPS, or a single 600wHPS for my Flowering Room and to raise the grow chamber's roof by a ft, making it now 7ft high within a 8ft tall closet to ensure maximum growth.


What is your take on this?

Also,

About the air-cooled light system ducting:

I'm a lil unsure how I would be able to pull this off. You see, this cab is going to be built within the demensions of the closet, with basically a vent and an intake. With the exception of the cracks in the closet doors, I dont really know about making anymore holes in the walls to draw in or vent the "Air-cooled Light" ducting out. Any ideas?


Thanks!

Dr.Funkenstein

 

[Dr.Funkenstein]

I don't know if you have seen this thread or not, so I will post it anyway. It is a kind of dual tutorial of sorts, as the second half may or may not be relevant to you. But, the first half is about as good a short guide to planning a cab as I have seen anywhere! Good luck!

Starting a Med Cab
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=89615

Namaste, mess

Thank you, I will check it out ASAP.

Dr.Funkenstein

 

[Dr.Funkenstein]

also that ballast box you have there is simply a bad idea

you have it placed after the lights

thats gonna cook the hell out of those ballasts


what I'm saying is have one separate system for the lights that never encounters the grow room air and therefore does not need to be scrubbed and you can place the ballast box at the intake to this run so it cools the ballasts with cool air


FAN ~> BALLAST BOX ~> intake~> lights ~> exhaust

or

FAN ~> intake~> BALLAST BOX ~> lights ~> exhaust

or

intake~> fan ~> ballast box ~> lights ~> exhaust

the idea is to keep the ballasts before the lights so the lights dont cook them


and then the other fan and carbon scrubber are simply attached together and vented out the box and this takes care of the smelly air

Thanks Sleepyrz, you raise a very valid point here. I was assuming that the air flow, although passing thru a few strong heat sources would eventually be cool enough to where it wouldn't be much of a problem. Could this issue be bypassed if I simply cut out the ballast box all together, and route the ducting past the box on its own?

Do the ballasts really need to be contained within a box to be cooled? I've heard digital ballasts run cooler than magnetic? I may be wrong.


What do you think?


Dr.Funkenstein

 

[Phillthy]

When dividing a room for flower and veg I have alway found 2 3rds flower to 1 3rd veg works well.

 

[Marick23]

Would it be possible to mount your ballast out side of the cabnet? You could then mount the scrubber vertically giving yourself more head room. 600w is beautiful. The girls get plenty of light and still stay cool.

 

[Dr.Funkenstein]

Would it be possible to mount your ballast out side of the cabnet? You could then mount the scrubber vertically giving yourself more head room. 600w is beautiful. The girls get plenty of light and still stay cool.

Thanks for your contribution Marick23. I'm not sure I understand your question. Where the 'ballast box' sits now is technically outside of the cab, on top of it to be exact. Where you see the ducting in the designs is actually the headspace of the closet the cab will be built in. If I was to mount the scrubber 'vertically' it would force me to lower the ceiling of the cab itself. Reducing the actuall height of both grow chambers. Remember, since both chambers require specific, optimal humidity levels, they must also be partitioned, making the 'roof' portion of this grow cab a necessity. So I'm not sure I would be able to mount the scrubber vertically, because the ceiling of the grow cab itself will be forced down.

Unless I was to only build a roof for the Vegging Room, but that would not help contain the odors of the Flowering Room because there would be no 'roof' to enclose it, within the closet space.


Thanks for the heads-up about the 600wHPS, you don't think it would get too hot within that small of a space?


Dr.Funkenstein

 

[Dr.Funkenstein]

When dividing a room for flower and veg I have alway found 2 3rds flower to 1 3rd veg works well.

Ok, so that is almost what I have designed now. Thanks Phillthy!

Dr.Funkenstein

 

[FreezerBoy]

Do the ballasts really need to be contained within a box to be cooled?

No. The box is to keep parts safe from being accidentally pulled apart, protect from spills, and to keep you from burning yourself on the coil. Mine's outside the box and outside the cab, strapped to the underside of my freezer.

 

[sleepyrz]

you can leave the ballast outside the box but putting it near the intake for the lights ensures at least some airflow and cooling

i still say one run for the lights(cooltube) that never contacts the grow space air(intake and exhasts out the box)

and a carbon filter and fan for the actual grow space at the top and an intake at the bottom

its the easiest way to keep temps down in the box

 

[Dr.Funkenstein]

No. The box is to keep parts safe from being accidentally pulled apart, protect from spills, and to keep you from burning yourself on the coil. Mine's outside the box and outside the cab, strapped to the underside of my freezer.

I'm not sure I meant the ballast 'housing'. I was speaking more along the lines of a box that ballasts and their housing sits within to help conceal the buzzing and regulate temps. Thanks for giving me more ideas, tho.


So after a few days of mulling things over with this design, and the ballance of feedback I've received, I've decided to scrap it. Considering the spacing issues, I'm thinking about investing in a similar sized(2Wx4Lx6H) portable wardrobe from one of them handy Home Builder places to use as my Vegging Room for my mothers,cuttings and clones. I think this will solve a lot of my problems. I will build a shelf within the 'store-bought wardrobe' for my cuttings, leaving the floor space available for the mothers and clones. How does that sound? I figure if I'm going to be using all CFLs for the Veg chamber, it wouldn't be that big of a deal to relocate shop elsewhere, and still keep it underwraps. Now I will be able to utilize the full 8ft in height of the original closet grow space for strictly flowering, while making it that much easier to maintain that chambers temps and humidity levels, without putting the vegging chamber in harms way.


Some friends have suggested a 1000wHPS, or two 600wHPS lights for the Flowering Room now. What are some of the Pros&Cons of the two? Energywise, Lumenwise, Harvestwise,Securitywise, SAFETYWISE. Everyone swears by 1000w, but if you had 2-600ws, wouldnt that be an extra 200w? Is this simply wasted energy?


Let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks guys for all your input!

 

[Dr.Funkenstein]

you can leave the ballast outside the box but putting it near the intake for the lights ensures at least some airflow and cooling

i still say one run for the lights(cooltube) that never contacts the grow space air(intake and exhasts out the box)

and a carbon filter and fan for the actual grow space at the top and an intake at the bottom

its the easiest way to keep temps down in the box

So after a few days of mulling things over with this design, and the ballance of feedback I've received, I've decided to scrap it. Considering the spacing issues, I'm thinking about investing in a similar sized(2Wx4Lx6H) portable wardrobe from one of them handy Home Builder places to use as my Vegging Room for my mothers,cuttings and clones. I think this will solve a lot of my problems. I will build a shelf within the 'store-bought wardrobe' for my cuttings, leaving the floor space available for the mothers and clones. How does that sound? I figure if I'm going to be using all CFLs for the Veg chamber, it wouldn't be that big of a deal to relocate shop elsewhere, and still keep it underwraps. Now I will be able to utilize the full 8ft in height of the original closet grow space for strictly flowering, while making it that much easier to maintain that chambers temps and humidity levels, without putting the vegging chamber in harms way.

Someone also suggested I go with a 1000wHPS for the Flowering Room now, saying it'll produce the kind of density/quality I'm looking for in a finished product. So I could go with two 600w or one 1000w. What are some of the Pros&Cons of the two? Energywise, Lumenwise, Harvestwise,Securitywise, SAFETYWISE. Everyone swears by 1000w, but if you had 2-600ws, wouldnt that be an extra 200w? Is this simply wasted energy?

What do you think?

Dr.Funkenstein

 

[hoosierdaddy]

The Stor-it-alls at Lowes and HomeDePot are the way to go. You cannot build what they offer for the money. And, it lends itself well to a grow cab.
Take a look at mine if you want some ideas.

 

[sleepyrz]

2 600s is way better than a single 1k

waaaaaaaay better

the light dispersion is better

the distance to the plants is closer

600's are more efficient

 

[Dr420CloneX]

Excellent setup.

 

[Dr.Funkenstein]

Grow-Lab DESIGNS ***UPDATE***

Grow-Lab DESIGNS ***UPDATE***

Hello everyone. Sorry, I have not been around. Totally busy. So I took some time and drew up the new plans for the Flowering Room, if theres anything I should fix, let me know. I also decided to put together the plans for my Vegging Room, which will be built from a store-it-all cabinet. So for starters, here is the Flowering Room:

This is what I have in mind. I have the ballast mounted to a board, which will be suspended from the ceiling. Notice the clip on fan, and the positioning near the exaust duct. I'm looking for suggestions, any flaws in my design. If anyone has no objections, this is what I will most likely be going for.

Here is the outside view, looking at a 2x6 plywood plank I will be mounting on a portion of the doorway to mount the necessary equip. This way I figured, I could utilize the cool air that will be comming in from the closet doors, in the space between the doors and the panda plastic/rl lining. (tent-like doorway) to keep the equipment out of the heat. Plus I'm assuming this will also allow me to monitor everything while the girls are sleeping, since the controls will be outside of the grow, but still within the closet..

This is what I envision the inside looking like, the back of the plywood panel. I'm planning on checking out this 30 amp timer/breaker box a friend has shown me, and I'm assuming I can plug everything into this, and actually only need to plug the 30 amp timer/breaker box into the house outlets, themselves. I'm very ignorant when it comes to the electrical side of things. Any help would be appreciated, as always. But to compliment the previous design, I've included the inside looking out. So you can picture it yourself before it comes to life.

Now here is my new project. The Vegging Room, Mothers/Babies/Cuttings. Fairly simple. It will be a Store-it-All storage cabinet(THANKS HOOSIERDADDY!), using T5s. The demensions are 4wX20"dX6h. The cab is originally partitioned down the middle, but I was thinking of sawing part of it out, to make room for a light.

I'm still unsure of what lights I could use for the cuttings, or the cloning chamber (CFL?or T5s?) It's going to be a cramped space. Here are the blueprints:

I was thinking of using a couple of aeroponic systems, one for the mothers on the right, one for the clones on the left. As for the cuttings, I was going to keep them in rw, and rooting gel, and water them manually. If the mothers are fully grown, and the light is no longer reaching the babies on the left, I will make a shelf in levels, to bring them closer.

Well here are my plans, let me know what you think. Hopefully this is it. Then its time to shop. Thanks guys!


Dr.Funkenstein


Also, how much would it cost me to run a single 1000wHPS as opposed to 2 - 600wHPS? Are 2-600w really much more efficient? Your thoughts?

 

[Dr.Funkenstein]

Excellent setup.

Thanks Dr420CloneX, But a lot of people say it would potentially bring about a lot of problems. So I altered the plans for the new ones. Take a look at tell me what you think.


Dr.Funkenstein