splitting bedroom up for grow

[weed whacker]

so due to a change of circumstance, i wont be moving as previously planned, and will be tenting up part of my bedroom as a grow. my closet which has been my all-purpose room will become the mother/veg/clone room. i've measured out everything including my bed (the only furniture i have to work around). the area that i think will be good for use is 61" x 113".

so within that footprint, i'm not exactly sure how to proceed. this will be a flowering room exclusively, and i will have enough space to veg to fill this room up.

one thought i had is to run two 3x3 trays with separate resorvoirs, in an ebb and flow setup. this would allow me to run two strains, or stagger the tables a month apart in flower to harvest more often.

the other thought i had would be to cram a 4x8 tray in. i could put doors in enough to be able to work inside the area, and this would make the most use of the space.


i'm going to be using two 600w air cooled lights, since i already have one good one.

would the coverage of two 600s cover a 4x8? i will be putting in movers later on so that should help, but for the first run or two they will be stationary. reflection off the walls would hopefully help as well, adn there will only be a short distance from the walls to the plants in this configuration. i'm just not sure how much yield i'm adding going from 3x6 (two 3x3 tables) to 4x8, using the same amount of light. 18sqft vs 32sqft. although now that i think about it, thats almost double the square footage!

will my 6" vortex (452cfm) be enough to cool a room this size with two 600s? i'll be adding boosters on the intake (188cfm inline at first, another added if its deemed necessary)

i wont be going up to two 1000s for both the fact that i already have a good 600 setup (lumatek digi) and i will be running on household circuits so 1200w will already be pulling 10amps off that circuit. i dont want to get into adding breakers and wiring at this point.

i also have a mind to go to a sealed / ac / co2 setup with this space later down the line when i am more knowledgable and have more money to spend. will a lumber framed / panda film walled room be able to be sealed adequately for this? will zipper doors leak too much co2 to be feasible? I'll be sleeping right outside this so i dont wanna die in my sleep

more questions to come when i think of them.

i also have a floor plan all drawn up to scale for the whole bedroom if anyone wants to throw their 2cents in on this.

 

[7th1der]

post it! I think the floor plan would help tremendously

 

[weed whacker]

 

[weed whacker]

other logistical questions - with a 4x8 table, and im guessing i'll need a 110gal res, do i need to worry about the strength of my floor? this is the second story of a house built to code...but we're talking about the weight of like 8 hot chicks here. and i've only had 5 or 6 in here at a time before

do i need to worry about humidity? i'm exhausting into the attic. would a dehumidifier be a necessity in such a space as this when im pulling 452cfm through it at a time? i'm concerned that blowing the moist air from that much foliage could trigger an outbreak of mold/fungus in my attic, which would be BAD. i can add to teh tent space to accomodate more appliances, i cut off before the windows for no particular reason other than aesthetics.

also would it be worth the time/money/electricity to add a/c in addition to air cooling or should i be good to go with sealed air cooled hoods and good exhaust/intake?

 

[weed whacker]

another logistics question:

if i go 4x8, ill be running all at once, and harvesting 2+ lbs every cycle. i have 1 friend who i can kick some buds to to get him to help me trim if i need to.

if i go four 2x4 tables or 4x4, i can stagger so i harvest every 2 or 4 weeks in 1/4-1/2 the amount, so i could do the trimming myself. but this could pose an issue as i am vending (having too small of amounts at a given time), so 1/4-1/2 the yield at any given time would possibly make life more difficult for me.

so my question is, is there much advantage to splitting up the tables? how much work are we looking at between two guys trimming 2-3lbs at once potentially?

 

[opt1c]

well if you're growing in such a confined space do you have space to dry what you grow?

As far as the attic goes why not just climb in the attic and run duct to a vent in the attic so the moist air goes outside instead of just filling the attic?

depending on where you live an ac is usually necessary for indoor grows, especially if its more than just a hobby... since you sound like you're serious just stick an ac in the window and tent off the entire side of the room, cover the windows of course, have the ac manage the temps, perhaps if you get creative you could build a light proof box around the other window and crack it to use for fresh air to cool your lights or something to that effect.

don't expect 2+ lbs off 1200 watts over a 4x8 w/out co2 every cycle either... but your mileage may vary

 

[weed whacker]

stoney419 was pulling 3.1 with CO2, and i'll be replicating his setup exactly, aside from the CO2 (until later). i figure that i can hope to pull 2/3 of what he did once i'm dialed in. aiming high!


i was concerned that venting straight out of the attic would be highly visible in the case of flir..... i cant stick a window a/c in the window, this is the second story and faces the street, and all the houses have central a/c so it would look odd. i could build a box for a window a/c though.

 

[T.Baggins]

i think id stick to the 2 3x3 trays... u can put more plants under 2 4x4 trays but the outside plants wont be getting all that good strong light that they like to develop those thick buds we all love, and theyll be taking light from the stronger plants. one thing i hate about the 4x8 trays is how damn big and awkward they are... so obvious trying to get that thing outta the truck and into the house w/o making a seen, jmo. also, i dont think youll need an a/c for 1200 watts if you cool your lights right. a/c's are pretty pricey to run in a open system and in general, plus check out how many watts they run... could b more than your lights...... maybe just make or build a 4x8 tent and put it in the corner withe the windows, use the window to bring cool fresh air in to the room and the lights. exhaust through the attic... not sure about the mold thing... iv never had a problem. idk how big your closet maybe you could section off part of that for drying? water weighs about 8lbs a gallon so if you and about 5 friends can stand in the spot for your rez w/o falling through the floor youll b fine.... u should b able to pull a lb of nice flowers off a 600 watter just my thoughts, hope it helps, good luck to ya.

 

[opt1c]

ah... he also has a light mover with the 2 6's over a 4x8... i think with 3 6's you can do it no prob but with only 2 you're pushing it... i've grown in the same dimensions before myself... 3 600's r the way to go... only way 2 lights can do that space is if they are 1ks or on a mover imho... deff build a sick window/ac box using that extra corner of the room... u can probably put your ballasts in there to get the heat out of your main room as well... crack the windows... suck the air for your lights from that area... exhaust it into the rest of the attic... air will probably be too hot to be humid and if your airflow is good it won't have time to change much from ambient... but if your just exhausting air cooled lights then i don't think they will add any mold or humidity to the attic... exhausting the room however is a different story... for that just suck from a carbon filter and exhaust through a hepa filter.. u can get em for grows.. should take care of mold spores and whatnot. You're going to have to poly out the windows if you don't build a box around them, there was a movie called top quality where they made window boxes out of plywood and silicone glued them to the f'n walls, regardless the last thing you want is the neighbors thinking that god is visiting you when you have a small crack in the curtains

next thing you know you're going to lose the bed and get an air mattress... instead of tenting your grow you'll be tenting yourself

 

[weed whacker]

thanks t.baggins. you're pointing out what i thought about - whether the extra space on a 4x8 would add much yield. i know the square footage gain is huge, but with the amount of light ill be using you make a good point that that extra space wont yield as much per square foot as the centers.

if i run two 3x3 trays will i be happy using a 50 gal res for each?

 

[weed whacker]

opt1c - you make a good point about the heat. im not sure about the window a/c though if i run just my two 600s. if i air-cool the lights and exhaust the room (open end on one hood, link the two together, and pull exhaust out the second hood) using one duct, and keep the room air circulating with fans, should i be alright there? this is some complicated hvac work!

the other thing about an a/c is that at this point i have to keep exchanging fresh air anyway since i wont be sealing the room. so maybe a/c would be better kept for when i start running co2 and can seal it up. and of course the power concerns, is more an issue of the amps i have available than the cost itself.

 

[opt1c]

yeah... it's all about ambient temps... what u described should work fine, you can throw a carbon filter on the intake before the first light when smell becomes a problem if that's a problem

if you have central ac and the rest of the house is 60 and your room is 90 will it kick on? where i live temps go from freezing to like 115+ between the winter and summer so i forget that others are more lucky than myself

stoney's setup is nice... if you can squeeze a 4x8 in there you'd be able to access the plants in the back against the wall no problem since they're all in separate containers... the mover would totally kill any shadows but you'd need to use the extra room by the windows for the overhang of the rail... if you go with the 3x3 trays you might want to make the cab less wide to get better reflections off the sides and really trap the lumens in there but u loose a lot of plants and sog is all about numbers not lumens

good luck... seems like you're well on your way in the right direction -opt1c

 

[weed whacker]

well assuming i won't have movers now, how much % increase would i see going from 2x 3x3 (18ft^2) to 4x8 or 2x 4x4 (32ft^2), given the same lights? and how much could i hope for that to go up when i installed movers?

 

[weed whacker]

and am i a fool for assuming my 452cfm 6" vortex will handle a room approx 4x9x7ft with two air cooled 600s?

 

[weed whacker]

according to cannastats yield calculator,

600w (85,000 lumen eye hortilux super hps) over 3x3 feet
-9444 lumens / ft^2
-projected 43.6g/ft^2 yield

600w over 4x4 feet
-5312 lumens / ft^2
-projected 38.1g/ft^2

i know i may not pulll that many grams, but it seems to indicate that i would make less per square foot, but the extra square footage would make up for that.

for 4x8 = 1219g
for 3x6 = 784.8

so theoretically i would gain 55% yield wise, with the same light, by adding 77% more canopy space? does this sound correct? If so, i think the extra work and cramped-ness of things would be WELL worth it considering all i'd be doing is adding more table space but consuming the same wattage.

 

[T.Baggins]

3x6 will give u, well at least me anyways, about 4x8 canopy top.... that vortex will be fine for the lights but i think youd need a bigger/ more cfm for exhausting the room... its all about the ambient temps. i also like to put my carbon filter at the end of the exhaust just in case their is an air leek into one of the hoods or something, it might pull unfiltered room air out w/o being filtered....but thats just me. 3x600s would rock that space!

 

[weed whacker]

an idea i just had -

divide the flower tent into two rooms. each room with a 4x4 table, and 600w light. ventilate with teh vortex. intakes on room 2, but the air is drawn from room 1, with light trapped vents between rooms 1 and 2. then build a flip flop so 1 ballast runs both rooms. i'd keep my line draw down (good if i could stay on a 15amp circuit), only have to use 1 ballast (i'd be using the flip flop as a ballast flip flop), and cooling would be more efficient because i'd only be cooling 1 light worth of heat at any given time.

how does that sound? overly complicated for a 1200w grow?