Tent layout advice

[Bluesboy]

Hello everyone, I've just joined the community here at IC and am very excited to get some of your insight on my new project.

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on maximizing yield and general layout in a Dark Room DR120 Grow Tent - 3'11" x 3'11" x 6'7". I'm laying down the logistics of my new setup and I have a rough idea of what I want to put together but tent growing is new to me.

I'm planning to use the DR120 tent with a 600 watt HPS with 6" inline ventilation. I have a few questions about a setup with this foundation.

For safety and security reasons is it possible for this to be fully contained? What I mean is can I mount everything inside the tent? All fans, ducting, carbon scrubber etc. inside the tent leaving nothing but the ballast and power chords on the exterior of the tent?

Secondly, I may experiment with one water farm unit to dip my toes into hydroponic mediums but that aside, what size containers and plant count should I be looking to run to maximize my yield from a 600w tent like this?

Any advice that can be offered on configuring a tent like this would be GREATLY appreciated. I've seen a few excellent setups already most notably by Mr. Bongjangles in the grow diary forum. Some brilliant minds at work here

Thanks in advance,

Bluesboy

 

[FreezerBoy]

For safety and security reasons is it possible for this to be fully contained? What I mean is can I mount everything inside the tent? All fans, ducting, carbon scrubber etc. inside the tent leaving nothing but the ballast and power chords on the exterior of the tent?[/COLOR]

Absolutely. Couple things to remember is, that stuff takes some space and a 600 cranks out the light. As a result, you may now have closer to 5 feet of vertical space. More than enough to grow fine weed in.

 

[Bluesboy]

Thanks for taking the time to swing in Freezerboy, could you or anyone that would like to contribute elaborate specifically on how I should go about attaching and mounting the 6" inline fans? Any installation or brand recommendation would be greatly appreciated.

Still interested in my other inquiry as well regarding maximizing yield in a space this size.

Keep it coming

Bluesboy

 

[killedkilleryo]

remember that cool air needs to come in and u cant just blow your hot air into the same room your cool air is in .u will have to run duct from your exhaust to somewhere else.

 

[Bluesboy]

Interesting, I never really paused to consider the state of the air in the room. The room the tent is in is a decent size, about 40'x30' and is typically ventilated itself with an air conditioner or fan. would I be better off ducting the outlet from the light right outside? that is relatively feasible in my environment.

Also, I'm very eager to get some advice on securing the duct fans inside the tent. should it be secured with some type of chain, or are they light weight enough to be held up by the sidewall of the tent where the outlet is?

please advise,

Bluesboy

 

[killedkilleryo]

i guess you could duct it out side as long as the smell of weed doesnt escape outside and it doesnt look suspicious.as far as hanging stuff i use chains for the lights and i use the straps that came with the tent to hang the carbon filter and inline fan .i have 2 inline fans 1 of them i just place on top of the tent right over the exhaust hole thats on the roof .click on my diary at the bottom of my post.

 

[Bluesboy]

Thanks again Killedkilleryo, I'm going to swing over to your grow thread and post a few more questions about your specific fan setup. Looks great.

Bluesboy

 

[Bluesboy]

So can anyone comment on maximizing yield under a 600w HPS in a space this size? how many plants and what size containers would you recommend I run?

Bluesboy

 

[Mister Postman]

I'm running a very similar grow shortly in a dr120.

I'm using an aircooled 400cmh with supplemental cfl lighting rather then the 600hps that u plan too. I have an eco-plus 6in inline fan with speed control butted up to a can-filter 33 hung inside the tent. Sucking air through the filter, and pushing the air through the a/c light fixture, and out the tent.

I'm thinking of running 6 medium, or 9 smaller sized plants in this space. Starting with .5gal containers, up to 1.5gal, and into 3gal grow bags (5gal if I run 6 plants) for the finish. You can grow fewer larger plants, or many more smaller plants, but IMO for tighter spaces like this indoors, more plants, more choice top colas under the light, more yield for the space IME.

I'm looking into scrog or sog eventually for this tent, but for this first grow I'm doing without. Just slight lst/pruning, and keeping the canopy even under the light. If you do something similar, and all goes well, I believe you'll do very well for yourself as far as yields go.

 

[Bluesboy]

Thanks MrPostman, I think that I will go in just that direction. 6-9 plants in square shaped containers with some LST and pruning for focused growth on the remaining tops.

I'm gathering the required components presently and will probably try to catalog a short diary of the construction of the new space.

Thanks for the knowledge,

Bluesboy

 

[gdawg]

hey you say pull cool air in right but how would you supplement co2? pump the whole room its sittin in? just been thinkin bout one of these for awhile.

 

[FreezerBoy]

So can anyone comment on maximizing yield under a 600w HPS in a space this size?

Some form of canopy control. SOG, LST or ScROG.

SOG is simply a shitload of same sized plants crammed together.

LST and ScROG employ horizontal growth. The central growing tip sends a message to the rest of the plant to, "Get behind me and stay there." The plant obeys. Cut that tip and the next two take over, pass out the same message and the plant obeys. BUT, if you bend the tip over ... something ... happens to the signal and what the plant hears is, "I've fallen and can't get up." Now EVERY tip will try to be the boss and outgrow the others.

Either way gives you a flat plane of buds so that all buds recieve the same light intensity.

Which is best is purely subjective. SOG is faster but requires a much greater plant count. ScROG takes longer but with far fewer plants. My SOG required an average of 50-75 plants. My ScROG averages 2-4. I'd say go with the method that interests you most. Greater interest=greater participation=greater results.

 

[Bluesboy]

gdawg : I was thinking of making use of that product CO2Boost, it seems completely safe and has a cheap kit that will let you run a dispenser to each plants canopy.

Freezerboy: Good info and some good points. I think I will go LST for the first run in the tent then I would love to give a SOG a shot. What size containers do you make use of in your sog? I hear 2 liter bottles get used a lot, this seems a touch small to me but given the concept perhaps its adequate?

Thanks for the great info and communication,

Bluesboy

 

[eyes]

waterfarm with leca stone you can either place em close together or 1 sq ft each or 2 sq ft each.it really depends.the larger the plant the more space it takes up the more room u need,the larger the buds.so,taller ,bigger plants more bud per plant.or smaller plants,a greater number of them smaller yield per plant but greater overall yield with alot of plants(sog).you can alwats scrog your big plants in there ,too.the larger the plant the more room it needs.you say you have a almost a 4by 4.that will fit 16 plants 1 per sq ft.the yield the plant puts out is all relative to the space it has for leaves,shoots ,vertical height horizontal width and root mass it can build.
since you are running the leca stone youll maximize root space.the other option is coco.

so if u had 16 plants 1 per foot under the 600 thats what 37.5 grams per plant to hit 1 gram per watt.or 64 smaller plants,2 per foot,(8by8)which is 9.375 grams per plant.definately doable.its really up to you.less veg time with smaller 1 more crop per yr.

containing everything is somewhat hard to do but not impossible dont u think the tent stands out like a sore thumb in a way regardless?"HEy,whats that big tent in your room,aw nothing,im just camping out".you can hide fans and ducts in dressers or small ikea cabinets placed close to the tent.

if you go bigger plants try a scrog screen and bend that main stem down to promote bushing of the plant.bring all those potential budsites up through the screen.the light will only penetrate so far and why grown a bigger plant only to trim off all the bottom shoots if u can potentially bring them up to the screen and get some buds off of em?

 

[Bluesboy]

Great input eyes, I would love to be able to squeeze a gram per watt out of this setup. This first run I will just shoehorn as many plants into the tent as possible and maintain them with some light training and trimming for yield. Fill out a nice canopy and see what I can put out.

I will get a diary going as soon as I've got my equipment in place. Hope all that chimed in on this thread will give it a peak

Bluesboy