grow room coming along?

[Justsilent]

okay i found a little extra cash and i am wondering what u guys think. this is a legal grow i assume since both my wife and i have our prop 215 card so technically im legal to grow 16 plants right? also if i am legal would i need to worry about the exhaust outlet being noticed by heat cameras?
well here is what im looking at for my room set up. i am going to go with ebb n gro metod. this is my shopping list for a 10x10 area room
1. 3- C.A.P. xxxtreme 8in air cooled hid reflector
2. 3- lumatek 600 w 120/240 v hps/mh e- balast
one question with this. when u purchace them seperately what am i really getting?is the hid reflector and balast with the bulb a complete unit? or do i need more parts to cmplete the unit.
3. 1- C.A.P. ebb n gro 3 1/2 gal controller module
4. 16 C.A.P. ebb n gro outer buckets [2 gal]
5. 16-C.A.P. ebb n gro ineer buckets
6. black 1/2 inch tubbling 100 ft
7. thermometer/ humidity reader [hydro thermometer]

i am looking for a used 55 gal drum around town going to put some type of air stone with air pump in resivor and i also need the fittings to connect the flood/ drain hoses to the buckets. now i belive that there is 3 outlets from the controller unit that feed the buckets. what if i install some type of manifold to each of the outlets and then run individual lines to each bucket instead of having to flood one at a time until it gets to your last pot. now these r things i believe i still need but am unsure as to which products to get.
ec/ppm/ph tester.
a dehumidifier
something to neutralize the odor
how about a water chiller?
i kno that i need some type of plug for my resivor or controller unit that only lets water flow one way?

a comments are greatly appreciated. what am i missing? what can i go without?

 

[captaincanabis]

i would go smaller tell you know what you are doing and i personally dont think that you should go ebb and flow for your first time. if you have all the cash laying around buy some pre-made system. perhaps a trough system. things to consider the climate in the room exhaust fan is a must. get a scrubber cause you dont want to answer questions from inquiring people about the smell. you will need a fan to circulate air in your room. you will need a way to pull cold clean air into your room. i would veg with a vho T5 light and flower with the hid. it cut costs in the long run and prolongs the hid for longer. from personal experience dont skimp on the ph\ppm meter go all out it will be your saver in the long run. you will need solution to calibrate them once in awhile.get multiple thermometers to put at different heights so you can adjust the air temp accordingly. i would get a controller for the fan so that you can adjust your airflow from summer to winter months. another thing is where are you going to cure and dry them. just some thoughts hit me up if you have any questions.

 

[budshoteyes]

16 plants between two of you's.....that seems low?

Get the 12 site cap and grow;that will leave you room for four mothers in soil or other methods to do trials!

No matter what system you choose your room comes first and foremost!
Get the best charcoal filter you can afford and know where your going to mount it cause they can be very heavy in larger sizes.

Cover your walls and floor with panda, Mylar,or Reflectix. Cover and seal it all perfectly,if you don't you may rot your house walls and get mold.

And read read read! There are tutorials and lots of them on the net!

Again....get that room right the first time and any system you decide to put in it will do wonders.

 

[Justsilent]

Why smaller? It's the same to grow 16 plants as it is to grow 12. And 16 plants for two people is kind of small either way. That's y im choosing 16 instead of 24 it being my first indoor ebb n gro. And what's wrong with the system I'm trying to use? I've heard great things about it. The heart of the system is the controller unit. So everythingelse is quite easy to make yourself. Will work just as perfect as if u bought the entire system and save a few extra dollars.
I do agree on the climate. My room is located on the bottom of another room and it hasone air conditioner vent that keeps the room to whatever temp I want it. I also have two rotating fans and should probably buy more. I was also going to freeze one gallon jugs and @ captaincannabis
put them in the room behind the fans should cool about 4 degrees in hot days. Exhaust fan is a must. Since I'm getting 8inch air cooled hid do I need a 8inch fan? Does anyone know of ny good exhaust fans for the money? as well as any good ph/ppm/ec readers? Probably the ones that read constant readings. I was thinking of hanging then in the room after harvest. Haven't thought it out that far. Do I need any equipment for the curing process?
@budshoteyes
I was thinking of growing from seeds some way and transplanting them into the ebb n gro system doin this repeatedly harvest after harvest until I find some good strains I like then make mothers and clone. as for the room. It is approx 10x10. With a 3x10closet. Going to start with 16 plants but will expand to however many fit in my room. That said what does anybody recommend to eliminate the odor produced my crop. Apprx 25 plants in future harvests. And the best way to seal this room. It has one window 3x4. One light fixture on top three outlets on three walls open closet one air vent from ac unit. What steps do I need to take and what items do I need to buy in order to prep this room? If I do get a charcoal filter what size should I get for my needs? And I should be able to mount the 3 hid lights and carbon filter to the struts that cross through my ceiling above the cherock right?

 

[captaincanabis]

I would use a bigger fan than you think you should a get a controller and be able to dial it into exactly what you want. the ice jugs are a good idea but your going to get tired of doing that everyday so rethink the ventilation some more, better to have a super awesome plan before you start. then try to make corrections to something you already built. i would build a curing box so you have it when you need it for sure. the charcoal filter should be as big as you can get and suspend it above the room, so that you have cross draw because your intakes should be lowto the ground and exhaust higher. go with grodan cubes if your going to rock it from seeds.. when you mount you should for sure hang the lights and filter from the rafters(thats what there called) yes straight through the sheetrock. if i was you i would frame out a room inside that room just 6 inches smaller with 2 by 4 studs this eliminates screwing with your walls and i would for sure build it up off the carpet in case there is accidents you are not going to get mold. if you need any framing help let me know thats what i do for a living. be a badass too and get a lightmover you will thank yourself in the end.

 

[ninjagaiden]

you assume you wont make mistakes. you will. although EF is one of the easiest of hydro setups, you can still kill your plants rather quickly from any PH or EC imbalance.

your questions SCREAMMMMMMM noobie to me. start with 3-6 in soil first...

 

[budshoteyes]

Why smaller?
The plants will each take up a lot of room... 12 plants in a 10 x 10 room will fill the room so much that you may not be able to get in to tend to thier needs,pruning etc.....bucket systems produce large plants as their sole purpose!
You can manage your plants with pruning and training and when you flip them to 12/12;that will come with more reading and experience!

Go to this thread in this same forum...."here we grow again" it's a cap ebb and grow that I'm watching...you'll see them grow large too

 

[Justsilent]

Okay so I should knock it down to 12 plants until I find a bigger room add a portable ac unit and a carbon filter to the list?

 

[Justsilent]

Okay I found a can filter50 rated (420cfm) 6"flange vortex 6" fan rated (449cfm) and portable ac unit edgestar koolfront PAC 8000s will this complete the shopping list for the exception of nutes and things to seal the room?Quite expensive but it's necessary

 

[MPL]

The easiest way for you to do this right is to spend $25 and buy a book.

There are several. The most commonly recommended for noobs is Jorge Cervantes' Marijuana Grow Bible or some such name. Another good one, though a bit more advanced, is Robert Clarke's Marijuana Botany.

It's been awhile so the titles might not be exact but if you google them you'll find what you're looking for.

 

[Justsilent]

@mpl
Thankyou. That's all I'm asking. A little guidance. The road might be rough ahead but I'm willing to make this work. All I'm asking if for anyone to give their techniques and tips as to what made their life easier when working with this system.

 

[MPL]

I haven't used that system so I really don't have anything to say about it.

I will tell you, however, that I consider a standard flood table to be easier and more reliable. I don't trust float valves, for starters, and I think having the controller complicates things further than necessary.

My advice would be to get yourself a 4x4 flood table, 70 gallon reservoir with a cover, 400gph pump a 1kW digital ballast with a lamp, a good aircooled hood, a couple of six inch fans, an appropriate carbon filter and one of those Secret Jardin tents, I think the DR150II or something. Read at least the Cervantes book and then you'll be ready to try your first grow.

As for meters, I recommend a BlueLab truncheon meter for EC/PPM and an Oakton pH meter for pH. Both are accurate, reliable and in the case of the truncheon, durable and useful for things other than just measuring the conductivity of your solution.

If you want a monitor, which is basically a meter that is always in the reservoir and has a constant display, the BlueLab pH/EC/temp unit is good. There is another brand too, I can't remember the name but it is green and I have heard good things about it.

Advice? Hmm...

Keep your grow room and the area around it clean. Keep yourself clean too. Don't go into your grow room after you just mowed the grass. Don't even wear your shoes in there.

Put appropriate filters on your intakes.

Don't overcomplicate cloning. It's really easy. I currently sit at a virtual 100% success rate and I don't use anything but tap water, rapid rooters and a tray with clear humidity dome. Just make sure you use a sharp razor. I hear superthrive helps, but I never tried it.

Keep one or two circulation pumps in the reservoir with the air attachment. You run a small hose from the pump venturi to the open air and it'll circulate your water and keep it aerated.

When I first started growing I spent a lot of time trying to keep and maintain a perfect pH. What you eventually learn is that plants actually do better when small variations in pH occur.

Wear sunglasses when working in your grow with the lights on.

That's what I got off the top of my head.

Oh, and one more thing. You're going to need way more stuff than you think you do. Lots of little things, like pH strips for backup, bamboo or something to hold the plants up, circulation fans, proper outlets, timers, calibration solution, cleaning supplies, bleach, H202, a medium (I like hydroton), a place to dry, a place to cure, all sorts of stuff. Also, remember the cost of electricity. Where I live running a 1kW 12/12 for 90 days costs something like $80 or so not counting all the ancillary equipment. Expect all the other stuff to maintain 1kW to add another $50 or so every 90 days.

@mpl
Thankyou. That's all I'm asking. A little guidance. The road might be rough ahead but I'm willing to make this work. All I'm asking if for anyone to give their techniques and tips as to what made their life easier when working with this system.

 

[MPL]

I keep remembering stuff. This Jack Herer is delicious!

Technically, because of a recent state supreme court ruling, you are not limited to the number of plants you may grow, except by the size of your gonads. Anything over 99 plants gets you into DEA territory and federal prison.

 

[dgr]

Justsilent,
regarding lights and ballasts. The hood comes with the cord from it to the ballast. The ballast comes with the cord from it to the wall. Those plus a bulb and you are set ... unless your ballast outlet doesn't match the end of the hood's plug. Then you need an adapter.

Your fan doesn't match your hoods. Why 8" hoods? You are losing light with 8" duct outlets on the hoods.

 

[captaincanabis]

get a book but don't follow everything it says its just one guys opinion. not necessarily the right way. make your own decisions and mistakes that's what will make you a good grower in the end

 

[budshoteyes]

Power!
How do you plan on powering all that gear?
Most rooms before conversion only have one or two plugs...definitely not enough to run lights,AC,pumps,fans,etc....I should have posted this earlier along with sealing and venting the room!

You have lots of reading and work to do but don't let that take the fun out of growing,every hurdle conquered is a "rush" in it's self!

YouTube has many grow videos too

 

[Justsilent]

Is a vortex inline fan 6" 449cfm good for my 10x10room or should I go with 8" 747cfm?

 

[RubeGoldberg]

premade hydro systems are the biggest thing fucking over med growers right now. especially this time of year.
also not a huge CAP fan, lots of rebranded chinese crap. I'm drunk right now and can't think of a good acronym, but think
Chinese.Ass.Poo

Invest in a chiller for SURE

or better yet, start with soilless, dail in your room, then transition to hydro once you've dominated the dojo

 

[angel4us]

hi great questions and answers for you . i would definetly incorporate a water chiller . if you get high nutrient temps , above 68, you are running risk of blue green algea -hydro herpes a.k.a/. slim which is worse than pythium root rot because spores of the herpes are forever in that building and is virtually impossible to sterilize/clean. only prevention /control at that point with dutch masters zone
i would try a recirculating dwc with return waterfall to resevoir . easy to make and really rocks some buds -unbeleivable growth -virtually bulletproof system as long as temps are in control!

 

[dgr]

You can dial down an 8" fan. You can't dial up a 6" fan. Reading through the lighting section, it seems most people use a 6" for up to two 1000W lights. Even with only 600W lights, running through three hoods might cause too much CFM loss. I don't know the answer. It will depend on your room.