My RDWC Dream Room
Hello everyone,
I cannot begin to explain just how excited I am to finally be at the point where I am just a few short days, and a few small equipment tweaks away from being able to call the massive overhaul and renovation project which I began nearly 9 months ago...."complete". In other words, this means that in reality I am really only at the very beginning of what is sure to be an incredibly exciting and fun experience for me.
Let me provide a touch of background...upon the passage of CO's full blown rec legalization laws, I decided that the risk / reward equation embedded in taking on a fairly significant overhaul of my total indoor operation had fallen within an acceptable level of risk for me to finally just let go of any worry and GO FOR IT!!!
As I am sure so many of you can relate, I was previously a follower of the "continuous improvement" style of cultivation and grow room design.....translation.....CONSTANTSHIT-SHOW! I have tried it all from cocoa and hand watering, to aeroponics, to flood trays, including just about every possible medium out there....The truth is, I have never really considered my results, "poor" but as we all know, there is a significant gap between the usual reality of results and the grandiose expectations with which one tends to typically undertake a particular alteration or upgrade to their grow operation. Well after countless individual "improvements" I decided that I would more likely wind up chasing some fantasy level of expected results for the rest of my life, spending many times the amount of money with which I might actually be able to realistically pull this set of results off....if I were going to continue this fragmented approach to upgrading and fine tuning my system....this was last summer, when the relentless 100+ degree temps forced me to bite the bullet and purchase an oversized mini-Split AC system for my hot ass room....
It dawned upon me that if I were gonna do this, why the hell would I possibly think about even remotely doing anything but 110% all out. Just as I have approached every single aspect of my life outside of growing, I feel as if the slight hesitation typically created by the fact that something may be frowned upon or who knows....even ILLEGAL, kinda makes it hard to fully commit and jump in with both feet, taking the commitment to the fullest possible extent on each and every level of the overall project.
And so from that point, I began drawing up the plans for my absolute dream-facility. Now, I realize that each person is different, and each grower has a different taste for the various types of methodologies found in cultivation, as well as the countless combination of equipment preferences available these days. What I going to describe in great detail during the course of this thread, is pretty much the way that YOURS TRULY, ultimately wanted to see things come together. Most of my planning is rooted in my own personal circumstance and tastes....so that said, I am very very excited to share my work with everyone, but I do so in hopes that I might gain further knowledge and advantage in this endeavor via the constructive criticism of others....in other words, if your one of those haters who comes by to pick other people's shit apart....spare me, I don't need your input. IDOWHATIWANTBITCHES!!!
Now....that said, lets begin the show!!!
First off we shall review the overhaul procedure, with the goal of not wasting time and people's effort in reading about what once WAS....but rather so that it may be clear exactly what length this project plan has been vetted, and where it all came from in the beginning stages.
On the most basic of levels, I will describe the format of the prior system just to provide the framework and infrastructure I'm working with... next to my man-castle in CO, I have what was once a single vehicle garage which lies separate from the primary structure...total working dimensions of 10' x 20'. The owner prior to me remodeled it into his own little man cave complete with tile floors, drywall, finished ceiling, and even French-doors in place of the garage door setup. So this was my original canvas, and from this I experimented with the many different setups previously mentioned.
As far as this particular overhaul project, I will start from the beginning...I decided I wanted to upgrade the AC, and a few other things, then rip down the panda film on the walls and give everything a really nice, deep scrubbing, and cleansing so I could start my next round from a clean slate. Unfortunately what began. As a simple between cycle cleanup and upgrade project soon morphed into the home-owners stereo typical worst nightmare! Beneath the plastic wall coverings to my delight, was a nice and deeply penetrated colony of mold, from all the splashing that hit the floor then got trapped behind the wall covering sheets....this essentially required that I tear down all the dry-wall and replace it from scratch, not forgetting the insulation as well. Then while doing so, I discovered that the ceiling was leaking from a small yet persistent drip location in the middle of the room. Given the flat nature of the roof on this place, I was pretty dn sure that a simple patch would only be met with another leak in due time....(begin my adherence to the "do it once and do it right") strategy....so now I was in for a full roof replacement!
I realized at this point that I was already in for like 7-8x my expected original budget, and if ever I was going to step it up and just fuckin go for it....now was the time. So I began the fun part.....actually planning the design and layout of my ideal grow facility within the constraints of what I had to work with on the space front. From this point on out, you can assume that pretty much everything except for the lights themselves are brand new and were purchased as a part of my master plan and design. So I am going to shift from the story telling mode having supplied adequate background into what led to this project, and I am now just going to lay out the specs and design parameters of the revised facility as it currently stands. So as
Mentioned, we are working with a 10x20 rectangle, the system setup of which i describe in great detail below.
Lighting -
8 x 1000W HPS in magnum 8" xxxl hoods.
The lights are all ducted together using 8" ducting, using two separate strings of 4 lights. Each string of 4 llights pulls fresh air from outside, and exhausts it via it's own exhaust port. The air flow is powered by a 10" max-fan inline fan in both strings. The fans are centrally located to minimize the external noise.
Lights are controlled via a 12 light controlled
humidity and CO2 levels are monitored and controlled via a sentinel controlled which kicks on a separate de-Huey, and a water cooled CO2 generator....temp is controlled simply via the internal thermostat inside the Mini-Split AC unit.
That pretty well covers the basics of the environmental controls, now on to the main course....
The grow style is a RDWC system, fresh out the box from Current Culture. The unit is an 18 site, 13-gallon model.
The aqua-environment is controlled via an entirely separate system...by installing a high end reef-tank aquarium control system, I am able to monitor PH, TDS, and ORP on a constant basis, the programmable control computer is then set to my specified parameters regarding PH range and nutrient concentration. In the event that PH levels drift out of range, or the nutrient levels dip down due to dilution from the float valve which tops off an in-line 30 gallon reservoir from an RO filter system, the computer kicks on one of 3 peristalic pumps which automatically add additional nutes or PH solution at a specified rate until the entire system is once again back in range on all fronts. The idea is ultimate automation, as I tend to work some gnarly hours and once fully dialed all this will essentially be self sufficient for the most part, despite the fact that I can log in remotely and check all this data at any time via my iPad.
Key to the UC system is te dissolved O2 levels, which are maintained by some serious air pumps cranking through upgraded micro-pore airstones placed in each individual bucket. Then the temp is also monitored by the Apex controller which kicks on a pump which circulates cold propolyene glycol through a closed loop chiller coil placed inside the main bucket in the RDWC system keeping the water nice and cool at my desired temp. The glycol reservoir also handles the cooling of the CO2 generator, which when combined with the system heat load, requires a decent amount of chilling power. So in order to maintain a constant supply of cold prop-glycol, a 1.5HP chiller is on constant circulation to a 55 gallon drum of the shit. All of the pumps both water, and air for the coolant systems and air flow are housed outside the primary grow area so as to limit CO2 being added to the water via airstones, and the chiller / glycol reservoir setup is outside of the room as well simply for the sake of space and keeping things tight and clean looking inside.
That about does it for the setup description...18 clones of a local strain that is really heavy on bag appeal with super dark purple nugs are currently rooted well and about a week into veg under T-5s in 2.5" Rockwool cubes. They will be transferred to the 8" net pots with hydroton soon and kept in veg for a little while longer to allow them to fill out before flipping them. Below are some preliminary photos of the various stages of the construction process. Once the final setup is cleaned and ready for planting i will update pics of that as well as the babies.
With that I would love to hear any comments, questions suggestions and or criticism that may be had!!
Hello everyone,
I cannot begin to explain just how excited I am to finally be at the point where I am just a few short days, and a few small equipment tweaks away from being able to call the massive overhaul and renovation project which I began nearly 9 months ago...."complete". In other words, this means that in reality I am really only at the very beginning of what is sure to be an incredibly exciting and fun experience for me.
Let me provide a touch of background...upon the passage of CO's full blown rec legalization laws, I decided that the risk / reward equation embedded in taking on a fairly significant overhaul of my total indoor operation had fallen within an acceptable level of risk for me to finally just let go of any worry and GO FOR IT!!!
As I am sure so many of you can relate, I was previously a follower of the "continuous improvement" style of cultivation and grow room design.....translation.....CONSTANTSHIT-SHOW! I have tried it all from cocoa and hand watering, to aeroponics, to flood trays, including just about every possible medium out there....The truth is, I have never really considered my results, "poor" but as we all know, there is a significant gap between the usual reality of results and the grandiose expectations with which one tends to typically undertake a particular alteration or upgrade to their grow operation. Well after countless individual "improvements" I decided that I would more likely wind up chasing some fantasy level of expected results for the rest of my life, spending many times the amount of money with which I might actually be able to realistically pull this set of results off....if I were going to continue this fragmented approach to upgrading and fine tuning my system....this was last summer, when the relentless 100+ degree temps forced me to bite the bullet and purchase an oversized mini-Split AC system for my hot ass room....
It dawned upon me that if I were gonna do this, why the hell would I possibly think about even remotely doing anything but 110% all out. Just as I have approached every single aspect of my life outside of growing, I feel as if the slight hesitation typically created by the fact that something may be frowned upon or who knows....even ILLEGAL, kinda makes it hard to fully commit and jump in with both feet, taking the commitment to the fullest possible extent on each and every level of the overall project.
And so from that point, I began drawing up the plans for my absolute dream-facility. Now, I realize that each person is different, and each grower has a different taste for the various types of methodologies found in cultivation, as well as the countless combination of equipment preferences available these days. What I going to describe in great detail during the course of this thread, is pretty much the way that YOURS TRULY, ultimately wanted to see things come together. Most of my planning is rooted in my own personal circumstance and tastes....so that said, I am very very excited to share my work with everyone, but I do so in hopes that I might gain further knowledge and advantage in this endeavor via the constructive criticism of others....in other words, if your one of those haters who comes by to pick other people's shit apart....spare me, I don't need your input. IDOWHATIWANTBITCHES!!!
Now....that said, lets begin the show!!!
First off we shall review the overhaul procedure, with the goal of not wasting time and people's effort in reading about what once WAS....but rather so that it may be clear exactly what length this project plan has been vetted, and where it all came from in the beginning stages.
On the most basic of levels, I will describe the format of the prior system just to provide the framework and infrastructure I'm working with... next to my man-castle in CO, I have what was once a single vehicle garage which lies separate from the primary structure...total working dimensions of 10' x 20'. The owner prior to me remodeled it into his own little man cave complete with tile floors, drywall, finished ceiling, and even French-doors in place of the garage door setup. So this was my original canvas, and from this I experimented with the many different setups previously mentioned.
As far as this particular overhaul project, I will start from the beginning...I decided I wanted to upgrade the AC, and a few other things, then rip down the panda film on the walls and give everything a really nice, deep scrubbing, and cleansing so I could start my next round from a clean slate. Unfortunately what began. As a simple between cycle cleanup and upgrade project soon morphed into the home-owners stereo typical worst nightmare! Beneath the plastic wall coverings to my delight, was a nice and deeply penetrated colony of mold, from all the splashing that hit the floor then got trapped behind the wall covering sheets....this essentially required that I tear down all the dry-wall and replace it from scratch, not forgetting the insulation as well. Then while doing so, I discovered that the ceiling was leaking from a small yet persistent drip location in the middle of the room. Given the flat nature of the roof on this place, I was pretty dn sure that a simple patch would only be met with another leak in due time....(begin my adherence to the "do it once and do it right") strategy....so now I was in for a full roof replacement!
I realized at this point that I was already in for like 7-8x my expected original budget, and if ever I was going to step it up and just fuckin go for it....now was the time. So I began the fun part.....actually planning the design and layout of my ideal grow facility within the constraints of what I had to work with on the space front. From this point on out, you can assume that pretty much everything except for the lights themselves are brand new and were purchased as a part of my master plan and design. So I am going to shift from the story telling mode having supplied adequate background into what led to this project, and I am now just going to lay out the specs and design parameters of the revised facility as it currently stands. So as
Mentioned, we are working with a 10x20 rectangle, the system setup of which i describe in great detail below.
Lighting -
8 x 1000W HPS in magnum 8" xxxl hoods.
The lights are all ducted together using 8" ducting, using two separate strings of 4 lights. Each string of 4 llights pulls fresh air from outside, and exhausts it via it's own exhaust port. The air flow is powered by a 10" max-fan inline fan in both strings. The fans are centrally located to minimize the external noise.
Lights are controlled via a 12 light controlled
humidity and CO2 levels are monitored and controlled via a sentinel controlled which kicks on a separate de-Huey, and a water cooled CO2 generator....temp is controlled simply via the internal thermostat inside the Mini-Split AC unit.
That pretty well covers the basics of the environmental controls, now on to the main course....
The grow style is a RDWC system, fresh out the box from Current Culture. The unit is an 18 site, 13-gallon model.
The aqua-environment is controlled via an entirely separate system...by installing a high end reef-tank aquarium control system, I am able to monitor PH, TDS, and ORP on a constant basis, the programmable control computer is then set to my specified parameters regarding PH range and nutrient concentration. In the event that PH levels drift out of range, or the nutrient levels dip down due to dilution from the float valve which tops off an in-line 30 gallon reservoir from an RO filter system, the computer kicks on one of 3 peristalic pumps which automatically add additional nutes or PH solution at a specified rate until the entire system is once again back in range on all fronts. The idea is ultimate automation, as I tend to work some gnarly hours and once fully dialed all this will essentially be self sufficient for the most part, despite the fact that I can log in remotely and check all this data at any time via my iPad.
Key to the UC system is te dissolved O2 levels, which are maintained by some serious air pumps cranking through upgraded micro-pore airstones placed in each individual bucket. Then the temp is also monitored by the Apex controller which kicks on a pump which circulates cold propolyene glycol through a closed loop chiller coil placed inside the main bucket in the RDWC system keeping the water nice and cool at my desired temp. The glycol reservoir also handles the cooling of the CO2 generator, which when combined with the system heat load, requires a decent amount of chilling power. So in order to maintain a constant supply of cold prop-glycol, a 1.5HP chiller is on constant circulation to a 55 gallon drum of the shit. All of the pumps both water, and air for the coolant systems and air flow are housed outside the primary grow area so as to limit CO2 being added to the water via airstones, and the chiller / glycol reservoir setup is outside of the room as well simply for the sake of space and keeping things tight and clean looking inside.
That about does it for the setup description...18 clones of a local strain that is really heavy on bag appeal with super dark purple nugs are currently rooted well and about a week into veg under T-5s in 2.5" Rockwool cubes. They will be transferred to the 8" net pots with hydroton soon and kept in veg for a little while longer to allow them to fill out before flipping them. Below are some preliminary photos of the various stages of the construction process. Once the final setup is cleaned and ready for planting i will update pics of that as well as the babies.
With that I would love to hear any comments, questions suggestions and or criticism that may be had!!
