1st Indoor Grow Advice Req - DWC Tent LED

Hi all.

I have been lurking on the site looking for info and have found a great community with lots of great ideas, advice and info.

I have done a couple of outdoor grows for personal, Airpots and soil but the weather in the UK isn't that great for my strains. I am now looking control the environment, a move indoor, and am looking to setup two Green Qube RQ150 tents (150x150x180), which will just fit in my room but don't give me much headroom, perhaps 150-160cm under the lights.



I am going to be ordering four Electric Sky 300 V2 LEDs, two for each tent, they are a bit pricy but have great reviews for what it is worth.

I want to run a DWC top fed system and bought four 45L totes with the plan of turning them into DWC units, however they stand at 33cm, therefor reducing my grow height a bit. I am looking to run a GH Lucas ratio nute program but it has been bugging me having to deal with eight separate reservoirs so I have been looking for a way to run them as single units. I was thinking of plumbing them together but don't want the risk of flooding so I am now looking at a larger reservoir and have found the Bloomroom Flexi Rez Catchment Trays, specifically the 115x115x20cm.



It is only 20cm deep but filled to 10cm it would hold 132L. I am not really interested in the cover on the second image as I only plan to run four plants and was going to get a mirrored piece of perspex to act as a cover. I can only find 5mm thick perspex so will need some support in the middle, perhaps an upside down bucket or the like. With this system I can get a higher powered water pump instead of four for each reservoir per tent. I am not going to use air pumps so was going to opt to build a couple of lines coming from the water pump that will rain down nutrient solution. I have been toying with the idea of getting a chemical dosing pump to slowly add h2o2 to the reservoir at the pump inlet.



They also do a 95x95x20cm, (90L reservoir at 10cm deep) which may be large enough to accommodate four plants. If I put the nets 10cm from the corners it will give me 75cm clearance from the centres. I am going to manifold my plants to give 8 or 16 colas. Not sure which size to go for.




My main concern right now is keeping the temperature up as the room walls are currently reading 7.7c so I am thinking of getting a NETTA 800W Oil Filled Electric Heater Radiator connected to a Inkbird ITC-306T. If the temp is leaking too much I would drape the top of the tent with aerogel insulation as the Green Qube thermal blankets are unavailable. I plan on monitoring the humidity with a Inkbird IHC-200 and buying a Pro Breeze® 3.8L Large Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier and/or a 20L per day dehuey as needed (providing hey don't leak light), not sure, which will be needed first or at all.

I have no plans for extraction fans for the tent (for now) and the room will be sealed with a loose fitting door but could add a tent extraction fan to the Inkbird for cooling. Hopefully I can deal with odour with ONA Gel in adjacent rooms/corridor.

Seeing as the reservoir is large I am wondering how I can accurately gauge the volumes, in the totes I was going to run some pipe from the lid and have a balsa stick fitted with some cork to act as a float gauge but don't think it will be very accurate in the large reservoir seeing as 1mm of liquid is 1.3L, then again that might be ideal.

Anyway just throwing it out there to see if anyone can offer me some advice or additional ideas.

Cheers All.

Chris P Bacon said:

Hi all.

I have been lurking on the site looking for info and have found a great community with lots of great ideas, advice and info.

... and am looking to setup two Green Qube RQ150 tents (150x150x180)...

..

I am going to be ordering four Electric Sky 300 V2 LEDs, two for each tent, they are a bit pricy but have great reviews for what it is worth.

I want to run a DWC top fed system and bought four 45L totes with the plan of turning them into DWC units, however they stand at 33cm, therefor reducing my grow height a bit. I am looking to run a GH Lucas ratio nute program but it has been bugging me having to deal with eight separate reservoirs so I have been looking for a way to run them as single units. I was thinking of plumbing them together but don't want the risk of flooding so I am now looking at a larger reservoir and have found the Bloomroom Flexi Rez Catchment Trays, specifically the 115x115x20cm.

...

My main concern right now is keeping the temperature up as the room walls are currently reading 7.7c so...

I have no plans for extraction fans for the tent (for now) and the room will be sealed with a loose fitting door but could add a tent extraction fan to the Inkbird for cooling.

Hopefully I can deal with odour with ONA Gel in adjacent rooms/corridor.
..

Anyway just throwing it out there to see if anyone can offer me some advice or additional ideas.

Cheers All.

Click to expand...

hi bro, best wishes with your new adventure!

i edited the quote for my two cents. dont want to change your mind, but you should put much more time and thinking into the enviroment, rather than the growing method (dwc, coco, drip, soil, whatever).

* no extraction? no... always active extraction, passive intake from below,

* can't deal with week 9 flower smell with gel.

* there are many ways to heat the place, if you need light and heat, maybe big hps can do the job 2x1, just put some time in the calculator and you'll get what's best for your pocket,

last thing to add would be to first buy the tents, lights and fans/exhausts and start checking temperature and enviromental stuff, simulate growing conditions, smoke a J inside a tent, etc.

when that's good, then go crazy with what happens in rootzone,

cheers bro,

Hey pongster, thanks for the reply.

I have installed the two tents, the second one being more awkward than I imagined.

With regards to the extraction, if I get two carbon filters and fans for constant extraction, I feel that I will be drawing heat from the tents and heating the containing room to equilibrium therefor I might just as well heat the room and not the tents. If I am running veg and flower consecutively this will give less control over the "day/night" environment in the individual tents. I figured that I would be running the equivalent of two semi-sealed rooms with my two tents, it seems that many people run sealed rooms with no active extraction. I was thinking, if necessary, I would put an extraction fan linked to the cooling port of the Inkbird just to vent if temps rose too much, which might happen in the summer.

I will get the rest of the environmentals ordered and have a look at what is needed. Can't seem to find a humidity controller that has day and night settings though. The Inkbird IHC-200 is pretty sweet but lacking in day/night.

Do you think an ozone generator for the adjoining rooms would be sufficient for killing the odour, providing it is not hazardous?

Thanks for the input.

Chris P Bacon said:

Hey pongster, thanks for the reply.

I have installed the two tents, the second one being more awkward than I imagined.

With regards to the extraction, if I get two carbon filters and fans for constant extraction, I feel that I will be drawing heat from the tents and heating the containing room to equilibrium therefor I might just as well heat the room and not the tents. If I am running veg and flower consecutively this will give less control over the "day/night" environment in the individual tents. I figured that I would be running the equivalent of two semi-sealed rooms with my two tents, it seems that many people run sealed rooms with no active extraction. I was thinking, if necessary, I would put an extraction fan linked to the cooling port of the Inkbird just to vent if temps rose too much, which might happen in the summer.

I will get the rest of the environmentals ordered and have a look at what is needed. Can't seem to find a humidity controller that has day and night settings though. The Inkbird IHC-200 is pretty sweet but lacking in day/night.

Do you think an ozone generator for the adjoining rooms would be sufficient for killing the odour, providing it is not hazardous?

Thanks for the input.

Click to expand...

yes mr. bacon, hello!

i can't properly imagine your space, so some points to take into account:
- ozonizer does kill smells, leaves a smell like dentist office. when it's working, i find it very irritating for lungs and nose.
- my carbon filter has been working for 7 months almost 24/7, no smells here. best option.
- no worries about day/night settings. only one setting is enough.
- oxygen-filled air needs to be changed from the room. they need co2, no two ways around it. so you need to get fresh air or air that you are breathing into the tent, and taking the oxygen air out of there.

last thing...
cheap seeds are not bad seeds, and you can get some real nice smoke from there.
so, when you feel ready to start, start with cheap seeds of known origin. if you fail, fail little money. if you succeed, nice smoke and knowledge learned.
i wouldnt start with bagseeds as they will use the same amount of time and electricity bill as cheap or expensive seeds.

when i set up my tent, i smoked a full joint inside with all the ventilation on; no problem. i guess it was a good test hehehehehe

cheers!
best of luck,

Luv'n the constructive exchange of ideas!

Thanks again pongster.

Having looked at prices for fans and filters, which are very reasonable, I will install one for each tent, though to start I might just set them up to exhaust for cooling and get some Exhale bags to supplement CO2.

I have ordered my heating elements and humidity device along with controllers, which should be arriving soon, can't wait to get setup. I can keep the humidity control constant for day/night and adjust it for growth stages, which should be cool, thanks for that.

I have decided to go against h2o2 dosing (due to ph fluctuations) and will get a couple of ozone bubblers for the reservoirs for that sterile oxygenated feeling. I will still get some h2o2 to put in the humidifier as I have seen reports of these growing unwanted cultures over time.

I'll report back when things are installed.

Cheers

BuzzBob56, damn straight, glad to have found this forum.

nice bro,
so i guess is waiting now, set up, get high and adjust then! don't cook your brain with data and "what-if" until you get your equipment.

best of luck,
again i will highlight to focus first on enviroment, then on root zone... check hydro forum for an ozone thread... cautionary tale hehehe

Thanks again pongster. Pretty much got the enviro equipment set up just waiting on the dehumidifiers so just a few more days and I can do some test runs. What do you think about feeding the dehuey discharge pipe back to the reservoir? It is either that or setup some kind of receptacle to collect the discharge. which is no big deal but it would be nice not to have to deal with that.

Re the ozone, what was the specific issue?

Chris P Bacon said:

Thanks again pongster. Pretty much got the enviro equipment set up just waiting on the dehumidifiers so just a few more days and I can do some test runs.

Click to expand...

awesome brother, best of luck and hope you can make a journal as well! =)

Chris P Bacon said:

What do you think about feeding the dehuey discharge pipe back to the reservoir? It is either that or setup some kind of receptacle to collect the discharge. which is no big deal but it would be nice not to have to deal with that.

Re the ozone, what was the specific issue?

Click to expand...

i'm sorry, i am not an hydro guy so i can't help you with this. there are many experienced growers here that can surely assist you there.

on the ozone, it's just its nature. breathing ozone is not good for one's health, i've not seen any studies or w/e, but when the body tells you something, you listen... =)

best of luck brother, cheers

Yeah, I was aware that there is a danger with certain levels of ozone in the air but have read that ozone treated water is beneficial. An article can be found searching for "Get in the HydrOZONE".

I think setting up a journal will be fun and informative, such a great collective here.

Merry Xmaz

Finally got everything together for a test run.



I have the humidity dialled in and can keep it where I want, however, as it stands I can only get to 18c due to me sizing the radiator to the tent and not the room. With both tents and both radiators going it would probably be enough to get up to the mid 20s but I think I will supplement the room with an additional radiator to take the chill out of the room.

Finally got my seeds in the ground so to speak.

Diary can be followed here on ICMAG at https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=8782690#post8782690

or on Grow Diaries at https://growdiaries.com/diaries/50098-barney-039-s-farm-dos-si-dos-33-grow-journal-by-doofus-mcfluro

If one is so inclined.

Cheers.