Help designing new room today

[flipmastermike]

Well I am finnally going to start on my new room. I have an 8x8x8 room. I have planned to use 3ft on the right side for flower w/ 1000 aircooled hps on a light rail. Using 5 gal dwc buckets.
the left side of the room is what I am more worried about. I am planning on using all flouros and Cfl's for veg,mothers and clones to save on electricity. If anyanyone dissagrees this will help my electricity bill please let me know.But anyway

I am planning on using about 3ft deep the same as the flower room but on the left side. I was planning on using 3 shelves for mother/veg clone room.

I PLan on having 2 3.5ft deep shelves almost 4ft vertical each where I will have new clones on one shelf and rooted clones on one shelf.on the same side to the right of the two shelves for clones I will have an area about 4ft wide and 3.5 ft deep and about 6.5-7ft tall deep I would use for my mothers and possibly maybe a little veg.

Ofcourse all the flowering will be done on the right side of the room and and the veg/mother/clone cabinet will be light proof so no light escapes to the flowering area./

I know I still need to work out my a/c and ventilation. But do u guys have any ideas that could help me or make this more efficient? thanks for the help everyone sorry for the long post,Mike

 

[BuzzBob]

Hey Mike! --

Wow! That sounds a lot like what I am doing! Only my room dimmensions are little smaller at about 6'x6'x7'h

My room is still in the works, really. {A little at a time as "Needed," and time/$$$ allow}

I, personally, light proofed my flowering area from the rest of the world, as opposed to light proofing the Nursery/Veg Area.

Also, I am only using two, room length, tiers on the Mom/Veg side. Mom(s) and babies will likely use the top tier, and downstairs is where I will Veg. I may throw up a small partition between Mom and her offsping as well... I am undecided on that at present.

In my Flowering Chamber I currently have a 400 watt HPS, covering an area of approximately 12 sq ft. {Though I am only using about 8 sq ft, proper, for the Girls}

On the Veg side I am using two sets of twin 4' Shop Lights {4 total shop lights, 8 tubes, matched into pairs}, using Full Spectrum 40 watt tubes.

I don't have it set up yet, but Mom will likely get a few 40 watt {65 watt equivalent} CFLs in her li'l nook...

I have some pics in my Gallery if you wanna check 'em out. Hit me back with any questions {planning, construction, or otherwise} you may have!!


G'Luck, 'n Good Grow'n!!!

-BuzzBob

 

[flipmastermike]

Thanks BuzzBob, Your set up is very similar to mine. your even using dwc! How was the maintence with dwc? I have only used dwc one time and it was for only 2 plants in the same rez. This time I am using 5gal buckets for each plant.
I started working on my room the other night and have changed a few things.The biggest thing I changed was the mom/veg/clone area. I now have 1 large area about 3ft deep,5ft tall and 8 ft wide. I have one main shelf above that area that is a lil over 2 ft high.That I will be using for clone area.Mothers will go in the larger area below that. I will use 6 40w flouro tubes for the clones. And now I am not exactly sure what I am going to use for the mothers(probably use 40w tubes and Cfl's)


thanks again Buzzbob I am sure i will have many questions for you in the future since you have about the exact same set up that I am currently building.

I need to get done fast cuzz my seedlings that are a little over 2 weeks old are starting to really grow fast now

 

[BuzzBob]

Hey Mike!

LOL... Sorry if I laugh a lot! You sound just like me! You might wonder why my room isn't more "complete?" That's cause I have been building it out "as I go." Literally, I lightproofed my flower chamber as I had plants screaming to get in...

Same thing for the 2nd DWC System I set up... I was building the buckets as my AK Clones were pushing roots into the floor of the Humidity Dome yelling at me for room to grow and nutes!

Anyway... DWC Maint: Not a big deal really, IF you have it set up correctly... That being: Use a Controller Bucket and have all your Grow Buckets linked directly to it {with at least 1/2" dark poly lines}. This permits emptying and refilling your entire system via the Controller.

Also, you will want a large external reservoir that is at least large enough to hold all the water/nute mix from your system. This is necessary for mixing nutes without doing it right in with the plants.

At present, I have not added a Float Valve to the Controller Bucket. However I will eventually, and I highly recommend it! Using a Float Valve, with a line to the large res, it will maintain your water level automatically.

Without the Float Valve I am having to check my water/nute level daily, and top it off manually. Not a big deal really, as I like spending time with my Girls. But it will prove problematic if I ever have to leave town for a couple of days...

One other thing I would recommend is to implement some form of recirculation... i.e., Keep your water/nute mix "flowing" through the system. Without recirculation, over time buckets can vary in their pH and PPM, which then needs to be dealt with... I do not have recirculation in my newer system at present. As a result, if I see a discrepancy in an individual bucket that needs addressing, I have to push the entire system back up to the large res, mix it up {making adjustments as necessary}, and then push it back to the buckets... Hope that made sense!


I look forward to your room and system as it progresses! I am sure we will be able to swap notes on many details...

-BuzzBob

 

[flipmastermike]

thanks Bob, Hopefully I will have pics up soon. I def. want a controller bucket. I have read a few grow faq's on them. Is it basically like an ebb and flow pump in a rez that empty's and fills the buckets??.
Your system sounds exactly what I want.I would guess since you have one flower room and your taking clones that you harvest about every 2 months? I am sure it has alot to do with the strains you use. have you found that certain strains like dwc better then others? Also I was wondering what would be an average harvest from each bucket? Sorry for so many questions,But your my idol right now thanks,Mike

 

[BuzzBob]

Ha! Me, an idol? That's a good one! Thanx for the compliment! Honestly, though, I have not harvested yet...

I set up my first system {after a crash course on my back porch in Hydro Engineering, and a lotta trial and error} which I was running some Bagseeds in to work out the kinks, gain experience points, etc. Once "things" were working, it was going very well! ....till the ones I kept went Male on me...

This second system I built to accommodate the AK47 Clones I am now running... They are basically in their 2nd week of Veg at the moment, running 18/6 under a 400 watt hps. I hope to get 'em into 12/12 Flower in the next week or two...

The "standard" DWC is not an E&F. However, with some twists, you can actually set up a system like what HOG did here: HOG's Ebb & Flow Bucket Garden

The "standard" DWC works primarily off gravity. The Res sits higher than the Controller. The Controller is rigged with a Float Valve {kinda like what's used in a toilet's mechanism, but not quite} which opens allowing water/nutes to flow into the Controller, from the Res, as the water level drops due to usage by the plants.

That said, I am not doing any of it! LOL... I just manually move a pump around as needed to either pump everything up to the Res as necessary, or from the Res back to the Controller...

:::Sigh::: One day I'll have ALL the toys I desire... But not today!


As for strains, and their preferences... I know not much! Sorry!

For "timing," I am still working on that too! I have developed a web based tool which lays out a Grow's Expected Timeline, based on durations in days. By plugging a grow's expected Harvest Date into it as a Flower Start Date, it will project precisely when to take clones {or germ seeds} for a new start. But, yes, every tweo months sounds about right. Yield? I'll let you know in a couple months!

I am hoping to get this tool hosted here at ICMag, so everyone can use it. Here's a screenshot:

Click for Larger Image

 

[flipmastermike]

Thanks for explaining Bob. I wasnt aware that some of the controller buckets are actually gravity fed. i thought they all had a sub. pump. I know I want to have a system w/ a controller bucket I am just not sure what type I want to use. I know I dont want to have to change 8-10 buckets every week or two.

My last grow I used one of these:http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/customer/product.php?productid=1346&cat=50&page=1

A mini 8 plant ebb and flow system.very easy.But too small for my needs.But you couldnt beat the maintence.

I am for sure using dwc this time but not sure on what type of controller system I am going to use yet.
I like dwc cuz it looks like you can have some massive plants and since my room is 8ft high I figure I can take adavantage of the hieght.It depends on how long I am going to veg for. I want tohave some type of perpetual harvest. thanks again for the help Bob.i will keep u updated on the grow and hopefully have pics up soon.
I really need to finish my room cuz my seedlings arent really seedlings anymore and are starting to overgrow the small veg area I have them in.

 

[BuzzBob]

Hey Mike,

Not a problem in explaining... Or, at least trying to explain!

Hey! I just remembered that I had this thread {which HOG put me onto a while back} bookmarked: Day by Day, Bubbler Grow Guide

Even though he's not using a Controller {he's running individual buckets}, the thread has a wealth of good info, all very nicely presented!

Hope it helps!

-Bob

 

[00420]

hey mike you get this room going or what?.....lol

id watch out for temps in your dwc could be a prob just fyi
i had a prob with it on my dwc and could not keep them down so untell i get a water cool or make one im back to perlite