Hey all,
I have been designing a grow box for the last week or so and have come up with an improved design that I want to run by everyone. I have a spare bedroom with a closet that is 5' x 4.5' x 9'.
Here is my design layout:
The one on the left was my first draft of this version, but I then thought about needing room in the closet to move around in while tending the garden so I came up with the layout on the right in the picture. I think this may be the best layout for me based on the space. I have a 400W HPS that I got from HTG Supply that will be used as the main light for the flowering chamber. I am going to keep the ballast outside the box with a small powered fan blowing air on it to keep it cool to help preserve it or I may even aim the exhaust at it to kill two birds with one stone. I will also be running a good number of both spectrums of the 42w CFLs in the flowering area as well. The vegetative chamber will only use CFLs. Can I use the veg chamber for both mothers and clones? My original design had a separate area for mothers and clones but I had to cut that extra bit out for space needs. I am only growing enough for my own personal use so I only need to flower 3-4 plants at a time. I only want to keep about 2 mothers and I figure would only need a few clones to be able to flower 3-4 at a time.
As far as ventilation is concerned, I was originally going to use 3 20mm 90CFM PC Fans hooked to a controller to power and adjust speeds. I also needed something to use with the cool tube so I then thought I have the $40 Stanley Blower fan that many have come up with mods for grow room applications. I have the regular hood with the HPS and have been told I should get a cool tube or air cooled hood. Should I try converting the hood that I got with the light in that link(hood is shown on HTG page) to be air cooled(cutting a 6" hole in one end for ducting and pull air up through the opening under bulb). I can buy a cool tube if that is recommended. I want to be able to put the light as close as possible to the plants to maximize yield. I was thinking of using the stanley blower to vent both the cool tube and the flowering chamber. I am thinking of venting the vegetative chamber into the flowering chamber and then exhausting from there. I would be hooking the Stanley Blower intake side to a Y 6" duct splitter and have 6" ducting running from one side of the splitter to pull air through the air cooled hood/cool tube and the other side of the splitter would run duct to the flower chamber to pull air from out of there. I will be using (2) 12" x 10" white return grills as passive intakes in the flowering chamber and a smaller one in the veg chamber since I will only be using CFLs in there and there will not be much heat. I was worried the Stanley Blower would be too strong for my area, which is why I branched it out and pulled both the hood cooling and the room exhaust both into the intake on the Stanley Blower. I was also thinking of putting a DIY Carbon Filter on the blower side of the blower.
So, now that the novel is done I was hoping to get people's opinions on if I have good plans with this or anything I should change. I want to start the seedlings soon and this is my first grow so I want to get it done right before starting. Is the Stanley too strong for my space? I would be running it on the low setting. Should I also put the speed controlled PC fans high on the wall in the flowering chamber also for extra controllable venting to be in addition to the stanley exhaust? Or, should I just cool the cool tube with the stanley and put a filter in too and use the PC fans for the main exhaust for the chamber... I imagine with that strong blower pulling air over the 400W there will not be a whole lot of heat? Is my vegetative chamber big enough? Any help would be much appreciated.
I have been designing a grow box for the last week or so and have come up with an improved design that I want to run by everyone. I have a spare bedroom with a closet that is 5' x 4.5' x 9'.
Here is my design layout:
The one on the left was my first draft of this version, but I then thought about needing room in the closet to move around in while tending the garden so I came up with the layout on the right in the picture. I think this may be the best layout for me based on the space. I have a 400W HPS that I got from HTG Supply that will be used as the main light for the flowering chamber. I am going to keep the ballast outside the box with a small powered fan blowing air on it to keep it cool to help preserve it or I may even aim the exhaust at it to kill two birds with one stone. I will also be running a good number of both spectrums of the 42w CFLs in the flowering area as well. The vegetative chamber will only use CFLs. Can I use the veg chamber for both mothers and clones? My original design had a separate area for mothers and clones but I had to cut that extra bit out for space needs. I am only growing enough for my own personal use so I only need to flower 3-4 plants at a time. I only want to keep about 2 mothers and I figure would only need a few clones to be able to flower 3-4 at a time.
As far as ventilation is concerned, I was originally going to use 3 20mm 90CFM PC Fans hooked to a controller to power and adjust speeds. I also needed something to use with the cool tube so I then thought I have the $40 Stanley Blower fan that many have come up with mods for grow room applications. I have the regular hood with the HPS and have been told I should get a cool tube or air cooled hood. Should I try converting the hood that I got with the light in that link(hood is shown on HTG page) to be air cooled(cutting a 6" hole in one end for ducting and pull air up through the opening under bulb). I can buy a cool tube if that is recommended. I want to be able to put the light as close as possible to the plants to maximize yield. I was thinking of using the stanley blower to vent both the cool tube and the flowering chamber. I am thinking of venting the vegetative chamber into the flowering chamber and then exhausting from there. I would be hooking the Stanley Blower intake side to a Y 6" duct splitter and have 6" ducting running from one side of the splitter to pull air through the air cooled hood/cool tube and the other side of the splitter would run duct to the flower chamber to pull air from out of there. I will be using (2) 12" x 10" white return grills as passive intakes in the flowering chamber and a smaller one in the veg chamber since I will only be using CFLs in there and there will not be much heat. I was worried the Stanley Blower would be too strong for my area, which is why I branched it out and pulled both the hood cooling and the room exhaust both into the intake on the Stanley Blower. I was also thinking of putting a DIY Carbon Filter on the blower side of the blower.
So, now that the novel is done I was hoping to get people's opinions on if I have good plans with this or anything I should change. I want to start the seedlings soon and this is my first grow so I want to get it done right before starting. Is the Stanley too strong for my space? I would be running it on the low setting. Should I also put the speed controlled PC fans high on the wall in the flowering chamber also for extra controllable venting to be in addition to the stanley exhaust? Or, should I just cool the cool tube with the stanley and put a filter in too and use the PC fans for the main exhaust for the chamber... I imagine with that strong blower pulling air over the 400W there will not be a whole lot of heat? Is my vegetative chamber big enough? Any help would be much appreciated.
