Basement Tent Setup - Looking for some input

[burner]

Hey all, not sure if any of you remember me from a few years back with this LA Confidential micro grow:
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57026

Took a few years off, made some major life changes and ready to start up again with a proper setup.

Just want to get some input on what I have picked out right now. Trying not to spend a ton of money, hence why most of this is on Amazon (I have a prime account). Going by the reviews this all seems to be quality equipment.
This tent is going to be in the basement, it gets down to 60-65 in the winter, and hovers around 70 +/- few degrees in the summer.

I’m sure I could get away with going filter>light>fan ….but I have an S&P inline fan (100-135 cfm) from an old grow that would be perfect for cooling the light I think, and just using the 400 cfm fan for the filter/exhaust.

www.amazon.com/dp/B0027E3Q62/ref=wl...UTF8&colid=15JESAZFU24IS&coliid=IFJXPFJOFUIW0

Setup will be:
Tent – Aviditi PTU-66 48x48x79
www.amazon.com/dp/B004U6XSRC/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=15JESAZFU24IS&coliid=I2AJQXVZ12KKK6[/url]

Light – Apollo Horticulture 600watt digital dimmable HPS
www.amazon.com/dp/B00521B894/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=15JESAZFU24IS&coliid=I12AEMI4BUP3B6&psc=1[/url]

Fan – Hydrofarm Active Air 6” 400 cfm
www.amazon.com/dp/B002JQ14F8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=15JESAZFU24IS&coliid=I3PX852HMDAOEM[/url]

Filter - iPower GLFILT6M Carbon Filter
www.amazon.com/dp/B008NYF8S4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=15JESAZFU24IS&coliid=I2ZMB1LNHACDEE&psc=1[/url]

Or this fan/filter combo - VenTech IF6CF620
www.amazon.com/dp/B0052ZPMAG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=15JESAZFU24IS&coliid=I28ICYAZPE05LW[/url]


Torn between these fan speed controllers, any input or other suggestions would be great.

Active Air
hxxp://www.amazon.com/dp/B003URBQ1M...TF8&colid=15JESAZFU24IS&coliid=I2RQC1NRVL5RSC

MLS 9400
hxxp://www.amazon.com/dp/B001JHQ3G8...TF8&colid=15JESAZFU24IS&coliid=I2KQ2S21KA3OSI

SE Speedster
hxxp://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HQAVNI...UTF8&colid=15JESAZFU24IS&coliid=IBDHTAGSI379W

Lastly, I want some fire protection …after doing some searching, it seems to make a little more sense to keep the ballast, surges, plugs, etc outside of the tent, and hang an automatic fire extinguisher over that. Still undecided about this - or mounting one inside the tent and outside. I just want some piece of mind when I’m not home, especially because I have dogs. Any input on this would be great.
hxxp://www.amazon.com/dp/B0030KM0V4...TF8&colid=15JESAZFU24IS&coliid=I29OOESMBDDCGB


Thanks in advance, looking forward to hearing everyone’s opinions. :cool2:

 

[Locked]

Hey burner, good to see ya again. Just so you know Live links are now allowed here on MP. No need to change them to hxxp anymore.

I just got home from work, once I get settled in I will try and look through the stuff you have linked here. I always keep my ballasts, plugs, etc outside the tent. Sounds like your basement is going to be a great spot to grow in.

 

[burner]

Good to see you as well...thanks for looking out, I'll try and fix the links later

 

[skullcandy]

hello you got a good set up going on there the only thing i saw that you might want to change is the lights and it would be for fire safty IMO, l.e.d.s. don't require a ballest and they don't get as hot as other lights which i think would creat lesss of a fire hazard for you .. so take a look into them if it sounds intresting i use a tent and led lights works pretty good

 

[burner]

Hmm seem to be having a problem with live linking the amazon links. Skullcandy, I haven't looked into LEDs too much. They were starting to get popular a few years back, maybe I'll do some research and see what I can find out. Thanks

 

[Hushpuppy]

I think everything you have listed is good except for the light. I ffeel different than Skullcandy on this. I prefer to use HID lighting over the LED. I think the LEDs are getting better but the cost/benefit still doesn't work out yet.

I have seen very little fire hazard from the HIDs when things are done correctly. The reason I don't like your choice of lights is for the reflector fixture. I have used a bunch of those and found that the reflector is very inefficient. It will be totally worth the money for you to buy this setup: http://www.hpsgrowlightstore.com/hp...ps-dimmable-6-cool-tube-xl-reflector-set.html
I say this because I have used several of these and the light output from these hoods is 25-30% more than the cool tube with the reflector within the cool tube, which traps the lumens coming off the top of the bulb. I replaced all of my cool tubes, with the reflector inside, with the exact ones that I have linked to you. I did a side-by-side comparison to discover that these are better as they don't trap lumens, and the wide, shallow reflector does a better job of directing all of the lumens down to a nice light footprint.

The particular setup that I linked is the same price but it only gives you the light with HPS. If you want to use metal halide as well then you would need to get the $300 set. I don't use the MH side as I veg under T5HO lights in a separate space so that I can maximize my yield per month average by having plants vegging while other plants are flowering. I have 6 of these lights from this company because they have very decent prices and solid quality products and service. However, if you want to stay with Amazon, then look for a light with an external reflector with the cool tube, or a standard enclosed reflector hood that is as wide and shallow as you can afford so that it will give the plants the max lumens that the bulb produces.

Also, I understand that you want to save as much money as possible on this setup, but I would recommend that you go with a 1000w hps rather than a 600w. The reason I say this is because I had a 4x4 tent with a single 600w in it and harvested around 16oz of dry bud that was a little airy, not real tight. I put a second 600w in the tent and went to harvesting 24oz of nice tight, dense buds. I think a 1kw HPS is a very good compromise for this, but if you can't afford it right now, the 600w will still give you solid yield of good smoke.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I agree with everything that Hushpuppy has said and have a few more suggestions.

I really want to encourage you to go with a 1000W dimmable HPS/MH with an air coolable ballast like Hush mentioned. I know they cost a bit more, but I would forego the fire suppression stuff. Make sure that your electrical is adequate (I recommend a dedicated circuit) and fire is not a danger. It is not the heat from the light that is the fire danger--it is putting too many amps on a circuit and overloading the electrical. So, an LED of equal wattage would pose the same fire danger as an HPS. Also, if money is tight, you could put off buying the filter for a bit--you will not need the filter for 6 weeks or so. Do not use the filter until you need it for odor control.

I also have some suggestions on ventilation. First of all, you do not necessarily need 2 fans for your tent. You can most likely cool your light and ventilate the tent with just the 400 cfm. However, if you decide you want to use both, you will want to use the 400 for cooling the light and the smaller fan for exhausting the tent. A 100-135 cfm fan will not cool a 600-1000W light.

I use speedster fan controllers, but I would assume that they are all pretty comparable.

Good luck on your grow!

 

[burner]

Hushpuppy and THG - Thanks so much for the input. I'll spend some more and get the 600w with the XL hood that hush recommended. I'm considering the 1000w, but honestly ...I'm only growing for myself and my girlfriend, not sure that I need to run that big of a light. Probably only growing 2 or 3 plants at a time. To start, i'm vegging with the HID, maybe down the line i'll get T5's.

I found an iPower 600w on amazon, but only with a standard hood for $198. The one you linked me wil be $210 shipped...good stuff

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/iPower-GLSETX600DHMAC6-600-Watt-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B005GYRZV2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395868072&sr=8-3&keywords=ipower+600w[/ame]

I have to check the electrical down there, i'll make sure this is on a dedicated circuit ...Still probably going to do the fire protection outside the tent for peace of mind, like I said, I have 2 dogs at home all day while i'm at work...

I'll also just run the 1 fan, figured that would be enough anyway.

Again, thanks for the tips. Hopefully be purchasing this stuff within the next few weeks.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Truly, the fire suppression thing is probably a waste of money. I have dogs too, so understand your concern, but if your electrical is adequate, your danger of fire is just so remote. And if your electrical is not adequate, you could have a fire anywhere along the wiring--it wouldn't necessarily have to happen directly under the "fire extinguisher", so the fire suppression device wouldn't do any good anyway.

While I personal love my T5, if I was only running 1 tent, I would go ahead and just use the HID on MH for vegging and not worry about buying a T5. The dimmable ballasts that take both MH and HPS bulbs are great.

I have been doing this growing thing a long time and I read thousands of posts every month. In all that time, I don't believe that I have ever heard someone say that they wish they had purchased a smaller light....but on the reverse side, many many people express regret that they did not buy a larger light. I realize that money is tight, but give the 1000W serious consideration. I don't believe that you will regret it.

Basements are great places to grow--I wish I had one. The temps stay more constant year round and IMO temperature control inside the tent is easier.

 

[Locked]

I want to chime in on 2 things that have been brought up.

First off like THG said, peeps don't complain about getting too big a light. The ones that do complain wished they had more light. I am one of them. When I first started out I bought a 400W HPS setup. it wasn't long before I was kicking myself for not getting a 600W HPS. I was growing in 2x4x5 foot tents back then.
The second thing, which ties into the first, is I have been growing in a 4x4x6.5 foot tent for flowering and my first run was with just a 600w HPS. Well even though on paper I had enough lumens, real world results showed I was a bit under lit. Next grow I added the 400W HPS as well and the results were way better. Better yield and nuggs that were much more dense.
If you get a dimmable ballast you can always dial it back a bit if you feel it is truly over kill. If you go to small you can't do much except add another light or make your space smaller. jmo

 

[Hushpuppy]

One other thing on the lights. If you only plan to do single runs each time then you only need the one HID that has both the MH and HPS functions. Some off the light systems offer MH bulbs that have a 5000k spectrum which isn't great for vegging plants, but the I-power HIDs offer a MH bulb that is in the 6500k spectrum which is ideal for vegging plants. If you go this route then you will want to have a hood that is bulb accessible so that you can change ffrom MH to HPS when you go ffrom veg to fflower.

You can definitely use just the one ffan for venting and heat removal. You just leave one end of the light fixture open so that the fan pulls the air ffrom within the tent, through the light, through the flex hose to the blower that you can mount outside of the tent, and out away from the tent. The air being pulled out off the tent will pull fresh air into the tent and it will pull the warmer air out through the light fixture, which is still cool enough to cool the light sufficiently. Then when you go to flowering, you can hang the ffilter inside the tent at the ceiling and connect it to the open side of the light fixture by way of flex hose.

 

[burner]

Thanks again ladies and gents. Ok Ok ...i'll consider the 1000w ....looks like it will cost about $20-$30 more per month to run that. Not a huge deal. OR like hamster said, get a smaller tent, which is always a possibility as well. I do like the 4x4 though...not too big, not too small. ....ah decisions decisions.

Hush - I'm definitely going with the iPower, good looking out on the MH spectrum, that makes me feel even better about going with that setup.

THG - Checked out the basement again, have a few open breakers. Going to run a dedicated line for the grow. And yes, i'm very excited about finally having a cool basement to grow in, all year around.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

One of the benefits of a larger dimmable ballast is that you can set it at different wattages. If you think that 1000W is too much, you can dim it down to 750W. Or you may want to set it lower while you are vegging and then crank it up when you go to 12/12. When you are flowering, you will probably want to run your lights at night while you are there and can tend to them. I have found that temps are also easier to deal with if I run my lights at night. I used to do it just in the summer, but there are advantages to running your lights at night during the winter months, too.

Running a dedicated circuit is always preferable. If you do this yourself, make sure that your wire gauge is sufficient for the amperage of the breaker you put in. A 20 amp breaker should be just fine for anything you may want to run in a 4 x 4 tent.

Now that you have your set-up, it is time to start thinking about soil, amendments, nutrients, seeds, etc. Have you decided on the strain(s) you want to grow?

 

[burner]

THG - yeah, I'm going to put in a 20amp breaker and use 12ga wire. As far as soil, my local store closed down last year, I know another one that is just a garden store that sells fox farm. So either that or find a new horticulture store. Not sure on nutes yet, but I want to stay all organic. I use all organic fertilizers in my veggie garden every summer (fox farm, epsoma, guano, rabbit manure, etc) and make composts teas every now and then. So if you have any recommendations on nutes id be glad to hear

strains is another question. I have left over OG kush x cheese no. 1 seeds that I think I'll sprout again, but id like to grow a heavy sativa strain as well...not set on anything yet...again any recommendations would be great!

 

[Hushpuppy]

If you want to really take a few hours looking at different strains then look at The Single Seed Center. They have a crazy amount of seeds from dozens of breeders, and they are continually expanding their breeder coverage. The url is: www.worldwide-marijuana-seeds.com

 

[burner]

You're the man Hush ...I forgot about that site. :cool2:

Bought a 20amp breaker, wire, and outlet today. Looks like i'll be doing some electrical this rainy weekend

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Putting your grow space together is an excellent way to spend a rainy weekend! I have a 20 amp run to my flowering closet where I run either a 1000W or 2 600W.

If you want a sativa kind of high, I recommend Satori. She is quite easy to grow, easy to clone, gives you a great get up and do something high, doesn't grow to 8' tall, and doesn't take 14 weeks to finish. Check her out: http://www.mandalaseeds.com/Catalogue/Satori

 

[burner]

My GF and I spent a few hours today and cleaned up the unfinished area of the basement a bit, ran the new 20 amp dedicated line and a panel to mount the ballast, surge, fan speed controller and whatever else.

Also ordered everything last night, went with the iPower 600 watt dimmable HPS/MH cooltube with the XL hood Hushpuppy recommended and dropped my tent size to a 48x24x60. I know everyone said go larger, rather than smaller, but after a lot of thinking, I think this will be more than adequate for us. Should be getting some goodies this week

THG - I read a lot about the Satori, saw a bunch of you on here growing it...pretty much described exactly what I want to grow. 2 sites are out of stock right now, and Mandala is on vaca till 4/18 Could just wait till then, but really wanted to get this going soon.

View attachment WP_20140329_003.jpg

 

[Locked]

Good to see you getting things squared away and ready. Looks like a great place for a grow. Keeping temps in check is always a priority and can help you extend the indoor grow season. I have to shut it down by Mid June the latest. The summers are just to hot. If I had a basement I would probably grow year round.

 

[pcduck]

HL....cool your tent room have your intake and exhaust in different rooms. That way you are not exhausting the air ya just cooled. I think it is the the law of physics/thermodynamics that will allow you to grow year round.