garage grow underway! Options

[Joint hogger]

you musta spent a small fortune buying all that gear at once


instead of using hooks, i use cable ties, el cheapo method

[groovelick]

You need to blow throu the cool tubes not suck the air directly coming out the lamp is hot air not a good mix with plastic impelare blades on the fan

[aust]

yes i totally agree.. sucking the hot air thru your fan is a very bad idea. not only will it shorten the life of your fan but it could cauze a fire also .. you always want to suck the cool air and then blow it over your lights, this is the only method i would use.. as sucking hot air over your fan will make it blow out.

[SoSoFiZzY]

hey guys, thanks for the heads up... gonna have to find a new location for the rvk fan... think that seeing as its no good in the most ideal position (the middle).. i may double it as a 'intake' at the same time as blowing fresh air into the tubes and cooling it down and blowing it out.. (instead of sucking as you guys have suggested)....

So that leaves me scratchign my head with my ductwork bag... im technically limited with space at the top of the room as the tubes come so close to the extract when raised at a maximum (late flowering). I am generally inclined towards HSE (health and safety) and in the oil industry the floorplanners usually think up the worst case scenarios and try to prevent them or provide a solution before endangering the habitat ... so with that in mind im trying to iron everything out post-run!

i have vented passive intakes and can open them up all the way, roughly 4" on eithe side.

Considering i am to move the rvk from the middle, i will join up the ductwork and suspend it there-about (to maintain raise and lower efficiency). I wil then pipe a ductwork of one end of a cooltube and join it to the rvk. Question is where to put the fan? Im thinkin or makin a duct-hole in the breezeblock wall towards the back of the garage. But thats the toilet-space my extracts are going too! ?!?

Also what about my negative pressure and co2 depletion thats raised my eyebrow.. Will i run into any problems with you guys experience?

thanks for the info so far guys!! really it means alot to me. no matter how small this world may seem, these things are hard to find someone to ask/talk to...im glad we have a community here with likeminded people. life feels so...when your alone

[SoSoFiZzY]

you musta spent a small fortune buying all that gear at once


instead of using hooks, i use cable ties, el cheapo method

Tbh i initially spent £1100 on the tent, table kit, lights etc.. then in an effort to dial in my requirements and customise what i already had i spent a further £1k (from 2xhps i now have 4xlights hps/mh, larger extracts and better fan speed controller while using my old school primair for the cooling of tubes)

That braught me to a total of £2100. I managed to further spend roughly £900 on fixtures and fittings (ducting, 2xtable rebuilds, 2x contactors to run lights individually 2x timers to allow 24/0 and 12/12 on either side, nutes, coco etc.).

Thats £3k initial investment.. and expecting another £300 for the beans alone! (yes £300!).

I planned it this way because i managed to save up for a 'total cost' figure and having purchased it like that. It is easier, much easier for me to manage the ongoing costs to maintain, as long as my current equipment is reliable and doesnt require replacing...

e2a If I had knew from the start i where to invest so much, i would have part'ex'd my car and baught something else instead. , then again where would I be today?
e2a actual figures vary below what ive quoted ^^.. i always round up and over budget

Cheers!!

This post has been edited by SoSoFiZzY: Aug 23 2009, 05:53 AM

[springchicken]

Hey

I grow in what you could call a small garrage...well its about half the size of a garage and it has a door outside. My grow room is a small 1.2x1.2mx1.75m wooden kingspan lined box with a 600w growstar etc etc. The room the box is in is about 20ft by 15ft, I leave the door (not of my grow room but of the room)open all the time in the simmer and in the winter I close it at lights off (in the day) if it's really cold. I have to leave it open otherwise it over heats and or the co2 becomes depleted because you have no fresh air coming in...and a shit load of hot air coming out. I started growing early this year when it was really cold, I left my door closed and it got to 32 degrees c in an hour when the lights were on...co2 depletion would be the least of your worries.

To combat the cold in the winter I have 3 tube heaters and shut the door at lights off. Oh and I will be closing one of my three 6" passive intakes

There are plenty of people on here who grow in garages and sheds and shit so you'll be cool, just make sure the room has plenty of ventilation and before you know it you'll have a jungle in there!

good set up man

This post has been edited by springchicken: Aug 27 2009, 11:48 PM

[Puff Adder]

Good thread SSF, soon I'll be growing in a garage again too so I'm making some handy notes from what people including yourself have had to say here. The garage my grow room is in is pretty large, probably what's known as a double seeing as how it has two garage doors side by side, though I reckon with some 1st class parking skills one could probably fit 4 cars in it! My major stumbling block in the past has been the whole ventilation issue. My past plants have all died within the space of a couple of days of being put in. At first I only had my 125mm inline fan mounted in the wall for extraction and one passive intake which was about the same size. No wonder that it all went tits up really. I added another pair of passive intakes and plan to add two more in the next few days to bring it to a total of five. I'd love to just convert to a fan for intake, but don't have the loose change lying around at present, hopefully by Christmas time my situation will have changed. My only fear is that even with the added air circulation within the grow room the fact that the garage doesn't have any decent air exchange with the outside might still be a hindrance. The only air exchange at present is a gap of about 0.5 - 1cm around both garage doors. I'm hoping this will be enough especially as the South African summer is fast approaching when the mean temperatures can easily rise into the mid 30's (Celsius)!

[SoSoFiZzY]

Hey Adder, hows it? lakr stuff!

Springchicken thanks for the heads up, im glad i came to the right place! Over at icmag there just focussed on genetics imho.
I think ive understood now, ventilation is key to my success. And yours...

Adder, i understand how your going to start in the garage. Have you considered negative pressure? Meaning your exhaust is larger than your intake (air movement volume/m3/hour) In such case, your kingspanned gr should suck air from all available nucks and crannies. Not only do you get added benefits such as smellproofing but you also get the disadvantages of neg pressure. Equally positive pressure has its disadvantages too...

With neg pressure im assuming (correct me if im wrong) that if you exhaust 'out of the garage itself' and have your intake from 'inside' the garage. You should be able to acheive your goals. When it comes to co2 rich air, i know nothing about so i am going with my insticts here.
Also because of where your located and the mean temps i think you should have a air con /w kompressor in the garage to maintain good temperature. Also your plants would appreciate an oil filled radiator (if you can get one) that is in the garage (not the gr itself). This lowers humidity for your vented intake. As neg pressure will run from your intake and passive intakes.

I know finance is a problem for everyone especially in this day and age, freeing up a penny proves rather difficult!
Here you can get a cheapish air con for £35, thats roughly 500 rands.

My tent is running neg pressure and exhaust is going 'out' of the garage itself while the passive intakes are vented on the tent and my inline rvk fan acting as a small intake also (located in the garage). I have just put the granny tights over the fan to stop bug sucking.
Personally i dont own an aircon but if need be, i will install one. I have to take my chances currently. From what ive heard so far i dont think il run into tooo much of a problem (now with the recent corrections, thanks everyone!) as i also can open the back door permanently during hot times to let fresh air in.. Temps in your side of the world would prove near impossible to maintain a door for heat dissipation.

When you get the room building and going you will iron out the worst case scenarios prior to filling it up. I have noticed this also. My tent went through just short of 2 years planning (believe that) and from an intial fund of £1100 (R13,000) i am now up to £3-4k! With all my planning on paper, in memory, blueprints and ideology, it was only when i came here to raise my concerns and share my happening that i realised theres a bit more too the things i had once overseen.

There is alot we can all learn from one another and i feel safe to say this is like home for me.

Il update pics shortly... because the test-run beans have already arrived (chemdog f3's) i am hoping to germ them over the weekend.
I will also add a floorplan birds-eye pic so you guys can see how my exhaust is operating (id rather not take a photo of the garage itself because its packed with junk and massive tonk 8" ductpipes going through the breezeblock wall.

Also someone suggested adding an air-hole to the house-side of the garage... well I have added three small ones and also to the detached side I have a few air bricks added near the very top of the garage wall for better ventilation.

I still need to kingspan the garage doors and go wickes to by some plugs. electrical side is all wired and tested on extensions but not hard-wired to electricity/fusebox. I am going too simply re-route the garage light wire to create 8-10 wall sockets to plug everything in.

Thanks guys!! cheers!!

[Pinball Wizard]

wow SoSoFiZzY, talk about doing it right from the get-go. good grief man, that's a brilliant setup, life is going to be so much easier for you. i like the sound of the split/experimental grow followed by your 'full run'. great idea.
i can't think of much else to say right now. seems like you're getting plenty of sound advice and have the inclination to follow it. good man. i'm looking forward to seeing what you get out of this
i hope the canna gods smile on your harvests and that they are plentiful


This post has been edited by Pinball Wizard: Aug 28 2009, 09:18 PM

[Puff Adder]

Hey Adder, hows it? lakr stuff!

Springchicken thanks for the heads up, im glad i came to the right place! Over at icmag there just focussed on genetics imho.
I think ive understood now, ventilation is key to my success. And yours...

Adder, i understand how your going to start in the garage. Have you considered negative pressure? Meaning your exhaust is larger than your intake (air movement volume/m3/hour) In such case, your kingspanned gr should suck air from all available nucks and crannies. Not only do you get added benefits such as smellproofing but you also get the disadvantages of neg pressure. Equally positive pressure has its disadvantages too...

With neg pressure I'm assuming (correct me if im wrong) that if you exhaust 'out of the garage itself' and have your intake from 'inside' the garage. You should be able to achieve your goals. When it comes to co2 rich air, i know nothing about so i am going with my instincts here.
Also because of where your located and the mean temps i think you should have a air con /w compressor in the garage to maintain good temperature. Also your plants would appreciate an oil filled radiator (if you can get one) that is in the garage (not the gr itself). This lowers humidity for your vented intake. As neg pressure will run from your intake and passive intakes.

I know finance is a problem for everyone especially in this day and age, freeing up a penny proves rather difficult!
Here you can get a cheapish air con for £35, that's roughly 500 rands.

My tent is running neg pressure and exhaust is going 'out' of the garage itself while the passive intakes are vented on the tent and my inline rvk fan acting as a small intake also (located in the garage). I have just put the granny tights over the fan to stop bug sucking.
Personally i dont own an aircon but if need be, i will install one. I have to take my chances currently. From what ive heard so far I don't think il run into tooo much of a problem (now with the recent corrections, thanks everyone!) as i also can open the back door permanently during hot times to let fresh air in.. Temps in your side of the world would prove near impossible to maintain a door for heat dissipation.

When you get the room building and going you will iron out the worst case scenarios prior to filling it up. I have noticed this also. My tent went through just short of 2 years planning (believe that) and from an initial fund of £1100 (R13,000) i am now up to £3-4k! With all my planning on paper, in memory, blueprints and ideology, it was only when i came here to raise my concerns and share my happening that I realised there's a bit more too the things i had once overseen.

Thanks guys!! cheers!!

Damn bru, that's some expensive kit and the extra leccy consumption would be a fair old bit. The electricity bill is already running at about R4000 (£316) a month. Then again it has been winter and there are 3 old ladies who've been making countless cups of tea and hot water bottles with heaters, televisions and lights burning pretty much 24/7! Its mega wastage that I don't agree with, but they're on their way out so I wouldn't want to deny them their few pleasures. Thanks for all your lekker insight into the whole garage situation, I'll see what I come up with and supply you with an update.

[SoSoFiZzY]

Hey Adder, ah i see what you mean, i feel you... Take it as it comes there are so many alternatives ideas and innovations as opposed to over-spending. I guess i feel safe with financial targets then i seek out to meet them however its not always possible! Keep me updated with the happenings bru, will be awesome to see you get it up and running.

Hey Pinball Wizard, thanks for the warm words.. Thats really sweet of you holmes, your words are deep-felt and make me really warm inside...
"If its worth doing, it's worth doing right"-HST

I try my best and im glad I have your lots encouragement, as it is all i need to keep me going through these grim and dark days...

Take care and peace brothers, Cheers!!

[smokie1 b c f c]

10 out of 10 for that set up,well done.keep it green.