Lofty Questions

[mellow]

Hi All

I'm getting back into the wonderful art of growing after a few years break in a new place, since the old shop that I used to get my supplies & advice from has shutdown    can u help with the following ( I have had a look at most of the postings but still have some questions)

I have a small loft that seems to have a very weak floor so what is the least heaviest method of growing ? dirt or hydro ? (previosly I used dirt so if it is Hydro some advice on what system would be greatly aprreciated)

Also the walls are paper thin so I would appreciate some advice on where to get a very quiet lamp & extractor fan (I already get complaints about noise from them)

ta

Mellow

[chip]

Hi Mellow

It all sounds a little tricky to me. Weak ceiling/floor, thin walls!! Blimey.

On the growing side i am sure that there wouldnt be that much difference in weight. Maybe pots of perlite would be the lightest because its doesnt hold water as well as soil or rockwool for instance. Obviously a great big tank of solution for an NFT or flood and drain set up would be very heavy, so not the best option.

Quiet fans!! The LTI fans from Growell are quite quiet if you make sure that there is an amount of ducting attached to each end of the fan. Without this, there is more turbulence at the intake which makes them louder.

Hope that helps, but at the end of the day, you gotta do what you feel comfortable with.

Chip

[impsvi]

does the floor have wooden beams with week floor inbetween?

If so go to BnQ and check out wooden mdf puzzel flooring, this is cheap sheets of wood that interlock together, simply lay it on the wooden beams and push together.

About 20quids worth of this stuff should give a floor in ur loft big enough to grow with no wieght restrictions.

Rember one thing about growing in a loft! if the loft is not insulated (like a room) then temps in summer will get very hot usally bout 5-10 degrees hotter than the outside air temps.

Then in the winter loft temps usally go as low as a few degrees above outside air temps so the plants may get cold.

To combat both these problems try and have the light of in its dark cycle when the loft is at its hottest or have the light on (to produce heat) when the winter temps get there lowest, while making sure u dont mess up the photoperiods (light dark cycle).

hope this helps

[kal17117]

hi m8,

i just read the article about loft growing. if i keep the light's on during the night to keep temp's down (400w) can it's heat signiture be picked up by a police helicopter. if it comes in to my town it's flight path is right over my house. is there any way round this other than growing during the day?

 peace.   kal....

[Guest bc pete]

hey there.

firsstly   lay down extra plywood to distribute weight

soil/ perlite weighs less and is a lot quieter than hydro

go down to builders merchants/diy store and buy some sheets of rigid/ polystyrene insulation 3/4" or 1" with reflective on one side( kill two birds with one stone)

buy light with a long lead to ballast so you can place it outside loft, less heat.

as for the eye in the sky well the only thing you can do there is maybe line your roof with lead!!!!!! expensive and bad to the envioroment

hope something helps out of all that i am up in attic without an extractor at the moment and i am improvising using a 600 HPS!!

good luck man

:peace:  peter

[Gnu Boy]

If you're worried about the strenght of the existing floor/ceiling joists a dead easy way to strengthen them is just get some more lengths of 3"x2" & screw this on top, works a treat, builders did it to mine for my loft conversion solid as a rock now.........what's that creaking.......... :mad:

[Steve The Weed]

Hi Kal17117,

I'm a loft grower and have lights on during the day.

Not sure where in the country you are but a fly over detection is a small risk. I live in a well lit street and I don't think I'd stick out too bad anyway. You may like to put your lights on and have a walk outside though (after dark), you may find you have some work to do.

The downsiseds are, as you have realised heat, and its more expensive.

Steve The Weed

:mad:

[Delta Bravo]

I`ve had military experience with thermal, infra red and night vision cameras and detection devices. The ones use by police helicopters can ONLY detect the OUTSIDE temperature of buildings. The heat from the light would have to penetrate your roof lining and the tiles to register. Yes heat rises, but it is more than adequately dissipated throughout the loft due to venting from the eaves. I grow in my loft too and have my light on during the night for economical reasons.

The only time you get choppers with thermal imaging is when they are busy looking for mobile suspects, they don`t go looking for heat signatures from the roofs of buildings. Apart from the huge expense of such an operation, how would they determine which buildings to check? Not really feasable.

[chip]

I`ve had military experience with thermal, infra red and night vision cameras and detection

                       devices. The ones use by police helicopters can ONLY detect the OUTSIDE temperature of

                       buildings. The heat from the light would have to penetrate your roof lining and the tiles to

                       register. Yes heat rises, but it is more than adequately dissipated throughout the loft due to

                       venting from the eaves. I grow in my loft too and have my light on during the night for economical

                       reasons.

                       The only time you get choppers with thermal imaging is when they are busy looking for mobile

                       suspects, they don`t go looking for heat signatures from the roofs of buildings. Apart from the

                       huge expense of such an operation, how would they determine which buildings to check? Not really

                       feasable.

Thanks for that info deltabravo. I have been troubled by this thought ever since i had to revert to loft growing. I have been told not to worry etc, before, but never by anyone with actual experience of the equipment in question. i am sure many growers will sleep more soundly after they've read this post.

Regards

Chip

[ICaneBud]

Just to add to the IR/TI discussion, I've heard tell, although not had it confirmed, that a search warrant cannot be obtained purely on the basis of thermal imaging evidence.  If you're really worried you could line the apex of your roof with foiled hardboard.

The strengthening technique used by most builders for conversions is to tie the joists into the main cross beams (that are supported on the walls either side and carry the weight of the roof) with high tension cables.

I'm growing in a loft with a 600W HPS and no in/out same as bc pete and the passive airflow is good just cos I move it around so much in the loft.  The local police chopper flies over several times a day on average but I'm not worrying.

[Cassidy]

With regards to thermal imaging and search warrants, courts in the US (including the Supreme Court) have held that thermal imaging can only be done with a search warrant so the cops have to have reasonable suspicion that your growing first before they can try thermal imaging.  Don't know what the status is over here, though.