New grower help with setting up grow room

Grow Cycle
1

Ok so been searching internet for awhile now and although ive gotten alot of info im still not rdy to pull the trigger and getting burnt out steady looking stuff up. The people here seem vry positive and helpful so fig you guys would be willing to help me get to point of getting this going. Have lots of questions that will come up but just going to start with little at a time…

So i have a 9.5’ x 12.5 room im going to set up as flower room and use the closet (not sure on dimensions atm) for drying so that the smell is in 1 room. Then set up a veg area in another room. Even though its my first time im gonna jump into deep end and go hydro. Will start as a dwc and once i get everything locked in will turn it into a rdwc. Working on a layout atm im thinking of doing 1 plant per 2-2.5 sq ft? Once i get layout done i can get to lights which im thinking the 288qb with the red lights and uv+ir? Plan on doing alibaba so quicker i can get them ordered the better since ill be waiting longer 4 shipping. So will leave it at that 4 now. Spaceing of plants? How many qbs and uv+ir or not? Mylar or panda? Should i put 2x3 on ceiling to hang stuff exactly where i want?will 5 gal buckets be big enough or to big. Fyi im very comfortable with diy. With this info i can start getting stuff ordered and getting project going. Hope to find this forum my new home and have many successful grows with you guys.

4 Likes
2

To flower that size space you’re looking at needing a little over 3500 watts of QB’s. That’s about 27 Qb boards. Then you’ll need drivers, heat sinks, wire, connectors, etc. Of course you have kits like the HLG scorpion Diablo that comes with 6 boards and everything needed to just plug and play. You’d need almost 5 of those. Then you need to light the veg room which can be done much cheaper since veg plants don’t need the amount of light flowering plants do.

1 Like
3

Yh i was looking at hlg but with the amount of lights i need it would just be too expensive. Was thinking kingbrite boards. And was thinking of kits as i think buying the stuff together will be cheaper then buying ea component seperate? Also i fig if i make my set up myself i can put boards exactaly where i need them for better coverage.

4

Each board is good for 2x2 coverage. I’ve found it cheaper ordering the components separate. Not significantly, maybe like $30 cheaper but for an order your size, that would be pretty significant

1 Like
5

I wanna do it right the first time though so if i half to do half the room at start then add as i get the money i will.

1 Like
6

So if i do 2sq’ spaceing thats 1 qb per plant. Dont really know which training im gonna do. I hear sog is way to go with 1 sq ft per plant. Will be extra work and more money up front but i hear youll yield more per year doing sog? I got plenty time on my hands for the long term so dont mind the extra work tbh

7

There is a DIY thread here where people build their own lights with a much smaller price tag. @dbrn32 would be the one to talk to about the latest and greatest DIY stuff out right now

2 Likes
8

Yeah at 1 plant per 1 sqft you’ll have around 100 plants with a little room to move about. That’s a full time job, lol

2 Likes
9

Lighting requirements should be looked at over area, and no real need to account your walkway or however you’re going to access plants. If you look at what you’re going to have for size of canopy we can figure out what you’re going to need.

1 Like
10

Once i get layout of plants i can get layout of lights at that point i can get started with mylar or panda unless i dont need 2x3 on ceiling for hanging. Itching to get started and making process… If i was to do sog what size container would i need for flower?

11

Dbrn32 so u agree on the 27 288qbs for the 9.5x12.5? Also what about red lights uv ir etc
And if so what do u recommend for drivers 4 that

12

I would like to know which parts of room are going to be deducted for plants before I say for sure.

Most important thing is to hit recommended par levels, if you want that stuff is fine.

Can you tell me what Voltage and current ratings are for boards you’re gonna buy?

1 Like
13

I just started last August… Bought a few cheap tents, and a few cheap burple lights…

After the harvest… I found that going cheap initially was a huge mistake.

Luckily I was able to sell it all on Amazon… A huge mistake in its self… as Amazon provides no support for sellers and lets A hole customers get away with murder… Ebay next time I sell equipment…not that I will have a need.

I just redid all my equipment as the tents had lots of light leaks, the Chinese lights were not as they described, etc.

my advice buy the best you can afford… Or save for the best you want.

After much studying… HLG lights are great, customer service is awesome, and shipping is very fast.

14

Couldn’t respond only allowed so many responses as new member… figured my layout out. Gonna do 4x10 x2. Since I’m doing sog I’m gonna do 2 layers so really 4x10 x4. Thinking I’m gonna have to do some electrical work to handle the load. @Growmoredank did u go with the kingbrite 288 QBs? What was issue with them? This is a big project we’re talking least 40 288 qbs. With hlg that’s least 3200$ on boards only. I can probably do 60 boards plus everything else I need heatsinks,drivers etc for the same price with kingbrite and all the searching i haven’t seen a bad review on all the forums. So curious to know y u ain’t happy with them. Was looking at these boards as I’m not sure there cree line are legit or worth it.![Screenshot_20210417-093655_Chrome|236x500(upload://dRuhlmU8n8WGG0reauiP79Zc7by.jpeg)
@dbrn32 ^^

Also got a question about how I’m gonna feed 160 plants oxygen lol gonna be a lot of airstones :thinking: also how many mother plants I’m gonna need 2 keep up with so many clones? :unamused::unamused: maybe I’m just being over ambitious I have to tell myself sometimes to dial it down :rofl::rofl: then there’s still veg to think of and area for the BM’s. Definitely think I’m gonna do 1-2 4x10 areas at a time and add other 2 areas down the road or find a sponsor :rofl::rofl: which tbh won’t be hard to find. Ffs I’m gonna have to hire employees at this rate :rofl: sry for long post but seems I’m limited on replays so trying to fit it all in. Need 2 find access to a big 3d printer to make some custom bins for the rdwc system on this scale. Fking auto correct is killing me could’ve swore I turned it off.

15

Sry pic didn’t post 4 some reason and said to hold to edit even though I just posted …

Screenshot_20210417-132941_Chrome
Screenshot_20210417-132941_Chrome720×1520 132 KB

16

I had used four GreenGo 1200w two per 4x4 tent.
I now am in veg under an HLG 300L Bspec(veg light) … Apart from an over watering… The difference has been night and day. Lower heat and energy use costs. Better growth.

My flower tent, another 4x4, has the HLG 600 Rspec(flower light) in addition to UVA, UVB & far red supplements…haven’t used them yet.

Apart from saving $ with DIY kits, as @BobbyDigital suggested, I have learned a person must do homework on lights as some companies will exaggerate or imply their lights are more than they are, and you get what you pay for… Greengo at $106-129 per light and no real documentation to support the claims or $$$ from a company in the USA that openly provides all data on their lights. It is an investment for sure.

17

Just looked up those lights and there burpuples which is a lot different then the quantum boards I’m looking at. No doubt u had issues with them and saw huge difference between those and the hlg quantum boards as u said night and day or more like apple’s and oranges. I’m sure hlg QBs are better then kingbrite qbs but at half the price I’m not sure hlg is twice as better and I’ve seen good reviews on the kingbrite qbs on forums such as this 1. I’m looking for best bang for my buck and top shelf hlg isn’t it :rofl:. Although I haven’t been able to find a independent ppfd test on the kingbrite to compare to hlg which surprised me considering all the buzz around there product.

1 Like
18

Welcome to the community!

1 Like
19

One thing I am not seeing mentioned here and maybe I missed it is power requirements. You are going to need a lot of power to run all that equipment. Your average home just is not set up for that. Aside from the draw from all the lights you will need fans, Not sure about your AC. and the big ones are heating and Dehumidifiers. They have a large amperage draw. 15amp circuits quickly get overloaded and it just isn’t safe to put those kinds of loads on them to begin with.

I am just getting by with my setup and spreading it over 3 circuits. Even then If I forget to turn off the dehumidifier and plug in the shop vac the circuits will trip.

Another thing is flowering in the same room as you are drying may be difficult with RH in the drying area if the timing will effect that. I dont have a separate area for drying so I use both my tents for that so my grow comes to a stand still basically until drying is done which really sucks. I have 4x4 and 4x8 in the same room with 2-2x2s for clones and seedling., Its a juggling act that shouldn’t even work but it does.
You are also going to want to vent to the outside world unless you want A LOT of headaches. Trust me. I cannot and it is A 24hr battle now but i’ve come out ahead going on the 3rd grow.

Youll need to keep your Rh and temps in the vpd range if you want any success. Some strains do better under shitty conditions. I grow white widow which can handle the issues I face.
That being said youll need AC to keep it cool in there and heating when it gets cold @ lights out.(maybe) depending on time of year.

Not sure how well you are insulated either. I have 100+summers and Ice in the winter. So take that into consideration. Concrete floors get cold so if thats a factor keep that in mind. There are a ton of other factors which I am sure you will research while planning. Lots of good people here to help. Safety first.

3 Likes
20

Yh I’m definitely gonna have to do some upgrades to electrical I’ll fig that out once I have everything and know what I need. Wont be too hard for me. Far as drying I got this free tent it’s just short of a 4x4 … 3 3/4 gonna use that as I don’t think closet will be big enough even using drying racks and will use that closet for equip and tools etc. Its in a spare bedroom. And temps here aren’t crazy 20-80F. 70% . I run central air in summer . So don’t think I’ll have to work hard keeping temp good. Got a ac and dehumidifier already around the house… little worried about venting outside though neighbors already nosey.