I'm a nubie. Let's talk growing!

[nick6422]

I have some questions regarding the planning of a grow-op which I'm in the process of building.
I will have a 72 by 120 inch vegitative grow room. The actual grow area will be 48 by 84 inches. By my calculations, capacity will be 100 plants. I am planning to have two 400W HPS lights with two CFLs to cover the blues. Is this too much for vegitative growth? What size fans will I need to get fresh air in there? I don't know whether to go with multi-bucket ebb and flow or a trough style ebb and flow. I would also like to grow different strains, so should I have two or three troughs, each with a separate rez? The cloning set up will also be in this room, which I plan to partition with a plastic vapor barrier.
The flowering room will be 108 by 120 inches with a grow area of 96 by 100. I believe capacity in this room will be 240 plants. I plan to have four 600W HPS with four CFLs and maybe a 160W UVB bulb which I'll rotate. How much air circulation will I need in this room and what size rez and pump? Again, how can I allow for experimentation with an ebb and flow system.
There will be another 60 by 120 inch room for drying, curing, storage, and research. I plan to fully automate the entire operation. Is it worth the expense? Does anyone consider automation coping out?
If my set up and calculations suck, please let me know.

Thanks,
N

[c-ray]

I would keep it simple if you can
a 4x8 ebb and flow table covered by 2 x 1000w ideally with air cooled reflectors
use 1000w metal halide conversion bulbs for veg and switch to 1000w HPS for flowering
I like solarmax bulbs but there are other good bulbs like eye hortilux
a 1000w covers a 4x4 area quite effectively
a 600 CFM elicent fan sucking air out the room through a good sized carbon filter should be sufficient
you won't need an intake fan but you need to figure out where the intake air is going to come from, either from indoors or outdoors
I recommend giving the ask lucas thread a good read, he makes a good case for ebb and flow tables and you can find everything you need to know about pump sizes, plants per light, nutrient regimen, etc
you will likely want to grow in the neighborhood of 16-30 plants per light especially with blueberry type plants which seem to yield better from larger plants with some branching

[nick6422]

From what I've read, its the drying and flowering that create the most scent. So, should I filter the exhaust in just those rooms or will the vegitative room need that as well?

[c-ray]

they generally don't smell much in veg but there is an odor especially with certain strains...so here's an idea, if you punch a hole between the veg room and the flower room, with a baffle box or flat black ducting, the exhaust fan in the flower room will exhaust the veg room as well

[nick6422]

do different strains require vastly different nutrient regimens or can I grow different strains within the same watering tray?

[vapor]

for the most part you can use a low general solution for feeding.,.,sativas hold onto nitrogen for a bit longer.,., have a look for the lucas formula good reading.,.,
my plants stink in veghahahahah

[nick6422]

Also, the grow-op is in my attic. My latitude is 30 degrees north. The summer temperature is usually around 90 with 80% humidity. The temp in the attic is probably around 120 degrees. Is it safe to vent in such high temperatures? I was considering piping in air from under the house but are there any other methods?

[Parabola]

those temps are way too high. an insulated attic (both exterior roof and floor/ceiling) as well as good exhaust and a passive intake from a cooler part of house might work. bulbs would have to be run at night and you are also at risk for FLIR heat imaging detection. The attic would generally be my last choice for an inside grow.

[The Cannarchist]

Summer is here

They will die.

Build/buy a greenhouse with plastic that cannot be well seen through.They sell them on Ebay.There is a prefab one with a cover with green plastic support lines every sq CM.You'd be hard pressed to distinguish what is growing inside.Grow some tomatoes along the cover so folk can see them and think it is a tomato grow.

Use a carbon filter to ventilate it.

IE: move outside in the summer if you can. the sun produces way better buds