"April Fool" Indoor Grow

Sacred Seeds · May 14, 2016

So my first grow had an imminent death in December last year when I moved house. At least I started a new job in January which allows me to have more finances available to make my grow a success. The lessons that I learned at my first attempt was invaluable.

I hope it will go slightly better second time around but I'm still going to expect the unexpected. :-hilarious

Anyway, I ordered myself a 400w digital ballast with a 400w metal halide and HPS bulbs.

Furthermore I got some 6" ducting and clamps, Manual timer, fresh organic soil, Perlite, Fertilizer, Bioneem pesticide etc. I still need to order the inline fan and scrubber. I still have a 150w Flourescent which I plan to add during flowering with my 400w HPS.

The old fridge that I prepared last year will be used as an addition to my grow tent that I'm planning to build. I got a moerse roll of Mylar (for free) its a little bit dirty but not stained, so it will need a bit of a clean. So I'm going to use the Mylar to make a grow tent around a metal frame. Design is still in process.

In the meanwhile I have my "April Fool" plant and a few other bagseed seedlings that I started growing outside in a pot, I have now brought it indoors and put it on a 12/12 schedule. "April Fool" is a lady, so it seems my seed selection technique that I learned with my first grow has paid off.

My main concern is how I'm going to overcome the high humidity in a fairly big tiled bathroom. The grow tent will be about 1.5m depth by 2m width a Height of 2m. but the fresh air intake will become from the bathroom which means it will be sucking in humid air into the grow tent. Any ideas?

Sacred Seeds · May 14, 2016

@Skolley I've considered the portable aircon. I would like to know if all portable aircons have dehumidifiers or is it a special feature?

420SA · May 14, 2016

You'll have to factor in the electricity consumption of the AC unit though. I've got a portable AC but I'm seriously considering buying a dehumidifier to take care of the humidity because of the power draw of an AC

Sacred Seeds · May 14, 2016

If the aircon uses a refrigeration compressor to cool the air, i.e. not evaporation, then it dehumidifies air, as a part of the process. The dehumidifier setting on aircons that have this feature, warms the air again after the cooling coils.

I found a Goldair Portable Aircon that cools only with moisture removal for R4399. Would this be ideal?

Features:

- Portable air conditioner

- Cooling only

- 10000btu

- Moisture removal

- Electronic and remote

Sacred Seeds · May 14, 2016

You'll have to factor in the electricity consumption of the AC unit though. I've got a portable AC but I'm seriously considering buying a dehumidifier to take care of the humidity because of the power draw of an AC

Yes noted that I will have to increase my electricity budget. Does the dehumidifier not make more heat? On the plus side the aircon will be a benefit in Summer.

Sacred Seeds · May 14, 2016

Yep. Just another expense in the pursuit of great bud.

That is why indoor cost so expensive. Hence the reason why most of us want to grow.

420SA · May 14, 2016

Right now I'm running a 600w hps globe in a 150x150 tent and my temp sits at 25 degrees(lights on at night). An AC will probably push the temp too low, especially during lights off when the temps drop to 19 sometimes depending on outside temps.... Most portable AC's do have a dehumidifier mode but my AC's dehumidifier mode pretty much works like the aircon mode by expelling cold dry air, not sure how other portable AC's work....

You're going to use a 400w bulb right? Add an extra 100w for fans and extraction etc. and that's you using 500w for your grow. Now introduce a portable AC ,which draws upwards of 1200w and that's your power consumption more than tripled just by adding an AC for dehumification. Keep in mind that some of the older portable AC's draw as much as 3000w!!! Put that against a dehumidifier which draws about 160w to 250w and a dehumidifier in winter seems to make much more sense to me. You also might find yourself upgrading to a 600w bulb eventually as well with that big tent, so you might want to spare as much wattage as you can.

It's tricky here in the cape with our cold humid weather during winter. Mold and pm can become quite a worry. In the long run I reckon a dehumidifier will save you money, despite their large price tag. Keep in mind the drying process as well, where the ability to control the humidity is ideal. A good second hand deal will always help as well

Sacred Seeds · May 15, 2016

Decisions! Decisions! Decisions! :yipeeee

A dehumidifier is way out of my budget for now but still on my wish list. Short term I will be able to afford the electricity cost and I will use the aircon in conjunction with the mini dehumidifiers.

Another concern is, what do I do with the dirty warm exhaust air coming from the aircon? I have a large corner bath with a service vent on the side. I was thinking of exhausting the warm air thru there but I'm more worried about the smell during flowering as the aircon pulls air form the room if I'm correct.

I was thinking of attaching a scrubber to the aircon exhaust but I'm scared that I might burn out the AC. Noise from the AC exhaust might also be an issue.

Sacred Seeds · May 15, 2016

Sorry, replied to your latest post without having seen 420's earlier post.

420 makes valid points. The size of your operation makes a difference. Burning 3 kW to grow one plant is ludicrous. You will have to grow more plants, running more lights, and use yield maximizing techniques. From your earlier description, I figure your tent could take at least 1200 w of light, and maybe even 1800 w.

The Goldair aircon you mentioned will be fine. If it can only push cold dry air, push that air through your cool tubes, where it will be warmed before being expelled into your grow space. I believe you should end up with a nice constant temp doing it that way.

I like the idea of pushing the aircon air through the cool tubes and then cleaning the dirty air with scrubber on exit but I don't know if it will work with that particular Goldair model. It only has an exhaust outlet pipe.

I have one plant that is about 15cm tall and I have another 7 seedlings. So I wont be growing only one plant. Unfortunately my ballast is only 400w and I have two 6" Cool tubes. I have an old 150w magnetic ballast with a 150wHPS bulb and a 150w Red Flourescent which I can also use.

Dabtzar · May 17, 2016

I totally agree that if you want to grow the best unfortunately in an indoor grow, you will need high level equipment, in order to do it all year round with consistent results.

AC

Inlet filter

Dehumidifier

Heater

When I got my AC it was a game changer that i had been waiting for. Now its smooth sailing.

Remember the better in control your environment is, the less chance a gogo wants to come into the room. Mites etc; love hot, dry/ cold, humid. So you need to get the balance right.

Plus plenty of air movement.

I use a simple panel heater. The ones for bathrooms. I lay that flat in the room and run it on a humidistat so as to warm the room up to remove RH.

Also a thermostat is another good piece of tech to have. Just set it and forget it. You can even set your AC to run off of it so when its too hot it turns on the cool function which is powering the AC.