Grow shed design - Help me!

V

Vapeman420

Well-Known Member
Hey All,

Vapeman here about to step up to the big leagues (well in my opinion, this might be small sized to some of you).

I have the opportunity to fully design and set up a 12 ft by 16 foot grow shed. Here is my objective: to grow the most amount of marijuana while staying below my plant count which is 12. Also I want this shed to be fully self contained, so I am talking a sealed grow room with a drying room and everything I would need all in the shed.


Here are the things that I won't be changing so that you can help me figure out the other variables I am working out.

This will be a flowering only shed. I will be working with some local nurseries to provide me with plants, so I will get the plants, put them in the arrangement I want them to be in, and then immediately into 12/12.

Using 6 630w CHM lights for flowering room.

Fully sealed and using CO2 via a controller, possibly a generator ( this might be overkill, I haven't used Co2 before)

Will need a drying room as I plan to keep the flowering room on a 8-9 week cycle and constantly full of flowering plants.

I live in the Pacific NW so I get soggy Winters but typically not a lot of snow, in the Summer it is typically between 80 and 95 or so.

The Walls will be 9 ft tall with the roof slanting up another foot for a total of 10 ft tall structure (limited by city for this)

Only have 1 run of hydro experience so heavily want to go soil with this. Plus if I am just flowering it takes a little bit away from hydro as from what I understand the biggest plus of hydro is quicker veg times.



OK lets start with that and see what y'all think. Would love to hear from those who have experience growing in a shed, but really all are welcome in on this discussion.

20161123_091646.jpg


Here is a quick sketch of the 12 x 16 shed.

-Vape
 
Well I guess I can get this discussion started by showing my design and hopefully others can join in and make some suggestions.

20161123_102409.jpg


Here is my 6 light set up. I will have to bring power over to the shed from the main panel and do a sub panel. I currently have a 50 AMP 240v plug in my garage that I am not using, so I was thinking of having this line spliced and then run that power over to the shed to run all my lights. Then I will only need a few 15 or 20 AMP 120v breakers (maybe 4?) to handle the rest of the equipment.

Anyone want to comment on this set up, or ways to improve it? I would love to hear from a few of you!

-Vape
 
Nice plans. I have to ask why they perimeter of lights? why not have a solid rectangle? How large of plants will you be getting from the nursery? I feel that your lighting will be overkill for anything but massive plants. I wish you the best of luck and am insanely jealous that I don't have a house with space for a shed. One day.
 
I just set up a room that is 8' x10' My grow table is 3' wide and 10 ' long and has an open hood on a light mover,we run 600 watt in veg and a 1000 watt in flower. This table is plenty big for 12 plants and would probably hold 20 or more if I was real anal about trimming and supercropping. In this space we have a 1 ton mini split , a dehumidifier,about 20 gallons of water alway,s bubbling with air stones.We are running Co2 with a controller ,and a carbon scrubber as well..After doing a little research we purchased some Orca grow film and lined the grow area with it and also made a curtain out of it as a sort of divider. So far we have had pretty good luck with this setup.. Happy Growing and if you have any questions just let us know.
 
Cookie man - I choose this configuration so that I could access all the plants a bit easier. If it were in a solid rectangle it would be hard (if not impossible) to reach the back plants. I am planning to have 1 light cover a 4x4 area, which means a rectangle would then be 8 feet deep! by 12 feet wide.

These will be massive plants, I will be getting plants in 7 gallon pots and will have been topped and trained extensively. Not cheap but this will allow me to arrange the plants in a double trellis netting, and then go directly into flower. 8 weeks strains will let me turn the room every 2 months, and I think my 4x6 (8 feet tall) drying room should be able to handle the load.

Jedthedog - Thanks for sharing about your grow, sounds like you have it dialed in! Are you pushing 3# out of that room since you have the 1000w on a light mover? I am also curious about your CO2 set up, sounds like this is a sealed room? What controller are you using for the CO2? Also, any thoughts on how big of a mini split I would need for the 6 lights, plus associated fans and other necessities? I haven't ever grown in a sealed room, but love the nothing in nothing out setup of it.

Thanks for the responses guys!

-Vape
 
The layout looks pretty good to me Im not sure if Id change it much.. I been running hydro for years and to be honest I notice a big difference in flower as well from soil.. I find I get more overall growth and yield between the hydro and soil girls. I was running them from clone to 12/12 no veg time in SOG method. I run 50 plants in 5Gal soil less mix vs 50 in hydro flood and drain. The hydro would always seem to pack on more weight and always just overall looked better so I eventually stopped soil altogether. Because you have hydro experience maybe this is something youd want to consider. In the end I was running RDWC with 9 plants under 2 x 1000Watt lights on both sides of room. I kept a 4x6 space for mother and veg and I would veg them for 4 weeks and i would do a cycle every 4 weeks like this. Running like this seems like a bit of work tho because every 4 weeks give or take youre always harvesting cleaning cutting and planting.

I was wondering about your watt/sqft.. I run 1000Watt in 4x4 footprint when I want to grow big monsters. This is to keep lots of light all the way to the outside of the footprint. I never really ran 600watt but do you think they will have enough power to get to the edges? Maybe overlap them would cover more and save some room ?

I am interested to see how you plan this out because I am building something this size again and I plan to try co2 and other stuff this time. I found a user here but can't remember his name.. He made a growing computer with built in relays for timers and stuff like that maybe youd be interested in.. I actually ordered one to try out his website is Cannabis Auto Box – The little box that grows big plants ! (Hopefully Im allowed to post this)
 
This is my first grow in this room, but do have a little experience with indoor growing. Not sure about any numbers as of yet but the yield should be nice .Yes this room is sealed and we are using a Sentinel CPPM-1 CO2 controller demonstration - YouTube As far as how to size a minisplit for that heat load you may need to seek a professinal to figure the heat load. Keep us up to date with what you have going on ...Alway's enjoy learning .
 
Vapeman420 said:
Well I guess I can get this discussion started by showing my design and hopefully others can join in and make some suggestions.

20161123_102409.jpg


Here is my 6 light set up. I will have to bring power over to the shed from the main panel and do a sub panel. I currently have a 50 AMP 240v plug in my garage that I am not using, so I was thinking of having this line spliced and then run that power over to the shed to run all my lights. Then I will only need a few 15 or 20 AMP 120v breakers (maybe 4?) to handle the rest of the equipment.

Anyone want to comment on this set up, or ways to improve it? I would love to hear from a few of you!

-Vape
Click to expand...
Even if u devoted your whole 50 amp run to that sub panel u wouldnt even have enough power to supply all those tents


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using 420 Magazine Mobile App
 
Vapeman420 said:
Well I guess I can get this discussion started by showing my design and hopefully others can join in and make some suggestions.

20161123_102409.jpg


Here is my 6 light set up. I will have to bring power over to the shed from the main panel and do a sub panel. I currently have a 50 AMP 240v plug in my garage that I am not using, so I was thinking of having this line spliced and then run that power over to the shed to run all my lights. Then I will only need a few 15 or 20 AMP 120v breakers (maybe 4?) to handle the rest of the equipment.

Anyone want to comment on this set up, or ways to improve it? I would love to hear from a few of you!

-Vape
Click to expand...
Also u would have no access to tents 3 and 5 and most tent cent air in through sides so by having them side by side so close the fresh air intakes wouldn't work well at all to circulate air and a drying room has to to have air being removed and fresh air coming in so it will have to be 100 percent air tight to ensure not drawing your expensive co2 set up out

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using 420 Magazine Mobile App
 
As far as current is concerned, the 6 630 watt lights will draw about 30.1 amps at 120 volt. If you can use a 240 volt line, you will only use 15 amps. I seem to remember 240 volt being slightly more efficient for running the lights, but you would have to research that yourself. Did you say you were going to use tents? I would not suggest tents in this setup, but that is just from an educated guess with no practical knowledge of a similar setup.

Since you want to run CO2, I would suggest you seal up the room pretty well and install an appropriate sized AC in the shed to deal with temps in your flowering room. If smell is a concern, I think running a carbon scrubber contained within the flowering room would control smell and keep the air inside. You can also run air cooled hoods to allow for closer placement of lights to the plants, reduced AC load, reduced energy use (just a guess since less AC), and improved safety (a guess since air cooled hoods tend to be cool to the touch).

Vape, keep us updated please. This looks like an awesome project!
 
That 50 amp receptacle is probably for a welder or RV. 50amps at 240v will easily power that shed.
6 lights at 630 watts = 3,780 watts x an additional 10% for ballast loss = 4158 watts / 240 volts = 17.3 amps
2 ton mini split is 10 amps
You'll use another 5-10 amps at 120 volts for fans and what not.

Ideally, you shouldn't load a feeder more than 80%. The 50 amps will do just fine.

Btw, Master Electrician since 1998
 
Hey guys thanks for the responses here!

ChanChan - no tents in this room! This will be a constant flower room for me using Ceramic Metal Halide bulbs. The power consumption is less than a 1000w HPS, but the yield is supposed to be on par with a 1000w HPS. I will be very happy to pull 2# per light once completely dialed in.

Slant Eye - will definitely keep this thread updated as I move forward for sure. I wouldn't mind doing hydro, but part of my plan involves purchasing plants and then picking them up in my horse trailer, then delivering them to my shed, I don't know how feasible that would be with hydro. With soil, I am just moving roughly 10 gallon pots, so that shouldn't be too difficult. Moving a hydro plant and protecting it's roots is a bigger challenge than I think I am up for.

Cookieman - I will definitely be running a mini split AC, I just don't know how large I should get. Winters here barely have snow, but Summers can routinely get into the 90's, with an occasional 100 degree day. I don't like to use air cooled hoods as the glass does reduce the light output some, and since I will need to cool the room some anyways, I will just let the mini split do all the work.

Honz - YES! I am really glad an electrician chimed in for this. Electricity is my weak point in all of this, so I am glad to hear that my idea of using the already existing 240v slot will work. Any idea on cost to run a new line for the 240v roughly 50 feet? And then install 2 15 amp 120v breakers for the fans and ect?

Oh man, I am so excited to get to work on this, really hope to break ground before the end of the year!

-Vape
 
Jed - oops didn't mean to forget you brother! That controller looks right up my alley, I will take a look at it and likely incorporate it into the design!

-Vape
 
Ur gonna want propper spray foam to make sure ur inside enviroment is propper for u and out side tyvek/tar paper ect would be prefferd and cock all cracks and double studs corner ect enviroment is key outside ya know

Sent from my LG-H812 using 420 Magazine Mobile App
 
Vape, you could just save the AC until last. Once you get lights set up, you can turn everything on and watch how fast the temp rises. We can calculate the heating power of the lights and figure out what you need to counteract that. Then probably get an AC that would only run at 60-80% capacity to match the heating power of the lights and other equipment.
 
Anybody have a good environmental controller that they use? Searching for something that can turn on and off the AC and can turn on a heater during the night if need be.

I am also having trouble envisioning my drying room. I need to be able to heat it and cool it just like the grow room, but would like to not have to do another mini split and or heater. Is there a way to get a second mini split unit to put in there that hooks up to the main?

-Vape
 
Honz - Going to use a Titan controller for the lights, at least, that is what I am thinking currently. They seem to be very popular and if they do the job, then I am good with that.

Jed - I'll take a look at that one as well. I have used one of those mechanical timers with the tabs for each 15 minutes and have accidentially knocked a button and totally screwed up my flower cycle one time.

Cookie - I think I want to have it mostly figured out before I go and build the shed and buy all the equipment, but if I get one and it isn't sufficient, then i'll for sure do an upgrade.

-Vape
 

Similar threads

akrazyrunner
Winter Shed Grow
Replies
4
Views
7K
ABBOT
A
ChanChan203
12x12 Shed Grow Room Build
Replies
7
Views
6K
ChanChan203
ChanChan203
U
Wooden shed build
Replies
2
Views
1K
AnimaSola
AnimaSola
D
New Grow Shed advice please
Replies
0
Views
1K
Diagro
D
HigherTheHigh
Building a grow room in a shed need help please
2
Replies
21
Views
3K
Mounty
M
Back
Top Bottom