Hey y'all, I live in an apartment building on the top floor. I have a deck with a storage closet attatched to it. The room is real small like 4'X 3' and I thought it would be perfect for a 8 plant hydroponic system. Only problem is I am worried about the smell and the use of electricity. Has anyone done this? Is it safe? I was thinking of a 100 watt hps. And running a couple of O-zone generators to keep the smell down. Any ideas, comments?
hey, sounds good. 12 sqft you could get away with a bigger light than the 100hps. i'm in a 4ftX2ft space and just upgraded to a 6oowt. aslong as you got it air cooled no problem. does the door open up to outside? on the deck? you might have troubles with this. good luck
hrmm.. sounds fimiliar.. i know someone who has an outside balcony VERY similiar to yours... do you live in blue apartmenst by any chance LOL... anyways... he grows in there and his only problem was getting fresh air in. other then that go for it! he has never mentioned the smell before but i dont think he grows more then 10 to 15 plants in there. Also to you're gonna watch out for condinsation too. i think he mentioned that aswell in the fall-spring time. the heat from the inside plus our wet muggy fall and winter seasons didn't help for condinsation for inside his storage space. For security reasons, do your neighbours have visible access to your balcony? that could suck if they happend to be outside the same time you were doin a check up on your girls.
Make sure that your setup can be broken down in less than 24 hrs and u should be okay... ...by law; management MUST give you a 24hr notice of inspection in writing!. My apt. was inspected twice within a 30 day period! The owners were selling the property. Unfortunately, i did hafta harvest early. Smell wise....i would build a carbon filter(overgrow.com will show u how!); mine workz awsome!!! (Edited by hellostupid at 2:33 am on Aug. 9, 2003)
But how can this be properly vented? Hell, Its not like he can knock a hole through the ceiling for the outake!
Most Homes have HVAC(heat/ventilation/ac) to control the temp of their homes...so do aptz. Everyroom has a vent to allow incoming air. As long as your have an oscillating fan and proper air flow exchange in your closet or growchamber...everything will be just fine. As with my growchamber(i have 3!! Mother/Clone;Veggy&Bloom Chamber); each of them has at least one $12 home depot bath fan and an oscillating fan. All 3 chambers hug my walls;leavin enough room for a mattress to crash on. As long as you provide enougth ventilation; you Apt./Home HVAC will do its job. The highest my 400watt HPS Bloom chamber reaches is a cool 89 degress F. Thatz my only chamber(bloom)that uses 2 bath fanz& one oscillating fan. And don't worry about your exhaust air...there are so many nooks and crannies in every room...exhaust air will alwayz find a way to escape your Room. The only thing i notice is maybe it'z a little more humid in my garden room compared the the other rooms; but at around 50% relative humidity...it'z not so bad. Drywall is very breathable...just becuz i leave the door closed all the time doesn't mean i'm not getting proper ventilation... My electricity bill is less than $30 per month for All 3 Chambers!!!! Homegrown is very affordable...hehe... (Edited by hellostupid at 2:30 am on Sep. 5, 2003)
damn you must have a kick ass apt, hvac! damn i only have two freaking windows one in the living room and one in the bedroom as for knocking holes in the wall, why not? i had to cut a 14 inch hole in my wall for my exhaust and odor control to work because there is an ac in both of my windows. it took me forever because i didnt want to make noise so i used a knife, it was kinda like breaking out of jail if i ever had an emergency, which i doubt because i have an off site prop manager and i can fix my own ****, but i would just put a poster over it untill i move and repair it. (Edited by doctorcalyx at 12:41 pm on Sep. 5, 2003)
If you see a Thermostat in your home; then U have HVAC control There's really only 2 major choices for in-home temp. control: 1)HVAC-controlled by that Thermostat on your wall...almost every new home has one. 2)Swamp Cooler-which uses too much water and makes your home waay too humid... Sounds like your Apt. has Neither....
Pelletised Activated Charcoal Filters are good and really scrub the air when you need it although you have to look ot for humidity and do not want it too high over (+80% very bad). I do not know how you would get on in such a small space. If you go for a ACF you have to keep it on all the time as organic odour is heavy and will seep through almost anything eventually !! I have been using one of these GP Airlock: Pollution Solution things for 3 yrs. However, its on a slightly larger scale than you are on about albeit in an appartment ! http://www.gropodairlock.co.uk I needed to rely on this for a couple of days without filters whilst I waited for a recharge. It held the smell of 4000W SOG NFT @ 6wks into flowering but I do not know if I would like to depend on it entirely.
you'll need more than 100 w HPS to cultivate 8 hydro plants, anywhere. i max out at 4 seedlings under 270 w HPS. would have better yield if i only had two under it.
