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I went a took a look at the guys set up similar to the size your working with. He does have it split in two. The first section has two sections. The larger being the bottom and the smaller on top. Uses flourescent lights above both. Then he has a lightproof barrier between the two sections. The second part is the "sea of green" and he has an 1000 watt HPS. It is a really slick setup and I sketched it ( sorry he said absolutely no pictures). I believe the moms live below, cuttings are grown above and then moved over when ready. He is a nice guy but really did not want to discuss details. The results have looked really good. I copied some of the ideas when I set mine up but his is sweet. He had all that space to work with.
One thing I did encounter with mine was power. I replaced the line with 12 gauge and no more problems but if you have not wired yet, put in big stuff, you wont be sorry.
Good luck and have fun. Sounds like a good project. Let me know if you want me to post the sketch.
Yes please post sketch im still trying to decide how to set it up and im up for all kinds suggestions, especially if your buddy has same room size similar to mine. Thanks