Thoughts on new build?

[Feek]

This is my first time posting here, but not my first time growing. In fact, I've always had a very green thumb, be it marijuana or cucumbers. That said, I've just bought a huge house and have two nice areas in my basement in which to grow: one is 8'W x 7'H x 4'D and the other is 4'W x 6'H x 6'D (sounds like the dimensions of a grave!). I'm also overhauling the entire house, so any setup I do down there, I can customize any way I want. Plus, it's naturally between 70 and 75 degrees down there, so the temp is perfect.

Originally, I was just going to build out the 8x7 area into two main rooms to scrog in on alternate schedules, and another smaller one to clone in. Then, I had a crazy idea; what if I made 8 small grow areas in the 8x7 area, used relatively low wattage bulbs (100-200 HPS/MH or CFLs each), and scrogged them. It would be like 8 mini-to-normal grows. Or, I could do a conventional setup in the big area, and make the smaller area (4x6) an experiment area. I've wanted to try an LED grow for a while now, and I still don't see and results posted by anyone, so I might try that. I've also got a 400W HPS/MH setup to get started in my el-cheapo C24 setup (cost me maybe $150 total) while I plan and build the real one, so I'll have those lights when I switch over.

I smoke about a zip a week, and I have friends who'll take what they want, plus a big horizontal freezer to keep whatever I don't use right away, so there's no worry if I end up harvesting more than I can chew, so to speak. I'd like to go crazy, but with only about $1500 to spend right now, I'll have to gear it down a little.

You guys always have interesting ideas, so I'd love to get some input from people here. I've done soil, and want to try hydro or aero, but I don't really want to spend much more than that budget at the moment. Because of where I am and how I'm situated, I don't have to spend too much money on hiding the operation (heat or smell), just building the damn thing. The biggest constraint I have is that I'd like to keep the power bills down somewhat since I have quite a bit of electronic equipment already shooting that through the roof.

As I said, I'm a green thumb, so I'm not worried about difficulty in any setup I use. So what do you think, am I nuts?

Feek Reviewed by Feek on 04-08-2006. Thoughts on new build? This is my first time posting here, but not my first time growing. In fact, I've always had a very green thumb, be it marijuana or cucumbers. That said, I've just bought a huge house and have two nice areas in my basement in which to grow: one is 8'W x 7'H x 4'D and the other is 4'W x 6'H x 6'D (sounds like the dimensions of a grave!). I'm also overhauling the entire house, so any setup I do down there, I can customize any way I want. Plus, it's naturally between 70 and 75 degrees down there, Rating: 5

[BlueDragonSmoke]

not nuts at all...lol... high may be ..lol.. sounds good to me , your wanting that much its gonna be a LITTLE electric..lol Everything I heard about LED..wasnt that good ...not as much pep as a mh or hps ... try it maybe you can pull somthing off or figure somthing out others cant...never know . I cant realy member cause im always STONED but I think they was high in price though.... dont quote me though ...lol A 200mh will cover 2x2 good,400w 4x4 good...sog? never done it before .I grow 6 under a 400 mh with airo (bubbles) works great and dirt cheap...air pump ,2 air stones, rubber maid tote , net pots, growing medium, water, nutri,....and your done

[Lady Vapor]

Take a look at my thread - Third times a charm. I use 8 swirly bulbs in addition to 2 - 400 hps. I'm getting great results and tons of flowers.