The Laws of Organic Cannabis - GreenPassion.org - Dedicated to Medicinal Cannabis Cultivation and Education

subcool · #1 (**permalink**) 06-27-2009, 12:12 PM

This is a body of work I am currently working on for publishing later.
Much of the research is still on going but this is how I grow

Lights

Atmosphere

Water
Soil

Of Cannabis

By Subcool

In my first book I detailed some of the best strains I have run across in 2 decades of growing but there was very little information on how all these plants were grown. In that 20 years I developed an easy to follow method that anyone that can make Mac and cheese can follow. I also know from experience that people using reference books hate to read so this book will be laid out in sections with a redundant amount of pictures to help the reader get the full measure of what is taking place in each tutorial. We will start with basic grow room design and soil making and move through each phase of producing your own 100% Organic medical grade cannabis.

This is not really a how to book on all the ways there are to grow weed but a very simple straightforward way to produce the maximum amount of medicine your state laws may allow. While Cannabis is still illegal in many places the tide has shifted and the need for accurate easy to apply information is needed. I am known for a no nonsense way of explaining things without most of the mysticism or science speak in most guides although I will elaborate on the chemistry behind some aspects. Cannabis is very easy to grow indoors if conditions are right so room set up is a huge part of doing things properly and not creating conditions where pest, Mildew or poor control of environment can cause set backs or worse death of a plant.

I have noticed that people are mostly visual and when I teach online many times questions will be asked that are answered in the text. Because of this fact this book is different in one way. It will contain an enormous amount of pictures that will explain exactly how it is done.
Soil
To me there is nothing like the flavor of properly grown organic cannabis. The subtle flavors and aromas created when using mother earth is over whelming to the senses when done properly. As with many vegetables a rich Organic soil can bring out the best in a plant. Over the past 20 years I have tried almost every possible way to cultivate our favorite plant and while hydro is certainly faster and the yields blow soil away, I have developed a soil that performs extremely well and there’s very little guess work. I don’t worry about ph or ppm I simply have spent a few years developing a sound recipe and in combination with 7 gallon nursery pots I can run from start to finish using only water. Other than a bit of sweat equity every 90 days or so it takes a huge amount of science out of the garden and puts nature back in charge. This recipe is slightly different from my last and from the one so many use as gospel that I have passed around for years from grower to grower
I always start with at least 6-8 large bags of high quality organic soil. The selection of your base soil is very important so don’t cut corners here. I cannot begin to discuss all the different products but I will discuss a few in this article. A good Organic soil should cost between 8-10$ per 30# bag. I want you to get a real good idea what I consider a balanced soil to be so take a look at the ingredients of a product called Roots Organic:

Lignite*, coca fiber, perlite, pumice, compost, peat moss, bone meal, bat guano, kelp meal, Green sand, soy bean meal, leonardite, k-mag, glacial rock dust, alfalfa meal, oyster shell flour, earth worm castings and Mycorrhizae.
I have always believed in giving my plants a wide range of soils and additives I figure it's like a buffet they get all they need

“Lignite, also known as leonardite, mined lignin, brown coal, and slack, is an important constituent to the oil well, drilling industry. Lignite, or leonardite as it will be referred as hereafter, is technically known as a low rank coal between peat and sub-bituminous. Leonardite was named for Dr. A.G. Leonard, North Dakota's first state geologist, who was a pioneer in the study of lignite deposits. Leonardite is applied to products having a high content of humic acid. Humic acid has been found to be very useful as a drilling
mud thinner.”

Another local product we are trying now is called Harvest Moon
Washed coco fibers, Alaskan peat moss, perlite, yucca, pumice, diatoms, worm castings, feather meal, fishmeal, kelp meal, limestone, gypsum, soybean meal, alfalfa meal, rock dust, yucca meal, and Mycorrhizae fungi.
The Roots produced a more floral smell in the finished flowers while the Harvest Moon generated larger yields.

If you have access to a good local mix like these then I highly recommend starting with these type products. We have also had decent results using commercial brands as well but not as is. The best results we have seen from well known soil that is available nationwide is Fox Farms “Ocean Forrest” soil combined in a 2-1 ratio with Light Warrior. On it’s own the Ocean Forrest is known for burning plants and having the wrong ratio’s of nutrients but when cut down with Light Warrior it makes a pretty good mix for a base soil.

You can also just use 2 bales of Sunshine mix #4 but this is my last choice and plants growing in this may not complete properly with this “Just add water” method of soil growing. The concept to this concentrated soil is to not have to worry with mixing up nutrients after the soil is made. The concentrate is placed in the bottom ¼ to ½ of the container and blended with base soil. This allows the plants to grow into the strong concentrated soil and in the right size container need nothing else but water throughout the full harvest cycle. With strains requiring high levels of nutrients we go as strong as ¾ of the container with Super Soil but this is only with a small percentage of strains.

Here are the amounts we have found that produce the best tasting buds and strongest medicines.

8- Large bags of High quality Organic potting soil with a coco and Mycorrhizae
1-25-50 pounds of Organic Worm castings
5# Steamed Bone meal
5# Bloom bat Guano
5# Blood meal
3# Rock Phoshate
¾ cup Epson salts
½ cup Sweet Lime ( Dolimite)
½ Cup Azomite ( Trace Elements)
2- TBS Powdered Humic Acid

This is the same basic recipe I have used for 15 years the hardest ingredient to acquire is the worm castings most people don't even know what it is. Be resourceful and find it worms make up ¾ of the living organisms underground btw and hold our planet together.
Be careful not to waste money on Soil Conditioner with worm casting but local Pure Worm poop with no added mulch.
There are several methods of mixing this up well.
You can sweep off a patio or garage and work there on a tarp.
You can use a kids plastic wading pool these cost about 10$ and work really well for a few seasons.
Some growers have been known to rent a cement mixer and cut down on the physical labor. As long as you get the ingredients mixed up properly that is all that matters.
This can be a lot of work so don’t pull a muscle if your not used to strenuous activity. This method is good for mind and body. Working with soil keeps me in pretty good shape, but if you have limitations you can simply have someone mix it up for you while you supervise. One of the things I like about this method is I can drop of plants to a patient and all they have to do is water the plants when the soil dries out.

All pre mix soils are different and you'd think they were all similar but you would be wrong. Cannabis can grow in almost any thing even poor soil or soil thats to hot. The key is developing a mix that works for you.

My ph runs about 5.5 with this mix but when I buffer the plants with base soil I get a reading of 6.0 in my contaner which is perfect.

People all over the world use this mix with great results just make sure to test your ph as all mixes come in lower or higher your shooting for a ph of 5.9-6.8

subcool · #2 (**permalink**) 06-27-2009, 12:15 PM

Place a few bags of base soil in first making a mound. I then place the powdered nutrients in a circle around the mound and then cover with another bag of base soil.
Then goes in the bat poop and then more base soil. I continue to layer soil and additives until everything has been added to the pile. So now I put on the muck boots, these help me kick the soil around and get it mixed up well using my larger leg muscles and not my back and arms. Then it’s as simple as my Skipper used to say “ Put your back into it”. This is hard work that I obsess on, even breaking up all the clods of soil by hand. I mix for about 15 minutes, turning the pile over and over until it is mixed well. I store the mix in large garbage cans. Before using the mix the entire load is poured out once more and mixed well. Once placed in the containers I water it slightly adding 3 gallons of water to a large garbage can full. It will make the stirring harder next week but it will activate the Mycorrhizae and I think help all the powders dissolve.

So now we add water and let it cook in the sunshine. 30 days is best for this concentrate.
Do not put seeds or clones directly in this mix. It is an advanced mix used in conjunction with base soil. It is used to place in the bottom of each finishing container and fully rooted established clones are placed in a bed of base soil that is layered on top of the concentrate. As the plants grow they slowly push their roots into the super soil drawing up all nutrients needed for a full cycle. The Super Soil can be used also to top dress plants that take longer to mature.
I will use this mix for a full year just adding like 30-50% in the lower potion of the container and plain base soil in the top portion.
Base Soil means your regular potting soil Like Roots, Harvest Moon, or even sunshine mix without the additives! They can vary widely

Buds from this method finish with a fade and a smoother fruity flavor. The plants are not green when done but Purple, Red, Orange and even Black at times. The resin content is heavier and the terpins always seem to be more pungent.

This method is used my medical growers all over with amazing results. The feed back I receive is really positive with reports of Hydro like growth and novice growers producing buds of the same quality as life long growers.

The HSIC · #3 (**permalink**) 06-27-2009, 08:56 PM

Nice, as always.

subcool · #4 (**permalink**) 06-28-2009, 01:12 PM

In this chapter we will discuss the construction of a proper grow area. There are several key areas I would like to cover but in no way are these the only methods that can be used. With the invention of grow huts and even larger enclosed personal grow areas its become easy to set up a space. I like to do things on a bigger scale because I am teaching the craft of indoor growing on a care giver scale. We still only bud 12 plants at one time but we do grow year round and in order to do this you must have complete control of your grow room environment.
Here are some Key points to address:
Insulation is critical in controlling temperature swings and energy consumption, it also provides sound proofing.
Security is also important as not everyone views our special plant as medicine but cash for the taking
Durability is a must if your going to run crop after crop you can’t use flimsy materials.
Stealth is important in a legal garden to prevent judgmental neighbors causing problems

subcool · #5 (**permalink**) 06-28-2009, 01:14 PM

My very first grow room was a walk in closet with a 430 Sun Agro lamp and a cheap bathroom exhaust fan.
I had heat issues and smell problems but I was lucky and I produced enough bud to learn a few things that would make my next one better.
My second area was a 4x12 Corridor with 3 400 watt lights and a larger exhaust system with added air-conditioning. It worked well but my power bills were outrageous in the un-insulated apartment I set up in.
I have grown in 3 states and 3 countries so I have tackled many different conditions, all of this drove me to the level of scale you see in the rooms featured.
With each design I learned more and more and you will see all of this applied to the rooms featured here.

Before we look at a area actually built for growing lets look at a few rental homes that were converted to grow in with minimal changes to the structure.

This is a bed room and walk in closet from almost 10 years ago.
If you can’t screw or nail into the walls a free standing enclosure works great
I also love upstairs bonus rooms for converting.

subcool · #6 (**permalink**) 06-28-2009, 01:17 PM

This is a simple 20x24 garage that we walled off the front portion for storage and added a small office as well.
We can open the doors and if you look inside its very hard to tell its not just all storage and office.
12 Feet of the width of the garage gave us plenty of room to construct three separate rooms and an additional area starting seedlings.
Not all rooms are used at once but its very handy to be able to use a room temporarily when the plants are larger just before harvesting.

subcool · #7 (**permalink**) 06-28-2009, 01:18 PM

This is what we have so far. I have had new rooms professionally framed for longevity and security. The sizes are surprisingly small for what I am investing but I don't want a bigger area just a safe one.

Main Bud 11x 5-1/2 2400 watts with locking door CO/2 800 cfm carbon scrubber
Veg Room 1 5x7 1000 watts with locking door tied into main venting system
Veg Room 2 1000 watt switchable ballast

Breeding room used temporarily and moving the 400 watt light over. Sneak entry from veg room 1 no outside movement needed. Self contained venting
10x6 Photo area and protective wall This Common area leads to all rooms
50 watt Sub panel fed by 3/4 metal conduit and #6 THHN stranded wire.
We start hanging sheet rock in the am I will snap some pictures.
The two entry doors are also being replaced with new steel exterior doors.

kareem ahvunyun · #8 (**permalink**) 06-28-2009, 04:05 PM

great thread.
great pics too.

subcool · #9 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 12:30 AM

You would be surprised how many veteran growers have problems with getting seeds started. The most common mistake is to use a heat mat and cook the seeds. Cannabis is a weed and as long as the seeds are viable its hard to prevent them from germinating. I have had pot seeds germinate under the floor mat of a car in my youth and recently some of the seeds I deem not viable germinated under my BBQ grill in gravel in the cold winter. I see people soaking or treating the seeds in god knows what products and I just shake my head.

All a seed needs to germinate is moisture and a temperature range between 50-90 and your good to go. There are other factors involved though and if you will germinate your seeds between 70-80 degrees you will have a better ratio of females. Warmer temperatures tend to produce more male plants.
Many growers still use the tried and true method of soaking seeds in a paper towel. With the invention of “Rapid Rooters”, a product made up from composted organic materials bonded together with plant-derived polymers. These plugs are manufactured using a scientifically controlled process that yields large populations of beneficial microbes in the media. We started using them to clone in about 3 years ago and when I tried starting seeds in them I knew I would never do it any other way.

I flip the cone shaped rooting plugs upside down so the have more stability. They are made to fit into sectional treys but that just added cost and you will see I try and keep things simple and low frills. Wash hands well with a disinfecting soap, this will remove any oils or contaminants. Make a small hole with a poker and place the seed point side up into the plug about ½” into the rooter.

Place the plugs into a domed container and place under florescent lights. I like to use plastic/tuperware shoe boxes stacked on top of each other. There low cost and easy to find at any department store. Not everyone has access to a fancy grow shop at all times. Don’t let the cubes dry out is really the only thing to worry about. Its best not to drowned them but as long as they don’t dry completely out I have always had great success using this method.

subcool · #10 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 12:32 AM

I have a secret to share with you. We do not keep mother plants!
Mother plants count in total plant numbers they also use up electricity keeping them in the vegetive state and as they get bigger can take up valuable space. Long ago we figured out we could do away with mother plants by becoming efficient in cloning.
Since we have multiple areas in before mature plants are placed in the budding room cuts are taken and rooted. This gives us small, healthy duplicate plants with vigorous growth instead of older barky stems to try and root from. I have read up genetic shift and I simply believe it does not apply when taking cuttings from healthy plants. Sure if you clone some old tired root bound mother with woody stems who knows what could happen but as long as the cutting is make up of healthy cells we have never encountered a problem.

This can be easier said than done however because many growers struggle with cloning.
When I first started growing it was the one aspect of the hobby that eluded me. I went through every device and product on the market until I figured out it really comes down to two basic conditions. Temperature and Humidity! These are the main factors that determine rooting time. If these factors are controlled cuttings will root very fast and be completely healthy and ready to transplant. If these factors are not controlled rooting can take longer and the cuttings can become stunted and never really take off even after they finally root. Aim for a constant temperature between 74-78 Degrees. While people root outside these parameters we have the best success using this range.
I recommend you start using Rapid Rooters. These are small plant based plugs pretreated and ready for cuttings. I forego there plastic treys and just flip the triangle shaped cubes upside down for support and make a new hole with a pen or nail. I have used soil in cups and rockwool cubes but Rapid Rooters are really the best choice and they seem to hold just the right amount of moisture without suffocating the plant. As long as you don’t let Rapid Rooters dry out you will have great success.
Take only fresh green shoots to clone from. Older parts of the plant will have almost a thin Bark and cuts taken from this area will not root as easy and may not contain 100% healthy cells. I like to prepare all my materials first before I take any cuttings.
Make sure you cut the clone and a sharp angle like a spear. While a new clean razor blades works best I simply use clean sharp scissors that I trim with.

Cut off the long fan leaves about half way, this will prevent water loss.I use a plastic pen to make a hole in the rooter and hold it open with my fingers as I pull out the pen. I stick the label in at this point before placing the cutting in.
I gently find the hole and slide the cutting down never forcing it. Be careful not to squeeze the cutting as you press it into the Rapid Rooter.
I keep repeating these steps until all the plants on the list are checked off, list are important they keep us from forgetting so take the time to write things down.

I see people wasting coin on all kinds of contraptions only really designed to take your hard earned dollars out of your pocket.

You think cloning is important now? You bet on it it’s the key to mastering the art of Fine cannabis production.

subcool · #11 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 12:34 AM

To get a good start on this style it’s important to top the plants early. As soon as my clones have rooted well and have started to grow I chop out the meristem causing the plant to divide into 2 growing shots. Now this will slow the growth down initially but it the long run you will have a stronger plant that yields more. If this is performed low enough the plant will actually develop 4 heads just leave 4 growing shoots. This is an area that is really misunderstood by many growers. While a single growing shoot will produce a larger single cola, topping a plant properly can put 4 colas sweet spot of light intensity. This allows more of the plant especially the lower buds to receive better light and produce larger buds. The over all yield of the plant is greater than an un-topped plant in most cases.
Not all strains benefit from topping but most do. Some really short slow Indicas like Urkle just take to long to grow out when topped like this but this method allows us to harvest 5 ounces consistently in soil per plant. So what I am saying is all plants do better if topped but some slow growing varieties will require additional time to mature to a proper budding plant size.
Topping early is the key with most strains so the plant maintains a low profile with the maximum amount of bud sites in the sweet spot. Topping also allows fewer plants to fill a room. When dealing with medical limits fewer plants that can produce the same amounts of cannabis is a very crucial aspect to master.
Seedlings are a bit different and you must allow the seedling to develop and have at least 4-5 internodes before topping. If you top a seedling to early the shock will slow the plant down tremendously wasting time. Allow a seeded plant to get herself rooted well and establish several sets of fan leaves. I like to wait till I see roots in the drain holes before my first topping.

subcool · #12 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 12:36 AM

Clones and new seeds are always placed into 1 gallon nursery pots without any Super soil or added nutrients Use only a good balanced potting soil that won’t burn your baby plants. They will only stay in these smaller pots for a few weeks while the roots get established and you shape and top them. Its very important to not procrastinate when it is time to transplant out of these smaller containers. If you get lazy and let your small plants sit around in their starter containers, it will slow the transition process after transplanting. I have seen first hand the huge difference when I gave some clones to a card holder. The day I transplanted I had 4 extra clones that I passed to him. Instead of transplanting right away he waited until they were root bound and looking poorly. I was able to harvest 30 days before him and the quality and quantity difference was hard to believe. My method is not for the lazy or procrastinating type, the more on top of each technique you become the better each harvest will become as well.
When I am ready to transplant into the final pots. I use #10 nursery pots now that will hold a full 7 gallons of liquid. Seven may not sound much bigger than a 5 but let me tell you these slanted #10 pots hold a bunch of soil! Make sure to lift properly using your legs and not your back when moving one that’s just been watered.
I fill each pot 1/2 full with the super soil. I then fill the top half with plain potting soil. This buffers the roots and gives the plants time to get used to the hot soil I use.

subcool · #13 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 12:38 AM

Lets set up our pots on our trusty tarp the same one I used in mixing this soil. We line all the pots up and place between ½ and 2/3rds of a container of concentrate into the bottom of each container. Stains that have heavy nutrient requirements get more and short slow Indicas that require less food get less concentrate. Remember its better to under feed and fade a bit to early than to over feed and burn your plants up. Plants grown in this organic soil that fade early produce amazingly potent, smooth and tasty buds and the loss of yield is small. Some strains can grow fast and have such heavy nutrient requirements. For these plants top dressing half way through the flowering phase can be beneficial. We will discuss this more later in the book.

After the first step then layer some plain commercial potting soil on top of the concentrate, about 2" worth. Use your hand or a small trowel to lightly mix the two layers. This allows the plant to be buffered as it hits the hot soil on bottom. Make sure the roots do not touch direct super soil use your hand to mix the plain potting soil around with the super soil. Then go ahead and fill the container with plain potting soil leaving a small hole in the center.

It’s important to water the plants well before transplanting. This helps prevent shock a nice damp root ball will make a happy plant. Gently flip the plant upside down. Wack the bottom with palm of hand to loosen the root ball. Support the plant by placing hand on pot allowing stem to protrude though fingers. Remove from pot and support the base. Flip upright and place in hole made into the soil making sure the root ball is even with the top of the soil. Gently pack the soil level and don’t forget your label.

Mr.Moonbiscuit · #14 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 01:16 AM

this is great man! thank you for the great thread!

Hatch · #15 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 03:52 AM

Inspector Clue-Sow, Is Telling You, Your A-Little Short In This Pot Sub.!!!!LOL!!!

Beautiful Partner Bro, Nothing Like A Good Dog...

jangel · #16 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatch

Inspector Clue-Sow, Is Telling You, Your A-Little Short In This Pot Sub.!!!!LOL!!!

Beautiful Partner Bro, Nothing Like A Good Dog...

I have a dog much like yours! I have several dogs, but our Buddy is our slightly retarded black son. I keep telling him to use his words but he just hasn't caught on yet, hence the slightly retarded! LOL!

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom on the site. I am awed.

Peace

subcool · #17 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 06:25 PM

Thanks for reading my spill guys just passing on a few tips I have learned over the years no ground breaking stuff here and I am sure most of its old hat but it will get more advanced as we get into it so you vets just hang tight we might learn something yet.

I welcome questions comments even critiques cause hell were all just learning together.

Sub

subcool · #18 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 06:29 PM

Top dressing can really make a huge difference in your harvest. If used wisely and at the proper time it can be an inexpensive way to ensure your plants have all the nutrients they need to go full term while still not over feeding the plants.
Using Super soil and the methods I have shown here by day 28 in bud your plants have been in the large containers for almost 2 full months and you should notice the soil is much lighter than when it was first filled up at transplant. The plant has now converted much or the organic material into a 5-6 foot bush and if we don’t take action now on a garden this large we could experience early fade and loss of yields. We could simply feed the plants a quality organic bloom food and we still may need to as these huge plants enter the 5th week and beyond. Many of our strains will finish perfectly with just a few extra inches of Super soil layered in on top just before a watering.
Top dressing requires knowing your plants though, you cannot wait until you see deficiencies you have to know your garden well enough to apply the top dressing before any signs of yellowing appear. I use Super soil to top dress it is slightly hot for new plants but as a top dressing it works wonders and you can see the leafs reach for the sky after a top dressing and watering. At week four I remove one row and clean out any dead leaves or straggling shoots and use a small bucket and measuring cup to place about 2-4” of Super soil on top of the existing soil. I like to do this when the plants need watering and I can wet the added soil down really well.

subcool · #19 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 06:34 PM

Growing indoors can be quite challenging but if the grow room is designed properly things go much easier. There are countless ways to set up a grow room but we will focus on converting a Bedroom or Garage into a safe and permanent grow area. Control of the Atmosphere is crucial so we will go into detail. Venting the lights, maintaining proper temperature and humidity must be done properly or problems will occur. According to the part of the world you live in and the size of your set up, you may need some or all of the following equipment to run a medical garden:
Window Air Conditioner/ Portable Air Conditioner/ Mini Spit Air Conditioner & Heater
Portable Safe Electric Heaters
Dehumidifiers
In line Fans
Fan Speed Controller
Blowers
Oscillating Fans
Large Carbon Air Scrubber
HPS Ballast
MH Ballast
Vented Hoods
CO2 Tank
CO2 Solenoid and Flow Control w/Timer
Digital Thermometers
Air Pumps
Water Pumps

Why are you going to need all or at least most of this equipment?
Indoors your God of all you see and you have to have total control.
If your room gets to cold during the winter yields will suffer and worse problems like mildew or mold could completely kill your crop.
If your room gets to hot in the Summer yields will suffer and pest like mites are much easier to control in a cooler grow room.
If your humidity is to high ductwork and hoods can form moisture and reduce the life of bulbs or even burst a bulb when a water drop hits a hot lamp.
Even a legal grower doesn’t want to advertise the fact he has the dankage inside so the carbon filter is a must as well.
People that haven’t been trained simply don’t understand Air and Cooling so I am going to attempt to help out.

First some things I see commonly done wrong by growers.
A window unit goes into a window.
It is not designed to be ducted with cardboard or vented into a garage. These things work marginally at high temps and without proper air flow all they do is use energy. I was at a grow this weekend that’s improperly vented and the power bill is 600 where it should be 300. That’s 3600 a year wasted that could go to making it work properly there fore saving money every year.
That will pay for a mini split that uses ½ the electricity as a window unit.
Think Green in your grow room!
Moving Air is a lot cheaper than chilling it so if your hoods are hot then your venting system sucks. You should be able to hold your hands on your hoods and glass and not have to move them. If they are generating heat then your now paying to Chill the room and that cost a lot more.
A 1200 CFM vortex uses like 1 amp a 10,000 btu ac uses like 8
Air is a Fluid! Think of it as water. Everyone go look at there venting flex if water was running through it would it cavitate and restrict and all those bends without elbo’s? So does air you just cant see it. Air has friction and just like any fluid just less but its still a huge factor in venting.

Lets look at the proper way to vent a closed system.

Moving Air is a lot cheaper than chilling it so if your hoods are hot then your venting system sucks. You should be able to hold your hands on your hoods and glass and not have to move them. If they are generating heat then your now paying to chill the room and that cost a lot more. A 1200 CFM vortex uses like 1 amp a 10,000 btu A/C uses like 8 amps which do you want running 24/7?

Air is a Fluid! Think of it as water. Everyone should go look at there venting flex. If water was running through it would it cavitate and restrict and all those bends without elbow’s? So does air you just cant see it. Air has friction and just like any fluid just less but its still a huge factor in venting. Its more costly to do properly but straight hard pipe has much less friction than flex duct. Along the same lines each hard bend you make in the flex can add as much as 15 linear feet to the duct design and enough of these mistakes and your not moving enough air to stay cool.A very common mistake is using the fan or blower to push air through the hoods and this is incorrect. This causes a positive pressure on the hoods and your temps wont drop like they will if you Pull the air through the hoods using the fan. This is accomplished by mounting the fan near the ceiling of the room and connecting a large trunk line that all the exhaust lines coming from each hood tie into using short even lengths of Flex duct.

Technology Note**
The new 8” cool hoods work really well and even though 8” flex is expensive it has much less restriction than 4” flange fitted hoods and less restriction than a 6” vented hood. You can get away running much more flex duct with these hoods but the steel ducts will last basically as long as you will. In our design build we will be using hoods with 6” flanges.

WE want to install a hard pipe system as our main trunk line this will prevent friction flex is used only as short connecting tubes.
This may seem like over kill but you have to master your environment when growing indoors!
Ok first I cut a 8" Dryer Vent in and tore off the flapper and cover.
We then attach a 8" elbow and a 7 foot section of pipe to go from down low to up high.
At the top of the ceiling below the plate we come through with the 8" duct using an elbow 8"
As this duct passes through MzJill's hydro room we chop in a 6" hole to provide fresh air for her hood. Being close to the intake it will get lots of good clean fresh air and stay cool even with the smaller duct.
We now enter the main bud room with the 8" pipe all joints are sealed and taped as were using co2.
Using a factory 8x6x6 Wye fitting I terminate the fresh air intake feeding each hood with a very short piece of 6" flex but I use elbows at the fittings to reduce friction and turbulence.
A properly vented movable hood using 6" flex and an elbo and a long sweep. No short hard turns to restrict air flow.
The new hood straight through these hoods are cool to the touch.

subcool · #20 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 06:35 PM

The heart of our system is a 1200 cfm Vortex tied in with 10" hard pipe and elbows. It feeds a 12" phat filter mounted in the attic above this room. Think of it as the lungs of the beast pulling all the cool air through the hoods and across the bulbs. The hot air is then forced upward and into a large carbon filter that prevents any smells from being broadcast outside the grow area.
You can see the new hood hooked up with wide sweeping turns with no restrictions.
Since this room is supplemented with CO2 all joints are sealed with tape and all flanges were caulked and sealed using silicone. This may seem like over kill at first glance but as I type this its over 100 degrees outside and while running 4400 watts in mid summer our max temperatures are staying under 80 degrees.
Another 6" tap travels into the veg room to vent the 1000 MH hood notice I used hard rigid flex to reduce friction I am a good ways from the main trunk at the end of the run its always good to go big on the last run. This is the very last connection on this run and the hood is pulling free from the room. This makes up more of the supply air needed by the large Vortex fan. This causes the entire area to be negatively pressurized which prevents any escaping smells.
This garden will be capable of supplying Edibles, Tinctures, and dry herbs to patients in need.