In this new, exclusive series from Advanced Nutrients we’re going to show you to build your own indoor hydroponic garden so you can start enjoying the benefits of growing!
How To Build Your Own Grow Room Series:
Part 1 — Choosing your space & planning (you are here!)
Part 2 — Calculating lighting and insulation needs
Part 3 — Dialing in your temperature & humidity
Part 4 — Accurately calculating heat, plus safety & sanitation tips
Introducing: How To Build A Grow Room
The hydro grow room!
This is the most important spot for growers of high value plants because this is where it all happens.
From germinating seeds, to vegetation and flowering phase all the way to harvest–you’ll spend a lot of time in your grow room so it pays to make it the best you can.
Now, when it comes to setting up your grow room — especially if you’re a beginner — there are a lot of factors to consider.
Some are common sense and some you’ve probably never thought of before.
That’s ok!
That’s what this guide is about. We’ll help you get started …
How To Find The Perfect Indoor Grow Space …
The first step to setting up your own grow room is finding the perfect place for it.
This is actually more important than you think, because there are a number of factors to consider:
First on most everyone’s list is Privacy and Security.
If you want your grow room to be private, you must locate it in an area that’s not easily seen. For example, if you’re growing in a house, then you don’t want to locate your grow room near the front doors. Also, take some time to think about how you’re going to secure the room. If you build an entire room into your grow area, then a simple lock on the door might be sufficient. If you’re only building a small area, like in a closet — then you’ll have to plan to secure that door too. Either way, figure out how you’re going to keep it private and secure.
Common popular areas to build an indoor garden include:
– Basements are a top choice
– Cupboards and closet spaces
– Empty bedrooms or other unused rooms
– False walls or even constructing areas specifically for your grow room
Second most important is that you need to be able to control the environment of the area you choose.
That means eliminating outside factors like excessive heat (for example, upper floor rooms with windows that take in a lot of sunlight are not ideal because they take in too much heat). This is one reason why many growers prefer the basement areas of houses–because it’s typically underground and stays a more consistent temperature year round.
And it also means making sure that you try to locate the grow room in an area where you can easily get electric and water into the room without excessive risks like running tons of electrical extension cables throughout your house, etc. If you can set it up so that you have easy access to water and electricity you’ll be much better off.
Another important point is that an unfinished concrete or asphalt floor is perfect for a grow room. There will be less places for pests to hide and you’ll be able to clean it easier.
Lastly, keep in mind that you want an area that’s well ventilated or can be easily ventilated, because you need good airflow in the room. If you’re using ventilation systems to help, remember that the further the air has to travel the more you’ll need fans to help circulate the air.
If you’re going to build a grow room that’s not attached to a residence, then you’ll have to factor in all of these same concerns — security, privacy, easy access to water and electricity, ventilation, etc when building the stand-alone grow room.
Why You Want To Diagram Your Grow Room First
In the video below, an expert grower named Eljay explains the importance of why you want to diagram your grow room first, and exactly how to do it.
Planning ahead like this means creating a model of the grow room in the form of a drawing. This will let you test your ideas and see what fits on a small scale. This is easier to manipulate and make changes, prior to building the room itself. Watch:
Once we have chosen our space the first thing we need to do is figure out the square footage and cubic feet of our room. This will tell us how many plants we can put in the room, how much light and cooling we need, and even how long our CO2 burner will run.
Take the height, length and width measurements of your grow room and write them down.
These measurements are powerful and will be the roadmap to your perfect grow room. We figure these measurements out by measuring our area from side to side, write it down. Measure front to back, and write it down. Then, finally measure top to bottom, write it down. (Length, Width, and Height of the room).
Draw your grow room, showing the location of your plants, reservoir, any filters, doors, etc. You can do this with computer software as in this picture or draw on a piece of paper, it’s up to you.
The next thing you do, once you have your measurements, is to draw your hydro room. You can do this on a computer using a piece of space planning software like Microsoft’s Visio, or on the back of a napkin, whatever is easiest for you. You are trying to achieve a general idea of how your grow room is going to lay out.
You want to actually draw where your plants are going to be and section off your actual growing area also known as your “canopy”. You’ll also want to draw where your water reservoir is, and walkways and utility areas “such as your electric panel”.
As a “rule of thumb”, you will need about one square foot per plant. Depending on the type of high-value plant you’re growing, you may need more than this. Or you may need less. But generally, for planning purposes at this stage — you need to factor in at least one square foot per plant for your diagram.
We will be adding to this diagram throughout the next few parts of this series. This is also going to include venting for your lights–a “lighting diagram”. Venting for the room, with “ducting diagrams” and more if necessary.
Taking the time to organize yourself during the planning stage will make it easier to see what challenges are ahead and make sure you’ve planned for everything you’ll need.
Congratulations! You’ve Found The Perfect Space & You’re Ready To Figure Out Your Lighting and Insulation Needs…
In the next installment of this series we will cover:
- How to calculate EXACTLY how many lights you need for your plants
- What you absolutely MUST know about insulation for happy crops
- Electrical safety 101: how to not electrocute yourself!
- And much, much more!
Until next time, please share this article with your friends or anyone you think it can help. Post it to social networks too. And good luck finding the perfect grow room space!
