Basement Growing

Rufus T. Firefly

Rufus T. Firefly

Well-Known Member
Moving from a slab house to an older home that has mold in the basement. Of course we are remediating (shit's expensive) but it got me wondering what the differences are between growing above ground like at my old residence and in the basement like I plan to at the new place.

I grow for myself and friends/family and priority number one is as organically and cleanly as possible. If you are a basement grower and have thoughts on best practices I'd love to hear from you.
 
CaliRootz88

CaliRootz88

Well-Known Member
Just a few things I can think of:

A sterile clean room in your basement may be a good start. Pre existing mold known in the basements would scare the hell out of me and would make me want to take an overkill on steps to ensure a sterile/sealed/ clean environment.

Anticipate the need for equipment. Dehumidifier/Humidifier/Heater/A/C etc. Observe the temps/humidity through a year to know when to use what you need.

Water make sure it doesn't stay stored to cold roots don't like freezing water.
 
Rufus T. Firefly

Rufus T. Firefly

Well-Known Member
CaliRootz88 said:
Just a few things I can think of:

A sterile clean room in your basement may be a good start. Pre existing mold known in the basements would scare the hell out of me and would make me want to take an overkill on steps to ensure a sterile/sealed/ clean environment.

Anticipate the need for equipment. Dehumidifier/Humidifier/Heater/A/C etc. Observe the temps/humidity through a year to know when to use what you need.

Water make sure it doesn't stay stored to cold roots don't like freezing water.
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Yeah the mold makes me nervous as well but here’s what I have learned in this process. Mold is pretty much everywhere it’s just what kind and at what levels.

I’m pretty sure it was at our old house too but I was blissfully ignorant.

I like the idea of a sterile room but that sounds like an expensive proposition.
 
CaliRootz88

CaliRootz88

Well-Known Member
It’s probably going to be trial and error mastering your new grow space. Have you looked into a air purifier for the sq ft area? It may pay dividends to have one running full time. @Rufus T. Firefly
 
Rufus T. Firefly

Rufus T. Firefly

Well-Known Member
CaliRootz88 said:
It’s probably going to be trial and error mastering your new grow space. Have you looked into a air purifier for the sq ft area? It may pay dividends to have one running full time. @Rufus T. Firefly
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There willl defiantly be a dehumidifier running I would imagine all the time and most likely a HEPA filter as well. Some of that will depend on the recommendations of the remediation company.
 
Rufus T. Firefly

Rufus T. Firefly

Well-Known Member
Here's the thing, it's a house built in 1899. Nothing that built that long ago is going to be free of mold. Plus, mold is everywhere. It's gonna get a good scrub down and treatment. Again a dehumidifier and a HEPA filter will be running down there as needed.

I think the tent being vented outside will actually help with air exchange and help to keep the basement more of a climate controlled environment. I'm thinking I'm going with a 5x5 and would like to have it raised a couple of inches off the floor on some kind of grate with so there can be some airflow and I don't develop a moist spot under.
 
bud_rick

bud_rick

Member
I have my tent in the basement and humidity is the only issue. Buy a dehumidifier now ahead of time. You'll 100% need it. Also with the dehumidifier and tent lights on the basement stays around 75 degrees lol. Weird having a basement that's warmer than the rest of the house.
 
Y

youraveragehorticulturist

Well-Known Member
Have you heard of "Basement Encapsulation" where they hang plastic on the walls and floors to seal out water and prevent mold?

1662514746610.png

You might think abut getting some rolled up plastic sheeting from Home Depot or some shit and encapsulating a corner of your basement for your grow area. Maybe you frame a small room with plastic walls and floor. That way at least your wouldn't have mold growing on the floor and walls of your area. And it might be easier to manage temps and humidity in a smaller area.
 
Rufus T. Firefly

Rufus T. Firefly

Well-Known Member
bud_rick said:
I have my tent in the basement and humidity is the only issue. Buy a dehumidifier now ahead of time. You'll 100% need it. Also with the dehumidifier and tent lights on the basement stays around 75 degrees lol. Weird having a basement that's warmer than the rest of the house.
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I'll probably have two.
 
Rufus T. Firefly

Rufus T. Firefly

Well-Known Member
youraveragehorticulturist said:
Have you heard of "Basement Encapsulation" where they hang plastic on the walls and floors to seal out water and prevent mold?

View attachment 5193847

You might think abut getting some rolled up plastic sheeting from Home Depot or some shit and encapsulating a corner of your basement for your grow area. Maybe you frame a small room with plastic walls and floor. That way at least your wouldn't have mold growing on the floor and walls of your area. And it might be easier to manage temps and humidity in a smaller area.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I understand why or how that would work. My understanding is masonry foundations will sweat and that's the way they are designed. Wouldn't adding a VBL trap water between the foundation and the plastic and providing and ideal environment for mold? I think, and I'm nobodies expert on this, that a better course of action would be to physically remove any mold, treat the foundation and keep it dry enough so that you don't give the mold an environment to grow in? Of course there would be other remediation techniques like air scrubbing and other cleaning to further remediate.

I'll ask the remediation company about the technique you describe when they start work on the 26th. I may move from Grassroots pots to a hard sided plastic. I don't really want to but it seems like that would make for a cleaner environment.
 
BeastGrow

BeastGrow

Well-Known Member
Rufus T. Firefly said:
Moving from a slab house to an older home that has mold in the basement. Of course we are remediating (shit's expensive) but it got me wondering what the differences are between growing above ground like at my old residence and in the basement like I plan to at the new place.

I grow for myself and friends/family and priority number one is as organically and cleanly as possible. If you are a basement grower and have thoughts on best practices I'd love to hear from you.
Click to expand...
run a dehumidifer and 2 box fans.. you can spray for mold. then cover it up with pandafilm and/or killex paint. then continue to run the humidifier to regulate at 50% humidity. you might power wash and shop vac up the bricks and slab foundation floor if you have access to one.
 
BeastGrow

BeastGrow

Well-Known Member
you want to make sure to dry out really good before you seal up everything.. like running the humidier down to 20% humidity for a month with box fans.
 
kod42

kod42

Well-Known Member
Rufus T. Firefly said:
I'm not sure I understand why or how that would work. My understanding is masonry foundations will sweat and that's the way they are designed. Wouldn't adding a VBL trap water between the foundation and the plastic and providing and ideal environment for mold? I think, and I'm nobodies expert on this, that a better course of action would be to physically remove any mold, treat the foundation and keep it dry enough so that you don't give the mold an environment to grow in? Of course there would be other remediation techniques like air scrubbing and other cleaning to further remediate.

I'll ask the remediation company about the technique you describe when they start work on the 26th. I may move from Grassroots pots to a hard sided plastic. I don't really want to but it seems like that would make for a cleaner environment.
Click to expand...
Yes you are right in a way. If you kill all the mold/ bacteria down there, dry it, Then put the plastic wrap up you should be okay. You will still want to keep it dry down there. No matter what every natural material will have moisture in it so unfortunately it will never be 100% dry but as long as it's clean no mold should grow.
 
Humanrob

Humanrob

Well-Known Member
Rufus T. Firefly said:
Here's the thing, it's a house built in 1899. Nothing that built that long ago is going to be free of mold. Plus, mold is everywhere. It's gonna get a good scrub down and treatment. Again a dehumidifier and a HEPA filter will be running down there as needed.

I think the tent being vented outside will actually help with air exchange and help to keep the basement more of a climate controlled environment. I'm thinking I'm going with a 5x5 and would like to have it raised a couple of inches off the floor on some kind of grate with so there can be some airflow and I don't develop a moist spot under.
Click to expand...
My house was built in 1903, I briefly thought about growing in the basement but it still has a dirt floor! They refer to it as "a stand up crawlspace". lol -- no option to dehumidify that.

You have probably already thought of this, but... dehumidifiers are amp rated, make sure to check your circuits, add up your lights, fans, etc., and plan for how you're going to run things. And don't forget to think about how/where you'll drain your dehumidifier. I've read several discussions on this, more than a few people just use the "distilled" water to water their plants (others object, I don't remember why).
 
Rufus T. Firefly

Rufus T. Firefly

Well-Known Member
I'm going to be delaying the basement project for the foreseeable future. As part of the mold remediation there was a spray applied to all the joists and the first floor sub floor which is still off gassing. I'm not sure exactly what it is and there is no way in hell I'm going have that filtering through the tent.

I'm in this to grow the cleanest possible weed and I just can't convince myself that the current situation is any kind of OK in that context.

I can move to the third floor in the meantime or just continue to grow at a relatives basement.

I'll revisit the idea when I feel like the smell is gone.

I appreciate the ideas and hopefully this thread can be of some help for those who have subterainian spaces.
 
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