Grow Closet Setup

G'morning, I'm needing to prepare an indoor grow area but my only option will be inside a bedroom closet, and it measures 3' x 4' x 8'. I have an inline fan so I assume I'll need to cut a hole in the ceiling to vent into the attic, add a fan and dehumidifier, but anything else? Paint the walls flat white, or does that matter much? Any thing else I should be aware of?

Just ordered this light: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L9J93D1?ref=ppx_yo2_tab_ap_product_details&th=1

And the beans are (finally!) in route for delivery from Seedsman (auto's), and I have my own personal soil mix (non pre-fert potting mix, coco, compost, perlite, vermiculite + a small percentage of wonderful clay soil collected from a nearby forest).

Long time gardener (veggies) but with weed legal in VA now I'm currently more interested in growing better types of plants lol (technically we're allowed to have four plants at any given time)

I have all of the materials to make aerated compost teas and such but I decided to just buy proper ferts.. so I bought TPS Nutients: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VXK223F?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_tab_ap_product_details

Also bought a ph tester, and the up down solutions. The city water is good here (no chloramine) but the ph does run high (8.5) (which I reduce to 6ish).

Thanks.

I would recommend 3 things.1 don’t vent into attic. Will have issues with mold in the attic. need to vent just like the bathrooms are done. 2. Not sure what your doing for an intake but I had the ac guy run a duct that teed off the main system and put a vent in closet. Also same as most bathrooms are done.3 you can paint white but I lined mine with double reflective insulation you can get from Home Depot easy to staple on wall. - not sure what country your in though

I changed my wooden closet shelving to the wire rack style; it helped with airflow and provided almost unlimited options for hanging everything (lights, probes, yo-yo's, fans)

Autodoctor said:

I would recommend 3 things.1 don’t vent into attic. Will have issues with mold in the attic. need to vent just like the bathrooms are done. 2. Not sure what your doing for an intake but I had the ac guy run a duct that teed off the main system and put a vent in closet. Also same as most bathrooms are done.3 you can paint white but I lined mine with double reflective insulation you can get from Home Depot easy to staple on wall. - not sure what country your in though

Click to expand...

Oof, not being able to vent to the attic will be problematic.. (none of the side walls will work) and we're on a slab foundation
And I hadn't even considered an intake.. (I assumed air would just be sucked from a crack under the door)

Perhaps I'll need to go to Plan B.. a setup out in my storage shed (unheated though.. which would require creating an insulated space with an added heat source)

I'm in southeast Virginia, and our winter's generally aren't terrible, but it's gonna go below freezing for parts of it.. and you can't grow thru it without measures being taken

Or Plan C - which would be to wait for Spring (which would suck) Plus I have my one last summer grow going.. and she won't finish until December

Jerry Cush said:

Oof, not being able to vent to the attic will be problematic.. (none of the side walls will work) and we're on a slab foundation
And I hadn't even considered an intake.. (I assumed air would just be sucked from a crack under the door)

Perhaps I'll need to go to Plan B.. a setup out in my storage shed (unheated though.. which would require creating an insulated space with an added heat source)

I'm in southeast Virginia, and our winter's generally aren't terrible, but it's gonna go below freezing for parts of it.. and you can't grow thru it without measures being taken

Or Plan C - which would be to wait for Spring (which would suck) Plus I have my one last summer grow going.. and she won't finish until December

Click to expand...

If your not venting an absolute fuck ton into the attic it should be fine. A small grow is not awful as long as your attic vents to the outside.

I vent into my attic. 2x4x7. No issues.

I vent to the attic too. You just make sure the attic has good ventilation. It should never allow mold to grow no matter the humidity. Especially if you live where it gets into the high 90% on a normal nightly cycle.

I wouldn't worry about an active intake.
Make some sort of holes underneath or at the back so air can come in passively.

It's only 450w in a 3x4 , not a whole room.

Good luck.

I have a grow closet. A little bigger, 8x2. I have a 1/2 sq foot hole cut in the wall for the intake air with bath fan exhaust. Does OK but in the summer I had to open the doors on the closet or it overheated.

Just run both air in and air out through the ceiling in opposite corners. Run ducting for the air in, to the floor, and separate the ducting above the ceiling a little distance so it doesn't recycle the same air. If noise (or space) becomes an issue you could mount the fan and filter in the attic. Your intake should ideally be bigger than your outlet, a crack under the door won't cut it.

Depending if you have outlets in the closet you may have to make provision for cabling through the ceiling as well if you don't want leads running under the door. I would recommend a smoke/fire alarm and a Residual Current Device or equivalent as well.

Light leakage may pose a problem, you can muck around with all sorts of ways of stopping the leaks but the easiest I know of is to stick a sheet of poly/pandafilm/tarpaulin/what have you around the inside doorframe, and create a opening using Peel-and-Stick-Zippers.

A large tray helps save your carpets from water and dirt should there be any mishaps.

MedicinalMyA$$ said:

Just run both air in and air out through the ceiling in opposite corners. Run ducting for the air in, to the floor, and separate the ducting above the ceiling a little distance so it doesn't recycle the same air. If noise (or space) becomes an issue you could mount the fan and filter in the attic. Your intake should ideally be bigger than your outlet, a crack under the door won't cut it.

Depending if you have outlets in the closet you may have to make provision for cabling through the ceiling as well if you don't want leads running under the door. I would recommend a smoke/fire alarm and a Residual Current Device or equivalent as well.

Light leakage may pose a problem, you can muck around with all sorts of ways of stopping the leaks but the easiest I know of is to stick a sheet of poly/pandafilm/tarpaulin/what have you around the inside doorframe, and create a opening using Peel-and-Stick-Zippers.

A large tray helps save your carpets from water and dirt should there be any mishaps.

Click to expand...

Thanks, helpful info. My main goal was just to keep the process going thru winter, then go back outside when conditions allow. But once I go to all this trouble it might make sense to just roll with it. And I think I prefer autos but since my Seedsman order will include some pheno fems I'm thinking that's what I'll run indoors so I can induce the switch when desired. (light leak shouldn't be a problem with this area)

I hadn't wanted to spend a bunch of money on this project, and since lights are the biggest expense.. I don't know how much growing the light I just purchased will provide for (link above, if you get a chance, how many plants might that take care of?)

And the overhead light in the closet has a 120v outlet, but is there a limit to how many items can be run off of one plug in? (although there's another plug in the attic I probably could use)

Jerry Cush said:

Oof, not being able to vent to the attic will be problematic.. (none of the side walls will work) and we're on a slab foundation
And I hadn't even considered an intake.. (I assumed air would just be sucked from a crack under the door)

Perhaps I'll need to go to Plan B.. a setup out in my storage shed (unheated though.. which would require creating an insulated space with an added heat source)

I'm in southeast Virginia, and our winter's generally aren't terrible, but it's gonna go below freezing for parts of it.. and you can't grow thru it without measures being taken

Or Plan C - which would be to wait for Spring (which would suck) Plus I have my one last summer grow going.. and she won't finish until December

Click to expand...

You run vent into attic and then over to soffit and vent it out. You don't vent strait into attic.

Outlets are rated by amps. You probably have a 15a outlet. I run everything off one circuit for my closet grow.

15 Amp outlet rated for 1800 max watts or 1440 watts for continued use which means pulling power for three hours or longer.