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Hey Fam Been under the radar for a while. Faced some issues here. But they're largely resolved, and I'm moving up in scale. Going from 100 sqft to 1000 sqft and I want it to be as bloody perfect as possible. I have lots of ideas, but I really want to see what the wisdom and knowledge of this forum has to offer. In my experience, it's usually a few solid grades above what my little brain can come up with. So here is what I have to work with: 1000 sqft (expandable up to 3500 sqft) As big of a cooling system as necessary (HVAC) A fairly hot and humid climate that probably averages at 30°C and 85% R/H annually, with a seasonal variation of 30% or so. And...that's all as far as the limitations go. I have sources for funding, and was looking for advice in the following domains - though they're all interconnected. Lighting: My initial idea was to go for 1000w Gavita DE fixtures. I want to - truly - consider LEDs. The problem is, the 400w LED fixtures that I got made (8 x cree cxb 3590 3500k @ 50w each) performed rather poorly for me. The parts were all original - meanwell drivers, ledil lenses, and the lot. Just couldn't get the same yield that I was getting from a 600w HPS in a square metre. I tried for a year, the yields were almost 30% less. I have not given up on the idea of LEDs, but I need some recommendations for what to go for, given an operation of this side. I have been checking out Fluence, Platinum, and California Lightworks. Again, budget is not the biggest criteria - I just need high quality, long lasting, tested and proven LEDs. I am not too keen on building my own again. The 1000w Gavita DE is a solid option, and if I have doubts, I will go for it, but I really do want to use these LEDs, to save a lot of money on air conditioning. If LEDs, I need info on which LEDs, how many per sqm, how far they should be from the plants, etc. If HPS, I just wanted to know how far apart they should be and how high up. I understand that for larger operations, it is not necessary to continuously raise and lower the light, and that it can be at a fixed height. What height is ideal? Growing Style: I was considering an undercurrent system, with a single plant per square metre, trained to a net. I thought a scrog would make the most sense, but I'm open to more ideas. If I go with a SOG, the only thing for me is finding the right strain that will work in there. (or maybe, learning how to better trim a plant for single cola growth). I have no issues with plant count, but really don't want to cross 16 per sqm. Currently, I have both an undercurrent and a deep water NFT pipe system running side by side, and the undercurrent is obviously better suited for larger plants than the pipes. I feel, that in my experience, I have found it far easier to find SCROG friendly strains than SOG friendly ones. Pointers: I wanted to get some tips from you pros out there on anything that you would tell someone who is starting a large grow for the first time. Useable Area: How much of the area should I be using? It's a 1000 sqft, so how much space should I keep for walking around, storage of nutrients, etc.? I will be building an internal partition and separating a grow space for mother plants and clones as well. Please shower your opinions and criticism upon me, opengrowers best vibes El Chupacabra

I have a spare room (on HVAC) to grow in year round, but also have privacy enough to grow outdoors too. I have just started putting together my grow room, but have not really had a plan- only a goal of having a perpetual grow in and outdoors. My room currently only has: AgroMax original stacker tent (basically a 3x3x2.5 cube) 4' 6-lamp HO T5 (that i've had to stuff into the tent as best I could) 2' 2-lamp HO T5 (not using) 1000w digital HPS/MH Lamp (with adjustable power)- I have hanging from ceiling over the tent. It is a cooltube design with supply/exhaust to outside the house using 6" fan/ducting. I'm using an AutoPot 4-pot system with a 50% cocotek/perlite mix and about an inch of clay rock ball in the bottom of each AutoPot and will be feeding GH Flora Series Nutrients I have a couple of aquarium air pumps and thinking about putting air stones into the bottom of my AutoPots to provide air to the roots (AutoPot sells Aqua Domes or Air Domes, but think this will work too?) I also have a TON of Fire Retardant Heavy Duty wrapping used in scaffolding or other similar work that would probably make for an excellent tent material. But it is white and not sure how lightproof it would be... I don't even know all of the components of a room that would be required for me to grow year round other than light and water, let alone how to set a room up to efficiently do it easily and reliably. In fact, I would like nothing more than to meet someone locally who knows what they are doing to give me a hand with this project rather than suffering through the trial and error mistakes I know are coming thanks to my OCD and accompanying anxiety. I learn well by OJT... Because of the OCD and stuff, I also need to consider making this operation as understandable for me as possible. Once setup, I want to be able to pretty much be able to just follow a plan and pattern to keep things going and learn from over time while I gain confidence that I'm not going to kill everything I touch. I live in the DC area, so I need a good resource like this one for every aspect of the project from setup to harvest. It is all new to me other than a few rough practice grows and allowed me to harvest some seed to practice with so I can start growing strains that work best for OCD, PTSD, Anxiety, etc. I would welcome comments and suggestions on achieving my goals.