Vertical Virgin pops his Cherry - 600w Sun tube Tent Grow w/ CO2

[Natagonnaworrie]

Good Morning IC,

Mods feel free to move to the Design sub-forum but i thought i would get better Vert advice here. Plus, if all goes well maybe this will become the 1 spot shop for Vert Setups / Noobs. I plan to document every inch of this experience.

- So, you Vert folks peaked my interest. (More like made me jealous.) So i am down to make the investment and the switch. A hard decision for me as i have been an indoor grower for almost 10 years and a (kid) bean tosser outside for 5 before that.

I have accumulated A LOT of equipment over the years. I have bought and sold everything i have multiple times in my life and have been dragging the most recent equipment around from place to place for the last 4 years. Quick overview, It took me a while to settle on the stuff i have but i also have (almost) perfected my growing style to where i am getting 1.5# per harvest with a single 1000 w HPS in a 4' x 4' Homebox. (Thank god i got the HB. No off-gassing. I have had this since early in the tent days)

My goal now is to get similar yields with less electricity. Actually i want to divert the electricity to my veg area so i can play pollen hack some more. If i went vert i would be looking to yield over 1# every 2.5 months with say 600w or maybe even 400. If this sounds unrealistic, keep in mind that i rock CO2 via a Sentinel CHHC-1 controller and increase from 1500ppm to 1825 to the end of flowering. It helps! BUT, it is a major consideration in the changing of the set up of the new room. Also, i only flower 12 plants at a time. And i currently use my own special soil mix but have already started to itch for RDWC. That is a whole new issue (depending on how long this thread goes we might just see it )

Here she is:


Vegging Flat getting ready for Vert in 9 days


Last Harvest w 1000x HPS - 1.5#


Vegging for Flat 1000w with MH Conversion bulb

My Questions to Follow. And Yes, I have searched and tagged, searched more, drawn sketches, looked into all the equipment, asked around at the grow store and talked with friends.

The time has come to put up or shut up so my goal is to get these babies into flower Vert style on May 1. The picture of the veg plants, the first one, was taken about a week ago so they are a little bigger. Those are White Widow crossed with Sour Diesel. I needed something that i know #1, that yields very large #2 and three that first the vert profile, so basically a stretcher. A tall mamma.

So i think i'm ready..

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

So i think i'm ready..

So in order to get this done i believe that CO2 is a must. I also think that the 400w CMH or 400w HPS won't quite get me there. The 1000 is out because i need the power for my little GL60 veg spot.

So, can anyone please tell me what the deal is related to temps and bare bulbs in a small 4' x 4' tent. I think that the Vert Cool tube will steal some light intensity that i very much need but to do bare bulb with CO2 means no ventilation. I tested my 400w CMH and the temps were not to bad. I don't mind hitting 86 - 87 with the CO2 blasting. I have noticed that temp sensitivity is very strain dependant with CO2. This variety handles it pretty well. A little better than average, but not crappy at all. So first issue i seem to be encountering is temps. I guess the Cool tube would be necessary for the 600w HPS. That means the i come in the bottom of the tent with a 4" opening, use a reducer thing to get to 6" ducting, run that along the floor (using valuable floor space) to come under the cool tube and eventually vent out the other side of the tent through the 6" opening. The fan is rated for 440 watts.

Seems like my only option if i need the 600 to get to my 1# goal, right?

More to follow. I really appreciate anyone's help and interest in this thread.

Red, What's up? I'm expecting to hear a little from you too man.

 

[redspaghetti]

whats sup nata, how you know im already reading/replying to the thread ? haha

Anyway, BIG WELCOME to the Vertical community, you will find that only a handful of us will update the threads here, i know there are a lot of lurkers but please post advices/comments for us growers lol

So you're taking out that 1k huh? Im sure you can get a 600 vert to yield like your 1k flat. I dont know much about C02, but i do know when you run C02 your tent have to be seal ? no? so temp might shot up a bit.

Is Co2 a must here nata? I've been running my vert tent for a couple crop now and trust me, the gpw is a lot easier to archive with vertical, you might not need the co2 for time being ( test run ).


Did you set the tent up bro? i would love to see how you design this

 

[redspaghetti]

I read that you have an itch for RDWC ?
how about giving that hempy buckets a try? its very simple and the growth rate is faster then soil.

i went from dirt to dwc to rdwc to aero and now hempy. I love it because it is soooo simple yet it pump out some reallly nice quality buds

 

[redspaghetti]

Hempy run 7 days in flower nata!

 

[RipVanWeed]

Hey Nata,

I ran a 1k in a crate about the size of your tent.



Cooltube is drawing air from outside the box and venting up thru the roof. You can see the window A/C mounted down lower left. Imho bare bulb in such a tight space will overheat.



I've been expanding my grow and currently run 2k bare, but I live in hot, arid climate and even with good insulation and a 2ton minisplint, I will be ready to install Cooltubes if needed.

I train my plants into a fan shape, and strip the back side. You'll probably be trying to lean the canopy back from the light. This prevents burning and increases the circumference of the circular canopy, both good things.



Good Luck, I'll be following along.

Respect,

 

[RipVanWeed]

Just read the title of thius thread again and reliezed I didn't share anything re: Vscrog, the 1st run I used a singlehoop of rabbit fence around the light....mistake for me. It kind of locks them in place and can make it difficult to maintain the plants on the far side of the light. Now I mount an individual trellis on each bucket/plant.

Peace

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

Im sure you can get a 600 vert to yield like your 1k flat.

If i can do that i'm a happy man.

So, i am thinking that the cooltube is necessary. Its $180 at my local shop. It gets pretty hot here too somedays. Also I am pretty sure that i want to go with the 600w HPS. So the with the cooltube my setup doesnt change much at all. Replace the regular hood with the cooltube, flip this bitch on its side, and i'm good to go.

Some be an interesting experiment. I waiting until summer was coming up because i usually take a break at summer for two reasons, # 1 the heat, # 2 i try to get away sometimes in summer and minding the garden can F that up.

Oh, so Red.. I have to look into the Hempy buckets. I don't know anything about it. It looks like a bucket of fine grade perlite but i'm sure that there is more to it that that. The main question i have is, how often do you have to water. I have often considered CoCo but i limit my gardening work to 2 hours every Sat morning. I just water once and week and keep the tent locked up..

btw Red is that a tent, that set up looks sick.

So Rip, your set up looks sick too. I love that crate. I can tell you take pride in your work.

So i am stealing a few tips from you. First is i am now confirmed on the VScrog. I have some trellis but i f you dont mind, what are you making the fram from? I am going to skip the rope trellis actually and use that green planter wire. Even your VScrog thingys look great. How to u attach it to the buckets.

Wait are you both running Hempys or Rip do you just has P lite over your soil?

Anyway, thanks guys. I have some more thinking to do and some more money to spend...

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

Rip - good call on having your ducting come up through the floor. Mine will have to come into the tent and travel over a pot or two, then to the light. But that is better than loosing 6" of floor space to pass the ducting between two pots.


You guys must both be pulling a GPW. Both so clean and profesional.

REP

 

[redspaghetti]

Whats sup nata, thanks for the kind words bro


There are different way u can run hempy buckets, you can run it with coco also. It all depends on what kind of mediums you want to work on and learn from it. Right now perlite is for me, but i am also doing a mix 70% perlite and 30% vermiculite, this mix has a faster grow rate than the all perlite.

I am doing this experiment with perlite and a drip system, the grow rate is super fast haha. I might change it to a drip system next run. But yeah, check out the hempy threads and do some research to see which one fits you best.

I've been thinking about cooltube for a while now and did some research on them too, might get em in the future i thnk

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

are your temps too high now?

if not you're good. or you can get them so u can add co2

 

[whatapothead]

I train my plants into a fan shape, and strip the back side. You'll probably be trying to lean the canopy back from the light. This prevents burning and increases the circumference of the circular canopy, both good things.

when do you strip the backside? i have a mini vert going right now with 6 28" plants that have been flowering for 2-3 weeks now and i also did the fan tie up. just wondering if its still worth trimming all the stuff that isn't going to get any light?

 

[*mistress*]

bare bulb. 1k.
maybe, reduce total plant in tent to 2-4 total, for flowering...
pre-veg until ~18-20" wide.
should finish completely filling room w/ fruit & less plants.

what type of conversion bulb?
they usually burn cooler than standard bulbs.

enjoy your garden!

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

my Sour desiel would take a while to get that wide. I am using it intentionally because she grows tall. I think that would be good for vert. They are getting to a good size now. I have to repot get the VScrog going.

the conversion bulb is a sunmaster but i want to get away from the 1000w. it i cang get to a gpw with a 600 i will be happy with that.

I need the extra power for something else. and i dont want to get the electric in this spot upgraded.

I'll snap a pic now.

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

...Those are six inch pots.

 

[*mistress*]

maybe, just 1-2 plant...4 max.
6oo should get them big, w/ good veg tyme.
when roots come thru drainage holes of 6", transplant to 2gal.
maybe, 2 more wk in 2gal, then to 4-5 gal. then flower...

the area seem small, but there is lots of un-used space.
2 well-veg plants make same or more shoots/tops than lots of plants.
bigger containers, 24/0 veg, full strength fertilizer...

 

[RipVanWeed]

Hey Nata, Thanks for the kind words.

To make a trelliis I use a section of rabbit fence and cut it down to size, it's like a wire fence with gaps of 2" x 4". For anchoring I use "plant stakes" from Home Depot. Thick gauge wire coated in vinyl, they come with a circular hoop to support a single stem or something. I cut that circular hoop off and use the long stiff wire to slide down the inside of the bucket, all the way to the bottom.
Then drill 1/8" holes just below the rim of the bucket, right where the vertical wires are. I use a roll of that twisty tie wire to assemble the wire screen to the supports. At the 1/8" holes, I used the twisty tie to secure the vertical support, the screen, and the bucket tightly together.

I mount the screens after the plants have been in their pots for awhile, so when I put that screen on I weave the branches through the fence. After this initial weave I don't force anything back behind the screen again. They wanna lean towards the light so I let them, but tie 'em back to the screen with wire as needed.

I top most all my plants when their small, as the branches grow and compete for dominance, I train them into a fan shape or minora. They kind of tell me how to shape them, once the front side is identified, any branch growing directly out the back is removed and used as a clone for a future generation.

I've become rather aggressive when it comes to stripping the back and bottom. Budsites in these less than desireable locations rarely grow to be dense enough. Focus on the front.

Respect,

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

Well Rip, i tried to rep you again but i have to spread it around a little. Another informative as hell post. Thanks man. I just got back from the store and picked up a bunch of supplies. This vert investment is costing a pretty penny but with the 6" sun tube i can blast my Co2 so thats a bonus. I have to hit 1 gpw since i moving down to a 600. Only time will tell.

here is todays latest acquisitions.

Oh, i'm switching over to roots organic soil. I will mix their 707 mix with the heavier mix they offer. I forget what its called. I'll put that up later. Plus my usual coarse perlite, a little worm castings, some plant success fungi and a few other things.

i'm really doing this.



the brown box is my new Growlab 60 for a the moms.


here is what i was thinking for configuration. 9 four gallon circle pots on the outside. I will add raisers to make it semi stadium style. those with be the Sour D / Widows.
then 4 bubba kush for the inside since she grows shorter.



i have a lot of work to go. I hope i can get vert dialed in a run or two.. really hoping it works out.

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

ok this should be enough work for the day.



the little ones are the moms to be.

i will set up the 6" Sun Tube next weekend ans then flip to 12/12.

anything i am missing here folks?

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

F*** it. I a m throwing them under the 1000w MH. they have one week to happen up before flower. Come on Bitches>>>>

(yes, this is how i spent my sat night.) making improvements for my grow..

its BRIGHT.