Vertically inclined

[Hurk]

Hello peoples. Got a new setup and I've decided to go vertical. I'll show you what I've got going on and if anyone has any advice to help things go smoothly it would be much appreciated.

Right now I'm vegging some freshly rooted clones in a 4x4x6.5 tent. They are around a 1k metal halide. I'm thinking for flowering I'll stack 2 600's.
The strain is most likely purple kush. Basically I found 1 seed in 2 oz of what I was told was purple kush. I'm assuming that because there was only 1 seed in 2oz that it was just one of those freak s1's that was just meant to be. I've done 2 runs with her and haven't seen a male flower. She takes 75 days to finish properly but when taken past 80 days the high is almost narcotic. Real end of the day kind of smoke.

Well here's a picture of my setup

As you can see I have 9 clones. I was thinking of reducing it to 6 plants instead of 9, that way they wouldn't be so crowded. Its naturally a very bushy plant. what do you guys think? 6 or 9 plants? I've got a maximum of 5 weeks that I can veg them.

 

[Arminius]

Vertically inclined

PK doesn't ring a bell as a stretcher. To stack 2 600s, I would think you need multiple layers of plants, or a good sativa hybrid that will utilize 60+" of vert canopy.

 

[Hurk]

You're right she's not a huge stretcher. So you think I'd be better off staying with the 1k this time? Maybe I'll do the multiple layer thing next go round. It just seems like I'm only using the bottom half of the tent.

 

[Arminius]

Vertically inclined

1k would give you a taller vert canopy, but your footprint would increase. I wouldn't go more than 600 in a 4x4.
I guess if you over vegged, and trained them into a screen you could get away with stacked 600s.

 

[Hurk]

Ya the thing is I'm limited on time. I've basically got 5 weeks from today to veg. They've been under the 1k for about a week now and they're loving it. I figure as long as I can keep the temps in line I should be ok. I'm going to put up a screen in the next couple of days.

 

[Arminius]

Vertically inclined

I just don't see you pulling off a 1k in a 4x4. It was tight enough with a 600. Temps will be the least of you issue, I would worry about too much light, bleaching, etc.,,

 

[Hurk]

On my last grow I finished up a pk in the tent with the 1k plus I had a 200w led right above it. No bleaching but lots of resin
If I run into problems the ballast is dimmable anyway. I can dim it down to 600 or even 400.

 

[Hurk]

Would vegging with a hps instead of mh would make them stretch a bit more?

 

[Arminius]

That is the thinking, but if you place the bottom of the bulb at the top of the canopy, and raise as needed, during stretch, the difference is likely minimal...

 

[Hurk]

What I need to figure out first is the plant count. Given the strain (purple kush), and the veg time (5 more weeks), would it be best to go with 6 plants or 9? I want to get that sorted out before I put the screen up. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[DHF]

The best advice I could give is to veg with T-5`s right down on top of no stretchin plants to stack nodes and build laterals for the 5 week period , and then see what each plant`s footprint is by the end of that period to determine how many plants/containers it`ll take to develop the "sideways" canopy till end of cycle since there`ll be minimum stretch......then.....

Once flipped as Arm stated put the tip of the bulb at top of canopy until there`s no vertical OR sideways foliage growth for proof positive they`re done stretchin , and then drop the bulb down where the top of the socket`s even with the tops of the plants till end of cycle and see how well they do.......and yeah.....

You`re not usin the upper portion of the tent , and all that light `s goin to waste IME...anyways....Do the best yas can with whatchas got to work with and.....remember.....

Veggin with bare bulbs causes the plants to bush out naturally like indica dominant strains do anyway with little to no vertical stretch , but it also causes elongated internode spacing with said indica varieties just like veggin sat hybrids with MH or HPS fixtures cuz they can`t be placed as close to the plants for fear of heat scorching and light bleaching.....anyways.....My 2 cents.....

Good luck...DHF............

 

[Hurk]

Hey DHF thanks for stoping in When you mentioned the t5's you got me thinking.. I have a few sitting around that I'm not using. I know you probably meant to veg exclusively under t5's but I don't have enough for that so I hooked them up as supplemental lighting instead.

I'll have to make a few adjustments but what do you think? I have limited resources at the moment so I'm not going to go out and buy a bunch of lights I'll probably only use once. I have another 4x2 tent full of t5's that I'll use for vegging in the future. Its just full of moms and seedlings right now.

 

[Hurk]

I might dim the ballast down to 600. Lol I'm vegging with over 1200w in a 4x4. Overkill?

 

[Jbonez]

Dont veg plants vertically.. Its counter productive to the flip...

We like to elongate the plants with overhead light, like Freds said with t5's or something..

A 1k hid for veg wont hurt, but your plants will bush out and that makes it difficult to bloom in vert..

Also, 1k is possible all day in that tent.. However, ventilation will need to be intuitive..

With an intake temp of 72f where I keep my house, 2 6" hydrofarm fans are enough to ventilate your space adequately..

Keep the plants trained against the wall as much as possible..

I run a 600w in less than a 3x3 space with 75w per sq ft and it kills....

 

[RM - aquagrower]

I wouldn't make any hard decisions reguarding plant numbers just yet. 5 weeks is a pretty good amount of time, and ya just may find out that ya have enough plants to run 2 levels as it is.

Keep 'em happy, and as they begin to get overcrowded, adjust accordingly.

 

[Hurk]

It seems like I have some redesigning to do. No problem.

Ventilation shouldn't be an issue. I've got a 4" vortex running 24/7 to keep a slight neg. pressure on the room and then I have a 1200 cfm 4 speed blower that I took out of a furnace. I've only had to use the low speed. That one is run on a thermostat. It can easily keep temps within 5 or 6 degrees of the room.

 

[DHF]

You can drop those fluorescent fixtures down right on top of the plants if it won`t create too much "shadowing" from the fixtures themselves with a bare bulb that`s supplyin most of the lumens .......and....

Yeah..... Yas could prolly dial down the ballast , but wait and see how they react with proper feeding with dialed environment before droppin wattage.....and again.....

Listen ta Jbonez.....He knows the drill for small sq ftg setups......I ALWAYS said if yas can dial a small grow , doin a bigger 1 would be babyshit.....

Peace....DHF..........

 

[Hurk]

Ok next setup. I've gone horizontal for veg. The only reflector I have is a cool tube and the mh bulb doesn't fit do I guess I'll just veg with the hps for now. I might try to incorporate some t5's as side lighting later but I think I'll just see how they do with the 1k hps for the time being.

 

[Hurk]

Just a bit of an update. The situation has changed a bit. Instead of lowering my plant numbers I've decided to increase them
I've gone from wanting to keep things simple with a monocrop to what will probably be a perpetual multistrain deal. Gone from a 4x4 tent to a 5x5. Much better! I'm still vegging horizontally for now but in about a week or 10 days I'll switch to 12/12 and set things up vertically with stacked bulbs.
The pk has been slow in veg, they're 15-18 inches high, and just as wide. They were lsd'd once when they were small to get multiple tops.

I've also got about a dozen sour diesel clones freshly rooted, and a bunch of plants from seed. There's blue god, chem d bx, o haze x sk#1, red eyed bride, somatooth 2 x biko, blueberry, and I just planted some more seeds yesterday too.

The pk is on the bottom in 5 gal containers, but when I flower I'll probably move them to the top shelf around a 1k and I'll put the plants in 3 gal pots on the bottom around either a 400 or 600. I might put the clones that are in the 1 gallons in my veg tent and let them get bigger before flowering them.

Chem d bx:

O haze x skunk #1:

 

[Hurk]

So I switched things around today. I figured its best to let the plants get use to the vert set up. I'll probably go to 12/12 on friday. The top shelf will be a multi strain perpetual kind of thing. Some of the plants on the top are still unsexed, and the smaller ones will go in my veg tent. Then down below I've got 8 purple kush in 5 gal. pots. Then below them around the honeywell fan I have 10 freshly rooted sour diesel clones. Right now I've got a got my digi ballast dimmed down to 600 powering the hps on the bottom and I've got a 1k mag ballast for the mh bulb on the top, but if I run into heat issues I may need to get another 600w ballast. I'm so sick of spending money though. I don't hardly have any left.
I'd also like to put some sort of reflective material on the pots, and I also need to support the plants. Either with some bamboo, some chicken wire, or a combination of the two.

If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears, but any improvements from now on need to be done extremely cheaply or for free.

1600w in a 5x5