Question for 2k Vertical set-up/First post

[otis33]

coco with blumats has served me very well for my short career, for the last 6-8 months I've been working with multiple feed drip in coco w/ chunky perlite and recently chow mix. I feel once these systems are dialed I will be crushing personal records. the rate of growth is insane in veg so far with the chow mix... I'm into 4 or so weeks of flower in my small experimental ppk w/ chow and its lookin promising. my big ppk room (18 sites) has overgrown the space way before I anticipated and yield may actually suffer if I can't train them in a way to prevent them from choking each other out. one chow room is fed 1 min/2hrs and the other 1 min/3hrs. some have had trouble w/ coco in ppks, but mine have been problem free so far.
as far as stacked lights, you will find that you're harvests will be larf free for the most part. the reason I suggest single donuts for a first run is the simplicity. in fact some of my strains in single bulb donuts will produce zero larf with proper lightbulb placement and defoliation.

 

[otis33]

with dialage you will start to see fast hydro results in the right multiple feed coco system. coco can also be reused. if you are attacking lights with one circle of plants, you will need screens, in fact if you are stacking donuts, you will need screens. if nothing else bam ,boo stakes for heavy late flower bud support, or twine tying buds to the ceiling which will not only support branch snapping heavy buds, but also help spread out the limbs for bettet light penetration

 

[Any2cards]

Thanks everyone...I really appreciate the input. Baby steps indeed. Some day I will venture into different mediums but for now I am going to try and keep it simple as Otis suggested. Get things dialed in, get a feel for it all and then move on and experiment with things. Yield is important but not the only factor and for now I will go with the side by side donuts and see how things go. I do need easy access and also have some ideas for support for each plant site using the milk crates with some pvc. Still playing around with some mock ups. I have 2 1000w dimmable lumatek ballasts that I will be using that initially started with the horizontal approach idea. 2k is about my limit but could potentially expand. I struck a "deal" with the Mrs and I will stay at 12 plants for compliance issues and I have my hands full anyway so this is all good. Plan on commencing in October with the first run. Again thanks for the input! I am off to the races! I am sure I will come up with a ton of more questions and I will update with pics on the progress of the build out.

Peace,

Any2

 

[Stonefree69]

with dialage you will start to see fast hydro results in the right multiple feed coco system. coco can also be reused. if you are attacking lights with one circle of plants, you will need screens, in fact if you are stacking donuts, you will need screens. if nothing else bam ,boo stakes for heavy late flower bud support, or twine tying buds to the ceiling which will not only support branch snapping heavy buds, but also help spread out the limbs for bettet light penetration

In the world of neighborhood gardens everyone seems to have a different and ingenious approach to supporting tomato plants. I guess the same is true with cannabis. I use string, ceiling hooks & Horti-Trellis 6" mesh nylon netting (many different brands including polyester too). I feel this is 1 of the more minimal or invisible ways to do it and adapts to most any situation needed.

And twine/tomato clips- cheap and durable, supports plants w/o digging into stems & branches:

 

[Ichabod Crane]

I use the clips as well. Real time saver and can be moved around fairly easy.

As for coco. I feel it is easier than soil by a long shot. Just use 6ml micro and 9ml bloom for plants over 10 inches tall and half that strength for plants under 10 inches tall. Use general hydropnics or advance nutes jungle juice. Water till you get a little run off and your plants will grow just fine.

If you want to go a little more you can give them some pro-tek pottasium silicate and 1ml drip clean. PH to 5.8-6.2.

All the above are added at the doses mentioned per gallon. Nothing could be easier. It is what I add to mine. He it is again below.

6ml micro General Hydroponic or Jungle juice
9ml bloom General Hydroponic or Jungle juice
1ml drip clean
2.5ml pro-tek potasium silicate
PH to between 5.8-6.2 ( I ussually do 5.8)

 

[Ichabod Crane]

I meesed up. I meant to say that is what I use to use. I have switched to Jack's 5-12-26 and Calcium Nitrate. It is chaeper to use. The above works great and I ran it for over a year.

 

[coldcanna]

So if your count is 12 thats 6 flower 6 veg, I'd double stack those 1k's inside a vert scrog like Icky's, if you can afford it grab a couple LED's or a 400 watt set up for your veg side and get a super stretchy strain so it gets tall and fills in those screens. Your really missing out by sticking with soil but I can respect the simplicity of it, I'm pretty new to the game myself and my first run was def a big learning curve. There are def some guys crushing it in soil, search for a guy named AeroGuerilla in the soil forum, he's scrogging out massive plants horizontally and getting over a lb a plant.

 

[Stonefree69]

So if your count is 12 thats 6 flower 6 veg, I'd double stack those 1k's inside a vert scrog like Icky's, if you can afford it grab a couple LED's or a 400 watt set up for your veg side and get a super stretchy strain so it gets tall and fills in those screens. Your really missing out by sticking with soil but I can respect the simplicity of it, I'm pretty new to the game myself and my first run was def a big learning curve. There are def some guys crushing it in soil, search for a guy named AeroGuerilla in the soil forum, he's scrogging out massive plants horizontally and getting over a lb a plant.

Going with 8-16 bulb T5 (432-864 watts) for veg station & 1-2 stacks of 1,200 watts (1,200-2,400 watts) for flower station. I adjust grow area according to grow stage.

As DHF has said once dialed it's babys**t. He's got a lot of sound simple advice.

 

[Ichabod Crane]

Best advice is to just get started. You will be upgrading it like everyone else and can make changes then.

 

[Any2cards]

So if your count is 12 thats 6 flower 6 veg, I'd double stack those 1k's inside a vert scrog like Icky's, if you can afford it grab a couple LED's or a 400 watt set up for your veg side and get a super stretchy strain so it gets tall and fills in those screens. Your really missing out by sticking with soil but I can respect the simplicity of it, I'm pretty new to the game myself and my first run was def a big learning curve. There are def some guys crushing it in soil, search for a guy named AeroGuerilla in the soil forum, he's scrogging out massive plants horizontally and getting over a lb a plant.

It will actually be 12 in flower total. Going simple for now and I do agree stacking is the way to go and will eventually be in my game plan as well as learning different mediums. So many great ideas, helpful growers and I love the customized DIY ideas in vert growing. I am currently finalizing my mock ups for branch support which uses milk crates and pvc and I will post some pics here soon. Just trying to figure out how tall they will end up vegging them to 2 ft. Obv diff strains will dictate this. Each plant will have it's own trellis/scrog support on a milk crate and I can use couplers to extend if I need to. Currently using 4' of 1/2" pvc zip tied on all corners of the milk crate with a 20"(size may be reduced too) square with trellis netting on top. Milk crate+7 gal pots gives me just a little over 2 ft before it hits which I think will be too short but I could always use couplers to extend. But If I end up at 4-5 footers or even taller 2 ft to the netting does not seem near enough. Thinking 5' will be better giving me just over 3' to the netting. Still playing around with it tho.

Peace,

Any2

 

[Any2cards]

Work in progress.

 

[Any2cards]

 

[Any2cards]

Made a few changes to the orig mock up. Here is an idea of one of the donuts side by side. Changed the hexagon a bit in the front for access which is right in the middle of the room. Upon entry you will have side by side donuts with a gap in the middle for a little path. Still in the rough stages of planning but starting to shape up. All comments welcome.

Peace,

Any2

 

[Stonefree69]

Made a few changes to the orig mock up. Here is an idea of one of the donuts side by side. Changed the hexagon a bit in the front for access which is right in the middle of the room. Upon entry you will have side by side donuts with a gap in the middle for a little path. Still in the rough stages of planning but starting to shape up. All comments welcome.

Peace,

Any2
[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=48638&pictureid=1135533&thumb=1]View Image[/URL] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=48638&pictureid=1135532&thumb=1]View Image[/URL]

 

[Any2cards]

A few pics and some updates. Started 6 wild thai girls to day @ 12/12 for 1 donut. Been busy finishing the build out. Thanks for the ideas and input IC mag!!!





Peace,

Any2

 

[Mister_D]

Looks like ya got the details sorted, so I'll just pull up a seat for the show

 

[otis33]

looming good! I'll be watching quietly over here in my corner.....

 

[Any2cards]

Sweet! Still working on some environment issues and plan on getting a Sentinel CHH4 controller. Not that I am using any Co2 but you never know and that unit does that. I think the EV-2 would work too. Initially I was going to run in the night and cooler parts of the season and not use an AC and rely on air exchange but those 1k lights get cookin. Brought all my ideas and plans to hydro store guy and he tells me 6" intake 8" exhaust would be fine for that. They get overwhelmed by the heat so I am going to have to add an AC. Temps will be 50 for the lows at night and the fans need to be on the whole time or close to it during lights on. So for now gonna run 1 donut until I get the AC and controller.

Will update as I go along and I am sure there will be some bumps and bruises along the way but no better way to learn than to just dive in.

Peace,

Any2

 

[bigbufu]

Hey Otis you said you were hitting around 1600gpw with your doughnut set up. Im about to set up my first doughnut and was wondering how many plants you ran in the photo you posted. I tried to count and im guessing that you had 16 in flowering ? I have 16 28"ladies ready for flowering and was hoping you could respond letting me know your gallon size and plant numbers. Loving the doughnut set up and cant wait to get my 2k set up and running.

-AJ

 

[otis33]

I hit over agpw once, my last run and it wasn't a very efficient grow. you are right, 16 in the d-stack. I have 2gal air pots on the bottom donut and 3 gal air pots on the top. 28" plants may end up growing into each other and coke each other out affecting yield. the bigger your plants are the fewer plants you need in the donut. 8 is about the max I would do. I did 6/ donut in my big ppk grow and I wish I would have only done four. you'll need to do a few runs to find out what will work best for the strain you are growing. I would flip your plants now if you are doing an 8 plant donut. 28-36" is about where I flip depending on stretch