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1800W 72 plant HPA vertical grow

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greenthumb2

Member
Still in the testing stages so bare with me. I'm creating this thread prematurely in order to seek advice before I fire up the room. I'm currently stateside but will be finishing my design here and then shipping it all plus my crap overseas to my new home in the Caribbean.

Quick run down of my setup and plans:

8X8 tent
3 (600's) cool tubes
72 plants (LSD/blue cheese/buckeye purple/grape inferno/sunshine DD etc. I don't know which to choose
HPA (2 .008 nozzles per bucket)
Aquatec 165 psi pump (3 zones of 12 sprayers each)
(24) 2X3 8" deep trays
Drain to waste (if there is any)
Custom Arduino logic control

Going to veg/flower and dry in this room so things should get interesting.. Today I am going to play with the position of the sprayers and transplant the basil in to test fire the system and see how it grows. Sorry but no MJ pics just yet. That will have to wait until January.

An immediate question I have is since there is no media, just a neoprene disk. Does anyone see an issue running a net trellis? I'm hoping each plant yields about 35 grams dried once it's all dialed in and I'm not sure if I should be using a thin white steel trellis or something softer. Also what size holes would you guys use on this trellis. Each plant will have roughly 12X16" growing space.

Any thoughts, suggestions critiques are welcome.





 
G

greenthumb2

Member
I'm still undecided where to place the sprayers. My initial thought was at the bank of the tub perfectly in between each plant. So basically dead center. The sprayers would be spraying towards the back of the white board.
 
G

greenthumb2

Member
Top pic is my favorite design so far. Last night I let the pump spray for 30 seconds and each tray had a little bit of pooling except for the top tray. I'll take that as a good sign for now. Once these plants are done rooting I'll transplant and monitor results.







 
TnTLabs

TnTLabs

Active member
hi, interesting idea.. your frames will be joined, or are they all free to be moved around? i would have them secured somehow to avoid falling over. Most probably you are bound to run into problems without media though, too many things can go wrong.. do you have any vert experience... you might want to try something simpler with coco mats and have irrigation from top and let gravity do its work...
 
G

greenthumb2

Member
TnTLabs said:
hi, interesting idea.. your frames will be joined, or are they all free to be moved around? i would have them secured somehow to avoid falling over. Most probably you are bound to run into problems without media though, too many things can go wrong.. do you have any vert experience... you might want to try something simpler with coco mats and have irrigation from top and let gravity do its work...
Click to expand...

Hello, Each section is separate and can be moved around individually. You would be surprised how well it holds it shape and how stable it is. However I will be tieing all of them up just to safe. If by "to many things to go wrong" comment you mean things like power failure and such. Luckily where I am going there will be back up power tied into my house. Plus the humidity is 100% inside of that tub for a long time. I think you'd be surprised how long those roots would stay moist.

Yes I have around 10 grows under my belt with the last two vertical. but by no means am I an expert or what I would called experienced. I'm just here with an idea. I though vertical and HPA are great ways to grow so let's see what happens when you combine them.
 
TnTLabs

TnTLabs

Active member
hey,
yeah stability is a must to not cause fire hazards etc..
by too much that can go wrong, i mean for example the high moisture in the tubs..
pathogens will colonize the system very quickly unless you use chlorine or h2o2 continuously,
it will take a while to dial in the moisture.. day / night differences.. summer / winter etc
thats why i would use a medium.. like coco mats
sure if you have the time and want to experiment i will tag along and watch
 
G

greenthumb2

Member
TnTLabs said:
hey,
yeah stability is a must to not cause fire hazards etc..
by too much that can go wrong, i mean for example the high moisture in the tubs..
pathogens will colonize the system very quickly unless you use chlorine or h2o2 continuously,
it will take a while to dial in the moisture.. day / night differences.. summer / winter etc
thats why i would use a medium.. like coco mats
sure if you have the time and want to experiment i will tag along and watch
Click to expand...

I see what you are getting at. I'm not apposed to running some small mats at the bottom of the tubs if that's what you are suggesting. Luckily where I am located it is the same temperature year round so that will be one less variable. I am prepared to run a little h202 or chlorine if need be. Only time will tell.
 
TnTLabs

TnTLabs

Active member
no, i meant fixing coco mats in your tubs so the plants can sit in the mats..
you know coco mats right? canna has cogr they are good as coco is a bit more corse...
i had them vertical but they drain quickly and you would need to water a lot more...
best is to have them spiraling down.. but that wouldnt work in this system.. so maybe clay pebbles could work.. to flll the tubs 4/5th with pebles and let the sprayer rain on them, letting the water drip down..
i have had a few years vert experience with rockwool and coco mats.. coco is way better..
from my experience i can tell you that you will deff need netting, working in the tight space is difficult, so you need to be aware, once you flip you wont be able to change much..
i personally wouldnt grow soilless.. too big of a dialing in curve, you can get just as good results with coco and have a lot less stress and peace of mind
 
G

greenthumb2

Member
TnTLabs said:
no, i meant fixing coco mats in your tubs so the plants can sit in the mats..
you know coco mats right? canna has cogr they are good as coco is a bit more corse...
i had them vertical but they drain quickly and you would need to water a lot more...
best is to have them spiraling down.. but that wouldnt work in this system.. so maybe clay pebbles could work.. to flll the tubs 4/5th with pebles and let the sprayer rain on them, letting the water drip down..
i have had a few years vert experience with rockwool and coco mats.. coco is way better..
from my experience i can tell you that you will deff need netting, working in the tight space is difficult, so you need to be aware, once you flip you wont be able to change much..
i personally wouldnt grow soilless.. too big of a dialing in curve, you can get just as good results with coco and have a lot less stress and peace of mind
Click to expand...

I know what coco matts are just not sure how you were talking about using them in this application. Using a bunch of medium really defies the whole purpose of HPA. Using small amounts of it at the bottoms of the trays to help with pooling and soak is a good idea though. I too have vertical experience just not a ton of aero. However I've seen enough medium less Aeroponic grows succeed to know with the right grower and environment it's possible and capable of producing a far superior product. I mean that's all part of the game really.. He who can control the environment the best will yield the best end result. HPA is a high risk high reward game reserved for those who wants to push the envelope and reap the fruits. If you can get it right, it can't be beat. That's the fun in it for me. Also this isn't my first rodeo so I'm not intimidated by learning curves. Been there before. This will just be another feather in the cap when it's said and done. Who knows maybe after I've figured all this out I'll just say F it.. This is to much work and switch to hydroton or some type of media.

I will most definetly need to use netting. That's what the 4 6" extensions coming off the front of the unit are for.. (Trellis mounting point.) If you look back at the CAD file you will see that these units are not connected to each other. Also as mentioned earlier. Each one of these towers is independent. They can be picked up and moved around with the net trellis and all. Being compartmentalised I can just pick up one unit and set it aside when I do my work in the room. There will be more than enough room for maintanence.
 
Last edited:
mojave green

mojave green

rockin in the free world
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I went medium-less a year ago and haven't looked back!
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DunHav`nFun

DunHav`nFun

Well-known member
Welcome bro.....Guess I missed this 1.....I can see you`ve done your homework while lurking for the last 7 yrs you`ve been here....

Respect....So many come here with threads on howta do it all like in a Cliff`s notes version and expect the shit to jump out the pots and swell nuggage....

First off , let me say that unfortunately the 6 or 8 sided configuration was long ago proven to choke out every corner plant angled at each other that killed yields , and what I came up with on my version of Heath Robinson`s vertical racks was......

8x8 rooms with 64 plants in 1' angled racks using #5 smartpots fed DTW once a day in coco chunks , stringy fibers , and chunky perlite....but....

With 4 plants on 4 levels on 4 walls , I angled the corners and covered em in reflectix that the rest of the room was covered in and installed all environmental equipment....

8 rooms at 4 locations flipping every 12 hrs on and off for max use of power KWH wise , and the first room finished at a lil over 98 ozs , with all other rooms finishing a month behind each other within grams of the first....regardless....

Never was a faster growth system than high pressure aeroponics , so again , respect for the work put in over time.....now....

Good luck on your move to the Caribbean , and you might wanna add some couplings and extensions on those outriggers up top for your netting....

My horti net was stapled to the ceilings 18" from the 3 stacked bulbs for the end colas to lay across till Harvey...anyways...

Many ways ta skin a mule....Hope your harveys are heavy come choptime......Ran perpetual vert racks for 5+ yrs.....anything I can do to help just holler....

Good luck....DHF....:ying:.....
 
G

greenthumb2

Member
DunHav`nFun said:
Welcome bro.....Guess I missed this 1.....I can see you`ve done your homework while lurking for the last 7 yrs you`ve been here....

Respect....So many come here with threads on howta do it all like in a Cliff`s notes version and expect the shit to jump out the pots and swell nuggage....

First off , let me say that unfortunately the 6 or 8 sided configuration was long ago proven to choke out every corner plant angled at each other that killed yields , and what I came up with on my version of Heath Robinson`s vertical racks was......

8x8 rooms with 64 plants in 1' angled racks using #5 smartpots fed DTW once a day in coco chunks , stringy fibers , and chunky perlite....but....

With 4 plants on 4 levels on 4 walls , I angled the corners and covered em in reflectix that the rest of the room was covered in and installed all environmental equipment....

8 rooms at 4 locations flipping every 12 hrs on and off for max use of power KWH wise , and the first room finished at a lil over 98 ozs , with all other rooms finishing a month behind each other within grams of the first....regardless....

Never was a faster growth system than high pressure aeroponics , so again , respect for the work put in over time.....now....

Good luck on your move to the Caribbean , and you might wanna add some couplings and extensions on those outriggers up top for your netting....

My horti net was stapled to the ceilings 18" from the 3 stacked bulbs for the end colas to lay across till Harvey...anyways...

Many ways ta skin a mule....Hope your harveys are heavy come choptime......Ran perpetual vert racks for 5+ yrs.....anything I can do to help just holler....

Good luck....DHF....:ying:.....
Click to expand...


Great post, thanks for taking the time to chime in and kind words. I wish i would have but i didn't give much thought to the corner plants being an issue. Thanks for bringing it up. Maybe ill have luck with the fact that my corner plants are actually two plants pushed towards the middle of the totes leaving half of each plant to fill the corner voids. I guess that makes them "Half corner plants?" if that makes any sense.. I will try my best to train appropriately in the corners, maybe even minimize growth so the plants focus energy elsewhere. I might implement something that prevents growth in the corners all together. Ill start brainstorming.

Unfortunately my 6" trellis mounts really cant go much further.. The way the octagon is set up it prevents anything much longer You can kind of see that on the cad drawing. I'm really going to have to get aggressive with the training on these things or find a better way to support the buds once there are hanging 12" out.

Really happy to hear the trellis worked for you in the past and 6lbs is a great number!! I'm hoping this setup will net me 5 top shelf lbs when its all said and done.

few questions for you. How many watts did you run per 8X8 room and where those bulbs bare or in tubes? Do you have a journal or pictures of your old setup?
 
DunHav`nFun

DunHav`nFun

Well-known member
greenthumb2 said:
Great post, thanks for taking the time to chime in and kind words. I wish i would have but i didn't give much thought to the corner plants being an issue. Thanks for bringing it up. Maybe ill have luck with the fact that my corner plants are actually two plants pushed towards the middle of the totes leaving half of each plant to fill the corner voids. I guess that makes them "Half corner plants?" if that makes any sense.. I will try my best to train appropriately in the corners, maybe even minimize growth so the plants focus energy elsewhere. I might implement something that prevents growth in the corners all together. Ill start brainstorming.

Unfortunately my 6" trellis mounts really cant go much further.. The way the octagon is set up it prevents anything much longer You can kind of see that on the cad drawing. I'm really going to have to get aggressive with the training on these things or find a better way to support the buds once there are hanging 12" out.

Really happy to hear the trellis worked for you in the past and 6lbs is a great number!! I'm hoping this setup will net me 5 top shelf lbs when its all said and done.

few questions for you. How many watts did you run per 8X8 room and where those bulbs bare or in tubes? Do you have a journal or pictures of your old setup?
Click to expand...
My rooms had 3-600`s stacked with small muffin fans on their lowest speed assisting natural heat convection go up and out of the rooms with air exchange twice per minute.....

My interior sq ftg with 1' angled racks and angled corners with everything that wasn`t green covered in reflectix was less than 36 sq ft with 50 watts per sq ft thereabouts , but both rooms exhausted into lung rooms with perfect environment created with a/c`s and dehuey`s as needed depending on time of yr.....

Google Heath Robinson`s vertical racks , and guaranteed you`ll find pics and threads to read through , but his setups were recirculating hydro , and mine were DTW coco fed once a day till end of stretch , then twice a day till end of cycle....that said......

I see where the pipes can`t be extended for net support but hopefully your cooltubes will prevent any heat scorching/light bleaching in late bloomage....

I used # 5 smartpots for my setups , and although the bags were completely full of roots by end of stretch , I only wanted 1-1/2 oz pruned , shaped , and trimmed out 30-32" plants , and how big your rooted cuts get before pulling the trigger will determine how close to the light source you get first run after complete stretch is over...and...

Let em get as close to the cooltubes as possible without scorching and bleaching for max penetration , yield , and swellage all the way through each plant.......anyways...

Good luck....DHF....:ying:....
 
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