8x8 Horizontal or Vertical?

[Bob Smith]

I do always prune/deleaf so thats not a problem at all. I'm just saying that it seems like alot of surface area of the plant not getting much light leaving alot more to plan on discarding. Did you look at the 9 site pic in my first post? I was thinking of just spreading apart the sites a little more and running the lights vertical.


Anyway, I would consider myself an intermediate grower and feel like I have a pretty good handle on things. I've had success with soil and rockool. I also feel like the uc styled grow has a few advantages over DWC as well RDWC with the negative pressure/high flow. I also agree with your point of the 90f air blowing air. My plan is to use two different air pumps, one for the sites, and one for the epi and have both air pumps OUTSIDE of the room along with the epi. The room that will be supplying the air stays at a cool 65f year round. I plan on also running two water pumps (also sitting in the cool room) so if one fails, the other will still move water.

I have made my fair share of mistakes and will assume that I will make a few more. However, I am a "high risk, high reward" type of a person and honestly feel that when I get the hang of it that it will be just about as easy. It was the same when running my reef tank.. lots of stress and mistakes on the front end, but the reward was such that I'll never run a freshwater thank again.

That said.. when enough people scream fire I actually listen. I could be up for trying an ebb n flow bucket system as DHF mentioned. I could use the same buckets and plumbing setup. Just setup everything as it would be for an uc system but just flood and drain the buckets. The main thing I am looking for is getting away from disposable media. I can still accomplish that doing it that way. Then, I could get used to vertical, the buckets, and everything first then just switch it over to highflow if I get bored.

What do you think?

Yeah, when only half the plant is facing the light there's clearly going to be more to take off, but it's not like you do that at harvest - that plant should be stripped bare of anything not getting direct light in veg (i.e., see the VSCROG in the link above).

You sound like you know what you're doing and that you're prepared for whatever the system might throw at you, so I'd say go for it - you only live once, right?

If you're trying to get rid of your medium, than no, ebb and gro buckets are not for you - they're gonna require a few gallons of hydroton per bucket.

If you've got the capital to invest at the start to build in redundancies and plan for all (reasonably) foreseeable eventualities, I don't see why you wouldn't be successful - hell, I gotta believe if you can run a reef tank that RDWC might actually seem "easy" (I've decided that if and when I setup to grow trees it's gonna be LP aero, which I find much more forgiving than DWC, as an aside).

FWIW, I'm under the impression (I've never run one) that it's the condensor in the Pondmasters that heats up the air that much, so I don't think that where it's located is gonna matter that much for the temp air it blows out (except for not blowing CO2 into your rez, which is important to a degree) - double-check with someone at The Farm who runs them, but that's my understanding (again, have never run one personally).

And the UCs can say "negative pressure" and apply for patents all they want, at the end of the day it's still RDWC (IMO).

 

[St3ve]

Thanks for all the insight Bob, I appreciate you taking the time.

As for the pondmasters, I haven't used that brand so I don't know off hand. I will keep an eye on it.


So what are your thoughts on running the 9 sites vertically lit? I could run 4 - 600's ILO of the horizontals as shown in the first pic. The more I think about it, the more I think that its a nice balance of plant numbers and efficiency.

Looks also like an overwhelming vote for vertical lighting so far..

 

[Bob Smith]

Thanks for all the insight Bob, I appreciate you taking the time.

As for the pondmasters, I haven't used that brand so I don't know off hand. I will keep an eye on it.


So what are your thoughts on running the 9 sites vertically lit? I could run 4 - 600's ILO of the horizontals as shown in the first pic. The more I think about it, the more I think that its a nice balance of plant numbers and efficiency.

Looks also like an overwhelming vote for vertical lighting so far..

My pleasure bro; in response to your question, I think running nine sites around 4 600s would be a great setup - I've always been a sucker for more smaller plants so I'd probably run 20ish, but there's nothing wrong with 9 - it's all personal preference.

Also, don't think that "issue" is confined to Pondmasters; pretty sure all super high output air pumps get hot as fuck (but you can verify with people who actually run them here or at the other site).

BTW, what's "ILO"? Is it "in lieu of"? "In line ___"? I feel like I'm playing Wheel of Fortune right now

Again, I know you said you think your setup can handle bare bulbs, but that's definitely something to check sooner rather than later - I thought mine could as well (4 vertical bare 600s) but my AC couldn't keep up so I had to buy that $1K cooltube.

 

[DHF]

Didn`t mean ta freak yas out Bro.......Was just tryin ta look out for yas......

Never questioned your knowledge or experience Steve.......What I said bout the containers with the inspection hatches was for monitoring for insurance purposes as well as all those long veg indica dominant strains/varieties that take forever ta get big and produce even before the flip........

That means longer times in the bottom container for more potential root-borne problems to pop up outta nowhere...

Ebb and Flow 5 gal buckets with overkill pumps blasts feed to the units and pushes up all the stagnant air out through the tops , and then the drain pump kicks on and SUCKS fresh O2 back down through the medium into the rootzone for optimum growth and upper foliage/flower development......

Sorry Bro......I`m just so over seein good folks lose their ass on a fast setup that can kill shit with the quickness outta nowhere...Seen it many many times........I like the UC type setup , but Ebb and Flow buckets are bulletproof once dialed , with no chance of rootrot I`ve ever seen........

I did see rootrot in ebb and grow 2 1/2 gal buckets twice here recently for the first time in well over a decade , and it was from growing the plants too big in veg before flip as well as not controlling room temps and environment...IOW...Grower error........

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

 

[St3ve]

Yes Bob, ILO is "in lieu of" Now please enjoy my lovely assistant Vanna..


DHF I do hear ya man.. you got a link for the two pump ebb in flo? I've always used the one pump (gravity drain). I will probably use that system for veg fo sho.. thanks again for all of your help.

 

[DHF]

Sorry St3ve....No links Bro ........My own design using shurflo "inline" pumps outside my big ass rez`s that only moved water 1 way with no backflow......

Came out of the rez`s hard plumbed to a "Y/wye" cpvc fitting pointed toward the rooms that dumped feed in a matter of a few minutes till all 36-5 gal buckets(including the extra bucket with the industrial float switch) were full , and then once the timer shut off and the drain pump turned on , since the pumps act like a check valve and won`t allow juice to flow back through em ,the drain pump out in front attached to the "Wye" pointed back toward the rez`s would suck juice back to em with the quickness......

Just my way of speeding things up and keeping heat out of the rez`s with submersible pumps or air pumps/regenerative`s.....Also used "thru-hull" bait aerators for millions of microscopic bubbles suspended in solution ....

Holler if I can help........

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

 

[ganjasuiteseat]

brb rereadlol