Please sir, can I have some more poles

[X15]

Man I just had to replace all of the wood in my grow after leaving it for 6 months. Any wood that wasn’t sealed with paint grew molds of every color, it was fuckin intense man lol. Never had any issues noticing the wood mold up during any cycles, it had to be there though. Just needed the room to go in to hibernation to take over.
for The record… I felt Confident I had done a good job on the cleaning after taking things down.
wood either needs to be painted or sealed in some manner… wax, oil, stain.. something.. or it’s just not worth the investment.
much respect!

 

[Three Berries]

Man I just had to replace all of the wood in my grow after leaving it for 6 months. Any wood that wasn’t sealed with paint grew molds of every color, it was fuckin intense man lol. Never had any issues noticing the wood mold up during any cycles, it had to be there though. Just needed the room to go in to hibernation to take over.
for The record… I felt Confident I had done a good job on the cleaning after taking things down.
wood either needs to be painted or sealed in some manner… wax, oil, stain.. something.. or it’s just not worth the investment.
much respect!

A good, cheap wood preservative is borax and antifreeze, Termite and fungal proof.

 

[Ca++]

That's interesting. I have steered clear of pre-treated wood, as I couldn't be sure what they used on it.

Untreated pine and spruce can't support mold growth under 75% RH@23c, which is why it's suited to building properties. If it's wet, mold growth is actually inhibited further. Not promoted. Which is why the bathroom floor isn't green where the shower leaks.
So the question is, if wood is unsuitable, because it will mold, then how would we grow plants anyway.


There are quite a few papers on the subject, as we don't want to be treating timber, if we don't have to. It's a waste of time and money. Plus the health issue. In the UK we have properties where the chipboard floor has ruined grows. We mainly use treated timber for roofs and outside. But chip and fiber boards are reclaimed, so get cleaned and glued. Then separated at the tip, as you can't burn or compost it. They are unhealthy materials, but I do love a bit of mdf for how well it machines.


I'm back with this..

The hanging net frame.
I think we can all see that it's hung with rope ratchets, so it can go up and out the way when not in use. This can aid putting the plants in. If you are netting plants that are already past where the net should be, this really works well. Enabling you to position branches as the net comes down.
This design could also gain you space. Thing for a moment about my red frame, as I use wood at 36mm. I have 4 bits of wood, to loose 144mm wide strip of space, as long as my tent. In a 4x4, that is 2 square foot, of the 16 available. An 8th of the crop lost, because I took away 36mm around the edges. Yet it looks like nothing.
So why would you want to put in a frame, even though 20mm is more typical of tent poles, or you could use 15mm copper? The net frame stops the sides of the tent sucking in. I just measured my tent where there is no frame, and with the tent door open a little, the relaxed tent has taken a shape 80mm smaller than I want at canopy height. So actually my 36mm of frame space, has regained enough otherwise lost space, to not have a negative effect. Though it is shocking what space it actually takes, so I need @Mars Hydro Led to have a think about how they might provide us with a solution. Using poles and corners, that can avoid the uprights.

 

[Mars Hydro Led]

That's interesting. I have steered clear of pre-treated wood, as I couldn't be sure what they used on it.

Untreated pine and spruce can't support mold growth under 75% RH@23c, which is why it's suited to building properties. If it's wet, mold growth is actually inhibited further. Not promoted. Which is why the bathroom floor isn't green where the shower leaks.
So the question is, if wood is unsuitable, because it will mold, then how would we grow plants anyway.


There are quite a few papers on the subject, as we don't want to be treating timber, if we don't have to. It's a waste of time and money. Plus the health issue. In the UK we have properties where the chipboard floor has ruined grows. We mainly use treated timber for roofs and outside. But chip and fiber boards are reclaimed, so get cleaned and glued. Then separated at the tip, as you can't burn or compost it. They are unhealthy materials, but I do love a bit of mdf for how well it machines.


I'm back with this..
View attachment 18878369
The hanging net frame.
I think we can all see that it's hung with rope ratchets, so it can go up and out the way when not in use. This can aid putting the plants in. If you are netting plants that are already past where the net should be, this really works well. Enabling you to position branches as the net comes down.
This design could also gain you space. Thing for a moment about my red frame, as I use wood at 36mm. I have 4 bits of wood, to loose 144mm wide strip of space, as long as my tent. In a 4x4, that is 2 square foot, of the 16 available. An 8th of the crop lost, because I took away 36mm around the edges. Yet it looks like nothing.
So why would you want to put in a frame, even though 20mm is more typical of tent poles, or you could use 15mm copper? The net frame stops the sides of the tent sucking in. I just measured my tent where there is no frame, and with the tent door open a little, the relaxed tent has taken a shape 80mm smaller than I want at canopy height. So actually my 36mm of frame space, has regained enough otherwise lost space, to not have a negative effect. Though it is shocking what space it actually takes, so I need @Mars Hydro Led to have a think about how they might provide us with a solution. Using poles and corners, that can avoid the uprights.

Hi @Ca++ ,Our planting net is not fixed like this, it is as shown in the picture below. We save space this way.

 

[brickweeder]

makerpipe.com for the connectors, lowes/homedepot for the EMT pipe, tubing cutter or hack saw, and spray paint

 

[Ca++]

makerpipe.com for the connectors, lowes/homedepot for the EMT pipe, tubing cutter or hack saw, and spray paint

Not seen them before. These 4 internal corners, could bring it all together
I'm not sure about paint. I could kid myself copper has fungicidal properties. Letting me get one more hole, out of these dollar shop drill bits

As the Mars picture shows, you need a frame or the tent sides get sucked in. The frame also gives something to attach a net to. To keep the net tent size.

I have looked more at what I did with the 36mm wooden lats. 8mm is actually outside the tents footprint, using the spare cloth. Of the 28mm still left, I might get this down to 15mm before it's compromised. That's 13mm better, 4x over. 55mm along a 120 tent, is 660cm2 I could regain. It sounds huge, and is still about 65% of a square foot. An ounce of grow space perhaps. However... while this lost space is really very real if you let your tent get sucked in, it's not really my problem. Where the net is, is a space my plants grow through, then spread out above. This 36mm lat of wood, isn't effecting my canopy area, except for it holding my walls back, and putting net where I need it, to use that space well.

I had wondered why my maths was making me look so bad. I could use 2x2 and actually not loose canopy, but gain some by further stretching the cloth. This leaves me happy, after my reality check. Others should really look at that bowed in wall though, and think about what they might gain. Based on just 13mm costing an Ounce in space.

I have seen bamboo used to reasonable effect. Coupled with the stretchy net and twist ties. Bit of gaffer tape. It may of been moments before my alarm clock went off, but it could be made good.

 

[brickweeder]

The makerpipe connectors used to be painted black, but it looks like they are going towards a zinc coating nowadays. If you use their "Tee" connectors, you can use one at each end of your cross bar and attach that cross bar between two existing tent uprights. The 5mm allen head screw holds the 2 halves of the connectors together so its easy to loosen the screws, slide the bars to your desired height, then tighten.

When I had a 4x4, I used 1" aluminum angle cut to length and held on with hose clamps and simple bracket...the bar across the front door was removable. Lots of DIY ways to rig up a side support system and additional ceiling support, I just don't like to use wood.