How much does a 400w light with a cool tube roughly weigh?
How big is a ballast and how much do they roughly weigh?
I'm planning on building a cylinder style dome that will sit over a large pot. The dome will be lined with diamond foil, be 1 metre tall and about 55 cm in diameter. Light weight so it can be moved from one pot to another (these pots are about the size of half a wine barrel). The bottom half of each pot has either gravel or sand to act as a water reservoir, which means only watering once a week (I am looking into an automated watering system). Each pot also has a worm tower, which spreads the compost and worm castings throughout the soil. Having 4 pots means I can have grow 4 plants a year and rest the pots for three grow cycles with a green manure such as wheat, barley, legumes etc etc.
So far I am thinking of cutting the diamond foil in the same design as the inside of a toilet roll (the cardboard bit). Make 2 octagonal or hexagonal shapes out of bamboo. 8 or 6 1 metre bamboo pieces and the cylinder is done. Get mum to stitch up the diamond foil with all fancy velcro and magnet latches with a little viewing hole too boot. Hang a 400w light, ballast and fan inside the cylinder so that all you need to do is light it up to get to the plant or move it to another pot. Watering can be done from outside of the cylinder and the only feeding necessary is topping up the worm tower with fresh organic matter (once a month) + resting for 9 months with 3 green manures (so not practical for the commercial grower...suckers).
Any ideas that would make this better? Even if you want to suggest something about the pots, I'm afraid they are already made, in use and working great...so just thoughts on the light and cylinder design.
Cheers