All I know is I'm going to scrog/trellis the hell out of my next grow. My journal (blog) shows the current mess I'm in. I wish I'd seen this many months ago.
So I'm fresh outta k-nex.
I am thinking metal screens are more my speed, but I did a little math.
I have a 2'7" x 2'7" x 5'11" tent (39.5 cubic feet). In it I'll install a 2'7" x 2'7" (6.6 sq. ft.) horizontal screen above the reservoir. Then install 3 more screens in the same dimensions up 3 walls (left, right & back) in a vertical position.
Now if the light is also placed 2'7" above the horizontal screen it forms a cube of 2'7" x 2'7" x 2'7" (17.2 cubic feet). Of course it can be raised or lowered on demand and is forced air ventilated.
The required minimum total lumens to maintain an average of 7500 footcandles from a single light source throughout a perfectly square space of 17.2 cubic feet is 50052 lumens.
It just so happens that 400W HPS bulbs are rated around 50000 lumens.
Now if I plant 3 plants, each gets 33.3% of the horizontal screen (2.2 sq. ft.) and one whole vertical screen (6.6 sq. ft.) for 8.8 sq. ft. of total trellis space per plant.
I dunno...the math works out too nicely not to give it a try.
But what do you think? Couldn't it work? The Cube-o-weed.
Maybe the wave-o-weed? A 3 sided parabolic grid formed on the inner 3 walls with steep sides sweeping in toward the center of the hydro unit to about one foot above it.
That may be beyond my skill level. (e.g. I don't own a blow torch.)
However, I do have some zip ties, duct tape & a swiss army knife.
In everything I do, I ask myself, "How would MacGyver do it if he was hopped up on the reefer?"
Moj im waaaay ahead of you on this one. I actually got the idea to do this half way through this grow, sometime during veg (can rarely say that!).
I named it BOG (Box of green), slightly different plans to yours but very similar concept. My only problem is the shape of my cab, would be hugely easier to do a BOG in a more square footprint.
My idea (for a square cab/tent) was to have 4 plants, one on each face of the tent, all 4 pots on wheels to make moving them easy and safe. Each plant will be grown in a vertical SCROG, filling out the screen JUST like i've done in this grow, just vertical.
I'd have a 600W if not 1000W running VERTICALLY in the middle, with loads of airflow both behind the screens and underneath, blowing air from bottom to top. I havn't done as many calculations as you re: lumens ect as i dont see the need... 1 1000W hanging vertically should be more than enough for 4 plants, obviously i'd have to upgrade a lot of my equipment to handle heat ect but i really wanna give it a go.
The reason i wouldn't do a complete box on all sides is u'll have a hard time creating good air flow in the middle and dissipating the heat quickly. Think about it, if you had a canopy as thick as my current one on all sides, u'd get a lot of heat trapped in the middle, and possible a big increase in humidity as a result together with the fact that u'll also find it hard to move air efficiently in this space.
Thinking a little ahead in terms of my 4 plant idea in a cab with a square footprint, think about how the buds in the corners will grow. They'd grow into each other! So for that reason i'd only train the central bit of each screen for a really dense canopy, leaving the edges with a bit more space, or even training the growth in such a way that the side branches have more space and can be positioned to obtain a round column of bud, instead of a square, where the corners will be further from the light (less lumens therefore less growth compared to middle). My BOG idea evolved into a COG idea (column of green!)
A round column of bud would ensure all parts of the plant along a certain line get equal light (i'm talking horizontally across the screen, not vertically, obviously the top and bottom would be further from the light), corners of the cab wouldn't get bunched up and you wont have bud from one plant growing directly into bud from another plant (no corners in a column!)
Basically this grow has taught me LOADS, and i feel without doing this simpler grow first, i wouldn't have the knowledge or experience or hindsight required to pull off a BOG/COG. If anyone reading this is thinking of attempting this, unless you are hugely experienced in unorthodox plant training, i have to insist you start with something a little simpler.
I am by NO means any sort of expert what so ever, i just know how hard it has been to achieve what i have with this grow and how much time and dedication it took, and my COG idea would require me to slave away just like i did with this plant, but with an extra 3!
4 plants instead of 1 means a lot more time, a lot more effort, and most importantly a lot more complications! You really have to have a good idea where the grow is going right from the start if you're gona have any chance of successfully pulling this off. Also.... All the cola's growing horizontally will need supporting, every branch pretty much the way i have it pictured. But my god it would look fucking incredible!
I have pretty much planned this all out already, i just need to get started. However as previously stated i want to run this concept in a cab with a square footprint, not rectangular like my current one, would create EVEN MORE complications and i cant be bothered for all the extra effort it would require... So after this grow, or possibly the next one, i'm ripping this cabinet down and building a new one completely from scratch. Planning on going all out.... Just like i've attempted to do with this grow!
I'm not amazing at explaining stuff so i hope i got all my ideas and points across. If you start up a crazy grow, you have to make a journal and post a link here. I'll head over to your grow in a bit man.
You're going to need a chainsaw when you go to cut down that tree
I'm not cutting this stalk are you mad!? This plant skeleton is gona be kept fully intact for years to come! When it comes to harvest, i'm gona attempt to leave as much stem as possible on the plant sitting in the pot, if you get me.... basically i'm trimming just below the cola's where the bud stops, leaving as much bare branching as possible.
Before anyone reading this comments on how this might affect my drying times ect, i'm planning on drawing out my drying time to 1-2 weeks minimum, want a super slow dry, so i'm gona leave all fan leaves ect on the cola's while they're hanging. Ideally i'd leave a looooong stalk at the bottom of each cola so the water content can be soaked up into the bud and slowly evaporated thus increasing the drying time and drawing it out, but i really really dont want to sacrifice the look of this crazy twisting branching, so i'm hoping the fan leaves will in essence do the same thing as leaving long stalks on (increase drying time)
