# Pros/Cons to vertical growing? (I have an HLG Scorpion R Spec) Says it’s vert compatible



## Kind Sir (Jan 15, 2022)

So Ive been growing in a 4x4 notill bed and enjoy it. I’ve scrolled past this vertical growing sub for years, and would like to know what it’s all about? 

Also interested in pictures of your vertical grows!


----------



## ComputerSaysNo (Jan 16, 2022)

Kind Sir said:


> I’ve scrolled past this vertical growing sub for years, and would like to know what it’s all about?


You've scrolled past it for years, and still don't know "what it's all about"? 

It saves space. That's the main reason why one would do it. Usually a lot of vertical space is wasted, especially with high ceilings or when you're in a green house.

Let's say you have a 4'x4' area, and you go vertical on three walls (leaving one open for access), you've already tripled the canopy footprint. It will be less yield per canopy plane, so maybe you've effectively only doubled the footprint, but that's still a lot.

Inside a greenhouse it's even better, because you will have light coming in from all sides.

I'd say if space is not an issue, going vertical is more trouble than it's worth.

I would probably try a hydroponic NFT tower for a vertical grow, this is what many people use in greenhouses to grow non-vining crops (leafy greens, strawberries, etc.). Should work for cannabis as well, like a vertical NFT SoG basically.


----------



## Kind Sir (Jan 16, 2022)

ComputerSaysNo said:


> You've scrolled past it for years, and still don't know "what it's all about"?
> 
> It saves space. That's the main reason why one would do it. Usually a lot of vertical space is wasted, especially with high ceilings or when you're in a green house.
> 
> ...


Interesting that’s pretty much what I thought, but didn’t know if there’d be any cons because I just don’t see many grows like this. What I meant by scroll past is literally not click on it, and hit the organic section…I do recall reading some about it almost a decade ago or so


----------



## ComputerSaysNo (Jan 16, 2022)

Kind Sir said:


> Interesting that’s pretty much what I thought, but didn’t know if there’d be any cons because I just don’t see many grows like this.


Well, the "cons" depend on the method of vertical growing and which plant you're actual growing.

The vert setups I have seen here are grown in pots along a trellis, and then just trained on the trellis. So that's quite a bit of plant training, and the plants are not as easy to access due to the lamp in the center. But of course it's amazing if you have a small hidden grow space and want to squeeze the most yield out of it.

But you can also build a hydroponic tower, and then put many small plants into it, so you build a vertical SoG, and you run nutrients down the towers. I've seen an impressive setup on the YouTubes where some crew did that with cannabis. They had these 15' high ceilings and they made a ring of very high towers with a couple of HPS lamps in the middle. It was then fed aeroponically with water fog.

I guess the method is not used commercially for cannabis because space is not the deciding cost factor.

Also with cannabis you can always grow very tall and large plants to use the vertical space, for example in a green house. That's not possible with something like lettuce. But you can put a lot of addtional lettuce into a greenhouse if you have grow towers.


----------



## Apostatize (Jan 16, 2022)

two accepted forms of "vertical": true vertical growing v. stacked growing. 

stacked growing seems like less of a learning curve, shouldn't require more training than your usual setup. stacking in spring. diy structure will probably cost a grand. will let that one pay for the second one, and so on, until at max capacity/can't handle solo.


----------



## ComputerSaysNo (Jan 16, 2022)

@Apostatize In that case the "vertical NFT towers" would be "stacked growing" I suppose. Is there a thread here with a nice "stacked" setup, or maybe a YouTube video?


----------



## Hairybuds (Jan 16, 2022)

I don’t see the point in vertical grow for most people. The plant will grow towards the light so it’s a fight between where your light source is, where you want your plant to grow and where your plant wants to go. No thanks, but I will say it can be an impressive and creative way to grow


----------



## Apostatize (Jan 16, 2022)

ComputerSaysNo said:


> @Apostatize In that case the "vertical NFT towers" would be "stacked growing" I suppose. Is there a thread here with a nice "stacked" setup, or maybe a YouTube video?












Major Illegal Marijuana Grow Bust In Alameda County; 100,000 Plants, $10 Million In Cash Seized


Armed with search warrants, Alameda County Sheriff's deputies have busted one of the largest illegal marijuana growing operations in California, seizing over 100,000 plants and upwards of $10 million in cash.




sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com





Also on Fluence website (main page).


----------



## ComputerSaysNo (Jan 16, 2022)

Ah, OK, that's not what I had in mind.

Was thinking about something like this:



Taken from here:


http://imgur.com/a/6p3Ywek


That should work pretty nicely with cannabis as well.


----------



## Apostatize (Jan 16, 2022)

ComputerSaysNo said:


> Ah, OK, that's not what I had in mind.
> 
> Was thinking about something like this:
> 
> ...


Two years ago, I bought a "Rocket farm" by "Geek Farm" or something -- some guy in Florida. Never used it. Concerned about root mass clogging it.

A geek farm/rocket farm costs >$100. Basically, it's a single, squared-off pvc tower with like 4 holes staggered on each side. Bought one but it's just sitting there, never used it. Water goes down its center, feeding all the roots along the way. 

But I've seen a column farm with a much larger diameter, it looked more appropriate for cannabis but costs >$2k.


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 16, 2022)

Having worked with vertical systems for years, I feel like I can say with some authority that vertical gardening does not have to be more difficult or time consuming than flatlander style grows.

Someone above said that plants like to grow up; I agree! Using that to our advantage is what vertical plane gardening is all about.


----------



## ComputerSaysNo (Jan 16, 2022)

Apostatize said:


> A geek farm/rocket farm costs >$100. Basically, it's a single, squared-off pvc tower with like 4 holes staggered on each side. Bought one but it's just sitting there, never used it. Water goes down its center, feeding all the roots along the way.


Yes, these can also fairly easily be made at home (slits cut into the PVC, then heat, then mould the openings with an empty bottle).



Apostatize said:


> Concerned about root mass clogging it.


Probably not an issue unless you veg the plants in the tower for a long time -- which I wouldn't do in any case. In the famous StinkBud thread there are various people running NFT rails with cannabis and root clogging does not appear to be an issue. That would not be different in a tower setup.



ttystikk said:


> Someone above said that plants like to grow up; I agree! Using that to our advantage is what vertical plane gardening is all about.


This is true outdoors or in a greenhouse.

Unfortunately, when indoors, you cannot light the vert grow from the top, because the inverse square law gets in the way. So you have to light from the center, and then the plants will grow towards the center. So that demands some plant training, at least in the first few weeks of flowering.

I guess that vegging the plants in towers won't be a good idea for several reasons mentioned (root development, plants growing towards the light). The plants would get to veg for a short time and then moved into the tower just for flowering.


----------



## Canadian_Growing (Oct 10, 2022)

I recall growing magazines using air cooled tubes vertically surrounded by walls of buds. Never seems to have caught on however.


----------



## MannyPacs (Oct 11, 2022)

I don't get over here much myself but theres a thread by a guy named Sedan or something and it was a thing of beauty what he would build


----------



## LewberDewber852 (Oct 11, 2022)

MannyPacs said:


> I don't get over here much myself but theres a thread by a guy named Sedan or something and it was a thing of beauty what he would build


I was watching his stuff as well and it was pretty impressive. I believe he got banned shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. It turned into a political argument. Pretty sure he lives in Ukraine or something..
Regardless his setup was pretty neat


----------



## farmerfischer (Oct 11, 2022)

Canadian_Growing said:


> I recall growing magazines using air cooled tubes vertically surrounded by walls of buds. Never seems to have caught on however.


There was a few guys here that loved that style of growing.. @ttystikk was a legend for vert growing.. i think he still pops in every now and then


----------



## Canadian_Growing (Oct 12, 2022)

ComputerSaysNo said:


> Ah, OK, that's not what I had in mind.
> 
> Was thinking about something like this:
> 
> ...


Roots clogging the lines could be an issue.


----------

