Small Scale Vert Grow

im thinkin i want to setup a vert grow op on my next grow. i only have one 600w HPS, and dont want to buy any more. i live in an apartment, so im not goin for a 50 plant grow, i'm thinkin like three "walls" around the 600w, each with like 3 diff levels. im thinkin 20 plants at most. does anybody have any ideas, input, advice about this kind of setup? I have no idea where to start, how i should build it, anything. any help guys?

I'm setting one up now. it's a cross between a colliseum style and using stinkbud's system of aeroponics. I went to Home depot and got a round tub. I've got four arms coming off of it made of PVC. I have them split into three "fingers". Each one has 4-1 1/2" Ys on them. Use 2" net pots and neoprene like stink does in the Ys. Use spray nozels for the roots. Hang the light down in the middle. I'm still building, but I think this is the way to go. It's less than 3'x3' and I'm under 6' for total height. will be able to grow over 60 plants after I add on, but I have 22 clones waiting to jump in it.

new1grower said:

I'm setting one up now. it's a cross between a colliseum style and using stinkbud's system of aeroponics. I went to Home depot and got a round tub. I've got four arms coming off of it made of PVC. I have them split into three "fingers". Each one has 4-1 1/2" Ys on them. Use 2" net pots and neoprene like stink does in the Ys. Use spray nozels for the roots. Hang the light down in the middle. I'm still building, but I think this is the way to go. It's less than 3'x3' and I'm under 6' for total height. will be able to grow over 60 plants after I add on, but I have 22 clones waiting to jump in it.

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Hey New any sketches on that design. Sounds awesome!

wow man. u have any flicks of what ur talking about? im using soil, not aero and i dont fully understand what u just described.

id love to fill it up with as many plants as would fit, like 60 but the smell factor is the only thing stoppin me. im in like a townhouse/apartment thing, im flowering seven plants now and the smell is perfectly fine.

and is there a link to stinkbuds setup?

with aero you need to make sure the roots have enough room to support the plant size you ish to grow. We did aero too because its easier to maintain. I built a dual 600 watt 52" x 52" x 90" this past weekend. Best w/ verts to have at least 2 lights so you have the light hitting the plant from at least 2 directions. We used 6"pvc as the downtube and 8" fingers that come off them with foan holders for the plant. Plants will be big though 4 levels, bottom 2 levels (pvc pipe" are close to that the bottom can be trained so the plants go all the way to the floor. Total 32 plants.

do you have any pictures? sounds great man. i wouldnt want to get another light tho i dont think, because im not tryin to go crazy in my lil apartment, i just want to get the absolute most out of my one 600w as i can, which means goin vertical. i'd really love to see flicks to see how i should go about building my stuff

I don't have any pics yet. I finished building everything last night. As soon as I get it together, I'll have pics posted. As for stinkbud's journal, it's on here somewhere, search his name. I tell you, though, we started out soil, and I'll never go back after reading everything here and then finding this vertical grow idea. Amazing. Full Metal is right though, you need two bulbs on the vert grows. Anyway, I'll get some pic's up as soon as I can.

sweet man. why do you need two bulbs for vert? it would still be worth it to do with one, wouldn't you say?

SayWord said:

sweet man. why do you need two bulbs for vert? it would still be worth it to do with one, wouldn't you say?

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One would be ok too. 2 is just alot better. If you use one though i wouldn't have a canopy height (vert) of more than 3' for a 600, 5' for a 1000. I would even go bigger lights. Remember that by taking off the hood you aren't directing all that light in one direction any longer so it is more spread out and hence less intense.

2 lights also give you 2 angles of light coming at the buds. My buddies cabinet was 7.5 ft and we used 2 600s. To get even better "angles" or spread e placed a diy light mover that raises the cooltues vertically 1 ft up and down, slowly. We used a generic RC car motor / torque and placed a oblong 14" bicycle wheel on the shaft of the motor when it spins slowly the string wraps around the disk. If you pursue this just make sure you can have motor w/ slow rpm decent touque to lift your weight. If you can find the right motor you can easily throw a gear together like we had to.

wow man. crazy with the lightmover.

so 1 600w could work right? i could even do all four walls of plants around it, instead of just three. the walls would only be like four feet. does this sound right?

each wall would be 4' long and have two, possibly three rows of plants. itd be setup like flojo's grow, not like a colloseum. you could also put a few more on ground level. if you fit four plants per shelf, two shelves per wall, four walls is 32 plants all comfortably growing under one 600w.

that's with two shelves per wall. with three shelves per wall itd be 48 plants.

bump..................

so i got my bookshelf at walmart for like 30 bucks. it would be perfect for a vert grow op, i mean if u bought 3 or 4 of them.
the only issue with them is that theyre only like 3 to 3.5 feet wide. u couldnt fit more than three plants per shelf. if u do it right u can cut each book shelf in half, only using two bookshelves to make four walls.

if i got a bunch of lowrider autoflower strains, if i have four walls, i could put 36 in. if they average an ounce each, thats two pounds in two months using one 600w.

Growing plants on shelves you bought is not a proper vertical grow all you are doing is putting a whole shitload of wasted space between your plants.

The shelves will not help you, you'd be better off just growing a flat garden with one light on top.

well, i wouldnt put the plants flat on the shelves, id obviously custom make this shit to fit my needs, holding the plants at a 45degree angle.

But just angling the plants won't fix the spacing of the shelves being off. You still gain notihng over a flat garden. In fact you would loose a LOT.

You want only a wall of colas to be visible. You shouldn't see shelves or pots or stalks or space between plants etc. They should all be packed in tight as can be, and that can't happen with store bought shelves.

Seriously just take them out and do however many plants fit in flat style. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.

what are you talking about? what specifically would be wrong with the spacing of the shelves? u can adjust where the shelves are.

and how would it not gain anythong over a flat garden? itd fit 3-4 times more plants under the same light.

If you do it right and if the shelves are in fact ALL adjustable and not just a couple then sure... Good luck.
With a single light you are still wrong, but I wish you luck anyway.

even if they werent adjustable (they all are) the purpose of using the walmart bookshelf is cuz u get all the wood/supplies for 20 bux. i can drill whatever holes i want and make the shelves work for me however i want.

im gonna have to agree with OM here...

in a 4'x4' space you could fit at least 20 plants if theyre in 1.5 gallon square containers (currently what im doing...link in sig)...theres no need to go vertical, you can accomplish just as much and possibly more with a flat set up.

IMO, vert set ups are optimal for high wattage, high plant number grows with (possibly) limited space...they work because of an increased number of smaller plants under maximum power...FloJo's grow is a perfect example of a vertical grow

SayWord said:

and how would it not gain anythong over a flat garden? itd fit 3-4 times more plants under the same light.

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..just because you add more plants and angle them to grow towards the center doesnt necessarily mean youre gonna get a better yield...youre still using the same amount of light so your increase in plants would probably just mean a decrease in yield/plant

in a 4'x4' grow area with 1x600W youre sitting at 37.5W/sq. ft....on top of that add the previously stated fact that the lumen output will be decreased due to the subtraction of a reflector (lights going everywhere instead of concentrated somewhere)...basically, youre gonna be putting MORE PLANTS under LESS LIGHT

if you cut your number down to 28 (at the very very very most), confined your space even more (since youre only using 1x600W), and just rooted your clones for a week, no veg time, straight to flower and lollipopping the plants this may work (maybe), but youll never pull 2 lbs. from it (i think you said that somewhere)...2 lbs would be 1.5g/W and you'd have to average 32g per plant...

but for whatever its worth (which probably isnt much), when going vert, go big or go home or its not worth it

my $0.04