Vertical lighting tips

[jimbojones5678]

I've been having a look at clear pvc pipe as the light shroud column and it's doable except that it is only rated to 140F which is 60C and I think that the lights would easily exceed that in a 8" pipe - unless I was blowing a f*ckload of ool air through it. I have two 150mm inline fans that will be tried on it as intake and exhaust so I'll get back with the results when it's happening.

 

What do they make CoolTubes clear parts out of...?

 

http://www.harvel.com/piping-clear-pvc.asp

 

Jimbo

[MongyMan]

Glass they are jimbo. I think there was a thread on here somewhere where a member made their own, but I can't remember who it was at the moment.

 

Peace MongyMan

[Luke Skywalker]

Symex (special Pyrex borosilicate) is what you're after.

 

You're probably better off just getting 3 cool tubes, perhaps one which is the long version with a double lamp holder either end, and then another one attached to the top.

 

They do this quite often with colloseum style growing....

 

Get a 150 centrifugal, minimum. That's just for the lamps mind, you'll need more for the room. Have the duct run from outside the growing space and then through the tubes and out again to get best cooling.

 

DO NOT USE PLASTIC!!!! And honestly, you'll go through a lot more pissfarting around and possibly a lot of $ if things go badly if you try and construct something like this by yourself. Cheaper and simpler to get the tubes, have some ducting between em or metal flanges if they're right on top of one another, and then have the whole thing on a stand down low (maybe a chain at the top to hold it stable to the top of the room when installed) or perhaps suspended. Probably better on a stand though.

[Chato]

As ss said, vert lighting not economical but it sure is a lotta fun imo.

 

Duct off a/c for best way of keepin cool tubes cool an either trees or colli grow as seen in the pics, it';s not a style that lends itself to middle ground. go hard or go home with verts

 

peace

c

[bufo marinus]

I don't know about it being uneconomical?

The sativas I'm growing now with 400's wouldn't be as fat if I couldn't have lowered the lights into the plant.

360' of lighting has got to have more grunt than 180' full and 180' reflected, thats maths

Whether the plants can be trained, and going by some of the links godonacid shared they certainly can be, is the next trick.

I've tried both ways and can see the benefits of vertical lamps, especially as I say with the smaller 400's.

3 x 600 vertical seems a bit wild but each grow room is different

I'm guessing not all who are criticising have seen the advantages or tried it to a degree of success? And I don't mean that rudely

[loylty gets u nothing]

yep

bufo done vert lightin a few years ago

as i said the watts sem to always be bigger than yield

sure u get fat buds long colas,and see the plants potential

but ive never done any smaller than 7k for vert grows

also ac was a major accessory u needed i found

 

i like the idea of no shade and making use of all the direct light

the coleseum or something similar has a great design

its just a shame the numbers that system requires

ive always devised me own systems so to speak

love to see how ya go with it Jimbo

all the best for ya qwest

bil

[SukonmiSkunk]

um... getting lights as close the the plant for fatter heads is a myth.. ive proven this time and time again... it doesnt matter whether the lights are 1 meter.. or 30cm.. it makes absolutely NO difference.. well if it does make any difference its minimal and i havent noticed it..

 

plant dont stretch for the light.. they stretch for the canopy..

 

the heads in my room... and ill take pics today.. some of the fattest heads are the ones furthest from the light... my wardrobe.. doesnt have the light so it lowers and raises.. its set at the top.. stationary... always gets fat heads... look at my avatar.. also check out my wardrobe grow diary in the grow diary section... its very simple.. and very effective.. yielding between 6-10 ounces a grow.. not bad for a 400watter

 

lights are important yes... but theres a lot more involved to grow fat heads than just lights..

 

cooltubes are great.. but i feel they take valuable heat away from the room.. heat that is utilized for resin production.. if you follow the proper room sizes for the lights youre using then there should be NO need for them.. .. that was a little off topic..

 

back on topic... ive thought about this for the last few days.. and I think.. sure.. setting up something like this could be beneficial.. ok.. it wouldnt work in any of the rooms ive ever designed.. as I really only design for yeild and efficiency... but looking at the Colloseum grow op.. a set up like this could actually work.. of course.. with what ive said about cooltubes.. I think this could be one time where they might actually be of some use.. but even still using cooltube.. you could still burn the plant if it gets too close.. but growing in a confined space.. that space is valuable.. so yeah.. the closer you can get the lights the more grow space you can utilize..

 

another way ive thought of using a set up like this.. and i think nearly every one could probably benefit from this.. is to use this horizontally under neath the canopy.. pushing light up from under neath to help fatten the undergrowth... some people take 2 harvests.. leaving the undergrowth to fatten up over a few more weeks.. this would eliminate that.. as everything would be mature at the same time..

 

but all in all.. I cant see it being very efficient.. and with the price of electricity these days.. I think its best to get as much yeild from as little power draw as you possibly can..

 

but hey.. we've all experimented with all sorts of shit over our careers.. and who am i to say dont do it.. ive done lots of experiments that proved nuthing.. or was a total fuck up.. its the only way to learn properly.. and although i way past experimenting with shit like this.. as I just stick with what works these days.. im all for other people giving it a shot.. and hey.. you never know.. ive been totally wrong and many topics in the past...

[Indycar]

if you follow the proper room sizes for the lights youre using then there should be NO need for them.. .. that was a little off topic..

 

Maybe a lil' off topic, but it seems to be the trick to it all...

 

Great links that godonacid posted, the only thing that i can fault is the waste of lumens while the plants are young, it seems a lot is wasted out the sides of the setups. Maybe if they wrapped panda right around the outside until the plants matured a bit more and the canopy fills out. Then remove when not required anymore, might be a bit of a plus for the grows...

 

[jimbojones5678]

plant dont stretch for the light.. they stretch for the canopy..

Well I am thinking of growing the plants in a single cola style in tiers up the walls so that all the plants have equal access to the light ala octagon/coli style - depending on my cloning success! There would be minimal stretch to the canopy as they would all have uninterrupted access to the light nearest them.

it';s not a style that lends itself to middle ground. go hard or go home with verts

Well I definitely don't want 300 clones running at the same time - but maybe around 40 would fit my space - giving them 10" of spread each. i guess I am shooting for middle ground...

Symex (special Pyrex borosilicate) is what you're after.

I've sent off for some quotes on a custom built tube from India. Prolly cost about a bazillion bucks though...

and with the price of electricity these days..

I nearly fell over when the electricity bill arrived for my WR grow so far, it was only $5 higher than normal! So if I can manage to sort out my wattage limitations then it looks like a feasible idea.

ive always devised me own systems so to speak

love to see how ya go with it Jimbo

all the best for ya qwest

Cheers! Yeah I'm going to construct it myself as I sure as sh*t ain't paying $5000 for some huge ass plastic thing that has no stealth at all...I'm really just trying to modify other techniques such as NFT and coli growing to my cupboard so there's really no a benchmark is there as no-one else has my cupboard!

 

Jimbo

[bufo marinus]

Not quite sure whether the plants stretching for the canopy is the same as plants growing towards the light because they DO grow towards the light, some good examples in some of the pics godonacid linked to, but I understand what your saying

I would agree about fat buds growing in unlikely places though, and also that buds closest to the light aren't necesarily going to be the biggest and best.

I have an air cooled hood downstairs I been saving for a 600 I have sitting here. When it was used in a cabinet with a 400 it worked well enough to achieve bud bleach without distorting/burning the leaf on the bud but trichomes were non existant so once again it comes down to that word you dropped in chat the other night SS..... balance