My bare bulb journey!

My previous boss did vertical lighting, you should invest in a parabolic reflector. They actually do pretty damn good especially since a lot of that light is going sideways and up. We also never put them down into the plants we kept them over them. One 1500w light was good enough to get 3000 grams. we used it to light two trays at a time.

His buddy came over after we told him how much we were yielding and he didn't believe it. It works and it works great but you have to have the proper space to utilize it right. Takes a huge ass AC and a huge ass Dehumidifier to keep the 8 trays afloat.

MrMeanGreen said:

The carbon in filters is very expensive, Australian carbon even more so and one way to save on construction is to be tight with the carbon. On that note, I prefer to stay with the branded filters which may be a bit more expensive but you know what your getting. Just sayin.....

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You're right about the price of carbon/charcoal. However, I've bought cheap carbon filters and expensive ones over the years, and they've all been pretty much the same construction and quality. They seem to be getting cheaper now because there's more competition. That's just my experience in Australia - I can't vouch for other countries.

Normally I recommend spending a little extra money to buy quality products that will last a little longer, but carbon filters are one of those things where it doesn't seem to matter what you spend, you get a very similar product. Most hydro shops build them themselves, using the same canisters and the same bulk charcoal that everyone else does. The difference in quality seems to be restricted to the way they screw or rivet everything together. If your carbon filter hasn't been assembled very well, it's usually pretty easy for you to fix it yourself. As MMG has explained: the real expense is in the charcoal filtering material itself.

I also agree that if you get peace of mind from spending a little extra on a "name" brand, then it's worth doing. You're expenses should be offset by your yields at the end of the day.

Of course, I just helped a friend buy a HUGE carbon filter (315mm ducting, over 1 meter long) last week for a very cheap price, and it was fine.

So once again I am thinking about changing the room. Iwant to go 600 1000 600 in a configuration as such. Surrounded by plants.
xxxxxxx
x o 0 o x
xxxxxxx What do you all think about this configuration?

If you could get some plants in-between the 1000 and 600s (see below), that would be better. I'd hang the 600s right down into the plants and leave the 1000 a little higher so that it spreads light across the tops of the canopies. If you've got the room dimensions for it, that is.

XXXXXXXXXXXX
X o XX O XX o X
XXXXXXXXXXXX

I'm starting to feel like a single 600 watt light is not as effective in a vert system. I'm going to stack them and see how it matches up with my 1000w. Any suggestions? I'm trying to take advantage of these cool temps.

Well I ended up doing just that in my own set-up: going from a 600w single to 2x 600w inline vertical lamps, and the results were obviously good, as I continued to grow like that for many years. I am planning on going back to a single 600w lamp soon, but that's just because I'd like to scale things down a little. 1200w works very well in systems up to 6' tall.

There's not much to stacking bulbs, except ensuring you can adjust both lights up and down using some sort of chain or pulley system. Don't use nylon rope (it may burn) and be careful where you place the chains etc, so they don't rub or interfere with one of the bulbs (typically the chains from the low bulb interfering with the upper bulb). You can also take the lower bulb and bend the electrical chord where it comes out of the socket to roughly 90 degrees (bend it straight over) and then tie it with wire to keep it in place. This will; allow you to place the bulbs close to each other while they hang vertically and prevent the upper bulb from burning the electrical chord of the lower bulb.

You will want the bulbs hanging fairly close together in the early stages, and then start to split them (raising the upper bulb) up as the plants grower taller. And that's really all there is to it.

drekoushranada said:

So once again I am thinking about changing the room. Iwant to go 600 1000 600 in a configuration as such. Surrounded by plants.
xxxxxxx
x o 0 o x
xxxxxxx What do you all think about this configuration?

Click to expand...

Have you tried or considered positioning the plants horizontally
as with like a pi wall, or similar system

Great thread!

I noticed that you place the plant pots inside the cage while others like prawn have them on the outside. Is that all about the diameter of the cage or do you consider your setup is easier to work with? Not saying that one setup is better, I´m asking because I´m trying to figure out whats best for my first vertical grow.

I can only answer for myself, but having the plants outside the cage makes them more accessible - which is important if you're going to vertical scrog and need to weave the branches around - and I prefer to lean the plants against a cage towards the lights instead of away from them.

i did away with the cage all together my self. the whole thing was a pain. with with out

It seems like vertical growing comes in many flavors and it´s very interesting to read about your growing. I have limited grow space so I am most likely going to copycat Prawns setup. What strains do you grow dr.d? Drek I am looking forward to more photos from your bare bulb journey. J

Hey guys. Apologies on not updating like I should. I been super busy. Doing the room over also. I'm putting the cages back up and having a smaller diameter like Prawn. 1 cage with a 1000w and the other with stacked 600w. Have you all ever tried the aeroflo system? I want to try the 36 site unit and run it with a 600w bulb. Just asking because I can get it for super cheap.

Well I'm going to grab the aeroflo 36. I will run a 600 watt SOG with Judy and WWxBB. The Judy finishes faster than any plant I have grown. Awesome smoke. I hope this strong Indica lady does well. She is suppose to be Astro Queen from TGA that was discontinued years ago. Any suggestions?

i've read up on aero and hear you need to run an aero line of nutrients, to avoid clogs on the aero heads. There are products like drip clean but i'm pretty sure products formulated for aero work superior. A major plus to aero is less nutrient use/loss
i also hear battery backup is a life saver, well worth the crop it saves when it gets used...

I will be using Dyna Gro nutes.

same here brudda!

do you use the pro-tekt?
for some reason if i mix my nutes and leave them more than a day, the water clouds up.
i always add the protekt first then the other stuff, at a less than 100 ppm dose so..

That is interesting that you nutes do that. The stuff I leave out does not cloud up. Yes pro tek is a must!

Well I finally got around to changing the room. I will post pictures soon. Whew!! haha

This is my Judy strain before the trim.