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Free 3D Program

crazy8

crazy8

I didnt see a spot that this would go best and since software is a kind of "tech" and it surely does deal with "growing" I felt this was my best bet. But if I had made a mistake putting it hear when it should be somewhere else that I may have overlooked I apologize. So on with my post. I have some pretty good ideas in my head in regards to some hydro systems I may want to put together once I move into my new home. Now I can draw them up on paper ok but I was wondering if there is a free easy to use and learn program that may assists me in putting whats in my head into a 3 dimensional form that would be much easier to look at and be able to get a better idea of scale and all that. Do any of you in here do such things or am I just crazy? :)
 
Google Sketchup is free, and relatively easy to use. Watch the training videos!!!!

http://sketchup.google.com/
 
crazy8 said:
I didnt see a spot that this would go best and since software is a kind of "tech" and it surely does deal with "growing" I felt this was my best bet. But if I had made a mistake putting it hear when it should be somewhere else that I may have overlooked I apologize. So on with my post. I have some pretty good ideas in my head in regards to some hydro systems I may want to put together once I move into my new home. Now I can draw them up on paper ok but I was wondering if there is a free easy to use and learn program that may assists me in putting whats in my head into a 3 dimensional form that would be much easier to look at and be able to get a better idea of scale and all that. Do any of you in here do such things or am I just crazy? :)
Click to expand...

if you're a student, autodesk will give you anything you may need for design in both 2d and 3d for free. look up students.autodesk.com. most of that software is what i use for design-stuff.

if you just want to do a few 3d sketches and nothing too advanced, definitely check out google sketch up.

if you're wanting more power, blender is always a respectable choice.

for what you're describing, i'd just play around with sketchup.
 
Yeah I watched the four beginner videos and just played with it for about 20 minutes so it will take a little bit for me to get my sea legs but I think this will do what I want. Thank you all for the suggestions.
 
Well I have quite a decent start on the concept I had. Its not pretty but it does get the idea across most measurements are not right on but are also close. Im just using it to see what the scale of it will look like and how it will all fit together. For those of you that might be curious this is what I have so far...

Concept.jpg


The idea is that using a 6' x 3' flood tray and filling it 5 inches high will require 55 gallons of water. But this does not include the space media will take up and if I use clay balls then a great amount of space will be taken up meaning I will need far less water to fill it. So I figured I would set up a dual flood bed type system. To accomplish this I will use 2- 6' x 3' flood beds butted at the ends and one 55 gallon drum with two pumps and two drains. They will be timed in such a way that when "pump one" starts and floods the first bed, the second pump will not start until the first bed is done draining.
 
I kinda had this second idea of using a 55 gallon drum to catch rain water. Well while thinking of that I figured maybe I would just integrate it to the ebb and flow system along with the built in draining for when the water needs to be changed. Tell me what you all think.

Concept_Expanded.jpg
 
Again for all of those who may be interested. I figure its better for me to post in here instead of making a different post. Anyway I added some more details just have some aesthetics to touch up on like making actual elbows in the PVC and such. As you can see I have added another valve and a water level tube so you can see what the water level is when your filling/emptying the barrel. Well let me know what you all think.

concept-1.jpg


concept-2.jpg
 
Thank you ABurningMouth. Yes I am a fast learner but I am sure that there is much more I can learn to make some of my stuff look a little better and be easier ways of doing things. I am going to watch more of the videos and see what I can learn.

treemanjohn said:
Explain the system a bit. It looks very complicated. Also remember to subtract the volume that your media will take up
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Its actually not complex at all. So the 55 gallon under the table holds the water. As you can see there are 4 tubes coming out of it and going into the flood table. Now even though in the 3d it looks like 1 table there will in fact be 2- 6' x 3'flood tables butted end to end. So the 4 lines is 1-pump line and 1-overflow line per flood table. The trick in doing this is to set the pump on timers in a way that one table gets flooded at a time with all of the same water. That should explain that but if it doesnt feel free to ask any questions. Im no hydroponic pro but I got the bite and I think a system like this would work quite slick especially with conserving water and using rain water.

So on that note the integrated rain barrel. Well that is even more simple Have something on top to filter all the sand, leaves, etc. ie screen or something. Anyway the rain gets collected into the barrel and now you get to use the most natural and for the most part cleanest water available for your plants. Once it is time for the old water under the table to be changed out I can turn the valve on the bottom of that barrel to drain it all out. Once drained then I can close the valve back up and open the rain barrel valve to fill the other drum with rain water. If I don't have enough I can just use the home to fill the rest. I know it seems odd to use the hose if the whole reason is to use rain water but we cant always be blessed with an abundance of rain water.

Just a side not in case some of you looking at the pics may not know, though I am assuming all or almost all of you do know, that vertical tube on the barrel under the table is so I can see what the water level is in the barrel and thus would not require me to make another hole in the barrel just to look in and see.

Hopefully this answered some questions for you but if you got more feel free to ask and I will answer them the best I can. Today since it is slow at work I also created a 3D version of a "grow shelf" idea I have. Nothing really special but it is cool ;)

As for the amount of water and counting for media, I mentioned that in the first posting that I put a pic in. I said I would need 55 gallons but considering I will be using Hydroton I will need much less.
 
Incase any of you were at all curious about the shelf here is what I got. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Now I know this doesn't show anything that looks like a fan but there will be a clip on fan on each tier. Those "horizontal tubular looking things are supposed to represents the bulbs based on some of the dimensions I got for them. I will be using the Feliz 200w 6500k CFL's. Some of you have had experience with them, do they get hot? is what I got for bulbs overkill? The black and white is reflective material and Im sure you all can figure it out from there. :) The front of the shelf will also be covered with reflective material for maximum light reflection.

I made this screen shot just to show how I would mount the bulb if I only need one per tier.
Shelf2.jpg


The top two shelves have 6" pots and the bottom two have seed starting trays. Keep in mind these are concepts and not meant to be highly detailed. The only thing I am really after is the sizes of things and seeing if they fit together and how.
Shelf1-1.jpg


And because we all love back shots ;)
Shelf1-2.jpg


And another sexy frontal shot.
Shelf1.jpg


Hope you all enjoy and again if anyone has any comments or suggestions on all of this I would greatly appreciate it.
 
UPDATE: Just a minor few additions. I added two things that are supposed to resemble fans and two 7" covers over the seed trays. Of course the fans wont be blowing when the tray covers are on.
newshelf.jpg
 
How are you going to get 2 pumps into your barrel down below? When the rain barrel gets full and you need to add water and or nutes to your res how are you going to do it? Why flood to 5" I would use 3" and save a ton of money on clay and you'll also give your res a little wiggle room so it wont run dry

I would also use 2 different reservoirs so you can swap crops out and switch nutes as needed.
 
treemanjohn said:
How are you going to get 2 pumps into your barrel down below?
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Well if I am understanding you right...The pumps aren't that big and after all it is a 55 gal drum so there is more than enough room. But if your question is more towards on the literal side as to what hole or technique I will use to get them in, im not sure. I suppose I will make a hole either at the top or side of the drum.

When the rain barrel gets full and you need to add water and or nutes to your res how are you going to do it?
Click to expand...
See the little red thing on the line coming out of the rain barrel? That is a lever I will use to let the barrel empty into the res.

Why flood to 5" I would use 3" and save a ton of money on clay and you'll also give your res a little wiggle room so it wont run dry
Click to expand...
Well 5" just seemed like a good number but the tables I was looking at are 7" deep if I recall. So I could probably go 3" on the hydroton and yes that would give me some wiggle room in the res so that may not be a bad idea.

I would also use 2 different reservoirs so you can swap crops out and switch nutes as needed.
Click to expand...

Well the whole idea of using one big res was to avoid having to use a ton of water and to get the most out of the water as possible. Not to mention that the total of water needed for both trays was 55 gal if I did do two barrels then I would just divide it with two 25+ gal containers of some sort. Ill have to think about this. but If I did use the whole thing for peppers then Im not sure where I could see the benefit of doing that unless I am missing something. :)
 
Hydro plants will go through periods of drinking, feeding, and drinking/feeding. You will have to test the nutes BEFORE you add anything to the res. First you will have to fill the res with water first. Then test the nutes. You can do that with one barrel unless you use the one barrel for water only and then you climb under the table to mix the nutes. Seems like a huge pain in the ass to me.

If you use 2 reservoirs you will eliminate any cross contamination of bacteria, viruses, or any other of the uglies in the recirculating water supply. When those plants mature you're going to go through 25+ gallons of water a week. Water is never hard to come by just cram your hose in the tank and fill it up. I've been using tap water for 15 years in hydro
 
Davetaylor said:
All your flow pipes are level!!!!!!
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Well the pipe going from the rain barrel into the other barrel is fine with being level since I will top off the other barrel with a hose anyway.

AjarnV said:
And your drain plumbing will leave a couple of gallons in the bottom of the barrel.

In a word; "TILT"! :)
Click to expand...
Yeah I am thinking of maybe mounting the drain pipe on the bottom of the barrel the way it is laying now (what would be that actual side of the barrel).
 
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