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My growing chamber for 2009
- Thread starter wordwiz
- Start date
Josh,
I wanted to maximize my space and lighting, as well as the heater. One reason for getting it done now, when I won't really need it until the middle of January at the very earliest, is so I can try different ways of growing. My latest experiment, one designed to stop the initial legginess of plants, is to keep the seed trays as close to the lights as possible. Hopefully, when they sprout, they will be hit with a lot more PAR light than what normal fluoros provide. If it works, I will adopt it, if it doesn't, I'll try Plan D (or is it E or F?).
Mike
I wanted to maximize my space and lighting, as well as the heater. One reason for getting it done now, when I won't really need it until the middle of January at the very earliest, is so I can try different ways of growing. My latest experiment, one designed to stop the initial legginess of plants, is to keep the seed trays as close to the lights as possible. Hopefully, when they sprout, they will be hit with a lot more PAR light than what normal fluoros provide. If it works, I will adopt it, if it doesn't, I'll try Plan D (or is it E or F?).
Mike
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
Mike....are you sure 15" is tall enough? I have 24" between shelves in my grow area and the tomatos and annuums were against the lights at the top when I planted out...the shoplights took up about 5 inches of the height, so I had about 19 inches...
AJ,
I measured from the floor to the top and it is just under 23". By the time the plants get 15" tall it will be time for them to leave home and move to a cold frame outside where they can get use to the bright sunlight.
However, if I remove the door that I'm using as a floor and set them on the very bottom (where the heater chamber will be), I'll pick up an extra three or four inches. Plus, the seedlings will be in starter trays. I have a different box for the ones in four inch planters.
Mike
I measured from the floor to the top and it is just under 23". By the time the plants get 15" tall it will be time for them to leave home and move to a cold frame outside where they can get use to the bright sunlight.
However, if I remove the door that I'm using as a floor and set them on the very bottom (where the heater chamber will be), I'll pick up an extra three or four inches. Plus, the seedlings will be in starter trays. I have a different box for the ones in four inch planters.
Mike
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
wordwiz said:
cool Mike...I was just concerned you only had 15" that included the space for lights and heater too....phewwwwwwwwwwwwwww...
AJ,
I just had a thought - I have a couple of extra tire jacks laying around. I'm thinking that if I can rig a board to the top of them, then it will make it a snap to initially raise then lower the door that holds the trays. I just realized that having 800+ plants is going to weigh quite a bit.
Mike
I just had a thought - I have a couple of extra tire jacks laying around. I'm thinking that if I can rig a board to the top of them, then it will make it a snap to initially raise then lower the door that holds the trays. I just realized that having 800+ plants is going to weigh quite a bit.
Mike
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
wordwiz said:
good thought Mike...I figure each tray will weigh about 10 pounds so you are looking at about 100 pounds for the trays plus the weight of the door...
AJ,
Imagine what they will weigh after a good watering. The seedlings are small now so I don't water any more frequently than once a week but a six-pack that sits in water for five minutes (fully wetting the potting soil) probably weighs more than a pound. That's over 12 pounds per tray and I'll have at least 12 trays. Once the plants get any size, I can see the total weight being well over 200 pounds.
Mike
Imagine what they will weigh after a good watering. The seedlings are small now so I don't water any more frequently than once a week but a six-pack that sits in water for five minutes (fully wetting the potting soil) probably weighs more than a pound. That's over 12 pounds per tray and I'll have at least 12 trays. Once the plants get any size, I can see the total weight being well over 200 pounds.
Mike
Almost done. Bought the rest of the lumber today. Nailed the base that the plants will sit on into the 2x4's. Left about 2" of room on each end so heat from the bottom chamber can rise easily. Decided to go with a board that will hold the dozen one-foot-square LED panes and raise it as the plants grow, but this becoming a problem. There simply is no easy way to raise a piece of lumber that weighs 30 pounds or so (without the lights which will add another 20 pounds or so) a link or two at a time, given that access to the four chains and S hooks is not easily available. I've got to find a way of raising one side - rather than one corner - at a time. No problem running the chains to the middle and hooking them together with the S hook. But I need to think of a way to raise them.
If all you gurus cannot come up with a way that is better, I have a plan. Run a cable or wire to the S Hook, drill a hole in the top cover, run the wire through it and attach it to something like a 1x2" board. As I need to raise the lights, stick a piece of lumber under the board that the wire runs through. But that doens't sound very McGyverish. What would be great is something like a come-along that I could crank a notch at a time. Maybe take an old meat grinder, put a pully on the end and find a way of keeping the handle from flying backward???
Pics tomorrow once there is enough light in the room!
Mike
If all you gurus cannot come up with a way that is better, I have a plan. Run a cable or wire to the S Hook, drill a hole in the top cover, run the wire through it and attach it to something like a 1x2" board. As I need to raise the lights, stick a piece of lumber under the board that the wire runs through. But that doens't sound very McGyverish. What would be great is something like a come-along that I could crank a notch at a time. Maybe take an old meat grinder, put a pully on the end and find a way of keeping the handle from flying backward???
Pics tomorrow once there is enough light in the room!
Mike
Damn Wiz! Let me apologize in advance, for I am going to go all Chilihunter on you..........
There is a reason that greenhouses are greenhouses and not warehouses full of led's.
If it was feasable to make money that way, I can't help but think that it would be done that way commercially.
For your own fun, and perhaps to brake even....maybe.
Sorry! You just can't compete with the free sunlight provided to everyone. You can do better, but it will cost you infinity times as much as sunlight.
(granted greenhouses cost money to build, but from there they are low maintainance)
There is a reason that greenhouses are greenhouses and not warehouses full of led's.
If it was feasable to make money that way, I can't help but think that it would be done that way commercially.
For your own fun, and perhaps to brake even....maybe.
Sorry! You just can't compete with the free sunlight provided to everyone. You can do better, but it will cost you infinity times as much as sunlight.
(granted greenhouses cost money to build, but from there they are low maintainance)
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
Mike...see if you can find an old boat wench from a boat trailer somewhere...use your imagination to mount it and that will do the trick....you can raise or lower with very little effort...
I visited my favorite hardware store yesterday and picked up a couple pieces of 1.5" angle iron with holes drilled in it, two 3" threaded 5/16" rods and lots of nuts. Cut the AI to fit the 32" board the lights will sit on and attached it to the bottom using screws. Each piece is about 13.5 inches from the outside (long) edge leaving room for a LED panel. Drilled holes through that board as well as the board that will serve as a cover for the chamber.
There was an old bed rail, one of those 2", 7" pieces of angle Iron laying around. I cut it into 3' sections and drilled a hole in it. The threaded rods will run through it (it will rest on the top board and the 2x4s that form the top rail) through the cover, down through the board that will hold the panels and finally through the floor of the chamber. All the weight, which I estimate to be about 50 pounds total will rest on the heavier pieces of AI. There will be a nut under the piece of AI attached to the board that hold the lights. That nut will be welded (using JB Weld) so it will not move, thus forcing the board to raise as I turn the rod.
The max height of the plants will be ~ 18" (measuring from the bottom of the pot they are growing in), though I don't see any reason to let them grow that tall.
The hardest part will be getting the board, loaded with the light panels, into the chamber.
Mike
There was an old bed rail, one of those 2", 7" pieces of angle Iron laying around. I cut it into 3' sections and drilled a hole in it. The threaded rods will run through it (it will rest on the top board and the 2x4s that form the top rail) through the cover, down through the board that will hold the panels and finally through the floor of the chamber. All the weight, which I estimate to be about 50 pounds total will rest on the heavier pieces of AI. There will be a nut under the piece of AI attached to the board that hold the lights. That nut will be welded (using JB Weld) so it will not move, thus forcing the board to raise as I turn the rod.
The max height of the plants will be ~ 18" (measuring from the bottom of the pot they are growing in), though I don't see any reason to let them grow that tall.
The hardest part will be getting the board, loaded with the light panels, into the chamber.
Mike
Raising just about any amount of weight (if you can anchor to a ceiling joist above)is easy with the use of pulleys. To reduce the weight add more pulleys. Friction increases with the addition of pulleys, but it is nothing compared to the weight reduction.
My 6 year old daughter can raise our 75lb canoe by herself.
****Make sure that the bottom tray is LEVEL! That many plants and bottom watering will require diligent levelling or you will have water pooled in one side and a serious imbalance of weight and watering.
Some seedlimngs will be in a lake, the others in the sahara.
My 6 year old daughter can raise our 75lb canoe by herself.
****Make sure that the bottom tray is LEVEL! That many plants and bottom watering will require diligent levelling or you will have water pooled in one side and a serious imbalance of weight and watering.
Some seedlimngs will be in a lake, the others in the sahara.
Talas,
All I am waiting for is the lights. I probably won't get them for a month or so, as I haven't decided exactly what type to get. In researching lights, ran across some forum dedicated to pot (there must be a hundred of them!) and this guy posted some pics from his grow room that uses 700 watts of CFL bulbs. The plants looked fairly healthy and not the least bit leggy. I've never tried growing pot (though I've had some volunteers come up in the garden the last three years - long story about how I think they got there!) but I presume pot is like tomatoes and peppers as far as growing goes.
If I go with the CFL bulbs, I will need to paint the walls white (or cover with mylar) to reflect the light. The LEDs don't diffuse so I'm not concerned as much if I go with them.
BTW, the seeds arrived today - thank you kind sir!
Mike
All I am waiting for is the lights. I probably won't get them for a month or so, as I haven't decided exactly what type to get. In researching lights, ran across some forum dedicated to pot (there must be a hundred of them!) and this guy posted some pics from his grow room that uses 700 watts of CFL bulbs. The plants looked fairly healthy and not the least bit leggy. I've never tried growing pot (though I've had some volunteers come up in the garden the last three years - long story about how I think they got there!) but I presume pot is like tomatoes and peppers as far as growing goes.
If I go with the CFL bulbs, I will need to paint the walls white (or cover with mylar) to reflect the light. The LEDs don't diffuse so I'm not concerned as much if I go with them.
BTW, the seeds arrived today - thank you kind sir!
Mike