by Ed Rosenthal
Carbon Filter: an inline carbon filter is used to eliminate the odor from exiting air.
Air Duct Muffler: if necessary an inline air duct muffler is used to silence the sound of the fan and rushing air.
In this unit, notice the water-cooled light. It is cooled using a water chiller and a bucket, which serves as a reservoir. Commercial units like the No Holes Bar from Best Coast Growers (Fresa Sol lights also pictured) are moveable and easily adjustable.
Tubing: use 6” (15 cm) tubing for small spaces of two lights. Its area is 28 sq in (28 sq cm). Use an 8” or 10” (20 cm or 25 cm) tube for larger gardens. Their areas are 50 sq in and 78 sq in, respectively.
Thermostat/Humisdistat: Connect the fan to a thermostat/humidistat. If you are using ventilation as the primary means of regulating temperature and humidity the system should also include a regulator that shuts off CO2 emission when the fan goes on. If the garden is to be cooled using an air conditioner, the need for ventilation is drastically reduced. The thermostat/humidistat controls the air conditioner rather than a ventilation system. Use either a window, or portable air conditioner. It should be mounted securely. The air conditioner can be set to exchange heat but not air so the CO2 level is not affected. Some portable air conditioners exchange air. This air must be odor filtered before it exits the space. Even with an AC system, it is important to have adequate ventilation available as a redundancy. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It could be as simple as a carbon filter and fan that are manually controlled.
Hang the lights from the structure. If you are using two 1000w lamps, place each in the center of a 4’ x 4’ (122 x122 cm) area. Since all the light comes from two points some plant parts will always be in shadow. A “light rail” type of light mover adjusted to move back and forth 1 or 1.5' (30-45cm) will keep more of the plants illuminated resulting in larger yields.
Using three 600w HPS lamps is more efficient and cheaper than using two 1000w lamps because the 600w watt lamps use 10% less electricity, but produces the same amount of light. The light is distributed more evenly because it is emitted from three point sources rather than two. No light movers are required.
Lay a waterproof tarp on the floor.
A LARGER GARDEN
HOW I SET UP MY LARGE GARDEN BY JAKE X
Jake X is a garden consultant with 25 years experience in gardening and setting up large scale grow operations.
Originally we were going to grow in two large rooms with 24 1000w lamps in each. Instead we decided to use 600w lamps because they provided more points of light and therefore fewer shadows. In addition they are 7-8% more efficient, creating more light while using less electricity.
The rooms were each 18’ x 18,’ roughly 324 sq ft (5.5 x 5.5 m, 30.25 square meters). In order to maximize the potential of the space, eight 8’ x 4’ (2.45 x 1.25 m) tables were placed on metal wheels so that two people could easily move them. We lined up the eight tables to make a 16’ x 16’ (4.9 x 4.9 m) grow space. Only one working aisle was needed, and the tables could be moved to provide that space.
The lights for one room used about 16 kilowatts, or 142 amps, of power. The best electrical current for this is a 220 three phase with 600 amp capacity, which provides cleaner power. Many factories already have this capability. If you do not, it should be installed before setting up the lights.
We placed three lights over each 4’ x 8’ (122 x 244 cm) table, which provided the canopy with about 5,000 fc or 535,000 lux.
The lamps were placed 3' (0.9 m) above the plants so the light spread out evenly over the canopy. To make sure none of the light reflected off the lamps was wasted, we hung heavy-duty aluminum foil on the outer edge of the reflectors at the perimeters of the room to direct the light away from the wall and back to the canopy.
In addition to the light movers and reflectors, we painted the walls with flat white paint, to reflect any light that hit them.
We chose the wall closest to the intake as the electrical wall. Why? All circuits for the room were controlled from this series of boards. We attached each light by plug to the ballast and made sure to keep all the ballasts on the same “light panel,” which was controlled by a digital timer and allowed all the lights to go on at once.
The lights were air-cooled with 8” (20 cm) diameter flanges on either side so that the tubing for the lights could be at tached easily. Each duct line was attached to six lights and powered by an inline fan. We drew the air in from a duct in the roof and expelled it through a roof vent. There were no other vents in the room, so the garden was sealed.
1. The garden room was constructed using wooden framing and white/black plastic as walls. It was a sealed room. The air conditioners exchanged heat and moisture but not air from the room into the central space. Ventilation fans evacuated it through the roof. CO2 was addded using tanks. 2. Warehouse preconstruction. 3. Several rooms have been framed. 4. Inside partially constructed space. 5. Completed room. 6. The water system had three tanks and is designed to purify water and mix nutrients for five grow rooms. 7. Automated controls for the water system and temperature; switches controlled the pump and aerator; the on/off valve controlled water recirculation and draining. 8. The flowering room; each room had three filters to purify the air amd eliminate odors. 9. Three 600w lights were placed over each table. 10-11. The lights were ducted so that one 12" fan vented all 21 lights. 12. Three 600w lights were placed over each table. In this garden the air cooled lights drew air in from the space. It was cleaned using a carbon filter and then exhausted. Notice the tables are all on wheels and can be moved easily to create a work space.
The air was controlled by a regulated thermostat which automatically turned on heaters if the temperature fell below 65-70° F (18-21° C) during the dark period, which we set to begin at noon and end at midnight.
The heat was exhausted using two 15,000 BTU window-mounted air conditioners which turned on automatically when the temperature exceeded 83° F (28° C).
We supplied the room with carbon dioxide using tanks and a regulator controlled by a ppm meter that maintained the CO2 level at 1200 ppm throughout the entire cycle. We released the gas from the bottom of the trays near the pots so it would rise through the canopy.
We mounted circulation fans above our head level to prevent lost earlobes and unwanted haircuts.
For a medium, we chose a coir-based soil-less mix to fill the 32 nongraduated plastic 5-gallon (22 l) buckets on each 16’ x 16’ (4.9 x 4.9 m) table.
Each 16-table system was fed from a 180 gallon (800 liter) tank that irrigated the containers using 360° sprayers.
During the early growth and vegetative stage, the containers were watered once a week. During peak growth and flowering they received a water/nutrient solution every three days. The pH of the water was kept between 6.3–6.5.
When the plants first started we kept the fertilizer ppm at 900 and over a period of five weeks gradually raised it to 1500. During the last four weeks we gradually decreased the level to 1000. During the last ten days the plants were irrigated simply with pH adjusted water.
Plants were kept growing vegetatively for 10-20 days depending on variety. Several clones were taken from each plant’s center top and lower branches before we placed them in flowering. At flowering each plant had 8-10 branches that were all at about the same height. The varieties we chose were ripe in 7-9 weeks and yielded about two ounces (56 g) per plant.
We used these nutrients:
•Flora Nova Floralicious and Kool-bloom (made the bud more sugary)
•Humic/folic acid (improved vigor)
PREMADE UNITS
The best way to get growing might be to purchase a pre-made indoor greenhouse. These units make it easy to create a discrete area in which to garden. They are available in various sizes. From 2’ x 5’ (60 cm x 150 cm) to about 10’ x 10’ (300 cm x 300 cm). There are even duplex models.
These tents are easy to assemble and create a portable, movable, separate environment. They have a place to hang the li
ghts and spaces cut out for all accessories such as carbon filters, fans, CO2 units, cooling and light cooling.
These units have a lot of uses. First, they make set-up easy. They are great when you want to isolate plants as quarantine or for breeding.
The tents make it easy to set up a small enclosed garden in a large space without constructing walls or going through the hassle. Just clear the debris enough to make room for the indoor garden, set it up, attach the light and accessories, set up the planting system, and you are a gardener.
Premade units and grow tents allow gardeners with small grows to easily set up a sealed operation in a variety of spaces. The Indoor Grow Tent by Hydrohut features thick Velcro to seal out light leaks, ports, flaps and openings to hook up lights, air conditioning, and the ventilation necessary to maintain the climate of the space.
Left to right: This garden was set up in a couple of hours. Everything is regulated, controlled or automated, so the gardener just has to monitor the systems. A fan and carbon filter remove hot air from the system; an alternative is cooling the air usng an air conditioner to maintain high CO2 levels.
The SuperCloset is a well-designed complete unit. Just assemble, plug in and start growing. Everything is contained in the steel cabinet. The unit comes with dimmable air-cooled light, circulation fan, and separate chambers for cloning, vegetative growth and flowering. Hydroponic systems promote fast growth and large harvests.
NOVEL GARDENS
SHELF GARDENING
Shelves can be used to house gardens indoors and out. Outdoor shelves work best with small plants that grow no higher than two or three feet (0.6-0.9 m), so the lower and upper plants form a continuous vertical wall of green. In the fall, when the sun’s angle is lower, the plants’ sides get direct light, helping the buds grow and ripen. Outdoors, a south-facing area can be exploited by using stepped shelves to hold potted plants in a stadium array. Shelves take a bit of horizontal space but they more than make up for it with additional vertical space. Many other innovative configurations of shelves can be devised to customize their use for particular situations. Shelves with wheels can be moved around easily to stay in the sun as its position changes throughout the day and seasonally.
PREMADE UNITS
Premade units are an easy way to provide a complete grow environment. The Stanley 336 Ultimate Hydroponic Grow Box from ACtech makes growing practically automatic. It features CO2, fully automated pH adjustment, a Hydroponic Water Cooler, and 100 percent odor control. The cabinet comes with a choice of HPS or LED lights and optional high-power fluorescent sidelights for fuller plants with more bud sites. An upper shelf on this model provides space for clones to grow as the larger plants develop.
Pictured:
Stanley 336 Ultimate
Hydroponic Grow Box.
For more information:
www.actechwi.com
Indoors, placing plants on shelves provides additional space that is not ordinarily used. Rather than just the floor surface, the garden space includes the walls as well. Hang the bulbs either vertically or horizontally, as long as the light reaches the walls as well as the floor. Use a reflector that keeps light off the ceiling and within the garden. To determine how much light input to provide, first determine the total area of the floor plus the walls or shelves. As an example, a space with a floor measuring 8’ x 8’ (64 sq ft, 6 sq m) might have walls with effective dimensions (subtracting for area lost to corners and shelves) of about 7’ x 7’, or 49 sq ft (4.5 sq m) each. The total area of the shelves and walls is about 200 sq ft (18.5 sq m), or a bit more than three times the floor space.
If this total area were a flat surface, it would require 12 1000w lamps. However, because the light is distributed to the plants in all directions, with almost no loss to reflectors, only four to six 1000w lamps are required to light the space. Place all the lights in the center of the growing area. Place a reflector over the top light, paint the ceiling white or cover it with reflective material such as aluminum foil or white plastic so any stray rays headed up and out of the garden are redirected to the plants.
A two-shelf garden lit with fluorescents.
This shelf is 18” (46 cm) wide, 8’ (2.4 m) long and 24” (60 cm) tall. It was powered by four T-8 HO Fluorescents that emitted a total of 32,000 lumens and use 86 watts each. They were fed guanos, kelp and humic acid. Several indica seeds were planted in each 32 oz Styrofoam container. They germinated quickly. They were allowed to grow for several weeks, until they were about 6” (15 cm) tall. Then they were placed into flowering by lowering the light regimen to 12 hours daily. As soon as they indicated, males were removed. Plants were transplanted as needed so that each container held one female. Here plants are into third week of flowering. The buds lushed out at week six. The plants are ready to harvest. The buds weren’t big, but they were potent and tasty.
Using this technique, a space that normally accommodates a canopy of no more than 64 sq ft (6 sq m) now has an effective space of 250 sq ft (23 sq m). The result is more than a three-fold increase in space that only requires about one third the energy as normal. Gardeners can expect good returns because yield per watt of light is significantly more than in standard systems.
ROTARY GARDENS
Rotary gardens work like ferris wheels with the light in the center and plants orbiting around it. They save time, space and energy while producing yields of up to 1.5 grams per watt of light in short cycles.
The rotary unit is fitted with slots that hold 4" (10 cm) rockwool cubes. The lights are positioned in the middle of the unit, where an axle would be if it were supported with a hub. The wheel turns vertically so the plants do a 360—upright at the bottom, then horizontal, then upside down, then horizontal to the other side and back. This rotation causes stress on the main stem so the plants grow stout. The plant tops are always facing the light, so the plants grow into short, single-stemmed skewers completely covered with buds.
The cubes are watered automatically as they rotate. Once the plants are set inside, they need little care. Staking is eliminated and, later on, manicuring will be abbreviated because of the high calyx to leaf ratio. They are unlikely to get infections because insects have a difficult time landing on moving plants, and the environment is very bright, which deters some pests and infections.
These systems are complex pieces of machinery, and their initial cost is substantial. However, the savings in labor and the increase in yield pay back the investment many times. There are a number of models currently available.
The one drawback to these systems is the number of plants they require. More than 200 rooted clones fit in the system, which pushes plant counts and plant limits. However, if there are no restrictions on the number of plants, these units might help you deal with space limits. The finished plants are all one stemmed, so they take little room. The units can be stacked, so a number of these gardens can fit in a small footprint.
COLISEUM GARDEN
All growers seek to maximize the yield of their gardens. Usually light is the limiting factor.
Indoor grow lighting by HID lamps is limited by the reflectors used to direct it down. Even the best reflectors lose 40% of their intensity in directing the light down onto the canopy. The solution is to build a garden around the lamp, without the use of a reflector. To make this garden, cut holes in plywood sheets slighty bigger than the size of the pots to be placed in them. Stand the sheets on their ends and assemble into hexagons or octagons around the lamps. Fill the pots with a planting mix.
Rotary gardens are very efficient in part because all the light gets to the plants directly from the lamps. 4" (10 cm) rockwool cubes are held in place along the bars. The plants stay short because of their changing position in relation to gravity. Each bar gets irrigated when it reaches the bottom. Looking at the inside you can see the canopy is a sea of buds.
Vertical gardens allow environmentally conscious growers to produce a high yield in a small space. Because the plants create a 360° circle around the
light fixture, a higher yield can be produced with less power. The Ecosystem is a complete climate system that allows the grower to plant 20-140 bonsai style plants in a circular area with a 4’ (1.21 m) diameter that is 5’ (1.5 m) high. The water/nutrient solution is pumped to the top of unit and the plants are watered by gravity.
Vertical gardens allow indoor growers to maximize the potential of their indoor growing lights by placing plants in a 360° circle around them. The Octagon works for both soil and hydroponics mediums.
The common feature of vertical gardens is that plants are placed around lamps without reflectors and can be efficiently watered and maintained. They can be built tower style, stadium style, or in walls, rows, and geometric patterns. The objective of a vertical garden is to maximize use of space and increase yield per watt.
Coliseum is made of large half-arcs with a hollow space inside for a growing medium or aeroponic spraying. Up to 150 plants grow from the inside and create a circle around the lights. Often two stacks are lit with 3000 watts and the 300 plants inside can yield 8 or 9 pounds (3.6-4 kg), or nearly 3 pounds (1.36 kg) per watt.
The EcoSystem is a vertical round garden with the added convenience of using ordinary rockwool slabs drip irrigated from one end to water the plants. The original EcoSystem uses 24 slabs and is lighted with two 600w to 750w lights in the included glass tube. The EcoSystem II is larger, composed of two pieces, and lit with two 1000w lights.
FLAT GARDENS
You can grow a “flat garden” that uses wall space but not much depth. This space can be converted to a growing area very easily. Paint the space flat white or cover it with reflective material. If the space is exposed and if that is inappropriate, use a curtain or other visual barrier to hide the garden and separate it from the surrounding environment. This will also keep the light in the garden. These cultivation strategies use space differently than most gardens. Rather than using just the flat floor or ground surface, these gardens use the vertical dimensions of the space, too. This allows denser planting and more efficient use of light.