Hydro height. Any suggestions?

I am setting up an attic grow. My biggest problem at the moment is height. From the floor to the light is only 4’4”. I am going to air cool my lamps. I also am using a light mover in order to keep my plants as close to the light as possible. At this point I need to decide on the type of hydro system I will use (I can’t pump dirt in and out of my attic). The goal is to keep the plants as close to the ground as possible. Right now I am thinking about using a 5 gallon bucket for each plant. I am thinking of cutting a square hole in the lid of the bucket. I will be able to drop my 8” pots into this hole. I would then add a pump and an air stone. This way each plant would have its own reservoir and drip system. My other option is to go DWC. With DWC I think I would be able to put more water in my bucket. This would be a huge plus as I wouldn’t have to add water as often. My concern is with a power outage. I have read a power outage can kill a DWC plant in hours. Is this true? Would adding H202 help? Dose anyone use a “UPS” for there air stones incase of a power outage? Anyone got any other options to keep my plants close to the ground?


How much water can a 2 foot tall plant drink in a day?

Thanks for any input. Peace

Hey GrowinONup, I have a couple ideas for your tough spot, that I'd do. I'm guessin you have some building knowledge if your going to attempt an attic grow.

get every inch you can by;
]sinking your reservoirs down in the floor by putting a supportive plywood bottom between the ceiling/floor joists (just above the finished ceiling of the room below). Depending on depth of the joists you would make it long enough for the volume you want, then put in end 2x blocks, line it with a protective layer like cardboard then heavy mil plastic. Your trays can then span the bay or bays (if three individual reservoirs)and drain into them,. When you clean your trays, pump the res. out, then let the dirty tray water drain in, pump it, then throw out the plastic and put in new.

]Forget the light movers and drip irr. and use whatever variation of Al B's incredible method will work in your space. What you will gain in light to plant closeness you will lose in the fact that the movers and track itself take up height and make it much more difficult to properly vent the lights, (which will get you more height).

I think this will make it so with the wcs you'd have to bend the plants slightly. later

go with a lowryder strain from attitude seeds...you get about 1 OZ Per plant from what i hear...

you got 4 ft of space? you should be good then... forget the lowryder...stick to a nice strain and just flower early or lst/scrog... get a cooltube ...if your going with hydro ... dwc/aero/flood/drip... all take about the same height wise.. i guess really depends on how you set it up... bigger res = most stability ... at the same time im not sure u would wanna go with dwc if your attic is hot... apparently higher temps are bad for dwc

From your description of your attic, it sounds like it would be better to use soil.
If it was me I would much rather cart soil up in the attic, then water.
Your going to be carting water up there anyway's to water your plants.
But if you go with a hydro setup, your gonna have to cart a ton more water up there. Soil weighs a hell-of-a-lot less than water.

Unless, you don't mind drilling a couple of holes through the attic floor, and keeping your resevoir in a room underneath the attic. Just run your drain and fill lines to your hydro setup through the holes. You'll need a strong enough pump for it to pump that far up.