Vertical Growing

i'm not sure if anyone read about the vertical growth systems in the june publication of "high times". anyways, i'd like to know if anyone is growing that way. my garage is pretty sparse on space so growing up means i can utilize more of my floor footprint. i'm gonna try and start constructing a set up on my own. if any one has any thoughts about how it should be done, especially the watering aspect, i would greatly appreciate any input. FYI i'm growing in soil not hydro; and this is my first grow. so i'm new and don't know what all the acronyms means and i also don't have all the gadgets yet (like all the meters and such).

Check out the thread in my siggy, I just set up my own vertical grow :] 3 weeks into flower. Got drip feed to 50 plants right now, soon to be 90, soon to be 200. Hopefully you can pull ideas off that. That's how I got ideas for my setup, just checking out other peoples journals

Doesnt everything grow vertically??

Zarezhu said:

Got drip feed to 50 plants right now, soon to be 90, soon to be 200.

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that's sweet, i'll have 30 ready for veg in a week and i want to try to have it set up by the time i flower those. i've seen some pretty good picks for ideas of the construction...i'm more of a builder than a plumber though. i have 12 just starting to flower right now under two 1000w hoods and those take quite a bit of water right now (like 15 gallons every two days or so just for those 12). for the vertical grow i was thinking about putting a submersible pump in a larger water container and then putting the power source to the pump on a heavy duty programable timer for watering times. i don't know how to get the nutrients to the plants through the drip system though. also, i don't know how big that pump should be cause i'll eventually have more than 400 plants by the end of the summer hopefully. sounds like you are just getting started too, you in colorado, zarezhu?

grapesnowcone said:

Doesnt everything grow vertically??

Click to expand...

technically, yes. read the june "high times". it's a pretty smart idea actually. people have built racks basically and they grow mj on each tier. the shelves are tilted forward to point the plants to the lights. you put these racks in a radius around a couple stacked tube lights. so you grow up instead of growing out in terms of volume for product for square foot return on cost. so if this is your business, like it is mine, and not so much a hobby, it's important...also pretty smart. i'll put some pics of mine as i build it. you can also check this link out for pics of other peoples setups:

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=127789&page=2

anyone with any ideas of how to deliver nutrients on a drip system?

I have grown vertically before. Wonder's Medical Grow Round 2 was vertical...... I love it.....

DRip system:

Small pump
1 or 2GPH drippers(1-2 per plant)
1/4" tubing
"t" 1/4" or a 1/4" junction box


Just run a line from your pump to the junction box or place several of the "t"s, and then begin attaching 1/4" line, put the drippers on, and secure into the pot. Just don't use a pump that will create too much back pressure or it could burn out. Add up how many drippers are on and how much you would like to water each plant and calculate, how long you will leave the timer(connected to pump) on......

sorry for the delay in responses...i've been in california trying to drum up connections cause i'd rather grow in cali than colo.
anyways, i think i'm gonna stack three 1000w lights in the middle of a hinged hexagon that i can open and close. the bottom of the unit would be a raised platform with three inline 500+ cfm fans (2 pushing cool room air from the bottom up the unit and 1 for the lights). then the unit would have 3 18" shelves (cause the lights are 19" so one light for each shelf). the shelves would be canted forward to accept more light with a reflective surface on the back so it can still get light to the back of the plant. on the front of the shelves i'm thinking of having some spaghetti lines with misting nozzles for each plant. in the acute angle at the front of the shelf i'm thinking of some polyfilm going to a drain for any overspray. i want to have an in-line water treatment for filtering and ph before the pump to the sprayer so i don't have to have any water containment. i just saw an add in "rosebud" for an in-line nutrient delivery system that looks pretty cool, but i'm sure it's expensive and i haven't called for a quote yet. if it's too pricey at this point i would just hand deliver nutrients.
when i get home next week i'll start getting stuff ready. so pictures are soon to follow as i start constructing (right now it's all just a hand sketch in a notebook). stay tuned!