4x8 flood tray and 1.5K digital

[lotusfalls]

I've got a 12x12x10 room.

I've made a nice little veg/clone nook in a wide closet with a pair of top shelves for clones. Plenty of room in there for a 150+ small plants (6-8") under a pair of 400W HPS. I've already sealed off the veg area with thick black plastic ported and ducted into the ventilation system. I'll be adding a small A/C vent into the area to maintain even temps.

The flower room has space for a single 4x8 flood tray. I'm thinking of using 6x6x6 rockwool cubes (128 total in the tray) for a S.O.G. setup. Using short cycle plants, harvesting a rotational 64 plants every . Lighting will be provided by 2 Lumatek digital 750W HPS lamps with vented hoods and its own proprietary venting system.

CO2 enrichment is in place. Mylar is hung all around the plants. I'm using GH Flora series nutes with Humboldt County's Own PurpleMaxx and Gravity for finishing.

I will be adding a CO2 controller and an Intellidose nute/ph dosing system.

I'm thinking of adding a trellis over the flood tray to support the short single-cola plants. I'm trying not get over 16" and to get single stalks of solid bud. I'm looking for 1.5 oz per plant average yield, up to two oz. I realize this will all take some experimenting with different strains and environments.

First, does anyone see any inherent flaws in design or expectation?

Second, has anyone used a similar method, and if so, what kind of performance does it give?

 

[lotusfalls]

Anyone?

 

[Erin Kerrik]

Read this yesterday and I'm no expert, but 4 plants per square foot seems overly tight to me.

 

[blackone]

I don't know if 4 plants per square foot is too much- but don't count on getting 1.5 oz per plant That would make it 3.6 g/W.

About the rotating scheme - I've considered something similar but I have my reservations. Normally it is recommended to let the plant in the cube veg in the flower room for at least 24 days to get adjusted to the flowering setup. This can't be done with the neighbor lamp on 12/12, but don't listen to me, listen to people with rockwool/ebb flow experience

If you're going to rotate - have you considered packing them together more closely under a smaller light for the first 3-4 weeks, then spreading them out and finishing them under the big light?

If it were me who had the room for growing you have I would definitely go for a little less plant density - perhaps 36 plants per light? , and cut down on the vegging watts. You're doing a SOG right? 4*36 watts of flourescents should be more than enough to root cuttings and veg them for a week or so.

 

[fishman3811]

Hey bro i have a 4x8 table and i grow 32 plants under 2x1000 watts hps.28 ounces per light is what i get and thats without Co2.That many plants that u have is alot of work.Do less plants less work and less jail time if caught.All toghether i have around 70-80 plants thats with clones.128 plants in your 4x8 table and at least 130 clones getting ready for next batch is almost 260 plants wow.Im in Canada and 80 plants for me is considered a small grow op but your looking at a medium to large grow op a much harsher sentance if u live in Canada,if you live in the States then forget about it your doing major time.Why have the headach when you can produce as much bud with 1/3 the plants.

 

[lotusfalls]

Thanks for the feedback, I knew there were holes just waiting to be poked in my rather optimistic plan.

blackone - I had a feeling that the density was a little more extreme in practice than on paper. Right now, we've got all the mothers in soil and the leftovers flowering before we move in the equipment. We've isolated the veg room from the flower room completely. I'll just have to see if the plants have a hard time adjusting going straight to flower in the ebb and flow. The cycle I've got planned now is 3 weeks for rooting, 2 weeks for vegging, and 8 weeks for flower. That'll be adjusted as we get used to these strains' natural cycles. That's one of the wonderful things about this, though. You're op can always evolve and adapt as needed. Thanks for the helpful advice.

fishman3811 - I think we'll give 1/sq ft a shot. We've got CO2 enrichment, so that should be plenty. Do you use vented lights? I know the digital 750s are supposed to be able to produce about the same lumen strength as a standard 1000.

I took 38 clones tonight. The machine is in motion. Thanks for all the help!