Midnight Rudy
Member
Thanks for the ideas and the advice. I can't make the ceiling any higher than it is. There's one section where it's only about 5' high but that's because there's a ventillation duct running through there. The only way to raise the roof is to make the table shorter, which I am about to do in the next day or so once I get an opinion. (more on that in a minute.)
I think you had said before that you could only gain headroom by lowering the table. Same idea for sure. In my system I have a more finite light pattern since I am pushing light off of long tubes vs the spherical output of the hid. Point is don't let any of that precious light go to waste. That is the key to effective vertical IMHO. Using all of the light that comes off the bulb before it gets reflected.
Anti, have you considered setting up different sections of your bench with different techniques for this next run? I'm getting the feeling you aren't going to be satisfied unless you dwarf your cfl numbers, or you have tried every possible way to get there. I think while you are still in a prototype phase you should consider setting things up the way you first tried, and then some with the current suggestions. You could mix and match pot sizes and beds vs pots, ebb and flow vs drip etc. Do all the screwing around in the next run and be done with it, ya know?
Another thing I haven't seen mentioned is passive hydro. You would be surprised how problem free and simple it is. 50/50 coco/perlite soaking in 2" of solution... Then BAM! Your smokin weed! Ha Ha Ha! Seriously though, there is nothing simpler than mixing a jug of nutes every couple of days and pouring it into the res. I have been running this way for over a year and even have my moms, clones, vegging plants, seedlings all set up with pots of coco/perlite parking their fat lazy asses in trays of nutes.