Tips utilizing minimal vertical space with slim LED

[TheCatDaddy]

I moved and until the addition is finished I have minimal space. I was debating on doing a vertical grow and have my LED (HLG Scorpion R Spec,) perpendicular to the ground to save horizontal space… but then saw that my big “crawl space” is actually about 4 foot tall.

My LED is 38.5" x 36" x 2.75" and I was thinking if I used short but wide pots, they could be big enough to use organic soil and if I trained them to bed short/wide plants there’d be enough space between the light and the plants.

It would be like an extreme case of SCROG, I feel it’s doable though and can be a fruitful grow. Other thought was to do a SOG type grow, but i’ve only ever done coco once but can still do that. Thoughts guys?

 

[goingrey]

Yeah wide containers is a good idea. Also coco is more effective with root space than soil.

You can win a lot of height with having the exhaust fan and carbon scrubber outside the space (you can also blow into the scrubber, not just suck out of it).

SCROG/LST is a must and choosing appropriate strains will make your life easier.

Doable for sure, not sure I'd even consider it so extreme.

 

[TheCatDaddy]

The “crawl space” is the size of my whole house just much shorter so I have plenty of horizontal space. I’ve only done coco once, I was PLANNING on using coots mix but adding malted barley powder and crustacean meal..

Whats your opinion on the closest my LED should get from top of the plants? It has a dimmer but is a pretty powerful light.

You think i’m better off doing the SCROG style or SOG, due to the limited vertical space? Only issue with SOG is I’ve never done it, and all my knowledge is in organics/notill.

 

[goingrey]

Yeah seems like a super powerful light for this purpose.

There's some interesting discussion in this recent thread: https://www.icmag.com/forum/icmag-vendor-forums/mars-hydro/18074241-is-there-a-maximum-safe-ppfd

People are "maxing out" without CO2 at just under 1000 PPFD. Which I understood to mean starting to experience problems.

According to this chart that would be 16": https://ppfdcharts.com/ppfd-data/hlg-scorpion-rspec/

 

[exploziv]

For sure you can do it, but you need more light surface than power in that set-up. Keeping plants low is possible with some training.

 

[HempKat]

I would say SoG (if you have mothers to get clones from) or just do sprouted seed straight to 12/12 that way you could just use small pots. SCRoG is doable too but there you need bigger pots and you'll use a foot or so of space for the underside of the SCRoG which is pretty much just branches.

 

[f-e]

I have 1500mm but rarely use more than 1200. Just a filter sits up there. My pots are raised 100mm to, for runoff collection. My light is also 6 288 panels in a similar arrangement.
You can expect to get 200mm from the light, with it running around half power. Covering the meter or so below it.

That distance from the lights limits the crops footprint. If you do lots of cuts that stay short, then the light can be turned up a little more, and the floor space used can become a little larger.
With the light dimmed to work at 200mm, there is no point putting plants 500mm from it.

 

[St. Phatty]

Could use a Concrete Mixing Tub. 2 feet x 3 feet, about 7 inches high.

At least the roots will have lots of Sideways Room.

 

[f-e]

That could work for a sea of green. Metal framed padding pools might offer something similar.

What is the ground made of? could you dig..