Lighting Question! Please help!

[Buddahbear]

How many DWC Buckets is advisable to put under an air cooled 1,000 watt (with glass) High pressure sodium light on a 6 foot light rail track?

Another question, seeing as it's an 1,000 watt HPS it's fairly hot but wouldn't having it on a light rail, and the cooling mechanism help compencate for that? So what would you say the acceptable distance between the plants and an air cooled 1,000W HPS on a 6' light rail?

I'm going for most bud/space preferably with well spaced plants so they have plenty of room to grow. Plenty of mylar and ventilation.

[kindprincess]

if it is on a moving track, you should be able to get it down to about 12 inches, if it is air cooled. seen a pic on one of these current threads...just cant remember which one.

love, kp

[kindprincess]

what is dwc?

i'd say like 18 to 24 3gallon pots...

love, kp:p

[Buddahbear]

Deep Water Culture.

I plan on having around 8 23 gallon roughneck lined up horrizontally in a line as the light mover goes over them. The resevoirs have 8 plants each (the plant in a roughly 3 inch net pot with hydroton coals) and a four outlet pump hooked up to a series of tubes with holes poked in them to keep the water nice and aerated, oxygen in the roots = nice roots, nice plants.
Doing continual harvest sea of green
with mothers and clones under 2 200 watt compact fluorescents with 2 65 watt fluorexes (all with homemade mylar reflectors)
propogating clones in an aeroponic cloner.
Basically something like the attatchment.

Thanks for the tip!

[kindprincess]

hmm, 8 might be a hair much... but i realy couldn't say for sure, wish icould be of more help...

love,kp

[BlueBear]

I would go with about 6 of them, depending on how long you are going to veg. With that many in one rubber made you will want to flip them to flower fairly quick, like at about 9 to 10 IN so they don't get to large and shadow each other to much.
Adieu

[Buddahbear]

Thanks for the tip bear, my original plan was 6 per rez but I guess I got greedy :D. I plan on having continual harvest so have 8-9 resevoirs. One for every week of flowering and have a cloner, 2 DWC 23 gallon resevoirs (with vegging) and some mothers (probably in continual drip rockwool or something)
So I'll grow clones for two-three weeks (one week in cloner, two weeks in vegging) and then push them into flowering for 8-9 weeks.

Assuming my light rail will cover 9 resevoirs (which I think it easily will) that's 54 plants. I'm assuming around/more than a QP per resevoir (which I will be harvesting 6 plants/week)

[BlueBear]

Are you going to have a main res? Well, I guess not if the plants will be in different cycles, you will have allot of res change outs, you will need to change a res a day, or 2 every other day and have allot of water on hand, and if you sit your water out for 24 hours you will have to have about 10 5 gallon buckets sitting around for water, and have a method to change the old water, I believe that 1 gallon weighs 16 pounds, so each of those resses will be close to 200 pounds. This will be a full time job for you IMO, and that doesn't even include checking PPM every day and the cost of nutes for all of those gallons.
I think that if you did a 8 pack water farm set up with the controller and mane res you would save allot of work and have similar results perhaps. You could get up to 3 OZ or even a QP off of each bucket and veg them out in one of those 23 gallon resses. You would just think about veging for 3 weeks after rooting and the plant number would be way down as well.
Hmm, not a bad idea I do have to say, maybe I will have to try it my self. LOL
Adieu

[Buddahbear]

I didn't quite understand all that... but basically just having one main resevoir connecting into what kind of system? DWC?

[BlueBear]

Well a mane res would mean you have say a 40 gallon tub filled with water and your nutes, and it is connected to all of your tubs so you can control all the tubs from one area and control water levels and PPM from that area and not have to mess with every bucket. It is connected by PVC piping or tubes that keep recirculating the water from the buckets or tubs back threw the mane reservoir. It is called a recirculating DWC set up.
The GH Water Farm 8 pack comes with the 8 buckets and a controller bucket and a reservoir. The controller bucket is where you check the PPM, PH and add your nutes and then it has another reservoir that feeds water into the 8 buckets threw the controller when the plants have drank up allot of water.
Adieu

[Buddahbear]

I think I might do 3 10-plant ebb and flow tables. Seems alot easier! Thanks for letting me know what i was in for with all the work.

[BlueBear]

Not a problem, you could do good with some 3x3 tables or 4x4, I think they even have a 2x4 that rocks. I know a guy that pulls about 3 OZ off each plant in a 2x4 I think it is.
Adieu

[Buddahbear]

Man I love those big fucking quarter pounder plants! I'm gonna try to get as many of those as possible. They make my mouth water.

To keep the plants within 12" of the 1,000w HPS on a light mover at all times i'm gonna try to have some kind of system for raising or lowering the table seeing as I'm going to have 3 different stages of tables (maybe different strains, one 2 week one 6 week one 8 week, something like that)(bricks if i have to, hopefully some kind of DIY table.)

Thanks for the helpful advice bluebear.

[LIP]

Get the HPS as close as you can to the plants without burning them, simple as that.

[BlueBear]

a DIY table? Hmm, there are massage tables that have little wooden notches on the legs that raise and lower the table, if you get a chance maybe you could find a picture or go into a massage store near you and look at how they work and build something simular.
Adieu

[Buddahbear]

I'm gonna do the really really old fashion way... Cinderblocks and wooden boards. :-D I'm so broke...

I think with a cold air-intake (and removing glass, because it's winter it's an easy way to heat my room/cool my light) and a light mover.