bigtopsfinn,

Thanks for the suggestions!

I have seen those vertical scrogs you are talking about. Again, though, with plants in the scrogs you are talking about, you are keeping the light 24 to 36 inches away.

I want the light to be just 1 inch away. That way, no lumens have to waste their lives just trying to reach the bud.

The reason you can't do that with an HID, etc, is because you would fry the buds and burn down the house. It is a constant balance between lumens produced and heat of the bulb.

Well, with T5's, you can. They are super efficient. How can you tell? Just touch one. How much electricity was lost to heat?

After all of the research I've done, I think the reason that T5's haven't been given the props they deserve is because people are so far, in large part, imagining them as a inferior replacement for an HID. I'm trying to design my grow technique AROUND the strength of each element in the system.

The goal is to maximize the number of bud sites per square foot, and then plug each 'directly' into it's own 'sun.' I have planned the grow so each bud will be no more than an inch and a quarter from 5,000 lumens.

So that is where the 'uncharted territory' comes in. I want to see just how high a yield (and what quality and potency) can be achieved if every aspect of the grow is dialed in. I design and analyze systems professionally -- though not cannabis systems When I get into something new, I try to see what is 'known' by those folks who have been working in the area for years . . . and see how to fit their latest wisdom into the best possible configuration.

Like a grower friend of mine said when I shared this with him, this has the potential to create something really interesting.

With all that said, you mentioned that the plants want to grow outward. Exactly. So imagine a grow (in, say, a closet) with the wall, and three inches from the wall is a nice, tall, sativa. Three inches further out from the wall, is a vertical scrog/trellis. One inch further out is a 8-tube, 48-inch T5 fixture. (I plan on putting a sheet of plexiglass between the ladies and their "sun" to keep the over-eager at safe as can be.)

Now, I know that this strict measure of inches will ebb and flow as I learn how they grow in this environment. That is built into the design. But consider this: This takes into consideration the natural tendency of the plant to growth both up and out. I'm letting them grow up as fast as they want to (though I'll work to slow them down). As for the grow out, between the wall and their beloved source of light, they will grow towards the light. During training, I plan to just weave them back into the scrog netting as I go.

So with that all in mind, and assuming, say, a foot of grow width -- creating a vertical screen of 1' x 4' -- this method could produce four square feet of bud in less than a single square foot of closet floor space.

If what I hear some of the old-timers say is true -- that you can get about two ounces per square foot -- this could produce eight ounces off one plant in that less-than-one-square-foot of closet space. And that is assuming that this concept of dialing in all the variables (NASA style) doesn't boost the yield even higher.

Call me crazy, but I am excited about the project ahead.
AeroManT5 Reviewed by AeroManT5 on . Calling all LST experts I want to experiment with LST to see how best to effectively fill a 7 inch wide by 40 inch high trellis. In essence, it is a vertical scrog, with wire creating four 1 3/4 inch squares across and 22 squares per vertical 'column. For planning purposes, I'll be growing a sativa. My vision is to fill each of those squares on the scrog/trellis with a bud. The simplest approach, as a newbie imagining, would be to LST while still a very small clone, and try to get three shoots to compete with Rating: 5