It’s nice to have space. @perry2 has alot to do with the space you have, I’m also in a tent so height is at a premium.
I did build a cheap rack and found that it took up to much height I needed. So if your planning on growing in a tent make the bottom pan and rack as low profile as possible yet still able to pull it out without tipping if your at the edge of your tent. In the end I found that in anything such as a 4x4 or smaller it was just more hassle than worth.
Currently I have a large syringe (I’m in healthcare) and just suck it out of the dishes first into a little dish to take my readings then dump it into a bucket before tossing it in the yard/ down the drain. I have heard of alot of people using little or big shop vacs.
I woild say that @merlin44 here has the best I’ve seen yet (although I have seen some very good and intriguing ideas on the forums)
Hey @merlin44 why do you use 2 upper frames of pvc? Rather than just 1?
And as the plant grows what do you do? Or do you just scrog once? Do you need to add another or lengthen the distance between the two top layers?
Here is a bill of materials and cut list that I use for building my SCROG bases and frames. You will need to adjust the numbers for your specific build.
SCROG Bill Of Materials and Cut List
This design is specific to growing in 10 gallon pots (fabric and plastic)
NOTE: Adjust sizes to meet your specific needs
Base Unit
(1 ea) 22" X 22" X 1/2" plywood
(5 ea) 1" swivell casters
(4 ea) 1/2" PVC 90 degree elbow
(8 ea) 1/2" PVC “T”
(8 ea) 1/2" PVC 45 degree elbow
(4 ea) 3/4" cross
(8 ea) 3/4->1/2 reducer bushing
(8 ea) 1/2" PVC pipe 9" long - lower base frame
(4 ea) 1/2" PVC pipe 20 1/2" long - upper base frame supports
(8 ea) 1/2" PVC pipe 6 3/4" long - upper base frame
(8 ea) 1/2" PVC pipe 3 1/2" long - upper base frame
You will need about four 10’ pieces of 1/2" PVC pipe for each setup that you build.
Four of the casters will be attached near the corners of the plywood base and the fifth caster will be attached in the center of the plywood and will have washers placed between the caster flange and the plywood to make the center wheel a tiny bit taller than the corner wheels. This is done to make rotating easier.
The “SCROG frame vertical supports” have 1/4" holes drilled every 4" for the adjustment pins.
Use twine or string for the actual screen. Either install 1/2" sheet metal screws or drill holes every 3" - 4" for the twine/string.
One last thing that I did was to put screws at each “corner” around both the frames and strung twine very tightly to hold everything together. I did this rather than gluing so that I could easily modify or store the SCROG frames.
The top frame is where the screen is and the lower frame is to support the upper frame while allowing for height adjustment (about 16"). I just took some photo and will post them when I have finished transferring them to my PC for review.
I only use one SCROG screen per plant, some folks do have multiple screen levels.
I am still learning how to properly train my plants to the SCROG. So far my SCROG frames have mostly been a support system for colas that are too tall for my SCROG.
Ohhhhh I see how the double deck frame works for adjustment! Very smart very smart and I love how you put them on casters with the middle one just a bit higher with washers.
Dang smart.
I wish I had a garage/shop… I built a 8.5x13ft insulated shed this year haven’t built my. Work bench yet but it sure is nice to have tools. I doubt I’ll ever be able to fit a table saw in it.
Very well thought out I love it.
Now help me plan my shed/motorcycle garage/work space this winter man! Because you sure were thinking
I hope that the photos are clear enough to offer clarification. @repins12@Nicky
That is funny, in a ten year period between engineering gigs, I was a licensed general contractor/handyman. I helped many folks setup and organize workshops, sewing rooms and other workspaces as part of my business.
Not sure what you mean…? They just sit in the adjustment “sockets” (3/4" crosses with 1/2" reducers). Gravity holds them down. The pins in the vertical pieces keep gravity from pulling all the way down to the center of the earth LOL.
The frames themselves are held together with the strings. No glue.
I should also point out that the adjustable part is purely optional. Much easier and cheaper to build if you forgo the adjustable feature by not using the 3/4" crosses and raising the “lower” frame to the level desired with the legs that attach to the caster base.
Also much cheaper and easier to build if you make the frames square instead of octagonal. Mine are octagonal to make rotating them easier in cramped quarters.
Thanks. I appreciate the information. I have both 10 and 5 gallon cloth pots. I am in the process of setting up a 60x60x80 tent. I was planning on using the 10 gallon but, was advised to use the 5 gallon. I wanted to do 4-6 plants and was advised to do 4 in 5 gallon. I have grown qute a bit through the years in the mountains and have dabbled a bit with indoors with old school flourscent tubes. Mainly to get a jump on the plants that I was going to tote up in the mountain and plant in soil. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. I’m also planning on doing a few outside this spring. I got 15, 20 and 25 gallon pots for that. Not sure which I am going to use. Gonna try the pots outside so, I can move them around my yard. Can’t do all of that walking like I used to. I’m really interested in this indoor deal. Would make my life much easier. The outside is more or less my plan B but will probably still do a few until, I get this indoor deal figured out. I plan to start assembling what I got together next week or weekend. I’m stuck in the hospital until Monday. Damn heart went back into AFib. I have received emails that a lot of what I ordered will be waiting for me when I get home. Trying to use this time to get get the rest of my planning together. Again thanks for the information and if you can think of anything else that I need or have forgotten, any input, help or advice would be greatly appreciated from you or anyone else on this site. I’m just trying to make sure that my set up is on point and I will deal with the operator errors along the way, hopefully wit the assistance of the people on this phenomenal site. There is such an abundance of knowledge here.
When I started, the two biggest mistakes were not paying attention to pH and growing too many plants. I started with five plants and did just fine but I should have grown two or three to start.
I now grow six plants per run (8 X 8 space) which is about as many as I can handle. I did mess with growing a larger number of smaller plants. My experience with that was that it was much more work than taking care of fewer large plants. I must admit that there is likely some middle ground - I tried 28 plants in 1 and 2 gallon pots. Never again!
That said, many, many people on this forum and elsewhere love growing many small plants. About the same yield, just different number of plants to produce the final product. It is all about personal preference and what you can afford to do.
The plants totally fill the room:
This was when I moved them into the flower room
Do you think that I would be okay with 4 in my tent? What do you think 5 or 10 gallon pots. I have been paying attention to everything that I have read and everything that people have responded to me. I normally like to get my s**t together in advance and try to do as much research as I can. In the past it has all been trial and error and talking to the very few others that I knew and trusted. I have never had access to this much knowledge and I am trying to soak up as much as I can before I start and will continue to do so after that. It’s just like my uncle told me years ago, the day that you think that you know everything, is the day that you need to find a new profession. I try to apply this to everything that I do, although, I have to admit, it was much harder when I was younger and thought that I already knew everything. I think that you saw my other post. I listed everything I have got together up to this point as far as my set up. If you see anything else that I need or forgot, please let me know.
If you use 5 gallon pots you will have just enough room in opinion.
Understand that growing a single plant in a 10 gallon bag and a SCROG could easily fill the whole tent. If it were mine, I would start with one in each size and see how it goes. Choose your favorite method for the next grow. Maybe two in 5 gallon and one in 10 gallon but if you nailed the environment I am concerned that you will run out of space.
The single biggest factor will be how much light you shine on them. I use a PAR meter and shoot for 800+ uMoles/m^2/sec as a target light intensity at the main canopy level. Most folks don’t use a PAR meter (~$300) so I am assuming that they just use manufacturer’s recommended distances.
My other post is : First indoor tent set up. If you get a chance to look at it let me know what you think. My first post was: Trying this indoor growing thing. Any help, thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. By the way, those are some beautiful plants. I have produced some decent plants outdoors as a guerilla grower but, it took a lot of work and always lost at least half my crop. I hope to one day be able to produce similar to your pictures indoors also.
@repins12 Size matters. But remember that the main concerns are what goes into the pot. Your plant roots absorb nutrients, so if you have good soil, good genetics, good environment, then your plants should grow well. One advantage of larger pots is it provides more buffering from pH problems, drying out more slowly, more tolerant of mistakes. I make alot of mistakes, so I abuse my plants less in larger pots.
Some of us have had “Runt” plants. Right now I have a runt that was a sick clone. I never expected it to live. It’s in a 6 inch diameter pot, at 25 weeks, with 4 colas. Small, abused, laughed at, but that builds character and I will harvest excellent buds off it.
I’m trying my best to get the set up as close to right as I can. I sure do wish that I had gotten on here before I started ordering. There are several things that I am not even going to open, I am just going to send them back. Did you happen to look at what I was planning on doing as far as intake air, light fixture cooling and exhaust? I’m still not sure if I have got my head wrapped around this yet. Most of what I ordered is at my house waiting on me. I hope to get home before noon tomorrow and took Tuesday off. I’m hoping to start assembling tomorrow afternoon. My soil and a few other things are still a few days out.
That will be plenty of light with the right hood/reflector, if it is an air cooled hood then heat should not be too much of an issue but keep an eye on it.
Growing with MH/HPS has been the gold standard for many years. Each of my two flowering spaces have 2400 and 2800 watts of modern LED’s respectively. I don’t know what that would equate to as compared to MH/HPS but I would guess right around 3000 watts or so each. @dbrn32 might want to correct me on this.
It is an air cooled fixture and my intent is to bring air from outside the tent with it’s own 6" inline fan, through the fixture and straight to the exterior of the tent. My thoughts were that this would help prevent smell leakage through the fixture, even though it’s supposed to be a sealed fixture
This will tend to heat the room outside the tent and then you will be drawing that warm air back into the tent. I think that @Hogmaster or @garrigan62 grow with MH/HPS (maybe CMH) and might have some better insights on this.
I would figure out a way to exhaust the lighting hood air to the outside if possible.
