K
kansasgrown
- 119
- 0
Monster Tower Grow
1200 watt over 5 pounds!:harvest:
Shattered my ankle! I will not be able to fly out to take pics of the actual units for at least a month....but…..while in recovery mode I guess I will share one of my favorite growing styles, my “Monster Tower Grow”. I have made a few of these systems for close personal friends and have decided to make “do it yourself plans” for those of you that are able to do large grows without legal repercussions. You will be running 544 plants at a time so a large cloning operation will also be needed.
Tools and supplies needed:
Hammer, nails, circular saw, tape measure, drill, drill bit, waterproof wood glue, eyehooks, wing nuts with washers, 544 used 2 liter cola bottles, panda film, 1088 320 degree misters, miscellaneous hosing, large rubber bands (cord or wire can be used in place), floor fan & few pieces of scrap lumber, 2 600 digital ballasts, 2 mogul bases, wire for pulley, 2 small pulley’s, 1 light mover on a 4 foot track
Wood will need to be cut to the following dimensions. I prefer using lumber that has been rip cut to .75”. If you wish to use other thickness you will have to do the math. In lumber you will need: 48 pieces @ 8’, 152 pieces @ 14”, 152 pieces @ 17”, 40 pieces @ 5.5”. Due to the lumber being so thin I prefer pre-drilling lumber with a slightly thinner drill bit prior to nailing it to prevent lumber from splitting and I glue all joints prior to nailing to ensure rigidity. Once I have made my 8 fronts, 8 backs and 16 sides assembled I then join them together making 8 separate units. You will also need 8 pieces of 1”x4”x8’ to be nailed in a crisscross fashion with a 1” hole drilled in the middle and 1’ slots made in the ends running lengthwise to be able to loosen or tighten the wing nuts to adjust the distance of the plants from the light during its growth (this piece is important as the units would topple over without this piece). Prior to placing top supports I cover the units with panda film (minus the backs) with a + slot cut where the center of the 2 liter bottles will be (make sure top of unit and bottom level are covered). For the backs I have a free floating piece of panda film that is only attached at the top. I also have 8” of extra panda film extending off of the sides of each unit to be able to connect with the film from the next tower to make it a bit more light proof. Wooden dowels may have to be placed directly beneath each bottle to support the cola during its growth depending on strain. Drill small hole with dimension of dowel and 12” dowel can be inserted if needed or left out if not.
Some people do not like aeroponic grows due to the occasional clogging of mister jets, that is why I fit each 2 liter bottles with 2 320 degree misters (in case if 1 gets clogged during the grow). Each mister is mounted in the bend of the neck aiming to the back of each bottle (nothing inside of bottles except roots). After each grow I run H2O2 for an hour to purge the system of any buildup. Each bottle is also fitted with a drain hose which flows into a larger hose running down the frame of the tower unit. The neck of the bottle sits on the front face of the units and the rear 3 inches hang out over the back of the units. The bottles do not fall out due to large rubber bands running horizontally over each row on the backs.
The pulleys are to be placed one perpendicular with the middle of the light rail (mounted on the ceiling) and the other over the center of the tower top support (over the 1” hole). This will allow the each light to move up and down covering a 4 foot long distance. I currently run my towers to drain with a gravity system from the floor above mainly due to the layout of my location. If you use a recycling reservoir system then you will need to get a good pump (500 gallon or more). I have been running mine using .10 of the ferts that I would use with a standard hydro system.
I prefer using digital ballasts due to their light weight, less heat signature and being able to run either a MH or a HPS bulb. The large fan is to be placed lying down on the floor in the middle of the tower on top of a few pieces of lumber to make certain that there is airflow and so that the fan will not burn out. The light mover can easily move up to 4 towers worth of lights so I run them without any covers (no light tubes) which also slightly increases the lumens.
Plants are to be grow with a singe cola (choose strain with this in mind) remove any other side growth as you only have a 4.25” circle to play with for each plant. Try to turn the plants so that the fan leaves can have light hitting them. Depending on the strain you may have to trim some of the fan leaves (do not remove completely) to make sure that each plant is getting sufficient light. Except for the time when the clones first come on the tower and are still a bit frail I try to keep the lights within 1 foot of the plants to maximize the lumens. MH for 1-2 weeks then HPS on a 12/12 schedule. Plants that are run are generally of the same strain so that I can have uniformity of growth. Depending on the strain selected you can expect at least 4.5 grams per plant (if you have chosen properly) up to about 7 grams per plant. This tower grow can also be made with 3 liter bottles but I have found that the 2 liter bottles work well for me. If you have the space you could bump this up to 8-16 towers and harvest 1-2 towers per week. If you specialize in hash oil this is not much work at all. I hope that this helps out some of you that have wanted to do a tower grow but were not sure of all the details. Any questions, please ask and I will try to answer. :nerd
1200 watt over 5 pounds!:harvest:
Shattered my ankle! I will not be able to fly out to take pics of the actual units for at least a month....but…..while in recovery mode I guess I will share one of my favorite growing styles, my “Monster Tower Grow”. I have made a few of these systems for close personal friends and have decided to make “do it yourself plans” for those of you that are able to do large grows without legal repercussions. You will be running 544 plants at a time so a large cloning operation will also be needed.
Tools and supplies needed:
Hammer, nails, circular saw, tape measure, drill, drill bit, waterproof wood glue, eyehooks, wing nuts with washers, 544 used 2 liter cola bottles, panda film, 1088 320 degree misters, miscellaneous hosing, large rubber bands (cord or wire can be used in place), floor fan & few pieces of scrap lumber, 2 600 digital ballasts, 2 mogul bases, wire for pulley, 2 small pulley’s, 1 light mover on a 4 foot track
Wood will need to be cut to the following dimensions. I prefer using lumber that has been rip cut to .75”. If you wish to use other thickness you will have to do the math. In lumber you will need: 48 pieces @ 8’, 152 pieces @ 14”, 152 pieces @ 17”, 40 pieces @ 5.5”. Due to the lumber being so thin I prefer pre-drilling lumber with a slightly thinner drill bit prior to nailing it to prevent lumber from splitting and I glue all joints prior to nailing to ensure rigidity. Once I have made my 8 fronts, 8 backs and 16 sides assembled I then join them together making 8 separate units. You will also need 8 pieces of 1”x4”x8’ to be nailed in a crisscross fashion with a 1” hole drilled in the middle and 1’ slots made in the ends running lengthwise to be able to loosen or tighten the wing nuts to adjust the distance of the plants from the light during its growth (this piece is important as the units would topple over without this piece). Prior to placing top supports I cover the units with panda film (minus the backs) with a + slot cut where the center of the 2 liter bottles will be (make sure top of unit and bottom level are covered). For the backs I have a free floating piece of panda film that is only attached at the top. I also have 8” of extra panda film extending off of the sides of each unit to be able to connect with the film from the next tower to make it a bit more light proof. Wooden dowels may have to be placed directly beneath each bottle to support the cola during its growth depending on strain. Drill small hole with dimension of dowel and 12” dowel can be inserted if needed or left out if not.
Some people do not like aeroponic grows due to the occasional clogging of mister jets, that is why I fit each 2 liter bottles with 2 320 degree misters (in case if 1 gets clogged during the grow). Each mister is mounted in the bend of the neck aiming to the back of each bottle (nothing inside of bottles except roots). After each grow I run H2O2 for an hour to purge the system of any buildup. Each bottle is also fitted with a drain hose which flows into a larger hose running down the frame of the tower unit. The neck of the bottle sits on the front face of the units and the rear 3 inches hang out over the back of the units. The bottles do not fall out due to large rubber bands running horizontally over each row on the backs.
The pulleys are to be placed one perpendicular with the middle of the light rail (mounted on the ceiling) and the other over the center of the tower top support (over the 1” hole). This will allow the each light to move up and down covering a 4 foot long distance. I currently run my towers to drain with a gravity system from the floor above mainly due to the layout of my location. If you use a recycling reservoir system then you will need to get a good pump (500 gallon or more). I have been running mine using .10 of the ferts that I would use with a standard hydro system.
I prefer using digital ballasts due to their light weight, less heat signature and being able to run either a MH or a HPS bulb. The large fan is to be placed lying down on the floor in the middle of the tower on top of a few pieces of lumber to make certain that there is airflow and so that the fan will not burn out. The light mover can easily move up to 4 towers worth of lights so I run them without any covers (no light tubes) which also slightly increases the lumens.
Plants are to be grow with a singe cola (choose strain with this in mind) remove any other side growth as you only have a 4.25” circle to play with for each plant. Try to turn the plants so that the fan leaves can have light hitting them. Depending on the strain you may have to trim some of the fan leaves (do not remove completely) to make sure that each plant is getting sufficient light. Except for the time when the clones first come on the tower and are still a bit frail I try to keep the lights within 1 foot of the plants to maximize the lumens. MH for 1-2 weeks then HPS on a 12/12 schedule. Plants that are run are generally of the same strain so that I can have uniformity of growth. Depending on the strain selected you can expect at least 4.5 grams per plant (if you have chosen properly) up to about 7 grams per plant. This tower grow can also be made with 3 liter bottles but I have found that the 2 liter bottles work well for me. If you have the space you could bump this up to 8-16 towers and harvest 1-2 towers per week. If you specialize in hash oil this is not much work at all. I hope that this helps out some of you that have wanted to do a tower grow but were not sure of all the details. Any questions, please ask and I will try to answer. :nerd