There was a question about starting or ending at 21". That's the bulb to trellis distance. The diameter of the trellis is 42", and I'll train the plants along and around that.

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AlterNation said:

One Flip, btw, Wavegem does mention that there is some loss of lumens due to the liquid bending the light, but at last update (so far as I have read) he hadn't done any direct comparisons or testing to see exactly how much light was being lost. I would imagine that the benefits outweigh the loss, there, given how close he's able to get the lights to the plants.

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AlterNation said:

As far as I plan on using/modifying that design I linked to, the idea was to get a 2' light to trellis distance, with about 6" of buffer and an 18" deep canopy. I'm pretty sure I've seen Cap say that about 18 - 24" away from the lights is ideal, with 50" from tree center to center. Don't quote me, I've been wrong about a lot of things lately, but those are the numbers in my head. Sounds like you have it right.

I, too, have been going back and forth between scrog or trees, shrubs or hedges, bare or air cooled, etc, etc., so this project is of particular interest to me.

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ttystikk said:

His best guess when we discussed this before was somewhere between 10 and 15% light loss thru the cool tubes. That sounds plausible to me. If one bare thouie doesn't work, two water cooled ones surely would!

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AlterNation said:

As far as I plan on using/modifying that design I linked to, the idea was to get a 2' light to trellis distance, with about 6" of buffer and an 18" deep canopy. I'm pretty sure I've seen Cap say that about 18 - 24" away from the lights is ideal, with 50" from tree center to center. Don't quote me, I've been wrong about a lot of things lately, but those are the numbers in my head. Sounds like you have it right.

I, too, have been going back and forth between scrog or trees, shrubs or hedges, bare or air cooled, etc, etc., so this project is of particular interest to me.

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ttystikk said:

Lots of factors come into play when discussing light to plant distances. One big difference between my cylinder design and all others is that it's designed around a moving light fixture, not a stationary one. This directly affects light to plant distances, since the moving light will not burn plants at distances closer than can be survived by stationary placements. This, to me, is the main reason to do a light mover in the first place- otherwise, why bother?

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Theoneandonly Z said:

ya water is no bueno. Cool tubes work fine with just the air flow but IMHO, your better off bare bulbing it. you might find it easier to cool as well. I like the fan sitting vertically under the bulb idea. ive seen good things come from such. Z

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ttystikk said:

I originally posted this in Alternation's thread:

You had mentioned in my thread that what you're doing and what I'm doing are about the same. While the vertical approach is similar, our systems have a lot of differences. Chief among these is that in the round cylinder of the design I'm working on, there will be no relatively dark spots in corners, or at either end. The reason for this is that your bulbs are stationary at a set distance from the canopy- far enough that stationary bulbs won't burn the plants. By contrast, my bulb is closer to the trellis, it is the same distance to all parts of the trellis- being round- and it is positioned close enough that if the light mover fails, the light will likely burn plants.

I'm not going to say what mine will produce, since i haven't done any runs with it yet. Therefore mine is not 'better', just 'different.' Have you done an exact count of the square footage of canopy space in your design? This became a critical measurement for my design; setting the desired distance between bulb and trellis also dictated the overall diameter. To be more specific:

24" from bulb to trellis = diameter of 4', total area is pi x 4' = 12.5 feet by 4 feet tall = 50 sq ft

21" from bulb to trellis = diameter of 3.5', total area is pi x 3.5' = 11 feet, by 4 feet tall = 44 sq ft

18" from bulb to trellis = diameter of 3', total area is pi x 3' = 9.4 feet by 4 feet tall = 37 sq ft

I chose the middle option since I'm designing the whole thing around the light mover; too close if the bulb doesn't move, but big enough for good growing space.

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One Flip said:

Can you put a hepa filter or something similar when you pull air through the tubes? Or is there any other way you can avoid cleaning the glass?

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Capulator said:

I think you are going to need more space between the bulb and the trellis. If you plan on keeping things tied close to the trellis, that's fine, but the branches will want to grow out and toward the bulb. That's why I asked about the access. Having a hinged cylinder will not work once the plants are all tied in. You will need to access form the top and the bottom. Stretch of the branches is one part of it, but when the flowers are developing they stretch out as well. Make sure you take this in to account. I look forward to your progress on this idea. I assume you will be LSTing the plant and then taking leaders up the cylinder.. It would be nice if you could build this all on a frame with casters and have a quick connect for your buckets. Otherwise, you will need to veg for a considerable amount of time in your flower room.

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Jalisco Kid said:

I would look at some of Heath's grows for before jumping on that, he has built a few threads doing similar. If thinking as a engineer why create problems? I am a firm believer in KISS. One bulb inside holding heat,Heat rises moving air, hard to control RH%,Co2. Plant lit from 1 side, not as good. I Hate screens I feel it inhibits branch strength and growth. But a vert scrogg with double hung bulbs lit on both sides offset would eliminate popcorn and air movement common to growing trees. control rh, airflow, control hotspots etc. If you have a hard on for light movers you can float them up and down the rows. Hope you enjoy what ever you build,JK

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Jalisco Kid said:

I never said they would not, I believe it putting the light where it belongs and cover my heat with A/C. When your light is elsewhere it is not doing its job where it is not. I have seem some spinning lights that would work great over my fast growing veg plants. But since they have no 5 year plus warranty I feel I would be buying more problems then cure. I wish you no ill on your project, you asked what people thought, don't get made if people do not feel you have the prettiest girl in the world. I know they are wrong about mine but I do not get upset about it. Suerte JK

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paperplane said:

Light movers do indeed 100% work. The main problem I see with growers who try and use light movers is that they try and make the light move back and forth too far. You only want the light to move about a foot each way.
Is the OP refering to like a Octagon grow? If so those rock I have a buddy who rocks multiple octagons with 3k in cool toobs down the middle. Those plants produce nice fat dense nuggs all the way down.

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