What would you do with this indoor setup?

ifmacdonald · February 28, 2016

Greetings all. I'm currently baby-sitting some quality indoor grow equipment from a friend and have permission to use it.

However, I'm a little out of my depth. Last year I grew 50 odd tomato plants, from seed, in 3" net cups set in 1020 trays under standard T8 shoplights and things worked fine.

Now I have that, plus:

* one 4x4' reflective grow tent
* a 600W HPS bulb, reflector hood, cooling ducts and fans
* one 2x4' flood and drain basin, reservoir and pump
* two 4" T5 arrays (4 bulbs each, 216W, 20,000 Lumens)

All said and done, I figure I have about 20 1020 trays worth of grow area under various light sources

I'm hoping to grow all my own plants (~80) and make a little bit of money on the side selling seedlings. Not much, maybe a few hundred (?), which would more than cover my garden expenses for this year and next.

My initial thoughts are to follow nctomatoman's dense seeding program and transplant individuals into standard 3.5" pots, 18 per tray, until planting and selling. However, I am worried about the root system - they'll be in these pots for 7 weeks or so. A better option might be the slightly more expensive, but deeper P86D pots. (I'd use net cups again, for air pruning, but they're definitely too expensive).

I've never attempted a grow on this scale, but I'm not sure when I'll get the chance again. (I have a decent inventory of heirlooms and hybrids, and live in upstate NY, Zone 5B).

So, my fellow 'villians... what would you do with this dream hobby setup? What are the pitfalls to be mindful of? There's a wealth of knowledge on this site and I'm looking forward to the conversations

Cole_Robbie · February 28, 2016

Are you planting hydro-raised seedlings in your outdoor soil garden? Does that work ok? I've never tried it. Regarding selling them, I would think it would be hard to sell hydro plants to people.

You can run the flouros in the tent, but there's no point in running the 600 in the tent. Seedlings don't need light that intense. It would be a lot better placed outside the tent in a dedicated room. You'd make a lot more space. Build shelves.

ifmacdonald · February 28, 2016

Ah, yes, I should have clarified... no hydro. All soil. I was simply thinking of using the flood table for automated watering from below (i.e. sit the pots in a web flat). My friend gave me a whole whack of timers and everything as well. The use of net cups last year was to encourage air pruning, as Larry Hall suggested.

So you don't see any benefit from using the HPS at this stage? Perhaps naively, I thought "more" was "better". Unfortunately the tent is really the only place it can be used as the room is relatively small and oddly shaped.

Thanks for the input!

Cole_Robbie · February 28, 2016

It's really best to let the grow media get dry before you water it, and at that point, it likes to float. So when you flood it, everything is going to want to float and then tip over.

I've actually used a 600 for seedlings before, but just not in a tent. I use bigger lights mostly for the heat they make, to sprout seeds and keep the room warm.

February 28, 2016	#1
ifmacdonald Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: Vestal, New York Posts: 6	What would you do with this indoor setup? Greetings all. I'm currently baby-sitting some quality indoor grow equipment from a friend and have permission to use it. However, I'm a little out of my depth. Last year I grew 50 odd tomato plants, from seed, in 3" net cups set in 1020 trays under standard T8 shoplights and things worked fine. Now I have that, plus: * one 4x4' reflective grow tent * a 600W HPS bulb, reflector hood, cooling ducts and fans * one 2x4' flood and drain basin, reservoir and pump * two 4" T5 arrays (4 bulbs each, 216W, 20,000 Lumens) All said and done, I figure I have about 20 1020 trays worth of grow area under various light sources I'm hoping to grow all my own plants (~80) and make a little bit of money on the side selling seedlings. Not much, maybe a few hundred (?), which would more than cover my garden expenses for this year and next. My initial thoughts are to follow nctomatoman's dense seeding program and transplant individuals into standard 3.5" pots, 18 per tray, until planting and selling. However, I am worried about the root system - they'll be in these pots for 7 weeks or so. A better option might be the slightly more expensive, but deeper P86D pots. (I'd use net cups again, for air pruning, but they're definitely too expensive). I've never attempted a grow on this scale, but I'm not sure when I'll get the chance again. (I have a decent inventory of heirlooms and hybrids, and live in upstate NY, Zone 5B). So, my fellow 'villians... what would you do with this dream hobby setup? What are the pitfalls to be mindful of? There's a wealth of knowledge on this site and I'm looking forward to the conversations

February 28, 2016	#3
ifmacdonald Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: Vestal, New York Posts: 6	Ah, yes, I should have clarified... no hydro. All soil. I was simply thinking of using the flood table for automated watering from below (i.e. sit the pots in a web flat). My friend gave me a whole whack of timers and everything as well. The use of net cups last year was to encourage air pruning, as Larry Hall suggested. So you don't see any benefit from using the HPS at this stage? Perhaps naively, I thought "more" was "better". Unfortunately the tent is really the only place it can be used as the room is relatively small and oddly shaped. Thanks for the input! Last edited by ifmacdonald; February 28, 2016 at 10:43 PM.

February 28, 2016	#2
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Are you planting hydro-raised seedlings in your outdoor soil garden? Does that work ok? I've never tried it. Regarding selling them, I would think it would be hard to sell hydro plants to people. You can run the flouros in the tent, but there's no point in running the 600 in the tent. Seedlings don't need light that intense. It would be a lot better placed outside the tent in a dedicated room. You'd make a lot more space. Build shelves.