What do to when you can’t lower your light?

Growroom Design
#1

So I have a tent, and an AC light. Now this tent is only a bit wider than the light, especially if I use up some of it with an inline fan. It works out ok in one orientation, directly inline with the ducting holes on the tent, but it means I can not lower the light any more. In the future, I plan to use a series of increasingly shorter pot stands… but currently my canopy is like 32” away from the glass of the hood. So my question would be, what increments are safe to raise the plants by, but is still sizable enough to justify material spent on it?

My thoughts were 6” increments. Or maybe just try to slim up the venting by taking out the fan and using elbows rather than flexible duct but… I’m not real optimistic that’ll work. There is also the weird added element of, I’m running 600w in a 3x3. I’ve hand tested the light to maybe 18”-24” so I don’t know. At 32” the canopy has a temp of around 76*F. Moving closer might be a pipe dream for me, but I figured some answers might help someone else too.

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#2

Post some pictures.
I’ll bet some clever soul will have a bright idea :bulb:

Cheers
G

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#3

Yeah man if you got some pictures I’ll ponder on it. Hard to picture in my head through from the right up.

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#4

Spacing is tight enough you can’t really see what’s going on up there. The main door on this tent is stuck, so I use the half size side doors. I’ll see what I can come up with for pictures, but no promises.

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#5

If you can’t lower the lights, you’ll need to raise the plants.

Milk crates, buckets, cinder blocks…whatever you got handy.

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#6

I agree with above, raising your plants is the same as lowering your light. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. It’s like people playing with the dimmer knob on their led’s and trying to figure out if what percentage they are at. I added a Killawatt to my light so I can see what I am using instead of thinking about the position of the knob. Just attacked the problem from the other end like raising your plants.

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#7

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Hope that shows it adequately, it occurred to me “what exactly do I picture” lol. You can see the fan, that side has 8” of space. The other has 6”. This is 6” flexible duct.

But yes, I agree, raising the plants is way easier. Just not sure how much to take each step so to speak.

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#8

I use amazon boxes when I’m too lazy to fiddle with my lights

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#9

I use lumber to raise and I adjust my plants a 2x4 thickness at a time so 1.5 inches

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#10

I see your problem, but there’s another way around it.

I use a passive intake on the tent with another piece of ducting, and let the fixture draw air from inside the tent. I think it’s better to exchange air from within the tent, than running a separate duct for the light cooling. As long as the passive intake is 8" and the vent is 6" you won’t have issues with “tent suck” though slight negative pressure is ideal.

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#11

Here you go, modify this for the space you have and whatever vertical increments you want. Built it out of scrap lumber in a pinch. Side brace the top so you don’t block your light.
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#12

I don’t know to give it to @vernal or @Tejas
Those are both killer ideas. I think I’ll try moving the light down (cause that plywood is going to sag, and I have a temperamental Tropf Blumat system that has dumped a few gallons of water in there before).

I’ve been playing with a sort of stair step thing so smaller plants can be brought up to their level. The increments are especially helpful there- even if I move the light I may have one too tall and one too short plant! It’s occurred to me others must do something about this problem, so I was curious what! Apparently whatever is at hand. I have a wonderfully simple design for a set of stands I’ll draft up and share when I get home later.

#13

You can double up the plywood, start with 1/2” minimum, you shouldn’t have a sag issue.

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#14

Yeah 1" plywood is pretty damn strong I doubt your plant pots are that heavy.

Million ways to waterproof it if you were so inclined.

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#15

Use a flood table for your plants and put a ratchet on each corner. Then you can raise and lower your floor instead of your lights… add a drain and no worries about spills

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#16

Never have that problem. Always wonder how can I raise my ceiling, lol.

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#17

The ceiling as you can see is at it’s limit, lol. I expected taller plants but unknowingly poisoned them enough to stunt them.

You guys are right, that thick probably not an issue. I have a workbench that’s 3/4” and hasn’t sagged after 3-4 years, well not much. But I don’t see why I couldn’t add bracing to it. No, the real issue is what I just realized… with my stuck door I could never get the shelf out! Vernal’s idea it’ll have to be. Just waiting for the occupants to vacate.

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Here is the simple two, well actually six part design I made. You make two of each horizontal. Then four uprights. The uprights can be used one way for 6” height and flipped 180* to raise it 12”. And these are sized for 12” pots, and 2x3s but you could easily apply it to any pot or lumber. Just a little math. It’s not anything special, but I thought you all would enjoy its uh… sparseness.

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#18

After a second look it seems a shelf system is a good idea.
Good luck on it.

#19

Try using longer duct work to drop the lights

Peace out and stay safe

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#20

Good to see you back

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