I appreciate you running indoor, I am preparing plants to grow as trees come spring.
Been looking at some undercurrent setups under lights indoors with stems as thick as some of the 8' sativas I've grown.
I think I learned lots from the second video. I liked where he explained how roots are the last in priority of where the produce of photosynthesis gets distributed to.
I have hundreds of seeds so I've been playing around with seedlings a lot lately.
If someone wants to believe the roots of one plant does not grow much different to the next apart from if they are tap root or side roots (forgot the English word now), that is their prerogative.
Roots in hydraton or, rockwool or netpots would naturally air trim where needed in a hydro setup. I am using a coco mix, draining to waste for the purpose of the current experiment.
I am trying to establish the biggest root network I can, our summers hit 110F days quite often and these plants need to be able to drink outdoors.
I am now going to plant some seed in those plastic plant bags you get from the nursery. Three will be the coco mix into the bags straight as they come from the shop.
the other three will be the same bags, but with lots of perforations with a hole punch lined on the inside with 3mm upholstery foam. The theory is the root tips would go somewhat into the foam and then air prune. and new branches of the root should start about 4 inches back.
As it is my first run of the experiment, I will have to scratch around often in the bags as I don't know how long the roots will take to reach the edges.
How much did you pay for your CMH setup? it looks like they should be at about the $1/W range.
Which is very good for the output measuring on par with some of the top range LEDS.
For roots and huge plants. The old guys out here in the woods and farmland have metal and wood sided enclosures outside to house their medical card allowed plant count with a roll off or open roof (not visible from any angle is the rule) and use regular garden beds with enriched soil and well and rain water.
My friends dad grows 14' tall diesel hybrids every year out there. Great plants. Fills he barn with them hanging whole upside down as the old guys believe that the thc in the roots and stems will seep down to the buds. Lol.
They hang there for months sometimes so they dry real slow and taste and smoke deliciously.
Anyway. I have seen many pro indoor grows with holes drilled all around the plastic nursery pots for root development the way you describe the holes you made in the bags.
I know they keep doing it so they must have better roots from the air pruning.
I just personally don't have the need to grow the largest plant I can. I focus on envirement and happy plants reaching as close to their canabanoid potential as I can. And just do it continually 1 plant at a time for 3 years with no break already. We have all we need. I am happy the law has allowed me to do it. I was hiding with my medicine for many years. Since I was a teenager really.
And no one is complaining about my results. The 315 cmh I use to add fuller spectrum and some uv to my flower room is a Sun System remote reflector and a Galaxy dimmable ballast with a Phillips 3100k bulb and it was about $360 delivered from growers house dot com.
If I was primarily flowering with them I would want 3 where I have 2 600 hps now. Still lower watts for similar yield.
Good luck with your projects.