Lazy Susan

I have posted this in two other areas and have goten no response. I think it may be a good idea so here goes:

Hope this topic fits in here. I know you can get a light mover, and that makes sense as far as $$$ goes. But what if I got a lazy-Susan and hooked it up to a one (1) RPM motor and had the PLANT go in circles? I could then have two naked 600W lights vertically in the middle of a square of 4 plants. All the plants would turn at 1 RPM in a 15 gal. pot with coco.

I don't know if their are magnetic direction issues that would affect turgor, auxin transport, etc. Any opinions??

With your lights in the center, It seems to me the plants will only grow outward... Perhaps you'd benefit most from keeping the HID lights overhead with some T5 Fluorescent accents in the middle and around the outside. Then your plants will grow up AND out.

I like the lazy susan idea. It's fun ingenuity. I wonder if taking the light away from the tops and spinning them would cause the plant to have multiple "main colas." You may be onto something here. More like a bush.

As far as the "turgor, auxin transport, etc," those are words I'll have to research another day. It's 2am.

ifixbax said:

- - - - But what if I got a lazy-Susan and hooked it up to a one (1) RPM motor and had the PLANT go in circles? - - - -
- - - I don't know if their are magnetic direction issues that would affect turgor, auxin transport, etc. Any opinions??

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Been there - done that! It must have been 12 or 15 years ago, I helped an old freind of mine build a, table sized, "Lazy Susan Plant Mover". What we ended up with was really big and heavy but it worked like gang busters! We used 2 round table tops, a heavy-duty ball bearing swivel base and an old Barbeque rotisserie motor.

We tried several different ways of hooking up the "drive mechanism", and to our surprise they all worked (more or less!). I think we ended up with a "sort-of" rim drive, using various sized "toy wheels" as a speed adjuster. The gearing system on motor itself turned at about 2-3 RPM, with lots of torque. By using different sized "Drive Wheels" and placing the motor at different places underneath the turntable, we could adjust the turning speed to just about anything we wanted.

We never thought about magnetic issues, but never had any problems either! The only thing that really concerned me was maybe spinning too fast and making the plants "dizzy". I was never able to determine an optimal speed back then (pre-internet, for me) so we kept it at "several minutes" per revolution, just to be safe.

Hey, ya want some cheap motors? Take the turntable motors out of some microwaves, they are 120v and have enclosed gearcase etc. They can spin either way on there own, just help it in one direction or the other when you turn it on. I don't know if it they spin too fast, you would likely be fine. While you are at it, save the glass tray and the thing with the wheels on it. They tray will have the "cogs" that match up with the one on the motor. Fuck I love DIY.

So, if your plants are on this lazy susan, wouldn't you still have to turn the plants by hand anyways? I mean the plants are going in circles around the lights...ok...but the same side of the plant would always be facing the lights. So if you still have to turn them by hand, wouldn't this partially defeat the whole purpose of an automated system? Unless you had the plants on a turntable, and the turntables on the lazy susan, all of them spinning?

Either way, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

pokesalotasmot said:

So, if your plants are on this lazy susan, wouldn't you still have to turn the plants by hand anyways? I mean the plants are going in circles around the lights...ok...but the same side of the plant would always be facing the lights. So if you still have to turn them by hand, wouldn't this partially defeat the whole purpose of an automated system? Unless you had the plants on a turntable, and the turntables on the lazy susan, all of them spinning?

Either way, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

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Ya I ment to have a turntable motor for each one.

TURBS said:

Ya I ment to have a turntable motor for each one.

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Oh yeah, I realize that. Just making sure the OP was aware of this, thats all.

pokesalotasmot said:

So, if your plants are on this lazy susan, wouldn't you still have to turn the plants by hand anyways? I mean the plants are going in circles around the lights...ok...but the same side of the plant would always be facing the lights. So if you still have to turn them by hand, wouldn't this partially defeat the whole purpose of an automated system? Unless you had the plants on a turntable, and the turntables on the lazy susan, all of them spinning?

Either way, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Click to expand...

Actually that's, pretty much, how it works in nature! Here, in the Northern Hemisphere, outdoor plants all have the same situation. The North side of the plants never get direct sunlight - yet (somehow) they manage to grow on!

As long as there is adequate light available, the plant will make the best of it. If it bugs you - offset the light to one side a little bit. Personally, I can't keep my hands off the pots, I always rotate each plant a faction of a turn while making the "Dailey Inspection" (turntable or not!).

Turning the plants is a good idea for even light distribution, I have seen it suggested in ?a CFL? grow.
I'd guess the best would be lights up top, atleast one in the center and how ever many on the outside. But with that light set up would the lazy susan make a difference? because they will all be getting pretty good light.
How many plants are you rotating? is this a grow box/cabinet or a room grow? You may be better off turning the pots by hand. The 'lazy susan money' can be used to for more lights or better seeds.
Keep us all posted, its an interesting idea

My friend's grow was actually outside in a metal shed with the roof removed (a solar powered growroom?). As I recall, he ended up with about 7, really big, plants (by today's indoor standards).

I rotate my plants a frction of a turn, dailey, nowadays - without using a "Lazy Susan". Back then, I don't think we rotated the indevidual pots at all - we just moved the tallest plants into the center and let the Lazy Susan do the rotating.