ttystikk
Well-Known Member
@abe supercro Lots of interesting ideas! I'll address them in no particular order. First, placing a panel against the wall will hurt air circulation badly, not recommended. You'll end up with PM and worse buried in there, the canopy really thrives on airflow.
Second, wheels only make sense with soil or similar, RDWC gets in the way. I made doorways and aisles inside to get around and work the plants. It was okay.
Third, the whole reason the silo was round to begin with was to manage the lamp to leaf distance and thus enhance efficiency. Leaving big gaps defeats the purpose.
The oval shape was adopted to create a six panel shape from the original silo. Now there's room for at least two columns of lighting. I installed five 860CDM lamps in an X pattern and would be happy with them except they LIE! Between them and the recommended ballast, I'm actually pulling 1100W for each lamp. I was so pissed off I made the decision to go COB LED... exclusively.
Another interesting finding was that the flat panels did a lot better than the curved ones and a closer inspection revealed why; the thicker the canopy on the curved panel, the less surface area it presents to the light, resulting in excessive crowding and shading.
If your plan is to use 600W lamps I think that could work very well, with the following caveats; try to maintain at least 30W/ft^2 and strive to build only one layer of plants on the trellis.
Second, wheels only make sense with soil or similar, RDWC gets in the way. I made doorways and aisles inside to get around and work the plants. It was okay.
Third, the whole reason the silo was round to begin with was to manage the lamp to leaf distance and thus enhance efficiency. Leaving big gaps defeats the purpose.
The oval shape was adopted to create a six panel shape from the original silo. Now there's room for at least two columns of lighting. I installed five 860CDM lamps in an X pattern and would be happy with them except they LIE! Between them and the recommended ballast, I'm actually pulling 1100W for each lamp. I was so pissed off I made the decision to go COB LED... exclusively.
Another interesting finding was that the flat panels did a lot better than the curved ones and a closer inspection revealed why; the thicker the canopy on the curved panel, the less surface area it presents to the light, resulting in excessive crowding and shading.
If your plan is to use 600W lamps I think that could work very well, with the following caveats; try to maintain at least 30W/ft^2 and strive to build only one layer of plants on the trellis.