I'm just finishing up building my setup and I'm about to be ready to start my first seeds. I have 3 tents in my grow area, and I'm wondering what's the best rotation to maximize my production and have plants ready to harvest all the time. I'm a caretaker for a medical patient so together we have a limit of 12 mature plants and 24 immature plants. I have a DIY aeroponic cloner with 35 spots available (I was planning on putting it in a tent but instead I think I'm going to grow the clones in the open air. I also have a DIY DWC in 27 gallon totes with 2 6" net pots installed in each of the 4x2 tents. The 2x2 tent is unassembled right now, but if it can help in this I can make room.
I originally planned to clone in the aeroponic cloner and quickly transfer to the 4x2 tents to veg and then flower in the same tent. I do plan to scrogg so I don't think switching tents much is easily doable. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the best rotation would be? Should I dedicate 1 tent for veg and 1 for flowering so I can squeeze out more plants? How hard would transfering them be, how many plants can I get in veg with only 2 flowering?
I also want to show off my setup, it's not done yet but I'm pretty excited about it. It's all DIY and all wifi enabled run by home assistant (the smart home server and user interface) and node red (for programming the automation) and ESPhome (for the microcontrollers firmwear). I used ESP8266's microcontrollers, which basically either control and network together a sensor or run an actuator like a relay that work as an on/off switch for things like dosing pumps, lights, fans, or pumps, and solenoids for the pumping system I built.
I'm going to have automated dosing pumps to each bucket that react to pH and TDS water temp levels, ventilation fans that react to air temperature and humidity sensors, a humidifier and dehumidifier that react to humidity sensors, and an AC near the tents in case it gets too hot that is actuated by a wifi IR blaster. If I find out I need it I have 2 electric coolers ready to go that I will repurpose into water chillers by installing copper pipes that pump the water through it, though that will basically require a rebuild of the pumping system. The pumping system I built will fill and drain the tanks, fill the reservoir (it's not a recirculating DWC btw) by reacting to a distance sensor mounted in the lids of the totes to measure water level and Actuators the pump and routing the water to the right tanks. It only uses 1 line in and out of the tanks and 1 line from under the sink (it can also drain into the sink but in the same line).
The lights (dimmable in 10% increments) are controlled by RF and I have a wifi RF bridge to control them. And just for shits and giggles, I made a wifi-enabled heated seedmat for sprouting the seeds. Also, a WiFi IR bridge to control the portable AC.
The pumping system is built with PVC pipes and controlled by solenoids and some ball valve solenoids. It reduces the hoses I have running across my room. Each bucket has to only have 1 hose hooked up, so water can drain and fill out of the same hose.
Nothings is really 100% completed yet, I'm building it as I go. So far I have the tents assembled, the fans installed and hooked up to wifi, ventilation done, lights installed, and the DWC and aeroponic cloner basins ready to be hooked up (still have cut the holes for the air pump hoses). I mostly completed the pump system already (still have to design and print a better project box for the controller), I'm just waiting on more parts to ship before it's ready to hook up. I decided the pump system is the only crucial step left before I'm ready to start the seeds, then the auto doser and its sensors can be installed later.
Some things are off the shelf controllers, like the RF and IR bridge and the sonoff ifan03 (ceiling fan controller) and some smart outlets, as long as it integrates with Home Assistant I'm okay with that, though I will eventually migrate them all to my own custom microcontroller (ESP8266 based) sensors and actuators. The important parts, like the pump system and pH/EC/Dosing pumps, will be custom-made. Some parts are custom designed and/or 3d printed like the dosing pumps and project boxes for all the controllers.
I went all out on this setup because I want to start building these custom setups and installing them locally for home and commercial growers. No expense was spared, I bought way too many excess parts, I bought a 3d printer, a lot of tools I needed. I ended up revising my plans multiple times (And probably will again) and returned a bunch of stuff I found out I couldn't use. The parts I did use for this system totals about $2,500. I know it's overkill and I could have saved money on a RDWC, but I'm building it for the experience because I want to make this a business.
Here are some more pictures, as parts get completed and put into rotation I'll share more pictures.
I'm interested in what you guys think about my project? Also what do you think about the business potential of designing buildings and installing custom-made growing setups?
I originally planned to clone in the aeroponic cloner and quickly transfer to the 4x2 tents to veg and then flower in the same tent. I do plan to scrogg so I don't think switching tents much is easily doable. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the best rotation would be? Should I dedicate 1 tent for veg and 1 for flowering so I can squeeze out more plants? How hard would transfering them be, how many plants can I get in veg with only 2 flowering?
I also want to show off my setup, it's not done yet but I'm pretty excited about it. It's all DIY and all wifi enabled run by home assistant (the smart home server and user interface) and node red (for programming the automation) and ESPhome (for the microcontrollers firmwear). I used ESP8266's microcontrollers, which basically either control and network together a sensor or run an actuator like a relay that work as an on/off switch for things like dosing pumps, lights, fans, or pumps, and solenoids for the pumping system I built.
I'm going to have automated dosing pumps to each bucket that react to pH and TDS water temp levels, ventilation fans that react to air temperature and humidity sensors, a humidifier and dehumidifier that react to humidity sensors, and an AC near the tents in case it gets too hot that is actuated by a wifi IR blaster. If I find out I need it I have 2 electric coolers ready to go that I will repurpose into water chillers by installing copper pipes that pump the water through it, though that will basically require a rebuild of the pumping system. The pumping system I built will fill and drain the tanks, fill the reservoir (it's not a recirculating DWC btw) by reacting to a distance sensor mounted in the lids of the totes to measure water level and Actuators the pump and routing the water to the right tanks. It only uses 1 line in and out of the tanks and 1 line from under the sink (it can also drain into the sink but in the same line).
The lights (dimmable in 10% increments) are controlled by RF and I have a wifi RF bridge to control them. And just for shits and giggles, I made a wifi-enabled heated seedmat for sprouting the seeds. Also, a WiFi IR bridge to control the portable AC.
The pumping system is built with PVC pipes and controlled by solenoids and some ball valve solenoids. It reduces the hoses I have running across my room. Each bucket has to only have 1 hose hooked up, so water can drain and fill out of the same hose.
Nothings is really 100% completed yet, I'm building it as I go. So far I have the tents assembled, the fans installed and hooked up to wifi, ventilation done, lights installed, and the DWC and aeroponic cloner basins ready to be hooked up (still have cut the holes for the air pump hoses). I mostly completed the pump system already (still have to design and print a better project box for the controller), I'm just waiting on more parts to ship before it's ready to hook up. I decided the pump system is the only crucial step left before I'm ready to start the seeds, then the auto doser and its sensors can be installed later.
Some things are off the shelf controllers, like the RF and IR bridge and the sonoff ifan03 (ceiling fan controller) and some smart outlets, as long as it integrates with Home Assistant I'm okay with that, though I will eventually migrate them all to my own custom microcontroller (ESP8266 based) sensors and actuators. The important parts, like the pump system and pH/EC/Dosing pumps, will be custom-made. Some parts are custom designed and/or 3d printed like the dosing pumps and project boxes for all the controllers.
I went all out on this setup because I want to start building these custom setups and installing them locally for home and commercial growers. No expense was spared, I bought way too many excess parts, I bought a 3d printer, a lot of tools I needed. I ended up revising my plans multiple times (And probably will again) and returned a bunch of stuff I found out I couldn't use. The parts I did use for this system totals about $2,500. I know it's overkill and I could have saved money on a RDWC, but I'm building it for the experience because I want to make this a business.
Here are some more pictures, as parts get completed and put into rotation I'll share more pictures.
I'm interested in what you guys think about my project? Also what do you think about the business potential of designing buildings and installing custom-made growing setups?
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