Vertical SoG Question

Ok guys i'm trying to decide which way to go with my new grow so i'm asking some questions to work it out. I know the question "how many plants" has been asked a million times but i think this is slightly different.

I want to try a vertical grow using clones that have rooted and been vegging for a week, pvc aero/nft system, 2x600w sodium in cool tubes, lumatek digital ballasts, fan controller (fans exchange the rooms air every 20 seconds), GH nutes, RO water, but no extra Co2.

My question is how many clones would i have to use, at a minimum to yield 35-40 ounces? I know it depends on strain so i'll be running northern lights, vanilla kush and i think jack herer. Thanks guys and if you need more info then ask yeah.

Any ideas anyone? Help would really be great.

General rule of thumb is .5 g a watt. With 1200 i would shoot for ~21 oz. With co2 25-30? (dont use co2 either) Dont think it really matters how many clones, you could have 5 big plants, or 25 small ones. Either way about the same yeild imo.

I would go with around 40 clones, how many shelves are you planning on running on the vertical. Aim for around 3/4 - 1oz per plant. At full load I have around 30 or so plants in my vertical, but they are all different strains, different veg periods, etc, kind of perpertual if you will. But for me if I was to run a straight run like that I would have 45 clones in my cab. 15 for each level. I normally run some plants straight into 12/12 either from seed or clone, on one shelf and it's 15, hence the numbers. Hope that helps, feel free to stop by my thread, sorry it's not in my signature but I am sure you can find it if you want.

Peace, DST

Not in a vertical space, imo (or in my experience). Plants grow differently in shape and structure than horizontal. It all really depends on how the OP sets up his vertical. But the most efficient way to do anything if you are growing for weight is by numbers and straight into 12/12, zero veg time equals more flowering time per annum.
The footprint in a vertical is different from a horizontal as well.

CatfishBilly said:

General rule of thumb is .5 g a watt. With 1200 i would shoot for ~21 oz. With co2 25-30? (dont use co2 either) Dont think it really matters how many clones, you could have 5 big plants, or 25 small ones. Either way about the same yeild imo.

Click to expand...

probably like 35-40 plants.

DST said:

Not in a vertical space, imo (or in my experience). Plants grow differently in shape and structure than horizontal. It all really depends on how the OP sets up his vertical. But the most efficient way to do anything if you are growing for weight is by numbers and straight into 12/12, zero veg time equals more flowering time per annum.
The footprint in a vertical is different from a horizontal as well.

Click to expand...

So as far as light penitration, vert allows the light to hit more of the plant? equaling more yeild? This makes me wanna try a vert next try.

This sounds like an interesting way of growing. I've heard of Vertical SCROG, but never Vert. SOG.... Any pics?

Some excellent replies thank you, i'll fill in some more information as requested. I'm using a room that is 1x1 meters, this is why i'm going vertical as it massively improves footprint. With the way i'm setting it up i'll have approx 5 square meters of wall space instead of 1 square meter in my last grow. I'm going to be using 9 shelves total, each a meter long and 1 inch net pots with no grow medium, just sprayers on to bare roots.

It's a grow tent with white walls, during my last grow the temps sat around 24-28 degrees C so i'm going to line the tent with mylar to increase heat and light reflection and i've picked up a much bigger fan to cool the lights with, i figure the more airflow over the lights the better although it won't stop the radiated energy. I think the reason for the heat was the grow medium absorbing heat so without that, lining everything in mylar/aluminium tape should keep the heat even despite the extra light. Ballasts are kept externally.

If there are still heat problems i can fit an airconditioner in there as well, vertical growing really frees up space. Although i need to buy a few things to sort this out. As for pics it might take me a while, the mothers have only just sprouted from their seeds!

I'm switching to this method simply because i grow for medical purposes between a few friends, so weight is important, i'm not a dealer, well i don't sell it anyway we all put in for the equipment. It seems 35-40 clones is so far the recommendation.

If you want to see a great vertical scrog check out Jigfreshes grow journals. He is running 1000w in like a 3square foot cabinet (or is it smaller)

I am not going to say that vertical light yields more from a plant as that will only open up a whole can of worms. But if you are limited to foot print and have height it is the most efficient way to grow by far. My footprint is only just over 1metre squared but I run 3 sets of shelves and 3 lights - 2 600hps and a 400mh. It just enables you to make much better use of space.

Now yield, hahaha, you certainly don't get as many popcorn buds.

This is my set up. Here's a pic of the ground floor, I am not doing a scrog this time though.

it's hard to get a true idea of the size, but this is looking into the cabinet.


This cabinet produces about 2lb every 2 months. Fortunately I smoke a shed load so all is good.

Peace, DST

Wow DST that's exactly what i was thinking of doing! Only using hydro of course. Single, nice big fat colas on each clone.

Could you tell me the vertical distance between the shelves? And how close can you get the lights with that kind of wattage? I thought a foot distance fromt he lights would be ok but if i can get them closer without bleaching plants that would be great. Can you put the clones straight under the full light or do you start off at 600 and crank it up over a week or two?

The shelves are pretty much in line with the cool tubes, so around 75cm - 2.5foot or so I guess apart. I have 2.7m height (sorry I am metric) and 3 levels. For clones you should be fine just wacking em straight in, full warp speed Scotty!!!. Although saying that I run my MH for a max of 7 hours a day (the middle light) and sometimes only 3-4 hours depending on how I feel.

Oh, other question you asked. My width is 1.2m, my shelves are 30cm wide, so I have around 30cm between the edge of the shelf and the cool tubes. The plants generally go closer (they lean into the lights) though so I use stakes to keep them back, tie them up, etc, etc. Depending on how you set up the lights normally the top of the cola which leans in more is nearer the top of the cool tube and bottom of the next cool tube up, which is a much cooler spot on the cool tube so in some cases the bud is against the cool tube. However, if this happens in the middle of the tube, goodbye bud, hello toasted plant!

I want to invest in 200mm (8inch) cool tubes but cannot find them in Europe, in which case I would say the plants could probably just grow right up to the tubes.

Hey DST, how many plants do you have in that room and what size are the containers? Metric is the best so give it in liters if you don't mind

vertical SOG.
single 600w.
~36 plants

Clown Baby

What does that setup yield?