I want to grow vining fruits on my porch ceiling
Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2021 7:23 pm
Hello!
I am trying to put together a plan to grow some vining crops (melons, cucumbers, tomatoes) on my porch ceiling. The plan is to trellis the plants horizontally with containers elevated just below the ceiling. Lighting on the ceiling itself. Porch is 7’ x 11’
Please excuse me as I am still noob-ish to all this so I may not be asking the right questions but:
1. Since the plants will not always be occupying the full space I was hoping to make it as modular as possible. Any ideas for this?
One Idea I had would be to buy a bunch of medium-ish watt (150-200 watt) constant current drivers. I could use half the voltage at first and the other half when the plants grow to fill the space
For example:
HLG 185h c1400b (71-143v range) with 7 x 20v strips. Run 4 of the 7 then connect the remaining 3 as the plants grow to fill the space.
1b. Opinion on this driver? - https://tinyurl.com/8wme9atm seems like a very good price per watt.
If I’m understanding LEDG’s videos, I could theoretically turn on and off sets of 2 srtips (even down to just 1) but I’d have to mess with the current every time to avoid running them full blast.
Does such a thing as a potentiometer with an amperage display exist? That could make the process easier and safer. Are they expensive?
-Also all that current could add up quickly on my breaker.
-Also also I am not sure how much of a concern / likelihood thermal runaway actually is.
2. How do I not blind myself?!? Lol. I did not want to have it enclosed but I just might have to. I could also possibly have the plants on the ceiling with the lights underneath facing up. That would make it difficult to maintain the plants though. Plus any heavy fruit hanging down could burn itself.
Any ideas?
Thanks!!
I am trying to put together a plan to grow some vining crops (melons, cucumbers, tomatoes) on my porch ceiling. The plan is to trellis the plants horizontally with containers elevated just below the ceiling. Lighting on the ceiling itself. Porch is 7’ x 11’
Please excuse me as I am still noob-ish to all this so I may not be asking the right questions but:
1. Since the plants will not always be occupying the full space I was hoping to make it as modular as possible. Any ideas for this?
One Idea I had would be to buy a bunch of medium-ish watt (150-200 watt) constant current drivers. I could use half the voltage at first and the other half when the plants grow to fill the space
For example:
HLG 185h c1400b (71-143v range) with 7 x 20v strips. Run 4 of the 7 then connect the remaining 3 as the plants grow to fill the space.
1b. Opinion on this driver? - https://tinyurl.com/8wme9atm seems like a very good price per watt.
If I’m understanding LEDG’s videos, I could theoretically turn on and off sets of 2 srtips (even down to just 1) but I’d have to mess with the current every time to avoid running them full blast.
Does such a thing as a potentiometer with an amperage display exist? That could make the process easier and safer. Are they expensive?
-Also all that current could add up quickly on my breaker.
-Also also I am not sure how much of a concern / likelihood thermal runaway actually is.
2. How do I not blind myself?!? Lol. I did not want to have it enclosed but I just might have to. I could also possibly have the plants on the ceiling with the lights underneath facing up. That would make it difficult to maintain the plants though. Plus any heavy fruit hanging down could burn itself.
Any ideas?
Thanks!!