DIY Rotary Garden Omega Garden Volksgarden Rotogro GIgrow Bonsia Bpod Odessy etc

[WORKHORSE]

The pic I used is a generic pic I found on the internet for the wheel I will use. Basically I will be cutting quite a bit from the center to accomadate the lights and a cool tube. I'm going to stretch the length by seperating the two wheels then welding them back together with rods that are attached to the outside of the wheels as opposed to being held together from the center as shown in the picture. From there I will use square or tube style PVC and on each row I was thinking between 10-15 plant sites hopefully I will end up with 180 sites total and unfortunately I will be using RW. The PVC will be fastened with heavy duty fastners so settling and unwanted movement shouldn't be a problem

I will be using a speed electric motor which will be connected to a drive which will allow me to control and adjust speed as I see fit. Here is a link to a drive if anyone was interested

Dart Controls AC03-05S Adjustable Speed AC Motor Control

That particular drive is only a little over $40 and I can get a suitable electric motor for around the same price. Now outside of the pvc and net cups (if i even need net cups) all I need is to find a suitable resevoir, any siggestions?

Oh almost forgot I will also need some gears and a belt or chain. Given the fact I was given the wheel I think I can construct this thing finished with lights and all for well under $500 but my luck it won't work. I have never grown Hydroponically and this will be my third ever grow so hopefully I won't be getting in to deep. That being said this style of growing is as efficient as you can get I believe when considering power, space, time

 

[TorturedSoul]

modify it to make it wider and to allow it to accomadate a light and motor as well as plant sites.

Depending on the width, you might end up wanting two lights.

That being said I think it has a much greater diameter than a volksgarden.

Bright lights, lol.

I think I can construct this thing finished with lights and all for well under $500

Good luck on sticking to budget. DiY will help. How much are you alloting for lighting/cooling and does that include nutrients?

This looks like it might be somewhat challenging to someone who is new to hydroponics, but doable I suppose. I think this general style of growing would be good in extra-planetary environments where the plants are not likely to grow the same as they would in an environment with (normal) gravity.

I'm sure a lot of people will be interested in your progress.

Good luck!

 

[leonardo]

Nice WORKHORSE! Good luck with your project, you'll have to keep us updated.

As for rotation speed, is once every 45 minutes the optimum speed for the rockwool or for geotropism in the plants? What would be the ideal rotation speed for just geotropism alone? Like if you were using aeroponics or some other method besides rockwool?

Also, I would like to build a wheel too, but I have no parts and want to start with a 45" diameter wheel like on the Rotogro and the earlier Omega Gardens with the right gear shape, but I can't find anyone that can make one, does anyone have advice?

 

[WheeloFortune]

45 minutes is "supposedly" the proper geotropism period taking into account the diameter of the wheel.

after a years worth of use, I am not only not convinced that it is the best rotation period, I'm not convinced that geotropism is beneficial in the first place.

leo - if there is one change i could make on my wheel, it would no doubt be to increase the diameter. this would make the machine much more flexible and easier to run successfully by giving your plants a larger buffer from the light. it's tight as helllllll in there at the diameter of the volks.

 

[AJ12Gamer]

45 minutes is "supposedly" the proper geotropism period taking into account the diameter of the wheel.

after a years worth of use, I am not only not convinced that it is the best rotation period, I'm not convinced that geotropism is beneficial in the first place.

leo - if there is one change i could make on my wheel, it would no doubt be to increase the diameter. this would make the machine much more flexible and easier to run successfully by giving your plants a larger buffer from the light. it's tight as helllllll in there at the diameter of the volks.

I'm starting to think "geotropism" was just a marketing gimmick after watching many peoples grows.

And DarkHorse Imma be watching yo build man! Make it HOT!

 

[WheeloFortune]

I'm starting to think "geotropism" was just a marketing gimmick after watching many peoples grows.

** the apparent benefits of geotropism appear to be more smoke than reality, but there is no arguing that geotropism is a real effect, and has influence in the wheel. . . but i have not seen the effects as beneficial.

 

[steezy]

we need scientific comparison.
I need to finish.
got my tools brought out from missouri.
anyone in colorado feel like helping with some construction?

 

[Purple Goose]

The biggest problem I see is you would have small plants, maybe 18". But you could grow enough there that you would still get a pretty good production.

Yeah but with small plants you could always get one of these for real production.

Give new meaning to the word pot factory doesnt it.

 

[ballerbam]

Has anyone tried the wheel with some low stress training?
Here are my thoughts: every grow journal so far has tried to pack as many plants in the wheel as possible and then struggled with the height of the plant. I am thinking that if one were to put only say 16 in the wheel but train them to grow horizontally this might make for a successful grow. One wouldn't have to struggle with plant height or violate any US laws.

Before you put the clone in the wheel, root and veg it nicely on a traditional flat table and place the clone on its side to get that bend in there.

(in the pic I am thinking of the bottom plant). Once you are happy with the size of the clone and/or it is ready for flower then plop it in the wheel. As it grows further inside the wheel keep tying new growth down.

Any Omega owners up for a try? I would love to try but don't own a wheel yet.

 

[TandT]

not a bad thought but the cubes are not big enough to hold a root structure for a larger plant.
For a successful grow stick with the indica strains and put into flower right away.
and if the plants still stretch too much hit them with a hight inhibitor such as dr. nodes or bushmaster (before they are too tall) and things should work out fine.

 

[ballerbam]

true enough but with some tinkering I suppose a larger cube can be made to fit the wheel and the roots. It just seems that no one has had any worthwhile success with short plants.

 

[ballerbam]

I forgot to mention that on one grow someone (I think Maxximus?not sure...) had to emergency scrog his plants down because they were nose up against the lamp glass so plants can get large enough to do this LST style.

(disclaimer) I am an armchair grower on this one since I have never seen a wheel up close but I would still like to see someone try

 

[ballerbam]

TandT, I just saw one of your grows in the wheel, it looked real nice

what was your grammage per light wattage if I may ask? Thanks

 

[TandT]

not sure but my first attempt I got approx 7g per plant the wheel holds 240 plants and is powered by 2x600hps.

 

[leonardo]

T&T, you have a rotary grow going? Where's the link?

 

[munen]

looks overly complected... to me...

 

[Purple Goose]

The omega gardens while appearing complex are actually very simple they employ a water wheel construction once its assembled and you get your wheel rotation speed correct all you need to worry about form that point on is res temp, res ph and ec of the nutrients and finally if plants get very high you need to time them back but other then that from everything I have heard they are superior to ebb and flow due mainly to the fact that your 2 600w hps bulbs loose absolutely no light in reflection Personally when I have the cash for one of these and a licence that would allow me to at least fill it to 80 plants I would be buying one of these.

 

[TorturedSoul]

fill it to 80 plants

The Volksgarden is cool. But Omega's Carousel has six grow cylinders with a capacity of over 3000 plants (depending on their size) in only 150 ft² of floor space (and very high ceilings, of course). And all six cylinders utilize the same nutrient tray/reservoir.
YouTube - Omega Garden Carousel

I was happy to read that Omega's products got mentioned in the September issue of Popular Science ; that undoubtedly brought it to the attention of many thousands of people who'd never heard of this style of growing.

 

[leonardo]

OK, so is anyone going to build a rotary system? Things have been way too quite on the rotary front these days...

 

[42Kang]

I can see some problems with the steezy design.

1. Plywood usually come in 8 foot by 4 foot panels.
A six foot diameter wheel would be harder to get or make.

2. There is no room on the support frame for any gearing to gear down the windscreen wiper motor.
To get the wheel to rotate once per 45 mins you need the 1.5 inch poles to rotate around once a minute. etc etc. space is needed for gearing to get that motor slower.