Captain_Kaieda
(stranger
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4/11/01 01:34 AM
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The Cage - Yield up 100%
[Post#: 115109
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The Cage is a set of interconnected modules that maximize the yield per watt and
yield per square foot for HID lamps. You will grasp the elegance of this engineering
solution with one look at a photograph. (Jorge Cervantes, where are you with your
photos when we need you?) Until that time, here is my brief description:
Your lamps hang vertically from the roof in the center of the plants. With
400 watt lamps you would place four of them in line vertically, hanging from
two chains or some other support. Around the lamps are twelve columns
approximately five and one-half feet tall and four inches in diameter. The
twelve columns are placed around the lamps in a circle four feet wide, like a
miniature "Stonehedge". The twelve columns are hollow and each one has
places for six plants to reside. (Should they get eviction notices?) The roots
grow into and down the hollow column. Water is pumped to the top of
each column every hour and drains down by gravity over the thirsty roots
aeroponically. If you want some insurance against pump failure then fill
those columns with Hydroton clay pebbles and you will buy yourself at
least 24 hours to find and fix these sorts of "unwanted events".
You may be wondering what happens to the water next? Good question.
You deserve a new toaster for that. The water drains into a giant hockey
puck, a big, plastic, hollow hockey puck with twelve holes around the
perimeter of the top of the puck. The columns fit snugly into these holes.
The bottom of each column is completely open and drains into the four
foot wide by one foot high hockey puck. Only in Canada they say!
The growing system known as "The Cage" has been available
for sale at WTI Hydroponics & Garden Supplies in Vancouver, B.C.
since March, 2001. They have a display unit in their 41st Avenue
store in Vancouver.
The owner of the WTI chain of stores is the inventor who
designed The Cage. From my personal experience he is the best
resource anywhere for the home indoor gardener. He is available
in store every Tuesday to answer questions. On other days
the rest of his staff also give expert advice. This sounds like an
infomercial, I know. But I have gained by leaps and bounds with their help.
The following information has been gathered by me from the
inventor.
There have been sixteen trials to date -
twelve with a prototype model and four trials with the production
model. The lowest yield in these 16 trials was 3 pounds dry bud
weight. The largest yield was 5.2 pounds.
Compared to a flat garden, it will give you twice
the yield per watt. For beginners that could be 2 to 4 pounds
per 1600 watts when the plants start flowering at between
8 and 12 inches tall. One advanced grower achieved 5.2 pounds.
The inventor advises growers to overgrow the clones before
inducing flowering. The largest yield occurred when the clones
were overgrown, i.e. 12 inches or more. The smallest yield
occurred when the clones were not grown enough before flowering.
One Cage holds up to 72 clones per crop - 12 columns, each column
holding 6 plants vertically.
Most of the trials consisted of California Juicy Fruit
(80 percent of the clones), Chiraz, and Special K.
For The Cage system, Juicy Fruit has
too much of a sativa influence. It wants to grow
too tall. Special K has been found to grow "too big". (I assume that
means too wide). The inventor would speculate that Shishkaberry
would be one of the best strains for the Cage.
The cage has a diameter of 4 feet. If we assume a 4 by 4
tray (flat garden) yields one pound, then the Cage offers a
fourfold yield increase per square foot of floor space compared
to a flat garden. The yield per watt and yield per square foot
of floor space is much better than with the Sea of Green approach.
In apartments or other situations where space is limited, this
system is worth researching. For $2000 Cdn (and the right choice
of crop, he, he, he) it will pay for itself in a short time.
Vic High described it as a "growing machine" but
this is not so - there are no moving parts, other than the
oscillating air fans and water pump you would normally choose
to use with this system.
If you choose to recirculate your solution you may need a water
chiller. This won't be necessary, however, if The Cage is on a
cement floor and the lights are air-cooled (for example, using
a clear cylindrical tube and exhaust fan). Tests have shown
this kind of setup to keep the solution in a temperature range
of 68 - 73 degrees Fahrenheit without a water chiller.
If, on the other hand, you do not recirculate but drain to waste,
then a reservoir like a 55 gallon barrel could be used and the
4 foot diameter base of The Cage would act as your waste water
container. Your pump timer would activate for a shorter period
of time compared to the recirculation approach. Each Cage would
require from 5 to 10 gallons of solution per day, depending on
what stage of growth you have reached.
You can use almost any medium you wish to use. Aeroponics
and Hydroton are two of your better options. With aeroponics
you have an easier time to clean up after harvest. With Hydroton
you have at least twenty-four hours to save your crop if, for some
reason, your water pump stops working. (I hate when that happens,
don't you?)
Photos of The Cage in action are expected from Jorge Cervantes
at some point, or so says The Inventor.
If you are just starting out indoors and have seven vertical feet of space, then
I believe you are lucky to be starting your new hobby with this option.
The Cage is only available here:
WTI Hydroponics and Garden Supplies
1353 East 41st Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
Tel:(604)321-4769 Fax:(604)321-4759
Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00 - 19:00h (Pacific Time)
Sat 11:00 - 18:00h
holidays and Sun 12:00 - 17:00
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Simon
(enthusiast)
4/11/01 07:22 AM
Attachment
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Re: The Cage - Yield up 100%
[Post#: 115174
/ re: 115109
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Check out my poor-ass attempt at a drawing. Is that kind of what you mean? It's hard to picture from just the description.
Cats like the chronic too!!
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guardian
(newbie)
4/11/01 08:46 AM
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Re: The Cage - Yield up 100%
[Post#: 115200
/ re: 115109
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Simon, glad you drew that as I was picturing a horizontal string of lights and was abit perplexed, that makes more sense, however my question is, won't the root mass start to clog the pipe? Water from the bottom or top? I would think the top and basically think of it as a vertcal nutrient film setup? How about 4" pvc pipe in a stylized L with the foot pointing down (the dogleg would maybe give you room for 1 more plant per column), a wading pool, and a resevoir (on a filing cabinet?) using that free pump called gravity, hmmm, sounds like a poor mans James Bond version, I like the idea. Capt., what is the yield vs. a scrog setup of comparable size?
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SanFranGrower
(enthusiast)
4/11/01 10:37 AM
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Re: The Cage - Yield up 100%
[Post#: 115234
/ re: 115109
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Thans! I called them up and discussed the system with them. I am considering purchasing one but would need to wait until I move to the East Coast. From what the person explained to me its an excellent way to ge thigh yields in low amounts of space.
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Captain_Kaieda
(stranger
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4/12/01 01:35 AM
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Re: The Cage - Yield up 100%
[Post#: 115562
/ re: 115109
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In reply to Simon: I don't think your attempt is poor at all. In fact, your
drawings are a very good first approximation. Other readers should note
that each column holds six plants and not three, as Simon's darn good
drawing shows. The plants grow out a few inches and then will go
straight up, between the column and the lights (about two feet per plant).
Your drawing gives a fairly good idea of this. The light reflector you have
drawn isn't really necessary - the plants will grow up high enough above
the top light to capture the worthwhile light intensity without requiring
a reflector. The base/reservoir is like a giant plastic hockey puck centered
under the lights and sitting on the floor. It is four feet in diameter and
one foot high. Thanks for the drawings.
In reply to Guardian: The inventor of The Cage tells me that he has not
seen a root mass clogging any cylinder to date and doubts he ever will.
I guess that would rank it right up there with Loch Ness Monster sightings
and Jean Chretien telling the truth - very rare indeed folks! For our good
American readers, Jean Chretien is the conniving step-brother of Canada's
current Prime Minister, Jean Poutine.
To reiterate my previous post, water is pumped to the top of each column
and drains down, over and around the roots located within said columns.
For those of you not paying attention, I can mention this in every one of my
future posts if you wish. This is an attention-optional forum so I am willing
to adapt to any special needs like this, haha, or any special wasted conditions.
The columns could even hold Sunshine Mix #4 or your own personal
soil mix. Not only does The Cage help to maximixe the efficiency of the
electricity you use and the floor space you use, it is also gives you a lot of
flexibility in how you grow in terms of growing medium, fertilizers. light
spectrum, intensity, garden density, etc.
Re: yield vs. a Scrog setup of comparable size. The inventor says this:
With comparable area (floor space) the Cage will yield three to four times
what a screen of green setup will. For the math challenged that means you
increase your yield 200 percent, maybe even 300 percent if your Tarot cards
are lined up just right. (Tip: Increase your yield by using a Tarot reader to
predict trouble in your growing future.) (Warning: The inventor has not
authorized any humor in this post. Verify with the store everything you see
here if you can't separate the wheat from the chaff. Do you believe half the
stuff on the Internet anyway? You're nuts if you do. Trust just two people.
Robert Connell Clarke, and your mother. That's it. haha)
With comparable wattage your yield will be twice what Scrog yields.
Thanks Guardian for some wonderful questions. Just pay more attention,
next time, okay? haha
To you the reader: If you have any questions for the inventor of The Cage
you are invited to post them here. Attention is not required. Batteries are not
included.
Tip: You will need a minimum of seven feet of vertical space to operate The Cage.
It has only a four foot diameter. How easy would that fit in that garage, spare
bedroom, or basement of yours? To reiterate my earlier post, and this is the
important part, you are looking at between two and four pounds per crop per
Cage - for beginners. This has now been verified with real people, real situations,
real number crunchers; but, alas, no Robert Connell Clarke.
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luckman
(member)
4/12/01 04:00 AM
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Re: The Cage - Yield up 100%
[Post#: 115575
/ re: 115234
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OK, I officially nominate SanFran the R&D; dude. Go to it, SF. Let us know if that works good!
LuckMan
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Simon
(enthusiast)
4/12/01 06:09 AM
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Re: The Cage - Yield up 100%
[Post#: 115593
/ re: 115575
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Just wondering about the lights. I would hate to have to buy four 400HPS. Would it be as effective running 2 x 1000HPS?
Cats like the chronic too!!
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Simon
(enthusiast)
4/12/01 06:11 AM
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Re: The Cage - Yield up 100%
[Post#: 115594
/ re: 115593
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Oh, and could it be scaled down do you think? Height is no prob but footprint is. I've got about 3x3 of useable footprint. Maybe 8 columns?
Cats like the chronic too!!
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Billy_Big_Bud
(stranger
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4/12/01 06:20 AM
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Re: The Cage - Yield up 100%
[Post#: 115596
/ re: 115109
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wow this sounds great . is there any way to see a real pic of this?
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guardian
(newbie)
4/12/01 12:37 PM
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Re: The Cage - Yield up 100%
[Post#: 115689
/ re: 115109
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Uhhmmm, ohhhh, aaaahhh, I see, jeez Cap, did you have to rapp my knuckles so hard? It's hard to read and brainstorm, darn it, I'm pumped though, thanks for the clarification,thanks for the clarification...doh ;) guardian
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