Loft Grow - No Till

[NormanNugget]

I’m in the very early stages of planning my next grow and will need to move to the loft. I like the idea of a no till bed and could cover 3x3 or 4x4 with my current light. I would probably be using a grassroots bed so looking at 260 or 500 litres of soil.

 

The house is a Victorian terrace with the original joists in the loft. I’m planning to have it boarded out professionally but can’t think of any legit reason to want a super strong floor. Enough to store some Christmas decorations sure, but not sure I want to tell them I want 500l of soil up there…

 

Does anyone have any idea on the weight of that much soil, water and plants? Just typing this I’m thinking it’s probably an insane idea. 
 

If I can’t get a big bed, what would be the smallest volume recommended in a 3x3 space for no till?

 

Sorry chaps but just tagging people I’ve seen growing no till / living soil.

 

@lildaveham @MindSoup @green_machine @grooving @blackpoolbouncer @Lubdub @ipju @FarmerPalmersNT @Hazeytones

[MindSoup]

According to GHE website a 45l bag of eco life weighs 15.6 kg, add probably 5kg for the water once it's wet enough, so say about 20kg per 50L. Really you want as big a bed as you can fit in your space (alongside all your other kit). 

 

Not even going to try and estimate the load capacity of your floor/ceiling, but TBH if someone asked me to add reinforcement when doing that job I wouldn't ask any questions, it's more money in my pocket at the end of the day. 

Edited Thursday at 21:14 by MindSoup

[lildaveham]

The weight of a bed that size water and all would be pretty heavy imo. 
 

Im thinking (and I could be wrong) about them 1 tonne builders bags that have 1000l of compost in and halving it then a third added on for water and a little more for plants/equipment/water reservoirs etc. 
 

Could you not just say to them you are wanting to store electrical equipment up there PA systems and such and you are worried it might break? 
 

[MindSoup]

Just now, lildaveham said:

PA systems

 

That's a good shout. 

[BilgePump]

Ive seen some fairly hefty train sets in lofts...

 

Do you have a water storage tank up there?

Another reason for wanting hd flooring could be you plan on moving it if you've got one

 

[NezA]

A large battery bank for solar that's going in and a rain water tank

[Military Grade]

@NormanNugget I could only imagine the humidity problems with that amount of soil mate

[NormanNugget]

Thanks guys. So it looks like probably at least 200kg just in soil/water. Plus let’s say another 50kg in kit, and one farmer which can be about 100kg at times

 

Across a 1.2x1.2m space that’ll be 243kg per m2, then I’ll need a reservoir, probably less per m2 for that.

 

Apparently current building code is a static load of 25kg per m2. I would assume the victorians allowed less than that. So it might be quite an ask to get up to 250kg and maintain sufficient headroom!

[NormanNugget]

Justification wise I think solar battery bank or av equipment is a great shout. I also need to justify a power supply. 
 

I was thinking to have a bank of 8 sockets, I guess that could be needed for testing av equipment.

 

Makes sense that I’d pay to get my loft sorted rather than paying to store it in a lockup. Which could also explain the lack of av equipment knocking about the house

[NormanNugget]

6 hours ago, Military Grade said:

I could only imagine the humidity problems

I’m vaguely planning to draw air in from a cupboard on the landing below, then vent out through a tile vent. @Calypsos does something similar so I’m hoping in time he can give me some pointers on setting this up! 
 

I think I’ll sound insulate the cupboard below so I can run a dehumidifier in there.

[ipju]

You want your loft to be able to hold 4-5 persons. That does sound very suspicious....

[NormanNugget]

 

20 minutes ago, ipju said:

You want your loft to be able to hold 4-5 persons. That does sound very suspicious....

Swinger sex dungeon?

[Military Grade]

What goes on in the attic stays in the attic

[NormanNugget]

Talking of dungeons.. this no till idea seems like a legit reason to move house and find somewhere with a basement!

 

Tbh I’d love to have a basement and kit it out to grow fruit, veg, canna and my tropical houseplants.

 

Better keep buying those lottery tickets!

[MindSoup]

Yeah it's a shame that cellars/basements aren't as common here as they are elsewhere, they create a very stable environment. 

 

@Military Grade humidity can be an issue with no till for sure, but TBH it's just taught me not to worry about humidity so much. My tent never goes below 60%, I could keep it lower but I don't get any issues with rot and the plants always seem happier at higher humidity, just need plenty of air flow/circulation and no sudden drops in temperature. I haven't run a dehumidifier in well over a year I don't think.