This is a very simply designed laser cut acrylic ring that is stringed to produce a grid for training plants under. The ring friction fits into a standard 5 gallon bucket, such as those used by the Space Buckets community. The idea is that you can bend your plants grow out before they grow up, thus achieving the 'screen of green' (SCROG) and increasing your harvest, whether they be fruits or flowers.

The instructable only has three steps, and I've included extra bonus designs at the end for a solid acrylic grid with no string, and a thicker ring design that you can use with thinner acrylic.

MATERIALS

- one square foot of acrylic, 3/16 or 1/4 inch thick. For 1/8 inch acrylic, see the bonus design with a thicker ring for better durability

- string, either something synthetic like nylon (you can buy this in bead stores) or natural fibre coated with wax. Avoid uncoated natural fibre as this will disintegrate eventually.

TOOLS

- Laser cutter that can cut through acrylic

Getting access to acrylic sheet and a laser cutter sounds hard, but I've lived in Toronto, New York, and San Francisco, and these things were accessible in all three cities. Ask the maker space or hackerspace that hosts the laser cutter - you will likely be required to go through some sort of safety training before being able to use it. You may also be able to convince a kind maker space member to help you cut your acrylic for you.

Toronto: Plastic from Plastic World (http://plasticworld.ca/), laser cutter at HackLab (https://hacklab.to/)

New York: Plastic from Canal Plastics (http://canalplastic.com/), laser cutter at NYC Resistor (http://www.nycresistor.com/)

San Francisco: Plastic from TAP Plastics (http://www.tapplastics.com/), laser cutter at Noisebridge (https://www.noisebridge.net//)

I haven't used the laser cutter in Toronto, but I've bought plastic at all the places listed and used the laser cutter at NYC Resistor and Noisebridge.

REFERENCES

Space bucket community for DIY grow bucket builds and tips

My grow bucket project website

My grow bucket project diary