Took The Plunge To Grow Rdwc In The Rec Market.

[Aktommy]

Some of you may remember me from my water fall/cmh RDWC build post here.https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/started-a-cmh-grow-with-12-27-gal-sites.87264/

I am an old school grower and been cultivating since early 90s, I have grown in most styles including soil, soilless, vertical systems like Heath Robinsons designs and I eventually migrated to RDWC about 7-8 years ago. Having been living the life outside the law for so many years I decided last year to take the plunge and build a 1200 SF REC cultivation facility from the ground up with RDWC in mind.

In my state we have a unlimited cultivation license and a limited cultivation license, the unlimited license allows up to a 500 SF canopy space and this is the license I choose to pursue. I already knew the numbers that I was capable of producing with a 500 SF canopy in RDWC and decided this would be a easy to maintain garden for just my self and my wife.

As of right now it took us over a year to receive state approval and another 4 months to receive Fire Marshall approval. We currently have the facility constructed and are just finishing the final touches before we get our state inspection in 2 weeks. If everything goes good we will have our license in hand on that day. I am going to go ahead and document my build from this point on and if anyone has questions about our experience going rec and how I am building why systems please feel free to ask away.

THC Farmer is a great community and I enjoy contributing to its wealth of knowledge.

Ill attach a few pics to get started.

 

[palm eezy]

did you figure out the damping off issue that you posted about a few months back?

 

[crimsonecho]

Setup seems great. I envy you :)
Can’t wait to see some monsters fill that space up.

 

[Aktommy]

did you figure out the damping off issue that you posted about a few months back?

Yes I did. What was happening was my root masses were getting large enough to start restricting my 2.5 inch pvc lines, always happened about week 3 of flower. The waterfalls were pumping more water than the drains would allow with them being restricted and water levels were getting high enough to dampen the rockwool cube and causing crown rot. Now I reach into the totes every 2 days and just gently move the roots away and everything is thriving. Pics taken yesterday

 

[Aktommy]

Today we got the veg tables pretty much done and the floraflex all plumbed in along with the quest dehumidifiers installed and plumbed.

 

[Aktommy]

Been a while since I posted but our first crop went to market and sold quick. Out of 14 plants ( I had to cull 2 due to crown rot from rock wool) we came in at 10.25 lbs plus 3.25 lbs of great trim. We were running plants of a new cross of black mamba x OG kush that were sub par yeliders compared to the blackberry cream and black mambas. Room was equipped with 12 Growers Choice CMH 630 NS, which I should of ran a little higher on the canopy. I am now running them at 34-36 inches off the canopy. We hit 28+ percent THC on the BBC and +27 percent THC on the black mamba, the black mamba x OG came in at +22 percent. Unfortunately the market here is dictated on THC content, so it’s imperative to get high THC for the market. Including some pics of the process.

 

[Owlfarm]

Nice work Tommy,
I’ve been building out a similar building the last few years. It’s been a learning experience for sure. I ended up running pex tubing throughout my slab and now I have it plumbed into my chiller lines so it cools the whole slab, seems to be working out pretty well so far.