Hi friends,
Now that home cultivation is legal in VA (come July 2021) I can start planning for my new favorite hobby. I mean okay, not gonna lie. I’ve been planning this for months but my wife didn’t want me to make any purchases until we knew for sure which way the wind was blowing, and now we do!
I’ll try to keep updating this thread as I go through planning, setup, deep existential crises, and of course the grow itself while adding as many details, photos and super deep thoughts as I can along the way. That should help me stay organized and maybe someday it can help another new grower get started … likely by learning from my horrible, horrible mistakes.
As I mentioned in my New-Member intro I’m currently in sponge-mode trying to learn everything I can in order to make my own bad decisions rather than rely on the charity of strangers and smart, attractive people such as yourselves. That said, I wouldn’t mind a push in a better direction if anyone sees me headed towards a cliff. You are my catchers in the rye, if you will.
(Nice, now they’ll think I’m smart)
My Plan So Far: The 85,000 Foot View (that’s the cruising altitude record of an SR-71 Blackbird, btw, which is objectively the sexiest aircraft of all time)
Grow Space
I happen to have a spare room on the 2nd floor of my house that I plan to use as a growing space. I also happen to
not have a guest room anymore. The house is on central air and I have a spare window unit I can toss up if temperature regulation ever becomes a problem. The only downside here is that the room is three flights of stairs from my garage where I’ll likely be mixing my soil, making teas, etc. I guess this could be considered a positive depending on how fat you think I am, but I suggest you keep your damn opinion to yourself.
Despite having an entire room to spare I still plan to use a tent. That seems like the better solution when it comes to clean up, keeping a clean space, light regulation, humidity, etc. Besides, the legal limit in VA will be four plants to a home and only two of those plants can be mature. All four of my plants will be on the same grow cycle, of course, but to comply with the law only two of my plants will be on a standard VA education and the other two will be forced to watch
Rick and Morty during light hours. So which two will be immature? Look, I don’t want to start any fights here so please draw your own conclusions.
Current Tent Pick: Gorilla Grow Tent 4x4
View attachment 1111161
Reasoning: Okay this seems a little pricey and that will probably end up being a trend, but the reviews seem solid and we all know that every extra dollar spent is a direct measure of quality received and happiness banked. There’s also the stability, durability, uh… light-tightability, the marketing where a bunch of guys are hanging on it and I’m a Winston main in Overwatch so do I really need to look any further? I might also go with the one foot extension for the added height if my ceiling fan is wiling to part with the space.
Current Grow Light Pick: Grower’s Choice ROI E-680
View attachment 1111164
Reasoning: Kinda pricey, so that’s good. By all accounts this is a great fit for a 4x4 and reviews are stellar. It has a “balanced spectrum” which sounds like a pretty awesome marketing term, a dimmer nob, and that Master Lighting controller looks pretty great if I ever decide to go that route waaaay down the road when I know I’m really into this
(adding overly expensive controller to cart, and… done).
Current Vent Fan & Filter Pick:
AC Infinity Cloudline T6 and AC Infinity 6” Carbon Filter
View attachment 1111165
Reasoning: Expensive? Check. Quiet? Check. This one keeps coming up as one of the top on lists when noise level is a factor, and just seems like a great fan over all. Is a 6 inch fan with 402 CFM overkill for a 4x4 with ~106 cubic feet and 4 plants? I haven’t the slightest idea, please stop asking, but I will be looking into this a little more before making any purchases. I’m also not sure if I’m going to want an intake fan or if I can get away with a filtered intake vent. I need to look more into that too.
That’s about as far as I’ve made it on general equipment possibilities. I think I have a piece of paper around here with model numbers for small fans, some PH meters, a lab coat, pocket protector, a wig to give me crazy science hair and other things I both absolutely need and absolutely do not need at the same time. That list is a paradox and may have folded itself into some kind of quantum singularly. Or maybe its on my messy desk somewhere. I suppose I’ll focus more on the incidentals when I get the other stuff nailed down.
What do I plan to grow?
Two years ago I grew the most amazing Fatalli peppers, but I think I’m going to try my hand at some of dat dere marijuana you kids are always raving about. I hear it can help with pain and I'm hoping it can also help with regrets.
My most recent plan that I’ve all but trashed (current shelf life for my plans stands at 30 minutes to an hour) was to grow some
Strawberry Cough alongside some
BlackBerry Kush. I’m kind of a Sativa guy and keep running across Strawberry Cough during my personal research (read: manic youtubing) and well, it just sounds lovely and I’d like to give it a try. My best buddy that isn't a dog fell in love with some Blackberry Kush on our last trip to Telluride, CO and I figured growing that for him would be a pretty solid gesture to prove I’m a better friend to him than he is to me. I could use a win here.
That said, the internet has taught me that Indicas might be a little easier for a total beginner such as myself. Then the internet taught me that Blackberry Kush, though an Indica, is considered “difficult” and that Strawberry Cough is considered “easy,” and that maybe I need to take a bunch of other considerations into account before making these decisions. In short, the internet did what it normally does and left me increasingly confused and sad the longer I dared to stare into the abyss.
Grow Medium
I know you’re probably thinking I want to go hydro because it has a larger up front cost, but in this singular case you would be wrong. I plan to grow in
organic soil because it’s the most interesting to me at the moment and because regardless of the facts, or “irregardless” for all of you poor, dumb, iliterate bastards out there, I could really make use of the extra smug-factor when I gift my friends with bud and home-made edibles.
“Oh by the way, its organic in case that’s a thing that matters to you.” Doesn’t that sound great?! Incidentally, the idea of creating a happy pot of soil for a happy plant is rather endearing, even if the ending of the story will inevitably parallel Old Yeller.
Oh, I imagine I'll be growing from seeds too since I'm kind of own my own here.
Soil Mix?
Don’t be cute. You know I have no clue what I'm doing and that I’m not particularly good with math. I’m totally going to plagiarize something that a lot of internet people think is solid and go from there. I am doing my due diligence and learning what I can though.
Okay, that's where things currently stand. I have plenty of time to nail down decisions and figure out the rest as I have some extended vacations coming up in the next couple of months and probably won't actually be able to start the grow until pretty close to the actual legalized date. If the timing works out I hope to feel like a badass outlaw... if only for a fleeting moment. In the mean time I am ever so happy to accept any advice or mental health counseling you have to offer.
Peace!
Schwer
