Getting started with hopes of three harvests per year

[donc]

Hello, I am recently retired and chose cannabis cultivation (for friends and family) as my hobby.
I put the hint out for Christmas and Santa was generous!
Environment is VivoSun 4x4 tent; AeroZesh 6S fan; E42A Controller; Carbon Filter; 2x AeroWave E6 clip-on fan;
ViparSpectra KS5000 500-watt 6-bar grow light. I love the techspeak!
There also is a stocking filled with thermometers, timers, hygrometers, water analysis, a jeweler's loupe, and much much more!

This is setup as a flowing room and currently hosting one plant rescued from outdoors (separate chain).
I also received one plant sprouted from seed 'fingered' into the ground (separate chain). It is not in the tent.

My plan (desire, hope, dream) is three harvests per year. My question now is "how"?
It has dawned on me that my current setup is most likely a "forever" flowering room.
Meaning I need to expand the neighborhood to include seedling and vegetative plants.

I see references about having all phases in a single grow room.
I do not see this possible with two different light cycles - 18/6 and 12/12.
Or am I overthinking this (I do that) and having three 17-week windows might/could/should work?

What is a comfortable number of plants for this 4x4 tent? I plan on using RooTrimmer 3 Gallon Air Pruning pots (Amazon)
I have 16" saucers which may be too big as only 9 fill the tent floor.

I plan to use Pro Mix HP mixed with Perlite. Is a 70/30 mix good? Any other additions?

My cultivation neighborhood is in a basement. So the naturally-cool temps will be a challenge. Surprising to me, low humidity as well.
Lastly for now - I was a tech writer - looking for a good reference book. One with scientific explanations on the who/what/when/why/how.
I am consuming Ed Rosenthal's Cannabis Grower's Handbook now. Looking for something to take me "deep into it".

Much appreciated! Here's to a fruitful 2025!

 

[HerbalEdu]

My plan (desire, hope, dream) is three harvests per year. My question now is "how"?

SOG with short veg from seeds is the way to do 3 harvest a year.

amount of plants really is up to you, depending if you want to get the best yield out of your 4x4 or just something to smoke.

more space in between plants make it easier for maintenance but will probably lower yield in that regard for a 4x4 i would go with a minimum of 9 plants (3x3) , 16 plants 4x4 will make it more comfortable with potential dwarf or depending how vigorous is your growth the first few weeks, 25 plants (5x5) even more secure but maintenance and watering start being a real with a 4x4 tent ( that's the plant spacing i'm using in my 2x3 tent with 8 plants (2x4) in 6L pots)

 

[Florida_Mike]

Hey donc, Welcome to the farm! Happy New Years and all that jazz.

If you're serious about wanting 3 harvests per year, go hydro w/ clones

and co2 enrichment.

Back in the day I used to harvest every 80-87 days. That allows for four

harvests per year if you really want to work it hard w/ no time off.

It's actually much easier than most people make it out to be. Soil is

probably your best option for getting your feet wet though.


In the future if you decide you want to turbocharge your grow

with some hydro, hit me up and I'll share some simple tricks and

techniques with you.


This doesn't have all the technical stuff you want, but it's an

excellent resource to keep handy. It covers several growing

methods, has good info on all aspects of growing, and a very

good diagnostics section for identifying problems and pests:

https://www.growweedeasy.com/

happy growing and good luck in '25!

-peace-

 

[ArtfulCodger]

Grow styles aside, another easy way to increase the number of runs per year is to add a veg tent, typically half the footprint of the flower tent. Then you can veg and flower in parallel, so when your flower tent finishes, the next batch is ready to move in. If you're only targeting three harvests a year, you could even build in some slack in the schedule, so you can dry in your tents. I usually run four plants per batch, vegging in a 2x4 and flowering in a 4x4. Plant count drives veg time, more than anything. You can veg 16 plants for 10 days, or one plant for 12 weeks and get similar yields, with good training.

 

[Galgrows]

Grow styles aside, another easy way to increase the number of runs per year is to add a veg tent, typically half the footprint of the flower tent. Then you can veg and flower in parallel, so when your flower tent finishes, the next batch is ready to move in. If you're only targeting three harvests a year, you could even build in some slack in the schedule, so you can dry in your tents. I usually run four plants per batch, vegging in a 2x4 and flowering in a 4x4. Plant count drives veg time, more than anything. You can veg 16 plants for 10 days, or one plant for 12 weeks and get similar yields, with good training.

Agreed having 2 tents makes it so much easier for perpetual growing

 

[Zzzax]

You read like a Tech Writer.. Nice!

Best of luck in "your" New Year.

 

[DanielWesterfield]

Grow styles aside, another easy way to increase the number of runs per year is to add a veg tent, typically half the footprint of the flower tent. Then you can veg and flower in parallel, so when your flower tent finishes, the next batch is ready to move in. If you're only targeting three harvests a year, you could even build in some slack in the schedule, so you can dry in your tents. I usually run four plants per batch, vegging in a 2x4 and flowering in a 4x4. Plant count drives veg time, more than anything. You can veg 16 plants for 10 days, or one plant for 12 weeks and get similar yields, with good training.

On point

 

[donc]

Thanks all for the info and encouragement! Answers/thoughts in random ...
I am late in planning stage, getting ready to execute my first grow.
1) Grow medium. I have Pro Mix HP and Perlite. Would be interested in Soil option. I have not dug into this yet; what is a good soil mixture?
2) Plant management. I am leaning towards purchasing another tent. This makes sense to me with the two distinct lighting patterns. I can get VivoSun Pro Tent, plus AeroMesh T6 fan and Carbon Filter, with E42A temp/humid smart controller for $350. I already have two ViparSpectra XS 1500 Pro lights.
3) Plant count. Looks like more research and planning into this one. I like the "more smaller" approach.
I ordered a cool-mist humidifier for the existing tent, and aquarium heater for my water reservoir.

Thanks again!

 

[ArtfulCodger]

The canna-targeted soils all work. You'll get varying levels of nutrient amendment and water retention characteristics, depending on what you go with. Another consideration might be how popular they are. Many people here (and new growers in general) run Fox Farms soils. When I started out, I'd veg in Happy Frog and flower in Ocean Forest. No shortage of experience and advice here on those. Not that the FF stuff is better than the others...just popular.

The higher plant count gets, the more I want to be running clones as opposed to seeds. A tent full of 16 plants of varying cultivars and/or phenotypes can be a pain to manage. Just an idea.

 

[HerbalEdu]

plant count will vary with two thing:

the growing method(s): sog, scrog, topping, LST, main lining etc.

and also if you want to fill your tent with as much colas as possible or leave some space in the tent without optimizing yield.

in a 4x4 it's both possible to have a single plant with a long veg in SCROG or 36 (6x6) plants in 3L pots with short veg in SOG for a similar yield in the end.
anything in between is also doable.

then you have to take into account the ease for maintenance (like for exemple inspecting for hermis, lolipoping and etc) and watering.

 

[BudgetGrower]

With a small veg room that takes up about one-third of the floor space, it's possible to grow up to six crops per year. In this setup, the veg room is used to start the next batch of plants. For the first two weeks, the seedlings are placed in a heated propagator under a low-wattage LED light, requiring minimal space. This allows you to dry your harvest in the same room during the 8-week cycle. After the first 6 weeks, when the other plants are nearing the end of their flowering stage, you pot them into their final containers during the last two weeks in the veg room. During this time, you can also take cuttings or start new seeds. Once the plants are ready for the flower room, you transition them to a 12/12 light cycle. With this process, you can maintain a constant crop rotation, achieving just over six harvests annually.