What can two experienced growers acheive?

[Project .X.]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post here after a few weeks lurking, just wanna say thanks for the stuff I've learned an keep up the good work. There is some seriously talented and imaginative people on here.

So my question is like a lot of newbs may ask here but hopefully in a more sensible fashion:

I have the opportunity to set up a grow op, on any scale, cost no object (Whooooo!)

Heres the downside I have never had a single grow :(

Heres what I do have though:

I have the cannabis grow bible, indoor marijuana cultiavtion and about 5 other best selling grow books, which I am studiously working through.

I have spent the last 2 months glued to a computer working through this and other forums.

I am a former fighter jet technician and currently work on masssive oil and gas engineering projects offshore so I know about engineering/electronics (well my job title says I do!)

We have up to 6000sq ft of space to use andThe number of plants doesnt bother me, yield is my friend.


We can have me working fulltime 12 hour days (I always work long days)

We have my partner who will also be fulltime.

I would like to use growtronix or something similar to automate everysingle practicable action.

We have 12 months to get enough experience doing practise runs and slowly building up to a full strength grow.

So what do you think would be the maximum scale you would tackle with 2 people fulltime, alot of automation and one years experience.

I was thinking about a hydro sog setup. which I could build up, maybe start with one flower and veg room, then slowly build up to 4 flower rooms and 2 veg rooms with a mother/clone room and seperate space for co2,electrics,water tank, all the good stuff.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated by you guys and please I realise I have alot to learn so please dont tell me to spend more time researching. If I know what kind of setup and method someone with knowledge would do, I can commit more of my time to becoming knowledgable in that given field.

Thanks again

 

[1971]

start out small and work your way up. I'd be careful with the automation initially other than for co2, testing ph/tds, humidity, temp.

do you have any thoughts on the type of hydro system you might be interested in? ebb and flow, UC, drip, drain to waste, etc? i'm sure that the aqua based setups will yield much better, but they aren't what someone new should start with.

 

[SLO Grown]

Take it easy, try a variety of strains that grow best in you're space. Then increase from there...

 

[Project .X.]

Thanks '71

Yeah my plan is to start small with a few different commercial seeds in maybe 4 x 1000w setup, then take some clones, flower some and basically just get conversed in the way of the grower.

As for method im unsure, I mean I dont wanna sound big headed but even though some of the systems on here look complicated I would not be scared of building or running them, 'Integrated systems' are kind of my specialty so once I know what a pro grower would do for efficiency and yield I will learn everything about method, then start off small with it, then build it up and see how far I can take it.

Like I mentioned before it doesnt worry me about the number of plants going, 10 or 10000 makes no difference to me :)

 

[LBZ Farmer]

Best thing you can do is.... A test run!

Go buy just one of everything you will be buying in mass. One table, one light, and so on...

Grow 8 plants in soil, which is easiest, and at the same time your first grow it will be hard. Easy to grow mind you but hard because you are going to get some fairly bad results compared to where you will be in your next grow. You will learn hopefully how much nutrients is too much, what pests look like and how to kill them quick, what overwatering looks like. Deficiencies... TRIMMING

ONE STRAIN I can't stress enough. Buy some really good seeds or get a really good clone from a trusted friend. Grow that one strain till it is perfect! Otherwise you will be chasing your tail between each grow, one strain likes this but hates that...


Search through this forum... Take note on some large scale grows with all the technology and money and everything money could buy... Take note at the total failure of new farmers going big! On the successful grows look at how long they have been at it!

 

[treehugger]

Any experience at all with things not automated? Cause if you think you can tackle a big grow, with a manual and a wrench you're destined to follow most new growers to the sidelines.
Plants are living things, with needs, desires, moods, and sickness's that those without empathy just cannot fit into an equation, like money and machines.

 

[Frank_Castle]

LBZ Farmer - that is some solid advice! Good post.

I can't find the 'Like' button anywhere....

 

[Project .X.]

Any experience at all with things not automated? Cause if you think you can tackle a big grow, with a manual and a wrench you're destined to follow most new growers to the sidelines.
Plants are living things, with needs, desires, moods, and sickness's that those without empathy just cannot fit into an equation, like money and machines.

I have experience of needs, moods and sickness mostly throught women though.

 

[Texas Kid]

Your trying to run a marathon before you even have track shoes...

Start small, 4k and some plants and see if you can even grow first. I would probably get 1-1k light and 1 - 4x4 ebb&flo table first and see whats up. If you are ultimately goin to run hydro i would play with a waterfarm setup or a simple flood and drain setup just to figure out what a plant does.

Grotronix and the like are super nice but in my experience only very very seasoned growers are even able to use them effectively, you really have to know what your doin with these..knowing your plants is way more important.

Hydro sog is crazy and a pain in the ass no fun at all

Scaling up to a big space is tricky, even for the best of them

Tex

 

[ProdigyGrower]

If u want to run I hydro I would start with the simplest form and run pure coco ts fool proof damn near impossible to over water and you will achieve amazing results! I would start from seed so you get the feel of taking care of plants remeber genetics are 80% of your grow trust me if you start with shit genetics it doesnt matter if you have a green fist your still just gonna grow good junk! Like others have said I would start with a manual system hand watering so you spend as much time with your girls as possible the more you build a relation ship with your plants the Easyer it will be to tell what they need when they need it\ reading your plants and I deff agree start small I started with 4k and it was a hand full so I wouldn't go bigger than that read as much as you can on here, there is a lot of good info on YouTube you just have to sift though the bull shit more plants isn't always the answer I have found that lower plant number with bigger bushes will give you the same if not a better yield. Shit you joined the farm witch has the best grower's in the world on it so just ask questions and read as long as you love this plant and are passionate about what you do you should be fine I hope it all works out for you keep us informed stay up peace !!

 

[Project .X.]

My posts have to be moderated as I answer back so the threads taking a bit of a diversion into the form I was afraid of, and that you guys think I'm some idiot who thinks he can run before he crawls.

You can see now if you look back I'm not trying to fill a 6000 sq ft building of chronic and expect it to all go fine as if by magic.

I know you cannot step up to something on this level without experience and hardwork.

All I'd like to have is some advice on what method you would pick if you had a large space, no plant # limit, large funds and one years experience and 2 x workers.

I'm planning on killing and maiming many plants in the next 12 months so I can learn as much as I can about growing before starting this endevour for real. But I'm the kind of person who likes to have a plan and with this knowledge I can tailor my 'apprenticeship' over the next year to get the most out of the method I will finally employ.

I do appreciate all the help and very much respect the opinion of you guys, I have looked at most of your grows and read alot of your posts so thanks again.

 

[LBZ Farmer]

ALSO, Buy all of your emergency ingredients ahead of time.

Never fails, you need to kill spider mites after the Hydro store is closed. Basically if you find bugs, you have to handle it like the US going into IRAQ the first time... OVERKILL! If you have to wait through the weekend You will be WAY BEHIND.

If It were me this is what I would do.

Buy the following:

4x4 tent (Use it for Drying later)
4x4 flood and drain table wis res. pumps (easiest hydro)
Pick one Nutrient Company (I like organic since you don't ph, like General Organics)
Don't fall into the trap of adding any beneficials the first grow. (waste of money until you can appreciate the differences)
Sunshine Mix 4 is great for flood and drain
3 or 5 gallon Smart Pots 8ea for the win
Fans
Carbon Filtration, you may as well go overkill if you know you are going to go big soon.
Water filtration, go big for the same reason as above.

Whichever way you go, don't cheap out only to buy what you want next month and waste the money on cheaper stuff.


Find a good source for 8 clones of the same stain, I would avoid OG Kush or any stretchy plants. Also you will want a fast flowing strain, trust me you will want your first harvest FAST! I recommend Skunk or grape ape. FAST AND BIG YEILDS plus they are forgiving.


At least you are asking questions, but most people still make the EXACT SAME ROOKIE MISTAKES. Just look through the Infirmary thread. All the threads are asking the same questions over and over again, even though they knew ahead of time in most cases.

 

[motherlode]

if you really have the time and money to cover bills for a year and want to go for it I would go a 4 light room - maybe some rockwool ebb flow or even simpler coco top drip or hand water

4 lights 2 - 4 x 8 trays and one strain per table - do some research though so you get them to finish the same time

assuming its a commercial space you can build more and/or larger rooms later and use the first room for veg, moms clones etc

you can start to build the next room while that one is going

im gonna tell you man partnerships are tough - I have seen it over and over where best friends end up hating each other - so make sure you guys are communicating problems and issues and are in 100% agreement about sharing the work load

 

[Texas Kid]

I have 16 years experience and a 6000sq.ft. space takes every ounce of that experience to make it run like the lightning. In your first year, I would guess you will flip two maybe three flower rooms max and that is goin to be real low on the experiece ladder to ramp up to fast.

I always like when people ask for advice and then get discouraged by the honest answers givin...

There are really a couple of thresholds IMO and they all have to do with your ability to control the enviroment and keep it optimal as you add more lights. Usually 1-4k is a good starting point for anyone, whether your growin for yourself or to blow out commercially, especially if this is your first grow. Once that is mastered, start addin additional lights gradually and see if you can still maintain the enviromental controll your goin to need ie. air temp, humidity, air flow, air turnover, etc..

There is a huge difference between 4k and 10k and 20k, it will shock you, it doesn't just scale up and get easier, its alot of work and livin in a grow room for a bit to make sure it is all clickin

Automation is nice but you have to know how to do it manually and by feel before those devices will even make since to you.

6000 ft hmmm, I would frame in (6-10) 20x20x10 sealed rooms with approx 12k per flower room and a mix of mh and t5 in the veg/mother area. You need a ton(12000btu for about every 4-5k worth of lights) so I would probably run 3ton mini splits for a/c and dehumidifying. Can150's and maxfan2500's in each room, probably run a MLC24 and devide those between two rooms to run the 12k per, probably run UC evolution12 site buckets in each flower room with a 600gallon top off res betweeen all the flower room sets, centralize all the reses, chillers, and nute mix station to feed all from the main center. Might need foggers or real high capacity humidifiers to keep the rh up and more than likely your goin to want a complete r/o setup to scrub all the water. At least that is kinda what i did...

It ends up being a $100k+ real quick though when you figure each 10x10 flower room will run you about $10k to setup not including contruction cost

Partners in this game suck, hands down, everytime, no exceptions, someone is gettin screwed and it is usually you..

Tex

 

[SSC]

Ok here is my suggestion. I started another thread about this on the LED side. If you want to save alot of money upfront such as a/c, ballast, fans, ducting, electrical panel upgrades and wiring. Plus your monthly expense then I would look into real good LED lights. I have done alot of homework on LED and I have found this one called Solaro Sun Clone seems to be the best. This is my opinion. I have a buddy trying one and I will be getting some too. There are pics on my thread. I also heard that commercial growers in California (California Cartel) Is interested is this light also!! This is just my 2 cents. I hope it helps you out. You can find that light here. www.improvedled.com Good luck!!

 

[motherlode]

ledgirl lives

yeah you should totally fill your 6000 foot commercial grow with leds because you will save so much upfront money


how about you quit spamming your led light website in every damn thread - its getting old

 

[SSC]

yeah you should totally fill your 6000 foot commercial grow with leds because you will save so much upfront money


how about you quit spamming your led light website in every damn thread - its getting old

Wow calm down dude! First off its not MY light!!! I am just letting peps know about a bad ass light that I found out about and letting peps know about it. That way if they are tired of these other BS LED lights out there. If you dont believe in LED lights you can just come out and say it! And by the way, you must not be looking at the BIG picture of outfitting a grow room of HPS vs LED in cost. And monthly cost would be WAY less with LED PERIOD!!! BOZO..

 

[motherlode]

ledgirl

this isnt an LED thread and he didnt ask about LED lights

he asked about setting up a commercial grow

your spamming threads - pretty simple

 

[Project .X.]

That was a blatant hijack attempt ledgirl, at no point did anybody mention anything about led lights.

Thanks to all the rest of you guys, some helpful stuff there and good points made.

Alot of you experienced guys seem to love UC, is that because you can still get a comparable yield to SOG hydro while keeping your plant count low?

 

[Texas Kid]

You don't get anywhere near the results compared to SOG, SOG sucks!!IMO not sure where you got the idea that sog was viable anywhere else but a closet but UC blows that away 10 times over, no comparrison at all.

Sorry if I ruffle any feathers but SOG is a silly way to grow, believe me, I have done it inside and out and it is just a total waste.

Tex