20,000 Watt Medical Grow Op Construction

[collective gardener]

Aww that's so sad.. I wish you could still play in your garden. Why don't you take a day off on your birthday or something and run around your gardens doing silly things you wish you had time for. Like LST or pruning or tidying up. Whatever floats your boat. Maybe even grafting Hahaha. I always wondered why rockwool pissed me off. I barely did any of those things. I've since moved to peat pellets for cloning, which I like better anyways. But if I ever decide to go hydro, I might just do topfeed passive rockwool. I'm only scared of hydro because it's more time, more money, more electricity (hobby gardener), and way easier to get toxicity/deficiency. Soil is so passive and relaxing. + I'm more interested in going organic and maybe eventually veganic because I don't like accumulating bullshit chemicals from around the world. But I may do a tiny hydro project some day out of curiosity. Who knows maybe I'll like it best.

Thanks.

I still do enjoy my time in the grow. I just need to make sure that my time spent is beneficial to the grow. Unfortunately, grafting projects aren't high priority. As far as hydro and nute probs, Sunshine #4 and GH nutes are the most realiable combo for avoiding any nute problems. I don't currently use either, but all my grows start with that combo. This way we know there will be zero nute issues while we dial in the atmosphere. I've grow live soil organic extensively and believe hydro, in particular soiless, is way easier to control.

 

[collective gardener]

Once you go hydro you will never go back and you can do a organic hydro

Another blanket statement. I have gone hydro and reverted to organic and back. There is no "best" way. I have a friend who grows SFV Kush in live soil organic greenhouse/outdoor grow. Her yields are insane. She uses very large containers for the plant size and mixes her oiwn soil. Most of her feedings are top dressings. She's an older woman so by top dressing she can just water most of the time and top dress when she feels up to it. Even with such a loose feeding schedule the plants are the picture of health. In the winter she lets the greenhouse get cold at night late in bloom. This turns some of her strains to most insane purple you've ever seen. Almost black.

The point is, there's no room in growing for blanket statements. You should try live soil organic some time. I find the quality to be a little better with organics. A true grower has tried every growing tewchnique available. Only then can he make a decision on which is best for him.her.

 

[collective gardener]

Eh, not true organics.

You're godamn right, Wolverine. Years ago, I adopted the term "Live Soil Organics". This better explains the growing style that most refer to as simply "organic".

 

[Jovreef]

I got to page 97 before I commented so I don't know if you've figured out how to find critical patients yet, but have you thought about calling the Dr. you got the rec from or other Dr's that give out cards? Tell them your a collective and would like to be able to help anyone coming in with a terminal problem that cant afford it and let the Dr give them your info?

I would think the Dr's who give out the rec's would be the best resource for finding those needing the help.

BTW loved every bit of this thread and how you've kept it on track. Your purple ones make me super jealous! I'd give anything to find a purple sativa beauty like that, hell I'd even pose nude haha (I'm a model but don't do nudes, its not creepy, I'm not a man) Totally kidding! ... maybe.

Anyway, thanks again for showing us this great grow.

 

[TheLastWood]

Maybe ill try em out. Sounds exactly like how I grow now pretty much. Top feed (handwatered) coco.

I use 1 gal pots till flower then switch to 2 gal. Coco doesn't need big pots rly.

I really really love my coco, but if results are as good or better and its as easy to feed and water then why not.
I never flush my coco, I water till I get about 20% runoff always. And I feed water feed water so I don't really have salt buildup problems. Could the same thing be done with rockwool?

 

[collective gardener]

I got to page 97 before I commented so I don't know if you've figured out how to find critical patients yet, but have you thought about calling the Dr. you got the rec from or other Dr's that give out cards? Tell them your a collective and would like to be able to help anyone coming in with a terminal problem that cant afford it and let the Dr give them your info?

I would think the Dr's who give out the rec's would be the best resource for finding those needing the help.

BTW loved every bit of this thread and how you've kept it on track. Your purple ones make me super jealous! I'd give anything to find a purple sativa beauty like that, hell I'd even pose nude haha (I'm a model but don't do nudes, its not creepy, I'm not a man) Totally kidding! ... maybe.

Anyway, thanks again for showing us this great grow.

Jovreef,
That's a really good idea on finding needy patients. I wonder if there would be a confidentiality issue? Maybe the doc could just give select patients my info. I'll call my doc and ask him.

It's kind of wierd that we've had a hard time giving the shit away. I had a few people wanting me to give them the buds, so that they could get them to the needy folks. Shit. I was born at night...but not last night. I have been able to help some people out. As always, if anyone out there has new ideas on hoe I can safely distribute to people in REAL need, I'm all ears.

If you like the purple stuff, I'll post a pic of the darkest purple shit I ever grew. I'll post it now. Check a few posts down

 

[collective gardener]

A buddy gave me this cutting. He had no clue what it was. He grows it hydro indoors and gets some purple. I grew this one at a friends house outside in the middle of winter. I vegged it in my grow op and then put it in my friends backyard. Basically, I wanted to see if the cold nights would bring out some more purple. It did. It's 100% live soil organic. I did this because my friend is a granola head and she insists that all plants she cares for be organic. Anyways, if anyone has grown a more purple plant, I want to see it.

 

[Jovreef]

tease! Those pics are fantastic!

 

[drgreentm]

if anyone has grown a more purple plant, I want to see it.

not here buddy, beautiful colors on that one, nice one.

 

[Joedank]

sorry to hear about helper d,,... but fuck theives... fuck em rotten

 

[collective gardener]

Maybe ill try em out. Sounds exactly like how I grow now pretty much. Top feed (handwatered) coco.

I use 1 gal pots till flower then switch to 2 gal. Coco doesn't need big pots rly.

I really really love my coco, but if results are as good or better and its as easy to feed and water then why not.
I never flush my coco, I water till I get about 20% runoff always. And I feed water feed water so I don't really have salt buildup problems. Could the same thing be done with rockwool?

Your technique is very similar to ours. You could try rockwool and change nothing except the medium. Pick up a bag of rockwool croutons and try out a few plants. Just make sure the plants are well rooted in the 1 gallon before going into the 2, that the PH is between 5.5 and 6.2, and flush once per week. Rockwool needs flushing. You will find that you can grow a plant twice the size in rockwool as with coco in the same size container. A 6 x 6 x 6 rockwool block holds just under 1/2 gallon of water.

 

[collective gardener]

sorry to hear about helper d,,... but fuck theives... fuck em rotten

Yeah...I have a tender spot when it comes to getting ripped. In 1994 I grew 25+ lbs of Northern Lights #5 in my backyard. I had it all pre sold for 4k each. My cousin ripped it all off as it hung drying in the garage. My fucking cousin. I stopped growing for a few years after that.

Helper D and I are still cool. I actually lied to him and said that I don't think he took it. I want to keep everyone mellow. He's gotten another job already...not growing. I just told him it's time for us to take a break, and that maybe he can come back next year (that won't happen). I'm not worried about him doing something stupid at all. I'll be giving him some product every month as a "bonus for all his help in the settup". That's the price we must pay when we fire someone. Gotta keep them happy.

 

[Joedank]

cousin?? that is sad;( but i also felt the need the keep the wheels greased on a large op i did.... never again now i keep to my own with my lady. looks like your heading there to... i went from 300+llbs per year (in and out) with investors BIG headaches everyone knows best but does not want to show up so the "grower " gets the brunt of the load.... to 30-50lbs per year and no more headaches near the same money and NO trimmers to deal with!! caregiving is great but scale does matter

 

[hellraizer30]

Cg what did helper d do i must of miss it

 

[TheLastWood]

Yeah me too n I can't find the post anywhere.

That's sad.

U need help cg ill grab my purple plushberry n drive out there my life sux lol.

 

[collective gardener]

Cg what did helper d do i must of miss it

He had his hands in the cookie jar. I found out some buds were missing. We agreed it was time for him to go somewhere else. I still give him some work with my other business to keep the air cool.

 

[collective gardener]

cousin?? that is sad;( but i also felt the need the keep the wheels greased on a large op i did.... never again now i keep to my own with my lady. looks like your heading there to... i went from 300+llbs per year (in and out) with investors BIG headaches everyone knows best but does not want to show up so the "grower " gets the brunt of the load.... to 30-50lbs per year and no more headaches near the same money and NO trimmers to deal with!! caregiving is great but scale does matter

Yup, Joe. It's me and my wife for now. I still have 2 people who help with the trimming, but my wife and I were at the op till 11pm 2 days last week trimming. My expansion plans are on hold for now. We'll just get this op producing as much as possible. I'll probably move up my plans to seal the grow and add CO2 enrichment. Talked to my HVAC guy yesterday about a new ductless split A/C system.

 

[rosecitypapa]

Hey CG, have you experimented or witnessed the results with any industrial trimmers or the bonsai hero? Manual trimming always produces the best final product but I was wondering if the bonsai hero had a place in a quality oriented grow op.

 

[collective gardener]

Hey CG, have you experimented or witnessed the results with any industrial trimmers or the bonsai hero? Manual trimming always produces the best final product but I was wondering if the bonsai hero had a place in a quality oriented grow op.

I've seen most of the trimmers in action. Not the bonsai hero. We hand trim and will continue to do so. The dispensaries we deal with compliment us on our trim all the time. Even the most expensive units don't give you what human hands can. What is the bonsai hero?

 

[rosecitypapa]

I agree, the big units appear to really tumble the buds around. I was researching electric scissors and came across these two items:
First the Bonsai Hero in action.

and the other is a
Black and Decker cordless electric scissors.

It's a bit bulkier than the BH but at only $20 if getting some custom blades fabricated one would still come out ahead. I'm contemplating creating an electric one similar to BH but with a smaller blade similar to the trusty fiskars - something that allows one to get in tight and snug for those flush cuts.