20,000 Watt Medical Grow Op Construction

collective gardener said:

That stuff doesn't look at all like the SC. I think I'll stick to the SC that you can get. I KNOW it works. Your PM inbox is full.

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Wolverine97 said:

Yeah we have pretty tight limits too. I should've added that I don't actually run all of those at any given time. Usually around 6 at a time, the rest are kept as mothers in the meantime. Starting from seed is tough to keep within the limits, but ya gotta do it. I try to keep everything completely within the law, occasionally one gets by me but overall I'm pretty good about being well below my numbers.

I really like the Blueberry, but what I've found with mine is that it doesn't produce "A" grade buds throughout the plant. Mainly just the top colas, so I end up just growing that one for my stash and give the B grade away. I've kept it around for a while because I really like the buzz and the smell/flavor combo is awesome. It (mine anyhow) grows rock hard buds, but can be very finicky if you don't keep her just so. I still mess with her though, so yeah...

Casey came from a friend, a very unhealthy cut that I nearly tossed. Very glad I didn't, it's my favorite smoke. It's around out here if you know where to look. Oh, and I've pretty much resigned myself to 10 week cycles, it just works better. I even have a couple that go 12...

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Wolverine97 said:

Ok, it's halftime so here goes: I'll keep the explanation fairly simple, but if you have any specific questions or want clarification just ask. I don't want this to turn into a complete thread derailment though, so keep that in mind please.

I run a custom soil mix, strictly organic (though I'm not hung up on OMRI cert., natural is good enough for me). I'm going to keep this post focused on one room, my old room since I still maintain that space and think it's more applicable to average home growers. I'll start with the room particulars, then get into the equipment I use, ventilation, environment, then I'll get into the soil, containers etc. Finally I'll cover the strains I run. Again, any questions feel free to ask. I just ask that it doesn't get too tedious and off topic.

My overall old space is 5'x15'x7', which is divided into three areas; 5x5 budroom, 7.5x5 "lung room", and 2x5 cloning/veg area. I built 2x4 partition walls to separate the spaces and used panda film to light proof them. The bud room has a zipper door, the veg is done with a roll up velcro door. Both grow spaces are vented into the lung room, which is vented through a carbon filter into the basement area. Temps stay in the high 70's to low 80's with lights on, humidity varies with season but is controlled with a dehumidifier when necessary. I try to keep it around 50-55%.

I supplement co2 with regulator and solenoid valve on a short range repeat timer, and keep levels around 800-1000ppm. This allows me to work with the temps in the low 80's in summer months. I do waste a lot of co2 with this setup, but I don't care.

For veg, I run the lights 18/6 and generally veg them for around a month. Starting in 5" square pots and moving to 1 gal bags. From there they're transplanted into 5 gal smart pots about a week prior to flowering, at which time they're also pruned or supercropped depending on strain and plant structure and my general mood at the time. In this space, I would have to take my clones during the second week of flower for the timing to work (I've since changed that, but needed more space to do so). They'd have to acclimate in the budroom for a week after final transplant prior to 12/12. Not ideal, but it works.

Once acclimated, they are generally ready to start training to the SCROG (6" hort trellis). The first few weeks of flower are a lot of work, you have to stay on top of the training or you get canopy issues. No bueno. I just try to maintain an very even canopy, with no wasted space. Ok, let me back up...

The budroom is 5x5 as I said, in it I run only 1-1kw hortilux in a CAP XXXtreme6 reflector. This reflector spreads the light very well, allowing me to use only the 1kw in the 5x5 (which CG will propably harrumph about...). It is on the light side as far as watts per foot go, but it works for me. I think this is what really allows me to get such high gpw #'s. I generally run 9 plants in that space, and train them heavily. Maintaining the plants is kind of a bitch in that room though, you have to be flexible just to hand water. I lolipop the plants a few days after I take clones. I don't want any growth that doesn't get light, because it will die and lead to rot. And larf, we do not like larf.

As I said before, I run a custom soil mix in 5 gal smart pots. My base for the soil mix is now 40/40/10/10 coco coir, peat, EWC, forest humus, I then cut that by 25% with #4 perlite and add my amendment from there. This mix requires a lot of watering during peak flower, I mean daily. The soil is true living organic soil, so you need to maintain some moisture and not let it go bone dry. I supplement the soil with General Organics and a few other booster products as needed. I harvest heavy, healthy plants packed with glands. All of my trim is still green (usually).

That's about it in a nutshell, but there's a lot of subtle things that go along with it, but I could type for hours about that.... and I don't have that kind of time.

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collective gardener said:

Here's some long overdue pics. Nothing too bitchen:

View attachment 1943573View attachment 1943574View attachment 1943574View attachment 1943574View attachment 1943586View attachment 1943588View attachment 1943589

I really don't like this new uploader. As you can see, we have some duplicates. Very sorry.

The Tahoe x Chemdawgs are the ones in tomatoe cages. The plant reminds me of an imbred royal family member. It's been cross bred so many times, it's now some freak that would never survive in nature. Without support the entire plant will collapse at week 6.

The D-Bub, which are the tall healthy plants in the background of pic 6 are the real heros. There's 25 plants on an 8x8 tray that are just rocking the house. Every plant is without blemish. On the last crop 3 plants yields 18ozs! Granted, they were big...but still. They take about 9.5 weeks to finish up. The old Bubs take about 7.5 weeks.

The 3 duplicate pics are of a flushed plant just harvested. This is the regular Pre-98 Bubster. It will yield around 2 ozs. This plant has gone 15 days with no nutrients whatsoever.

Wolverine, Thanks for the rundown on your system. I'm not going to give you much shit about the watts/sq ft. Obviously it works for you. I plan on upgrading my reflectors to some Mag XXX size monsters. The more grows I see running those the more I'm convinced they are the way to go. My friend uses a tiny budget reflector and his canopy has a super hot spot in the middle, and poor light on the outside edges. My reflectors are "middle of the road". Now that the basics are in place and working, it's time to start in on the details.

On the Undercurrent system: It's great, but not for me. I believe that if one wanted to use that type of system on a large commercial grow, it would be best to runs several isolated systems. Two 1000 watt lights per system would be nice. While it would be more efficient to run one huge system, it's just not safe. If something goes wrong...bla bla bla...you all know what I mean.

I'll take some better pics now that I have a new camera. We'll get this thing going again.

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Bird Gymnastics said:

Perfect flush on that beauty. Temps running a little cool in there or is that just the pheno turning purple? Also I must of not been paying attention but what are the benefits of running rock wool on top of bigger rock wool? And last but not least ( sorry for so many questions) how often do you water? From my experience, rock wool stays pretty wet compared to a full soil medium... please enlighhten me. I love learning from anyone willing to share.

On another note, they all look amazing! Looks like the perpetual is running almost perfect this time of year!

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Fnominon said:

I think I might try out the Blueberry if I get a proven cut, but I don't think I will go through the seed process. I know what you mean with the 10 week cycles, but right now I have a pheno of shipwreck that tends to go hermi if I let it go into week 9, the Widow likes it I got one plant I left just to see what it looks like in weak 9, but she is between two rows not under a light right now. I would be willing to try starting a casey jones from seeds does anyone out there have a recommend source? I tried searching a few of the banks I have bought through in the past, but they either didn't have them or were sold out.

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Wolverine97 said:

I should also add that I use Super Spreader's as well. they help eliminate the hot spot. The downside is penetration, there isn't a whole lot. It's great for spreading the light around, but if your canopy is deeper than 12-18" you may be better off going with Blockbusters (that's what I use in my new room).

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kamie said:

Hey cg,
Where did you get your drying shed at? All you did was cut a 6 in. Opening for for the max fan connected to the carbon filter? Do you have an osculating fan inside it too?

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AndyK said:

You can buy GDP seeds but that doesn't mean they are the original plant. Here in cali every single dispensary has the exact same cut of gdp.

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collective gardener said:

As the mag get flushed out the Pre 98 leaves tend a little purple. Temps are no lower than 60 at night and hit 78 everyday.
One rockwool block on top another is what Grodan suggests. It's really quite easy. We start with 1" rockwool plugs for rooting cuts. Once rooted the plug goes into a 4" block. I like to keep em in the 4" block until watering is required more than once every 24hrs...then go on top of a 6" Hugo Block. Depending on how big the plant is when it goes into bloom I may or may not put the 6" block into a 2 gallon pot on top of a mix og 50/50 rrockwool croutons and #4 perlte.

Yes...rockwool can be a very wet medium. It's that property that alows a 44" bushy plant to be grown in a 6" block. A Hugo block holds just short of 1/2 gallon of water. The key is to shake excess water from block when the plants are small. I like to water every 24hrs. Sometimes I'll skip every other day when plants are small and aren't using alot of water. Basically, I always water every 24 hrs and size the medium to accomodate that watering schedule.

Hope this answers your questions. I really like growing in rockwool. It can be a tricky medium, though. Soaking new rockwool for 24hrs "cures" it and allows it to hold more water than an "un-cured" block. Sometimes I do not cure on purpose. A drier block is better when the plants are small and not sucking up the nutes. As the block gets watered day after day it becomes "cured" and will hold the large amounts of water needed for when the plant gets big.

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