West Michigan RDWC Greenhouse

What's up y'all? Haven't been active on here for a while but decided to come here for a little information and feedback from some people because one brain is better than one and id like to figure out a lot of solutions to the problems i'm going to run into before i run into them...

So here we go. I plan to veg plants indoors in an RDWC system i have set up for 6-8 wks and move them into a light deprivation RDWC greenhouse (more on this below) to finish out the flowering cycle (~2mo's). I plan on putting them in the GH starting may 1st, so i'll most likely need a propane heater for the nights, which is fine. Hoping to get 3 full rounds done by around nov 1, or later sun permitting. Basically, always vegging for 6-8 wks indoors and moving outdoors for the 2 mo flowering cycle. So hypothetically, start vegging 1st round march 1st and put them in the GH ~may 1st. May 1st i'll begin vegging round 2 indoors. When round 1 is done around July 1st, move my round 2 from inside, out to the GH. Again, right around then, begin vegging my 3rd run and when the 2nd round GH is done around sept 1, move those from inside to the GH for the final round. I am in the northern states so i have heard my last round might not be that great and may take longer to finish because of the dwindling sun. Would like to hear some first hand experience on trying to squeeze these 3 rounds in, and how feasible it is.

I plan to do 3 separate 12 site RDWC, this way if one craps out and I have issues, it's hopefully not all of them. Around 8' plant centers and have the rows spaced around 8-10' apart. So basically a 24-30' wide X ~96' long. One question is do you think i need more or less space if I'm only vegging for 2mo's at the most? I've been doing RDWC for a while and know they grow FAST in veg, so i feel like i'm allotting enough room. On the RDWC i plan to bury a 1' pvc return line just below frost line where soil temperatures stay constant around 54-56 degrees. I believe running water through ~90' of pvc cooled to around 54 degrees because of the soil surrounding it should help keep my waters temps down. I also plan to buy that reflective 4x8' foam insulation to place over top of the 13gal buckets to reflect the light from the sun off them in hopes to keep them cooler. My other big concern is keeping humidity down in the GH, i do plan to buy a few of those special dehumidifiers for GH's, any suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated (what did you use? was it enough? Do you this there'd be less humidity with RDWC because light isn't hitting the soil causing evaporation? Suggestions on cheap flooring options that promote drier conditions? I was thinking of just kinda leveling the ground and have some gravel dump'd and spread around to improve drainage and whatnot. I do have plans to do Powdery Mold resistant strains like Ace of Spades and Qrazy Train, so i should be in the clear, but i know nothing beats keeping the humidity down to ensure no problems. I will run a water chiller if I start to see water temps getting above 70. I plan to hang wire in a row of 4 or 5 all the way down the GH as a frame for pulling the light Dep cover over the babes at the appropriate times of the day (suggestions on what times would be best for the northern states, please and thank you).

Temperature issues: Do you think being in the north am i likely to be ok without any a/c? Again, input from other Michiganders would be great. Should i be fine with just venting, and do i need a special screen over my venting to avoid bugs? Or should i just do a spray?

So this is all i can think to ask right now, but i know i'm missing some questions which i'll add as they come to me. Any and all suggestions are welcome. I know i'm leaving out a fair amount of info. I know my 3rd round might not finish in the 2 mo's I'm allotting because of the lack of light, but how realistic is it to finish the first 2 within the 2 mo's I'm allotting?
Much Love,
Skitown

Wow ! You have alot of questions mixed in with comments , i'd like to help answer as many questions as i can but the way your post is wrote its hard to answer them all , try making another post in this thread with questions seperated & defined .

Kinda like this .

1 What can i do to lower humidity ?

2 Will i be able to get 3 grows in time ?

Threads with questions outlined & defined tend to get more responses .

What i can tell you about using Geothermal lines to cool your rez will work , in my last grow i used a commercial building i owned & ran 8 different 55 gallon rez's .

I used a diamond tip cement blade & cut the concrete flooring out & dug out the earth in the holes , i put each rez in the holes with 4 inches above ground so shit off the floor couldnt get inside while rez was open , i backfilled around each rez with sand so no rocks came in contact with the rez , i compacted the sand & filled the floor back in with fresh cement surrounding each rez .

In the hottest summer months rez temps get up to 62 degrees & in the coldest winter months temps have got as low as 50 degrees which is too cold , i use aquarium heaters in the rez's for about 2 months a year , the remaining 10 months temps are perfect .

Im in Bloomfield Hills Mich .

Even with straight up 8 week strains, I would allow for a couple extra weeks. Do you get consistent direct sun during the "off" seasons? If it's at all questionable, most likely you'll be getting buds that aren't very dense. You still have to pull in fresh air and that air is going to be humid, plastic on the floor will help prevent wicking moisture in. Always allow for extra space, you'll use it. My full seasons get 10 foot by 10foot at least, but that is veggin outside.

I screwed up one of my first outdoor grows and they started flowering in mid may. What happened was they spent a few weeks flowering, spent a few more being weird/revegging and I ended up losing out on a large chunk of my outdoor veg time. Those days getting longer and longer might do that in early summer. As far as temps go, if you can't/don't want to take off the cover, rolling up the sides and opening the ends help alot especially if you know which way prevailing winds flow.

Thanks for the suggestions panhead, i'll edit post sometime this wknd and outline the questions for easier answers from people.
Panhead, what do you use for geothermal lines? PVC? I plan to have the typical undercurrent setup, where all your buckets are the same size (13 gal) and connected by pvc all at ground level. Not really planning on burying any res's but rather burying the return line that dumps back into the main bucket that I add my nutes to. Also, what did you use for 55 gal res? and was that connected to an UC system by pvc, or???? Were you pumping water from the buried 55 gal res' into the system using a pump and pumping water out of the system into the 55 gal res? Just trying to get a better picture in my head.

CalicoCalyx, do you think i'd be better off just doing two good GH's pulls from may 1st-sept 15ish and not even bothering trying to move that last (3rd) one to the GH, since the sun is probably best during this time. or should i Just leave the 3rd one in my garage to harvest indoors? MY GH will have mostly direct sun, i have a nice south facing property.
I do plan to be there every day to do the cover so i don't think i'm gonna have to deal with the weird re-vegging issue you ran into. I plan to have the 6' sidewalls and hopefully be able to vent from the sidewalls and the end walls. Ill most likely have fans at both end walls to ensure proper airflow throughout.

Yeah I would try for 2 cycles in the greenhouse, maybe. People out here in oregon, which is similar to you usually do a full season run and a light dep. I have seen people try for a third cycle in a greenhouse in October and November in Mendo, which by and large is hotter and sunnier than either of us, and no one liked the results. If you can light dep a greenhouse and keep flowering that sounds good, and for the other one start pulling tarps around mid july and you can stop pulling tarps by mid august. That plastic keeps water out as much as in.

For what it's worth I did 12-8 gal buckets 5' apart in a rdwc with NO water chiller and still had a decent run. Water temps in the buckets were easily into the high 80's and low 90's on the very hot days. Didn't have bacteria problems because of running hydro guard by botanicare I'd assume. Also I think they were drinking the water fast enough where there really wasn't much time for the bad bacteria to grow before the plants took the water up.
All in all, a success and plan to do it again. Next time with water chillers and reflective insulation around buckets.