First time grower and first major grow op

[CannaRebel]

Hello there everybody, I'm new here and new to the cannabis growing practice entirely, meaning I have never grown a crop before. But for the last few months I have been silently reading up on this forum and on everything I can get my hands on.

Initially I wanted to design and construct a grow box, for no more than a few auto-flowering plants growing under CFLs...these plans got stalled and shot down when i started at my new job, but I used the time to gain more knowledge on the subject.

And to put it simply, the more I read, the more I wanted to ditch the small box and go all in...


Here we go...

The Plan:
To grow as much cannabis as possible with the following means and equipment available.

The Vision:
Blurry.

The Setting:
Backdropped in a "developing" country with lousy infrastructure and not so friendly attitude towards growers...oh not to mention the lack of grow/hydro stores.

Location
Single room in a rented flat, Indoor.

Medium:
Soil.

Equipment

• 4 x Good quality reflectors.
  
• 5 x 600W HPS/MH Ballasts.
  
• 3 x HPS Philips SON-T PIA+ 600W Flowering.
  
• 6 x 600w Powerplant Super MH Retro Bulb.
  
• 2 x MH Philips Master HPI-T Plus 400W (Anyone got any experience with those? what's your take?).
  
• More assorted HPS and MH 600W Bulbs and 2 x Phillips 1000w Son T Pia Plus Hps Bulbs - that I don't think I'm going to run due to their high energy consumption and limited amperage available.
  
• 6 x Analogic Timers LEGRAND Omnirex.
  
• 1 x Air cooled light kit with 600W HPS Philips SON-T PIA, CoolTube, 600W Ballast, extractor/intractor PK 230/360m3 diam. 125mm.
  
• 100m - Diffusion Foil diamond Mylar.
  
• 100m Black White reflective Mylar sheeting 125m.
  
• Humidifier HR-50 + Humidistat ( complete kit ).
  
• 190L/day Reverse Osmosis Filter (The water where the flat is comes at 7.8 PH and around 400PPM of random crap in it....This won't do for my babies.
  
• 1 x Extracteur/Intracteur RVK 125 A1 225m3/h.
  
• 1 x Activated Carbon filter 360 m2 dia. 125mm.
  
• 1 x Waterproof EC tester - Milwaukee.
  
• 1 x Brand name 12000BTU Air conditioner.
  
• 1x Essentials Digital PH Meter, waterproof, heat compensation, auto-calibration.
  
• Fertometer - measures PPM content of a wide range of elements in the soil.
  
• 2 x Digital Thermo / Hygrometers.
  

Nutrients
I am still in the process of deciding on what nutrients to use, but what I'm aiming for is combination of nutrients to really put the plants in overdrive, I want to develop root mass, enhance vegetation, allow the plants to get more nutes, and really pack a punch to flowering.

Luckily I have good access to Advanced Nutrients products,but I'm a bit lost with them they have so many products, so if you have been using AN and or have experience or have been successful with them, don;t hesitate to give me the lowdown

Another question is how much will I need for say....40 - 50 plants?
********************************************************

Setup
I intend to build a grow-room within a room, I'm thinking if completely stripping the room down, make sure it's completely sealed off from the outside world and within that room build a large wooden frame supported grow-room completely enclosed on the inside with Mylar (yup, even the ceiling)

The AC in the "Mother" room will ensure that a constant intake of fresh and dry air (High relative humidity is a big issue where I am) goes into the room through passive light-proofed intakes. The air from inside will be directly exhausted outside of the facilities through the carbon filter and will not be allowed to mix in with the air from the Mother room. A dehumidifier will be additionally installed in the grow room to try and keep the RH as close to optimal as possible. The Dehumidifier along with the AC will also play vital roles during the drying process.

The grow-room will be illuminated by 5 light arrays, 2 of which are air-cooled and all will be outfitted with 600 Watt HPS or MH bulbs depending on growth cycle. Ballasts will be secured on non-flammable and heat resistant surfaces, well away from any liquids.

This is where I can ask a question that has been puzzling me a lot: how many plants can you fit under 5 600W arrays? It probably depends on the strain, well here are the seeds I have also ordered:

• 4 x 5 Apolo Jack Feminised.
• 8 x 5 White Widow Feminised.
• 6 x 5 WW crossed with Big Bud Feminised
• 4 x 10 Great White shark Feminised
• 1 x 5 White Dwarf (This is what I'll smoke while I wait for the rest of the crops )
• About another 30 random assorted seeds I got for free, some Blueberry in there too.

I'm thinking of planting 10 Apolo Jack, 10 WW, 15 White Sharks, some blueberry and the Dwarfs. Will they grow happily together or will that give me problems in the long terms (diff requirements?)


Well guys, This is it for now I just wanted to present my idea, more info coming soon, and pics too as my parcels start getting here

Tell me your thoughts for now? Any comments? suggestions? what would you do's ?

Cheers all and keep ripping!

 

[CannaRebel]

Re: First time grower and first major grow op ¬,¬

Nobody wants to go first eh?

Well, I'll post more info and details once I'm back home, cheers!

 

[RandyL]

Re: First time grower and first major grow op ¬,¬

You said "flat", so I assume you're in Britian / England.

Looks like a good list of stuff so far.

 

[CannaRebel]

Re: First time grower and first major grow op ¬,¬

Hello RandyL and thanks for stopping by

I didn't pay much attention on my choice of words, I'm not currently living in Britain, through I spent a few years there I guess it shows from my vocab.

I think I "might have" gotten more equipment than needed, for example the 200 meters of Mylar (that's enough to cover the walls on the whole flat/apartment) and a lot of extra lights, more than 13 bulbs (kinda got lost, they may be even more, I can't keep track of all my invoices)

I think that the exhausting / air treatment setup I have might be shabby and insufficient, I calculated that my total CFM capacity at the moment is 132.43 cubic feet per minute. Will this be enough for say 40 plants?

One thing I haven't ordered so far are the nutrients, like I said I would want to use Advanced Nutrients, but I'm still at a loss as to what to get, I already acquainted myself with their products but still can't seem to make a choice, here is my dilema:

Shall I go for: Voodoo Juice + Sensi Grow A/B + Sensi Bloom A/B + Maybe one more product like Final Phase or Overdrive? Big Bud? Bud Candy? I don't know, what would you guys recommend? I'm not going to go organic but at the same time I want to obtain high quality smoke with the least possible "contaminants", also yield increase is a very important factor me.



Cheers all and thanks for stopping by

 

[CannaRebel]

Thanks for the input Smoker420!

I'm thinking of growing no more than 30 plants under 5 600Watts, and I was thinking of vegging them for 4 weeks at least, after than another 4 or 5 weeks for flowering. (The more it vegs, the more capacity the plants will have once they go into flowering, hence more bud, amiright?

As for nutes, I'll stick just to Voodoo Juice, Big Bud, B52 and Overdrive, that or Sensi Grow AB and Sensi Bloom AB, along with VJ for the roots. It all depends on what I find easier, faster and cheaper to ship to where I am

I'm going to build a DIY carbon filter from a 30 gallon buckit, hook it up to strong inline exhaust fan through ducting and exhaust the air directly outside the flat, to supplement my inadequate current exhausting/filtering capacity.

I will be getting more fresh air into the grow room through a light box with a fan blowing over it I think, the outside air (where the grow room is housed) will be constantly circulated by an air conditioner, fresh air will com into this compartment through a small open window.....

damn it all starts to sound a bit more complicated as it is...once the parts are in and I know exactly what I have at hand I will sit down and rethink it through better.

 

[Chronik_smoka]

hey just saw your thread, wanted to drop in because I am using mostly advanced nutrients and I haveto say that anyone thinking about giving them a try really, go for it, stop wasting time thinking about it! especially their additives, overdrive, big bud and bud igniter are all excellent products. the best products i think they have are for sure the piranha, tarantula, and voodoo juice. after starting to use these root zone products along with hi-brix molassas, botanicare sweet, and bud candy as a food source for them and the plant the root mass is the nicest and thickest mat of white-as-paper roots covered in fuzzy hairs and after a while the soil becomes bound together with the piranah fungus strains. I dont use the sensi or grow micro bloom, I use the iguana juice grow and bloom and also botanicare bloom. I have seen enhanced growth in veg, lush green leaves and nice robust stalks, in flower, because the roots are just A+++ the plants go into flower as fast as genetically possible and they are going hardcore into making flowers the whole time, hit em with the overdrive in week 4-1/2 and the "mid crop slump" or slow in new calyx growth goes away and the plants resume vigorous bud production for another week and a half before the final phase shuts them down. it works just like it says just sit back, use everything at HALF strength SERIOUS ON THAT and watch the buds grow before your eyes.

some of the advanced stuff like bud ignitor will BURN and synthetics will usually burn too, never used them so i cant comment always grown with organic base nutes. anything by botanicare is a safe bet too, just be careful mixing different nutrient lines you can over do one thing easily while underlooking something else.

hope this helps happy growing!

 

[GodSpeed]

hi rebel exciting thread you got here are you going to be making a journal to follow i will be front row

Have you though about how you might give the plants more co2 ?
Also how are you going to control night time temps to reduce any stretch?

Good luck

 

[foxfarmguyZ]

pictures !!

 

[CannaRebel]

Howdy folks, sorry for the scarce replies, I just came back from another work related trip

Godspeed: Well, I think for a first time grow I would try and not to venture into CO2 equipment, although I do want to give them some CO2 through foillar feeding, I'm thinking cans of soda (carbonated fizzy water) sprayed right on the leaves on a daily basis just a few minutes before lights go off, is that a good idea? I looked into another Sugar+water+yeast alternative, and I think i might install two or three 20 liter buckets with that concoction sealed with a lid and with tubes coming out on top of the plants.

"Also how are you going to control night time temps to reduce any stretch? " I didn't quite understand this part mate, I know plants stretch when the lights are too far from the top of the plants, be sure I intend to be adjusting the height of the lights to reduce stretch, but I don't know what you mean by night time stretch, at any rate, The AC is gona be there to keep temps down all the time

ChroniK_Smoka: thanks for the input on the nutes mate, I'm gona stick with beginner level stuff for now

FoxFarmguyz: Pics are coming, along with the journal once I have all the materials assembled

cheers and thank you all

 

[TorturedSoul]

"Developing country" as in 3rd-worlder? You have a powerline conditioner and a good generator?

How are the laws there? If you get caught, are you going to end up in a box?

 

[CannaRebel]

To just give you a digest of the atmosphere where this is all going down:

My DHL package was seized and confiscated by the customs office.... apparently nothing organic can go through especially seeds....thank god they have their heads too far up their collective a**es to know what those where

If I get busted, it's gona be time in the slammer for growing with the intent of selling, or 7 years...But I wouldn't be planing to do all of that without some guarantee to my safety, *wink*wink*...well that and I'm also going to be extra careful and all.

electricity isn't on 24/7, but we have a generator where we're gona be, usually when the power goes out, it takes for a minute or two until the backup power comes on, keeping this in mind when planing the light cycles.