Hi all,
I'm a noob medical grower for myself and another patient. I'll have to re-title my thread later when I decide exactly what methods, plants, etc I am using. Meanwhile, I'm going to post my thought processes to clarify the direction I am heading and to get feedback from you good folks.
I'm starting a new grow room, from scratch, and I'm a total noob. I'm a very careful planner and I like to think of different types of configurations and eventualities and would love to design a tight system, low maintenance, low(er) risk of mechanical breakdown room. I have a decent amount of money to throw at the design, but don't want to over-design or overspend unnecessarily.
I can grow 12 plants as a patient and grow 12 plants for each patient I care for (up to 5 patients). I can possess 2.5 oz usable medicine for myself and each of my patients. At the end of the month, I will be authorized to grow 24 plants total. I am thinking of starting with 4-6 clones that are ready to go into flowering.
My space is a room that is 8.75' X 7.5'. It also has a 2' x 4' closet (convert to vegging later, perhaps?) I plan to start with using clones to begin with as I get a few grows under my belt and then add in cloning to my skills down the road. So I've been contemplating all the different types of growing mediums, systems, and related topics as I put this rom all together. It's a bit daunting!!
As I am a new grower (inside at least), I'd really like to stay away from overly complex hydro and aeroponics systems. I have read that they really produce yields, but something about it doesn't seem natural. Seems like you can push a lot of nutes through the plants and artificially boost them to grow, but at what cost?
Being a medical grower/consumer I have questions/concerns about toxicity and the final quality of the medicine. I know soil can be messier, but I like the idea of good soil you don't have to fertilize if you start it out right (like Subsoil's (member here I believe) soil mix). He also provides for medical patients and says the quality and potency is much higher, while the yield is a bit less than hydro.
I would also like to go organic if possible and I'm looking at Nature's Nectar (www.organaponics.com - Web Site Temporarily Unavailable) as a product that is compatible with hydro, soil, coco or drip.
Liquid Organic Fertilizers and Plant Foods at Home Harvest Garden Supply
From what I can tell, it's organic and has separate bottles for NPK, quite simple. If I don't do subsoil's soil mix, this seems like a possible way to go. I'm a big all around organics user/consumer in general and like the concept and outcome of using organics, but am not absolutely set on it at this point. I'm open to trying nonorganic approaches while I learn the process and modifying to a more organic approach later, if necessary.
So, I'm leaning toward something like a soil or soilless medium, next question is what growing system to use? I'd like to do something more like Munki's ebb and flow system as it seems simple. An ebb and flow table might work a bit better for me, drainage wise (I need to ask Munki or read exactly how he does it, but it seems even he seems to think a table would benefit him).
If I did hydro, I was thinking about buckets like water farm or Power Grower systems as they can be combined or done separately for staggered grows/separate watering so that if you mess up the nutes on one you are not affecting the rest of the grow. But if you get a hang of the whole watering/nute thing you can hook them up together and use one reservoir to feed all the buckets.
Advanced Hydroponic Systems - Indoor gardening supplies
I'm also thinking that perhaps something like Global Buckets might work, as this is what can be used for tomatoes and other plants outdoors, basically, throw in the right amount of fertilizers and soil for the growing season, cover top, and have basically an automatic watering system that waters as the plants need it (just refill the reservoir). If you do something like Subsoil's mix, it appears you technically won't have to adjust nutes or ph.
I can also see myself using airpots and gravity fed watering.
My main theme right now is that I want to go more low tech (except for the LED lights which I really like) and prepare for things like no electricity (thus no pumps) and eventualities. Electricity outages are not a problem, but who knows? If I had a pump go out or an emitter clog up on me and the roots are just hanging out in solution for hours on end, that's not a good thing.
Hubby said he would set me up a battery back up system, so if I can find something that will run on that in case things go south for a few days, that would be ideal. He's even batting around the idea of putting up some solar panels for me (it's something he wants for another eventual project of his anyhow) so that we can supplement the power usage around here (it won't be a lot, but every bit helps).
Then another consideration is the strain and style to grow. It's my understanding that SOG is for more tall varieties and you are just harvesting the top colas primarily (correct me if I'm wrong). So SOG is more of a system for harvesting a lot of smaller plants at once. SCROG is supposed to be for more bush types and you are trying to get more side buds (right or wrong?) It seems like I read SOG (or was it SCROG in Munki's post) that seem to lends itself to the LEDs since they are better at top growing than side growing (altho popping in some CFLs probably would help for penetration of light).
I do not know how to LST or prune but am willing to learn. I want to use my space well and start out slowly so I'm not making big mistakes with lots of plants all at once. So that's why I was thinking 4-6 plants to start, one strain only, and commit to 3 grows.
Re strains: I am leaning towards a sativa/indica hybrid. I'd like something that's easy for a noob to grow, that produces well, and that is good for pain without putting me to sleep each time I use. While I do have sleeping issues (it's hard to go to sleep and stay asleep) it's not my primary focus for a strain at first. I'd prefer to grow something that allows me to medicate and function. My patient needs a strain to help with anxiety and appetite. She can't eat until late at night and needs the medicine to stimulate appetite and help her relax. So maybe two strains that have compatible growing styles would be a good place to start.
While I'm legal in my state, I was advised by a well known cannabis attorney in my state to act like it's all illegal and stay under the radar. That's one reason I like the LED set up with supposedly less thermal footprint. I also like LED because I think it just makes sense from a long term cost perspective as long as the yields are adequate. I'm not concerned with pulling pounds off my plants at this point, just growing for me and another medical patient. I can add up to 4 more patients, which if I enjoy this, I would like to do. That's why I need a system that I can replicate and expand upon and utilize my grow space to its fullest potential further down the road.
So my initial thoughts are to set up a grow tent, with ventilation, carbon filtration, LED lights, light mover, buckets of soil or soilless medium in an ebb and flow configuration or some sort of gravity fed watering system using a 4 x 4 grow tent to start.
For ebb and flow I was thinking something like Hydrofarm's Econo Tray.
Hydrofarm - American Hydroponics AH91068 Econo 1-tray system w/reservoir, 3' x 3' x 19" - White
I want to have some sort of battery back up for short term electrical outages eventually. However, if my initial system is heavily dependent on electricity, other than the lights, the batteries could really be a life saver.
Since we are going into winter, heat build up won't be as big of a deal as it will be in the summer (although I am planning to vent outside using either the roof or installing another laundry vent). I do not have AC currently, but was thinking of adding on central air and/or room and window unit before summer hits, but not until I discover whether this is going to be an ongoing project or not.
I'm also going to be making plans with the local growers and hydro stores. I've had quotes from $3k to $4k to set up my room with equipment but I think I can do better by using Ebay and starting a small, but expandable grow room.
I'm hoping to hear feedback to my plans and welcome your suggestions and comments.
I'm a noob medical grower for myself and another patient. I'll have to re-title my thread later when I decide exactly what methods, plants, etc I am using. Meanwhile, I'm going to post my thought processes to clarify the direction I am heading and to get feedback from you good folks.
I'm starting a new grow room, from scratch, and I'm a total noob. I'm a very careful planner and I like to think of different types of configurations and eventualities and would love to design a tight system, low maintenance, low(er) risk of mechanical breakdown room. I have a decent amount of money to throw at the design, but don't want to over-design or overspend unnecessarily.
I can grow 12 plants as a patient and grow 12 plants for each patient I care for (up to 5 patients). I can possess 2.5 oz usable medicine for myself and each of my patients. At the end of the month, I will be authorized to grow 24 plants total. I am thinking of starting with 4-6 clones that are ready to go into flowering.
My space is a room that is 8.75' X 7.5'. It also has a 2' x 4' closet (convert to vegging later, perhaps?) I plan to start with using clones to begin with as I get a few grows under my belt and then add in cloning to my skills down the road. So I've been contemplating all the different types of growing mediums, systems, and related topics as I put this rom all together. It's a bit daunting!!
As I am a new grower (inside at least), I'd really like to stay away from overly complex hydro and aeroponics systems. I have read that they really produce yields, but something about it doesn't seem natural. Seems like you can push a lot of nutes through the plants and artificially boost them to grow, but at what cost?
Being a medical grower/consumer I have questions/concerns about toxicity and the final quality of the medicine. I know soil can be messier, but I like the idea of good soil you don't have to fertilize if you start it out right (like Subsoil's (member here I believe) soil mix). He also provides for medical patients and says the quality and potency is much higher, while the yield is a bit less than hydro.
I would also like to go organic if possible and I'm looking at Nature's Nectar (www.organaponics.com - Web Site Temporarily Unavailable) as a product that is compatible with hydro, soil, coco or drip.
Liquid Organic Fertilizers and Plant Foods at Home Harvest Garden Supply
From what I can tell, it's organic and has separate bottles for NPK, quite simple. If I don't do subsoil's soil mix, this seems like a possible way to go. I'm a big all around organics user/consumer in general and like the concept and outcome of using organics, but am not absolutely set on it at this point. I'm open to trying nonorganic approaches while I learn the process and modifying to a more organic approach later, if necessary.
So, I'm leaning toward something like a soil or soilless medium, next question is what growing system to use? I'd like to do something more like Munki's ebb and flow system as it seems simple. An ebb and flow table might work a bit better for me, drainage wise (I need to ask Munki or read exactly how he does it, but it seems even he seems to think a table would benefit him).
If I did hydro, I was thinking about buckets like water farm or Power Grower systems as they can be combined or done separately for staggered grows/separate watering so that if you mess up the nutes on one you are not affecting the rest of the grow. But if you get a hang of the whole watering/nute thing you can hook them up together and use one reservoir to feed all the buckets.
Advanced Hydroponic Systems - Indoor gardening supplies
I'm also thinking that perhaps something like Global Buckets might work, as this is what can be used for tomatoes and other plants outdoors, basically, throw in the right amount of fertilizers and soil for the growing season, cover top, and have basically an automatic watering system that waters as the plants need it (just refill the reservoir). If you do something like Subsoil's mix, it appears you technically won't have to adjust nutes or ph.
I can also see myself using airpots and gravity fed watering.
My main theme right now is that I want to go more low tech (except for the LED lights which I really like) and prepare for things like no electricity (thus no pumps) and eventualities. Electricity outages are not a problem, but who knows? If I had a pump go out or an emitter clog up on me and the roots are just hanging out in solution for hours on end, that's not a good thing.
Hubby said he would set me up a battery back up system, so if I can find something that will run on that in case things go south for a few days, that would be ideal. He's even batting around the idea of putting up some solar panels for me (it's something he wants for another eventual project of his anyhow) so that we can supplement the power usage around here (it won't be a lot, but every bit helps).
Then another consideration is the strain and style to grow. It's my understanding that SOG is for more tall varieties and you are just harvesting the top colas primarily (correct me if I'm wrong). So SOG is more of a system for harvesting a lot of smaller plants at once. SCROG is supposed to be for more bush types and you are trying to get more side buds (right or wrong?) It seems like I read SOG (or was it SCROG in Munki's post) that seem to lends itself to the LEDs since they are better at top growing than side growing (altho popping in some CFLs probably would help for penetration of light).
I do not know how to LST or prune but am willing to learn. I want to use my space well and start out slowly so I'm not making big mistakes with lots of plants all at once. So that's why I was thinking 4-6 plants to start, one strain only, and commit to 3 grows.
Re strains: I am leaning towards a sativa/indica hybrid. I'd like something that's easy for a noob to grow, that produces well, and that is good for pain without putting me to sleep each time I use. While I do have sleeping issues (it's hard to go to sleep and stay asleep) it's not my primary focus for a strain at first. I'd prefer to grow something that allows me to medicate and function. My patient needs a strain to help with anxiety and appetite. She can't eat until late at night and needs the medicine to stimulate appetite and help her relax. So maybe two strains that have compatible growing styles would be a good place to start.
While I'm legal in my state, I was advised by a well known cannabis attorney in my state to act like it's all illegal and stay under the radar. That's one reason I like the LED set up with supposedly less thermal footprint. I also like LED because I think it just makes sense from a long term cost perspective as long as the yields are adequate. I'm not concerned with pulling pounds off my plants at this point, just growing for me and another medical patient. I can add up to 4 more patients, which if I enjoy this, I would like to do. That's why I need a system that I can replicate and expand upon and utilize my grow space to its fullest potential further down the road.
So my initial thoughts are to set up a grow tent, with ventilation, carbon filtration, LED lights, light mover, buckets of soil or soilless medium in an ebb and flow configuration or some sort of gravity fed watering system using a 4 x 4 grow tent to start.
For ebb and flow I was thinking something like Hydrofarm's Econo Tray.
Hydrofarm - American Hydroponics AH91068 Econo 1-tray system w/reservoir, 3' x 3' x 19" - White
I want to have some sort of battery back up for short term electrical outages eventually. However, if my initial system is heavily dependent on electricity, other than the lights, the batteries could really be a life saver.
Since we are going into winter, heat build up won't be as big of a deal as it will be in the summer (although I am planning to vent outside using either the roof or installing another laundry vent). I do not have AC currently, but was thinking of adding on central air and/or room and window unit before summer hits, but not until I discover whether this is going to be an ongoing project or not.
I'm also going to be making plans with the local growers and hydro stores. I've had quotes from $3k to $4k to set up my room with equipment but I think I can do better by using Ebay and starting a small, but expandable grow room.
I'm hoping to hear feedback to my plans and welcome your suggestions and comments.
