Any experienced grower tips?

Trippybwk

Active Member
Yea really the type of grow you are talking about you almost need professional help setting it up. Its crazy amounts of electricity. Start small. Work you way up. Dont be afraid to start with a strong ass light, just start with one of them.
Bet I see where your coming from.
 

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
Heres the set up

I just looking for any experienced growers that would share tips on how to guarantee 10 pounds off this set up . What things do u do that makes u get more than perfect yields? Thank u for any feedback

I am going to be using 70% Coco coir & 30% perlite. I'm using fox farm trio nutrients. No co2. I'm going to be using red solo cups for seedling stage, 3 gallon fabric pots for vegatative stage, & then 5 gallon fabric pots for flowering stage. I will be doing 8 grow tents total. The grow tents sizes are all 78' x 48' x 48'. There will be 4 Veg tents and 4 flowering tents. I'm using 4 T5 4ft 8 lamp Fluroscent lights for the 4 veg rooms and 4 1000w HPS lights for the 4 flowering rooms. I have proper ventilation for all 4 HPS lights heat is not a problem. I will be using LST and topping twice max. I will be doing 16 plants total my first run. 4 plants in each tent. All my strains will be 450-600g yields at least strong indicas. I plan to veg them for 2 months and then switch to flowering.
8 tents?! That's pretty rediculous so you have 8 exhaust fans? I really hope you didn't buy anything start over with the planning
 

Trippybwk

Active Member
why do you think you need 8 tents to pull lbs? im guessng you didnt check out renfros setup like i suggested? (Not that its recommended to attempt something so big at first)
I really just didn't think about it . I thought that was best way now I realize there's so many other ways that are clearly way better. I'm look into renfros set up still. There was just so many replies I'm still going to go back and look into what everybody said as time passes.
 

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
Sounds like I'm going to do really well then considering I trust myself with all of those things
Don't plan on more than 4lb your first grow 10 won't ever happen from your setup. If you had 5x5 tents it might be possible but tents are horrible to grow in you will run into alot of problems
 

spek9

Well-Known Member
8 tents?! That's pretty rediculous so you have 8 exhaust fans?
I have seven. One for cloning, and three pairs of a 4x4' and 2x4x5'. 4x4's are used for flower, the smaller ones for veg. One pair for production, one for breeding and experiments, and the other for one-off tests, trial runs etc. I've currently only got three of them lit up. I usually tone down the grows in the summer.

Each pair of tents share a single exhaust system, and I distribute heat from the veg tents (24/0) into my flower tents in the winter using custom designed controllers for managing all of the air circulation to ensure an automated and dialed in system.

Veg tents all use a 400W MH lamp, the flower tents either 1000W or 600W HPS.
 

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
I have seven. One for cloning, and three pairs of a 4x4' and 2x4x5'. 4x4's are used for flower, the smaller ones for veg. One pair for production, one for breeding and experiments, and the other for one-off tests, trial runs etc. I've currently only got three of them lit up. I usually tone down the grows in the summer.

Each pair of tents share a single exhaust system, and I distribute heat from the veg tents (24/0) into my flower tents in the winter using custom designed controllers for managing all of the air circulation to ensure an automated and dialed in system.

Veg tents all use a 400W MH lamp, the flower tents either 1000W or 600W HPS.
Are you getting close to 10lb every 3 months from that like the op wants? Or are you saying it's a bad idea for him to use as many tents as you?
 

Boatguy

Well-Known Member
I really just didn't think about it . I thought that was best way now I realize there's so many other ways that are clearly way better. I'm look into renfros set up still. There was just so many replies I'm still going to go back and look into what everybody said as time passes.
With my limited experience i was able to pull 7 oz with a 2x2.5' tent. That said, it took 5 months seed to smoke.
Having a veg or clone tent greatly speeds harvests
 

spek9

Well-Known Member
Are you getting close to 10lb every 3 months from that like the op wants? Or are you saying it's a bad idea for him to use as many tents as you?
I am not claiming either thing you've stated.

Earlier in the thread I explicitly advised OP that his eyes are far larger than his stomach. My advice was to start small, which will allow a person to expand naturally and organically based on their findings and experiences in the environment they have.

The reasons people prefer tents over rooms are many. I didn't originally intend to have so many tents, but they came easy to me. Having confined spaces is critical to my grows, as I distribute the lamp heat between the tents that are on (24/0) and the flower tents during lights off.

Out of my production flower tent (4x4', 1000W HPS), I regularly pull 1/2-3/4 pound per plant, harvesting two plants every five weeks (only four plants per flower tent at all times). Looking at the math broadly, I'd say yes, I could pull near 10 pounds over three months if I lit up all of my flower tents in the same five week rotation perpetual.
 

Trippybwk

Active Member
8 tents?! That's pretty rediculous so you have 8 exhaust fans? I really hope you didn't buy anything start over with the planning
No I haven't. I plan on investing into another tent 10' x 10' tent for a flowering room. I already have a 4' x 4' tent I plan on using for veg. I got one of the t5 4ft 8 lamp lights and 1 1 of the 1000w HPS with cool tube . I also got 1 of those AC Infinity cloudline t6 quiet t6 inline duct fan with temperature humidity controller for the 1000w HPS. I'm going to switch to soil and for sure going to invest into a mini split AC. I got PH meters, lux meters, humidifiers, dehumidifiers etc.... I think I'm going to do something along the lines of 4 plants in 4" plastic nursery pots for seedling, 5 gallon plastic pots for veg , and 7 gallon plastic pots for flowering with loam soil. I plan on investing into just one more 1000w HPS and another AC Infinity cloudline t6 to go with the light and this just be my first set up but that's just where my mind is at right now with it .
 

Trippybwk

Active Member
Yes soil is much easier for a new grower. Coco is more for when you are running known clones that you know how they will act and exactly what food they will want.

And go solo cup (or similar) to 1 or 1.5 gallon to 5 gallon.
U sure I should go 1-1.5 gallon for veg?? That would make more sense to me price wise this loam soil can be expensive for 3 gallon to 5 gallon. I actually am thinking 7 gallon for flowering and 5 gallon veg but I'm assuming I shouldnt do 5 gallon for veg something smaller but how much smaller would u go?
 

Trippybwk

Active Member
I
Beyond what other people suggested, I would abandon the kilowatt light idea. 600w hps gives you better performance per watt. Abd heat mitigation is much more easily achieved. That and I would grow with vertical cooltubes without the reflectors. Training is easier in the beginning if you allow the plants to grow upward instead of horizontally as you would in a scrog.
In a 4x4 or even in an open room you could achieve some really good results on your first grow. Just keep it simple and smaller the first few times. Use good soil and water without any excessive fertilizers and flower at the right time and it can be easy. Then dont harvest too early!
Good luck friend!
I'll keep all that in mind and apply it to when I start the grow. Thank u for the advice
 

Trippybwk

Active Member
Another thing to bear in mind is that the drier your environment the more your plants drink.

This can cause issues when you have variations in your climate.

The more they drink the more nutrients they take up and burn your leaves/cause sudden deficiencies. So try and keep your climate stable!
I definitely will keep it stable. That's so important to me. That also makes alot of sense. Thank u
 

Trippybwk

Active Member
I agree with the light. Get a decent sized light. But think about how you might want to expand. 1000w de’s or more 600w for spread or 315cmhs. All depends on what your future setup is gonna look like but a 1000w in a 5x5 is totally doable.
I'll keep that in mind when I go to expand . Thank u
 

Trippybwk

Active Member
Yea really the type of grow you are talking about you almost need professional help setting it up. Its crazy amounts of electricity. Start small. Work you way up. Dont be afraid to start with a strong ass light, just start with one of them.
I got u I appreciate all the help
 

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
Beyond what other people suggested, I would abandon the kilowatt light idea. 600w hps gives you better performance per watt. Abd heat mitigation is much more easily achieved. That and I would grow with vertical cooltubes without the reflectors. Training is easier in the beginning if you allow the plants to grow upward instead of horizontally as you would in a scrog.
In a 4x4 or even in an open room you could achieve some really good results on your first grow. Just keep it simple and smaller the first few times. Use good soil and water without any excessive fertilizers and flower at the right time and it can be easy. Then dont harvest too early!
Good luck friend!
Not sure where your gauging that performance per watt but as far as im concerned with single end bulbs, watts is watts. That being said, look into running a double end 600w hps if you want to go low power route. double end bulbs are 20-30% more efficient. All that extra light literally for free. But if its an open fixture, you gotta hang it high as fuck. If its closed, you have to get one of these, there are no substitution (i LOVE mine)


And on that note, gavita has a DE HPS out that is rated to preform at full efficiency anywhere from 600-750w. That bulb at 750w throws down just as much light as a 1000w HPS single end bulb. Things to consider.....
 

JimmiP

Well-Known Member
I

I'll keep all that in mind and apply it to when I start the grow. Thank u for the advice
Any time. And another piece of advice is, dont skimp out on your soil. Go from an good seedling mix to something like Fox Farms Happy Frog. Then you can stay with that or move them to Ocean Forest. I only mention FF stuff because it is fairly reliable, mostly reasonable in price and is widely available. There are other good mixes that are both more or less expensive. Later you can expand into mixing your own (that's when you'll start really spending money lol).
 

JimmiP

Well-Known Member
Not sure where your gauging that performance per watt but as far as im concerned with single end bulbs, watts is watts. That being said, look into running a double end 600w hps if you want to go low power route. double end bulbs are 20-30% more efficient. All that extra light literally for free. But if its an open fixture, you gotta hang it high as fuck. If its closed, you have to get one of these, there are no substitution (i LOVE mine)


And on that note, gavita has a DE HPS out that is rated to preform at full efficiency anywhere from 600-750w. That bulb at 750w throws down just as much light as a 1000w HPS single end bulb. Things to consider.....
Watt for watt there is slightly more light from a 600w single end hps over a kw. The kw also produce more heat energy per watt.
 

Trippybwk

Active Member
I am just in awe with how patient everyone is being.

If you try to run more than about 2 4x4 tents for your first grow, you are most likely going to learn through abject failure. Even 2 tents is going to be a lot to handle.

Do not run coco with that many plants until you are ready to implement and test an automatic irrigation system. Coco should be fed a lot to use it’s potential otherwise just go with soil. I hand watered 40 plants in coco 3x daily for a few hellish months and it’s time consuming as all hell.

There’s also so much waste water to deal with. Where will you put it, and how? Even with soil and small-for-soil 3-5 gallon pots, you are going to be dealing with runoff from a shit ton of plants. It needs to be pumped or piped or carried somewhere.

The humidity, man, the humidity. 10 tents are going to need a shit ton of air exchanged through them for heat and humidity control. You have a several hundred watt heater in each tent. At least. In the winter, sure, but in the summer you are going to have a real situation with heat management and maintaining a good VPD. Humidity is part of the game as well, and without active air exchange even a single tent without a heat problem is going to be dripping water from transpiration and evaporation.

What floor are you going to have to protect in this rental? Hardware and water don’t mix, but they are better than laminate or carpet and water. Maybe you won’t spill, but I guarantee you are going to have something fail and pump your res onto the floor at some point. Not to mention the drips and spills and leaks and seaps. Plants are a watery game by nature. Plan for it, or lose your deposit.

Speaking of deposit, there’s a whole other situation it’s renting and running a 10k set of rooms... hope your landlord never comes around. Because in addition to SEEING your giant grow, they’ll be able to smell it from blocks away.

Anyway, asking for advice on a 10k grow to prep for a first grow is just bad. It’s like spending time worrying about training for the Super Bowl when you’ve never even picked up a football. You don’t (and couldn’t) even know how to ask the right questions or interpret the advice. It’s not your fault, and I don’t mean to knock you at all — you just don’t know what you don’t know yet. We all start there.

Good attitude matters for a lot, but my suggestion (although, who the hell am I) is to focus that attitude on asking how you can max your first 4x4 grow and then at the end of that think about the issues you’ll face expanding it tenfold.
Great post. Sounds like a bunch of experience. I definitely realize everything ur saying now tho. I'm focus on that 4x4 and go from there . Thanks for plenty advice
 

Trippybwk

Active Member
Any time. And another piece of advice is, dont skimp out on your soil. Go from an good seedling mix to something like Fox Farms Happy Frog. Then you can stay with that or move them to Ocean Forest. I only mention FF stuff because it is fairly reliable, mostly reasonable in price and is widely available. There are other good mixes that are both more or less expensive. Later you can expand into mixing your own (that's when you'll start really spending money lol).
I got u . I'm get that soil . And yea one day lol
 

Trippybwk

Active Member
Start small. Get some practice. Once you grow a few plants successfully you should have ideas on expanding and improving. If you’re not in a legal state I would probably research punishment as well. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
Facts . I will
 
Top