Working With Consultant/Grower, Can You Please Tell Me What You Think Of This Advice?

Laughinggrass420

Active Member
I will be growing along with a partner, and I recently purchased a home with a 30x40 pole barn that i will be remodeling into a grow. This is our first grow, so we will be sectioning it off and only doing 24 plants maximum at first. As my partner and I hone our skills in and get a couple grows under our belts, we plan on sectioning off the barn into different zones and filling it with plants.

I have a couple of guys who work for a corporate weed grow helping me plan it out for free since they work for our family friends; I am a connoisseur and absolutely love cannabis, and am willing to put in the love/work required to get the best quality, while the consultants are more of the types who want to have a more set-and-forget grow that will allow them to go on vacations and such.


My question is, what are your guys thoughts on their advice:

1. I have always planned on hand watering, however they are mentioning a Bluemat watering system to "keep the soil at an optimal moisture at all times". I have always been told that the soil dry backs are a good thing, and that you dont want your soil completely wet all the time. Ive even seen people mention watering every couple of days

2. They recommended Build-A-Soil 3.0, however I have been planning on using Roots Organic Soil. They much prefer coco/salt nutes, but since i am adamant about organic, they recommend BAS 3.0.

3. They Recommended Sliding/Rolling Tables For Flower.

4. They Recommended tiered racking for veg. Would you guys personally do this in a 30x40 pole barn with fairly high ceilings? Or would you do somthing else like just build 1 large veg room, multiple veg rooms, etc?

5. Like i mentioned in number 2 they prefer coco, and are trying to convince me organic is more likely to grow poor quality flower than coco, dont think i should top dress, and think i should take a more synthetic approach. My plan that i originally told them is below
  • --I have been planning on keeping it simple for my first grow based on my research: Dont feed during seed/clone. Feed only Compost Tea and Buddha Grow once or twice a week during first 2 weeks of Veg. Then begin top dressing with Roots Terp Tea Grow every 2 weeks. Flip to flower, and top dress with Roots Terp Tea Bloom once a week, and feed buddha bloom along with compost tea once or twice a week.
Im sorry this was a long post. I just know that there are some very knowledgable people on here, and i want to make sure this grow is being built with love and connoisseur quality in mind. I dont mind avoiding vacations and having "less of a life" as they put it, if it means that more hands on, hand watering/unautomated growing = better quality flower.

Thanks!
Best of luck. Make sure you got good insulation in that barn. I would frame new rooms and insulate them depending on the current level of insulation in the barn.
 
Best of luck. Make sure you got good insulation in that barn. I would frame new rooms and insulate them depending on the current level of insulation in the barn.
I really appreciate the good luck wishes and the info.

Honestly, if you would be able to draw out what you think would be the ideal grow with the picture i provided below, i would be willing to pay you for your services. We could work on whatever price you think is fair.

Ill post the picture below so you can see what im working with. Thank you!

Plan Set 1 (2).png
 
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Just Google cannabis grow floorpans and pick the design you like the layout of.....scale it up or down and there you go.
Im having so much trouble finding a good floor plan that seems i could scale to my grow.

Are there plans youve seen that you could recommend the links to?

Also like i said, if you could draw it out and its a decent plan i will more than gladly pay you some money. We can work on a fair price. Ill provide the picture below just incasePlan Set 1 (2).png
 

semaphore

Well-Known Member
I’m currently doing 60 plants, on my own and it’s more than manageable. But I’ve tried to automate as much as possible.
 

MissinThe90’sStrains

Well-Known Member
My buddy who went out west to grow warehouses full of weed, said he just designed everything as little 4x4 or 5x5 “pods” sized to fit the lights they were planning on using, and then just scaled up the number from there. Fit the most amount of “pods” you can fit in that space, while giving yourself some room to move around and in between them. Decide on what type of lights you want to run and make a short list of models to research. Figure out what other equipment you’ll need to make to work (like climate control). Then figure out your electricity demands and cooling/ventilation needs. His previous experience was in his basement, setting up small tables and rooms, and he wasn’t a good student in school either.
 
My buddy who went out west to grow warehouses full of weed, said he just designed everything as little 4x4 or 5x5 “pods” sized to fit the lights they were planning on using, and then just scaled up the number from there. Fit the most amount of “pods” you can fit in that space, while giving yourself some room to move around and in between them. Decide on what type of lights you want to run and make a short list of models to research. Figure out what other equipment you’ll need to make to work (like climate control). Then figure out your electricity demands and cooling/ventilation needs. His previous experience was in his basement, setting up small tables and rooms, and he wasn’t a good student in school either.
Do you think your buddy would be willing to draw out the design below for some money. I need rooms, dimensions, and any other info he can think of drawn out.

I would even send him some money first so that he knows im serious about this.

Ive been thinking 1 veg room, 2 flower rooms, 1 storage room, 1 mud room, 1 toilet room, but:

He could draw it however he thinks is best,
The barn is 28'-10" x 39'- ⅜ , so nearly 30x40 feet

I posted the blank layout with dimensions below. If you could draw it out with the rooms/dimensions you think would be best, and it actually ends up being a decent layout, i will gladly pay your buddy, as well as you for linking me up with him. I have a high budget luckily so money is not an issue.

0Plan Set 1 (2).png
 
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Kola_Kreator

Well-Known Member
What is your intention for the grow on the first few runs? As in what do you plan to do with your first harvests?

When it comes to growing there is a helluva lot to learn and it's doesn't really matter how much you research or plan you simply can not gain the knowledge you need until you have some growing experience under your belt. And the learning curve for an organic soil run is probably a lot harder than it is for Coco DTW. It's a lot harder to correct deficiencies in organic than it is in Coco and new soil growers often have trouble getting their watering routines on point.

24 plants really is a big grow and if things don't go it could turn into a nightmare pretty quick. If you don't need a big harvest for any particular reason you are definitely better off running a smaller number of plants to hone your skills and then take on the 24 when you know what your doing.
 

MidnightSun72

Well-Known Member
Do you think your buddy would be willing to draw out the design below for some money. I need rooms, dimensions, and any other info he can think of drawn out.

I would even send him some money first so that he knows im serious about this.

Ive been thinking 1 veg room, 2 flower rooms, 1 storage room, 1 mud room, 1 toilet room, but:

He could draw it however he thinks is best,
The barn is 28'-10" x 39'- ⅜ , so nearly 30x40 feet

I posted the blank layout with dimensions below. If you could draw it out with the rooms/dimensions you think would be best, and it actually ends up being a decent layout, i will gladly pay your buddy, as well as you for linking me up with him. I have a high budget luckily so money is not an issue.

0View attachment 5379472
I can help you with your floor plan if you like. I have a bit of experience designing grow rooms.
IMG_6289.jpeg
IMG_1122.jpeg

I suggest building the rooms large to the final size but only lighting a small section and adding lights and air conditioners as you get dialed in. I read earlier in the thread you aren't worried about budget. But if you aren't doing all the work yourselves wiring and lighting a space that size is gonna cost on the order of 100-200K depending on labour and material prices in your area.
 
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MannyPacs

Well-Known Member
Do you guys have any gardening background? If the goal is great weed I would try to keep expenses down for the first couple runs. I wouldn't build anything permanent and would do like some have suggested and get however many tents your current electrical setup allows safely. if both of you guys find you enjoy the grind of growing and have a network to get rid of overages then you expand. Even here in Iowa weed has gotten dirt cheap. A lot of people have gone the legal thca mailbox route. 10 years ago you could charge 3800 for mids. Now it won't sell if it's not AAA and they want it for 32 or less and in general from what I hear the demand is nowhere near where it was in terms of volume. This would be a huge project But if you have the demand to reach a positive ROI on a 100k+ buildout and the skills to pay the bills( (:) it could be a fun.
 

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
Personally, I would rather save all the extra fees\taxes and just build out in a cheap used 40-55ft semi dry van trailer (preferably an already insulated reefer van), on wheels. No permit needed that way, and you could sell it later or move it to another location if needed. Or scale up and get another one later if there is demand. I would still construct a smaller barn for extra work space and doing other jobs if I had the funds, and park the trailer next to it on a slab.
 

Laughinggrass420

Active Member
Do you guys have any gardening background? If the goal is great weed I would try to keep expenses down for the first couple runs. I wouldn't build anything permanent and would do like some have suggested and get however many tents your current electrical setup allows safely. if both of you guys find you enjoy the grind of growing and have a network to get rid of overages then you expand. Even here in Iowa weed has gotten dirt cheap. A lot of people have gone the legal thca mailbox route. 10 years ago you could charge 3800 for mids. Now it won't sell if it's not AAA and they want it for 32 or less and in general from what I hear the demand is nowhere near where it was in terms of volume. This would be a huge project But if you have the demand to reach a positive ROI on a 100k+ buildout and the skills to pay the bills( (:) it could be a fun.
32 ‍♂ we’d take those numbers all day up here in Maine. Market for A+++ anywhere from 1300-1800 tops tops tops
 

Cwrighty9420

Well-Known Member
I am loving life using alien easyfeed irrigation system with bio bizz soil and nutrient schedule, comes out great every time :)
 
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