20,000 Watt Medical Grow Op Construction

Hey CG among the pictures you posted in the beginning of the thread I was observing your framing job it has inspired me to start building spaces of my own just not as big I noticed that in the middle of the structure there is some type of support beam just as one would do if they are building a roof except in this case you were building just a box structure. Is there are certain length of wood that requires support like that as in what would of happen if you had just took some huge piece of wood and extended them all the way across to the other beam or does wood just come standardized like that as it is I used to do construction with my friends dad when I was 16 and we built a couple garages and back houses I am regretting not paying more attention to detail instead of just trying to get my couple hundred dollars to smoke lol...

Did you do most of that job with a nail gun and what do you use to nail those beams to the middle support beam?

dapio said:

Hey CG among the pictures you posted in the beginning of the thread I was observing your framing job it has inspired me to start building spaces of my own just not as big I noticed that in the middle of the structure there is some type of support beam just as one would do if they are building a roof except in this case you were building just a box structure. Is there are certain length of wood that requires support like that as in what would of happen if you had just took some huge piece of wood and extended them all the way across to the other beam or does wood just come standardized like that as it is I used to do construction with my friends dad when I was 16 and we built a couple garages and back houses I am regretting not paying more attention to detail instead of just trying to get my couple hundred dollars to smoke lol...

Did you do most of that job with a nail gun and what do you use to nail those beams to the middle support beam?

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I'm not sure what pic you're talking about. There are no beams in the build. The veg room is 12 x 24, and the joists are 2 x 8's and run the 12 foot length. The bloom room is 16 x 24 and the 2 x 8 joists run the 16 foot length. We just screwed a ledger to the face of the top plates and studs and used joist hangers to support the joists. The walls and roof are sheeted with OSB to facilitate fastening equipment to the walls without looking for studs. The entire build is screwed together to make teardown easier...even though it would still be a major bitch.

I should say that both myself and my helper have worked in construction for many many years. This makes building grows pretty easy. We already have all the tools needed to do most anything. Don't bite off more than you can chew. It will just end up looking like shit. Stick to what you can comfotably build, and get help for the rest.

For sure cg!! Construction background means everything. I threw together a makeshift greenhouse in a couple hour for cheap that people wanted to buy from me hahaha.

Agreed man, you have to be handy with tools! I don't have a construction back ground but my old grow partner does. And we may not live together but we still work as closely as a team as possible, he is always around helping me build stuff. I can do it on my own, but he makes it go faster and I learn a lot of tricks and ways to be more efficient every time. Plus, it's a chance to drink beer and get high, while playing with power tools. I don't get too many chances to live on the edge, lol!

Since I can't use the basic uploader, here's the description of the pics from left to right:

1. Bubba 2 weeks into bloom. 2 gallon pot filled with rockwool croutons and top dressed with coco. This plant is an ideal size for us. It will yield around 2 ozs and takes up very little space. Many fan leaves and any small shoots have been removed.
2. Bubbas between 2 and 3 weeks into bloom. Plants in buckets would not fit on tray. When new trays are built, they'll go on them.
3. Mothers and rooted clones. Mothers are Pre-98 Bubbas, a new Bubba, and Tahoe OG x Chemdog.
4. 25 topped Pre-98 Bubbas going into bloom tomorrow.
5. 6.5 week Bubba. An old mother being retired.
6. Same as #5
7. Same as #2
8. Same as #5
9. 3 week Bubba. This one ended up WAY bushier because we put it into the 2 gallon pot very early in veg. While it will yield more than most of the other plants, it takes up more room. We are testing to see which ends up yielding more per square foot. My money is on more thinner plants. We'll see.
10. Same as #9.
11. Blooming old Bubba mothers. We staked up the sagging buds after taking pic. Each of these plants will yield well over an Lb. Each is under its own 1000 watt HPS. These will be the last of the large plants. All future plants will be smaller. More patients in our collective is allowing us to legally grow more, but smaller plants. This is the style of growing I'm used to. We couldn't do it at first because we didn't have enough members.
12. Tahoe OG x Chemdog new mother. This is one of three cuts given to me by another collective grow op. It's not a big yielder, but absolutely great quality. Every dispensary we gave samples to placed an immediate order.
13. New Bubba mother. This is a cut given to me with the Tahoes. It's Pre-98 Bubba (the only Bubbas we really like), crossed with an unknown OG, and back crossed several times with the Bubba. It grows just like the pure pre-98, but has the OG flavor everyone loves.
14 & 15. Same blooming old Bubba mothers as above pics.

We'll be sending the new strains to Steep Hill Lab for THC testing. I have a feeling the Tahoe X Chemdog is going to be off the charts. It better be, considering the small yield. We're just running some small test batches of the new strains. 90% of the grow will remain our old Pre-98 Bubba. Once we're convinced the others are worth growing in bulk, we'll ease them in a little at a time. We may also expand our flowering area. Our veg room could support 3-4 of our bloom rooms.

looking great CG looks like you will have alot of meds to go around!

Awsome grow man. Ur the only other person ive seen on here thats growin the pre 98 bubba. I just got a pre98 clone from my local club (i think i might turn her into a mother since i only got one and have heard very good reviews on the strain). How do u like it yourself? any tips of growing in?

Also have u heard of SFV OG (san fernando valley im guessing?). i also got a clone from the club of that and have never heard of it myself. One of the 3 new plants (used to be mothers) i just got from my buddy happened to be a sfv og also. what a coincidense haha

check out my grow in my sig

lostNug said:

Awsome grow man. Ur the only other person ive seen on here thats growin the pre 98 bubba. I just got a pre98 clone from my local club (i think i might turn her into a mother since i only got one and have heard very good reviews on the strain). How do u like it yourself? any tips of growing in?

Also have u heard of SFV OG (san fernando valley im guessing?). i also got a clone from the club of that and have never heard of it myself. One of the 3 new plants (used to be mothers) i just got from my buddy happened to be a sfv og also. what a coincidense haha

check out my grow in my sig

Click to expand...

I hate to steal a post from CG, but my main crop is the SFV OG. I have the f3 that is now clone only because of a breeding error back in '09 by Cali Connections. SFV is some serious FIRE, and I always have some collective or another calling me every week, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week, asking me for another hp. And I'm only flowering with 1800 watts, so it's quite the order! It is an amazing, healthy, happy, frosty, stinky, dense, strong, uniform plant, and I could never stop saying enough good stuff about it. You will be growing that forever, as long as it is in your control, you won't ever let that cut go, I can guarantee it. Highly highly highly recommend the SFV OG by Cali Conections.

Mmmmm. I don't ever want to grow as many plants as you, but I take pointers everywhere.
I like your system.
But one thing that confuses me, your Mother+Clone setup, wouldn't that be way more light efficient if you'd rotate the reflectors 180* so that the bulb faces the white wall and reflects even more light back down to the plants?

I really wish the laws were different..
I would rather grow either 1 super super fat huge tree, or 50 super tiny little bonsai buds.
Not really much for the in between yet.

But because 50 3" tall plants is the same as 50 40" plants, I can't do that.

dude collective gardner.....i was reading threw your journal and first off...holey god man your set up rocks my face off.....2nd, i read the post with the guy has a medical disorder in jersey and cant get the med's he need and you offered your assistance to him, to do that from a web site like this man, your something of amazing!!! god bless you brother!!!

Jozikins: glad to hear that. Im suprised I've never seen it here at the local clubs because I supply them (and im not too far from san fernando valley itself) but im sure when I tell them that I got SFV they'll be stoked! So I will for sure be making one my 4 sfv's a motheer (probably the big stretched out one I got for free from my buddy). You got me all excited now man. I can't wait to harvest it now!

Why would you keep the stretchy as a mother?
You should pick your absolute favorite and use that as a mother to keep her superior genetics.

Growth Patterns, Yield, Potency, Taste, Smell, Mold Resistance, Pest Resistance, Heat Resistance, Drought Resistance,
stuff like this should all be considered on your choice of a mother.

lostNug said:

Jozikins: glad to hear that. Im suprised I've never seen it here at the local clubs because I supply them (and im not too far from san fernando valley itself) but im sure when I tell them that I got SFV they'll be stoked! So I will for sure be making one my 4 sfv's a motheer (probably the big stretched out one I got for free from my buddy). You got me all excited now man. I can't wait to harvest it now!

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Both you and the clubs will love her. Please keep your best clone and the stretchy mom, I know that your best clone will probably beat that stretchy mom, but sometimes you can be surprised.

C.Indica said:

Why would you keep the stretchy as a mother?
You should pick your absolute favorite and use that as a mother to keep her superior genetics.

Growth Patterns, Yield, Potency, Taste, Smell, Mold Resistance, Pest Resistance, Heat Resistance, Drought Resistance,
stuff like this should all be considered on your choice of a mother.

Click to expand...

Just like this guy said dude, you want the biggest, baddest, strongest, the slight yield in your next crop you sacrifice now, will return to you hundredfold in future crops. Not to mention everyone will think you are the shit for having as good as SFV as "That Jozikins Guy," bahahaha, I kid, I kid... but I am half serious, bahahaha.

lostNug said:

Awsome grow man. Ur the only other person ive seen on here thats growin the pre 98 bubba. I just got a pre98 clone from my local club (i think i might turn her into a mother since i only got one and have heard very good reviews on the strain). How do u like it yourself? any tips of growing in?

Also have u heard of SFV OG (san fernando valley im guessing?). i also got a clone from the club of that and have never heard of it myself. One of the 3 new plants (used to be mothers) i just got from my buddy happened to be a sfv og also. what a coincidense haha

check out my grow in my sig

Click to expand...

If you got a good pheno, you'll really enjoy the pre-98 bubba. Unfortunately, there's alot of cuts out there being passed off as that strain, but are clearly different. The actual pre-98 Bubba is quite rare. I'm very suprised that a grower with the real deal would even consider letting a live plant leave the grow to a collective. But, stranger things have happened. The reason we commit so much of our grow to this strain is because it yields more than the other high demand strains going around So Cal these days. The bottom line is that the yield is good, and the demand for it is very high. We've grown higher yielding strains (Blue Dream, Casey Jones, etc...). These are good strains, but in todays market "good" isn't enough. We've grown more powerful strains (Just about every OG). There's always high demand for the OG's, but the yield for most of them is quite a bit less than the Bubba. For us, the Bubba strikes the perfect balance between yield and quality.

It's an easy plant to grow. We like to top just one time. Topping twice results in much smaller buds, and not topping reduces overall yield. We remove some fan leaves throughout the cycle. My previous posts detail what we remove and when. The idea is to allow good light penetration to the lower buds without letting any light get wasted hitting the tray. They recover very fast from pruning. One time I removed the top 2 feet from a 4 foot plant (75% of the total foilage) with hedge shears and it didn't skip a beat. Clones typically root within a week, but we leave them in the clone dome 12 days to allow all cuts to root thoroughly. This results in a nice even canopy. All plants are hand watered once per day in rockwool. TDS is 1000ppm in veg and 1300ppm in bloom. All feeding stops week 6 of bloom for a full 2 week flush with pure RO water before harvest. With 60 watts/sq ft of light, the buds will be very dense. I'm still suprised when I see the weight. Dense buds can have PM problems, so stay on top of PM control. Those rocks will also take while to thoroughly cure. Done improperly, the buds can end up crispy on the outside, and totally wet in the middle.

I have grown the SFV OG for years. Being originally from the Valley, and active in commercial grow ops in the area, that strain seemed to be my destiny. Like Jozikins says, it's a winner. Without doubt, one of the hardiest OG's available. The plant cannot be killed. Even shitty growers can produce good amounts of killer dank from the SFV OG. I gave the last of my SFV mothers to a friend who grows organic outside and in a greenhouse year round. She's in the Long Beach area, and has bloomed those bad boys outside in the dead of winter. The buds were a little fluffy from the cloudy days, but impressive. She has 4 plants right now planted in the ground. They went in April 1st as 6" rooted cuttings. They're now 8' tall and about 8' in diameter. I'd bet each one will yield 3+ pounds. Indoors, you can grow them however you want. When I was growing the SFV it was in an aeroponics settup. Just don't be afraid to feed em pretty heavy and provide lots of light. They're definately not your typical dainty little fragile OG. They can be pushed pretty hard and they will respond with good weight. Has this been your experience, Jozikins?

C.Indica said:

Mmmmm. I don't ever want to grow as many plants as you, but I take pointers everywhere.
I like your system.
But one thing that confuses me, your Mother+Clone setup, wouldn't that be way more light efficient if you'd rotate the reflectors 180* so that the bulb faces the white wall and reflects even more light back down to the plants?

I really wish the laws were different..
I would rather grow either 1 super super fat huge tree, or 50 super tiny little bonsai buds.
Not really much for the in between yet.

But because 50 3" tall plants is the same as 50 40" plants, I can't do that.

Click to expand...

There's no law keeping you from growing "1 super fat huge tree". In fact, with a simple rec, you could grow 6 super huge fat trees. From a legal standpoint, huge plants, and fewer of them, is the safest way to go. What's the problem?

The*Mad*Hatter said:

dude collective gardner.....i was reading threw your journal and first off...holey god man your set up rocks my face off.....2nd, i read the post with the guy has a medical disorder in jersey and cant get the med's he need and you offered your assistance to him, to do that from a web site like this man, your something of amazing!!! god bless you brother!!!

Click to expand...

Thank you, man. I do enjoy helping people when I can. Also, any commercial grower not helping sick people when he can, is just asking for karma ass rape.

C.Indica said:

Why would you keep the stretchy as a mother?
You should pick your absolute favorite and use that as a mother to keep her superior genetics.

Growth Patterns, Yield, Potency, Taste, Smell, Mold Resistance, Pest Resistance, Heat Resistance, Drought Resistance,
stuff like this should all be considered on your choice of a mother.

Click to expand...

LostNug,
Keep the stretchy mother. Keep them all. She very likely was stretchy due to poor light from the other grower...not poor genes. The only way to know for sure is to take some test cuts and run them through yourself. Truly special genetics are too hard to find to not be sure before you toss a plant. Every great strain I've grown the last 10 years has come from a cut given to me by a friend or purchased from a private party for several thousand bucks. These days, I wouldn't even waste my time with seeds. Cuts purchased from clubs are even worse. No grower in his right mind is going to sell cuts of premium genetics for 5 to 10 bucks each. Now, when you hear through the "grower grapevine" of some primo cuts for sale for a few grand...those cuts may be worth a look. Back to your case, never discount luck. Like Jozikins said, you may be suprised...that stretchy mom might be the best strain your op has ever seen.

C.Indica said:

Mmmmm. I don't ever want to grow as many plants as you, but I take pointers everywhere.
I like your system.
But one thing that confuses me, your Mother+Clone setup, wouldn't that be way more light efficient if you'd rotate the reflectors 180* so that the bulb faces the white wall and reflects even more light back down to the plants?

I really wish the laws were different..
I would rather grow either 1 super super fat huge tree, or 50 super tiny little bonsai buds.
Not really much for the in between yet.

But because 50 3" tall plants is the same as 50 40" plants, I can't do that.

Click to expand...

Thanks for bringing up the Adjustawing lights. We originally had white reflector boards hanging from the ceiling at a 45 degree angle, reflecting the end bulb light back down onto the plants. They became a pain in the ass, so we removed them. That's a good idea of yours to turn around the lights. If we keep the adjustawings (thinking of replacing them with Blockbusters), we will do just that. Nice eye for detail.

Yeah gardener the tahoes I'm growin are from seed so there actually tahoe cut x sfv ogk

And the jedi kush is deathstar(ecsd x sensi star) x sfv ogk

So far there goin greatin veg. Gonna flip em this weekend. also have some la con x og kush in flower that are lookin/smellin great.

Great pics gardener. Always amazing.

Edit: just ordered some Big Sur Holy Weed Seeds, thot u might appreciate that gardener. Can you sat old school?

Damn is a word! lol