20,000 Watt Medical Grow Op Construction

collective gardener · Oct 14, 2011

C.Indica said:
Wow lot's of drama.
Sucks that the timers went out, good think your wife was there.
Offshore fishing, how far from the coast?

Where do you keep your Sativa genetics? I know you have some, I'm interested in the way you preserve THIS batch, not the regular tahoes and such.

I do marine engineering. Basically, outfit, refit, and maintain ocean going vessels. We just did a major re-fit on a long liner and I had to go out on the first trip to work any bugs out. Pretty boring, though. Good thing we have internet onboard. We were out about 800 miles on this trip. The last trip on this boat was almost 2000 miles for 3 weeks. That was back when I had Helper D to hold down the fort. My wife has been doing a great job. Commercial J is there for backup, and checks on her everyday. It's great to see my plants after being gone for over a week. You can really see the size increase alot more than when you see them everyday. Although, she sends me pics everyday: "This leaf has a little brown spot...did I fuck something up?" She's scared of fucking something up. I keep telling here that they're just fucking weeds. Mix the nutes and put it on the plants. Try not to burn the fucking place to the ground.

I have 1 sativa. The 16 week tower of power. I just veg it off to the side in a very small pot under very low light with very little nutes to keep growth slow. When it gets to about 3 feet tall, I take 4 cuts and throw the rest away. When we want to bloom it, we just put a rooted clone into the bloom room, Bushmaster the fuck out of it, top it, supercrop it, LST it, and if we're lucky we can keep it under 4 feet tall. For the last couple months it's been at a friends op making money. He's got some commercial Sativa buyers paying big $$$ for true sativas. He settup a BAVERB room like MellowKitty's without the T-5 overhead lighting just for the sativas. They grow em about 7 feet tall. It's taken him a while, but he's getting the technique down. It's not like Canada. We don't have alot of experience with that type of lighting settup. Kitty says all her buddies grow that way. It's pretty productive, but takes alot of floor space. He actually is trying putting 4 of the lights (2 high and 2 low) on light movers moving back and forth down the lighting row about 6 feet. It's working very good. The plants look very even.

C.Indica · Oct 15, 2011

collective gardener said:
I do marine engineering. Basically, outfit, refit, and maintain ocean going vessels. We just did a major re-fit on a long liner and I had to go out on the first trip to work any bugs out. Pretty boring, though. Good thing we have internet onboard. We were out about 800 miles on this trip. The last trip on this boat was almost 2000 miles for 3 weeks. That was back when I had Helper D to hold down the fort. My wife has been doing a great job. Commercial J is there for backup, and checks on her everyday. It's great to see my plants after being gone for over a week. You can really see the size increase alot more than when you see them everyday. Although, she sends me pics everyday: "This leaf has a little brown spot...did I fuck something up?" She's scared of fucking something up. I keep telling here that they're just fucking weeds. Mix the nutes and put it on the plants. Try not to burn the fucking place to the ground.

I have 1 sativa. The 16 week tower of power. I just veg it off to the side in a very small pot under very low light with very little nutes to keep growth slow. When it gets to about 3 feet tall, I take 4 cuts and throw the rest away. When we want to bloom it, we just put a rooted clone into the bloom room, Bushmaster the fuck out of it, top it, supercrop it, LST it, and if we're lucky we can keep it under 4 feet tall. For the last couple months it's been at a friends op making money. He's got some commercial Sativa buyers paying big $$$ for true sativas. He settup a BAVERB room like MellowKitty's without the T-5 overhead lighting just for the sativas. They grow em about 7 feet tall. It's taken him a while, but he's getting the technique down. It's not like Canada. We don't have alot of experience with that type of lighting settup. Kitty says all her buddies grow that way. It's pretty productive, but takes alot of floor space. He actually is trying putting 4 of the lights (2 high and 2 low) on light movers moving back and forth down the lighting row about 6 feet. It's working very good. The plants look very even.

I literally cracked up out loud on the second paragraph..
16 week tower of power, hahahaha :leaf:

I'm running a bonsai mom right now, and she's gone from 60w-13w due to shitty 42w cfls I bought from Home Depot burning out one by one.
But now that I read your technique, you relaxed my stress immensly, thanks a ton for that.

I'm just going to keep her under the 13w, and lower her nute schedule.
She's the fattest vegging plant I've ever kept, and she's in like a 4" plastic pot.

CG thanks so much! I'm filled with newbound excitement for my bonsai mother now.

I like your story of the sativas, I want to grow the trees some day.
And I think I have a good theory based technique down already.

Any chance you have pictures of a Tower grow?
I'd love to see how she performs.

2000 miles.. wow.
I've only ever been TO the ocean, never out in it, what's it like? I'm semi scared of the distance.

mellokitty · Oct 15, 2011

collective gardener said:
Try not to burn the fucking place to the ground.

i hope she kicks your ass for that when you get home. :lol:

collective gardener · Oct 16, 2011

mellokitty said:
i hope she kicks your ass for that when you get home.

Rest assured second wife...first wife is thoroughly pissed off at me for throwing her into the deep end of the pool with so little training. She'd probably send you a plane ticket if you wanted to fly to Cali and hold me down while she repeatedly beat me about the face and neck with a watering wand. You guys can strap me to a growing tray under the lights and pour AN nutes down my throat. That would be big fun for wife 2. I'm sure the 2 of you could just have a good ol time...smoking my weed and coming up with new and interesting ways to make me pay for leaving her in charge.

C.Indica · Oct 16, 2011

Ouch.. being strapped under an HID is one thing, but throw in AN nutes? Ouch.

Hey CG, I need a recommendation an a good SQUARE 400w reflector hood.
And I know you're the one to come to. So thanks a ton if you can help me out.
I'm planning on building a closet for it 3' wide.
So it would be a single light grow in a 3'x3'x6' closet.

My only terms are that it isn't flimsy, so it'll withstand some stress,
and that it's not rediculously expensive.
Cheapest reflector I found is like $40, but it looks flimsy.
So I'm expecting to pay up near $80, but try not to scare me with the $100+ range.

I don't necessarily need a cooltube since I can't afford it and can always clear out hot air the old fashioned way.

collective gardener · Oct 16, 2011

C.Indica said:
Ouch.. being strapped under an HID is one thing, but throw in AN nutes? Ouch.

Hey CG, I need a recommendation an a good SQUARE 400w reflector hood.
And I know you're the one to come to. So thanks a ton if you can help me out.
I'm planning on building a closet for it 3' wide.
So it would be a single light grow in a 3'x3'x6' closet.

My only terms are that it isn't flimsy, so it'll withstand some stress,
and that it's not rediculously expensive.
Cheapest reflector I found is like $40, but it looks flimsy.
So I'm expecting to pay up near $80, but try not to scare me with the $100+ range.

I don't necessarily need a cooltube since I can't afford it and can always clear out hot air the old fashioned way.

Do not skimp on reflectors. I wish I had spent $200 on XXXL's or Raptors rather than $100 on the CAPs.

For square nothing beats the BlockBuster by Sunshine Supply. I have 4 of em in my veg room. The lens is hinged for easy cleaning. This is a very iportant feature. It's built super strong. I did a light test with them when we first fired up the op. The light is cast very even with the BlockBuster, and in a near nerfect square. Don't cheap out. Cough up the 2 bills and get some decent equipment. The only decent reflector I know of in the $100 dollar range is the CAP Luminare 6 or 8. This is the most bang for the buck. Hinged glass, good seal, and overall quality construction. The light cast is not as even as the higher quality reflectors. I have 12 of these and they work fine. Someday I will upgrade to the mondo big XXXL units.

mellokitty · Oct 16, 2011

collective gardener said:
Rest assured second wife...first wife is thoroughly pissed off at me for throwing her into the deep end of the pool with so little training. She'd probably send you a plane ticket if you wanted to fly to Cali and hold me down while she repeatedly beat me about the face and neck with a watering wand. You guys can strap me to a growing tray under the lights and pour AN nutes down my throat. That would be big fun for wife 2. I'm sure the 2 of you could just have a good ol time...smoking my weed and coming up with new and interesting ways to make me pay for leaving her in charge.

i would never hear the end of it if something like that happened while i was in charge..... i would have fun poked at me til the end of days. and thank you, by the way, for my renewed interest in fire extinguisher placement.

as to your punishment, i'm not entirely sure you're not just fantasizing at this point... :lol:

knowing me, there would be some sort of just-out-of-reach baked goods too. i would love to have a recipe swap with wife 1.

SupaM · Oct 16, 2011

collective gardener said:
Do not skimp on reflectors. I wish I had spent $200 on XXXL's or Raptors rather than $100 on the CAPs.

For square nothing beats the BlockBuster by Sunshine Supply. I have 4 of em in my veg room. The lens is hinged for easy cleaning. This is a very iportant feature. It's built super strong. I did a light test with them when we first fired up the op. The light is cast very even with the BlockBuster, and in a near nerfect square. Don't cheap out. Cough up the 2 bills and get some decent equipment. The only decent reflector I know of in the $100 dollar range is the CAP Luminare 6 or 8. This is the most bang for the buck. Hinged glass, good seal, and overall quality construction. The light cast is not as even as the higher quality reflectors. I have 12 of these and they work fine. Someday I will upgrade to the mondo big XXXL units.

You can get BlockBusters for $129 at www.plantlightinghydroponics.com, btw. I put my 400 in a SuperNova by HTGsupply at first, and it was only
$89. Hope that helps.
CG, I'm debating the BlockBusters atm....Do you think I can cover an 8x4 with 2BB w/ 2 600w's effectively? Since it;s essentially two squares...
Thanks for your advice.

Beansly · Oct 16, 2011

collective gardener said:
Rest assured second wife...first wife is thoroughly pissed off at me for throwing her into the deep end of the pool with so little training. She'd probably send you a plane ticket if you wanted to fly to Cali and hold me down while she repeatedly beat me about the face and neck with a watering wand. You guys can strap me to a growing tray under the lights and pour AN nutes down my throat. That would be big fun for wife 2. I'm sure the 2 of you could just have a good ol time...smoking my weed and coming up with new and interesting ways to make me pay for leaving her in charge.

((

)) ...then what would she do....?

hellraizer30 · Oct 16, 2011

hey beansly when you going to get your next grow going?

Beansly · Oct 16, 2011

hellraizer30 said:
hey beansly when you going to get your next grow going?

I'm cloning my plushberrys for sex right now and the ones that are female, I have to grow big enough to take like 25 clones from (I'm assuming I'll get 3 females from 5 plants). I want to do the SOG method the way CG was talking about, with maybe a few less plants the first time around (75-100). After they root, I'll veg them maybe a week or two and flower them.
I'm thinking it'll take another 5-6 weeks to get the plants big enough to take all the clones I'll need. I'll be moving up to a 600w light too.

collective gardener · Oct 16, 2011

mellokitty said:
i would never hear the end of it if something like that happened while i was in charge..... i would have fun poked at me til the end of days. and thank you, by the way, for my renewed interest in fire extinguisher placement.

as to your punishment, i'm not entirely sure you're not just fantasizing at this point...
knowing me, there would be some sort of just-out-of-reach baked goods too. i would love to have a recipe swap with wife 1.

Funny you mentioned recipe swap. I got home this morning and she was laying in bed reading the High Times Edibles Special Edition. Here we are at 4pm and she's still reading some other edibles book. The dry ice kief method is working so good that she's all pumped up to start cranking out the goodies. We found a commercial kitchen we can rent by the day. It's all Health Department approved...very important if you want to vend edibles to the nicer Los Angeles dispensaries. They're doing away with home chefs.

collective gardener · Oct 16, 2011

SupaM said:
You can get BlockBusters for $129 at www.plantlightinghydroponics.com, btw. I put my 400 in a SuperNova by HTGsupply at first, and it was only
$89. Hope that helps.
CG, I'm debating the BlockBusters atm....Do you think I can cover an 8x4 with 2BB w/ 2 600w's effectively? Since it;s essentially two squares...
Thanks for your advice.

I think that's a little light on the watts per sq ft (37 wpsf). I like at least 50 wpsf.

C.Indica · Oct 16, 2011

collective gardener said:
I think that's a little light on the watts per sq ft (37 wpsf). I like at least 50 wpsf.

CG, should I just take that $129 offer for the BlockBuster right now?
I'm harvesting soon so in a month that would become affordable.

If they're good enough for your standards, then I'm fine with getting the CAP @ $75, over the BB @ $129
I'm sure you'd understand.
The only question is again, how durable is this thing?

Also I think I'm looking at a NextGen 400w ballast for $130.
Especially if I go with the CAP reflector.

The only thing that would change my mind is this ballast,
Is this ballast compatible with the BlockBuster 8?
http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/galaxy-400w-120v240v-electronic-ballast-p-1985.html

If they match up then I'll go for the BB.
I'm starting to really consider the BB since it's so close.

kamie · Oct 16, 2011

SupaM said:
You can get BlockBusters for $129 at www.plantlightinghydroponics.com, btw. I put my 400 in a SuperNova by HTGsupply at first, and it was only
$89. Hope that helps.
CG, I'm debating the BlockBusters atm....Do you think I can cover an 8x4 with 2BB w/ 2 600w's effectively? Since it;s essentially two squares...
Thanks for your advice.

Is that store legit? i been trying to find a good place to buy equiptment in Nor Cal. but alot of the stores around my area is over priced. The blockbuster 8 in aircooled. goes for $160 before tax and on that site its 129 which seems like a great deal

incognegro999 · Oct 16, 2011

Hey gardener, been a long time, Im getting ready for next grow and thought i'd pop in. Glad to see your still kicking around here haha, and I have about 100 pages of details to get caught up on

collective gardener · Oct 17, 2011

C.Indica said:
CG, should I just take that $129 offer for the BlockBuster right now?
I'm harvesting soon so in a month that would become affordable.

If they're good enough for your standards, then I'm fine with getting the CAP @ $75, over the BB @ $129
I'm sure you'd understand.
The only question is again, how durable is this thing?

Also I think I'm looking at a NextGen 400w ballast for $130.
Especially if I go with the CAP reflector.

The only thing that would change my mind is this ballast,
Is this ballast compatible with the BlockBuster 8?
http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/galaxy-400w-120v240v-electronic-ballast-p-1985.html

If they match up then I'll go for the BB.
I'm starting to really consider the BB since it's so close.

Both the CAP and the BB are durable no nonsense ballasts that will last a lifetime. The BB will cast better light on your plants. All ballasts are compatable with all reflectors. There's only 2 plug styles and adaptors are avaiable.

IMO, nothing beats a Phantom ballst. 5 year warranty, and the guys at my hydro store have NEVER had one come back. I cooked 3 Lumatek ballasts before finally going 100% Phantom in my bloom room. I still have 3 Lumateks in veg waiting to fry. The Phantom will run on anything between 90 volts and 275 volts. They wall mount 2 inches off the wall to provide air circulation all the way around it. It comes with the adaptor to run either light plug style. These things are work horses.

InsaneMJ · Oct 17, 2011

I've been thinking about replacing my ballasts and going to digital, is it actually worth it to switch from magnetic ballasts to digital ballasts? I read that overall you will get more lumens out of your bulb. At the same time I want to make sure that it's worth it, my magnetic ballasts have been great since I started growing. Also I read that the Digi's are more efficient then the magnetic ballasts overall. So I'm curious on if it does make a difference in the cost of your electricity bill?
-I.MJ

Wolverine97 · Oct 17, 2011

InsaneMJ said:
I've been thinking about replacing my ballasts and going to digital, is it actually worth it to switch from magnetic ballasts to digital ballasts? I read that overall you will get more lumens out of your bulb. At the same time I want to make sure that it's worth it, my magnetic ballasts have been great since I started growing. Also I read that the Digi's are more efficient then the magnetic ballasts overall. So I'm curious on if it does make a difference in the cost of your electricity bill?
-I.MJ

Won't help much at all on electrical costs, the advantages are less heat and consistent power supply, quicker warmup, and voltage/bulb flexibility.

aknight3 · Oct 17, 2011

dear cg,

ive probably had this thread up on my laptop for about a month, between life and work and other things it took me about that long to read all 180 pages haha, all of this is simply amazing to me, this is actually the first time in about a year that ive even posted here, alot of shit has come up in the past year and being in a non medical state ive stopped growiing entirley and sort of took a ''hiatus'' if you will, seeing and hearing all this wonderful stuff though has really put a fire in me to start up again, not sure why, ive always loved growing so much but i guess when life takes over other things become priority over growing, but after seeing all this, thats going to change really soon, as i said before im not in a med state so its hard enough for me to begin with, however within the next two years i will be moving to california as thats where most of my family is anyways, on one side anyways, i just want to say your doing an amazing job and an amazing thing for people and not only do i respect it but i applaud it, i want to thank you for putting a fire back in me that was put out long ago by fear, paranoia and other circumstances, i currently cant just start up a grow as im not in the right position to do so, but as soon as i can i will get one in and then get out there to a legal place asap, this thread has really re opened my eyes to how much i really LOVE doing this, ive always wanted to do something like this to help people and give back to the community, however its impossible to do here, so i gujess i have to go somewhere that i can do it, anyways i wont go on, this is my first post in about a year and i wont make it a story book, i just wanted to say thank you again sincerley from the bottom of my heart and will really never forget this thread, its truely amazing, i wish you the best of luck in the future and hope someday i can do something half this and help people in a fraction of a way u are, thanks bye

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