He did offer a test batch to run a couple of plants side by side... I may take him up on that offer. Im curious. If it does well, it may be worth it. It's about 1/3rd more that we normally spend on soil every run, but if it produces even 10% better yields, it would be worth it.
I deal with a lot of industrial process shit for work....I'm all trained up on risk management.
RIP sad strum out there
i'm surprised by the threads I see pop up on here with people asking for help designing a commercial grow op in OK. They don't accept any of the warnings, and they're really insistent about it too.
I know right?... we have a Bill on the table limiting growers to a 5,000 cap. If it passes, that’s it. 1300 are gonna get cut. We were # 1209 to get approved, so we’ll be grandfathered in.
Most people have never owned a legitimate business (employees, taxes, regulations, etc) and when they get the opportunity to pursue their dreams of being their own boss, it generally is a disaster. While most have a love for their work they rarely have thought through the supporting tasks that are required to sustain operation. Then if they’re competently running both ends of their operation most don’t have the discipline to set enough money aside for tough times. Instead the majority of new business owners start upgrading houses, expensive toys, and spouses as soon as they start having what they think is expendable income only to end up bankrupt within a year of their businesses first hiccup.
I thought very hard about getting into it here in OK, but I just couldn't make sense of it....to leave my current job, which doesn't pay big but is super stable, and go all-in to growing. I wish I could side-gig it, but i don't think I can make it part-time profitable. For me, it's better to just stick to small time personal stuff for friends and family. Maybe one day though......I can always dream.
This is why we are seeing grows close up. It takes ALOT of capital to even get one up and running. We started out with an existing building (fairly new), and $55,000 in cash to do a buildout. After the first grow, we made all that back, and did a second run... sold that and spent about half of it upgrading, expanding... 3rd grow, same thing.. getting CO2 installed, sliding trays, AirROS, etc... I think we are done spending and expanding. So, now are just banking all we can while we can... We could go a year with failed grows and not be affected too much. (hope that don't happen, but you gotta plan ahead)....bottom line, if you wanted to get into this business,.. you should have done it back in 2018, and have alot of cash.
Knock on wood, we’ve never had a pest problem other than fungus gnats.. but, we put large yellow sticky traps on every plant as an early warning sign that they are present. I just put a mosquito dunk in a wrapped up net, and tie a piece of fishing line to it and drop it in the mix tank. I change it out once a month or so. It kills the larvae, and the sticky traps get the adults. As far as PM, you’ve seen what we use. The AirROS. Works fantastic!Hey @DoubleAtotheRON and other Oklahomies!
What do you use for pest and PM control?
I've always done weekly maintenance with Neem during veg (foliar and drench) and dusted the soil with diatomaceous earth throughout. Those seem to control the situation pretty well for me. I keep Azamax, BT, and Spinosad on hand too, and I applied some of those during the 2020 outdoor when I started seeing lots of moths and butterflies flying around the plants.
A couple of my potted plants had fungus gnats show up about 4 weeks into flower. I put BT mosquito pellets on the soil and dusted with diatomaceous earth. Then I covered with about a 1/2" of sand. The gnats were gone within a few days.
I have some friends that refuse to use Neem at all, and their solutions for controlling pests and PM are unsuccesful. What other solutions do y'all use?
Peace
I was trying to research a little to understand what's happening with the airROS. I see it uses Ozone and Hydrogen Peroxide. I read somewhere that it's not good to use Ozone in the grow, that it can kill any living thing in high enough concentrations including plants and humans. Obviously you have not experienced anything negative with it. In fact, your results have been spectacular. I want to know what's going on. I'll give them a call.
Well, it works as such a low level, 30 parts per BILLION in the air. Very tiny amount, but enough to kill mold, pathogens, bacteria, etc.
You able to keep it warm enough in there?... I know there’s going to be some growers lose power, we may be one of them... I do not have a generator to power the grow, so if it does go out for long... it’s gonna suck.
Well my situation is not ideal. It's an above ground storm shelter. It's entirely steel, and it sucks the heat out. I have some insulating foam board mounted on the walls to the sides of the plants, so they're not in direct contact with the metal. That's a 200w led fixture, plus another 80w of supplemental LED's on the sides, and an 1100w space heater is in there, so there's 1380w of heat going. There is a small fan venting some air to the outside.
