First Large Scale Grow - Perpetual Garden aiming to yield 1 lb per week

M

maximto

Member
To preface this I have grown in soil, DWC, and drip with success every time. The catch is I have never grown more than 4 plants. Every grow the quality has increased, and it has truly become artisanal with nutrients, flushing, harvesting and curing. My next endeavor is a bit bigger. I don't claim to be an expert and that is why I am here, to impart knowledge AS WELL AS learn. I have scoured the forums (boy I miss overgrow) and have not found a hydro system I truly like the looks of to build. Before I ask for your input, let me tell you the aims of my grow:


  • 100% Organic grow
  • Definitely Hydroponic and/or Aeroponic
  • Perpetual Garden with a separate room for vegging and flowering
  • Air cooled lights (wattage and arrangement to be determined)
  • Hope to have CO2 tank and eventually burner
  • would like to yield 1 dry pound a week (or two if that is unrealistic)

With this being said, I would like to say that I am planning on spending 1500-2000 on lighting, and another 2000 on other supplies and equipment. I would like to know what the ideal lighting layout, hydroponics system, nutrients and supplements, pest control etc is to use. I would like to build my own hydroponics setup to cut costs a bit. I am very appreciative of assistance. My grow will be starting mid january so we have time to hash out details and I hope this can be a community effort as it could very well wind up being one of the most comprehensive and useful threads on the forum. I will definitely keep a journal once decisions have been made. Let the games begin!
 
M

maximto

Member
Excuse me but i dont want this thread to be negative right off the bat or at allfor that matter. FirsTime, try being a part of a community that is filled with happy stoned people, not negative people, and you dont think i have done lots of planning and preparing? Like I said i have done 4 grows before and I am about to get into something bigger and I want to make sure I get it right, not to mention that there is so much information on here it is hard to sift through. I have read the major grows such as stinkbuds and the harvest every two weeks etc. So if you dont want to contribute something useful, please from now on don't waste your negative breath on us and go smoke a j.
 
FirsTime

FirsTime

Active Member
You currently have 2 posts and I don't think I can believe somebody who just signed up. Sorry but earn some respect and i'll be down to help so I know your legit. When the pictures go up I'll be glad to help
 
djfloms

djfloms

Well-Known Member
i can give you the best advice i can... search for kittys commercial grow or look up perpetual grow there is one on here where he describes how to get i think 3lbs per week. i hope this helps
 
M

maximto

Member


You currently have 2 posts and I don't think I can believe somebody who just signed up. Sorry but earn some respect and i'll be down to help so I know your legit. When the pictures go up I'll be glad to help​
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Coming from the person who has 50 posts and just joined last month. I don't think you are in a position to get attitude, nor are you welcome here. Please respect the thread. And DJFloms thank you for the direction. That is what I am looking for here.
 
djfloms

djfloms

Well-Known Member
np man.... i also found a whole crap ton of videos on google videos when i first started growing. just search marijuana growing. there is one from a foreign country but the method still applies all over.
 
PistilPimp

PistilPimp

Active Member
FirsTime, stay the hell out of the thread if you can't offer any help. I doubt you have any experience in this subject anyway.

To the OP, like a couple people mentioned check out the "Harvest a pound every three weeks" thread. There are some others as well if you use the advanced search. Your gonna have to find a good yielding strain that you like to grow. Try and figure out how many plants you'll need to harvest to hit your goal. If you're growing plants that yield about 2 oz each, then you know you will have to set up to harvest 8 plants per week. (or 2)
 
D

disposition84

Well-Known Member
How much space are you working with? A perpetual grow with hydro could mean
that you're going to need a separate system for each batch of plants as they
will all be drinking on different levels and flushing will be done at different times.

I honestly think for a multiple room setup and expecting the yields you expect
you're looking at a MUCH higher budget. Hell, they co2 setup costs would be a
huge chunk of your budget right there if you're doing it right. Why not build up
to the point you want to get up to? Then you can make your investments over
time and still have quite a few successful harvests while also realizing the work
that goes into growing that much bud. And I hope you like trimming, at a lb a
week you got your work *cut* out for you, and those trimming machines arn't
exactly cheap.
 
M

maximto

Member
I know. As much as it might hurt FirsTime, I have grown 4 or 5 times (3 of my own, 2 assists so I dont know how to count it) I had a grow journal on overgrow before it got shut down so I have been aprehensive since. I have decided to keep a journal this time as I am now medical. I have done drip and DWC, but am looking to go aeroponic. I like the volksgardens but they are just too expensive to start out, and I would need 4 of them to achieve what I want to do. I agree with you disposition as growing can be quite modular but I have thought of adapting a homemade aeroponics plan much like stinkbuds setup.

https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/116859-harvest-pound-every-three-weeks.html

I like his methods. I would love to hear from people that have used them before. He does not clarify how many plants he harvests every three weeks, so if someone could elaborate that would be great. I wouldnt mind building 4 of his 14 site setups. Also, is vegging for 4 weeks instead of 2 ok in this system, and if so then you could do one harvest every 3 weeks with 4 systems and be just fine still. with a high yielding 8 week strain how much could you yield with 4 weeks of veg, 8 weeks of flower and a good supply of organic nutes and CO2, under 600 (or 1000 if okay) watts? I am having trouble figuring this out. I looked at Kitty's commercial grow and it is a bit bigger than I can handle. she will be having huggeeeee yields, much more than i can imagine. I am humble and modest. Trimming can be done while watching movies etc. I don't mind that. I have read the other threads, as well as the bible on numerous occasions amongst many other materials. Keep the info coming!
 
mrduke

mrduke

Well-Known Member
i would recommend you get 5-4x4 trays all with there own res. and have a minimum of 6 plants that were veged for 4 weeks in each tray. If you did this and had them on 2 week intervals you would need 4 trays to flower and one to veg. the veg would be under a 600 mh with one big fat mama producing 6-8 clones every 2 weeks, which you would pick your best to go to flower each tray having its own 1000 hps overhead . So you would be rotating your entire crop every 2 weeks. It takes time to get started but once your up it a production machine. good luck and welcome to RUI
 
lowerarchy

lowerarchy

Active Member
Couple things to consider before you start putting your room together - I wish I'd done this stuff.

I assume you'll be doing this for some time, so make sure you set up your room to be easy to work in - it may not seem cramped initially but you'll learn to hate narrow aisles an inaccessible electrical/plumbing/reservoirs soon enough, and the more of a pain in the ass it is to get to a particular part of the garden, the more you'll neglect it. Seriously: sacrifice a light or two if it makes the space more workable.

Run your room for a week or two before you put any plants in - way easier and cleaner to fix fuckups if there's not living things in there already. With aeroponics it seems like you pretty much need the system to work perfectly, no fuckups allowed, so you'll have to do this anyway.

Have stringent cleanliness procedures and stick with them. I had a perpetual grow and once the spider mites found it I could never get rid of 'em. Very, very difficult to deal with infestations when all your plants are at different stages of development.

Buy the biggest fans especially if you're not sure when you'll be getting your Co2 up.

Give some thought to a no-veg SOG style. You'll get an extra crop per year, trimming is a bit easier with multiple fat single colas (no popcorn), the lights you were going to use for vegging can just go in the flower room, and it's just a good trade-off. Take away the veg work, replace with cloning work, no problem.
 
supaleeb

supaleeb

Active Member
lowerarchy said:
I assume you'll be doing this for some time, so make sure you set up your room to be easy to work in - it may not seem cramped initially but you'll learn to hate narrow aisles an inaccessible electrical/plumbing/reservoirs soon enough, and the more of a pain in the ass it is to get to a particular part of the garden, the more you'll neglect it. Seriously: sacrifice a light or two if it makes the space more workable.
Click to expand...
Haha, been down that road. Also, DO NOT be tempted to fix your lights or something while it's hanging over your plants or while your plants are sitting below your lights. Bad things happen when you tempt the gods.
 
M

maximto

Member
lowerarchy said:
Couple things to consider before you start putting your room together - I wish I'd done this stuff.

I assume you'll be doing this for some time, so make sure you set up your room to be easy to work in - it may not seem cramped initially but you'll learn to hate narrow aisles an inaccessible electrical/plumbing/reservoirs soon enough, and the more of a pain in the ass it is to get to a particular part of the garden, the more you'll neglect it. Seriously: sacrifice a light or two if it makes the space more workable.

Run your room for a week or two before you put any plants in - way easier and cleaner to fix fuckups if there's not living things in there already. With aeroponics it seems like you pretty much need the system to work perfectly, no fuckups allowed, so you'll have to do this anyway.

Have stringent cleanliness procedures and stick with them. I had a perpetual grow and once the spider mites found it I could never get rid of 'em. Very, very difficult to deal with infestations when all your plants are at different stages of development.

Buy the biggest fans especially if you're not sure when you'll be getting your Co2 up.

Give some thought to a no-veg SOG style. You'll get an extra crop per year, trimming is a bit easier with multiple fat single colas (no popcorn), the lights you were going to use for vegging can just go in the flower room, and it's just a good trade-off. Take away the veg work, replace with cloning work, no problem.
Click to expand...

All very good advice. Every grow I have done has been a closet or scrog box grow (clandestine not in MMJLand previously) so this is a refreshing new beginning. Still, I have learned how valuable being tidy and scientific is. Keep everything neat and keep track of everything. I have had sloppy grows before. Waste not want not. I now know that I should keep all trimmings and that crowded grows can be tough. Also I am starting to debate whether I want to use aeroponics or a more simple ebb and flow system. This was brought on due to me questioning the complexity and possibility of failure of a system as well as the fact that I saw the grow where a guy had three plants yielding nearly 6 pounds (granted it was a 4 or 5 month grow with 800 watts per plant in 15 gallon buckets..) So I am wondering if getting a couple ebb monster systems would be better than building my own aeroponics system? I have worked with SOG but I kind of like the idea of growing 5 foot plants instead of little 3 footers. Just a thought. Anyone have an idea about this? also here is my proposed system (sans filtration,controllers and CO2)


  • 4x1000w HPS cool tube lights with quantum digital ballasts (thinking of dual plug lumatek digital ballasts to run two lamps off one ballast, any thoughts?)
  • 1x600w MH cool tube light
  • ebb and grow 24 sites (should i use standard 2 gallon pots or monster 5 gallon pots?)
  • lights are to be aircooled
 
mrduke

mrduke

Well-Known Member
with 4000 wats and a ebbandgro you cant really go wrong. I usually ran 9 plants per 1000 veg for 3 weeks and end up with 3-4 footers yeilding over a pound per light. the only donw side to the E&G is you cant do a perpetual, as they all feed from the same res.. you will be better off with tables/trays if you want a perp harvest.

oh yeah the 2gal buckets are fine
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
skip`the CO2 for now, with that much light and heat you need a strong A/C if you're considering doin a sealed enviroment. my idea of a perpetual harvest room is to make seperate rooms for veg and 12/12 and seperate flood and drain trays&res for each period of growth. for max efficiency you need to look into details of SOG style, in this system perfecting the timing= more bud over time. i grew like that for years takes time to master it. theres not much space for error if you're looking towards efficiency. you need a big number of clones rooted at the right time so you need to do everything right every time to keep the clones rooting perfectly in time and replacing the plants that are going into flowering. i grew several bonsai moms and took great care of them cuz i needed clones very often, so caring for the moms=more bud too. eventually i ended up with a way to cut double the number of clones i need to flower. the ones that look the best rooters with good health stay and late rooters are ditched, end up with a bunch of perfectly rooted clones which i put under 12/12 just when i harvest the flowering room so i lose no time. i ended up with a flood of bud that i cannot smoke by myself at that rate and i dont sell so i changed style of growing lol
in short you need a high level of skill to be consistent in harvesting big yields but i am sure you can achieve it
 
D

disposition84

Well-Known Member
Or you could take advantage of that extra heat and utilize co2, with a proper co2 level you SHOULD
have your temps around 85 or so. This will help you cut down on the work your AC will need to do
while helping you see even better results.
 
supaleeb

supaleeb

Active Member
disposition84 said:
Or you could take advantage of that extra heat and utilize co2, with a proper co2 level you SHOULD
have your temps around 85 or so. This will help you cut down on the work your AC will need to do
while helping you see even better results.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think this would be the proper approach if you don't mind spending a little bit more.
 
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