Need some good advice.

[sensiskrap]

Could really use some help making a couple decisions for a new setup.

Have been a casual smoker for a long time, but I never really appreciated the true medicinal value until my snowboarding accident this past xmas.

needless to say i renewed my medical prescription and have been using and will be needing more medicine than i can afford to buy.

I have one small grow under by belt, a 600w blunt69 magic tray setup, which came out ok (except for the powdery mildew)

fortunately i will have a new much larger area to work with, but since i live in san joaquin county i will be limited by the 6 mature plant limit. The reason for sticking with the limit is that i have a 1-yr old son, and my wife thinks that if i were caught they would take him away. This is a whole other story, and although i think she is incorrect, you just got to keep my smarter half happy.

In my existing condition i need a system with the lowest possible maintenance, yields a lot, but can't require lifting anything heaving.
Now that i have the space im leaning towards bigtokes biobuckets.
my one grower buddy in pdx argues that an ebb&flow tray would be better.
but that seems to require a lot of plants. Is he right? or any other suggestions?

As for lighting, I was thinking that i could fit 4 x 600w over the six, but after going through some grow diaries, that might be overkill. starting to think 3 x 600w instead. will four just be a waste or will it give me a noticeably more?

after my previous partial success i have a good grasp of the environmental control needed. But what are the most or highest recommended brands for carbon scrubers, fans etc? It seems like you pay for what you get, as long i get the right size, etc, will i be satisfied with almost any brand name products?

thanks for reading.

 

[globel]

if your going with larger plants I would suggest 1000 watters maybe just 2 the light can penetrate the larger plants better.

And ebb flow tables are very easy and you can fit any size plant in them you want. you just need a bigger container, weight might be an issue when you harvest. You can put six 5 gallon buckets on a 4x8 tray with 3 on each side. Just veg for a long time and trim them alot to keep them short.

One suggestion when using a limited number of plants in a large area is scrog If you could utilize a screen over any system you use (bio buckets or ebb flow), it will help you maximize the size of the canopy.

Also maybe you can try lst
Example: http://icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=1523355&postcount=14

 

[Lazyman]

Yeah, with six large plants I think two 1000W bulbs would be plenty, I'd get one HPS and one MH. Do 5-10 gallon pots of soil to keep it simple, put big catch trays under em to hold all your runoff and extend time between waterings. You should be able to buy medical clones so you don't really need a separate veg room.

 

[PrinSeshJasmine]

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[Hydro-Soil]

Shoot me a PM when you get your post count up, if you need any help. I live close enough that I could drop by for a day or so if need be. That break doesn't look like you're going to be doing much of the work.

6 plants, right? Go 3 400watters and scrog 2 plants under each one. Can't go wrong with a perpetual scrog. having 3 lamps will allow you to adjust heights for 3 different screens at different stages of flowering. Humidity is going to be your biggest issue in the valley (Sulfur burner for the PM??) though so ventilation through the canopy is going to be essential.

Make them 400w Ceramic Metal Halides, if you can, to cut down on the infra-red red being generated. It's a great way to reduce your overall cooling load.


Now, with that amount of meds available you're going to be able to properly medicate with tincture and cream rubs for direct pain control as well as edibles. Definitely interested in any work you do in that arena.

Have you given any consideration to what strains you'll be wanting? Definitely a super powerful indica for the alcohol rub but what to smoke/vape/eat? I'd look for a good heady sativa (if you work well with sativas) that also has pain control in it.

Stay Safe

Edit: It shouldn't be too difficult to find a reliable clone vendor near you and they're inexpensive. If they don't carry what you want, find it for them and most will be willing to begin supplying you cuts of it.

 

[sensiskrap]

thanks for the input!!!

will definitely not be doing the work myself, not possible.
I'll have some buddies set it up. Thanks for the help offer Hydro-Soil.
will get my post count up.

Not worried about clones, was down in oaksterdamn last week, and there are lots of good genetics there. Definitely going heavy indica, bubblegum looks appealing. Will probably take the suggestions of staff there.

I haven't experimented with creams and rubs. Their kinda pricy at the dispensaries, but looking forward to have product to make them with soon. I love the edibles, much better and long lasting pain relief, but again, unless i make them myself its just not economical. A vap is top of my list when i have disposable income.

Soil was my first choice, but didn't want to make my wife carry bag after bag. I think i have to go hydro for maintenance issues. A perpetual grow in an ebb/flow tray was my next choice, but don't plants at different stages need different nute concentrations?
No one is encouraging the bio-buckets. Something i dont know?

Hadn't really thought of doing large buckets in an ebb/flow tray, thanks for the idea global.

Lighting......shesssh.
Ceramic metal halides?!?! going to have to look that up. sounds expensive, worth the cost?
I already have one 600w, was thinking 3 x 600 would give me nice strong even light.
But now, i have no idea.

Been doing a lot of research on env. control, because i know what a PITA it is when its not right. It seems that i can spend 200$ for a green air env. control or similar, but it also seems that i can just got to the hardware store and buy a humidistat, thermostat, and wire them myself. Are these hydro specific products worth it? Or are they relatively simple diys?

thanks again everyone, will post pictures when i have space secured.

 

[sensiskrap]

wow just got through reading unknown #s of pages about ceramic metal halide.
why aren't more people using these?
well i'm convinced, will probably try 3 x 400.
thanks for the headsup

 

[toastfighter2]

After I read your first post, I was thinking of recommending going perpetual to you, but hydro soil beat me to it. He also beat me to the scrog part too. If you want to go hydro, you should look into dwc buckets hooked to a controller. A couple perks of that system are that you can drain and fill it with a pump, you can attach your scrog's screen right to the bucket lid(so you can move the plant, lid, and screen all at once-less weight than a pot of soil), and they are cheap and easy to set up diy style.

 

[sensiskrap]

Holy shit, it's been five years and I forgot I started this post.
Just read through my old thoughts and wanted to share a few things I've learned over the years.
First of all I live in a much more humid area now....sulphur burner. fixed.
I've been running 1x 1,000 and 1x600 HPS averaging around .5-.75 grams per watt.
Recently switched the 600HPS to 300watt DIY Cree COBs LEDs and have noticed better growth, and electric bills. Hard to quantify g/watt, but better than all HPS.
Sorry CMH, never tried you.
Over the years I tried a lot of different growing systems, and no revolutionary thoughts here....they all have benefits and drawbacks, all depends on your goals.
I do use coco in 1-2 gallon pots in flood trays now.
For nutrients I've noticed better growth with Jacks hydro (or growmore.com if you're in Cali) than gen hydro or some of the expensive mixes.
Knowing about your NPK ratio and water quality is more important IMO.
Well no real point to this, just sharing some knowledge.