GH noobie in search of advice

[TommytheCat]

Hey folks,

I've just stumbled across some good luck. A friend of mine owns a garden nursery and owns many commercial sized greenhouses. I was lucky enough to be gifted one of his second hand commercial greenhouses. In total it measures 100' long x 20' wide x 15' tall. I own a nice chunk of land, in a pretty remote area. I was thinking of assembling this GH with the dimensions 25-30' long x 20' wide x 15' tall. Now comes the mass of questions..

1. What size should I realistically build this? I don't think a 100' long GH would be reasonable in a residential area.

2. Are there any extra safety precautions I can make? I don't really like the idea of the greenhouse being ''see through'', or easily accessible to everyone. I don't want a big lock on the outside because that just screams ''I'm growing bud in here!''.

3. Whats the most reasonable way to heat this greenhouse in the winter? I like the idea of solar heating panels, but I know very little about them.

4. Is there much I can do about odor control without setting up a carbon scrubber? I'm not sure I could really build or setup a carbon scrubber large enough to hide the odor from a GH of this size. I was thinking of possibly growing a lot of other plants in there, including flowers, and other odoriferous plants.

If you have any advice, tips, etc please let me know. Help this GH noobie out.

 

[SirTOKESalot]

1)The Size would Depend on how much you want to grow?

2)NO lock!? Surround your green house with Veggies, Or grow Veg with the Cani plants!?
-Maybe you could start BEE Farming and put hives all around the Grow GH!!
-Put up electric fence arownd your spot booby trap that shit, get an alarm from home depot... All that fun stuff.

3) dont know....

4) Vent out the highest spot and grow a shit load of very fragrant flowers like Summer Lilac, Lavender, Carnations are very spicy and sweet smelling, Freesia or Jasmine.. they use that alot in candles, incense and many perfume products. Just idea use Nature.

I have never Grown in a Greenhouse, But i Am a horticulture student and will someday be running one, so it interest me... hope i could help.

and btw.... You lucky bastard!!!!
P.S #4 is the only question I realllly know anything about.

 

[TommytheCat]

1)The Size would Depend on how much you want to grow?

2)NO lock!? Surround your green house with Veggies, Or grow Veg with the Cani plants!?
-Maybe you could start BEE Farming and put hives all around the Grow GH!!
-Put up electric fence arownd your spot booby trap that shit, get an alarm from home depot... All that fun stuff.

3) dont know....

4) Vent out the highest spot and grow a shit load of very fragrant flowers like Summer Lilac, Lavender, Carnations are very spicy and sweet smelling, Freesia or Jasmine.. they use that alot in candles, incense and many perfume products. Just idea use Nature.

I have never Grown in a Greenhouse, But i Am a horticulture student and will someday be running one, so it interest me... hope i could help.

and btw.... You lucky bastard!!!!
P.S #4 is the only question I realllly know anything about.

Thanks for the advice bro!

I'm thinking of assembling it about 25' - 50' long at the moment. I may put about 100 cuttings in there, and veg them out until its time to flower. I'm playing with that idea or perhaps 20 large plants SCROG'ed out and low to the ground.

I would put up a lock for sure, but my fear is someone will see the lock and instantly be curious about what is inside. Or God forbid (saying my prayers even thinking about it) LEO notice a locked up greenhouse and instantly become suspicious. I'll have to think about these things.

I love your ideas though man! I'll be planting tons of smelly flowers in there, and I actually have a few old bee hives there as well. I think it would be very beneficial to get some bee hives started out there. I'll vent out the top with the fans, and have some bee hives setup.

Thanks for the advice bro! I'm not being arrogant, but I know I'm lucky! I've been on cloud 9 since I was offered. I just picked it up today actually. Great advice, very helpful. I'd love more advice, feedback, comments as well if anyone has them to offer.

Tommy

 

[doublejj]

A little more info on the "nice chunk of land, in a pretty remote area". How remote? Who can see it? & from where? Who's gonna smell it? Are you in a legal state?

I would think twice before going over 99 plants, to avoid Federal min sentencing.

peace
doublejj
P.S. And your not going to get away with just leaving a 20'x50' greenhouse full of buds unattended during harvest season, they won't be there when you get back. You won't need a lock, you'll need a cot!

 

[TommytheCat]

A little more info on the "nice chunk of land, in a pretty remote area". How remote? Who can see it? & from where? Who's gonna smell it? Are you in a legal state?

I would think twice before going over 99 plants, to avoid Federal min sentencing.

peace
doublejj
P.S. And your not going to get away with just leaving a 20'x50' greenhouse full of buds unattended during harvest season, they won't be there when you get back. You won't need a lock, you'll need a cot!

Hey bro,
Thanks for the advice! Here is a little information.

Open land, surrounded by woods. Only possible way to see the GH would be to be far up on my land already. It would be impossible to see driving by on the street. They would physically have to be way up on my property, past my house just to be able to see it.

Not in a legal state. Sadly. Thinking about it now, I agree about not going over 99 plants. I'll have to just bush out a few big ones and scrog them. I'm looking forward for the increased amount of effort I'll have to put into the grow. For the past 5 years, I've been limited to micro/cabinet growing. It'll be nice to actually have a little bit of space to play with.

Tommy

 

[simos]

My $.02:

Definitely do not put up an electric fence or booby traps. They're just asking for trouble, one kind or another.

Have a proper (in-door, keyed) lock installed; don't padlock it.

Plant a green screen of trees/shrubs appropriate to your climate that obscure the greenhouse from the most likely vantage points while sacrificing the least amount of sunlight possible.

I'd consider beefing up your property's fencing, and consider planting some spiny/thorny plants along boundaries in areas you think might be access points for rippers.

Sleeping out with the plants for the last month of flowering is going to be an absolute necessity. If people are routinely passing within a few hundred meters of the greenhouse, they will be able to smell the ladies in full flower.

 

[TommytheCat]

My $.02:

Definitely do not put up an electric fence or booby traps. They're just asking for trouble, one kind or another.

Have a proper (in-door, keyed) lock installed; don't padlock it.

Plant a green screen of trees/shrubs appropriate to your climate that obscure the greenhouse from the most likely vantage points while sacrificing the least amount of sunlight possible.

I'd consider beefing up your property's fencing, and consider planting some spiny/thorny plants along boundaries in areas you think might be access points for rippers.

Sleeping out with the plants for the last month of flowering is going to be an absolute necessity. If people are routinely passing within a few hundred meters of the greenhouse, they will be able to smell the ladies in full flower.

I think your right about the booby traps. I do however think that beehives would be a good idea though. Their pretty common around greenhouses. I think I'll go ahead and plant a bunch of irritating plants, thorny plants, etc around the greenhouse.

Do you think sleeping out with the plants is 100% necessary even in remote areas? This may sound gross, but usually towards the end of fall you smell a lot of horse feces/urine. The problem is, I work nights pretty often, and my schedule is on/off all the time. I never really know 100% what my work schedule will be.

You've really given me something to think about though. If I cannot do this safely, I'd rather not do it. I'll build it up as if I were preparing to grow some bud in there, and I'll start filling it with veggie seedlings, mint, flowers, etc, and we'll assess the situation better at that point.

Time to get back to planning. Great advice, and its much appreciated.

 

[doublejj]

Putting a lock on your greenhouse would be useless. If they are close enough to see the lock, they are already too close. You need to try to keep them as far away as possible.
Rippers are very resourceful, they will stop at nothing, a lock wouldn't even slow them down.

If you can't be there full time, you might need to put up a fence & get a couple of large dogs.

They also make trail cameras that will email pictures to you, or put up 24hr surveillance camera. But if your an hour away, they may only let you see who got your plants.

Lot's to think about.

Good luck bro, you need to keep people as far away from your greenhouse as possible. Put a locked gate on your driveway, out at the road.

peace
doublejj

 

[driftless]

Do people know you as a smoker or grower already ? If so, they will definitely be suspicious to say the least.

The idea of a in-door key lock would be a good idea like previously mentioned. Yeah, it may not stop a determined ripper, but it certainly would be a first line of defense for very cheap.

Are you known for growing any legit plants ? Do you have a large garden ? If not, it would be pretty questionable for you to set up a huge greenhouse don't you think ? What are you prepared to tell people who may swing by or family? What about when they want to look inside ?

Does your benefactor know your plans ? He might wanna swing by and check out the setup once in a while or wondering what your uses are for it.

A dog that barks alot posted up nearby would be a good idea. Not a pack of Doberman's, that might seem weird. But an old farm dog who doesn't like strangers isn't out of the ordinary.

As far as you growing in the Spring, Summer, and into the fall..... definitely doable. But it will arouse some serious suspicions when you have HPS and MH lights drumming on through the night in winter. Considering heat costs and supplemental winter lighting, you will have much higher electric consumption. Which, considering your crop, isn't a financial concern so much as a security concern. I would say your risk goes up 5-fold in attempting this. Especially since 90% of greenhouses shut down in the winter. And the few that don't are usually well known for tomatoes or some other legit operations. Your mystery greenhouse may be questionable. Food for thought my friend.

 

[Krull]

get a couple of large dogs

^^^^ this.

Also this may sounds a lot of pain but if you're building a gh from scratch, plant only veggies for the first year.
This way you can better understand if your gh is raising unwanted attention and once etablished the neighbors will not pay much attention the following years.

GL

=K

 

[SirTOKESalot]

^^^^ this.

Also this may sounds a lot of pain but if you're building a gh from scratch, plant only veggies for the first year.
This way you can better understand if your gh is raising unwanted attention and once etablished the neighbors will not pay much attention the following years.

GL

=K

I like the Grow Veg for the first year idea. If anyone wants to see inside show them, and be done with it and the next year go hard