Freedom 45! 10x12x8 Evolving Vert Retirement Plan!

[Arminius]

Hey all,
To anyone who caught the reference in the title, TPB ftw! I took their "Freedom 35" plan, and adjusted for my age (since I can't turn back the clock...) and Freedom 45 will hopefully release me from manual labor, and insulate me from our fucked economy...
I have been lurking here for a few months, but was primarily on another site for my first grow. I feel more at home with a more "mature", yet inovative crowd. I am looking to devote my time in the Vert forums, and maximize my space. My goal is to be financially independent within the next 6 months. I have been pounding nails for too long, and do not want to end up broken like my father.
I finished my first grow, in adverse conditions, with less than .5g per watt, but I know what my limiting factors were, and I know what I will be doing differently this time. (not having enough amps to bring the humidity down from 90% is a fucked battle to fight). Even with the shit yield, the finished product is amazing. My fiance, who has trimmed for years up north and here locally, said it was some of the best stuff she has trimmed (and smoked), so I feel I am capable.
My new flower room is 10x12x8, and will be fully insulated to help with temp swings/control. I am waiting for 5 years of tax returns to fund the equipment, and depending on how much I lose in penalties, will determine how quickly I ramp up the operation.
I currently have 20 Sour Diesel cuttings in rockwool under T-5s, which will veg in 14g bubble totes. I am still debating my first flower arangement, but I am leaning towards a circular scrog, with 5-6 bubble buckets surrounding 2 600w vert bulbs.
When funds allow, I would like to do a couple of trees in a corner of the room, and maybe create the beginings of a stadium... Depending on which method produces the best, I will likely do the whole room in that method, since I am planning for retirement after all...
Here are a couple of pics for now, and I will be posting more as we move along.
I am open to any and all feedback, I wouldn't know what t o do without being able to gain so much knowledge on this site, and would be honored to recieve feedback from some of the awesome growers in the Vert Forum.
Sorry for the buzzed rambles...

 

[megayields]

Hey dude congrats on starting your thread......when I get back in 2 weeks hopefully you will have 50 posts brother....oh and looking forward to your next run!

 

[187020]

nice lookin shed...and cute dogs !! peace homie

 

[420ish]

good luck!

 

[Arminius]

Avatar?

Avatar?

Do I need 50 posts to use my own avatar? The only options I have are the preloaded ones...
The cuttings are on day 4 now, and hopefully will be able to transplant the best 8 sometime next week.
@ Mega: Unfortunately, SC Hydro stopped their summer bbq, and giveaways until next year. I prefer to shop the Felton store since it's only 5 minutes from home. The"frequency water" is made by NPK Industries. To my understanding, they charge the waters to provide different properties. Their first product was the kill spider mites, and they have the Powdery Mildew formula, as well as a wash for prior to harvest.

 

[Arminius]

First off, thanks for everyone stopping by, rather than type each name, just know that I mean everyone...

Managed to take care of a couple of my "gardening" items that needed to be addressed today. This was a hard week, sweating on a roof during a heat wave sucks ass...

• Took the time to flush (at 100+ psi) my bag of hydroton. I discovered, after the fact, that you should flush the balls, to remove all that dust. Last run, I had severe PH issues during veg, and I suspect it was the clay dust from the balls...'
• I set up my 2 veg totes. I am planning on running two 14g totes with 4 plants each for veg. I decided to leave my old control unit to create a RDWC veg chamber. My 18g tote, that has a float valve from the RO res, will feed two 14g totes with 4 plants each. I figured, since I had all the gears to make it work, may as well make it as easy as possible. So, my continuous tri-meter will monitor my veg totes, while the control unit will recirculate the nutes.

For the first phase, since I have most of the gear left over from my 4 site RDWC setup, I am thinking of running 5-7 5g bubble buckets in a circular scrog set up with two vert 600w HPS bare bulb. One of the questions I have not reconciled myself with is the placement of the screen. I have seen chicken wire protecting the lights from the plants, and I have seen screens located behind or in front of the sites, training the plants away from the bulbs. Are there pros/cons, for either/or?
As funds allow, I would like to have 2-3 methods in my flower chamber. So far I am leaning towards a couple of trees, and one of those futuristic, 2010 space station bobblepods...

 

[Space Case]

Keep at it bro! Hope you retire sooner than you think!

 

[hup234]

retired w/ three squares a day ,free medical and 24 hr security...good luck

 

[megayields]

Ari

Yeah50 posts to send/receive pms , to hav custom avatars....if I wasn't so tired I would expound more like your weed doughnut setup , check Aeroheads epic thread he fucking killed it with a very similar set up to what your describing.

Good luck bro you and I should get a pizza @ Redwood Pizza and talk shop someday.

 

[Arminius]

Lol... I am in full compliance with prop 215 so I am not too worried about the other"retirement" plan...
I will definitely check out Aeroheads thread in more detail, just been swamped this week.
Pizza and shop talk sounds like a plan, will keep plugging away at the post count in the meantime haha...
Down to 19 SD clones, one was withered and droopy so I pulled it. I have a feeling I am going to have veg space issues soon. After I put the first 8 into veg, I am not sure what I am going to do with the rest. I figure I will keep 1 or 2 as mothers, and maybe put the rest in larger rockwool cubes and keep them in a tray until I can put them in 10" net pots and grow a couple of trees...

 

[Arminius]

Hey Mega,
Is there any books by Heath Robinson out there, or just forum threads scattered on the internet?

 

[Chunkypigs]

there's a youtube channel with heaths grows turned into power point style movies. the channels name is BrashtheOnion...

I've been trying to figure out a good DWC system for a while and I settled on those same totes for
individual bushes/trees. I like the 10" netpots, it takes a few weeks for me to see roots when I stick the babies into them so I use a 2 gallon bucket until some roots drop then I go to a 3.5 gallon black bucket, then a 5 gallon, then the 18 gallon tote. I set the overflow so that it holds about 9-10 gallons after filled with roots. I had been trying to grow the plants too big for 5 gallon buckets for a while. with a 10" netpot in a 5 gallon bucket you will only have about 3 gallons of liquid in there and my big girls could drink half of that in a day changing the balance of the nutes too much. now with the big totes I can go 48 hours between top offs and my plants are looking happier.

I like having them in separate buckets during veg as they are easy to work on and you can separate them and give them space as they grow.

I have found it helpful to run a 1/4" airline thru the hydroton and keep a small air stone hanging about 3" below the netpot. I just let it grow right into the rootmass. I'm adding 1 additional air stone to the 5 gallon bucket and a third when it goes into the tote.

I've had the odd problem with algae and root aphids in my dwc so I'm not ready to try recirculating yet but I want to emulate Heath's grows also. my biggest bush so far was only 9 zips so I have to keep learning.

I'll be following along to see how you dial it in. Good Luck!

 

[Arminius]

there's a youtube channel with heaths grows turned into power point style movies. the channels name is BrashtheOnion...

I've been trying to figure out a good DWC system for a while and I settled on those same totes for
individual bushes/trees. I like the 10" netpots, it takes a few weeks for me to see roots when I stick the babies into them so I use a 2 gallon bucket until some roots drop then I go to a 3.5 gallon black bucket, then a 5 gallon, then the 18 gallon tote. I set the overflow so that it holds about 9-10 gallons after filled with roots. I had been trying to grow the plants too big for 5 gallon buckets for a while. with a 10" netpot in a 5 gallon bucket you will only have about 3 gallons of liquid in there and my big girls could drink half of that in a day changing the balance of the nutes too much. now with the big totes I can go 48 hours between top offs and my plants are looking happier.

I like having them in separate buckets during veg as they are easy to work on and you can separate them and give them space as they grow.

I have found it helpful to run a 1/4" airline thru the hydroton and keep a small air stone hanging about 3" below the netpot. I just let it grow right into the rootmass. I'm adding 1 additional air stone to the 5 gallon bucket and a third when it goes into the tote.

I've had the odd problem with algae and root aphids in my dwc so I'm not ready to try recirculating yet but I want to emulate Heath's grows also. my biggest bush so far was only 9 zips so I have to keep learning.

I'll be following along to see how you dial it in. Good Luck!

Thanks for stopping by Chunkypigs, I appreciate the feedback. I tried to find a way to veg in 10" net pots, but just dont have the room.
I will check the Youtube channel, thanks for the heads up!

 

[megayields]

Hey Mega,
Is there any books by Heath Robinson out there, or just forum threads scattered on the internet?

I have nevEr seen a book written by HR....if their is one it will sit next to my bible by my bed...lol....I think it is scattered forum on the internet.....if you search the verticàl section..I actually made a thread to kinda make a repository for his disparate threads do a search for Heath Robinson...I think I did it last year. Or very early this year

 

[Arminius]

Not too much happening at the moment...
Today is day 8 for the cuttings. Still no roots, and it looks like one more is not going to take. The other 18 look good, they are strong and green, with no sagging. The bends in the stems and branches came from the mother that way. Looks like I have a few that will already be trained, lol ...
Anyone have experience with SD cuttings? How long should it take for the roots to show in rockwool?
Here are some outdoor shots. These are both mothers that needed to make room for more popular mothers. The taller one outside of the cage is a Goosh, and the one in a cage is Chocalope. The Chocalope should be interesting since it is almost pure Sativa and I will probably have to start tying her up since she may not bush out enough to gain the support of the cage.
Based on when we get our first rain historically, I figure they have 30-45 days left.
Any suggestions on getting more strain info for my Sour Diesel? Since I will be mono-cropping, I would like to be able to get the girls exactly what they need.

 

[BubsNugs]

Howdy!!

Best of luck with your plans. Love the Freedom 45 idea and love the TPB

In so far as the SD clones go I have a friend that had some SD going (nor sure from what seeds as they were gifted to him) however he had a real issue cloning them for some reason. Think it took a couple goes before it worked. So best of luck with that.
I been ponderin my own freedom 45 plan because being broke sux moose wang.

Peace

 

[Arminius]

Thanks for stopping by Bubs. This is my first shot at cloning, so I am a bit nervous I may be wasting my time. If I had the time I was planning on building my own EZ cloner, but the rockwool will have to do for now. I figure that one way or another I should see roots by this weekend.
Take your retirement into your own hands! This economy is going to take years to recover, and with all the dispensaries available, MMJ is near recession proof. I plan on getting a part-time job this winter, and retiring from the roofing industry before my body is as broken as my father's...

 

[Arminius]

Some good news...
I did some research on people trying to clone Sour Diesel, and it seems to take 14+ days for roots to show in rockwool...
On day 8 I have many of the clones showing little bumps at the base of the stem, which from what I have been told by a cloner friend of mine, is the first sign of roots... So I am still thinking this weekend for roots to break out of the cube.

 

[Arminius]

Well, I went all the way down to Watsonville expecting to have my roof ready, and the fucking carpenters were not even close. So rather than the day be a complete waste, I decided to bite off more than I could chew...
I did all the plumbing for the veg totes in a couple of hours, then got a wild hair up my ass and decided to enlarge my veg chamber. I had been planning on doing this since the day I created my initial chamber, but I should have done one or the other...
The room is expanded, but not air tight anymore. I should be able to get it put back together tomorrow night.
I think that I should have plenty of room now. I plan on keeping 3-4 banzai mothers, and a cloner on the upper section, and veg 8 plants at a time in the lower section.
Any thoughts or feedback is always welcome...

 

[megayields]

All the way to Watsonville...lol......
We go to Buena Vista exit every day to feed and exercise our horses daily...".hey good luck on the larger veg area....I have to throw up and old 3x3 tent as I need more veg area also.

Best wishes from Abiline, TX