What's new
  • Please note members who been with us for more than 10 years have been upgraded to "Veteran" status and will receive exclusive benefits. If you wish to find out more about this or support IcMag and get same benefits, check this thread here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

MI 4,000sq ft outdoor grow SHO

sho

Member
Veteran
Well I did the indoor thing this past year, and I've done OK... but, it's time to play with the big boys.

Plans are for a Series 500 42' wide 96' long greenhouse kit, endwalls, etc. to comply with Michigan Law for medical grow's outdoors. Working on getting my financing in order for this project right now.

It'll be an organic soil I'll be buying from another grower I know, he mixes it himself. And he's known for 3-5lb plants, so I'm going to shut the hell up and listen to him. Water will be supplied from the river bordering the property, which is a natural rock-bottom spring fed river and protected trout spawning river. No factories upstream, just pure clean water straight from a natural Lake Superior supplied spring.

The seller accepted my terms for a land-contract, so this will be mine VERY SOON!


I'll have more than 10 acres to grow, play, and live on in the country, far away from everyone -- at the very end of a dead-end, low-traffic gravel road with virtually NO neighbors.

So... I'm used to indoors, guerilla outdoor grows, but this greenhouse thing is a whole new ballgame for me. Tips, tricks, pointers... this is being built with intentions of supplying dispensaries whenever Michigan gets around to getting the bills through the Senate.
 

Dreambig

Member
Nice, I'm in colorado, I was thinking about getting the exact same greenhouse kit but I'm gonna wait untill next year. I'll be watching this one. Good luck.
 

sho

Member
Veteran
Thanks guys, I'm glad Michigan passed this law in 2008. One of my big things is going to be growing some CBD heavy clones or Charlotte's Web turning it into oil and hopefully some parents find me if their children really need it. I'll supply for free.

The other 54 though...

I'm considering building a 40x96 pole barn instead and just leaving the damn roof and trusses off until the fall. Get through the winter and then put the greenhouse kit up next spring. Steel siding + 2x6's and 6x6 posts are "almost" half the price as the greenhouse kit.

The pole barn will come in handy, in the future, I do think... As long as the State Police can sign off on me not running a roof as long as I've got X foot tall walls and no neighbors can see in (cause there are none!).
 

sho

Member
Veteran
that sounds like a blast

So far it's been fun planning, but I imagine it won't be as much fun mid-summer pooping in the woods and sleeping in a tent outside the grow sho.

But now I've gotta hand off most the cash I've saved in this last year for down payment on this land contract
 

Backyard Farmer

Active member
Veteran
Go with the green house and build a smaller building to dry in. A few companies make curtain kits so you can black out your green house, I'd put 40kw in it so you can veg fast and get good crops off in the winter.
 

sho

Member
Veteran
That's what I was leaning towards, as long as I can get some serious service out in the boondocks. That's about 160-180 amps, not including the fans, heater, etc. that'll be running.

Not sure, if I can get 460v service I'm fine, otherwise I'll almost need three 200a service lines brought in (one for lights, one for Ghouse, one for residence/attached garage)
 

Backyard Farmer

Active member
Veteran
Get a fuel tank and diesel generator for the lights etc. You'll end up paying less over all for the power. Be sure to get with a structural engineer and get a good containment set up for your fuel tank in case of errors.

If you really want grid power just tell them you want 400amps
 

sho

Member
Veteran
Well I just took a kick to the dick -- Realtor send me some restrictions on the deed and one of them is no commercialisation.

Waiting for lawyer to call me back -- if I'm a Michigan Med grower (patient & caregiver, running my full 72) am I a "commercial" entity or am I just a guy with a garden?
 

Rising Moon

Member
I did a legal cage grow in MI last summer. I can tell you this right now...

Spacing between plants, ventilation and strain selection are going to be your 3 biggest factors to focus on.

PM and mold pressure are HUGE in our state late August/October, so choosing strains that are not susceptible to this, is going to make your life MUCH less stressful.

Also, you having never done this before, I am willing to bet, you will under estimate just how big these plants can get. So plan ahead, for some really big plants.

In all honesty, if I were you, I would plant out bushy clones July 1st. They will blow up in the right soil, and end up being 5-6 ft high.

I planted my huge vegged out bushes June 1st, and they outgrew my cage (8ft tall) by the end of Aug no problem... I had to chop them back, and lost out on yields.

spend the spring/early summer getting your soil and conditions dialed in, and plant late, it will pay off IMO.

Here are 2 of my girls still growing into the roof after being pruned and tied down...

(plan ahead!)

(BTW, in MI, you are growing your plants for yourself and patients, that is all, you are not commercial, you are simply growing plants. Dont make things complicated for yourself, stay under the radar and be smart/quiet. The scetch part about this all is yet to come, its one thing to be able to grow 72 plants, however when it comes time to harvest those, and you can only have 15 oz, you run into some fun stuff! or are a paranoid wreck... )
 

Attachments

  • 2013-09-14 17.10.26.jpg
    2013-09-14 17.10.26.jpg
    133.6 KB · Views: 17

sho

Member
Veteran
Rising moon -- thanks for chiming in.

Mind you -- this shack's gonna be 42 feet by 96 feet, that's 5 rows wide 8 rows deep of 8x8 plants. Some strains won't fill the full size, but I'll probably only be rocking around 40-50 plants in there. And no clones for me, only seed outside. Every single plant I kept track of for the last few years has done at least 30% more from seed. 5-6lb seed plants were not unheard of last year, but I didn't see a single 5lb clone from any of the guys I know (and I helped manage a LOTTA fuckin plants).

This is my 4th year in the legal grow game, and a few before that. This is only MY first outdoor grow, that's actually mine. I've worked in some massive operations in the last few years, and know all to well what happens come harvest time. Four words? 50gal pickle barrels. Plastic, with screw on lid. Ain't no metal detectors finding those (and people DO do it... especially vulnerable are the ones that buried their shit in ammo cans).


I get the concept that I'm NOT commercial, but my attorney is advising me against it. What if they go legal this year? I essentially put up a $10,000 building and a $100,000 property to have to move it all again the next year? Even the realtor is just telling me "just say it's for your home garden" but I know he wants my $ more than my lawyer does.
 

sho

Member
Veteran
And nice looking ladies, you a troll? I saw a few dog kennels ran around here, hell even in City Limits! But I need way more room to keep up with my buddies, plus it gives me a year supply to fulfill my patients needs, instead going two, three times a week to get my legal limit from another caregiver.
 

sho

Member
Veteran
Realtors are sketchy compared to lawyers they always try to force you to dance .

Nicer to buy a spot from the people that live there/owners .

Especially when he gets 8% commission whether I'm in court fighting about property rights or not. At least my lawyer has interest in keeping me OUT of court, I pay her a yearly retainer now after hiring her like 6 times in the last 3 years.
 

silver hawaiian

Active member
Veteran
(plan ahead!)

(BTW, in MI, you are growing your plants for yourself and patients, that is all, you are not commercial, you are simply growing plants. Dont make things complicated for yourself, stay under the radar and be smart/quiet. The scetch part about this all is yet to come, its one thing to be able to grow 72 plants, however when it comes time to harvest those, and you can only have 15 oz, you run into some fun stuff! or are a paranoid wreck... )

THIS

I'm a lone patient, hobby grower, and I sweat when I have to harvest. It's like a race to dry and process the shit into [not flowers].
 

sho

Member
Veteran
You're stressing way too much then, enjoy a bud from last harvest and get to work. I built a few hard to find areas in my house when I remodelled for storage.I should mention a secondary apartment -- not in your name or a cabin you rent in the woods works just as well (obviously not feasible to rent an apartment to take down 6 plants and keep them off the premises, but 60...)

The real fun is making a drive with a trailer that has 6 of those pickle barrels in it full... and I mean FULL. Did that trip 4 times last year, 40 mile one way to a hole in the middle of BFE.
 

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top