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1200 sq ft of potential. First real greenhouse!

onavelzy

Active member
Veteran
That's an exciting project for you.

From the drawing, it looks like you're planning on big fans on one end. Are you going to use them as swamp coolers?

No reason why you can't scrog outdoors or in GH. Kind of determined by the growth traits of the plants, not the location.

With two beds, maybe you could light dep one side for an earlier harvest and get more than one harvest out of the space. Then you wouldn't have so much to process at one time at the end. Unless you have a lot of friends you trust to help trim and what not.

For the ground cover, maybe washed pea gravel?

looking forward to your updates. I love to see things like this because I'll never get the chance to do it.
 

HatchBrew

Active member
Veteran
Looks like an awesome project/space!

Nice strain line up :)

Curious and want a space like this myself...so I got questions.

You got worm bins & compost bins going? Cover crops for green manure? Worms would love to eat up all that manure you got :)

What kind of IPM are you running? Thoughts of introducing beneficial insects? Growing flowers/herbs in there for diversity.

Glad you strayed away from the mulch floor! You can use the wood chips in the compost bins.

Rock an aquaponic corner? grow some perch whilst fertilizing/watering the lot of it!

That's all that I got for now...subbed in...back to trimming...hand trim team of one :)
 
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double digging is fun @_@

@onavelzy
not sure what swamp coolers are but the fans will be coupled with overhead misters and a few circulation fans. might also use spray emitters for irrigation to add some evaporative effect as well. they are just some big 5500cfm tunnel fans from home depot. last year i had almost no ventilation really and two strings of crappy walmart misters kept it around 80 on 110 degree days so a halfway decent setup should make a nice little planthouse. i might attempt light dep if i figure out a good way to do it.

@hatchbrew
whoa whoa whoa friend lets not get too crazy here haha...i've actually thought about all those things but if i started the cool little sustainable projects chances are they would run away from me. still gaining confidence in the actual growing/harvesting process and still optimizing the spaces (slowly). cant drive and town is 30 miles away so i cant just run to the hardware store if i need something. worms are a must though, ill be adding them to the beds and making a lot of worm bins with the leftover manure. vermicompost runs about 400/yard locally so ill just try to make my own and maybe even sell it eventually. for compost i am a little stretched for organic matter as many people already tap the commercial souces around here (coffee stands, paper mill, brewery, grocery store) but i am trying to use last year's wild tall grass with alfalfa meal to add some bulk organic matter to the bottom 12 inches of the beds. i did 3-4 inches raked dry grass stalks, 2-3 cups alfalfa meal and ~ 1 inch of soil in layers to make 3x3x3 piles that were hot to the touch after 48 hrs and still cooking strong a week later. this is what i'm talking about, about 10 acres of these matted grasses full of deer and rabbit pellets.

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not sure what IPM means but i have white clover, winter rye, alfalfa seeds and a neighbor has a giant mass of nettles down by their creek they'd love to have me take care of. i was a freak about praying mantids as a kid so naturally i will be introducing a few of those and probably ladybugs. the main pests last summer were grasshoppers caterpillars and some aphids. i'm considering a living white clover mulch for the floor and then covering it with panda at the start of the season if needed, . foot traffic and a little pruning should keep it under control while it works the earth. eventually i would like this to become a 1000 sq foot no till plot

I actually used to hate the idea of being outdoors. the GH was initially cobbled together at the last second to add an extra 1000 sqft to our license application. i strongly advocated ignoring the outdoor space last season because the end of july is way too late to be moving a bunch of big plants outdoors and it was a sketchy structure with no environmental controls. however, old people with zero experience know what's best so every mother got moved into the greenhouse for "muh profits". not only did they all get completely heatstressed and eventually yield maybe .5-1oz per 6 foot mother, every clone i managed to take and tried to reveg indoors got moved back outdoors or into the flower room the moment i left. let me tell you some of those plants looked like eldritch abominations after a double reveg reflower and since the owner germinated $1500 of seeds, left them to rot in a closet, then flowered every mother, those monsters were all i had to work with as far as propagation.

but, a little research on biochar turned into reading about soil structure, into learning the soil food web, eventually leading me to the tom hill outdoor thread and now i am enamoured with sustainable organics and soil management. anyway i'm rambling lol here's some glamour shots.

Gooberry 17%
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Big Black Indica 18.1%
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Berry Peak 22%
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onavelzy

Active member
Veteran
hey garlic, swamp coolers are coolers that work through evaporation rather than the gas compression/decompression approach used in typical air conditioners. the simpler ones i've seen for orchid greenhouses in the central valley use big ol fans that blow or suck air through walls of stacked cardboard that has water dripping through them. some systems use non-organic material to drip water through, like fiberglassy stuff. it's very inexpensive, relatively, especially for large spaces. it doesn't look like it would do squat but standing down wind from them, it's dramatically cooler. the process could affect humidity but in some locations, the added humidity is a good thing.

""double digging is fun"" Seriously? you're manually double digging that space out? That's insane. you're one fit, bad ass gardener. I spotted that post hole digger, got blisters just looking at the pic

Btw, I don't like your name. Two days in a row now it's made me want to go out and get some good indian food, esp. some garlic naan and there isn't any near me. Damn you
 
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hahahaha yeah it's labor alright...that's only the first layer too >_< but i only plan on doing it once. i might rent a tiller if i find it difficult to incorporate the fresh organic matter evenly.

i dont dive but i use neoprene diving gloves when i'm shovelling, they're like bionic skin. i never get blisters, or cold wet hands. could definitely use a massage though lmao.

that's neat man, i'm gonna see if i can fab up some swamp coolers! you guys are keeping me motivated haha
 
as is? about 75 in lumber/pvc ribbing and 200 for enough plastic to cover it 3 or 4 times. one of the neighbors owned a small sawmill that went out of business and left a big pile of 2x4s and scrap plank back in the woods so that negated a bit of cost. main spending this year to make it efficient will be microirrigation for the beds and probably overhead misters which will be another 100 or so? so 4-500 by the time its ready to go, excluding soil
 

HatchBrew

Active member
Veteran
IPM = Integrated Pest Management... Organic insect/fungicides, essential oils, beneficial plants, predatory insects,

Double digging and then building beds? are you going to lay wire down on the bottom to keep the critters from coming under (moles, voles, gophers...) don't know if they are a problem in your area. Or you could let them come in and they'd till your soil for you.
 
a little bit bored...lotta bit stoned....how bout an update?!:woohoo:

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downstairs plants are bushing out nicely. overwatered on the initial transplant but everything is perking back up and shooting out branches. prune, screen, flip the lights on this table tomorrow before things get unmanageable and hope for the best!!!

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all the mom's here doing great now, time for the next batch of clones wheeeee

hatchbro: ipm will probably be face things as they come beyond regular FPE/ACT foliars and insect apex predators. i am going to line the beds with some hardware cloth after i dig up the bottom layer for sifting. one packrat tore down 10 plants in like 45 minutes this winter so im not taking any chance with that burrowing nonsense. the security fence keeps everything else out

my super duper soil plan
A) remove and sift the clay subsoil and set aside
B) fill the bottom 8-12nches of the beds with topsoil/aged horse manure/composted wildgrass
C)mix the sifted bottom layer with the aged goat/chicken manure and amend with some kelp meal, N/P guanos, bone meal, rock phosphate, dolomite, azomite. fill the next 8-12inches with this
D)sprout alfalfa on all the beds, turn it under, cover with an inch or 2 of straight goat/chicken manure (this stuff is well aged and the lady says she grows directly in it)
E) mulch and irrigate until transplating

i'm getting sweaty just thinking about it. seems a bit excessive borderline impossible but i would like to set the foundation for some very fertile low or no-till beds. or maybe i'm just a fiend for playing around in the dirt...

speaking of which lol i'm trying out a new soil recipe
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6 ft of this stuff, Kellogg Organic Patio Plus $24
3 ft sphagnum peat $11
2 ft perlite $16
1 ft worm castings $19
12 cups kelp meal $5?
~1/2cup calcitic lime

~$6.25 per cubic foot as a base mix, all common stock from big brand stores. very fluffy, drains well while holding a good amount of moisture, doesn't really compact. if the babies like it ill be sourcing this stuff in bulk and maybe drop the price down even more.

so what do u guys think? keep it going??? the license holder is starting to get crazy about his initial investment and talking about shelving the whole deal. i think i can get this producing just in the nick of time though... def feeling the pressure here!!!! ahhhhhh
 
ok ignore that last post novice garbage

anyone in northeastern washington should check out Baker's Acres Nursery and North Country Distributors out in Tonasket. I'm not affiliated with them in anyway so i hope this isnt breaking rules, but I just discovered both of their independent operations and flat out fell in love with what they are providing. So far I have yet to see any better organic garden/small farm resources in the state, and trust me i have been searching!!! NCD has peat, SIMPLE organic soil blends, 30 yr aged sawdust teeming with little fungi buddies, and more all by the yard. Everything he makes smells like straight up life force lol. Baker's Acres has almost any bagged product you might need single or bulk and the owner is sooooo nice. Definitely worth a road trip to avoid hydrostore markups and shipping prices IMO. Lots of great resources in the area.

thats all i have for you guys but believe some good shit is going down right now, quite literally ;) ill be back in a week or 2 with some nice pictures!
 
almost ready!!!!!!!

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underneath the decades-abandoned portable sawmill dump behind the property. looks dank, hauling as much down as i can tomorrow. if earthworms are thriving in it i figure it should great for the soil. just look at all that mycellium!!!!!

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hardcore xxx nettle porn!!!!!

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struggling to keep up with these thirsty hookers. still looking sexy though!!! 10 days since the flip!!!!!!!

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