LSWM's Vert Donuts 2.0

LSWM · Mar 9, 2015

NEW LOCATION!

He's the current plan/rundown:

Flower:
11'4"x10'10"x8' - Room Size
1k HPS x 3
4x4 trays with trellis x 3
55 gallon RO reservoir
55 gallon Nutrient reservoir
4-6 Plants per tray

Veg:
2'x6'6"x6'
400w MH or 600w HPS x 2

Other Details:
DTW Multifeed Coco
Jack's Hydro + CalNit for Veg and Flower

Finally moved into my new spot! It has taken way too long and I still have boxes laying around... I definitely downsized in space and have no room for all my belongings. I have a livable living room, kitchen, and bedroom, as well as a partially setup grow room.

The property is inland Southern California at sea level, on 1/2 acre of flat land. Temps will be hitting high 90's and 100 come summertime. Directly behind me is the freeway/and city drainage and in front a busy street. Every house directly surrounding me is a family of middle eastern or mexicans. All seem very nice, and everyone knew my grandmother who lived here before me. My place has a much larger yard and sits back from the street ~150 feet, and 30-40 feet from houses on either side.

Pro's to the new spot:
Location is convient
Large yard
Freeway is loud and will cover up fan noises
No landlord which means completely free reign
Cheaper rent

Con's:
Lots of neighbors
Much less space for growing or storage
Gets HOT here
Terribly insulated house with huge temp swings
Power cost ~33% higher for tier 3, but tier 3 will be harder to achieve as well
SPIDERMITES - I've already found them eating weeds in the yard

I have a lot of other options at this place, but the funds are lacking currently to go too crazy. My stay at this spot will most likely be 5+ years so I have plenty of time to maximize my grow. There is a detached shed that is 8'x12' as well as my current bedroom that may need to be, at least partially, used for veg space. Luckily my rent got cut in half moving here so I can still cover the bills with a smaller operation and step it up as needed.

LSWM · Mar 9, 2015

I'm going to post some pics of the new room and my half flowering, beaten up, thrip damaged plants as soon as I get them off my phone, but I wanted to pick everyone's brain for ideas sooner rather than later.

I'm debating between a tree room and the 4x4 trays. I'm unsure of how much cooling I am going to have but I imagine I will be able to run 5k easily. With a tree room, vegging in the room seems almost mandatory, especially with my small veg space. With the trays, I would have more flexibility to run a perpetual setup where possible, but I have also found vegging on the final screens to give better results. With only one flower room things get complicated trying to stagger trays and keeping everything vegged properly. With a tree room I run into the same problem trying to veg each plant and rotate it into the room.

The next issue I have is Spidermites. They are already living in my yard. They are killing weeds directly outside my grow room window. I assume treating the problem outside would be my first course of action, and then using preventative measures indoors to ensure everything is good to go before flower would be the next step. I am trying to avoid infestation at all costs. Suggestions?

GrowVert · Mar 22, 2015

Greetings LSWM. I have checked out your threads and I can see your experienced with vertical growing. We both know ts costly to build out a great vertical set up as well as labor intensive. But it is 2-3x the yield plus. Stick with vertical!
There is a system you can buy that you can veg in and flower from the start to finish. Like the systems I have used you can veg in them as long as necessary to build the canopy and then flip. I personally think my design is the best so I would recommend this for a new room. Even with 8ft ceilings you will get 140sqft of canopy with 3k. You can grow trees or pack 200 plants in it. Verttek is the co. They guarantee their products.
I would definitely stick with vertical. Your only getting 48sqft of canopy out of the flat. Even with staggering you will do better. The issue is the amount of space and having no divided space. Don't see how you will be able to veg separately in that space. Just veg into a nice vertical trellis then flip, all in one room.

Foreman000 · Mar 25, 2015

What's up LS. Glad to see that your finally getting started. I'm sure you are too. I'm working in a smaller room than yourself, 9x7. I'm having good results in my space using a tent for my veg. When my room was 3x7 I vegged & flowered using a tent. Works for me. Try a rectangular one instead of square to maximize space. Good luck whatever you decide. Either way I'll be watching the show. :tiphat:

ghostmade · Mar 25, 2015

Front row seat for me.and good luck with your set up

LSWM · Mar 25, 2015

I'm definitely sticking with Vert. It's looking like I'll be starting with 3 4x4 trays with vertical trellising at 56" diameters. So it's really like 4.5' trays and trellis.

Probably start with 1k on each tray and move up from there. I'd like to rock out 6k before it gets too hot, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew and end up without enough cooling and/or running out of funds before the first full cycle. Once I get this first round in the bag and can properly extrapolate costs, I'll be upgrading the cooling and the wattage.

These ladies are taking forever to reveg. They are FINALLY growing leaves again, and I'm just about to transplant them from their 6 month old 4oz cup of growstones into some gallon pots of coco. Also upping the light from a 200w T5 to a 400w MH. Hopefully I grab some pics and get something to show off, or at least be embarrassed by, in the next couple days. Sorry this show is starting so slowly...

LSWM · Mar 28, 2015

Welp, the thrips have returned. Just discovered some damage and found one this morning. Somehow I picked them up during the move. I had a bunch of no pest strips in a tote with them for a few days and did so again a week later. Couldn't find any of them after that, but now 4 weeks later they are back. Dunno if they were hiding or if the showed up from the new spot?

Thankfully, yesterday I placed a couple orders for a bunch of products for my IPM strategy. Ended up spending ~$200. Here's what I got:

From Build-a-Soil:
32 oz Ahisima Neem Oil - $36
8 oz Essential Oil mix - $45
2 lbs AgSil 16h - $20
Free shipping!

From Amazon:
4 liter SM-90 - $60
Free shipping!

I also picked up another EC meter as I seem to have misplaced mine.

HM Digital AP-2 - $27
Free shipping!

LSWM · Mar 28, 2015

Before it all gets here next week I'm going to hit the ladies with Azamax today, and pyrethrum in a couple days. Then I'll begin rotating through the neem oil, essential oils, SM-90 and right back to Azamax and Pyrethrum until I'm confident that it's under control.

Probably vacate the house this week for a couple days and throw up some no pest strips in the new room and the closet where the ladies are currently at as well just for good measure.

LSWM · Mar 29, 2015

Looks like I'm going to have to pick up some Spinosad as well? Everything I'm reading about these thrips is that Spinosad is the way to go...

I had thought about grabbing some but I was trying to stay cheap and buy as few ready made products as possible. I was also trying to stock up a bit as well.

Anyone got a good source for spinosad? I think I decided the bonide brand was cheaper than Monterey?

Miraculous Meds · Mar 29, 2015

Spinosads cheap and works well for thrips. If I recall the mixing dose on that cheap crap is high, like 3 tbsp. per gallon or something like that. Just go off the bottle directions. I used Monterey but im sure they are all the same. I had thrips once in 15 years, and they haven't came back since I got rid of them a year or 2 ago.

On ur 4x4 trays whats the distance from back of screen to bulb? I got a buddy that wants to do the same thing and im not sure what the best distances are for 1k's.

Congrats on the new local! Hope u rock it out here brother!

LSWM · Mar 29, 2015

Miraculous Meds said:
On ur 4x4 trays whats the distance from back of screen to bulb? I got a buddy that wants to do the same thing and im not sure what the best distances are for 1k's.

In the past I have ran 24", but it was tight. No bleaching but couldn't let the tips fall toward the light which doesn't allow as much canopy penetration.

These trays I got at 56" diameter so I'm gonna be at 28" from screen to bulb this next round. Those extra 4" should be just about perfect.

SmokinErb22 · Mar 29, 2015

Gotta get in on this one. Sounds like a real nice set-up man. Been contemplating switching my 3kw stadium over to hydro... got a few flood tables and hoods laying around with plenty of extra space I was thinking about setting 'em up and doing a little experimenting. Can't wait to see how this turns out for you.

feeblebunny · Mar 29, 2015

Hi LSWM. Have you considered running a positive pressure room? Works like a big laminar flow hood. Filter the incoming air. You would want to seal up the cracks in the room that can leak air first so that you don't push stinky air outside. Being surrounded by spider mites sounds scary

LSWM · Mar 30, 2015

SmokinErb22 said:
Gotta get in on this one. Sounds like a real nice set-up man. Been contemplating switching my 3kw stadium over to hydro... got a few flood tables and hoods laying around with plenty of extra space I was thinking about setting 'em up and doing a little experimenting. Can't wait to see how this turns out for you.

I bought these 4x4 trays and never got the chance to use them at the last spot, and now am forcing myself to take advantage of them. They should work perfect for vert donuts or over head lighting, but unfortunately they are quite limiting for alternative vert lighting styles such as a stadium or rows. Much better ways to handle drainage in those situations than with a big clumsy square tray.

Should turn out nice in the end!

feeblebunny said:
Hi LSWM. Have you considered running a positive pressure room? Works like a big laminar flow hood. Filter the incoming air. You would want to seal up the cracks in the room that can leak air first so that you don't push stinky air outside. Being surrounded by spider mites sounds scary

Sounds like a nightmare honestly. Negative pressure is a marijuana farmers best friend.

Spidermites can be taken care of; nosy neighbors can't.

LSWM · Mar 30, 2015

Quart of Monterey Spinosad and a 1 gallon pump sprayer ordered as well. I think I'm finally 100% set on my IPM strategy.

st0ric · May 2, 2015

Sweet I'm following this for sure, Id like to learn how to mix up my own nute concentrate with that jacks and calnit, how difficult is it to use and can I make it similar to the H3ad formula because who can deny how well it works

LSWM · Jun 19, 2015

So the room is almost finished, but I'm having some ventilation issues.

How do I set up a ventilated room, without compromising stealth and keeping negative pressure 24/7, with it being 90-100*F outside?

Best I can come up with is running a carbon filter into my living space/lung room 24/7 then running another fan/filter directed outside when outdoor temps are agreeable.

I have AC, but I'm looking to save some $$ during the summer months running it as little as possible and maybe seal up for the winter and run co2 then.

LSWM · Jun 20, 2015

st0ric said:
Sweet I'm following this for sure, Id like to learn how to mix up my own nute concentrate with that jacks and calnit, how difficult is it to use and can I make it similar to the H3ad formula because who can deny how well it works

I've been mixing 4.5:4 tsp of Jack's hydo:calnit into a Rubbermaid tub with a 396 gph eco plus pump in it, and what I'm guessing is ~17 gallons of RO water. You mix the Jack's first for a few mins until it dissolves then the calnit.

Dead simple.

LSWM · Aug 7, 2015

12/12 started today. I've got pics somewhere. Too busy with a day job working construction and a new girl I've been dating.

The room is basically done. I might move the reservoirs still though, and the ventillation situation still isn't decided on. I took clones 2 days ago, and have lots of trimming and training to do...

I type this as I'm 3 hours from home with a half naked girl wrapped around me sound asleep. Life has been good but I'm FINALLY back on that grind. I've got more construction work next week but I imagine I'll have some time shortly to share all my pictures and progress. I've got this fat outdoor garden as well...

Happy growing everyone!

SmellyFlorist · Aug 7, 2015

Sounds fucking great....! :biggrin:

LSWM's Vert Donuts 2.0

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