New grower seeking advice

[JETS710]

Good morning ICMAG fam, hope everything is going well.

I need some suggestions and pointers for my first greenhouse grow, ever..... In fact, my first grow in general. The reason is because Im a MMJ patient within California and I can legally grow up to a few plants for personal medication. The reason I am choosing greenhouse is because indoor is too expensive to be learning on as well as outdoor season is about to be over for us????....????
I've read that greenhouse provides free light as well as the ability to harvest 90% of the year.

Now, If I am looking into a harvest every 3-4 months, I would like a greenhouse setup that is not that big and can hold about 4 plants. My goal is to yield at least a minimum of half a lb or 8 ounces per 4 months. That should be able to last me until the next harvest within 4 months. I do have the time to hand water each plant every day.

now, most of the greenhouse on here are hugeeee. Like, 10+ plants big. I want a small greenhouse that can fit in my backyard but also won't be too small for the plants to outgrow. I've read people building them as well as people buying them. Also, what size gallon pots are the standard norm around here. THANKS GUYS!!!!!

Btw, I love OG, GDP, GSC, and most indicas if that matters about growing GH.

 

[JETS710]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Palram-Snap-and-Grow-8-ft-x-8-ft-Silver-Polycarbonate-Greenhouse-701371/202065998

Would one of these work?

 

[aridbud]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Palram-S...ver-Polycarbonate-Greenhouse-701371/202065998

Would one of these work?

Doable. Plant autos around along with veggies, herbs, flowers.


http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/nature-greenline-greenhouse/hobby-greenhouse-kits


Same model a few hundred dollars cheaper, free shipping.

 

[corky1968]

JETS710, there's nothing wrong with that greenhouse. I wish I had that.

Lots of people just make hop houses as they are less expensive.

But that greenhouse model is nice and do look around as there may be less expensive models before you make your final decision.

 

[pop_rocks]

thats a very nice greenhouse
it looks like you could make short work of assembly, esp if you had someone help

one thing you said,"...I've read that greenhouse provides free light as well as the ability to harvest 90% of the year."
unless you add lighting you will be pretty much following the natural sun cycles as far as light goes.
not really a problem but the plants grown after the normal season wont be as large or robust
you might also need to veg them in another area then move them to the green house to flower
of like aridbud said, plant autos which flower regardless of photoperiod

 

[JETS710]

Thank you guys for the responses. I think I am now going to build a greenhouse as we are going to remodel soon and I would hate to have to take this greenhouse apart then put it back together. Is building one another suggestion? Ive seen people use PVC pipes as well as plastic to cover?

Accoriding to other posts, a greenhouse is about 20-30 degrees F higher than the temp outside, true? If so, I live in California Bay Area and it does not snow here. Only rain. There is going to still be tons of sun and right now, it is around 68 degrees at 10AM right now. Will this mean that in the GH, it would be around 80-90 degrees?

Is there a way I can fully veg / flower / harvest all in the same GH and if so, do I just need to follow the regular grow season? Due to paying for college, etc, etc, using indoor lighting will affect me a great amount. And @pop_rocks, if I do not add lighting, how small will the plants be until flowering? I read about light dep but if the plants are only going produce an ounce, idk if its worth it. But if each plant can produce around 2, I would be happy.

Another question. If this is my first grow ever, should I just use clones? I can get my hands on seeds but just as most, they are more expensive.

Thanks guys!

 

[JETS710]

@corky1968, what exactly is a hop house? A home-made GH I'm assuming?

 

[Shooters]

I have an 8'x8' greenhouse similar to that, last year did one plant (strawberry cough) and net buds was over a pound.

This year I decided to do three, whcih might have been doable if I had three like last years, but these have grown so much bigger.

If you get one, do yourself a favor and mount it on at least a foot tall foundation to get added height. If you use pots that helps keep the roots manageable and the plant height shorter. I amended the soil the GH sits on so my plants try to get huge, which adds to the work load training them down or supercropping the lower half so you can see to water. In the summer, pots tend to get hot enough to cook the roots so be careful of that.

 

[aridbud]

Lots of ways to construct green house. If not a kit, build lean to, hoop house, build with recycled window/sliding glass door panes from surplus, Habitat For Humanity stores.

Google for DIY plans.

In the rural mountains in SW, it'd be 20F outside in Jan/Feb, inside the greenhouse (ours was 10'x 10'x12'), it'd be 70F inside. Nice when shoveling a path from 3 foot snow drifts. We didn't start until March with supplemental heat at night.

Find out info from your local/county cooperative extension service regarding conditions in your area. Start small...see how your plants adapt, then build on or build larger.

 

[pop_rocks]

you are getting solid advice all around here,mate

as far as building your own that is another option, esp if you are handy
one of the first greenhouses i ever used was a home made one just like you discribed,
pvc frame covered with bubble wrap! it was late season and the bubbles added extra insulation and allowed the plants to mature

you could build a simple structure out of pvc and rolled plastic
but if you are serious about growning your own, spend a few bucks up front for something that will last

i dont know what you are used to spending on your smoke, but this is an investment that will pay for itself many times over

 

[JETS710]

Thank you guys for the great and knowledgable replies. I like that 8'x8' greenhouse with that monster plant. But I have run into a road block. Now, I am willing to build or buy a GH kit, can't be bigger than 100sq ft, and I would like to spend ~750 or under for everything. But now I have to have it be private, meaning, I can't have 100% transparent glass, polycarbonate, or plastic. What can I do about this? Now I've read they're sprays and such that slow it to be sort of see through but not really, but all I know is that it cannot be seen (the plants). Even though it is legal where I am, the less people knowing, the better.

Now, I like the idea of 1 huge plant yielding over a LB, but I like multiple strains. Can I fit 4 clones in a 8'x8' greenhouse in pots with enough space and can grow big enough to yield around a qp per? Every 4 months? I know it is also strain dependent. I will be building the gh on a 1foot foundation to get extra height

Also, can someone link me to the best gh threads / how to properly veg in a gh from a clone? I would love y'all haha.

Thank you guys so much. I can't wait to step into the cultivation world

 

[aridbud]

Also, can someone link me to the best gh threads / how to properly veg in a gh from a clone? I would love y'all haha.


That's why we have THREAD TITLE SEARCH....use it!!!

 

[WelderDan]

Pop Rocks pointed something out that I think you missed. You won't be able to do multiple harvests (every 4 months) with regular clones. You would have to grow Auto-flowering plants to do that, or you would have to invest in supplemental lighting for winter and light deprivation for summer in order to manipulate the photoperiod.

Regular cannabis needs a certain amount of darkness in order to trigger flowering. Some strains will flower with less dark hours than others, but my point is that you have to be able to control the light/dark times to induce flowering. Otherwise, you are stuck with what mother nature gives you, which is one or two harvests a year.

The other, cheaper option is to grow Autos. They are not photoperiod dependent, and you can keep planting more every few weeks and have multiple harvests all year.

Don't take this the wrong way, as I am trying to save you some grief, but you need to read up on the subject. If you want to grow decent smoke, you need a good understanding of what the plant needs, and how to provide it.

 

[pop_rocks]

how private does this really need to be?
are we guarding against the casual glance over the fence or are people going to in the yard/space where you ar growing?

if its the first, jsut plant a bunch of other plants in the GH as well
liek aridbuds said, herbs and esp flowers
at a glance, someone jsut sees a greenhouse full of flowers and dosent give it a second look
if its the later...

also, this pretty much rules out supplemental lighting to extend your growing season

listen to what advice you are getting here from the others esp and keep reading

 

[aridbud]

listen to what advice you are getting here from the others esp and keep reading

Do your own research...libraries, online- lots of resources and not spoon fed......

 

[mule420]

Sam the skunkman said he used red plastic flowers that he would hang on his pot plants in his greenhouse to make the cops in choppers guessing...

 

[JETS710]

Thank you guys for all of the knowledgable and helpful replies. As mentioned previously, I have never grown before therefore I don't know the actual outdoor growing season and when it starts / ends. As to doing 4 grows per year, that's what I figured everyone can get with the outdoor season since its in a GH. But if 2 per year is needed for clones, then so be it. I also said 4 as I'm assuming my first few batches aren't going to be amazing so 4 batches = more practice than 2. Regardless, im willing to do as many grows per year as clones / seeds will let me. But I can't have huge plants in veg so that's where light dep comes into play?

I currently pay around 30$ for a quarter. The reason is I know growers but they can only show love with that price every so often as they rather make more profit through cannabis clubs. The reason I want to grow is because I can't medicate as much as I would like. Also, most of the strains around here aren't flushed all the way resulting in black Ashe.

As of privacy, It's nothing major. I'm located within a small city and my backyard is a decent size. But I'm surrounding by neighbors with two story houses meaning they can look out their outside window and see my backyard. Don't want them to see 4-6ft high MMJ plants cultivating haha. It's legal but still, the less knowing, the better.

Is 4 clones, all different strains, doable in a say, 8x8 gh ? How much height is needed per plant if I want just a hp per plant? Maybe qp? Is it better to have multiple smaller plants or 1 big plant?

I'm still reading guys! So don't laugh at me haha thanks for the help

 

[Dankwolf]

Its hard to control size outdoors for many reasons gave above . potters would help allow you to control size so you can fit them in there . i think you would be best off with autos for what your wanting to do . just my 2 cents. I did my first green house grow this year and learned alot . my cheesequake got way out of hand fast in a big potter lol. time of year plays a big roll in size outdoor.

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[corky1968]

@corky1968, what exactly is a hop house? A home-made GH I'm assuming?

These.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=hoop...iA6UQyjcILg&ei=WS_kV_C6E-m_jwTkxI6oCg#imgrc=_

 

[Dankwolf]

It ate my glass greenhouse (8×8) in a month . i put it out on july 4th at about 2ft wide by 2ft tall now its 15+ feet around had to build a temp greenhouse for it .