Perpetual Harvest / Grow Set Up

Grow Cycle Harvesting
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Hello ILGM Community,

I just recently started doing some research on starting my very first grow. My initial intentions were to be able to provide adequate medication for myself an two other patients.

Assuming that cost is not an issue and space will be somewhat limited, I was wondering if there was a way to produce the adequate amount of medication necessary?

Ideally I would like to produce three pounds of medication. A pound of a Sativa Strain, a pound of an Indica Strain, and a pound of a Hybrid Strain. I would like to have three pounds total of usable cannabis every month.

Any cannabis that will not be utilized for personal consumption will be used to fund this already addicting hobby.

I realize that this will be highly challenging. I am up for the task. I intend for this to be a life long hobby. Level of difficulty does not scare me. I like a challenge.

I am asking for a shove in the right direction. How would I start such a set up? Cost is not an issue. I will wait and save so that I can invest in top of the line equipment. I would much rather save and buy something of high quality that will last me a long time.

I realize tons of factors go into this question so I am ok with tons of hypothetical scenarios.

I think this will be a fun thread and discussion. Thank you!

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@CosmicFire a good hobby to pursue.
If medicinal strength and such is your goal just make sure to get the right strains up front. ILGM website can help you pick high thx or CBD or terpene type etc you need.
All cannabis can attain medicinal strength if grown right imho. One of my favs is harlequinn and it’s low af on the thc side.

For system and I am biased I would push you towards an exterior grow. A lot easier and less things to fk up if you’re going for medicine.

Go outdoor. Put 8 in the ground. If all goes well you’ll clear 3 pounds easy.
Plants need good soil, clean water, and light to grow…thats it.
Indoor setups can be extremely varied and expensive. I kn ow you said money is no object get right gear etc but more money thrown at project doesnt make better weed. Better grow practices and attention to detail make better weed. I think you should choose something attainable and build from there.

Hydroponics with no soil. Ebb and flow hybrid style systems.
Fans. Lights. Filters. Tents. Ph meters. Etc etc etc. A lot of work! But indoor works great during winter. Go from.outsoor grow and harvest right to an indoor grow. That’s perpetual grow right there.

Is it legal to grow for you? Can you do outdoor? Where abouts do you live? What’s weather like? Humidity? Sun? Wind? Etc

All these things come into play at some point for both indoor and outdoor grows.

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@CosmicFire for a perpetual grow, you’ll need a lot of space, with a plant started every month for the perpetual grow.

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You plan on being able to pull 3 pounds from your first harvest, or ok working up to it? Also, how much space are you looking at having?

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I built 2 rooms…I’m set up so I harvest approximately every 10 weeks…when flower is finished I have some ready to go right in to replace…I will tag you in to my thread so you can check it out maybe get some ideas…if you have room better to build your rooms to suit you… @CosmicFire

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@HighDesertFarmer Thank you so much for your input. It is greatly appreciated. I figured that it was implied that I wanted to do an indoor grow. Perhaps I should have stated that outright, my apologies.

I am very detail oriented and I love the fact that with an indoor grow set up I can keep my cannabis plants in a controlled and measured environment. I do appreciate the input about your outdoor grow set up as that may be something I try my hand at in the future.

Better grow practices are indeed necessary to grow the quality and quantity of cannabis that I desire. Since I hope to use an indoor grow set up for years to come I would like to purchase the best equipment I can find. I would prefer to spend money on quality equipment once rather than having to upgrade later on. (although growing and evolving as I gain experience seems to be part of the fun) Money does not mean anything if I do not use proper grow practices. That is why I am asking you more experienced growers for some insight. For that I thank you!

To answer your questions;
It is legal for me to grow cannabis. I cannot currently do an outdoor grow setup. I live in California, in the central valley to be specific. However, I will be moving to southern California in the next few months. Since I will be doing an indoor grow set up I don’t expect the weather, humidity, sun, and wind (as they naturally occur) to affect my crop. If I am wrong by all means please correct me! Thank you so much for your input! I value it greatly!

@dbrn32 To answer your questions;
It would be absolutely phenomenal to be able to pull 3 pounds of dried usable cannabis for my first harvest. However, I do understand that there is learning to be done. I understand that adjustments and fine tuning will also need to be done as I gain experience. I find all of this very exciting!

As of right now I have not set anything in stone. All of my research for the time being is theoretical. That being said, I anticipate renting either a house or apartment for the next few years. In any case I do not see myself converting a room for cannabis cultivation, at least in a more permanent way, if that makes sense. I would like to dedicate an entire room to growing using grow tents to modify the room rather than remodeling. If it is not possible to have a ‘grow room’ I would have to figure out how to turn my personal bedroom into a grow room, while still having space for normal life. As far as my limited understanding goes, I would like to have a smaller grow tent/cabinet for new seedlings or clones. I haven’t decided if I want to grow from clones or seeds yet. I just started my research a few days ago. In addition to the small grow tent/cabinet I would like to have an additional tent to use as a vegetation room as well as a separate tent for flowering.

Perhaps this is a bit of a lofty concept? I would appreciate input on that as well.

I am not sure of the amount of space I will need to grow the amount of cannabis I desire. For the sake of this discussion, lets assume that space is only relatively limited to the average confines of an apartment.

@WillyJ Thank you greatly for your insight! I am so grateful that you tagged me in your thread. I found it to be extremely informative. I read through most of it. I will admit that some of it I skimmed through (mostly in regards to things that didn’t apply to what I was looking for). I think that I will use your thread for inspiration as I start to solidify my own indoor grow set up. I value all the input that you have given and appreciate you taking the time to assist me. It is very encouraging.

For a bit of clarity I would like to state that I plan on using soil for my first grow. That may change as I learn more while doing my research. Eventually, I would like to try my hand at hydroponic set ups. My only concern is that hydroponic set ups are a bit beyond my experience and knowledge level. So, for now I will not venture into that set up method. In the future I will definitely try my hand with hydroponics and an outdoor grow set up.

I am curious to know what preferences you guys have in regards to growing from seeds vs. clones.

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I think to start you would need three tents or maybe four. One for clone and seedlings one for vegging and two for flowering.

With photoperiods the entire tent needs to be on the same light cycle.

So to harvest every month (Flowering takes about two months) that would be two flowering tents.

Vegging takes about two months to get them to the right size, so one tent would be needed for that

One tent for clones and seedlings.

The seed and clone tent could be a 2x4
the the other three tents would need to be 4x4

I gotta tell you @CosmicFire my advice would be to get one tent and everything you need and grow two plants from start to finish and then expand out from there. The magnitude of this project for someone who has never grown, IMO is a recipe for failure. You might be the exception to the rule. I’m following along!

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ok, here are a few things I pulled out.

First and foremost, you’ll definitely want to grow from clone. There’s too many differences in phenotypes to have the consistency you’ll want and probably need. You could probably start a few beans here and there to hunt for better phenos, but th majority of your grow will probably have to be from clone.

As far as a small veg space, what’s your idea of small? You’ll need a big enough area to probably keep 2 moms of each strain, cuttings of each, and to veg plants for about 4 weeks prior to flowering.

You can get high yielding indica and hybrids to flower in about 8-9 weeks. So you’ll need start plants about every 4 weeks to harvest once a month. To get a pound from each harvest, a good grower can do it in a square meter with 600 watt hid or a little less wattage of an efficient led. Whether or not you run separate tents for each strain or have one large flowering area isn’t as crucial, but that’s going to be about 2 square meters per strain for the indica and hybrid, and probably 3 square meters for the sativa that flowers longer. Probably another 3-4 square meters to have vegging plants ready to go into those flowering areas every 4 weeks.

So like 10-12 square meters would probably be minimum without much room for error. That’s a pretty big bedroom. And probably will require some wiring and what not to support that kind of electrical load.

Don’t really want to be a naysayer, because I think perpetual grows are cool. But you’ll probably be way better off starting with three 4x4 tents and a single strain, then working up from there. If you have the right conditions it should be good for about a pound a month plus.

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Nice to see you post here @bob31. I agree with you, but feel like he would that much per strain. Let alone for a pound a month for 3 separate strains. Hence the reason I suggested the three 4x4’s to start. I feel like that would be enough to run desired weight of a single strain. But ya, probably more than a new grower is going to want to deal with.

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Soil is mpre forgiving than hydroponics things can go bad very quickly…get used to your plants first, how they grow ,feeding them,keeping ph in range is very important ect…you will need some space to grow 3 lbs inside…and it will probably take you a few grows to get dialed in on what your tryig to accomplish…my rooms are 6’-7’×9’ for veg and 10’×12’ for flower I’m on my third round…you learn more as you go…read alot and try different things like lst and super cropping and you will increase your yield…like I said read ask questions as your doing there are some very knowledgeable good people on here everyone helps everyone out…my rooms so far have averaged about 10 oz per plant I grow 8 plants…this grow going on in my flower room is my biggest yet…I vegged a little longer…you need plenty of air circulation in your tents exhaust to exchange the air in tents regular fans to move air around…very important to keep air circulation or you will run into problems also do not leave any standing water around vacuum up runoff and keep things clean pick up -off and dead foliage you want to keep things clean…you want to concentrate on growing not fighting pests and other problems if possible…hope some of this is helpful to you… @CosmicFire

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Agreed It would have to be clones, I think he could work up to harvesting 3 pounds per month but thats a whole lot of work. I think it would be better to harvest one or two plants per month to start.

Shoot, I am a reasonably experienced grower and I can’t imagine taking on a grow of that size without building up to it.

@dbrn32

btw pounds is a term I don’t like to use. Doesn’t do the size of the grow justice. There are 16 ounces in a pound, 28 grams in an ounce. Thats 420 grams dry weight per strain, meaning a weight harvest of about 1200 grams per strain per month.

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@dbrn32 has a good point you will need electrical service that will handle all thats needed to have a grow like that to harvest once a month is a lot of work…I set up to harvest approximately every 2 months and its alot of work…between everyday life and work it will take all your time and you’ll find you need to plan things around your grow because your grow needs proper attention to accomplish what your thinking of…vegging is the easy part flowering is when things get real…there are so many factors that can screw up your grow…you really need to pay attention…schedules and routine best to develop them and stick to them… @CosmicFire

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@bob31 it’s a whole lot of work…I set up to harvest approximately every 2 months I use my veg room for my clones and seedlings and to veg all in one … I use a table and start them under table under small T5 then move them to top of table to a bigger T5 then to the floor under 600mh then to flower… take clones from ones going into flower and repeat…you always have some in each stage…also I use seeds so you can find that good phenotype and clone them…I haven’t kept a mother as I just keeping cloning the good phenotypes as they go into flower so i can keep it going without keeping a mother

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I agree partner, for sure!

I never got any bigger than two 3x3 tables in an open room with a tent in there for mom and clones. That was good for about 3-400 grams per harvest at best pulling one table every 4-5 weeks. Someone better with more time probably could’ve pushed it a little harder, but it already seemed like a full time job. I pretty much envy anyone doing it successfully regardless of the size. I couldn’t even imagine 4 times that. But I’d like to see it unfold if possible.

Grams is much more finite measurement indeed. I just get a little excited talking pounds per harvest lol. It’s that envy thing.

@WillyJ the amount of work goes without notice a lot of times. Especially blistered fingers come harvest time.

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Im trying to get to a pound a plant or 448 grams whichever you prefer :wink: I agree with @bob31 448 grams has a good ring to it lol… and its a whole lot of work just getting to harvest then a whole lot more trimming curing all at the same time as taking care of what you still got going on in your rooms… @dbrn32

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@CosmicFire I started my indoor venture with 3 plants learning from them and then bumped up my amount of plants then you will have a feel for what you have to do… @bob31 has some good advice

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@bob31 Thank you for your insight! Its really encouraging to see that people in this community are so willing to offer help.

Just to clarify are you suggesting that two tents be used for flowering so that they can be staggered? I am not understanding why I would need two flowering tents.

I don’t think that I will launch a perpetual grow project for my first grow. I think that would be an amazing achievement! I think that if I did the proper research and worked out a detailed plan I would be able to have great success if that is what I chose to do. However, I know that it would take me a few harvests to dial everything in.

The more that I think about the perpetual harvest set up I think that it would be wise to buy the components that I need and try my hand at growing three separate strains going from a clone tent to a veg tent to flowering tents. Following a single harvest from start to finish with the three strains will give me some insight into the process as a whole. I can dial in better this way and improve my skills as a cannabis cultivator.

After gaining some experience with the strains that I choose (probably a few harvests) I will start to implement a staggered grow. I haven’t decided whether or not I want to launch an all out perpetual project from day one. I am confident that I would have success but not to the degree that I would be hoping for. Failure is an option as long as I gain knowledge and experience that I can apply later on. Massive failure though is not something I want to experience. I hope to be the exception. Thanks!

@dbrn32 Thank you for the clone suggestion, I agree that it would be more consistent to clone.

I didn’t say a small veg space as far as I know. I meant that the clone tent would be smaller. Perhaps I wasn’t very clear on that. My apologies and thanks for asking.

As far as cloning from mother plants I don’t have the foggiest of clues on how to even start that. I only have about two days of reading and researching under my belt. Prior to a few days ago I hadn’t looked into cultivation at all. I have wanted to grow cannabis since I first started using it. Please excuse some of my ignorance as I learn from some of you awesome people!

I agree that there is a lot of space that is needed. This entire project is still conceptual. As of right now I am just looking into possibilities. The reality is that space might dictate the size of this project. Even if space was to limit me to less than a pound per strain I would still be happy with having a three strain perpetual grow. Thank you guys for being so honest about the realities of cultivation!

The magnitude of the project is actually what I am liking about this concept. I don’t feel as though its something to ‘deal with’. I love the idea that I get to get up close and personal with the plants. I like that I can toy with ideas and concepts and watch as they unfold. All of this is fun. Its a hobby. The reality checks are so much appreciated though! It keeps me grounded and focused!

@WillyJ Great insight! Thank you! I agree with soil being more forgiving. That is what I have read. I think that I would like to try hydroponics after I am comfortable with growing.

I am sort of a nerd and love to read and do research. This is part of the fun for me. I love being able to soak up knowledge and gain wisdom from people who have had experience doing what I would like to do. As far as cleanliness I have OCD which in part is why I chose indoor growing. I am far to controlling and meticulous to let mother nature dictate my plants. LOL! As far as fine tuning PH and air circulation as well as other environmental factors I am still researching and learning where everything needs to be at each stage of the life cycle. You were incredibly helpful thanks again!

I did find @WillyJ your method of perpetual grow to be helpful in sparking some creativity. The under the table over the table idea as well as cloning from plants that are going into flower was super insightful. It got me super excited!

For the record I am a homebody. I don’t go out except for work or errands (grocery shopping paying bills etc). So the time constraints of everything is not that big of an issue. In addition to that I will be living with the other two patients that I am supplying with medicine and they will be assisting me with this project. So I will have more than just myself working on it.

I do not think that I will launch a full scale operation from the beginning. I don’t think that I will launch a perpetual harvest from the start either. Its all fairly conceptual. So we will see where research and advice takes me. Thank you guys for the interest!

In your opinion @bob31 why does the conversions of weight matter to you? Why do you prefer 1200 grams to 3 pounds? Just curious.

As a more solid plan starts to form I will look into electrical needs and whether or not it is even plausible. @WillyJ My life is basically the same thing every day so routines are my forte! hearing all of this advice and how it plays to my interests and already existing quirks gets me excited! Thank you!

For the record I would like to thank you guys for offering advice and chiming in. I think that in a practical sense I will have to build up to the yield I want. Fine tuning my skills and dialing in the process as I go. In addition I will also learn how to implement staggered grows and perpetual harvest techniques. The end goal is to harvest three pounds a month of dried cannabis from three types/strains. Perhaps, it is not practical nor plausible to jump into that sort of grow. I will see as research progresses.

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I don’t think that bob31 meant you absolutely needed 2 separate tents. Just that you would need to have 2 different cycles of plants. As even the shorter strains are about 8 weeks to flower, that means you would need to start flowering a new batch when the first batch was halfway done. This could certainly be done in one large area over two separate smaller ones. One thing that would probably be best would to at least have separate lighting for the satins than the indica due to differences in height.

You’ll be much better off on a smaller scale than bigger. How much smaller is really up to you. You can essentially run moms, clones, and veg all in the same tent. That may actually be more feasible to have a larger tent for that and then to feed 2 smaller tents for flowering, or one larger tent. Basically whatever fits your vision the best. Something to keep in find for the potential of taking the 3 individual grows to perpetual in the future.

Pardon any negativity I may have had as well, as I certainly didn’t intend it that way. I just wasn’t sure if you realized how big of a grow multiple #’s per month is. In my opinion, that’s going to be more of a basement type of grow than a bedroom. Unless you have one helluva bedroom. The weight per grow isn’t really a problem as @WillyJ has shown. It’s more of being able to repeat on that kind of frequency is all.

I think you’re on a much better track starting smaller and seeing where it takes you. Just try to purchase items that allow you to grow with. Instead of doing like most of us, and having to buy the same items over and over as we learn.

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@dbrn32 got some great advice…if you start small and know your going to go bigger at some point buy things you can also use in bigger set ups for example an inline fan buy as big as you’ll need for your future set up and use speed controllers to turn them up or down as needed…which are good to have anyway to help dial in your atmosphere…so if eventually your going bigger you can use your equipment again instead of buying same stuff for bigger set up… @CosmicFire

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@CosmicFire you have 3 great growers helping and @dbrn32 is the lighting guru so hit him up on that front.

A couple of points that they are trying to get across. Sativas and Indicas will flower at different rates. Sativas as much as 50% longer. From a logistics standpoint that will affect your turnover. Thus 2 flowering spaces. Also, what new growers should be made aware of (it’s obvious in retrospect) is that space and light demands are less in veg - - - BECAUSE THE PLANTS ARE SMALLER! I’m kinda slow so this took a while to sink in haha.

Most growers that don’t have a room use tents. I chose rigid Styrofoam and I’m glad I did. It’s a much more substantial medium, less expensive, works with a knife and duct tape and disassembles in minutes to pack absolutely flat.

So, you are doing the right thing to gather information now so you can jump in when you are ready.

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