I’ve posted to quite a few guides on basic setups. Here’s a discussion with a grower looking to spend about $500.
I’d consult with your daughter and determine exactly how much she spends, and how much flower she needs. That way you can look at initial investment and upkeep to determine savings. I’m more than happy to walk with you through this process.
Let’s rule out genetics for now.
Another possible reason you could be losing potency is due to heat. We both know greenhouses can get HOT. Are you logging temperatures? GoVee makes great digital monitors. Even the most basic hoop house (professional quality) will have a fan controlled by a thermostat. Installing such a system might be more than the cost of a complete tent setup.
@KeystoneCops - she spends around $100 per week.
Yes greenhouses DO get hot. I have a temperature controlled exhaust fan in mine but I don’t grow anything in it in the summer (besides leaving my herbs and horseradish). I have over 300 acres to grow on outside so I can grow up to 12 plants (in the flowering stage) which would be more than enough to get her through the winter months. Right now I have 3 large Super Skunks - females- correction from the Colombian Gold which are smaller. I deliberately bought ‘regular’ seeds in order to have my own seeds to experiment with. So far this is a big success. I hand pollinated those females then pulled the males. The 3 females are bursting with seeds. Even in N MO it gets hot in the summer- not sure how to control that if the heat is affecting potency? Thank you.
@KeystoneCops P S. She has been using vape pens and edibles though so I’m trying to learn that but the first step is achieving potency. Without that it’s futile. 
I’m really interested in exactly how hot the plants are getting in later flower. If they’re up at 100f for hours every day, that could be the culprit. Do you have any numbers?
Let’s kick around an idea. Lets’s say you would have two tents, both 4’x4’ to start. One would be for vegetative growth/keeping mother plants. The other would be for indoor flowering/or excess vegetative growth.
For each tent, you’d want at least one HLG 260 XL R-spec light. Those run about $370, but you can get a discount. If you want to flower in a tent, you’d do well to have 2 of those lights per tent.
The tent’s are not expensive. I bought a 5’x5’ tent for $120. I outlined the other expenses in my linked post.
The thing about this setup is you could grow a number of midsized mother plants that are working for her medical needs. And you could either produce fairly large clones to plant outside, or you could flower 4-8 plants indoors in a controlled environment. The difference between planting a seedling and an established 3 month old clone is enormous.
I can’t yet say for certain why potency is an issue with your greenhouse (we’ll keep working on that puzzle). I can almost guarantee that with an environmentally controlled tent, the right lighting, the genes you’re using, and coco coir with high frequency fertigation you will harvest close to 2 ounces per square foot every 10 weeks.
I don’t make extractions. I’d ask @blackthumbbetty about that, or check out her very good thread on extractions and edibles. If your daughter is used to really potent extracts, that could be the issue with your flower.
Have you tried your harvest, or asked someone else other than your daughter to try these “weak flowers?”
@ccason I have a $130 vivosun 5x5 and I had many people say mine is better than the dispensary. As said before lights, nutes, genetics and Patience
@ccason you don’t need any special tents or fancy gadgets to grow top quality weed outside on your property. I live in the desert with temps as high as 110°f with RH in the teens and grew weed outside for 22 years and once I got it dialed in I was growing better weed than you could get from the stores. I still do only indoors now because of my health but even when I moved inside I had to learn all over and it took a few grows to get it right. I think you probably harvested to early. It’s just going to take some trial and error to find what works best for you and your climate. Making seeds is a great idea paying attention to the best growing plants and you will get a plant that grows in your area better than any store seeds especially with regular seeds reg seeds are far superior to fem they will always grow better and healthier. I haven’t read this entire thread so I’m not sure of your climate but some strains grow better in different climates you’ll have to research and find some that fit best and probably end up with your own strains by breeding your best plants. Then probably a different set to grow in your greenhouse in the off season might even have to go with an auto for winter months. It’s just going to be a journey and will be fun if you enjoy that kind of challenge
@MeEasy Ok, thanks - that’s encouraging! I’m in N. Mo. where just once in awhile the temperature will climb above 100* (very rarely) I just didn’t want to waste anymore of those (somewhat) expensive feminized seeds conducting my experiments plus learning. I’d rather throw out a few males. lol I’ll do that research - maybe there’s even a topic on here regarding the right plants for the circumstances grown. Oh yes, I always enjoy a challenge, but this one seems to be kicking my a$$ HA HA Thank you.
@KeystoneCops It very rarely gets above 95* here and when it does, it doesn’t last long. If the myth regarding tents vs. potency has been dispelled, I’d rather concentrate on my outside summer grow and inside (greenhouse) winter grow. I have actually grown clones! I figured if I could do it with trees, MJ shouldn’t be a problem. lol Potency is an issue not only in my greenhouse but ALSO my outdoor grow.
Yes, I gave some edibles to a friend who seemed very pleased. I gave some bud to another friend who was thrilled. So yes, she’s used to VERY potent extracts and that’s what I must achieve. SOMEONE is doing it - why not I ? lol Actually I don’t use MJ (but I would if I had to) so trying it myself would probably not be = to her useage. I had a rather bad experience in my college years… 
I’ll check out her thread, thank you… I’m still learning to navigate this forum 
@ccason N Mo that is a great climate for growing I worked out of St.Claire in mid and Purdy in so. Mo for a few years in the 90s it’s really nice over there. Once you get it figured out you will be able to grow some really nice plants. You’re almost at a good time to start some autos for in your greenhouse get the seedlings going in the house to put out there by the start of March and they’ll be done before it gets to hot in the g h they would flower up really nice in May while your photos are veging into monsters in the oak hills. If you have a pond full of cats n bass (like most of the properties there do) that would be a good source of fish poo water (test it first of course)
Another aspect that your daughter might be feeling but not articulating is that those oil vape pens taste a whole lot nicer (IMO) than smoked or vaped flowers. Something like that can absolutely bias an experience. If the THC is in your flowers, she shouldn’t have a problem getting an effect if she ingests enough, which leads me to believe there’s a little bit of bias at play.
Personally, I hope to learn how to fill my own 510-style pen cartridges, but I’m also concerned about misinformation that could cause harm.
@KeystoneCops So you mean the flowers will not compare to the vape because of apples/oranges? Even when she was smoking though, she said mine didn’t compare and also that it didn’t have ‘that skunk smell’ ??
@MeEasy Wow! My hometown is Sullivan… lol… I do have some White Widow auto flower seeds - Oh yeah I have one lake and 5 ponds, but they’re aways from my grow area - I keep that close. 
Up here in N MO though we don’t normally even plant tomatoes until mid-May for fear of frost.
What’s your drying process?
What’s your curing process?
Feel free to be very detailed.
Sullivan is just down the street from St.Claire it’s been over 25 years since I was up there and I didn’t actually live there, I worked for Tom Lang at TLC as a driver I spent some time in the area and if I remember correctly there’s a waffle house in Sullivan we would go to.
Anyway back to weed lol. I found this with a quick look at ilgm guides (link below) it’s a place to start your research I didn’t read it just a quick skim might give you a little. I saw a few more with a Google search I’m just not allowed to share that information on here you might see that there’s more places to buy things from on the internet. I found that there’s alot more out there on which strains can thrive in cooler temperatures than I thought. With the rich soil you have over there it shouldn’t take much to make it good to grow in. With that much water on your property I’m sure there’s a beautiful fresh water spring to get your water from of course you’d have to test it but spring water here would grow my best stuff, man talking about it brings back memories of some of my plants. Walking up an arroyo and you could smell it for a mile and taste it for a half mile obviously I’m exaggerating but 10 foot plants that cured 10-15 pounds I definitely miss. You shouldn’t have a problem doing better than that over there if your grow season is long enough I don’t know how long you have days longer than 13 hours with temps above freezing which can be extended with the use of the greenhouse.
Sorry for the book lol I am into my third cup of coffee and I get to babbling
@KeystoneCops Drying - I remove all the leaves, and hang the entire plant upside down in a dark room with a small fan until properly dried. Curing - after ‘grooming’ each bud I cut them off, put them in a Mason jar (with a lid) and place in a dark, cool closet. I remove the lid and shake the contents once a day. I don’t actually ‘know’ anyone that grows MJ, so what I’ve learned, I’ve picked up on the web. lol
@MeEasy Thank you for that link!
No we don’t have springs here - we don’t even have rivers (which I miss) Wow! 10-15#!! That’s amazing.
Our days are growing longer now and the suggestion has been made to use clones (which I’ve successfully grown) I think it’s my harvest ‘time’ that’s screwed up. From what I’ve read the lower leaves begin turning yellow @ harvest time. Mine never have. ??
That’s why I was saying that it’s close to the time to start your plants indoors or in the greenhouse until you know that the frost is gone and get em in the ground feed some good veg food until you see some pretty flower and go to flower food. Outdoors you don’t have to do all the fancy training and defoliation just read up on topping (advanced techniques has some about topping) and top em around the 6-8th node and let her grow rain could be a problem once you get into flower I don’t know your rain season but that’s it. Top feed and watch em grow.
The leaves really don’t matter what you look at are the trichomes. You need a magnifier of some sort i have this one it’s cheap I like the wired one because you don’t have to connect to the internet everytime. I think there’s Bluetooth ones now. Just make sure you are looking at the buds and not the leaves.
