First Grow, Large Grow. In need of consultant.

I am a licensed medical grower for a legal medical state in the northeast.

My Goal: To grow as much tree as possible by the end of the year. Efficiency is of equal priority (space, electricity, and time), as well as some variety of medicine. I plan on harvesting every 2 months after initial 2 month veg.

I have a 850SF 8 foot tall detatched garage that is uninsulated on walls and ceiling. I have a subpanel here.
a 1300 SF 7 foot attic where the floor is insulated but the roofdeck and walls are uninsulated - no circuits
a 1500 SF 6 foot basement with no circuits or insulation
a 1400 SF 8 foot two story shed (700 each floor) no circuits, no insulation

Old electrical in house (112 year old large farm house with electrical updates done here and there)

I will get the electrical where it needs to be. Im just looking for opinions on usage of space (keeping in mind my 72 plant limit and SF i have) and also lighting, equipment, co2, exhaust, temperature and humidity, nutes, water, soil, strains.

Im in search of an experienced patient professional consultant that will work with me on the phone. I desire someone that will answer my questions. I had a recent somewhat productive consult with someone. I learned alot but he ran the conversation and its hard for me to retain everything when a conversation is not give and take. I also will be asking more questions on this forum til I get my full plan together.

First real questions i want answered is:
what should my veg lights be and how many plants should i veg if I want to flower 72 plants? i can have up to 142 plants in veg. I can veg in the basement. in winter the heat from the boiler should keep it warmer down there.
ive heard MH lights are better for veg because there is more light in the blue spectrum. MH vs T5's?
Do i veg in solo cups initially from clones?
how many clones should i buy?
clones are 5 times cost of seeds but is it worth it given germination rates?
can you tell if clones are male or female?

abe batal said:

I am a licensed medical grower for a legal medical state in the northeast.

My Goal: To grow as much tree as possible by the end of the year. Efficiency is of equal priority (space, electricity, and time), as well as some variety of medicine. I plan on harvesting every 2 months after initial 2 month veg.

I have a 850SF 8 foot tall detatched garage that is uninsulated on walls and ceiling. I have a subpanel here.
a 1300 SF 7 foot attic where the floor is insulated but the roofdeck and walls are uninsulated - no circuits
a 1500 SF 6 foot basement with no circuits or insulation
a 1400 SF 8 foot two story shed (700 each floor) no circuits, no insulation

Old electrical in house (112 year old large farm house with electrical updates done here and there)

I will get the electrical where it needs to be. Im just looking for opinions on usage of space (keeping in mind my 72 plant limit and SF i have) and also lighting, equipment, co2, exhaust, temperature and humidity, nutes, water, soil, strains.

Im in search of an experienced patient professional consultant that will work with me on the phone. I desire someone that will answer my questions. I had a recent somewhat productive consult with someone. I learned alot but he ran the conversation and its hard for me to retain everything when a conversation is not give and take. I also will be asking more questions on this forum til I get my full plan together.

First real questions i want answered is:
what should my veg lights be and how many plants should i veg if I want to flower 72 plants? i can have up to 142 plants in veg. I can veg in the basement. in winter the heat from the boiler should keep it warmer down there.
ive heard MH lights are better for veg because there is more light in the blue spectrum. MH vs T5's?
Do i veg in solo cups initially from clones?
how many clones should i buy?
clones are 5 times cost of seeds but is it worth it given germination rates?
can you tell if clones are male or female?

Click to expand...

no one pays me for my advice and i never talk any shit on a phone

but i can give u a hand on getting a understanding of what u are about to do

first thing is stop ......relax take a few bong hits
start with this
https://www.amazon.com/Cannabis-Encyclopedia-Definitive-Cultivation-Consumption/dp/1878823345

this book will help u alot and will answer alot of ?s for u ....... i have 2 copies

as for your area to use
1 Attic area is out of the ? .......the heat build up requires more energy then it is worth using cooling system .......attic is no good for growing
2 basement can be a very good place .......just check your CO2 lvls and if they are naturally high covert over
A) converting means wiring up cleaning up sealing the walls and ground ........good bit of money and time
3 your shed the lower area will work but the upper lvls will not the heat the cost in energy to control that area plus keep the lower area from getting to cold is not worth

the amount of plants u are talking u need a much larger area
think a full mature plant is going to take 3x3sqft at least i seen 6x6sqft ones and larger

what u are talking about done right u are looking at a 5000 sqft area (clones/mother/veg.....flowering....harvest dry/cure.....storage)

i just purchased encyclopedia.

Okay so i can account for 4x4 space for plants and that would leave me needing 300 more SF for flowering in addition to using the 875SF garage for flowering. I can bring this into my house upstairs I have two extra rooms. I will probably flower outdoors this summer for a harvest if i can get the ball rolling so i can save on a/c and hopefully have more to show for it also. Outdoors i will go 25SF per plant.

Total space under roof adding my living area to the previously mentioned areas is 8,050SF.

Plus 2 acres of outdoor space.

I can get it done space wise if i use the garage and two rooms from my upstairs for flowering in fall, winter, spring. 4x4 plants (1200SF total)
I can use the 6 foot tall basement for vegging because height is not so much a concern for vegging/clones. (1500SF)
I can use the shed for harvest,dry/cure and storage.


1) how many plants should i veg if I want to flower 72 plants?

i can have up to 142 plants in veg. I can veg in the basement.

2) MH vs T5's vs HPS?

ive heard MH lights are better for veg because there is more light in the blue spectrum.

3) also which one is best bang for buck including initial cost, ongoing operating costs, and replacement frequency?

abe batal said:

i just purchased encyclopedia.

Okay so i can account for 4x4 space for plants and that would leave me needing 300 more SF for flowering in addition to using the 875SF garage for flowering. I can bring this into my house upstairs I have two extra rooms. I will probably flower outdoors this summer for a harvest if i can get the ball rolling so i can save on a/c and hopefully have more to show for it also. Outdoors i will go 25SF per plant.

Total space under roof adding my living area to the previously mentioned areas is 8,050SF.

Plus 2 acres of outdoor space.

I can get it done space wise if i use the garage and two rooms from my upstairs for flowering in fall, winter, spring. 4x4 plants (1200SF total)
I can use the 6 foot tall basement for vegging because height is not so much a concern for vegging/clones. (1500SF)
I can use the shed for harvest,dry/cure and storage.


1) how many plants should i veg if I want to flower 72 plants?

i can have up to 142 plants in veg. I can veg in the basement.

2) MH vs T5's vs HPS?

ive heard MH lights are better for veg because there is more light in the blue spectrum.

3) also which one is best bang for buck including initial cost, ongoing operating costs, and replacement frequency?

Click to expand...

your shed for harvest and dry will need a conversions before it will be good
to dry and cure it
no light
air movement
temps above 68 f but below 80 f
and u need to make sure it is sealed up and clean ( if u have a dirt floor the must from the dirt can make the weed taste like it )
the RH in there needs to be controlled and maintained at a 50% reading (50% is the golden zone for dry and cure )

1 if u want 72 flowering plants then u want to veggie 72 plants (not counting mothers and clones for the batch after )
to do a rotation u are going to have 72 clones 72 veggie plants 72 flowering plants

2 veggie u want a MH bulb for the lumen power and the light waves ......for starting off the plants in clones and seedlings u want T5s
MH has the power to cover a large area with good amount of power to the light it give....starting plants this can be to much so we use T5s on the starting plants then move to MH once they have first set of true leaves and a root system

3 the best bang for the Buck is LEDs or Cobs
they have a better depth penetration ( 18-22 inches on HID lights .......30-36 inches on LED lights)
they use less power then hid ....making less heat u need to contend with
they got the longest run time of usable light before needing replacement
down side of them because they use lens to direct the light u do not get the area of coverage like in HID