GH newb planning for 2011

[WPA]

High all! I was recently approached with the idea of growing outdoors here in western washington for myself and a delivery service, and maybe even a collective. I have grown about 3 crops indoors, and am on my 4th crop. This past year was my first outdoor crop, but it was kinda crappy mainly due to my poor site selection, the plants needed about an hour more of sun (I had lots of good hash, and a few good buds tho). We are currently looking for a secluded property that has at least 3 acres, but 5 or more would be good.

Do you think 3 acres is enough, or should we get at least 5?

A property with lots of southern exposure would be a plus, out buildings are a plus... Any thing else you guys look for in a property for growing?

I would like to grow in a large green house, most likely this one, the 30x48
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/30-foot-cold-frame-sidewalls/cold-frames

The reason I have decided to grow in a green house is to keep the ladies drier and warmer, and also so planes/ helicopters cant see them as easily.

All the plants will be grown in 65 gallon smart pots with Tom Hills mix and will be grown 6-8 feet apart from each other. Not sure how big they will get up here in smarties. about 20-30, maybe 45 plants if we get the right property.

I also realized i'm going to need a shit ton of water, I have located a 1500 gallon container that has been used for water, and I plan on filling it by putting multiple 5 gallon buckets out and empty them into the container. Also by putting a home made funnel on the top of the container. I might even dig a small ditch and line it with plastic for water collection. I want to grow with a low impact on the earth, inspired by the grassroots hippies i grew up around in santa cruz, calif. And most recently inspired by Humboldtlocal and his organization of growers.

I dont know too much about feeding outdoor plants, will the soil mixture be enough to grow and finish them, or after a month or so should I start adding nutrients to the water, or maybe just during flower when they start shifting their need for nutes. I want to keep it organic, not sure what I wanna feed them though.

I would like to cover the ground with something to prevent weeds and other stuff from growing up, and also to keep it a little cleaner in the green house.

Has anyone ever made their green house pretty air tight, and used HEPA filters to filter the incoming air? I would like to minimize pest and mold issues as much as possible. This is sounding like a pretty nice idea to me, but maybe just stupidity since the greenhouse is outdoors and is not airtight.

Once the plants get big enough I will support them with a texas tomato cage.

I dont think I want to mess with supplemental lighting, but living here in western washington am I asking for trouble?

I cant really think about anything else. If you guys realize I have left something out let me know, I want to go into this next year prepared for success and good meds!

 

[simos]

That's a lot of questions... I'll take a stab at answering as many of em as I can...

Personally, I wouldn't want to run a big GH filled with quality genetics on less than 10 acres. Even then, if there's anyone within 500 yards, they're going to smell it come full flower. It all depends on your comfort level, and whether or not someone's going to be there at all times to dissuade rippers... Nomaad, for example, rocks a ridiculous garden in his back yard, so it surely can be done in a smaller space.

Southern exposure isn't a plus, it's a necessity. You want at least 8 hours of direct sunlight during the summer.

A plentiful, good quality water source is also key to success. You talk about a 1500 gallon tank, but I wouldn't go with anything smaller than 5000. 20-45 big plants could easily use 50,000 gallons of water over the course of a full season. In 65 gallon smarties you'll be aiming for 1 pound plants instead of 5-10 pounders.

I know it rains a lot up there in Washington, but I'm not sure how much it rains during the growing season. Whatever the case, rainwater harvesting is going to be your only hope if the property doesn't have a well. Your best bet would be to dig a large collection pond, at least 50x50 x 12 feet deep, let it fill up over the winter, and then pump out of it over the course of the growing season. If you can't pull that off, I would install gutters on the greenhouse feeding into a series of large cisterns or poly tanks, say 10,000 gallons worth at bare minimum. I would really look into the pond, though - those tanks aren't going to be much cheaper, and they'll have a lot less capacity.

As for feeding, the most cost effective method will be brewing your own actively aerated compost teas. Bottled ferts should be avoided, but if you have to do it, go with Earth Juice. If you want to go really organic and even lower cost, you can grow comfrey and nettles, and use them to make fantastic nutes following the directions in the organic soil forum. Jaykush is the guru to talk to about that.

Landscaping fabric would be the easiest, cleanest ground covering. Laying down newspaper and then covering with gravel might be cheaper.

Trying to filter the air coming into your GH would be an enormously costly exercise in futility. That, and you'd never manage the kind of circulation that's needed. That level of environmental control is best left to facilities in the high 6 to 7 figure price range.

On the subject of air exchange, I see that the greenhouse you're looking at doesn't have any ventilation, nor does the kit come with endwalls. A lack of proper ventilation, rather than unfiltered air, is going to be the cause of your mold and pest issues. I should think ventilation would be at the top of your list up there in the humid northwest. I would consider a different greenhouse, at least one with roll-up sidewalls (like this: http://www.poly-tex.com/pages/greenhouses/pt30/pt30.html). Additional roof ventilation would be even better. If you're worried about pests, you can cover the openings with screening or shade cloth.

IME, once you put a roof over your outdoor plants, they lose the benefit of nature's pest-control mechanisms, and become much more inviting targets for mites and other nasties. A regular foliar schedule to keep them in tip top health will go a long way towards warding off unwanted insects. Some biopesticides will be necessary as well...

As for supplemental lighting, you're not going to need it if you're going to use 65 gallon containers. Planting out in May should give them plenty of time to get root bound. Tom et al use the supp lighting when they're trying to fill out planters many times larger.

Good luck - it seems like you've got a strong start on your planning. A bit more research and a whole lot of hard work and you'll be well on your way to success!

Cheers

 

[WPA]

haha yeah sorry, I tend to think that way. Thanks a lot for answering them!

Sounds good, I will look for a bigger space, at the moment, I dont know how much money my buddy had to buy a property, so that will be a big factor. Hopefully we will be on more than 5.

I know why you need 8 hours, and I learned the hard way... my plants this year only got about 5.... pretty crappy harvest.

wow didnt know I needed that much water. Digging a ditch along with the collection of rain water in buckets should be good enough. I just need to buy way more storage.

I think ill just end up making my own teas since that seems to be the outdoor way. Time to do some reading on that.

Figured that would be a dumb idea. The greenhouse that you have linked looks awesome I will look into getting it, or a very similar one. Im not to worried about pests, more worried about rot and mold so thanks for pointing that out.

Didnt know the supplemental lighting was mostly for expanding root growth... that will make things less complicated. I hope I dont regret doing 65 gallon instead of 100 gallon smarties... cant imagine they could get much bigger up here, there are many days in the early summer where we wont get sun.

Thanks for giving me your input, I hope all of this works out and I can share it with you guys next season!