Once we had the materials for our greenhouse all we needed to do was build it. It sounds simple but of course nothing ever works out as planned.
The foundation Every successful project starts with a good foundation and a greenhouse if no different. We decided on a gravel foundation to allow proper water drainage. We used cedar planks to layout the beds and decided to use five rows with enough room to maintain the plants
We really can’t emphasis enough how important it is to get the right mix. It’s hard to go back and fix mistakes so make sure you get it right the first time. We found a local soil supplier and gave them our recipe. They were able to mix up exactly what we needed and deliver it to our farm. It took a lot of work but eventually the beds were full and ready to plant.
Training day There are many different methods of growing cannabis in soil. At sofresh farms we prefer to use the SCROG (screen of green) method. A 6×6” netting is placed over the plants and used to train the branches. Instead of the letting the plants grow taller, the branches are bent down (under the screen) to promote side growth. This method not only increases yield, it also produces the finest flowers. Since every bud gets maximum light, they end up dense and frosty.
Hot and cold Heat is another issue to be concerned about. Seventy lights put out a massive amount of heat! In the cold Winter months, the extra heat helps, but summer is a different story. All it takes is one big heat-spell to ruin a healthy crop. Because of electicity consumption we choose not to run A/C in the greenhouse, that means if it’s 100 degrees outside it would be even warmer in the greenhouseif we didn’t have good ventilation and a fog system that keeps it a comfortable 85f even on the hottest NW days. Our greenhouse uses a both a large roof vent as well as intake vents and massive 3 phase 50” exhaust fans to quickly move warm air out and cool air in. This helps keep the temperatures down while also replenishing CO2. Our fresh air intakes and exhaust vents have a special light trap that keeps the light in or out, while letting fresh air flow freely.
During the cold winter months, we use supplemental heating to keep the plants from freezing to death. A large propane heaters make the greenhouse feel more like a walk along a tropical beach than our normal Oregon weather.
Light is right Running lights every six feet gives an efficient balance of yield to light ratio. Remember, it’s a greenhouse, so we gain the added benefits of natural sunlight. Once the lights and fans are setup a good solution is needed to control them. We decided to go with the Hortimax Go system. The controller is both a hardware and software solution that controls all the functions, monitors the results and records the data. Every function can be controlled remotely via a computer, smartphone or tablet, allowing monitoring and changes from anywhere with internet access. Our environmental supervisor can program the system to automatically open the vents or turn on the fans as needed. We try to keep our temperature in in the low 80’s so the plants grow as healthy as possible.
During flower we use multiple dehumidifiers to keep the humidity in check. We like to keep things a little on the humid side during the veg phase and turn it down during flower to reduce the chance of mold. We find that keeping the room’s humidity at 40-60% works best during flower.
Once the greenhouse is complete and the beds are full the next step is to bring in the plants. This is where it really feels like you’re making progress. Stay tuned for part #3 of “The Redhouse” for more interesting reading.
