The Garden 2023-2024

Room setup rundown, examples of bud, et al in pictures... Seedlings/Clones lights - Viparspectra XS1500. Vege lights - Mars Hydro FC-4800 Flower Lights - 650w 3400K 1900umol/s PAR, (3) 226w DIY 2900K 630umol/s PAR (678w and 1890umol/s), Substrate - 50/50 sphagnum peat moss and vermiculite in 5-gallon pots Climate Control - Luckily, the lights, winter and normal furnace use all equate to a decent temperature, though a bit on colder side in in vege phase, sadly. Humidifier is needed early and later a dehumidifier is needed when canopy develops. I only grow in the winter months. Basic process The little light takes care of seedlings in 2.5" wide seedling pots until first up-pot. The 1-gallon pots fit well under the FC4800 in a 4x4 tent until day 21 after sprout. I plant 150% or more of what i need, so i can kill the weak without concern. The goal is for every plant that makes it to the 5-gallon up-pot being capable of producing a minimum of 160 grams with a maximum of a 35-40 day vegetative phase. Third up-pot is into 5-gallon nursery pots and now under the 3 DIY lights and the 650W light in the big tent for a couple more weeks of vege. An irrigation system in the big tent saves a lot of time. One scrog for training and another for support, just in case. Reverting back to a more systematic approach to canopy composition moving forward. About 2.3 colas per sq ft and 8 primary colas per plant. Yields were similar when over-crowding and being less systematic, but the proportion of less dense nugs is greater and trim time is needlessly elevated because of that fact. I was very controlling about this the first couple years but got away from it for far too long at this point. Drying / Curing - Into mesh racks for 9 days. I wet trim and cut down to similarly sized buds for even drying. Temps are controlled around 68F and RH is set to 60%. Then into some 5-gallon buckets with gamma seal lids and (3) 2-way 67g boveda humidipaks (58% or 62%) in each bucket - 1 at bottom, 2 at top. Temp/RH probe confirms that they hold the RH steady at 60-63%. Cost - 0.33 cents (USD) per gram produced. This includes an accelerated depreciation expense for all equipment used, fertilizer, water, electricity for all equipment used, new filters and other yearly purchases - bti, ph strips, sticky traps, etc. I'm a finance guy, so these numbers are comprehensively accurate and purposely err slightly on high side of cost. The only facet not included is the cost of my labor.