I think if people took this thread serious it could be very helpful to any beginner(including me). What I am looking for is people who can show some links on what they would buy, or maybe what not to buy. Or recommend a good place to get certain things. My question is: if you were me just starting out and you knew all that you know about growing, what would you get, on a semi-strict budget?(if the equipment is very much worth it and costs extra, that would be the only reason to pay more) I'd be greatful for anyone that can help me out and get me and possibly any other beginner reading this thread started. If you would do it in a format that would be cool. Seed: name of seed -- link explain why------ Soil: What its grown in: -- link explain why----- Light: name of light -- link explain why----- Then add whatever else needs to be listed,
I'm sure if you did a little reading around this site there will be all this info for you plus everything else =] Seeds - I am currently growing Kaya Gold, which I read is real good for beginners, very sturdy and whatnot. Also Northern Lights is very good for beginners. These are my two favorites that are fairly easy to grow. Soil - maybe someone else could explain the "why" better than me but most of the site uses "Fox Farms Ocean Forest", it's a great organic soil =] Light - This totally depends on what you're planning on growing...My setup has a Metal Halide light for vegative growth and a High Pressure Sodium light for flowering. A lot of people use CFL's for seedling growth and also vegative. Now as for links of specific places to get these things, the seeds are everywhere, and I don't know if you want Fem or not, If I were you I'd go around and do a little research on this site and look for what other seed bank websites people recammend. As for lighting, if you are looking for an HID which is the way to go ;], I'd check out htgsupply.com, their digital greenhouse lights are great!
Seeds:Any seeds you can get today and start soaking them NOW then germ and grow.--Bagseed today. Soil:Any organic soil with 25% perlite added(or a high quality peat moss/EWC and perlite) Lighting:CFL's for sure as you can always use them for seedlings even with HID. Then read/read /read,be humble and ask questions after you read all the stickies. Find mentors you trust and pick their brain as much as they are comfortable. You will learn the MOST this way the fastest,although when i started i wanted to go ALL out and it cost me a little time and allot of cash but i am happy as hell. My thoughts are cheap OR all out OR both....cheap now then all out once you know how to use it well. One grow and tons of reading and posting and you will be able to haul ass in any direction.
That's what I did. I did a bagseed grow and budgeted myself $100 dollars for supplies. Now I'm preparing for a second grow (still getting all my supplies) and I've spent over $800 already (was aiming for $500, lol). I'm going "all out" but I'm glad I didn't do that for my first grow - I messed up a lot of stuff and would have been very sad if I had spent so much on it. As a new grower, my suggestions for other new growers: -Keep it simple. This advice is given all over as "KISS." Seriously, do it. -Do a trial grow. Keep it cheap. Seeds are expensive. Bagseed is free. -Read, ask questions, read, and read. Everything matters. Light type. Light color temperatures. Wattages. Lumens. Soil type. Water pH. Find out what matters, take notes. Learn them by heart. In fact, here are the notes I took. Sorry I can't credit those who gave me this info, but Rumpleforeskin and jcj played a large part. Thanks to everyone who has helped me on the way. Code: Soil BEST - Fox Farm Ocean Forest, Black Gold Natural Organic ACCEPTABLE - Garden Safe Natural Organic, Miracle Gro Organic Add 20-25% perlite to your soil mix for extra drainage & O2 retention Lighting 3500-5000 lumens per plant. Line the inside of your room or cabinet with mylar or flat white paint. Don't use mirrors, don't use aluminum foil. CFLS - 100W ACTUAL (not equivelant) for the first plant, +50W per additional plant. Vegetation - 5500-6500K (5500K is best) Flowering - 2200-2700K Mix bulbs in 4:1 ratio - so vegtation, 4 5500K bulbs for each 2700K bulb. In flowering, 4 2700K bulbs for each 5500K bulb. HID Vegetation - MH bulb Flowering - HPS bulb Keep the HID bulbs these distances: seedlings = 36" young = 24" mature = hand test - lower the light till the light doesnt burn your hand after 1 min @ tops of plants or start at about 24" and lower the light an inch or two each day until you reach the right height Containers 1 gallon per foot of plant Start in cups, move to 1 gal pots, then 3 gal, then 5. You want to do multiple transplants because you will waste nutes and get salt buildup if you have little plants with small root systems in a huge pot. Square pots allow more pots in a smaller area, so they are better but not 100% necessary. Depends on how you're growing. Thermometer/Hydrometer Vegetation - 75-78F (lights on) & 5-10 degrees lower when lights off, & 50-70% RH Flowering - 75-78F during early flowering, & 80-83F for mid-late flowering to help stimulate trich production, & The RH for flowering needs to be around 40%, & lower as you near harvest pH pH between 6.3-7.0 Optimal pH 6.5-6.8 No nutrients when pH is out of optimal range. Baking soda for pH up. Vinegar for pH down. If your ph is way off & you can't correct it, it is suggested to "flush" your plants with plain ph'd water 3 times the amount of pot size. Carbon filters on vents to clean the air PC fans to move air, wire into 12V AC/DC adapters Nutrients Lucas Formula using Flora Micro and Flora Bloom G-M-B (Grow-Micro-Bloom) Flourescent lights - 0-5-10 HID Lights - 0-8-16 Numbers are the number of mL of nutrients used per gallon of water. What you have to consider is the N-P-K ratios. Flora Micro is 5-0-1 and Bloom is 0-5-4 Vegetation - NPK 20-20-20 or 6-2-4 Flowering - NPK 15-30-15 or 5-15-10 Start your ferts out at a low dose of 1/4 strength & work up slowly feeding every other watering. Forgot to mention training the plants. I DIDN'T follow my own advice on the first grow, which is why I'm giving it - I did not read really at all before starting this project, so I messed a lot of things up. (Lol halogens, lol not enough light, lol too small pots, lol no nutrients... etc) One thing I missed and wish I hadn't was training the plants. Topping and fimming is a really easy way to increase yield without doing much work at all, and it doesn't really take any more space. If you're not LSTing or SCROGing, definitely at least top the plants.
Thanks for all of the help. I'm probably going to read what you said several times over, I haven't read your notes completely, but I plan to, it is somewhat confusing as I'm still learning some of the lingo, not sure what certain things mean. I'm looking for something that is relatively easy to grow, willing to pay semi-decent money for a good product. I'm looking for quality.. Everyone out here smokes dro, which I know how it is grown, not the quality. If you had a budget of say $1000, being the absolute most you would pay for every single thing needed. And you had a 8x10 shed(approx), what would you suggest me getting, it is the first hump. If anyone is willing to message me and answer my questions, I would greatly appriciate it. I have AIM, just give me a PM Any links of equipment you suggest would be great, or links for seeds that I might be interested in.
I'm a newbie too, but ask away and I'll do my best to help you, as others will. At the very least I know what everything in my notes means.
Hella good note taking too!! The only thing you need to know is Lucas is now 0-5-10=fluros and 0-8-16=HID in both veg and flowering.
So you're saying you don't adjust the formula anymore, it's the same throughout? Thanks for the update, my notes will be updates as well. +rep (edit: must spread around, etc - sorry Thanks nonetheless!) Updated my notes, added more info on containers. All updates credited to info I took from posts by ocitown. Also cleaned up the format a bit, and added some more explanation in places. I was kind of thinking once I had grown for a year or two and felt confident that I'd surpassed my newbiness, I'd post everything I learned here. But what the hell, if it helps people now It can be a community notepad. I actually just read some of your info in another thread about container size, hadn't thought about that, I was planning on going from cups to 5 gallon pots, glad I read that post.
SOIL: fox farms ocean forest mixed with 25% peralite lights: well as for a cheap budget these do work. this one is for flowering EcoSmart 42 Watt (150W) Soft White 1 Pack - ES5S842 at The Home Depot and a couple of these for veg n:vision 23 Watt Spiral Daylight , 2 Pack - 5M823255K at The Home Depot