First Grow Help

[viper55566]

Alright guys, i'm going to be starting my first grow sometime this week or next week possibly. I've decided to grow white widow and am going to be doing it hydroponically. Here is how I plan to do it:

I'm going to be growing around 5 plants at a time. They will be in kitty litter pans with rockwool used for the grow medium.

As for lights, I plan on using either two 200watt metal halides or two 400watt metal halide(or and combination of two), which do you think would be best?

I'm going to make it were each plant has one sq. ft. of grow space and plan on doing SOG which brings me to my next question. Do you tie the plants over once they've reached one ft. in heighth to do this method? Also how long should I let them veg for so I can get the maximum yield. Also, how many of the bottom branches do I want to trim, all of them?

As for the water, I want the PH to be around 6.4-7 right?

As for nutes i have a guide that tells the proportions i need but i dont where i could get them at. Where do you buy nutes? what brands would you guys recommend for each cycle of growth? how often should I use the nutes? every three times i water or so or everytime?

Do i need fertilizer? If so what kind would you guys recommend?

Where can I get a negative ion distributor thing for a fairly cheap price?

How close should the lights be to the plants during the different stages of growth?

do you wait 5 weeks before you add any nutes to the plants?

I read in a growguide that you could harvest a plant up to three times, how do you do that? do you harvest and then put the lights back in the veg period of being on all day or keep them on the flowering schedule?

Also, on cloning, is all you do is cut a branch from the plant and put it in water and cloning solution(what cloning solution would you recommend)? How long do you let clones veg for?

When do you take the cuttings for a clone? Veg? Flowering?

Any help for any of these questions is greatly appreciated. I've already read quite a few grow guides but those are some questions that i couldnt find the answers to.

I hope all that made since, im kinda high right now, and once again, thanks in advance for any help.

edit:also, is SOG the best method to use in a small closet grow? If not, how should i do it hten? Keep in mind im giong for the most yeild.

[hippie john]

I'm going to be growing around 5 plants at a time. They will be in kitty litter pans with rockwool used for the grow medium.

are you gonna just keep the rockwool soaking or using drip/ebbflow system? or what?

As for lights, I plan on using either two 200watt metal halides or two 400watt metal halide(or and combination of two), which do you think would be best?

depends on your area, about 35 - 70w per sq.ft. (aim for 50)

I'm going to make it were each plant has one sq. ft. of grow space and plan on doing SOG which brings me to my next question. Do you tie the plants over once they've reached one ft. in heighth to do this method? Also how long should I let them veg for so I can get the maximum yield. Also, how many of the bottom branches do I want to trim, all of them?

dont really know shit about SOG, but I think that you just let them grow till' there about 1' tall or so then flower trimming off side branches to get 1 or 2 big buds, but I honestly dont know..

As for the water, I want the PH to be around 6.4-7 right?

yep

As for nutes i have a guide that tells the proportions i need but i dont where i could get them at. Where do you buy nutes? what brands would you guys recommend for each cycle of growth? how often should I use the nutes? every three times i water or so or everytime?

if your using hydro I'd recomend general hydroponics, an easy 3 part system with mixing instructions right on the bottle, and for organics i'd go with earthjuice... and be sure to get the catalyst, some people skip it but if your using it in hydroponics you need the catalyst... and the EJ bloom doesnt bud for shit so try mixingit with something else (atleast i couldn't get it to)..

Do i need fertilizer? If so what kind would you guys recommend?

^^^
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Where can I get a negative ion distributor thing for a fairly cheap price?

dunno about cheap, but try Discount Hydroponics

How close should the lights be to the plants during the different stages of growth?

200w ~ 6 - 12"

400w ~ 10 - 18" Really depends on how cool you can keep the lights... if you use an air-cooled hood you gan keep 'em closer..

do you wait 5 weeks before you add any nutes to the plants?

5 weeks, 2 weeks, whatever... depends on the plant, growing conditions, and if they look like they need it... try giving them their first feeding at 1/2 strength..

I read in a growguide that you could harvest a plant up to three times, how do you do that? do you harvest and then put the lights back in the veg period of being on all day or keep them on the flowering schedule?

the first one, but dont waste your time.. in the time it takes to reveg you can just grow another plant... just remember to take cuttings before flowering them...

Also, on cloning, is all you do is cut a branch from the plant and put it in water and cloning solution(what cloning solution would you recommend)? How long do you let clones veg for?

yeah that pretty much it, read up on bubblers...

and olivias cloning solutions works great, but plan water works good too (make sure if its tap water to let it sit for ~24hours first (if your not on a well))

When do you take the cuttings for a clone? Veg? Flowering?

Veg or very early flowering... but usually veg..

Any help for any of these questions is greatly appreciated. I've already read quite a few grow guides but those are some questions that i couldnt find the answers to.

good... re-read all those guides and read 10 more... then dream about it in your sleep, daydream about it at work, then start growing..

I hope all that made since, im kinda high right now

that helps

edit:also, is SOG the best method to use in a small closet grow? If not, how should i do it hten? Keep in mind im giong for the most yeild.

I'd think Scrog would be the highest yeilder... although you could jsut tye down the plants to achieve the same effect...

read up on scrog and low-stress training...

hope that helps..

[viper55566]

Originally Posted by hippie john

are you gonna just keep the rockwool soaking or using drip/ebbflow system? or what?

I was planning on just cutting some holes in the kitty litter pans and letting the water dry up like that. Does that sound good or is there a better way to do it?

And thanks for all the help man, I really appreciate it.

[hippie john]

Originally Posted by viper55566

I was planning on just cutting some holes in the kitty litter pans and letting the water dry up like that.

please elaborate... cut holes in the bottom as a drain? or make like a wick system with rockwool??

[viper55566]

Yeah, draining it. I don't really understand the wick system that good. Which one is better?

[hippie john]

well with rockwool slabs the drip system seems to be popular...

to get the jist of it its basicially just a pump in a bucket, and above the bucket is a tray, and in the tray is a rockwool slab(s)... each plant gets its own 1/4" dripline. pretty much use a timer to turn on the pump for abit every 1/2 hour or so and let the water soak the rockwool and drain back into the bucket through a hole in the tray...

thats about it...

[viper55566]

sweet deal man, rep+ for all the help.

[IGotTheCottons]

Also, are you planning on using MH lighting all the way through? You should check out an HPS or something as MH isn't all that great for flowering. Your best bet would be to use a combination of MH and HPS (1 250w MH and 1 250-270w HPS) would work fine if you're growing in a closet. Just make sure you have pleanty of ventillation to keep temps down.

You can get negative ion generators at Wal-Mart. The small ones run about $70. They're with the rest of the air filters, but make sure it says on the package that it's an ozone/ion generator. Your best bet would be to go with a bathroom sized Ionic Breeze ($70), and paint the little night-light black so it doesn't mess up your photoperiod.