Best Way To Grow Huge Plants?

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by Breezey007, Jul 19, 2014.

  1. Hey guys!, so I finally got my tent kit ordered last night, fair to say I'm just a little bit excited! :) I opted for a 2.4 x 1.2 x 2m tent, with 2 x dimmable digital ballasts, 2 x 600w MH and 2 x 600w HPS lights with cool tube reflectors, yoyos, 420m3h carbon filter,  553m3h fan, ducting and clips etc....

    My intention is to grow up to 8 White Rhino feminized plants, in either soil or coco, using 5 gallon pots, smart pots hopefully if I can stretch the budget. The things I could use advise on right now are these...

    1. 8 plants in almost 3sqm space, best to veg a little longer and attempt to grow trees?, or would it be better to go for a scrog?. (with it being Indica I'm thinking height won't become a problem even if I opt to veg for say 5-6 weeks?) 

    2. Dimmable ballasts....They dim down to 300w, and I'm thinking that might be good for the first week or so of vegging?, then up to 450w for a week, then to 600w.....right choice?. 

    3. Ventilation....This is where I wish I paid more attention in science! lol. The room I will be growing in is quite large, so I'm thinking having the fan pulling the warm air out the tent to extract roughly 1ft away from an open window, while air intake coming from the same room, would be okay?. I was planning on having a clip on fan within the tent too for air circulation, but would appreciate any advise as to whether this is likely to be viable or if I could configure it a lot better?. 

    As always, much obliged for any helpful suggestions guys! I will be starting a grow journal once I get set up, found many of the journals on here very educational, often highly amusing, but on occasion damn tragic! (read one the other night where a guy went away for the weekend and his light timer malfunctioned, leaving the lights on 24/7 for 3 days right in the middle of flowering! :( ).

    Needless to say I won't be going away for any weekends while my babies are growing! lol.....Cheers guys, peace out!.  :bongin:
     
  2. Big pots. Soiless or hydro will give you quickest growth rates. Organics would be easiest IMO.

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  3. Cheers LilJ , I did look into hydro, mainly the Wilma 8 pots, but tbh they didn't look like they have much space for the plants to grow wider, I literally know nothing about Soiless or Organics though, expensive to set up?. 
     
  4. Coco is Soiless.
    A nice organic soil take about 6 weeks to cycle, so if you have the time, I'd do some reading in the organics section of the city. A plethora of knowledge. You'll find you'll save a ton of cash doing DIY. Don't by the Wilma, but some Dwc buckets for a few bucks a piece of your interested in hydro. Hell, I use 5 gallon buckets instead of 7 gallon pots because there $7 cheaper a piece. Drilling a few holes doesn't cost me a thing. And when running 30 plus pots, $7 a pot will add up quick.

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  5. Good Morning Breezy,
     
    Please consider some A/C. For every watt of lighting you create 3.413 BTUS of heat. 12,000 BTUS equals 1 ton of cooling.
     
    So 1200 watts x 3.413 = 4,095 BTUS of heat. I don't think fans alone will cool your lights.
     
  6. #6 LilJ86, Jul 19, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 19, 2014
    Will all depend on ambient temps. I run 2k in flower, HID, and cool with an 8" inline just fine. I'm in a basment with ambients of 68-70 degrees.

    My temps never peak over 81 with lights on.

    Every set up will be different.
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  7. Your plan all sounds great man. But I would do DWC over soil as its so much easier to give the plants the exact nutrient concentration they prefer and way more oxygen to the roots than soil could provide.

    I wouldn't use buckets though, I find these containers much better [​IMG] you could have 4 in your tent all hooked up to circulate the nutrient solution or keep them separate. 2 plants per d container would fit nicely

    I have a 1.2 x 1.2 tent with an air cooled 600w currently set on 400w. It sucks air through one side and blows it out the other about a foot from the window. Its 25℃ outside the tent and 27℃ inside at the top of the canopy.
     
  8. Please, explain how you know what, how much, and when, in your words, Exactly to give the plant?
    Marijuana has been growing in soil for millennia.. in a True living organic soil, the soil is fed and the plant uptakes what it needs, when it needs it. No guessing, or going off a generic schedual given to you with your nutes. Why Fuck with what's worked for so long? I advise anyone to stay away from hydro as a first grow. To much to keep track of and very unforgiving. Even if ya grab some bottles and grow in soil or Soiless, you still have that buffer that is the soil.
    Just my .02

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  9. Thanks guys, wonderful advice and info as always!. Should have known coco is soiless huh, just like soil is cocoless lol.....claiming a blonde moment for that one bud! ;) Coco will most likely be the way I will go, although I would prefer the hydro or DWC options, just haven't got the free cash to buy the decent equipment just yet....maybe next time around. Loving those containers though GoldGrower, how big are they?.

    I'm in the UK Harley mate, so I'm not too worried about the temps for now.....got cool tube reflectors which I'm hoping should help keep heat from getting too excessive, plus I could always dim the lights for a bit or open the other window if necessary...saying that we have had a few crazy hot days recently, so I might look into a cheap ac just to keep on standby should I need it.

    Feeling quite positive about my chances of success now! Not expecting too much from a first grow, but if all of my babies make it to harvest with a semi respectable yield I will be one happy camper!. 
     
  10. And GoldGrower, I know only as much as I have learned through reading other growers journals, but truth is I could read about flying planes for a year and still wouldn't feel comfortable piloting a flight from Heathrow to Majorca lol...so for the first time around I will be going off instinct, previous posts, and as much helpful advice as is available from GC at the time......I think hydro is probably the easiest and highest yielding option, but I agree that soil or soiless is likely to be a lot more forgiving should I mess up with nutes or ph etc, so probs my best bet for a first time grow....still plan trying hydro or DWC at some point though, but for now I will be happy just to get my first grow under my belt! :) 
     
  11. #11 GoldGrower, Jul 20, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 20, 2014
    You have no idea what you are talking about. Hydro is without any doubt easier than soil. I'm not saying it's better or more suited to everyone but it is easier.

    Organic soil self buffers because some of the bacteria in the soil that produce the nutrients that the plant uses gets killed off when nutrient level reaches a certain concentration. When the plant uses up these nutes the concentration drops and the bacteria have a more hospitable environment and thusly makes more nutes. This is the balance of using raw organic fertilisers.

    Using a soilless mix does not have these advantages. You have to read signs that the plant shows that is isn't happy. The problem with this is that when you seeing the plant suffering from under or over dosage the damage has already been done.

    Hydro is very different. You can measure the nutrient concentration to see what the plant is taking up. Matching this concentration allows perfect osmosis balance and this leads to the fastest possible uptake speed.

    Furthermore wet soil suffocates the roots. If your soil takes more than a couple of days to dry oxygen deprivation is apparent. With hydro you can provide way more oxygen for the plant and growth rates show the difference it makes.

    With soil there is a perfect time to water, water too early and risk depriving the roots of the much needed oxygen, water too late and roots will start to dry out and die back. Unfortunately you can have roots at the top dieing back while roots at the bottom are still too wet. This is because soil is a shit medium. Plants can grow in it, they certainly can survive long enough to reproduce but hydro tailors their needs. Getting the right time to water right is one of the most common beginner problems. Hydro fixes that issue straight away because you top up the reservoir whenever you have time to do so and be it today, tomorrow, the next day, it doesn't matter.

    The two most common beginner problems are over watering and over fertilising. Hydro fixes both of these so that is why it is easier
     
  12. That one is 70 litres and the one I use, check out my last grow and my current one to see it in use. It was about £20 but it's top quality, it's a RUB box. You can get a cheaper version from Wilkinsons or somewhere. For DWC you just need a water proof container with lid, a net pot, some clay balls, an air pump, airlines and air stones. For nutes definitely get ionic grow and ionic bloom, I honestly can't recommend them enough and they are very cheap at £7 per litre and that will last several small grows. I'm from the UK as well man, I get most of my supplies from eBay
     
  13. #13 GoldGrower, Jul 20, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 20, 2014
    Its only more forgiving if you use raw organic fertilisers, but you really need to know what you are doing to get the ratios of all the different nutes correct. Using regular soil and adding ready made nutes is not forgiving at all and its much harder to get the concentration correct.

    With hydro you can't mess up with the nutes or PH because you will have digital meters for each. Each one will cost about £5 and will work perfectly, there is no need for expensive meters, the cheap Chinese meters are plenty accurate for our needs. I have had my EC meter for about 8 years now and it cost £10 back then. It's never needed calibrating, I changed the batteries a few times though.

    Have a look here for an explanation on how to calculate what concentration your plant is taking up so you can match it http://forum.grasscity.com/hydroponic-growing/1198022-how-determine-what-your-plants-preferred-nutrient-strength.html

    .
     
  14. Wow bro!, just subbed up to your latest grow.....that's one serious looking plant! lol....thinking 20 oz + is definitely on the cards!. 
    Thinking I will be looking into DWC more during the course of my first grow, then going that way for my second effort, once I know a bit more about it.....only problem I can see so far is that my grow room is upstairs and I have a downstairs bathroom, so there will lots of trips up and down the stairs to fill the reservoir lol......but I guess I could probably use the exercise anyway. 

    Taking your advice on the Ionics as well mate, I had wondered if they were any good given the low cost, so it's sweet to know I don't have to fork out 60-70 quid for a little tub of something magical lol. 
     
  15. I love the way you spell it out for people.
     
    two more points,,
     
    getting rid of soil has gotten rid of a home for pest. Bug problem went down a whole bunch.
     
    Soil is expensive, I spend more on soil then hydro gear by far.
     
  16. #16 GoldGrower, Jul 20, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 20, 2014
    Thanks man, my last pull was 14oz of top quality and 6oz of popcorn buds and good quality trim, and that was with 2x 250w lights so 20oz should be easy with the new 600w as it puts out an additional 50% more light

    I'm quite lucky because my grow room is next to my bathroom, but I still use a hose pipe lol. The plant is currently taking up about 4 litres per day so topping up once a week is fine. In the peak of flowering it will be taking up 10 litres per day. I top up twice a week. But that's a pretty exceptional amount, from what I read most people don't need to top up that amount
     
  17. #17 GoldGrower, Jul 20, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 20, 2014
    Oh yeah I forgot about soil pests, no need to remember them with hydro lol. Yeah soil can expensive with large grows, and picking it up and dumping spent soil is work and if you live in an apartment it can look very suspicious
     
  18.  
    Neighbor : "What does snoop need with 16 5 gallon buckets and bales of soil in the house?" :D
     
    One thing I bought that helped me a bunch inside is the smaller 2 wheel plastic wheel barrow. It made a great transplant/soil mixing station.
     
  19. Best way to grow plants? Or grow huge plants?
    If you want huge plants, grow outside. If you want to know the best way to grow plants, go outside, or carry on.
     
  20. #20 LilJ86, Jul 20, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 20, 2014
    What about root aphids? Mites? Regular aphids?
    A regular Ipm keeps pests in check. Which should be part of any grow regime, reguardless of medium. And I buy my amendments in 50lb sacks and reamend my soil when needed. So no dumping or unnecessary soil expenditures. I never knocked hydro. In fact if you read back you'll see I attested to the vigor in hydro. I ran Dwc my first attempt at growing and failed miserably. I had no real grasp on nutrient uptake, ph swing, mixing several bottles, rechecking, rez changes. All was a little much at first. I revisited Dwc after about a year and had great results, but I prefered the flavor of organically grown. It just works best for me. I'm glad hydro works so well for you guys. Kudos to you. I just advised against it for a first time grower.

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