Absolute Beginner-Indoor

Basics bro..

Correct lighting for 4 plants would be a nice
1. -600w HPS or a 1000w led.
2. People always say soil but my first grow was DWC (deep water culture) really easy just have to keep an eye on it a little more..
3. Ph tester
4. (If In hydro like DWC or COCO COIR a Ec pen
5. Some good feminized seeds
6. A couple of fans for movement in the tent/grow room.
7. A few timers for the wall (to turn light on And off)
8. Some tlc and patients. And you will Be good.

 

P.s nice studio.

 

I have 2 in coco coir right now man it’s easy as piss If you get the right coco coir - water every few days She good to go man.. really simple... as for the LED’s that’s a whole new ball game I got a mars pro II 320 people love em or hate them... you can get a good brand 1000w costing anywhere up too 2k!! But shop around and read reviews on this forum about lights man

 

Years ago I started out in soil with a Lemon Skunk seed, but after screwing up and nearly suffocating my roots with SM-90 I did an emergency transplant to a deep water culture and haven't looked back - Hydroponics works for me! But then again I love high tech equipment and hydroponics gives you a greater degree of control over your plants so I personally find it more fun, and the added benefit is you can easily check your roots to see if they're healthy whereas in soil you sorta have to guess depending on how abnormal your plant leaves are behaving.

If you decide to make the switch from soil to a DWC I can give you a few recommended nutrients and additives for your reservoirs that will make sure our root masses are huge, healthy white and free from root rot.

As far as LEDs go I would recommend buying something from Viparspectra as their lights are reasonably priced, have a full/continuous spectrum of LEDs for greater photosynthetic rates while incorporating a few UV and IR diodes as well, and they offer a 3-year warranty in which they will send you replacement parts for free if you say have a fan die on you (some parts they allow you to replace yourself without voiding the warranty) or if you want to send it in for repair/replacement they'll email you a prepaid shipping return label. I got a 600w HPS equivalent (276 watts actual draw) LED grow light from Viparspectra for $170 and it's freakin' BRIGHT! The other nice thing about Viparspectra is the ability to switch the vegetative blue/UV and flowering red/IR LEDs on independently of one another or together, which is nice for seedlings that don't require intense light quite yet.

I'm excited to help a new grower out and share what knowledge I've gleaned over the years!
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DWC is the shit hey mate !! Even on these 42 degree days I’m fine not efen putting cold bottles in just changing the water each night so it’s nice and cool

 

Lights can be expensive man.. but it pays for its self in one grow...... if done right !

 

Shifte83 is right. If you do things right you can get 0.5 grams per watt of light used up to the holy grail of 1.0gpw or even beyond! I'm not familiar with hydroponic tek on this site but I've read through this grow journal of someone who got 6.2oz dry from using a single 250 watt HPS light in a DWC and by manifolding + low stress training the plant early on so it grew up with an even canopy consiting of 8 main colas instead of just one central stem - and they only got 0.7gpw!

Here's what that plant looked like just before harvest:
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I seen the that pic so much on the net haha - I got 14 ounces off 2 plants 10 ounces off just one of them !! DWC rocks man and it’s pretty damn simple I think the thing that fks everyone up is worrying too much (like I did my slef) get one grow under your belt you will never look back.. once you go DWC bitches be on their knees? Hahah

 

The biggest challenge to new hydro growers is pH fluctuations and nutrient lockouts, as some nutrients are absorbed in different pH ranges than others (see attachment). Normally I'd recommend new growers learn the hard way by investing in a pH meter and some pH up/down solution, but if you go hydroponics I highly recommend (hah!) using Advanced Nutrient's 3-part line of pH Perfect hydroponic nutes (grow, micro and bloom). They have microscopic balls of pH adjusters in the solution that dissolve and release automatically depending on your reservoir's pH levels so they automatically adjust your reservoir water for you, plus they contain chelates which allow your roots to absorb more nutrients within a wider range.

On top of the Advanced Nutrients 3-part nutes I'd recommend getting some SM-90 as a wettening agent for your hydro system that also promotes healthy roots and can be used as a foliar spray to get rid of pests, molds and other nasties all-naturally - made from plant oils SM-90 is a must-have for any grower! In addition to these two aspects I'd also recommend some Orca liquid mycorrhizae because it contains several species of beneficial microbes and fungi that will bind to your roots, prevent them from contracting root rot, and the microbes break down nutrients so they're more easily absorbed by your plants.

It's win-win-win, baby!
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I'm not familiar with Meizhi, only Viparspectra LED grow lights, but your unit has strong 5 watt diodes for canopy penetration and the ability to toggle the veg/bloom diodes so it should be good if you keep it about 12 inches above your plant tops (given that it says it has a rating of 677 umol at 18" and cannabis likes ~1000 umol during mid-to-late veg and during flowering).

I'd be interested in knowing if the light has any UV diodes on it as ultraviolet light causes more trichomes to sprout up on buds and increases THC production. The trichomes act like little solar shields that protect the buds from harsh UV lighting that would otherwise damage the female parts of the plant (as well as act as a defense against hungry predators) and a little supplemental UVA/UVB lighting will trigger this response in cannabis. I use a ZooMed Reptisun UV basking light inside a clamp reflector on my plants during the peak few hours of the flowering cycle to replicate the position of the sun at its highest in the sky and my buds become SUPER frosty. You want to make sure to use a reptile basking light that has both UVA and UVB lighting but not UVC as this is a carcinogenic wavelength used for germicidal applications and may damage your plants.

 

I can't say for sure in your case, but I find that my 276 actual watt (600w HPS replacement) LED grow light raises the ambient temperature inside my closet by 8*F at full blast, which is alright but still I have a 4" inline duct fan connected to a carbon filter pumping the hot air from my closet up into the ceiling to keep those temps closer to 75*F.