Hello Growers and Tokers alike. I am planning on starting my first ever (indoor) grow. I have always had interest in it, but we've recently moved to CO and since I live out in the country it tends to be a hassle to find decent bud. My solution is to grow some myself. I have a bunch of bag seed from various sacks so I plan to maybe germinate 6 or so and go with whatever pops and hope for females. My only issue is I am slightly strapped for cash so I am looking for a good setup that is cheap, but effective. I understand that final product depends a lot on how it's grown and factors during growth so I don't expect to end up with Jesus buds or anything, but I want to have a decent yield to carry through for a second more advanced grow. I have looked through threads and have found so many of then contradicting on how stuff works/what brands and all that stuff. I have a few 3 gallon pots that I plan to put in once they get big enough to transplant. From research I've done I plan to go for a coco coir/perlite soiless mixture. I have 2 lights (CFLs I believe, but I can easily get other lights if needed) that are on a Y. I have a "box" built for them that is about 5ft tall (I don't plan on getting them too tall.) and has no light leaks, but has vent ports. I do not have a humidifier/dehumidifier, but in the room I plan to keep it in stays around 35-40% humidity most of the day and runs from 70-75F so I think it would be kind of useless at this point (until I am actually growing seeds I expect to be killer) I could easily get a humidifier if it is really required. So any advice on what I should use as far as fertilizer and such? I've seen lots of people talk about for farms, but I can't seem to find it in any stores I've been too. TL;DR: cheap simple effective grow advice that isn't contradictive?
I built a PC grow box for under $50 and I currently have 5 plants vegging in it hopefully all females! for nutes im using genhydro organic bio marine cold processed squid (i know its a mouthfull) that will last you for at least 1 grow and maybe more but its only 18 dollars at my local hydro store. for soil I went with some peat moss with 20% perlite and a little worm castings and i water with the nutes every other watering. depending on your lights wattage you may need more. you need about 100 watts of light for every 2 square feet in your box so it sounds like your gonna need more when they get bigger. Im sorry if i misinform you this is the extent of my knoledge as I am a complete noob just trying to help out please correct me if I am wrong on any aspect of this post. hope it all goes well!
If your a beginner I would go with regular soil first a soiless mix is like growing in hydro the PH range is different and if problems pop up they hit faster giving you less time to correct the problem as compared to a regular soil grow. Also if growing in pots outdoor the minimum size recommended is 5 gallons. For a cheap soil Lowes has kellogs Patio Plus its all organic and is even Omri listed. As for nutes I would recommend something from an actual grow shop or from Amazon. If you stay with organic soil and nutes you wont have to worry about PH as much but if you use chemical based nutes then your going to need to learn how to control the soils PH and that requires a cheap basic digital PH meter from like Amazon, some Ph Up & Down Buffers and some calibration solution for the meter.
If you 'top' them, train them, feed them, and use enough CFLs that you have about 100 Watts light power per plant (e.g. about 4x 23W CFL bulbs), you can yield nearly an ounce per plant. CFLs aren't great so you have to make the most of it, and if you were lazy about it then expect half that. Bagseed can be a bit of a risk, the quality of the smoke does not guarantee the quality of the seed. If you germinate 6 seed, hopefully you'll have 2-3 healthy females. Sex them as soon as you can, and if you've got more than 3 females I suggest you choose the healthiest three to veg and don't worry about the rest. You will a minimum of 200 Watts of bulbs for three plants in a cupboard, that's about 10x household CFL bulbs assuming they're about 20W each. You also need to be able to adjust the height of the lights easily and securely, maybe with some chain and hooks from the diy store. You wont need them all right away, you'll be able to use just a few bulbs for the seedlings. Fox Farm is very popular, it seems, but don't get hung up about it. Use whatever nutrient system you can easily get hold of that's suitable for your medium. My own experience with small soil grows (multipurpose compost I had spare with some vermiculite to pad it out) is that you don't need a lot of extra nutrients and they have been relatively low maintenance, whereas a soilless medium is going to *require* nutrients and checking pH and stuff. I'm not going to suggest that you change your plan, but I will say don't just consider what seems 'best' but also what is 'easiest'. I took some small cuttings from my first plant and potted them up in tiny little pots. They rooted, and I kept them alive as small houseplants with a bit of sunlight and just making sure the ceiling lights were on over night. They were healthy but didn't grow at all, staying about an inch high. When my first harvest was done I repotted them and put them in the cupboard to veg, they took off very well and I saved loads of time and hassle with germinating new seeds or worrying too much about having separate veg and flower rooms. Consider doing something like this with your plants, especially if one of them looks particularly vigorous. The first grow is a learning experience. Plants grow, it's what they do, so try to keep it simple and let them do their thing as much as you can. No matter how much planning or clever stuff you do, you are always going to wish you'd done something differently, but I think it's better to wish that you'd made more effort and got an even bigger yield (next time!), than to wish you hadn't been too keen and killed the babies you've been growing for the last month.