sup GC. first of all thanks to all of you guys I am finally just about ready for my first real grow. I have been getting my tent together little by little and hopefully not annoying you all too much with my threads and questions. Seeds are in the mail. I wouldnt say I am a perfectionist but I dont like setting myself up for failure. My goal for this thread is to tell you all my setup and "grow strategy" and maybe you can forewarn me of some inevitable problems a first time grower will run into so I can start researching how to resolve the issue now instead of posting panic threads while my plant dies ---------------------------------------- SETUP - 4 x 2 x 7 Agromax Grow tent (28.75" Deep x 53" Wide x 78.75" Tall) - 400W HTG supply MH/HPS Ballast and Bulbs - 6" growbright inline fan 424 CFM - 6" Ducting - 6" air cooled reflector hood 6" x 18" x22 " - Bluelabs PH digital Pen - Tap water left out at least 24hours - 1/2 Gallon plastic pots to start - 3 Gallon Felt pots to finish - Scrog net - 6" carbon filter - Soil mix to start ( 50 % Roots Organic green lite 25 % Fox Farm Ocean 25% Perlite ) - Soil mix to finish (50% Fox Farm Ocean 25% Roots organic green Lite 25 % perlite) - Going to build stands that the pots sit on and runoff will drain below into something I can take out of the tent and test/empty. No pots standing in runoff correct?) I plan on growing 4 plants Scrog, topping them at least once. the strain is Delicous seeds Northern Light Blue. I still have a few questions but I think I know enough to get started. 1. Will I be alright without an EC/TDS tester? 2. When my plants first sprout, should I use CFLs instead of my 400w? if so how long should I wait? and if so whats some reccomended wattage to get me to the point until I can use my 400 3. I plan on topping the plants at least once, 4. dpes 4 plants seem the right number for my tent? 5. I know not to use nutes right away and I am fine with being very minimal about the nutes. I think I am going to use some fox farm nutes. How long until I can incorporate those. 6. Any tips on watering? seedling stage - veg stage must be different in terms of how much water? 7. what other problems do you all think I will run into? im sure ill screw up at least the PH. any tips to help make this easy? 8. I know to transplant/repott once I start seeing roots out the bottom of my pot. If this happens to be at the same time of flipping to 12/12 is this bad? Im pretty noobish but I still have at least a week until my seeds arrive to finish off my research. I would love all the tips and links to helpful threads as possible. I love this community on here! I am sure I will have a lot more questions/issues
I am no expert and have my own ways but 1 i don't evn know what a EC/TDS tester is 2 when i sprout my seed i use a cfl for teh 1st 2 weeks then under my 400 watt 3 yes do top espcally fro scrog 4 i do 4 plants in my tent 100 watt per plant is usually the rule 5 nutes i only use when my plants show me they need them 6 i never check my ph anymore i used to but it was always good with fox farms soil .7 not sure quite what you mean i always transplant when they start getting full. hope that helps somewhat.
My advice is start a worm bin and don't use chemicals. If you start off right, you don't have to learn hard. Nice setup btw. How exciting
is it inevitable to run into nute deficiencies ? should i stock up on certain things for when it happens?
1)Yes 2)I start mine under 600w hps, cfls suck for growing imo 3)ok, but not really a question 4)Yes 5)You will most likely need nutes around two to three weeks after final transplant 6)Water until you get a little runoff out of the bottom. Obviously this will mean more or less water depending on pot volume 7) Most newbie mistakes are over watering and over or under feeding. Watering you just wait until the soil is dry. You can determine this by lifting the pots a bit when dry, then again after watering. Once they start to become light again its time to water. You can also stick a finger in the soil and if its dry the first couple of inches you may need to water. Feeding is sonething we cant teach you well over the web. Basicly remember dark green equals excess nitrogen, pale green a nitrogen difficency. Most macro nutes rarely cause a problem as they are part of nutrient regiments. The exception is cal mag. Fox farms for instance needs a cal mag supplement with r/o or distilled water. Many nutrient lines do not include it because tap water or ammended soil will have plenty. As for ph, i would recomend adding about one cup dolomite lime per 5g of soil and using organic nutes such as general organics or roots organics. I dont bother checking ph any more, too much hassle and most often not the root of the problem. 8) Roots will air prune if not left sitting in puddled water. Roots coming out of the bottom of the pot is not a good indication that you need to transplant, but rather tells you the pot is sitting in water. Roots are amazingly great at following water, and will extend outside the pot even before they form a sufficient rootball.
Your set up looks real nice, only thing that I personally would have a problem with is the 3 gallon pots you're going to finish in. How long do you plan on vegging for?
thanks joker, much appreciated. chiefkeefer - I was sort of going to wing it... I have like 7 feet of height in my tent. minus the space for the light,the distance from light to plants I need, the stand for the plants and the pots. i figured if i maximize root space by repotting from 1/2 gal to 3 gal than I would be spot on....Maybe i need to go bigger tho? what do you all think?
Since you think it's alright to start right away with the 400w. How far should I keep it from the plants ? Still as close as possible? I don't want them to stretch right ? Also you have me worried about the 3 gal pots being to small...anyone ? And where does one buy this dolomite lime? I'm nervous about using it due to my ignorance. Any tips on this stuff ?
anyone have input on starting in a 1/2 gallong pot and finishing in a 3 gal fabric pot? am i going to get rootbound too fast with 3 gals?
There are two general rules that get mentioned frequently. One gallon of pot for every month of growth from seed to harvest, or one gallon of pot for every foot of plant height. The latter is ok when considering a normal grow but the former is really better because it accounts for longer or shorter veg times. Personally ive always just used five gallon pots.
ok thanks joker...Im starting to think the 3 gallon fabric pots are too small...sort of bummed out about that seeing as my local hydro store reccomended them to me. I wish They had 4 gallon fabric pots at my store...seems like a perfect size but it goes from 3 gal right to 5. Im going to go for it though. I think once I subtract the Stand for my pots (about a foot), the actual pots (less than a foot), the distace from the light,the actual hood) will leave me about 4 feet maybe less for the actual plant...so in theory the 3 gal will be ok??
Ive seen people get several ounces out of 3g pots, just never used them myself. Fabric pots also shouldnt get root bound like plastic pots.
thanks joker for steppin in to help - As for removing runoff in this scrog grow so far this is what ive come up with so far. I want to place the saucer down with a milk crate over it and than set the fabric pot on top of the milk crate. I will than cut the side of the milk crate facing me out so I can access the saucer that would otherwise be caged in there....anyone see an issue with this? or a better idea. - Also im deciding whether to build one big screen or have each plant get its own individual screen for the scrog method.hmmm EDIT: also a new question has come up lol. So from what ive been told i will need to start feeding the plants nutes after about 4 weeks. Since im new to this should I keep some of this "sledgehammer" stuff around in case I over feed? is this necessary to flush? im so intimidated by the nutrient feeding ;(((((
There are a LOT of good threads in this forum about feeding techniques, but generally your baby will tell you what she wants, and you'll begin to see that after a few grows. I'm of the opinion that flushing every 3-5 waterings/feedings (however you'd like to schedule it) is beneficial. Especially using chem ferts, clears out salt and other nute buildup. Sent from my SPH-D710 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
ok and what is the correct way to flush? id imagine you can flush too much? do i need that sledgehammer stuff?
Flushing is generally done near the end of harvest (final 2 weeks) to ensure the plant uses its remaining stored nutrients and to flush it of excess, which will improve flavor. On your first flush you generally want to run your water until it streams through your drainage holes for a few seconds. You can then just water normally (no nutes) for the remaining days. Some growers flood their plants multiple times during the flush, not just the first time, do what works for you man. As for the flush solution, why not? Start off at 1/2 or 1/4 recommended strength and watch it. But I've never heard of clearing solution harming plants when care was used, someone correct me if I'm wrong though please. Sent from my SPH-D710 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
You don't need any clearing solution, that's just a money grab imo. To flush run plain ph'd water 3x the pot volume, so 5 gal pots get 15 gal water. Most guys flush once a month to ensure buildup is a non-issue. Sent from my NSA recording device.
Ok thanks a lot guys. Seeds are started and gettin put in pots tonight !!! So excited. I'm going to post a journal here I will definatly need help along the way.
Hiya master... I had to remove the seeds statement out of your title.. We growers are getting enough of our beans confiscated no need to advertise how they arrive.. Hope you understand dude... Yoda
Yoda no worries thank you. Gotta look out for us all So I'm confused again lol. When I test my runoff it's always 1 or 2 less of a reading than what I put in. So 6.8 goes in and 5.2 will runoff. Should I add higher oh water like 7.2 or something to raise it ? Or does it only matter what you put in. I added like a tiny ass bit of dolomite like but I'm guessing it hasn't broke down yet