HEY! so this is going to be my first grow, im kinda nervous, im going to start ordering/ buying supplies this week. i was just wondering if ya'll could give me advise on whats important for a good start up. I'm going to be growing in our 4th* room in the house. (i live with 2 friends) its about a 10ft x 10ft room. give or take. has one window and a shallow closet. my concern is theres a hole in the wall in the closet, and has a funky smell. i think mold but no other signs, so i'd for sure board up the hole, defungus the hole, closet and room, were going to get the bug man out this week and spray the house down, and i'll bleach the walls and vacuum the floor. ok thats pre set up. im going to tarp off the window so no one can see in. then i'll hang a tarp curtain in the half of the room where we'll be growing. floors wall, the whole 9 yards. i'll mylar the tarped off area. and run a wood pan (which i'll build)5ft x 8 ft(which will hold the plants). I want to scrog, but i prolly wont on my first grow, since im new i need to keep it simple to grow. But i will LST for sure, and if im brave ill try and top aswell. im debating on my lights. i want at least 600watts preferably hps, to each plant. if not then 1000watts pre 2 plants. but i have seen a 4 slot 4ft long florescent bulb holder and i may do that for about 3 plants . i have the link saved i'll put up here. sorry my first post and all. and im rambling. but any imput, feedback. guidance. and anyone wanna mentor im all ears. thanks -the noob. *EDIT
hey! nice to hear/read that your going in for a grow bigups to that! i grew 10 plants last summer with 2x 600w mh/hps. a tip from me is to begin easy, start out with like, 5 plants with one 600w bulb. its better to know first hand how it is, and get a nice yield, than to begin with alot and risk messin it up in the end... and also dont tell anyone! (except the ones you live with ofcourse..
THANK! and no shit 600watts would rock 5 plants. thats whats up! for sure im down to learn slow. slower the better. and my roommates dont mind for sure. should i need some kind of vent ducting system? to get smell out, ima use fans and at least 1 hopefully 2 air purifiers . suggestions?
i would say that if your growing 10 plants, in that area, you will need some sort of ventilation, (carbon filter worked great for me,) i used 4 fans, and no air purifier. the smell will get INTENSE even outside your grow room when those ladies start to pack on... (depending on strain ofcourse) on my last grow, wich was only one plant, i just needed one air purifier. but that is something you will see/smell for yourself once they start to stink, perhaps you wont even need a vent! another tip, wich is one of the golden rules is to not have any people over. are your roomies up for that?
my one roommate doesnt do anything and is anti social so is what ever with him. and we have parties on the occasion but our friend traffic has slowed down threw the house due to issues. but ima dead bolt the room, take the handle off and buy a new one, so only way in is by key. i think ima kick start it off with 5, ima buy a few variety packs from attitude, but from then ima clone. when can you start cutting on the plant for clones?
When you see a branch that is long enough, preferable with about 5 nodes. Also, when you take a cutting, wait till it is big enough for you to leave the first pair of nodes attached to the mother. This way, a few weeks after, you'll have more 2 cuttings ready.
Noice to hear ur going with a legit setup! I'm starting my first personal grow myself, but with a smaller space and t5 lights. yet I've helped with plenty of other ppls in the past since I used to work the mmj industry so I have basic experience and not talkin through things I read haha I would say take youppi's advice and start smaller. And to answer ur question about ventilation, u will need it for sure. Have a passive intake and hook a carbon filter up to an inline fan for the exhaust. Check the cfm(cubic foot per minute) rating on the fan as well. U want to refresh the air in your room at least every 5 to 10 mins. Clones can be cut once strong vegetative growth has started, most people I know usually let their plants veg for a couple weeks before taking cuts. But cloning is not something I'm very experienced in haha Anyhoo it looks like we will be starting around the same time so keep posting
another tip for you is to get a cooltube for the light. mh/hps is gettin really hot! (if you got the cash for it,) a fan or two between the bulb and plants works too, if you're low on cash.
Also when you are goin into the flowering stage i think odor might be a problem and it can lead the police to your house so try gettin a carbon filter and connect to a ventilation system it will kill the odor if done right and help you be stealthy
check out my grow blog or youtube videos to help with your first grow. I'm doing my first medical grow right now and maybe you can learn from some of my mistakes. Check out the thread about LESSONS LEARNED. It gives a list of the things I wish I would have done differently in the first month.
thanks for all the help! i had plan on using like 4 or 5 fans. but i'll look into a cooltube. where not on a unlimited budget, but we'd rather spend more on equipment and have a good turn out!. any D.Y.I. vent carbon filter system ? or what ever there called. i think its a pretty basic a air intake filter to a carbon flex hose, to a carbon filter? or some sort of a filter? and i'll follow you for sure, i need someone to teach me. keep throwing me advise and that'd be whats up! **idk when but today we cleaned up the room, patched up the hole in the closet, and vacuumed the floor. we have also ok'd the grow with the 3rd. roommate, and everyone is ok with it. STEALTH is the main goal for sure. so ima look into a vent system for sure. thanks for all the advise -the newb.
no worries man, you;ll definatly need 2-3 fans for circulation and cooling but you'll also need that exhaust fan and a cool air intake fan. I bought a 40$ 160cfm inline duct fan for exhaust and I'll purchase the same setup for cool air intake I think and put it at the base of the opposite side of the tent. I'm not in a rush for it though because I don't need stealth. I have a wife, my own 3 level place, board of directors signed consent to let me grow so I'm totally safe (which I wish everyone was) I would suggest ventillation for sure though when using an HID kit. 600 Watts for my 4x5x6.5 room brought my temp up to almost 30 Deg C when the tent is open so remember proper cooling and ventillation for sure. Also don't mist your plants when your lights have been on all day, mist them as soon as you turn your lights on (so its not super hot and intense) and right before you turn your lights off (this way they get a good foliar drink and wont get cooked from the lights) please feel free to PM me any questions you have or ask questions on my blog in comments about stuff and I'll help however I can. I am new too, however, I've been off work for about a year and planning this for some time, done hundreds of hours of research. Hopefully it pays off for me and helps someone else!
hey thanks for the tips question. if i startt with 4-6 plants. should i use hps or florescent? should i use (2) 600watt hps lights? or (4) 6500k? to be honest i dont know much about florescent. i feel like 4 - 6500k is a lot! any tips to germinate the seeds?? (if im thinkings right thats sprouting them) the way i was going to start was: (once seeds arrived) -get a red solo cup -wrap the seed in a damp paper towel -put paper towel wrapped seeds in red solo cup -put red solo cup in a dark room (closet in the grow room) leave for 3 days. once a day change the damp paper towel (maybe twice a day) get a new solo red cup or a little tray(one of those ice cube lookings tray's) once roots grow and establish, 1-3 weeks then i'll transfer from planting to a 5 gallon. im thinking if i start in a ice cube trey thing, or the cup, i'll go to 1lb or 2lb pots. then to 5gallon. good basic start up? any suggetions? check to see if it sprouts, on
Sounds nice! I would use the hps, u wont need more than 600w for 4-6 plants, im not a big fan of florecent.. In the end i guess it's a matter of opinion, but your set up seems more optimal for the use of hps. (since you got a growroom you can handle the extra heat from the hps!) florecents would be preferred if you would be growin in a smaller space. No need to change the damp papers, just put the seeds innit and place in jar/container, put a lid on (with some air able to get in, but it should be moist) store in a dark place with room temp, (it could take up to 10 days for them to show their "tail" ) Putting in cubes is a good thing because it will make sure you have a good root from start! Are you using soil/coco btw? And do you have a mh lightbulb? (blue light spectrum, optimal for vegetative growth)
As someone else stated for 4-6 plants, 1 600w HPS will be fine. 6500k is describing the color of the light emitted (6500 Kelvin). The bulb itself is probably 23 actual watts, (replaces a 100 watt incandescent). Vegging with these is fine. You'll need at least 3 to veg, and I would make one of those a 2700k for some spectrum diversity. But don't forget that you can veg with HPS as well. But for flowering, if you have the ability to use the HPS, I would do that. You will get more yield with far less work. CFL's must be placed close to the plant and moved frequently while the plant grows. It can be a pain in the anus. Some people would place a couple CFL's on the underside of the canopy for more light penetration, but maybe save that for the next grow. When learning the craft, keeping it simple will benefit you greatly.
im going to use soil. ocean fox fox farm brand. mh lightbulb? - do inform no idea . is this the blue light bulb you want that helps the plant?? idk what it does, i heard it helps yeild? but no i do not have one picked out. so ya'll are saying to run (3) 600watt hps bulb for veg. for 5 plants? i'll need a lower wattage bulb for like baby plant, sprouting and what not?
MH stands for Metal Halide. It is a different kind of bulb. Some ballasts can run either HPS or MH. MH has more of a blue spectrum which is good for veg, but honestly, you can veg under HPS just fine. For 5 plants you really only need 1, 600 w HPS unless you are growing big plants, then 2 lights would be plenty.
You could always buy a 600 watt hps/mh light kit from EBAY and if you feel you need more light, you could hang a few CLF's under the canopy during flowering for much better bud developement. That's what I'm doing anyways and I'm growing 6 plants in a 4x5x6.5ft space. Heat is a problem with HID's for sure but I seem to be able to get my temps around 28 deg C which isn't too bad. Gonna get hot when I have to seal the tent up during flowering and can't leave the flap open anymore.
my bad i havent been on. work, life, and smoking got in the way ;x but im back. i wanted to build my box today but smoked to much so now its a fifa/ smoke day. i'll build or get the supplies tomorrow. im hoping to have everything set up. and seeds ordered by the end of the month and start early feb. i may be high or crazy but i feel like i read something about how blue light is good. could i diy a light build socket and put a blue bulb in the middle? i no its not like a black light blue bulb, im sure its a mh or something. and is a diy filter ez? cheap? worth it? i'll look for a kit or some bulbs and get info on here soon. ima start being unlazy soon