Hello all. I haven't posted much on these forums but I've been reading reading reading for quite a while in preparation to start my first small grow. Roomies are finally cool with it and I'm about to get my tax check in the mail. So! I currently have 6 bag seeds from an O of no-name middies I picked up not too long ago. They all seem to been clean and healthy, no cracks or discoloring of any kind (picked out all the bad ones while going through the ounce). I figure I'll just start out with two or three of them. My grow will be kept to a "micro" size if at all possible, I would like to keep it relatively small. Preferably in an old computer tower or a cheap wooden box of some kind I can pick up locally. I will use CFL's for this grow as they seem to be the best choice in a small growing environment due to their small amount of heat production. Unless someone can recommend an LED array that will produce the same amount and quality of light for a similar price to that of CFL's. I plan on using the paper towel germination method, that is sick the seeds in between a couple of damp (not drowning the seeds) paper towels and stick em in a dark place for a couple days until germination occurs. Is it going to be absolutely necessary to purchase Fox Farm's soil? I've read that is what most people use, however are there any similar brands or separate ingredients I can pick up locally? Will keep posting as this will be my grow-journal thread. Help/suggestions/questions are all appreciated!
If in doubt of what soil to get, go with an organic one. Just make sure whatever you use is organic. I heard miracle grow has a decent organic one but try looking for a good organic soil. Don't go cheap. $10 is a good price for a bag of soil and its where your plant will grow and eat from. You can always make a mid soil better with a couple amendments. I'd suggest kelp meal and alfalfa meal as musts. Both can be found in most gardening sections or any local nursery. Also fish emulsion is a great organic veg nutrient. Usually around 5-1-1 or something close to that number. Sorry little off topic. Lol. You don't have to use FFOF. There are other soils but in the growing community, FFOF is the most popular soil. I've been trying different ones but haven't noticed a difference in my plants. Also, add some pearlite into the soil to help with drainage. Most soils have some already but I always add more
Excellent, thank you for the feedback! Do you suggest just mixing in a small amount of the kelp meal or alfalfa meal into the soil? Made a grocery list, let me know if it sounds like I'm missing anything -Organic Soil --Kelp meal --Alfalfa --Fish Emulsion -CFL's (4-5 for my 2-3 plants) -CFL direct plug mounts -Powerstrip -Fans I can mount to Sterilite tubs -Sterilite tubs (will be stacking -Carbon filter of some sort -Glue for box assembly, possibly Gorilla Glue? -Pots and drainage pans -Reflective paper or aluminum of some kind -Thermometer/Hygrometer (mini for putting inside box) -Ph testing equpiment and PH+/- -Ferts (20-20-20 veg 15-30-15 flower) -Plug timer for powerstrip Whatcha guys think? So stoked to get my grow rolling finally
[quote name='"tspanglish"'] Excellent, thank you for the feedback! Do you suggest just mixing in a small amount of the kelp meal or alfalfa meal into the soil? Made a grocery list, let me know if it sounds like I'm missing anything -Organic Soil --Kelp meal --Alfalfa --Fish Emulsion -CFL's (4-5 for my 2-3 plants) -CFL direct plug mounts -Powerstrip -Fans I can mount to Sterilite tubs -Sterilite tubs (will be stacking -Carbon filter of some sort -Glue for box assembly, possibly Gorilla Glue? -Pots and drainage pans -Reflective paper or aluminum of some kind -Thermometer/Hygrometer (mini for putting inside box) -Ph testing equpiment and PH+/- -Ferts (20-20-20 veg 15-30-15 flower) -Plug timer for powerstrip Whatcha guys think? So stoked to get my grow rolling finally [/quote] You only need a little mixed in the soil. You can also use the kelp and alfalfa to brew some compost teas. Also get some worm castings too. What nutrients are you going to use?
I was planning on finding some organic fert with those mixes at the Lowe's, perhaps you could recommend a relatively good and easy to find brand? Price isn't a worry, just need to know where to find it. As far as nutrients go I'm not sure yet, still got some time. I put my seeds on the burner to germinate... Put a couple damp paper towels in the ziploc container and put it up in a dark cupboard above the refrigerator (little warm and very much dark).
Haha awesome. You should google local hydro stores and take a trip. You can get enough to grow off of for a long time with one well planned trip.
There's one about 45 minutes away in Indianapolis; I may head up there in a week or two to see about getting some high quality nutes. Any suggestions on what I might use for reflectivity inside my box? I've seen a lot of different suggestions from other sticky's and such, but everybody says something a little different on the subject.
I heard Mylar is the best stuff to use. My tent has a reflective inside like Mylar I guess. Also heard flat white is good and its like a dollar a can at Walmart. Just make sure its flat white.
you can buy car windshield sun shades for about $5 and thats mylar coated AND insulated to minimize sound etc. Good luck!
That's an awesome suggestion, thanks man! I actually just got done reading every page of your Bonsai PC grow, loved every minute of it; perfect looking plant. What you did inside your PC case is exactly what I want to do inside my Sterilite storage totes (about 30-50%% bigger scale, I'm going to stack two bins on top of one another to maximize closet growing space). Smoke on
Find a dollar store for the Mylar shades. I use bulk emergency blankets for the inside of my closet. Got a 12pk of pretty big blankets for $10 bucks. 2 blankets for the inside of my grow. Have you thought about LST or Scrog?
Excellent, another alternative to see what I can get to best suit my needs. I have, I have actually been reading both of 'mrbear2point8's grow journals in which he uses a ton of LSTing to maximize the growing area. I'm planning to do essentially the same thing, as his small scale grows are some of the best I've seen on this forum. Maximum yield in the space I've got I'm curious though, should I top the plant every time I can in addition to bending/wiring the stems down horizontal? Or is it just one or the other, both putting too much stress on the plant..?
i was just recently informed you can top everything multiple times while LSTing, and so i have, its in my journal, will be a little before i can say how well it worked
Excellent, I will happily keep that in mind when I get to veg my girl. I'm shooting for absolute Max LST and topping I can to produce the best yield I can. I'm planning on using 8x23W cfls, alternatively the 47w if I can find them. Should be more than enough light for two plans to grow comfortably. Hopefully working with a space roughly 2x3x4 so I'm hoping for an ounce or two with a 3-4 week veg
ya that sounds right, CFL rule of thumb for micro grows seems to be 100W for the first plant +50W per additional plant. with eight 47W you will have a really hard time keeping it cool. the fan i had to get (in my most recent post) so i could filter my air and keep it cool is really loud, louder than a bath fan for sure. and i only have two 47W and 6 23W when everythings in the tent. this girl claims to have gotten 0ver 500g from one plant, in a solo-cup, in a rubbermaid bin. check it out http://forum.grasscity.com/plant-tr...ield-save-space-vegging-weekly-updates**.html
Ah I see, I suppose I'll just ge the 8x23w and see how my temp's fare. Also not sure what kind of ventilation I'm going to use yet. I would really like to just use 4 high output PC fans, probably of the 120mm variety; however I would need an adjustable power supply for them and I'm not sure where I'd be able to pick one up cheap. Any suggestions on good fans to mount to a box to keep the air moving across my plants?
in my small box i had a 50CFM bath fan sucking air out, but its useless to try and push it through a filter that way, and a PC fan for "wind"... this 115V big beast in my tent is rated for 231 CFM but its loud as hell, i have to get a light dimmer for it to control your speed on those PC fans you can by a universal ac-dc converter that has a switch to select your voltage... just make sure it has a higher amp rating than what the fans will draw... then change voltage to change speed.. or use a big ac-dc converter and find/buy a 12v variable control knob, made for 12v fans.
Well, all 3 of my seeds germinated in under 36 hours. Saw them germinated this morning so I took care of putting them into their 0-1wk homes. About 1/2" deep. Wasn't anticipating them popping for another day or two so I'm about to go out and buy all the parts for my main lighting rig. Currently they are sitting in the full sun inside a ziploc container to keep that humidity up for the first week or so. As soon as I get home I will get my real lighting rig together and will make another post.
