First Grow. You Choose Setup, Moderate Budget + Prizes. Grow Journal.

I modeled my veg area after Mr Green in that video. I have watched it at least 5 times from start to finish and a few more times on certain sections. I bought 2 4' Fluoro hangers from WalMart and 4 cool blue 6500K bulbs for around $60. Having 2 sets allows you to grow bigger plants and clones/seedlings at the same time in the same tray like in the video.

Im not ever going to grow more than one or two at a time so I used a 10x20" tray on top of a Sterilite 10gal (40l) 9" deep tote box. I drilled a 3/4" hole on one end of the tray and down thru the lid of the tote and screwed in the drain to fix the lid and tray together. I placed a 12" piece of 1x2" wood under the opposite end to give the tray a slight tilt toward the drain. I drilled another hole in the lid off to the side to let the 1/2" hose out to the drip octopus and then 1/4" to the rockwool just like in the video. I have my timer set up to water 3 times a day for 20 mins at a time. Lights are on 24/7 and about 2" above the tops. May switch to 18/6 soon, dunno yet.

Everything for this setup was bought at either Walmart or Home depot except for the pump but it may be found at one of them also.

Flowering lighting:
A 400W HPS light will work in 4x4 area fairly easily and in your case of cooler temps, maybe an enclosed ballast system would work for you to keep the grow area warm enough. You could also go with a remote ballast and move it in and out of the grow area as needed to control temps. CFL or Tubes ran vertically in the red 2700K range around the perimeter or corners would definitely add light to outter and lower branches but that is your call. Mylar or in my case, Reflectix, should be on the walls. You can pick this up at Home Depot also.

Humidity can be controlled by air circulation and if it gets too bad, you can make a dessicant box with all kinds of moisture absorbing media or buy a small dehumidifier that is used in gun cabinets. I am in the desert SW so if I see 40%RH its a friggin miracle or monsoon season.

Fans:
If noise isnt a concern, the fart fans are fine. Lots of options out there. I went with a 4" vortex can fan and duct booster. My grow box is only 44ish cu. ft. so I made a fan control box out of a dimmer slider, a standard outlet, and double wide outlet box. All bought from Walmart on the small electric isle. It allows my to slow the fan down to control the sound and suction created inside the box. You can also buy true fan controls for a bit more, but I am an electronic/maint tech by trade so I like to tinker.

I am partial to the ebb and flow system like in the video since I am gone from home 14hrs a day 3-4 days a week. I havent gotten to the flowering stage yet, but I think it is the most friendly for automated and semi unattended use. Light will be set to come on just before I get home in the evening and run until just after I leave to minimize on time while I am not around just in case!

Side note: Walmart sells a dual grounded 6 on/off digital timer that you can plug both your veg and flower pumps into to save a bit make things a little less complicated.

LST, Topping, FIM, supercropping, pruning, etc are all good methods of controlling growth. I have no real experience yet but I am using 2 methods on 2 plants and 1 left alone to see how they are going to react to each method.

Good luck with your endeavors and if you have any more questions, please ask and I will try and answer them.

 

man....you don't have to pay for advice here! just give it when you have some to give and when you gain experience...that is your payment!!

Do the legwork yourself (not that you're being lazy, just unsure..i get that), but no one will ever be able to have the final word on what will work for you ...

as you get more into it, even that part is kind of fun...don't offer $...we don't want others thinking that it is nessesary (I know you;re not doing that, but things have a way of snowballing)

NE ways, I know I didn't answer any specific questions, and I'm sure others will chime in...
good luck...if you care this much and are willing to put time and energy into the learning process you'll do fine...

 

My Questions

How many times do i water per day?
You will find out how much you need to water. For the most part , less is more with watering.

I water every 4 days or so 2 weeks into flowering.

How do i control humidity?
Intake/exhaust fans

For the first two weeks what lights do i use?
I used a 250 watt MH on my seedlings and they turned out great.

If i were to use a HID or other powerful light, would using extra small lights such as CFL's to give the plants extra light on the sides help yield more?

Yes it would help yield more, any extra light will help.

Should you Low Stress Train (LST) with HID or HPS grown plants?


It depends on the strain. If it grows really tall I'd suggest LSting it. Some plants respond better to LST than others.


With a budget of 800$ I'd probably go with a 400 or 600 watt MH/HPS dual light system (Should be enough for 10 plants)

Fox Farm Nutes Grow Big, Big Bloom , Tiger Bloom

A way of controlling odor, and and an intake/exhaust system.

I use blackstrap mollases in my grow and it does NOT substitute for ferts. It feeds the bacteria in your growing medium and the bacteria that feeds off the mollases helps break down the nutes into a more usable form for your plants.

Purchase any supplies from htgsupply.com

Best by far

Hope I helped!

 

Im currently using 'black strap' molasses and since i started my baby has started to produce long healty pistils and good bud size so far, but on the down side (may or may not be related) Im finding 'bugs' have appeared more (but as you havent started your grow you can 'prevent that from happening)

So id defo recommend them, take a look at my threads over the last 2 days to see what happens 24 hours after feeding molasses.

As for light Im using HPS and just wish i could get a bigger one so go for that and do what i do put cfls around the sides for extra coverage.

Good luck

 

It depends on the fixture. MH is better for for vegging and HPS is better for flowering but if you can't get a dual system or you have to choose one choose the HPS light.

Glad your gonna go with a HID though.

 

I have a 10 by 10 area with 9 plants in there week 2 of flowering. I an using a 1000 wt. H.P.S. I am wondering if that is enough light for that many plants? Any help would be appreciated.