First Indoor Grow - Help?

Discussion in 'Indoor Grow Journals' started by seasonedtoker43, Jan 13, 2010.

  1. hey guys ive been doing a lot of reading and have finally decided to start my first indoor grow. I plan on growing indoors for 6-10 weeks depending on the last frost and then transplanting them outdoors. I have just put the seeds in damp paper towels and into a ziploc bag. i am very excited to get this going and have bought a few supplies.

    so far ive only bought a 6" potter and a 12" potter.. actually these are from a year ago when i thought i was ready to grow, but backed out shortly after. ive got a small bookcase that is white all around that i could use to grow the girls so thats taken care of. now im worried about the lighting.

    I have about 12 unknown bagseeds that i am gonna be starting off with before i start using my good seeds :cool:

    do you suggest a sea of green set up? that way i could use one big light for all the plants?

    also i am concerned about the soil. im on a budget so i was thnking to use the soil outside in my backyard where the tomato garden is .. would that be ok? or should i buy soil?

    any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated .. i will post pics up along the way

    thanks
     
  2. Hi there,
    don't get too technical on the first grow. Check your seeds every day, and as soon as the seed splits and you see a little stem starting out plant them. I would suggest getting some potting soil from the store, a ph tester, some general purpose fertilizer (around 20-20-20 with micros), and some CFL lights. You will want about 100w per sqft of grow space to start.

    Good Luck
     
  3. thanks for the help im gonna stop by home depot later to get some more supplies .. and i just checked the seeds, some look like theyre about to crack.. patience is a virtue :)
     
  4. No problem, let me know how things go or if you would like any advice.

    Peace
     
  5. Can I plant more than one seed in a planter? Or do I have to use a different planter for each seed?
     

  6. One seed per pot or planter. That's a cardinal rule around here, unless you're using a soma bed of sorts with feminized seeds. (which you are not)

    On you're cfls, you want the 6500k for vegging, and the 2700k for flowering, but again, you say you're going to be transplanting outside,so stick with the 6500k.

    As for the soil, I find it's always easier to fork over the extra 15 dollars or so on quality soil. But, you could use the tomato garden soil if you have to. There's also some Miracle gro organic choice potting soil that will work. Just don't use any fertilizer with it until like 2-3 weeks of your plants being in it. Don't know if I missed anything, hope this helps.
     

  7. When you pick up your cfls, pick up power strips, and the bulb connectors that plug directly into the powerstrip. (this will simplify wires and such) The bulb connectors are in the same area of lowes as the unwired light switches and such. For twelve plants running 6-10 weeks, we're talking quite a few cfls. Perhaps it would be better to start later, and only run them about 4 weeks before moving outside.
     
  8. Thanks for the help, I just bought cfls from home depot they didn't have the 65k ones only 27k .. I picked up 2 of them at 100 watt equiv each
     
  9. Ok so I just planted the sprouts, out of the 12 seeds I had 5 sprouted.. I left the other seeds in the papertowel just in case they want to sprout.

    Yesterday I went to home depot with only 20 bucks and came up short in supplies so I had to resort to using the soil in my garden outside .. The soil is actually a little damp from the snow and rain I'm guessing .. Is this a problem? I'm hoping it wasn't too cold for me to plant the seedlings into.

    So I got 5 clear plastic 10 oz cups to plant the seedlings in. I got clear because I was hoping I would be able to see the roots as they grow.

    5 little girls, now where to keep them? I was searching around my room and decided that I'm going to utilize my old 15watt guitar amp.. I placed the 5 girls in their cups and then put them in the back of the amp.. I then took the cord for the light and hung it from the top.. I have pictures but they're on my blackberry and I don't know how to post them here if anyone could help or has any suggestions let me know

    So far I have the following:
    2- 100 watt equiv cfls (1750 lumens, 27k)((currently only using 1 bulb)
    6" planter
    12" planter
    Guitar amp as a medium for now
    Home garden soil lol

    So this is what I think I need:
    65k cfls @ 100watt ea
    10-10-10 fertilizer
    Another bulb outlet plug
    Thermometer with humidity thingy
    pH test kit
    Eventually soil from the store

    If I'm missing anything please let me know

    Thanks guys happy growing
     


  10. Your list looks good. One thing to change: clear plastic cups. I know it would help to see how your root system is doing, but roots HATE light. You will want to either; wrap the clear cups in reflective tape you get at lowes or walmart, or simply switch to red or blue party cups. Geek on that crackberry and figure out how to post the pics. I wanna see what it looks like inside that amp with everything hooked up. You got any air flow goin on in there???


    EDIT: oh, and hold off on buying fertilizer jus yet. Use the money towards a fan, or another light. It will be a couple to a few weeks before you will need any ferts.
     
  11. #11 seasonedtoker43, Jan 17, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 18, 2010
    all right well the guitar amp was a good a idea but when i switched to the red cups, they wouldn't all fit .. so now im back to the bookshelf. here is a pic of the old guitar amp set up
    [​IMG]
     
  12. #12 seasonedtoker43, Jan 17, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 18, 2010
    ok so here is my bookshelf which is in my walk in closet ..

    [​IMG][​IMG]


    i am using a tshirt to cover it up and not let too much light out .. the light thats peaking out on the left is actually only showing because i forgot to tuck it in.

    let me know if i need to adjust anything or change anything around...

    it looks like plant 1 and 5 have a little sprout about to pop out.

    oh and greenhit420 - i switched to red cup but i didnt take the soil out of the clear cups i just placed the clear cups in the red cups because i didnt want to disturb them. is this ok?

    thank you

    EDIT:
    here is an updated list of things i have and need

    So far I am using the following:
    2- 100 watt equiv cfls (27k) -- for FLOWERING
    4- 100 watt equiv cfls (65K) -- for Vegging (currently using 2 for vegging)
    6" planter
    12" planter
    book shelf for medium
    Home garden soil still lol

    So this is what I think I need:
    fertilizer
    Thermometer with humidity thingy
    pH test kit
    Eventually soil from the store
    small fan

    if im missing anything please fill me in .. thank you
    (the only things changed on the list were the 65k lights and the bookshelf)
     
  13. I let the soil get good and dry before watering. I forget where I read to do that, but I DO remember that it was someone here at the city whose pictures spoke volumes about their skills.(in a good way)
     
  14. Oh, and none of those pics you uploaded are working.:confused:
     
  15. ok so i reuploaded the pics.. can everyone see them? i know theyre low quality but thats from my blackberry .. i have tons of pics on a real camera too but i need the wire for it .. hopefully the camera pics will be up in the afternoon ..

    as for the plants, three of them have popped up .. 2 of which are showing good signs, the other one im not so sure of. it has popped out and is very brown with the seed on top and it looks like the root growing out of the soil .. ill try to get pics of this up asap so you guys can see what im talking about .. i also got a thermometer and its about 84 degrees right now with 22% humidity .. is this too hot? what can i do to cool it down? thanks for the help guys
     
  16. ok so i just woke up, the girls are looking good .. getting bigger and bigger as we speak .. all 5 cups have some activity in them .. 3 of them are looking healthy, 1 of them is curled, the other one is the one with the seed popping out and it looks like the root is growing out of the soil.. again im trying to get these pics up so for now here is now pic of the setup...

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Hey SeasonedToker, yeah, pics are working now

    Do you have a fan blowing air around in there?

    Proper drainage holes in clear cups?

    Oh, and I know you probably don't want to hear this, but IMO, if I can see the soil level through the red cups (which I can) then you are probably still getting light to your roots. Sorry man, but hey, on the bright side, everything else is looking good.:wave:
     
  18. thanks greenhit -- well its better to diagnose the little problems earlier on in the process right haha. And yeah, i got a lil fan i found in my garage blowing air in there.

    so, after i made that post this morning.. my parents came in my room and we got into an arguement about the plants. in the end, i ended up having to take them out of my house. ... all they were saying was why cant u just stop smoking weed blah blah blah .. i was really defending the girls trying to say that this way ill cut out drug dealers and whatever but they didnt buy it. it just makes me mad that i cant grow a damn plant in my room .. whatever

    since i do have the best girlfriend in the world she agreed to let me bring the girls to her house for the remainder of the grow. sooo on the way to her house we had to bake out the car and give the girls a taste of some kush.
    [​IMG]

    im about to go take a pic of the girls in their new home .. stay tuned :)
     
  19. Sorry to hear of your little ones' exodus. However, I'm sure it's for the best, (as long as your girl has ninja like secret keeping skills).


    Here's a tip:

    When you get back to your parents, be in a terrible mood, and be like

    " thanks for making me move my plants out, they all died because of stress during the car ride, now I'll never be able to grow any of my own" ;);)

    I'll let you think of a few add-ons:D

    One can never be too carefull when covering ones' tracks:smoking:
     
  20. ok heres a pic of the new home :)

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     

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