going to start my very first grow soon

Mixing all at once is sufficient, don't combine all the nutes together, add separately to your reservoir, start off with NO nutes the first week to 10 days, then run about 25% dosage until the plants are strong and showing growth. Be sure to start off with root supplements, my recommendation is Botanicare Hydroguard and SilicaBlast, 1ml per gal of each from the very beginning and increase to 2 ml per gal. after the second week of veg.

 

Look for a youtuber named NVClosetmedgrower.


He's no rocket scientist, but he grows some pretty fire looking plants and gets great yields using chemical nutes and small tents. He has a video series where he grows a Purple Chem OG plant from seed to harvest to curing, and even a few after vids showing a couple different ways to make hash and oils.
The series is incredibly detailed, I've been using his advice as well as some people on this forums advice and my plants are looking crazy good, you wouldn't believe it was my first time ever seriously trying to grow this shit. Give a look over my grow journal. You should go ahead and buy whatever supplies you're going to buy, then make a Post in the " Indoor Grow Journals " thread.


Just some basic advice, collect all the equipment you're going to need BEFORE popping your seeds. What I mean is, get your area set up, buy your light(s). Get a real light, don't try to grow with grandma's 60w incandescents. A company called iPower sells an amazing 400w bundle on amazon that comes with literally EVERYTHING you need for a lighting setup. If you don't want to use High intensity Discharge lighting Go with CFL coils, however check the reviews for the exact bulbs you're going to buy online BEFORE you buy them. I learned the hard way that Cheap light bulbs suck dick and will die in a few days of an 18/6 light cycle. Buy your tent and set it up where you want it, remember, the less stress you cause your plants by moving them around the more females you'll get and you'll get a higher yield. Make sure you have some good CLEAN fans. THEY HAVE TO BE CLEAN DO NOT CIRCULATE DUSTY STALE AIR THROUGH YOUR PLANTS YOU WILL GET MITES.


<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">If you're unsure about how to use nutrients, start simpler. I recommend a 2 or 3 part system of chemical nutrients rather than specific pre bottled formulas like the Foxfarm ones you mentioned, there's nothing wrong with those ones, but if you're not sure I would just go with something a little easier. I strongly recommend for your first couple grows you try the General hydroponics line. It's not expensive, there's a $40 box that comes with a pint of each of the 3 main components, as well as I think 4 or 5 additional additives and a Ph Testing kit(incredibly important). Also pick up a bottle of CalMag by Botanicare. The bottles show you ratios of how to mix the 3 components and the additives on the actual label itself, super easy to understand, it has a chart. As far as how to mix them, there is no reason to mix them separately, that might just lead to you being tempted to over-water which is just as bad as under-watering. Mix all of your nutrients into your water using the recommended ratio's given by your chosen nutrient company. Mixing the nutrients directly, out of the water is a BIG no-no. The different nutrient's have components that if mixed directly will nutralize.</span>
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">You definitely don't want to be dumping a ton of bloom specific nutrients into your plants while they are young, or any for that matter. It is important to decide if you're going to grow using soil or a soil-less medium Like Coco Coir. If you're growing in soil you do NOT feed your plants until they are 2 weeks old or older, depending on the amount of growth you get in the seedling stage. Your plant pops out of the seed with all the nutrients it will need for the first 2 weeks stored in the 2 little flap leaves that open as soon as it breaks the crust of the soil. Start adding nutrients after 2 weeks at one quarter strength and play it by ear for when to up the dosage. Use a TDS meter to measure the PPM of your nutrient water, I used a mix around 250PPM when I started feeding. The bottles indicate different ratios of the nutrients depending on what stage of plant life you're in. You also need to do some research about what kind of soil you're going to use. Fox farms ocean forrest is a great soil to use, people love that shit. The only drawback is that it can be pretty intense for seedling plants, meaning it has a SHITLOAD of natural organic nutrients and might lead to you having some nutrient burn on your baby plants. The alternative I recommend would be to buy a small bag of Smart Naturals Happy frog to start your seeds in. It's an organic soil blend with far less natural nutrient than the Foxfarms alternative, and it has the added benefit of having Micorrhizzae bacteria, that will seriously help your root development. Later on when you transplant into a bigger pot, transplant into FoxFarms Ocean forrest. I just do not recommend using coco coir to a beginner. Coco has zero naturally occuring nutrient in it. You have to feed every day, as well as be diligent about keeping Ph in check and you sort of already have to know how your nutrients are going to behave. Soil is easier, it's more forgiving, if it's your first time growing, go with soil.</span>
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Sorry for typing the bible, I like to talk about shit when I'm stoned. But that info could save you some headache in the future, hop over and check out my grow journal the links in my signature. I've run into just about every beginner issue that you could in a first grow besides infestation and the forum users here have helped me to sort it out.</span>
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">TL;DR Go Watch NVClosetmedgrower's "How to Grow Marijuana" Series on youtube</span>

 

Also, smell your tap water.
If it smells like it has chlorine in it don't use it. Get distilled water it isn't expensive and will do a LOT better for your plants

 

Chlorinated water can be used by letting it sit for a day or aerating it for a couple of hours. I have to go thru this twice a year when my municipality flushes water lines and adds chlorine for a couple weeks.
Chef is correct that you don't want to use it straight from the tap

 

Your city might also have already made the switch from Chlorine to Chloramine, the difference is that Chloramine will not evaporate from your water naturally. I strongly recommend just playing it safe and going with distilled or Reverse osmosis.

 

Still chlorine here but you're right about chloramine...takes days to evaporate

 

The cheapest way to go about this is to invest in one of those big blue 5 gallon bottles you see outside of a wal mart near the big water vending machine. The bottle itself is going to be between 15 and 20 dollars, but it's yours to keep and only costs $1.25 to refill, better than buying 6 individual gallons every week and lugging those into the house, or god forbid you're like me and live in a 3rd floor apartment. Really considder how many trips you're willing to take up and down the stairs. Also those individual gallons are usually around 70 cents a piece so its literally 75% cheaper and the bottle will pay for itself in no time.