Hello everyone, I'm getting ready to start my first grow but I have a few questions. I'm really only wanting to grow one plant as a project and also because I don't have much room in my apartment to grow more. What type of light(s) should I use, and where should I buy them for the best price? What time frame should I use for providing light to the plant...... 12 hours on and 12 off? And at what distance should the lights be from the plant? I've also read a few guides to growing and I'm just not understanding the part about feeding the plant. I know you're supposed to introduce fertilizer to the plant gradually but that doesn't really tell me much. What specifically does "gradually" mean in terms of feeding the plant (how often should I feed and at what dosages)? Also, say I did decide to grow more than one plant, would I be able to grow them at the same time in the same pot? Sorry that I have so many questions, i'm just a total noob to this lol. Any help is greatly appreciated.
you got lots of research to do. but lights I get mine on amazon, its up to you what kind to use but I use MH for veg and HPS for flowering. 12/12 is flowering photoperiod 18/6 for vegetative growth. depending on what kind of light and wattage you get will answer how close to put light. Grasdually introduce means dont burn your plant. young plants can only handle so much. start with 1/4 what the bottle says. each plant needs own pots. also keep in mind its gonna reek so carbon filter or some type of odorizer is nessicary for apt. choose good nutes good soil and keep completley dark during rest periods any other questions ask em ill answer as fast as i can
there are many variables to take into account when growing indoors since you have to provide everything that mother nature does: light, soil, nutrients, etc. since you live in an apartment i would recommend using CFL or LED light setup to conserve on energy, save space and you wont have heat buildup to contend with. Both CFL and LEDs put off very little heat. with CFLs i recommend the light be no further than 6" - 8" away from the tops of the plants since CFLs dont throw off much useable light for very far. the max you can get away with is about 2 to 3 feet of growing height. LEDs should be about a foot or two away from the tops of the plants. marijuana produces a chemical called phytochrome which is uses to measure light. this tells the plant what month it is in relation to the growing season. when light reaches its zenith at summer solstice the plant is triggered into flowering because the growing season is waning and winter/death will soon be near. the critical light point indoors is 12/12, meaning 12 hours of light 12 of darkness. it is VERY important that this isnt interrupted because it brings up a whole set of issues your not ready to deal with. the next issue is grow space. marijuana when grown outdoors usually reach sizes of 15' or more, massive to say the least; however, your plant will never exceed its growing light so the less wattage you use the smaller your plant will ultimately be. when talking about lighting its important to take into account light spectrums. for vegging the lighting is blue or ~6500K and flowering ~3600K red/orange. i recommend skipping vegging your plant past germination and sending it straight into flowering since once started, a flowering plant will double or triple its veg size. think of vegging as like giving your plant a head start in its size. once youve decided what kind of lighting, the grow methods will be dictated by it. CFL and LEDs are conducive to SCoGR/SOG. i recommend reading more about it and trying it out as a noob since you will work out a lot of issues with pruning and how understand better how the plant behaves. youll need to decide between soil or soil-less grows. in your case i recommend soil since its the most familiar to you and its more forgiving if you mess up. a whole page can be dedicated to just soil so ill keep it brief. many issues come into play when choosing your growing medium. marijuana is a VERY thirsty plant so i recommend using a mixture of perlite and sphagnum moss which is sterile, extremely light and holds a lot of water. stay away from actual soil, its heavy and loaded with lots of bugs and pests. feeding your plant is another issue. plants need different nutrients are different points in their lives. a vegging plant will need alot more nitrogen which is used for leaf and stem growth, but when flowering youll need higher phosphorous and potassium for bud production. stay away from fertilizers that are too strong, as most are. no more than 10% of any nutrient is more than sufficient otherwise youll easily run the risk or burning or killing your plant. feeding should be introduced gradually by first diluting the solution to half or a quarter of the manufacturers recommendation. your plant will tell you when it needs nutrients. look at the leaves to tell. they should be a healthy, even green. if they yellow or rust its usually a deficiency sign, but overfeeding can be just as dangerous if not more. overfeeding nitrogen will lead to large, very deep green leaves and the tips will singe and turn brown. i cant answer all your questions without writing a book so i recommend you get your hands on some literature. its a lot of absorb since you are basically acting as god indoors. its your responsibility to provide which otherwise is taken care of outdoors by natural processes. i hope this answers a few questions you had!