Hey guys, I am about to start my first indoor grow. Here is my setup. What do you guys think? Gorilla grow tent (4x4) 4x 300w led (viparspectra) 6 inch Inline fan and carbon filter combo to exhaust air as well as a clip fan to move air Temp/humidity gauge and PH meter I will be growing 4 feminized seeds (non auto) from a seed bank (4x God bud seeds). I will be germinating the seeds via paper towel method and starting my grow in solo cups and transplanting them straight to 5gal smart pots using fox farms ocean forest soil and using the fox farms trio for nutrients. Is there anything I'm missing? Also, a few questions: Is it ok to transplant from solo cups to 5gal? I read you should transplant to 1gal then 3gal then 5gal but I honestly don't feel comfortable transplanting that many times. When should I begin adding nutrients? Is adding perlite to the soil necessary? Since I have 4x 300w leds, how many should I use at first? Seems like using all 4 leds in the beginning is overkill. Is 18/6 light schedule sufficient? I will be watering with bottled water as my tap water is filthy at the moment. Any other info you guys may have is muchappreciated.
Sounds like your going to have a nice set up....... Yes, I go from solo to 5 or 7 gal for fem seed all the time. The only thing is many new growers tend to freak out not seeing any top growth for up to a week as the roots spread especially going into a large pot... overwatering is also common as the small root system is growing trying to fill the pot Since your a new grower and using Fox Farms soil, I wouldn't add nutes until the cotyledons start to wither though many follow the charts at 1/4-1/2 of recommendations from the get go with no ill affects.... get to know the strain and what it likes/doesn't like as some are heavy feeders while others are very sensitive to additional fertilizer - when in doubt, do as little as possible and let the leaves tell you what they need as they are very communicative plants Fox farms has some perlite in it already though not enough for many new growers as new growers tend to water more than necessary. Personally, I think it comes down to your environment (high humidity = less water), if using plastic or fabric pots and how fast or slow the top 1/3 of the pots dry out aiming for quick draining so the soil stays moist throughout the pot. You want to aim for watering every 3-4 days until they get bigger and beg for more.... additional perlite helps I would use 1 through the seedling stage (1st 2-3 wks) then add a 2nd one through the veg stage (however long you want) then add the other 2 for the flowering stage. This will give you....... Seedling: 134w/16sq ft = 8.37 watts per sqft.... I use ~10w/sqft with qb120 or ~20w/sqft with fluorescent's Veg: 134w x 2/16sq ft = 16.75w per sqft Flower: 134w x 4/16sq ft = 33.5 w per sqft Yes, its what most use to save on electricity and the lowest I personally would go until ready to go into flower Hope this helps answer your questions...... others should be along shortly
Have you checked the pH of your bottled water? Does it have needed hard minerals such as calcium and magnesium? Sent from my Nexus 5 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I haven't yet. I'm waiting for my ph tester to arrive. I'll probably end up using two water. It appears to be typical tap water, and it isn't as dirty as I thought
All looking good here good luck and follow he guide for your specific brand of nutrients I'd wait 2 weeks first. Sent from my SM-G900FD using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Thanks for the detailed reply. According to the guide, it recommends you add 20-25% perlite to the soil. So my grow medium should be 25% perlite and 75% fox farms soil? Kind of a stupid question, I just wanna make sure i understand it correctly. The guide also says to add 1 tbsp of lime per gallon. Do you recommend this as well?
No problem and the only stupid question is the one not asked I am perhaps the wrong person to ask about how much perlite to add to Fox Farms as I cannot give a definite answer as I built my soil and its like 10% vermicilite and 50% perlite. I basically kept adding until 1cup of water drained through 2qt's of the soil within 15-20 seconds then after awhile I invested into blumats so now my water routine is refill the 5gallon reservoir buckets, bleed the water line every once in awhile and turn up/down the carrots a notch or 2 depending upon how the plant likes or dislikes the water content in the soil..... I am bordering on hydro lol With that said, I would follow the directions of the 20-25% though scaled down to fill 2 quarts and see the flow through..... if 1c water drains within 20 seconds I would go with it though if it doesn't then I would add another 5-10% and try again.
Definitely as you want to keep the soil moist, not waterlog it I punch holes with a drill and a 1/4" bit all over the bottom and 1/4 of the way up the cup.... if you do this with a clear solo, you can sit it inside a colored solo so you can watch the roots, see how the soil is drying between waterings and transplant before you are rootbound