I'm finally getting my ass in gear. Down to the gritty: MH Conversion bulbs v. switchable ballast? 400w MH/HPS in a 20"*42"*60" space - am I nuts or will this be okay with a cooltube? (This is actual growing space - the rest of the height is used up by storage and lights.) Also, using these dimensions and personal taste preferences - any ideas on a fucking strain? This will be my first grow, and there are entirely way too many options. I'm like a little kid picking out colors of Skittles. I want them all! I don't want to have anything MAJORLY odifierous - I mean, I do sleep in the same room. I like fruity shit, but it's not a must. I've got fruit snacks for that. (BTW - I'll order from Attitude, but with a prepaid card they can't jack. Did I see someone say they used the ones at WalMart? Something about not needing anything identifying for it?) Is mylar king, or are there better options? Soil - what's a staple? I see some of you guys are all about FF, and others have experienced burnt plants and seedlings and attribute that to FF.
1) MH Conversion 2) You thinking 6 plants for the 400W? 3) NL #5 isn't too stinky and is pretty easy to grow. Very popular strain lots of journals on it. 4) Mylar vs Panda... I have some Mylar and Panda. Panda is cheaper hardier and easier to work with. Mylar makes your setup look like a badass hall of mirrors though! 5) FF is the most common soil I see used. I think the burn usually takes place on seedlings and clones because the nutes are a bit hot for them. Not 100% sure on this but I would just start them in a kinder soil and then transplant them once they are at least couple inches (research this one) into your full size FF pots.
on number 2: (hehehe - I said number two) My plan was to grow two promising seedlings in that cabinet on my first go 'round using lst * scrog. Being that it's only 20in deep - six plants?? I was looking at the 400w as something I could 'grow' with - meaning if I end up wanting/needing a bigger setup, I wouldn't end up buying a plethora of lighting shit.
with 20" I think 1-6 depending on method. You could SOG 6, or LST 1 plant really, once you get a female. 400W 1 plant SCROGGED sounds like best plan to me, again once you have your female. If you did a 6+ SOG then you could pick the best female for a clone for a SCROG and compare which you liked / did better with.
You may want to check out the digital switchable ballasts and look and see if you can find a 250/400W or a dimmable 400W so you could veg under less and then really turn it up for flowering. Just an idea.