Hey all, Im new to grass city, just joined earlier today.. been smoking for a few years and thought it might be time to try my hand at growing and was hoping to get some advice from some more experienced members. as far as growing goes i have read alot but never actually tried my hand at it so any tips and general discussion would be great, im thinking about buying some northern lights seeds from Dr Chronic (if he will ship to australia) once winter ends. I may just practice on some seeds i find in any buds first. Thanks heaps guys =]
G'day Avezzano. It's hard to give any specific advice without knowing what type of grow you're planning. Indoor/outdoor, hydro/soil, etc I haven't tried Dr Chronic, but weed-seeds.net and marijuana-seeds.nl both deliver to Oz. I've dealt with both in the last month or so. (Use the 'stealth' option for postage.)
hey ward thanks for the sites ill check them both out as for the grow im thinking of doing an indoor plant as well as a couple of outdoor ones. I will be growing in soil as i dont really know anything at all about hydro setups and would have to be able to hide it aswell. thanks for the reply
I guess some of the things im interested in knowing would be.. what kind of lights are the best.. i will only be growing a smaller plant in my wardrobe and was thinking about getting the light in the link below.. 600WATT MH/ HPS LIGHT KIT - GLOBE, SHADE & BALLAST | eBay --- OR--- 400 WATT HPS+MH LAMPS DIGITAL BALLAST ULTRALIGHT KIT #1 | eBay Im going for lower watts to try to produce a smaller plant. What other lights would i need? for heat etc, i will be growing in soil as i want to keep it simple for my first plant. Also maybe some info about how to tell when the plants are in different stages and seperating males from females and maybe some info about harvesting. Sorry to overburden with questions, im not in any rush to plant outside as its way to cold here now for at least another 3 months.
read the stickies man .... http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/73015-grandpas-grow-guide.html http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/382585-beginners-guide-get-you-started-growing-cannabis.html http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/454814-sexing.html worry about harvesting when you get there... the 600 might actually be overkill for you .. pick up a 400 watt switchable, an air cooled hood ( that wing hood is crap, only good for vegging moms, or plants to go outdoors), and a inline blower ( Australia right? if so, going into winter you MAY be able to put this off till October) . lighting and venting heat, are the biggest expense of growing till you start into hydro and CO2. Also, a good book will help you tons, as much as this site IMHO. Good Luck Wharf
any experience you have growing plants will come into play. try growing out some tomatoes first. they are very similar to MJ in lighting and nutrient needs. if you can grow bomb tomatoes, then ganja will be a breeze.
Thanks for the all the advice and for those links guys. im thinking then that i might buy this.. HTG Supply - 400 Watt Organic Soil Grow Kit and set up my wardrobe as a grow room for a couple of plants.. basically just line the walls with foil etc.. another question i had is that outdoors here during winter temperatures get below zero.. infact tonight its set to drop down to one degree celcius.. so basically, would the light be able to provide enough heat? or would it be worth me investing in a garden heat pat to put under the pots to keep them warm.. or maybe a gas heater if theres some way to connect it to the thermostat in the kit above.
Avoid foil. Flat white paint is much better. It might get down to 1 degree outdoors, but not inside your wardrobe. Some extra warmth would be good, but I'm in a similar situation to you, temps down to 4C outdoors the last couple of nights, with no additional heating. It doesn't hurt mine. That's the ones under 12/12, vegging plants are kept warm by the lights, at 24/0.
thanks again for the advice. unfortunantly painting the walls isnt an option for me as im renting, i might buy some wooden panels, paint them and just have them up against the walls.. open to any other suggestions. also thats cool, i thought it would be way colder. Iv been doing more research and iv decided im probably going to go with maybe 4 30watt CFLs and a 90watt LED UFO for a 2plant grow. probably gonna LST to get the most out of my small space. im going to the hardware store to look at some supplies tonight so ill keep the forum updated and may start a grow journal when i plant.
The other good but more expensive option is to use mylar film. Your local hydro store probably sells it. I'm renting too, but just did a nice, neat job of painting. Didn't drill any holes except one small one for power. When I'm about to move out, I was just going to fill the hole and re-paint, to neaten things up. I use white-painted cardboard as reflectors. There's a pic towards the end of my grow journal. you might be able to do the same. Cheaper and easier than wooden panels. I used "Ceiling White" water-based interior acrylic. It's a nice matt too, so it disperses the light well.
Thanks heaps chongy ill check it out. Thanks also ward, definantly seems like a good idea. ill also check both grow journals out, can never have to much info time to toke and do some more research
Thanks for the vote of confidence, (friendship request). And after all, us Aussies need to look after each other.
haha no worries just a thought.. would a styrofoam container or a plastic storage container be good for growing a plant? as im growing LST i thought they might be good to get as much surface area to grow on as possible before flowering.
I've used styrofoam boxes for sprouting and clones, but they're usually a bit small for a full grow. Not sure what you mean by plastic storage containers. You could possibly consider a large cardboard box. Just ensure that it can't fall over, to avoid fires from the lights. A large refrigerator box would do the job. Just paint the inside white, cut ventilation holes where necessary and Bob's your uncle.
ok cool basically one of these... Plastic Storage Containers & Tubs 10L - 55L | Heavy Duty Plastic Storage | Plastics Shop Pty Ltd might be a bit small too tho. Using CFLs and an LED is a cardboard box at risk of lighting up? Also im having trouble finding somewhere to buy CFLs.. i went to bunnings and the highest wattage i could buy was 24.. i was thinking more along the lines of 40 to 65 watt bulbs, if you have any idea where i could get my hands on some of them that would be great, and how much i can expect to spend. Thnks
Here's one large wattage CFL, off the top of my head. Perfect for vegging, 6400K. $17 and free postage. eBay is your friend:- 105W CFL There are a couple of pretty good grows going on in cardboard boxes. It's all about how you set it up. 10-55 litres for a grow box is way too small.
ok so generally how many litres should each pot be? and also i was gonna go with one UFO LED and 2 or 4 CFLs depending on the wattage, changing the CFLs between daylight and soft white for veg/ flowering. im not exactly sure which the one in that link is haha *EDIT* nvm jst saw the light temp then thanks for all the advice and help tho man, i really appreciate it
A general guide is 1 US gallon per foot you epect the plant to grow to. (That's a minimum.) For a typical indoor indica plant, about 3 US gallons. I use 14 litre pots, 300mm diameter. They're about 3.7 US gallons or 3 Imperial gallons. Good for a 3-foot, (1 metre), plant. Having said that, like lighting, bigger is better. A 5-gallon, 20-25 litre, drum will give even better results.
alrite awesome. in regards to the LST is it better to have more of a surface area on the top of the pot to work with and weave around? or will the plant grow the same in just a normal pot.