Well to get this started iv seen one grow in my career with weed, but i know enough about the shit to know it was picked early and waaaaay under cured. That said my friend had about 9ozs from two supposed white widow plants he grew in some dirt in his closet. he charged 25 a g for it straight through and that is really what is making me consider growing, the fact that this fool has the audacity to charge me that to my face, im tired of getting ripped off. so i have a few questions on starting a small grow My other friend has a 4x4 or so closet that hes not using and he said we could maybe grow there, now it is in an apartment complex, but we arent gonna be growing alot, we are just talking about enough to smoke on between each grow, maybe make a little rock of hash. What i wanna know is would it be worth it to attempt a hydro system in such a small space? We would probably only have one light, how many plants do you think we could get in such a small space? And lastly would the yield be worth the time and effort, about how much of a good sativa could we get in say 3 months? And i was wondering if yall think that using some schwag seeds in a hydro system would produce dank regardless, or do i have to really pay that much attention to genetics? I just dont wanna end up like my idiot friend with ounces upon ounces of mildewy moldy brown "Master Chief" that was supposedly white widow before the harvest hehe. Moral of that one is that it was so wet it took about 3 or 4 trys to actually get a hit off it...
first of all if ur growing bag seed sativa it will take almost 3months just for them to finish flowering possiblely longer i have a friend that grew bag seed sativa it took 14 weeks to flower! but from about a 3by3 space he got about a oz off of 2 plants not to bad. let me say this growing is NOT easy ur dumb friend proably just lucky and got a hardy strain. u chould get maybe 4-5plants in that space. and if u have just one light u better make sure it cst alot of lumes for that space i say at least 10000 and that proably not enough but i say u go for it what do u have to lose!
In a 4x4 growing area you can get about four plants. You will want at a minimum 1 square foot per plant, more is better. You might want to only grow two or three so you arent getting crowded in there and you will get a larger yield of of each plant. Hydro is a good way to go, but don't be taken in by how "easy" it is to grow hydro. Hydro is not for beginners. Go with soil, take your lumps and learn how to grow and do two or three grows, and then go to hydro. It will make the learning curve a little less hard to deal with. The only benefit to hydro versus soil is that you can grow it a little faster. As far as yield and quality, you can do just as well with soil. Hydro just has a better reputation. Yeah you will probably be able to go to harvest in three months or maybe four, it depends on your strain. Genetics are important but you will be able to grow some totally enjoyable weed from your bag seed I'm sure. Trust me.. its better to grow some OK stuff your first time with free bag seeds, then spend $100 on nice seeds and fuck it up. And yeah.. you WILL make mistakes your first time, don't think you won't, we all did. Just some of us make bigger mistakes than others, but no big deal, we all learn, and thats the point. If I were you, I would grow two plants in soil, and perform the SCRoG method to maximize yield in the small space. I'd use a 400W metal halide bulb for vegging, and then switch to a high pressure sodium bulb for flowering. What kind of light will you be using? How are you going to deal with heat? How about the odor? What about ventilation? You want to grow in an apartment.. what will you do about inspections? Can you trust your friend? Do you have parties at this location? What sort of nutrients are you going to use? Sorry for the questions, but they need to be asked. You need to know the answers to them, and why! Keep your questions coming.. you are among friends, and we will get you on the right track! Take it easy! ~Experimentalist
Right now im really just trying to figure out where to start, and i really appreciate all your info. Ill try to answer some of these questions, cause i do understand the importance of getting alot of stuff right the first time in terms of security. I have heard of some things called UFO lights that come in a ring, using LED's that don't let off any heat, am i wrong to think this would work? One of my friends swears it works great but i know he doesnt really know. I'v also heard of some kind of foil you can put up in your grow space that keeps the heat in, i really dont know what we are gonna do about heat yet, but it would be in the middle of a cluster of apartments on the bottom floor so no IR planes would probably catch us, and i dont think wed be sucking up enough power from one light to really get noticed. Ventilation is another thing i dont know much about, i plan on doing some research into this as i get a better idea of what i wanna do and how far im wiling to go in terms of expenditures. I plan on reading up on that in The Cannabis Grow Bible and asking you guys when im ready to do it heh. I have no idea about inspections, i will have to ask him. I know i can trust him, and thusly i can probably trust his girl friend if she would even know. Iv been friends with him for 10+ yrs since we were kids, hes one of those friends i know i can trust. He knows the importance of not telling anyone even if we think they would be cool, its just not worth the slip. We do hang out there, but i know no one would be any where near where we were growing and by no means would any body in his apartment be anyone we would have to worry about, hes not really a high traffic kind of person, hes really just worried about keeping it on the DL which is exactly what i know we need. Nutrients is also something i dont know enough about, but i do know that i wanna go as organically as possible. That being said i wouldnt know where to begin with nutrients, but im wiling to baby the plants and invest some time in making sure everything is right. and thats why im here to ask you guys these questions. I figure the grow bible will help but i know first hand experience is a better teacher. i just need that point to dive in at and im trying to find it heh I really want some short bushy indicas heh but i guess ill just take what i can get.
The UFO light might be overkill for your grow. It is used for 8x8 foot spaces. You are right though, they consume little power and generate little heat. LED use in growing has just begun and there isn't much available when it comes to hard facts of LED versus other lighting techniques. That being said, it is possible to use LEDs very successfully. I recommend that you read up on some of the LED guides and Grow Journals here on the Grass City forums. The UFO light runs like $500.. you can get nice 48-LED panels on eBay for about $175 that would cover 4x4 nicely, and are made by the same company. I hear they compare with 400W HID lights. The foil you refer to is the reflective type emergency blankets available in first aid and survival kits (also sold individually). It is a mylar-type material that holds heat nicely. When I was speaking about heating, I was referring to your grow room temperature and its effect on your growing op. If you elect to use LED lights, heat will not be an issue for you. However, if you go with a Metal Halide, High Pressure Sodium, or even CFL style lighting setup, your heat build up will become a problem for your plants. Oh well, figure out what lighting you're going to go with and then we can deal with the heat issue. Over the few months I've been perusing Grass City and other cultivation forums, I've found one universal truth to abide by.. you cant trust ANYONE. I wish you all the best on this one, but you can never predict the human factor. Its usually some fucked up stupid personal shit that gets you pinched in these situations. If you want low and bushy, seriously, consider doing a SCRoG. I'm doing my first right now and I'm pumped about the outcome. Read up on the forums about some of the SCRoG grows. They make a lot of sense in small areas and you'll get fat bushy plants and loads of bud for your effort. If you want indica, buy some seeds after a couple grows.. Take it easy! ~Experimentalist