Hi, I'm new to the board and in need of some assistance. I recently decided that I'm going to stop making the other man rich and attempt to grow my own pot. Problem is, I have no idea how to go about doing so. Right now, my greatest concern is lighting. I'm not trying to grow some super ganja so I'm looking for the cheapeast, most effective set-up I can find. After browsing through many topics on another forum before coming to this one, I kept coming across HIDs and compact flouros. Could someone explain to me what these are, where to get them, and how to set them up so I can sucessfully harvest some weed? I would appreciate it if someone posted a link to a pic of a HID set-up and a compact flouro set-up so I can get a basic idea of what I need to construct. Next, what's a good brand of potting soil I can buy from the store and not worry about adding anything extra(pearlite, potassium, etc.) to it? And lastly, for now, is plant food necessary for growing plants? If so, what's a good brand? Well, that's all for now. Thanks in advance.
this should help you out any more questions try the search bar first and if you cant find theres alot of freindly and knowledgable people here so just ask. http://forum.grasscity.com/showthread.php?t=31653 WELCOME TO THE CITY MY FREIND YOU WILL LOVE IT HERE
The place to begin is go back and do a lot more reading. Spend hours digging through links, it's a lot to soak in. You ask a common beginner question: can't I just grow without spending hadrly any money? In a word, no -- MJ likes light, lots of it and only certain kinds, so skimping here will cut way back on your yield quality and quantity, so it's worth it to pony up for good light. In fact, in all respects skimping doesn't make sense. You are going to invest a significant amount of time and money and you are going to want the best yield possible --well, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link so you can't skimp on any of the critical factors along the way or you will commit yourself to mediocrity. CFLs are compact fluorescents, the twisty bulbs you see sold as energy-saving alternatives to "regular" lightbulbs. They usually use about 1/3 the wattage of an incandescent bulb for the same lumens output. The frequency or color of the light output is different though, too, cfls output good light for MJ and incandescents don't. Here is a random page from a Google search that shows some cfl pictures. They basically are like the long fluorescent tube bulbs you are familiar with but folded on itself. Some people grow with only fluoros, but more people would recommend you use High Intensity Discharge (HID) if possible. The two types good for MJ are Metal Hydrite (MH) and High Pressure Sodium (HPS). MH has the bluer spectrum best for vegetation stage and HPS has the redder spectrum best for the flowering stage. There are broad spectrum bulbs that can do for both. If you can get only one get HPS because MH is not good for flowering. All of these types of lights require a ballast. With cfl's the ballast is built in (it's in the thick white part at the bottom of the bulb) so you can just screw those into any regular socket. MH and HPS require a special socket and ballast. Generally you cannot put a MH bulb into a HPS socket and ballast, and vice versa. although there are conversion bulbs and switchable ballasts made to do both. You can get cfl's anywhere -- Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Ace, probably even the grocery store. HIDs you can get in the security lighting section of Home Depot or you can get them from a hydro shop in your area or online. HIDs and their ballasts give off a good amount of heat so you need to plan on managing that, both for the health of your plants as well as for fire safety. For soil, again you are better off spending a little more to supplement it to make the rest of your investment of time and money pay off. You don't have to get fancy, I use about 4 parts Scotts potting soil, 3 parts spaghum moss, 2 parts earthworm castings, and 1 part perlite. A good natural fertilizer such as worm castings, bat guano, blood meal, fish emulsion will do wonders. Fertilizer again is pretty essential, although it must be used carefully. I use Peter's 20-20-20 but any fert that's good for vegetables should do fine. Especially in the veg stage pay attention to that first number, that's the nitrogen, you will want at least 10. Don't fert for the first three weeks or so after sprouting, then start with 1/4 strength and slowly build up. You will have to flush your soil during the grow as well to purge the salt build-up that comes from the nutes. Good luck.
first thin to do is get yourself a papretowel, some primo beans, enough water to get the towel wet, a container to hold humidity yet let in a little o2(an ol tupperware w/a crack) set it on a computer monitor and then sit back with your favorite piece n read read read. about the time you gain enough knowledge about set-up,lights,lighting scheduels and growing mediums, it'll be time to put it use..... stay open minded and only take in what you can digest ..theres alot of info outhere and it can become confusing and contradictary .... GOOD LUCK .... HAPPY GROWING and LST ....... you only get out of it what you put in.....
First and foremost, thanks everyone who offered help or support. This board is friendly. Potheads. Alright, so here's the deal...since my last post(4 days ago), I've been trying to germinate my seeds using two different methods(the ziplock bag method and the tupperware method) but to no avail. I'm beginning to worry because I keep seeing topics where people have germinated their seeds in 2-3 days. I placed my seeds in a drawer and have left them there ever since. Once a day I check them and fan in some fresh air. You're supposed to place them in a warm, dark environment and make sure they get fresh air every now and then, correct? My first assumption is that it's too cold where I live. The average morning temp ranges in the low 40s(Farenheit) and daytime temps don't exceed 65F. My parents a cheap and rather than use the heater they go to Walmart and buy sweaters. Could this possibly be causing the problem? If so, I have a heatpad I was thinking of using but I'm worried that even on low it might get too hot and damage the seeds. I dunno what to do...any advice is welcome.
Where did you get the seeds? Alota the time if u get shit seeds from a bag of weed they just wont germinate.
Yeah, they're Widow seeds I got from a bag. I know the seeds are viable because I already grew impatient and gently cracked on seed open to see if it was growing. It must be too cold...I'm kinda giving up on 'em...just gonna leave 'em alone for a few more days. Anyways, I'm trying Grandpa's germination method right now. I hope they sink, 'cause I want some Widow. By the way, would a heatpad work???
Seeds could take a week or more to germ, especially in the colder temps you describe. You are wise to be concerned about a heating pad, you don't want to cook your sprouts. So try some insulation in between, like the heating pad then a towel and then your seeds. After an hour feel the underside of the container with your seeds -- if it's no different then try a thnner towel, if it's hot add a layer and if it's comfortably warm leave as is and wait.
A week or more to sprout? Well, it's been like eight days...still nothing. Man, germinating seeds is turning out to be much more difficult than I originally thought. Is there any way to tell whether or not a seed is even in the process of sprouting? I mean, my seeds have enlarged because they're taking in water, but does that mean they're growing? Anyways, I took a couple of the seeds I've been germinating for the past week in paper towels and planted them in party cups. I placed them in my grow room under CFLs. If the seeds are alive, will they still have a chance of sprouting or are they doomed because I switched their environments?