Hey guys. I've posted here for over a month now, and I've been gathering tons of information and I've been getting ready to start my first grow. I've determined a few things thus far, and I think these are things that I probably WON'T be changing, unless someone can convince me of why I should, and can tell me WHAT I should replace it WITH. Everyone has been TREMENDOUSLY helpful thus far, so I just want to extend an additional thank you to everyone. Ok. Onwards! So far, what I WANT from my grow is... - 4-6 small plants. - All the same plant (at least for the first grow) -A feminized, autoflowering lowryder (like a white dwarf, something like that) -A grow case, I think (Possibly a tent) -CFL lighting, although I'm still unsure of exactly how many watts worth I should get, or in what fixture, or if it will fit inside of a growbow/tent... I'm very new here -I NEED IT TO BE FEASIBLE IN A SMALL SPACE! Stealth is not a HUGE deal, as I am an adult who lives with his girlfriend and 2 roommates, but space IS a big deal, as I'll be looking to grow in my bedroom, ideally. I'm also not sure if I'd like a soil based grow or a hydroponic grow... It's my very first time, and I'm not scared to invest time and effort, but I want something as manageable for a first timer as possible. I will have basic knowledge of things like PH control, climate control, nute control... all that jazz, so I'm hoping to have my grow case come with as much of what I need as possible, as I've heard so many conflicting sources of WHAT all I need for a VERY FIRST grow... So what do you all think? Soil or hydro? Does the rest of what I want/need sound reasonable and feasible for a medium-large bedroom setup? Do you guys think the grow case/tent is a good idea? Any recommendations based on how many plants I said I wanna grow? Keep in mind I want them to be smallish... Something that could fit inside of a grow tent or box.
go soil. it is alot easier for newbies, hydro grows faster but you need to keep on top of your system, alot of upkeep and maintenance.soil is alot more forgiving!
Thank you About how much space will I need to grow 4-6 plants? Small ones? Can I reasonably look to harvest say... a QP per 4-6 plants?... Any advice on what I should do for grow space?
You could easily get a QP off of one plant if you grew a strain to the right size. The primary strain I grow produces a QP from each 6-cola, 2' tall plant. That's on the heavy side, though. The absolute smallest healthy plants (at harvest) I've seen need at very least 6"x6" of floor space each. You should plan for at least 10"x10" of floor space for each plant during your first grow, with about a square foot each reccomended. Plants that have been topped/trained enough, plants put into flowering over a certain size and some strains, will all need more space.
That doesn't sound like the kinda plants that would grow in a grow tent/PC case/CFL crow kinda deal though... Would they? :S
i'd say go hydro, soil has a whole set of problems you have to worry about -you have to worry about over/under watering, how often etc, ph is still a factor, pests, transplanting, etc. i'm not an experienced grower, i'm on my first grow right now, 3 weeks in, hydro in a pc case, my daily maintenance is wake up, check to make sure my plants haven't grown into the lights, lift the side of the lid and visually check water levels, and thats pretty much it not saying that everyone can do that with their hydro system, depending on your setup you could have fluctuating ph and have to check it once or twice a day, but its not hard, if its low you adjust it up if its high you adjust it down, you can't over/under water, pests are almost no existant, and overall to me it just seems like a much simpler system once you figure out how your ph fluctuations are you can easily go days without even having to check on it, from my understanding with soil you have to ph adjust the water then measure the runoff and calculate things based off this only drawback i would say is that you need to have a tds meter and either a ph meter or atleast the drops so you can monitor it, while i dont think they're as necesary with soil things like grow tent/case are all up to you, you definitely need something light proof, thats pretty much the only requirement, everything else is up to you, you can do cfls, hps, led, theres tons of journals on these boards with people succesfully doing them, just figure out which one you want to do and have a budget for then go look at journals and see what people had that worked well
Go with soiless mix #4 Super easy. Way better than soil. Any soil growers should try the same. You will not be disappointed. Just hand water with ph 5.5-6. Only difference from soil is the ph. hydro in my opinion is too hard for newbs. Plus for the same price as most soil. About $30 you get tons more. About 30 thee gal.pots. Good luck
Whaaaaaat?... Not soil, and not hydro? I don't understand, sir... I need this broken down to me! I'm looking for cost effectiveness, and ease.... Cost effective is priority.
It's kind of like coco but its not coco. I don't have the bag in front of me but I will try to get you the ingredients. the shit is awesome man. Every soil grower needs to switch. I did on advice from the guy at my local grow store. I will never go back. I will try to be short. Basically you are responsible for nutrients since there really isn't much in it. But it allows more oxygen to get to the roots which = bigger plants, more bud sites and all around better health. Just water like its hydro is what I was told. So a lower ph than soil. Like I said 5.5-6. I have never had a problem with over or under feeding. Very user friendly. I have heard of people using a drip system with it too. Which usually isn't reccomended with soil. Also there is virtually no stress during transplants. Even have new growth the first 24hrs. after transplant. usually there is at least 24hrs. that they don't grow after transplant in soil. 20 days of veg and I usually get about 3oz. per plant. Look into it. good luck man if you get me your e-mail I will help out the best I can.
Hi Kaliam, Just to let you know im growing Autos in a stealth box at the moment using soil. plenty space for 4 Autos. Syrup/little cheese/pinapple express/ 60 day wonder. I grow this using a 300w CFL which is more than enough. i run my light 24/0 and my plants are looking very healthy. My next grow will be using coco fibre but i was told to use soil as its easy for noobs. If thers any advice i can give you then feel free to ask as we have a similar setup maybe we can help each other. hope you enjoy the grow and Goodluck Jbird
Kaliam this is my set up. i bought this prebuild as i couldnt be bothered building my own Cabinet (Metallic finish) lined with 4mm plastic sheeting to reduce noies Size (H)91, (W)65, (D)45cm - 300w dual Spectrum CFL grow light lamp - 2x 120mm out let fans with carbon filter (this is changeible) - 1x 120mm inlet fan - Diamond Mylar Reflective Sheeting The only thing i had to buy was seeds and nutes. Listen mate..... Dont worry to much about your set up if you have the basics your plants will produce well. dont stress about it, its supposed to be fun so just make sure you have fun while doing it. Bare in mind you will make mistakes but you will learn from this and by the looks of things you know what your doing. Just get stuck in about it my son, trial and error! any other Qs, just ask Jbird
This cost me £250 but ive seen ones on ebay shipping from the USA for cheaper. I got my from a campany called "my secret garden.com" Look on ebay mate they really arent too expensive. at the end of the day if you buy a good one you will have it for ever.
there are hundreds on ebay just now. try this link or just type "stealth grow box" on ebay.co.uk stealth grow box | eBay UK
Kaliam, my recommendation is neither soil nor normal hydroponics, but coco(ponics) instead. Great medium and gives the best of both worlds - hydro results with almost soil simplicity and care, just a little more watering. I'm currently in the middle of my first coco grow and will never go back. Growth rates are phenomenal.