I'm kinda new here, well at least to posting, been using this site as a reference to get all the pieces of the puzzle together to finally start a grow of my own. I just wanted to get some input from some that are more seasoned at growing than me. I'll be growing Sagarmatha Seeds AK-48, DNA Genetics 60 Day Wonder, and World of Seeds Sugar Mango Ryder. All three strains are auto-flowering feminized seeds, just to further assure as hassle free of a first grow as I possibly can. I plan to be vegging under about 6-10 23w 6500k CFL's, with simple clip light reflectors. For flowering I will be using a 150w HPS from Hydrofarm, supplemented by 23w 2700k CFLs (probably 4-6 of them). This is all being done in a GrowLab GL60 (2'x2'x around 6'). As for nutes, I'll be using the Fox Farm trio, Grow Big, Tiger Bloom, and Big Bloom, in Fox Farms Ocean Forest potting soil, with about a 35%/65% pearlite to soil ratio. End result will be in 5 gal buckets, but starting off in JiffyPot 5's. Still waiting on the seeds to get here, and stressing about ventilation, since I haven't acquired a fan yet, and my light ballast is simply a reflector wing and not anything ventilated such as a CoolTube. Do you guys think vegging for a few weeks with only CFL's would get too hot with passive airflow? Or if the passive airflow will be enough for the seedlings to get to flowering viably? Any input, advice, or criticism would be greatly appreciated.
Any feedback would more than appreciated. I know not everything can go right in my first attempt, but I figure even less can go wrong if I foresee some problems and fix them before they have a chance to happen
I'm sure someone with more experience with autos will chime in but I seem to recall that with autos you want to try and stay away from starting in nutrient enriched growing soils.Think it has to do with their short lifespan and the ease of stressing them. You may want to check out autoflower.net I think thats where I read that. ~spacejerk234
Thanks for the info, what if I were to start them in some jiffy pots with some standard unferted soil mixed with a bit of pearlite, then transplanted the jiffy pots to the FFOF whenever the seedlings take hold after the first few weeks?
Still waiting on the seeds to get here, and stressing about ventilation, since I haven't acquired a fan yet, and my light ballast is simply a reflector wing and not anything ventilated such as a CoolTube. Do you guys think vegging for a few weeks with only CFL's would get too hot with passive airflow? Or if the passive airflow will be enough for the seedlings to get to flowering viably? Any input, advice, or criticism would be greatly appreciated.[/QUOTE] How many plants are you planning on vegging? Start the seedlings off with one CFL and after a week and a half - 2 weeks add another, keep each plant vegging under 2 cfls until you see that your leaves can use more light penetration or light from different angles. A standard 25$ oscillating fan will be enough to move away the heat. - for seedlings, I use a 4 inch, $6 fan from walmart, you can find it in the fan section it is perfect for small breezes and keeps the seedlings from taking too much wind
Currently my only airflow is a cheap little 10-12 inch desk fan that's situated inside my tent in front of one of the "passive" intake flaps, with the flap tied up of course. I plan on veg'ing 3 plants, one of each strain.
Since they are AF's I would use as many cfl's as you can till you switch in the hps. Reason I say this is that AF's only veg around 20-22 days so my thinking is you want them to get as many lumens as you can to help bolster your harvest numbers. Unlike reg. photos you really are on a tight timetable so give them the best and most you can to help them produce as much as they can in that small time frame. Once again this is just my two pennies as I have yet to run any AF's (thats my next grow). However, Since I am planning on them next I have been reading up. If you got the time check out this thread. http://forum.grasscity.com/hydroponic-grow-journals/734579-itsthemysterys-easy-ryder-hempy-bucket.html this is what inspired me to look into AF's for my next run. And I plan on doing the hempy thing too. ~spacejerk234