First grow attempt, much help needed

[LightGreen]

So ive been researching on a lot of different hydro systems and i need one that is easy and simple for me to operate. Any suggestions?
I think im going to start with putting a seed in some soil and letting it grow to learn the lifecycle of the plant. What type of lighting do i need? I have a 100watt lying around but i see 250 and 400 watts a lot so should i upgrade if it's just gonna be for one, maybe two pots?

 

[Lone Wolf]

grab yourself a 400w digital ballast, a 400w metal halide bulb, and a 400w high pressure sodium bulb.

grab yourself a bag of coco fiber (instead of dirt)

grab yourself general hydropoonics 3part fluoro series nutrients- well you really only need the micro and the bloom (mix it into a gal of water at a rate of 6ml micro 9ml bloom)

grab yourself a digital ph meter off ebay for 15 bucks (keep ph at 5.5-5.8)

most importantly before you do anything.....

READ READ READ READ READ AND READ!

there is so much more to growing then obtaining what i listed above... i would love to give you all the answers but it would take too much of my time

 

[ItsAllOver]

My suggestion is a little different.
Pop a few beans, grow them out to about 12" high, but bushed out wide to take maybe the rectangular size of the lamp hood, trained with LST to achieve your shaping goals (go to the Indoor Soil room for an overview on training, and my sig link will explain my favorite technique), and then flower that bitch. The only thing is sexing and getting rid of males, and all of this takes space. Maybe instead of one big plant, do 3 smaller ones. Either way you will probably end up with a couple moms for future exploits.

Use a 600w HPS in an aircooled hood. 200cfm fan/filter combo. Room setup is up to you and pretty easy at this point with a trip or two to Lowes hardware and a roll of Panda film.

Run a DWC setup in a large rubbermaid tub, (or if you decide on the 3 plant method, use 5 gal buckets) get double the number of reservoirs and just switch out the res by dropping the lid/plant onto the new one and rolling out the old to be drained and cleaned.
You will want to make sure the roots have lots of oxygen and you can control the temps in the reservoir. Temp control can be done in various ways, but the one I used on my first grow was freezing 20oz bottles and switching them out every day. (used 2 per 5 gal bucket, also run your lights at night time when it's cooler) This gets you used to spending one on one time every day with your plants, which I find very valuable. You talked about getting a feel for the cannabis life cycle and this will help you there, as well. The system is pretty low maintenance besides the temps. (unless you have the loot for a chiller, which is unlikely, and unnecessary)

You'll definitely benefit immensely by getting obsessed with ICmag and READING like LoneWolf said. That's probably the most important thing in this hobby is having a well-rounded base of knowledge to pull from. And while you're having fun bookworm style get books on plumbing and electrical work.

That's where I'll leave it.

 

[LightGreen]

Lonewolf - all seems pretty simple thanks for the input, im a little new on the lingo also so i might have to do some research on bulbs. I just dont understand when to use what bulbs

ItsAllOver - much appreciation man. Ive looked into DWC and the suretogrow stuff, all seems pretty basic. Im a little confused on some lingo that icmag uses though, maybe just cuz im a noobie at this stuff but i have a lot of learning to do haha.

Lemme start off with a simple question and i'll work from there, what kinda wattage do i need when im just using a seed and some soil (or coco fiber as you recommended LoneWolf) and how often should I water it? Ratios would do wonders. EDIT Digital ph scales cost about 50 bucks.. and ebay doesnt have any haha, do ph strips work the same? I can get a 50pack for roughly 5 bucks.

 

[EvilTwin]

Hi Lightgreen,
Growing...it's a big world out there with lots of ideas and opinions. Have you done any gardening or house plants or anything? Not that that's required by any means, but it helps.

For the vegetation stage of growth (18hours of light), you want a light heavy in the blue (daylight) spectrum. Some people use flourescents but most use metal halides.

Then as you turn the lights to 12 hours of light to trigger flowering, you'll want a light stronger in the red spectrum. That's when people switch to high pressure sodium.

How big a bulb you need depends on how large your grow space is.

You could get one light with a ballast that can be switched and then have the capability of running both types of lights.

There are plenty of ph meters on eBay. You can use litmus paper but it needs to be narrow range (around 5 to 8) for accuracy in the range you'll be working in.

Get busy with your homework and fire off more specific questions as they arise...and they will.

Good luck and welcome to growing...
ET

 

[LightGreen]

My grow space is roughly 2' by 4'... or i have an old chest thats about 1'x1'x3' that might work, i just dont know if i have enough light space. about how far away do you hang your lights from your plants and does that change as the flowers develop and the height increases?

 

[EvilTwin]

Hi LG,
I'm stoned but I'll try...

If you were to grow in the full 2x4...that equals 8 square feet which could handle a 400 watt light. Be better with two small lights since it's a rectangular space.

You need to keep about 15" between light and plants. and as the plants grow, the lights must go up. Otherwise, you'll burn the plant tops.

You might consider doing a full flouro grow using T5HOs. Just saying they'd fit in your space well and you can get the lamps closer.
ET

 

[Lone Wolf]

EDIT Digital ph scales cost about 50 bucks.. and ebay doesnt have any haha, do ph strips work the same? I can get a 50pack for roughly 5 bucks.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-pH-mete...in_0?hash=item3ef795e3cd&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

13.70$ , 8$ ship

 

[LightGreen]

haha ET i am on your level, some headies came thru earlier
i should be able to work 15" but not in the chest.. i'll have to makeshift something ftw. How much do 400watt lights normally run? and one more question, what is a full flouro grow using T5HOs

 

[Lone Wolf]

t5s are cool and can be used.. with a t5 you really dont have to worry about heat issues because they are generally pretty cool compared to high pressure bulbs...

here is a t5 on ebay... t5's can give you sufficient light for a first grow...
http://cgi.ebay.com/SUN-BLAZE-T5-HO...in_0?hash=item5d26019069&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

running a 400w light is a lil more complex then a t5 because you will need to hook up some ducting and a fan to cool it in most cases...

the reason i told you to use coco is because when i first started growing, i was told by a friend (as an aside, got busted growing in a warehouse 15 years ago) to use coco if I dont knnow what im doing. He also pointed me to a website that provided the feeding chart for the coco... damn am i glad he told me to use coco, because for my first grow, i produced some very very high grade marijuanA!...

 

[EvilTwin]

Hi LG,
I'm still here...still stoned...

HIDs (high intensity discharge lights like metal halide and high pressure sodium) create lots of heat. Lone Wolf covered that well.

A 400 watt would cost around $250 more-or-less depending on where you buy.

A full flouro grow would be to use the T-5HO lights all the way through the grow, including flower. Back in the old days ('60s and '70s) people grew using flourescents because that's all there was. People do nice grows with them and if your height is limited...that's one option. Perfect if you want to consider scrog (grow technique using a screen).

Your 2x4 space is a much better option then the smaller cab.
ET

 

[LightGreen]

damn those lights are somthin pretty. i dunno if i have that much grow room, this is supposed to be small scale maybe one or two pots all for personal. I'm tired of buyin it man, ive decided to move away from the underground and produce for my own personal needs. i really appreciate all the recommendations but lets keep it smaller scale haha.

 

[Lone Wolf]

well smaller scale will more then likely not give you enough herb to keep you off the mean streets...

 

[LightGreen]

well in that case i have an apartment closet that i could use half of. its a pretty big closet, specs 58'' long 38'' wide and 10' tall that i can use (basically one half of the closet) Im just afraid of the smell factor and growing largescale highgrade

 

[Moterreal]

http://cgi.ebay.com/400w-HPS-grow-l...4399c340f5&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_500wt_1182 Pretty much the exact same one I'm using. Buy a 4" inline blower and a pyrex bake-a-round tube and you'll have a great start to growing.

 

[FreezerBoy]

well smaller scale will more then likely not give you enough herb to keep you off the mean streets...

A 150 will keep him off the streets, a 250 can bury him alive.

LG, I know you don't want to hear this, nobody does but, do some homework. Go through every indoor thread. Twice. Bookmark those that interest you. Go through those until you're down to one. There's your method. STEAL IT! Rip it off, swipe it wholesale. The OP will be flattered as hell.

Heres some links to help you get started.

Freezers Primer Links

ICMAG'S OFFICIAL ~DIY~ LINK-O-RAMA

A Library of Links

Any pH meter less than $500 is a toy. A $5 test drop kit from the aquarium store is all you'll need.

 

[Vigil]

Hey lite im at the same stage you are. Let me tell you it really helps just to take some random bag seed and grow "trial and error" tests b4 you invest any real time or money into the project. Learn how it grows how you can cut it for more branches, when you can cut it. Keep it in your window, or if you got a closet under a bulb or two. I suggest those new energy saver ones. I use 2 100 watts for fun and the only draw like 20 watts each. You def came to the right place to learn though! GL

 

[LightGreen]

So ive decided to buy a 250watter for my closet space i just dont know what i want to run, either a DWC or just put that shit in some coco coir and buy some pvc pipe for the water tubes, get rubber hosing to attach to 3/4" holes that i'd drill in the sides and put the rubber tubing straight into the pots where water would run. I think i'll run the 250watt for 18 hours but i dont know if thats generally what i should run and i also dont know how often to water my plants. I'm probably only gonna start with 6 or 8 depending on how many i wanna buy when i go to wallyworld, but any input is much appreciated!

Also, anyone has the measuremeants to make a good DWC out of large tubs.

 

[californiajoe]

Lg-check my recent thread out. A lot of good insightful info from others regarding a n00b grower. Lots of random questions and answers too for us n00bs.