minimal experience

[second time]

hi,
ive just signed up to this forum after browsing through all the awsume posts fromother people.
as the title says ive had minimal experience consisting of.
1 overwatered white widow when i was younger..
1 lush indica that i had to rip early due to moving unexpectedly.

im now attepting another grow,
im going to be moving to a new town so wont have a weed supplier and finally decided to jump in to growing again, i want a nice small grow room that i can cycle autoflowers in.
im going to be working on a shoe string budget at first and was considering getting 200w of cfl for the homemade box im going to make.
im going to use hydro as its alot simpler that soil for newbies aslong as you dont mess with nutes to much.
i need ideas for a decent smoking strain that can be grown under 200w cfl. im not expecting huge yeilds etc and tbh smoking on weekends and days off will probably be all its for. can anyone recommend anything? also led anyone know of an led light that produces results for 200-250w? thanks in advance peeps look forward to posting pics at some point

 

[oscarthegrouch]

If your looking for simple avoid hydroponics and use promix or something similar. As far as strains go I have no experience with auto flowering plants. There are some people on here doing pretty interesting things with cfls. Good luck

 

[second time]

pro mix is a soil mix correct? it still involves learning how often to water etc. also my last grow i had to chop it early it was soil based but tasted different from weed i buy from dealers any reason why?

 

[anon0988]

Promix is the contractors type soil they sell at home improvement stores all compressed and shrink wrapped in a block. I usually do 50/50 of that at 'moisture control' potting soil and then add a little bit more of vermiculite afterwards. As far as watering just water until the container is thoroughly wet and leaks out the bottom, then wait to repeat until the soil is visibly dry on top. Much easier than hydro.

 

[Jhhnn]

I figured out how not to over water in soil by watching the plants & keeping a journal of when I water & how much. At first, I let them go until they start to droop, then water as anon suggests. If there's some excess water in the saucers for awhile after, it gets sucked back up into the soil. Then I started to get a handle on it, water before they droop. They'll endure under watering a lot better than over watering.

I use Roots Organics soil & their buddha line of nutrients.

I've grown 2 autoflowers- Samsara Ultraviolet, very nice smoke, and Buddha seeds' Syrup, which was potent but boring at least to me. Both thrived & flowered out in 70 days with the light on continuously. ~3/4 oz + per plant under 1000w. Check in with the folks who post regularly in the autoflower section for more ideas.

Early chop & lack of experience drying & curing affect taste negatively. Check Simon's thread, "A perfect cure every time" for a good drying & curing method.

 

[oscarthegrouch]

pro mix is a soil mix correct? it still involves learning how often to water etc. also my last grow i had to chop it early it was soil based but tasted different from weed i buy from dealers any reason why?

promix is a soilless mix. You can use it with hydroponics nutrients or you can amend it with various things and use it like soil. as far as watering goes just lift the pot and when it feels light give it a watering. I like promix because I find it to be more forgiving then hydroponics and simpler.

 

[second time]

great news i found 135w led grow light for 65 quid from china perfectly suited to growing my secret garden now to source seeds. im looking for a very very nice smoke with a couchlock high for gaming sessions and a very get up and go high for hitting the gym.

 

[supermanlives]

soil is easier than hydro . use a well documented mix .you also don't need meters,air,water pumps res heaters or chillers and the list goes on . so its cheaper too. there is nothing easier than an organic soil with ferts in it or even watering in ferts.

 

[RonSmooth]

coco is the easiest and best producing medium I have worked with. I have done soil & DWC hydro and I cant see myself using anything else after trying coco. I use Maxibloom throughout veg and flower. Once the plants are established, they get 7g/gal all the way until 2 weeks from harvest. Simple, inexpensive and one part.

I dont know much about LEDs but from what I have read, the cheap LEDs are not even in the same category as the expensive models. Really apples and oranges. If you already bought it, I guess youll have to wait and see.

I would recommend a PLL fixture. If I had to use something besides HID's, I would use these. I use them for veg and they are very nice. Second choice would be a T5 fixture. I would not use spiral CFL's. They are not good grow lights by design and the splitters, power strips, cords, and multitude of hanging bulbs are a pain to deal with. Not to mention it just looks sloppy.

If you are making a single plant grow box, just get feminized seeds. A timer is all you would need to control the photoperiod. Autos are really unnecessary unless you wanted to grow plants vegetatively and have flowering plants in the same room.

 

[justanotherbozo]

...high man and welcome to the site, and good luck with your second attempt.

...personally, i pretty much agree with RonSmooth that coco, KISS style is the way to go, ...actually coco hempy buckets to be exact because coco hempy buckets KISS style are brain-dead easy, as a new grower, easy is a good thing.

here is the cab i started out in back in the day so you can see i know a thing or two about growing in small spaces, lol.

...and my mother box.

...and my current op which is just a 4 x 4 closet with a single 600HPS, barebulb vertical style.

...i mention all this because i remember how it was for me when i was learning my chops and trying to find a method that was reliable and repeatable and that worked for me and it took me a few years before i discovered the hempy method which essentially changed everything for me.

...so in the spirit of sharing i have posted up some links to some very excellent threads that should help you answer your questions, ...if you study these threads and explore some of the threads of the contributors to these threads you will quickly discover an easy path to success.

...first, a discussion of the hempy method which is a passive form of hydroponics that gives terrific results with minimal experience and minimal effort, ...the original technique uses a perlite/vermiculite mix as the grow medium which is still used very successfully by many but 'hempy' himself upgraded to coco several years ago.

The Official Hempy Bucket Thread

...then to a discussion of KISS style feeding which is again a very simple feeding regimen requiring little to no skill, if you can follow simple directions you almost can't fail, ...this also has an added benefit in that it is VERY economical.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=191645The K.I.S.S. Method

...and then to Blynx's excellent thread where you can explore what can be done by creative stoners in some VERY small spaces, you should definitely come away from this thread feeling inspired.

Blynx's 1 sqft CFL cab & other CFL micro cabs

...and finally to pontiac's fine collection of links to some of the absolute best DIY projects on this site going back many years, if you need to build something grow related, this is the place to look for ideas.

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

...either way, if you take the time to read through these threads you will definitely come away with some new ideas percolating in your mind.

peace and good luck, bozo

 

[second time]

thanks for all the links guna use this rainy sunday to delve deeper into the canopy

 

[second time]

i have found a perfect grow box its a set of 2 wardrobe and dresser's the canvas type that are basically budget bedroom furniture to last untill you can get more expensive stuff. black canvas guna create a cab in the dresser type first see how that goes. also found some led cfl equivelent type bulbs that are 2700k intresting and only cost 5 quid a pop less in bulk might test em for a grow

 

[justanotherbozo]

i have found a perfect grow box its a set of 2 wardrobe and dresser's the canvas type that are basically budget bedroom furniture to last untill you can get more expensive stuff. black canvas guna create a cab in the dresser type first see how that goes. also found some led cfl equivelent type bulbs that are 2700k intresting and only cost 5 quid a pop less in bulk might test em for a grow

yeah man, CFLs work just fine, just remember to stick to actual wattages, the 'equivalent' number is meaningless and only serves to confuse the issue.

...this is my early veg op where you can see a simple and cheap CFL setup, just a cheap, multi-bulb bathroom vanity fixture with Y splitters to double the number of bulbs.

...and here are some CFL buds, but remember that CFLs aren't very intense so you need to stick to short plants if you want decent bud structure.

peace, bozo

 

[second time]

awsume grows i am debating trying the new leds there the same size as cfl bulbs but minute leds if that makes sence i put in low watt lighting on google and it showed them they look so space age i could be the first to showcase them i think they will be awsume with the 2700k spectrum they create and they are exactly like cfl in the sence of equivelent watts etc

 

[ProvisionSeeds]

Everything comes with time, it taked practice to make perfect try diff things and see where you feel comfortable with.

 

[second time]

hey guys quick update, went to my local hydro today and found a Pl-l until that runs 110 watts with reflector for 55 quid which i belive im going to buy. and then add another one aswell when i can afford. they run 11000lumens a unit and they can sell me 2700k bulbs cheap as chips definatly guna do some runs with this set up got somany hydro books etc sat on mylap right now

 

[JFlo]

is that a cfl bulb?

 

[grassott's dad]

...im going to be working on a shoe string budget at first and was considering getting 200w of cfl for the homemade box im going to make...

Hi man. CLF bud is crap and you'll be disappointed with the smoke. Almost EVERYONE I know will tell you that you'll end up with airy wispy shite fulla pistils and hardly any actual bud. They're OK for clones and veg, but for flower they're a waste of time.

If you must grow small I'd use normal flouro tubes with the red spectrum. Your yield won't be too high, but your bud will most certainly taste better. Just my 2c.

 

[justanotherbozo]

...if you are at all handy wiring up a PL-L is pretty simple, ...if you'd like i can link you to the thread where i learned how to do it and where to source the components.

...these are 4x 55watt bulbs, 4 sockets and 1 Fulham Workhorse 8 ballast.

...here they are mounted up in my clone/seed start cab.

...and the back where i mounted the ballast.

...keep in mind that one of the chief advantages to PL-Ls is that they are remote ballasted so most of the heat is removed from the grow space, with a store bought fixture, the ballast will be built into it and you'll either be sacrificing that benefit OR you'll need to dismantle it and remove and remote the ballast to a different location.

...btw, the ballast runs about $30.00 bucks and is rated for 220watts so you could run 4x 55watters or 6x 36watters or whatever, just so you don't go over the 220watts, ....the Workhorse 7 is similar but less expensive because it is rated for a lesser load.

...anyway, if you need help let me know and i'll dig up the links for you.

peace, bozo

 

[second time]

cheers for the comments guys. the pll unit im getting is perfect simply because the ballast heat will keep the temps in grow chamber really toasty as i cant afford to be heating it and cooling it at the same time. pl-l is far better than cfl per watt/lumen from what i can see.
ive seen some immence grows with pl-l's aswell cfl can grow the dank pretty well