1st time grower with some questions

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

Like i said before. Keep it simple for a few grows. Easier to troubleshoot until you get a feel for it.

I hear you. It would be better to just do 2 of the same strain but I might get excited and start 2 with similar size and grow times. I'm still about 5 or 6 weeks away from actually popping seeds

 

[Why Doe]

I cant help you there but from what i've been hearing everyone is switching to LED, they are intense, cheap, high efficiency and dont run hott. Also mount the carbon filter up top, heat rises and it helps to keep your tent cool

 

[TorturedSoul]

Remember you also need a fan to bring fresh air in.

No you don't. If you think you do, it is a sign that you purchased the wrong exhaust fan, lol, one that is either undersized for the application or else the wrong type (IOW, unable to maintain its rated CFM when it is placed under load due to the restriction caused by (primarily) the carbon filter).

A properly sized exhaust fan (along with properly sized intake vents) alleviates the need for an intake fan, saves the grower the additional expense and (minor) complication in setup, and ensures that you'll never push stinky air through those previously unknown paths if/when your exhaust fan has an issue or the exhaust becomes restricted.

If you want to buy an extra fan to move air out, either go with a type of lighting that is compatible with air-cooled reflectors (IOW, HID light) or, when using LED lighting, (I suppose) figure out some way to box the thing in so that the air cooling its innards is segregated from the rest of your grow room, and put the extra fan on that. Then you'll have two exhausts; one that moves hot air and one which moves stinky air - air that is not overly warm because the bulk of the heat that the light(s) produce is not present. This not only means the grower can get by with a smaller fan, it also means the carbon filter can effectively be smaller yet still last longer due both to the lessened airflow and because that air is cooler.

But, with the LED lighting that was mentioned, it'd probably be easier to just use a single exhaust fan - which is not undersized/underpowered - along with passive intake.

 

[Why Doe]

I see what you are saying, you can use just the carbon filter yes, it will suck fresh air in, that is ONLY IF you have the vents in the tent open. I do not like this as 1 it lets out light, 2 it lets out humidity and 3 people can see inside. I have a duct bringing fresh air in and a duct sucking air out and its perfect.

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

I see what you are saying, you can use just the carbon filter yes, it will suck fresh air in, that is ONLY IF you have the vents in the tent open. I do not like this as 1 it lets out light, 2 it lets out humidity and 3 people can see inside. I have a duct bringing fresh air in and a duct sucking air out and its perfect.

I have 2 fans but I'm not sure if I will use both. There's a mesh flap at the bottom i was thinking will be good enough for intake air but once I get going, the conditions will determine if I have to install a second fan ect

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

No you don't. If you think you do, it is a sign that you purchased the wrong exhaust fan, lol, one that is either undersized for the application or else the wrong type (IOW, unable to maintain its rated CFM when it is placed under load due to the restriction caused by (primarily) the carbon filter).

A properly sized exhaust fan (along with properly sized intake vents) alleviates the need for an intake fan, saves the grower the additional expense and (minor) complication in setup, and ensures that you'll never push stinky air through those previously unknown paths if/when your exhaust fan has an issue or the exhaust becomes restricted.

If you want to buy an extra fan to move air out, either go with a type of lighting that is compatible with air-cooled reflectors (IOW, HID light) or, when using LED lighting, (I suppose) figure out some way to box the thing in so that the air cooling its innards is segregated from the rest of your grow room, and put the extra fan on that. Then you'll have two exhausts; one that moves hot air and one which moves stinky air - air that is not overly warm because the bulk of the heat that the light(s) produce is not present. This not only means the grower can get by with a smaller fan, it also means the carbon filter can effectively be smaller yet still last longer due both to the lessened airflow and because that air is cooler.

But, with the LED lighting that was mentioned, it'd probably be easier to just use a single exhaust fan - which is not undersized/underpowered - along with passive intake.

I sure led is gonna be the way to go. I'm new to everything so I'm trying to quickly learn about them also to determine whether I need to get the light that was suggest in a previous post...or try the one I have first.

 

[Why Doe]

The clip fans you have are strictly for circulating the air inside and blowing your leaves around which strengthens the plant

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

For the pots etc... do they move into a 5 gal pail right away or a 3 gal. I'm talking at transplant time. Just move once?

 

[Why Doe]

I would use the light you have now, just don't except a very high yield with it, it's good to learn with on the first grow tho

 

[Why Doe]

You don't have to transplant at all if you don't want to, I plant my seeds straight into their 7 gals

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

The clip fans you have are strictly for circulating the air inside and blowing your leaves around which strengthens the plant

Yea I know. I have 2 clip fans and 2 4" hurricane inline fans. Clip ons I was thinking to set one up at the bottom corner and the other at the top maybe. Or both on the bottom at opposite corners.

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

I would use the light you have now, just don't except a very high yield with it, it's good to learn with on the first grow tho

Thing with the light is 5he one I have is so expensive and this other one on the link is cheaper and higher power. So I'm really gonna try to research a bit n see what I'm gonna do.

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

You don't have to transplant at all if you don't want to, I plant my seeds straight into their 7 gals

This would be a nice option altho I don't mind transplanting them. Just trying to make as many notes and plans from now so when I get to those steps I'm not fumbling around trying to figure stuff out

 

[Why Doe]

It's much more expensive because it's much more expensive to make, those are the old style lights. Technology has came a far way. More power at a cheaper price.

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

It's much more expensive because it's much more expensive to make, those are the old style lights. Technology has came a far way. More power at a cheaper price.

if theres nothing special about the one i have then i might aswell see what i can sell it for. i just googled it and seen they were 350-500 bucks and thought it had to be good. i've heard lots about the mars lights too. i have to check prices for those too...for me as a started im not gonna try to get the best stuff right now. so what i got or those other ones for 170 bucks doesnt seem too bad of a choice for now

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

I made my own soil from my local nursery store and its working great. But this stuff below in the link ive heard is amazing, and it says you never need to add nutes! Idk havent tried it yet, maybe ill make a thread about it. My next grow is going to be in coco coir, have you looked into that? That 600w LED is a beast and you will get a great harvest using that! Also with that carbon filter do you already have an inline fan to suck the air out? Remember you also need a fan to bring fresh air in.

Kind Soil "Hot Soil" single 5 lb. Bag

Doing a bit of late night reading on coco coir . I think I might actually try that if I find some good products. I wonder if I'd need special nutes or anything different then if I were using just soil.

Like i said before. Keep it simple for a few grows. Easier to troubleshoot until you get a feel for it.

 

[Why Doe]

You don't need special nutes you just ph them to around 5.8 instead of 6.5 like soil

 

[TorturedSoul]

Doing a bit of late night reading on coco coir . I think I might actually try that if I find some good products. I wonder if I'd need special nutes or anything different then if I were using just soil.

Need? <SHRUGS> Want, lol? Probably. Coco coir likes to "hang onto" certain elements. And, unless it has been rinsed very well, it'll be full of salts. That's just the nature of the beast when one uses a product that grows in a salty environment. Rinse it multiple times. Use something like calcium nitrate (cheap as chips) to "precharge" the coco coir, for best results.

The information/links in this thread may be both helpful and educational:
Buffering Up: Adjusting the Cation Exchange Capacity in Coco Growing Media

IDK that I would call this stuff necessary, but it'll certainly help you avoid problems during the grow.

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

Need? <SHRUGS> Want, lol? Probably. Coco coir likes to "hang onto" certain elements. And, unless it has been rinsed very well, it'll be full of salts. That's just the nature of the beast when one uses a product that grows in a salty environment. Rinse it multiple times. Use something like calcium nitrate (cheap as chips) to "precharge" the coco coir, for best results.

The information/links in this thread may be both helpful and educational:
Buffering Up: Adjusting the Cation Exchange Capacity in Coco Growing Media

IDK that I would call this stuff necessary, but it'll certainly help you avoid problems during the grow.

Do u think trying the coco will make much of a difference or should I just do soil. I plan on trying out the scrog method I been looking at. Attempting yet again to narrow down more strains off my list. Thinking something mid size but still capable of yielding heavy.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Do u think trying the coco will make much of a difference or should I just do soil. I plan on trying out the scrog method I been looking at. Attempting yet again to narrow down more strains off my list. Thinking something mid size but still capable of yielding heavy.

SwAggNiFiCeNt, at the end of the day, much comes down to the grower's personal choice. Consider the theoretical situation where there are two ways to do a thing. One is greatly more efficient, the other not so much. But - for whatever reason (more work, more precision required, you just don't like it, et cetera) you do not care for the more efficient method... Over the course of the grow, which method do you think - in practical terms - will turn out to be the best for YOU? In other words, if a person chooses the method that is best on paper, but then ends up half-@ssing the job, well... That method probably didn't give them greater performance after all, lol.

I think coco coir, like many other things, can perform well for you, assuming you care to do a little research/learning about its specific traits. IDK if you are familiar with the concept of "hempy bucket," which looks like a soil grow at first glance, but is actually a hand-watered hydroponic setup. Some folks have done quite well with such things. Here is a journal from someone who is no longer a member (so you won't be able to do Q&A with him, but the information remains in all its glory). 420,420,420 ( ) individual budcycles, lol, all in individual 2-liter bottles:
Come SOG with Me - 112 Plant - 2 Liter - Hempy SOG

How'd you like to have that in your home? Yeah... Me, too.

Read about different methods/styles of growing. When you find one that seems like it would fit YOU, give it a try. It might be best to grow only a single strain at first, because the care/feeding requirements can differ significantly - and so can the growth characteristics. If you're trying to learn how to race on a road circuit, you don't jump in a different sort of vehicle every few laps, because it makes it more difficult to learn the basic mechanics of performance driving in competition situations. But that's just a suggestion.

I'm a big fan of SCROG. I don't like cutting away parts of my plants (aka "topping"), and the scrog method provokes branching without this thing. It also provides for an even canopy, so you don't have to worry about low-growing plants lacking for light because you had to raise your lights so as not to burn that tall one. And, speaking of lights, the grower can pretty much park the lights at a certain height in the beginning and not have to raise it until the point in flower when he/she decides to stop forcing the plant back down under the screen each time a tip sticks out far enough to be moved into a different hole. And you can't beat it for convenience when harvest day rolls around and you are able to just saw through the plant's trunk below the screen, disconnect that screen from the walls, and have a helper assist you in carrying the entire thing to the dining room table.

Unfortunately, some people seem to confuse the screen with a simple support device, instead of a way to do all the above. Still, if it works for them...

The only downside, IMHO, is if you like to move/reposition your plants. Because you pretty much can't. Unless you mount the screen to the plant's container instead of the walls. That presents its own issues (again, IMHO) but - also, again - if it works for the grower...

See the common thread here, lol? Figure out which method works for YOU. We can all make suggestions, but they're just that - suggestions. Pick one and try it. Come harvest time - or after harvest when you're looking at jars full of curing bud - you'll probably end up thinking, "Wow! <SMILE>"... but just don't make the new grower mistake of thinking that, because it worked so well, it's the best way. It's just A way. There are lots of ways....