A few general questions that are driving me nuts

[Anon81]

Hey guys, getting ready to start my first grow, first grow of anything actually. I'm having hell trying to make a decision on a couple things. After weeks of research and flipping back and forth I figured I'd get some input.

I am setting everything up in a 2' x 4' x 6' tall metal cabinet. I've already picked my ventilation components, lights, etc... Read all about vegging/flowering, light leaks, yields... I think I'm almost set. The lights are 2 x platinumLED P300's btw, good strong light with low heat.

1: First up is about my grow space. I have several strains on the way but I was hoping to start with 3. Serious Kali Mist, Dutch Passion Durban Poison, and Nirvana NL auto(freebie). I was thinking about vegging to about 12-18" depending on the predicted amount of vertical growth when flowering. Is 3 plants/strains possible in a 2x4 area while getting a decent yield? I was hoping to get 2oz or more per plant. I don't want to do an SOG or ScrOG quite yet. Ok with LST or topping, but I know the auto won't handle topping. I can do 2 plants if necessary, but I would prefer 3 unless I'm only gonna get an oz or so from each plant.

Given that information, what would you guys suggest doing such as estimated veg height, final height, and training method to have a good growth rate with a pretty good yield?

2: This is the one that is really bugging the shit out of me, growth medium. I went from organic to hydro to finally picking soiless as my first method as I want fast growth and I'm ok with feeding liquid nutes frequently. The part I'm getting hung up on is the actual brand to buy. I read about promix hp and decided on that. Then I started read about how it sucks and how sunshine advanced is so much better, so I changed my mind on that. Then I started reading about how it really sucks and kills peoples' seedlings. Now I'm getting frustrated...

Given that I want fast growth, decent yield, and I want to supplement my own liquid nutes, what soil setup would you recommend? I want something fairly simple, but I am willing to put a little effort into monitoring and feeding to get good quality quickly. I'm guessing most will be do nothing for the first 2 weeks and then I start feeding. Also, I will be using 3gal or so airpots for the final pot.

3: So that brings me to my final uncertainty, nutes. Lots of brands, some complex, some simple. What nutes would you recommend based on the recommended soil setup? I don't have to have the best, but I don't want the worst. Money isn't a factor if results are worth the expense. Something simple to medium complexity.


Any suggestions are greatly appeciated. I just want to get the best possible result I can, even though its the first shot its still a lot of time to waste if I screw up. Thanks!

 

[Rifleman]

Not a lot of your questions I can answer since I don't do leds or soil less. Unless you want to count hydro.
I would suggest reading the journals section and seeing what is working for everyone else using similar items.
There really is a Lot of info there. Good luck !

 

[Major PITA]

I really like Promix HP. I add EWC and other amendments. No need for bottle feeding. If you don't add amendments then treat it like hydro and it should do a great job for you. I don't know what problems others are having with it but I don't adjust PH or do anything except, "just add water".

If we assume your pot is 12" tall and you need 12" for the lights, that leaves 48". Take off another 12"+ so you don't burn plants, now you have 36". I'd veg until about 12" tall - no more than 18" max, depending on the strain. Once flipped, they should grow to fit the space you have available.

 

[Curly Beaver]

I am on my first grow with 3 plants in flower and several small clones so my advice will be suggestions that you need to evaluate and act on accordingly.
I went with Fox Farms Ocean Forest and Perlite, which I have adjusted and am using a 3:1 ratio. Many experienced growers will say you may never need to add nutrients, and especially for the first for 3-4 weeks. I have a slightly larger grow area (3.5 X 5 feet) with 3 large plants in flower, 2 are at 4 weeks and one is around 3. It is crowded and as predicted I am breaking branches when caring for them. For the first grow I think you'd do well to have 2 nice plants and not get greedy like I did. It is so exciting to pop seeds and watch them grow but just like children or small puppies they'll grow up and can become unruly
I use the Fox Farms trio of nutrients and either they or pH problems ALMOST did me in. I have another smaller plant (Durga Mata ll CBD) that I started on Mills nutrients that was given to me as a sample kit and I really like them. Last bit of advice is to be careful with seeds or seedlings in the Fox Farms Ocean Forest (FFOC) as it is very easy to burn up new growth...... Less is often better than more.
Good luck with your first grow, I'm sure all of this preparation will pay off in 4 months or so and you are in for a lot of fun in the meantime.
Beav

 

[sonicDlf]

Hi Anon , you could grow 3 but you would be better with 2 , they soon grow up and take over , as regards pots if you decide on autos I would go straight into a 5gal , many people on here that grow autos seem to agree that up pottin is not best .
There are some very good soilless mixers out there , i personally like coco , it gives great drainage and also great oxygen uptake , it is also an easy medium to water and flush if you have any problems and costs very little .
As regards nutes I can only comment on what i have used , i have used 3 different brands in total , each one being better than the last .
The one i use at the moment and the one i know i will use for the foreseeable future is advanced nutrients , at the moment i use there 3 part Grow micro bloom , but they do make a 2 part specially for coco that i am going to try .
All advanced nutrients products are PH perfect and any of there nutes can be mixed , no PH testing needed .
With you growing under led I think at some point you will need some cal/mag , the top growers i follow who grow under led will use cal/mag as a preventative measure , starting at a low dose from week 3 A/N have a sensi cal/mag extra .
You can also get Big bud coco and overdrive if you really want to push the boat out .
Oh and don't forget about your roots , Good bacteria , does work , big roots big plant , simples .
As regards your seeds , you can not go wrong with Dutch passion , if i was to grow just 2 plants in that space D/P would be my choice .
I don't think iv'e missed anything .
Now if i may point you in a direction for sum reading and some great guys on here .
First up is Atrain the master of autos , please please please reed his journals .
Second is Light addict what he does with plants you wont believe , the guy is nuts and gets bored quick , loves to play with plants .
Third or last , but not least is Beast you should have a look , he grows under led , well they all do but you said autos can't be topped
Hahaha lololololol your in for a shock , i top all mine and so will you .
Be safe .

 

[Spitz]

let me take a stab at helping...

Run 3 plants! Variety is the "spice of life". If you are going to run multiple seeds of the same strain, then run 2.

Soil or soilless? Easy to answer. Do both! Soil and coco are cheap. As for nutrients, all the canna specific nutrients work. For soil, I reccomend Foxfarm Big Bloom. Start to finish, feed every watering (it's an organic blend). For coco, I've had good luck with General Hydroponics 3 part (grow, micro, bloom). Apparently Scott's bought out GH and they are now a big evil corporate monster. Your call but they are probably one of the most economic.

How high to veg them? Another easy one. Plant the seeds and "feel" them a bit. I'd veg for a month and flip. Top each twice, heal, flip. First grow, 2z per plant is pretty high expectations.

2 tips..
Run your lights for 12 hrs tonight and see if temps will be an issue.
Top train your canopy fairly level with PLED. The will bleach at 12" as they are powerful. Your sweet spot for your canopy is 16-24" away (from experience)

Good luck!

 

[OlderGrower]

Just my 2 cents,
I see you mention one grow area and 2 lights, so I am assuming your going to veg and flower in the same area. Then I see you say "Given that I want fast growth, decent yield".
May I suggest you get 2 grow areas, one for vegging in and one for flowering, that way when the flowering tent is harvested, you have the plants ready to replace them and start the next cycle in the flowering tent. If this is not feasible due to space restrictions or money, then if it was me and I wanted the fastest grow with descent yields I would just grow autos. I know Atrain gets crazy yields out of his autos as do many others on the site. As for the soil verse hydro, hydro for sure has faster growth rates, but when you have issues it also has faster death rates since everything happens faster in hydro. I know hydro interests me, but I am old bad eyes and recently new getting back into the grow thing so I want to get my sea legs under me before I start driving Ferraris.
Best of luck to you which ever route you choose.