Re: Newbie help! Ready to buy these things, but better ask first to avoid wasting mor
Cateros, your plant is very beautiful. All of that white makes it look like a decoration. I'd like one of those in my decorative flower pot for my next outdoor grow! I ordered a starter pack of Technflora nute. The price tags of all the full sized ones scared me to death. LOL Maybe by the time these are gone, I'll know what to do for the next round. I'll certainly keep Maxibloom in mind! She's lovely! I just bought "Spray n Grow"? Anyone tried this yet? Also have cocowet, not sure if it is OK to use with bug spray.
PetFlora, the book in black is all for you.
First you must know your seeds genetics- what will be its height and width at maturity?
3.5x3.5x6.5'
Then design your grow space round it. How much space does your light choice require?
400-600W
See my article 'So you Want to grow mj, huh?'
OK
Your planters should be at least 2 ft deep (most aren't).
This is hard to find! I have HTG cloth pots, 2 3gal and 15gal this deep. The crappy plastic grow bags are also this deep. Is there a pot you rec?
Unless your seeds come from known sources, your seeds are likely to be Sat or Sat dominant that were grown outdoors in mother earth, where they can easily reach 6 ft. Trust me, my last journal I used 10 year old bag seed. Plant tops were growing past my lights and stems were too thick to LST
All my seeds are from respectable sellers and I know the strains. I thought most growers avoided Sativas because they take too long? I assumed most unnamed MJ was Indica?! I'd like to try a few sativa seeds, veg them inside, then out in May, force bloom in July if I can, then back out. Is it possible?
Hope this new book of me gives you enough info to help me!
Which book?
I like the "Marijunana Garden Saver" by Stitch and Rosenthal. This is the most helpful book I've found for MJ problems.
I also bought Rosenthal's "Marijuana Gorwers Handbook". I think this is better than My Cervantes book because it focuses on smaller growers too. It's also 2010, not 2006. There are LEDs and CFLs in it.
G
oogle Dr Hulda Clark Liver Cleanse. essential to clean out pharm toxins built up in your liver. I have done 14 cleanses so far.
Holy crap! That;s a lot of work!! Did it effect your tolerance? So far, I have done the Parasite herbal flush, the liver flush, and the kidney flush. I didn't feel any different and it didn't change my tolerance. :-( I did not do the one you said, just some kits in the herb store. I've found I can usually skip one day of MJ and it helps the tolerance. Anymore than that and the burning starts up again.
I'd be happy with a start of 5 ounces every two months... Hard to do in one 4 X 4 tent. You can use your curved T 5 for vegging new seedlings in a separate space, while bringing other seedlings along in the tent.
My plan is to take the tent, which is actually 3'11" square, a bit less room inside, and build an open shelf 2.5Lx2Wx2.5h and set it in the tent near the vents and duct opening. I'd then surround the open sides with Mylar and use this to black the light while leaving a door on the end and an open side to the vents. This area would be for the CFLs and T5s. Not sure what to do with the 150W HPS. Can I put MH bulbs in it?
This is why you start with 30-40% more seedlings, so you can cull the worthless males;-) Also search for my UN to find a thread I started on maxing females without buying fem seeds.
I have this same info in one of my books. this summer, I only had one male and 4 gals.
Quantum has re-engineered the T 5, using better ballasts to stabilize HO bulbs (54w) X 8 bulbs = ~400 watts: it takes up very little height and throws very little heat. I can replace bulbs quickly, and blend 6500 and 2900s to simulate seasonal changes.
This new light looks great, but the price is still high. I bet they come down in time. WHy is it hard to replace HPS bulbs? I already caved in and ordered a 600W. Will pick it up tomorrow. The fellow said the heat is so extreme that even an open door and open window in the winter is not enough to cool it. I don't plan on staying in this place past Xmas and don't want to modify it. I'm debating on venting or putting the intake in the fire place chimney. LOL Otherwise.... will have to do the garage or have someone try the floor. I'm physically unable to do this myself. Nice thing about local buying is I can take it all back if it doesn't word out!
Heat is a problem here from June- October, but the 90%+ Relative Humidity is the bigger problem.. CFLs are cheap, but do not provide the best spectrums. HPS costs $$$$, between electronic ballast, hood (if growing horizontally) and need to vent all that heat, it is too much work and expense where I live.
I have the heat issue too... minus the humidity. Sounds like you are in SC! LOL I've been reading and reading about lights since spring and finally got the 600W. The fact that it is dual voltage won me over. I plan on retiring in the EU. Being dimable and able to use lower watt bulbs was nice too! I figured a Window AC unit should solve the heat issue, though running it so much will also cost more $. The 3'11" sq tent is too small for all of those T5s. I hope I don't regret not getting the smaller tent that is 5' wide!
This is why it's so important to study all aspects BEFORE jumping in. If you haven't opened the tent box you should be able to exchange it. Think about how hard it is to get to the 2 plants in the back of a 4 X 4.[/I][/COLOR]
Yeah, I did think of that. I did all of my homework before getting this and followed all of the advice I had. It was extremely hard to find a space for either tent. This one s blocking half of the closet... until I can move. When I decided to get the 4x4 I had pretty much decided on the HPS, which seems better shaped for a square tent, and had more square feet. I figured it would be just as easy to set up High W CFLs, 2' or 3' T5s, or LEDs when needed. I'm planning on leaving a 2' space on the right for larger plants and to walk in the tent. My current set up is a disaster area with me reaching into the grow space and pulling plants or water out, then dropping them. (arthritis) I don't need this much space anyway! Well, done is done. I wish I had your reply before ordering, oh well. I'll be wanting to hear how your now T-5 light works. What state are you in that's as hot as CA?
The company I bought my UFO 90 from exchanged them, but plants are very sensitive to light type changes, especially going from say 90 watts of LED to say a 400 hps ...doing so can/will shock your plants, if not kill them. You would need to put the hps up high and slowly drop it over 1-2 weeks.
I've read where people have switched lights, like HPS to LED, and killed the plants. Since this Lumatek is dimable, I aslo hope to start low! I think I'll buy the $25 can of fogger and cram every plant I own into the bathroom to debug these guys. I just found another caterpillar! The mite eggs will also hatch soon. There's plenty on the youngest plant. :-(
M
ost 'bloom boosters' provide too much K. How much is too much? Depends on plant size and container size.
I ordered a technoflora starter kit. Hopefully by the time this runs out, I'll know what I'm doing! It's not organic, but for learning this is not as important to me. LOL Is Sprayn Grow OK?
Search the soil forums here. Personally, I hate soil. Although it can be forgiving, but when you have problems soil is hard to adjust fast enough. You will minimize problems by using large enough pots for roots to grow without crowding. Most growers do not understand this important aspect. If I knew my plant genetics was 2 ft tall, I would use a minimum of a 5G pot- and a 10G even better, but that doesn't leave much breathing room in a 4 X 4 tent for 4 plants. However, the yield will be higher, as more nutrient can be delivered to more roots.
My original plan was for a 3x3 area. I also plan to grow tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, and start flowers in here. I read your info on this pot size. The larger pot makes god sense to me. Can I just take my cubes with a seedling in it and plop it in a 10 gallon pot? The owner at the local hydro store says in CA it is best to do a SOG with almost no veg time before popping them into flower. 2 months total?! He said the longer I have the plants growing, the more wattage they take. It's more efficient to keep them short since the light only goes 2 feet into the canopy. Any extra growth beyond that 2' is wasted. I told him I plan on LST, which will have less plants (seeds are$) and take the time to train them so the canopy is still low, but higher yield per plant. This also takes more time. He went on to say the SOG would be easily done from clones. I might as well try both! I scrapped the Scrog plan. It's too difficult to move the plant and screen about. I was hoping you had a soil recipe. There are so many choices and each person says there is the best. Ack! The cloth pots here sell like hot cakes, but I'm don't care for them. If I do use a 10 gallon or 20 gallon pot, the cloth ones from HTG with the handles might be easier to pick up. One of my plants is in a 15 gal terracotta right now. The next size down is 5 gallon. However, these gals had a bad start and no root system. These small pots are only half full of roots. Soil is easier and more idiot proof for learning. I can upgrade later.
What do you think of "root Juice" and "Super Thrive"? What do you do if you take a 1 or 2 week vacation? I wonder if a huge bucket on a table above the plants with a hose to micro drips system on it would work on a timer with gravity to get the plants watered? It would prevent a mishap of water all over if it went wrong.
Thanks for your help and thorough answers. I appreciate another person who does this. I know I write long stuff, but i try to give the info needed to help me. If I'm helping other people (not yet in MJ growing) I'll often spend 4 hours on a reply and many more on followups. It doesn't help my brain and body is toast from the narcotics. it takes 4x as long to do simple things, let alone write or use this ^%&#^&*& computer.
TY!
