Newbie here, looking for seasoned advice

Blimpsious

Blimpsious

Active Member
Hi all. This forum seems to have a vast array of knowledge, and I've just started dipping my toes into it. As my post says I'm a noob, and this season will be my first grow. Only a few plants, I'll be starting from seeds indoors and then taking outdoors. By the fall I should have everything ready (with this forums assistance) to do a small indoor setup. I'm curious if anyone can help me get some of the essentials lines up. I have just started and so far I've lined up a TDS and PH meter (I've read here using seperate is better), a bag of MyCo, some 5.5 inch pots with drain holes, some starter 3 inch pods, an eyedropper, and a really decent LED light on loan from a buddy. The LED light is roughly 2 feet wide and I was going to use this until the plants are moved outdoors. On one of the forum threads I read using 2 gallon dollar store garbage cans is a great idea. I was going to use buckets but I'm a sponge so anything experienced growers will recommend I'm all in for. I know to drill holes for drainage and I'm starting to read up on PH, seems overwhelming but I'll pick at it. I really could just use some advice on the soil I should buy and other must haves. Technique advice is also appreciated, since all I've really read up on so far is basic germination. I made sure to buy good CK seeds, just a 5 pack of Purple Dream and a 5 pack of Rainbow Haze.

Again, thank you all for your time and any assistance you can offer. I look forward to using this forum and all it has to offer noobs like myself.
 
Blimpsious said:
Hi all. This forum seems to have a vast array of knowledge, and I've just started dipping my toes into it. As my post says I'm a noob, and this season will be my first grow. Only a few plants, I'll be starting from seeds indoors and then taking outdoors. By the fall I should have everything ready (with this forums assistance) to do a small indoor setup. I'm curious if anyone can help me get some of the essentials lines up. I have just started and so far I've lined up a TDS and PH meter (I've read here using seperate is better), a bag of MyCo, some 5.5 inch pots with drain holes, some starter 3 inch pods, an eyedropper, and a really decent LED light on loan from a buddy. The LED light is roughly 2 feet wide and I was going to use this until the plants are moved outdoors. On one of the forum threads I read using 2 gallon dollar store garbage cans is a great idea. I was going to use buckets but I'm a sponge so anything experienced growers will recommend I'm all in for. I know to drill holes for drainage and I'm starting to read up on PH, seems overwhelming but I'll pick at it. I really could just use some advice on the soil I should buy and other must haves. Technique advice is also appreciated, since all I've really read up on so far is basic germination. I made sure to buy good CK seeds, just a 5 pack of Purple Dream and a 5 pack of Rainbow Haze.

Again, thank you all for your time and any assistance you can offer. I look forward to using this forum and all it has to offer noobs like myself.
Click to expand...
Good morning @Blimpsious welcome to 420magazine my friend.
Bags are economical and fantastic for growing pot.
Cloth let's the air into the roots.
Hope your having a great day my friend.

Stay safe
Bill
 
Welcome Blimpsious, check out Nemo Nutrients. I've seen some very nice grows using it including one I was helping with. Also I had good growing with Geoflora Nutrients in an outdoor grow last summer. My go to is living organic soil so I basically water only adding microbes and root building things.

If you use a soil like foxfarms ocean forest you don't have to ph your water/feed as it has proper buffering. Here's the explanation behind that.

Extraction fans- pwm drive power is quietest but more $$. I prefer it.

Glad you found us!
 
StoneOtter said:
Welcome Blimpsious, check out Nemo Remo Nutrients. I've seen some very nice grows using it including one I was helping with. Also I had good growing with Geoflora Nutrients in an outdoor grow last summer. My go to is living organic soil so I basically water only adding microbes and root building things.
Click to expand...

FTFY ;)
 
For your first grow go with Promix for the soil. It's a great neutral soil that's easy to grow in.

Fox Farms comes preloaded with stuff that can throw off your feeding if youre inexperienced, and I've seen bunches more issues with bugs tagging along in Fox Farms bags.

Don't stress too much about ph in a soil grow, it does make a difference, but the soil and microbe colony that will live there act as a nice buffer, that's any soil.

Buckets are fine, soft grow bags may be better. You'll want to end up in 5gallon pots MINIMUM when you put them outside.

It will be a good idea to have a product like Real Growers Recharge around. It can help save a grow if you overdo the feeding and have to flush and reset.

Stay away from Living Organic Soil your first grow unless you already have experience with organic gardening and have the time to build and cook a good batch of soil. You will need at least 7gallon pots for LOS.

Have fun and don't stress too much.
 
Thank you all for the replies. Stocking up now, think I'll try the ocean forest to start. A local guy I know mentioned liking that stuff. All the reading here had my vision blurred. Every little bit of info helps for a beginner like me, and since I'm ocd I'm reading things 3 or 4 times lol. Time to finally go get some glasses, I'm due anyhow.

Thanks again, so glad I joined the forum here.
 
Blimpsious said:
Thank you all for the replies. Stocking up now, think I'll try the ocean forest to start. A local guy I know mentioned liking that stuff. All the reading here had my vision blurred. Every little bit of info helps for a beginner like me, and since I'm ocd I'm reading things 3 or 4 times lol. Time to finally go get some glasses, I'm due anyhow.

Thanks again, so glad I joined the forum here.
Click to expand...
Good choice!
 
Blimpsious said:
On one of the forum threads I read using 2 gallon dollar store garbage cans is a great idea.
Click to expand...
I might have seen that article myself but there probably are several with similar suggestions.

In the long run it probably costs the same to just go and buy several '2 gallon' gardening pots with the drain holes already in the bottom. Otherwise you will have to put them into the small garbage pails yourself which often means that they are worthless for any other use later on.

As already mentioned when it comes time to take them outside a 5 gallon is better. The 2 gallon is great for early vegetating and building up the early root mass. I have gotten by with 3 gallon containers if deliberately growing smaller sized plants but these plants end up needing to be bottle fed constantly or the quantity and quality at harvest is way down.
 
013 said:
Be advised soil and coco coir are not the same thing.… choose 1 and stick with it…
Click to expand...
Or be a freak like me and use coir in your soil mixture. :laughtwo:
 
Braddah Waiheesohai said:
You'll want to end up in 5gallon pots MINIMUM when you put them outside.
Click to expand...
I use 15 gal. homemade smart pots w/ handles, outdoors in the greenhouse. They are still fairly easy to move around... a couple people can easily lift into a wheel barrow. I'm also starting to use 6 gal. plastic pots for clone moms, whether or not I plan to flower those moms.
 
Fox Farms OF soil has been good to me and everything I've put in it. I use the PH pen religiously because my water is ironated and acidic and almost killed my plants in the beginning, ph is very important. I didn't have a single bug until I used Miracle Grow potting soil for some clones, and they gave me F#@%ing gnats! I can't recommend anything other than that, as I'm still trying new things and don't have a proper smoke report to backup other claims of success.
 
RedskinnedRhino said:
Fox Farms OF soil has been good to me and everything I've put in it. I use the PH pen religiously because my water is ironated and acidic and almost killed my plants in the beginning, ph is very important. I didn't have a single bug until I used Miracle Grow potting soil for some clones, and they gave me F#@%ing gnats! I can't recommend anything other than that, as I'm still trying new things and don't have a proper smoke report to backup other claims of success.
Click to expand...
I'm no huge fan of Miracle Gro either, but I just want to point out that it isn't the fault of the maker if soil ends up with gnats, it is a storage issue. Any soil stored out where it can be wet and accessed by bugs/gnats is going to end up being home to them (unless it is terrible soil maybe)
 
Sueet said:
I'm no huge fan of Miracle Gro either, but I just want to point out that it isn't the fault of the maker if soil ends up with gnats, it is a storage issue. Any soil stored out where it can be wet and accessed by bugs/gnats is going to end up being home to them (unless it is terrible soil maybe)
Click to expand...
Most of the time it is a storage issue and not the fault of the maker as you mention.

And it only takes one wandering Gnat to show up and lay eggs between the time the bag is opened and the day the grower actually starts to use the soil for the next generation to start flying out and about.
 

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