Total Beginner: Poor Man's Grow

[Ricky11]

Hi all, new to 420 and to cultivation,
I'm a self proclaimed noob with a little knowledge (internet connection) lol
I've started a pure poor man's grow with 4 store bought LED's and one regular bulb for warmth at night , growing on the top floor of a shop in a garage, the space is not ideal but I'm trying to make it work and it will evolve as my babies grow.
Soil is just kellogs potting soil LED's are cree 120w equivalent 5000k daylight , with one feit electric grow LED , seeds from growers choice : bubblegum autoflower , and your kush auto flower.
I love reading threads and seeing everyone help each other out , so please no negative comments just advice and constructive criticism, I'm trying my best on a strict budget and limited resources , trust me when I say "it's not an ideal grow and I know I'm a total noob".

 

[Gadfly]

Welcome!

Here is a link to one of my favorite Poormans grows.
Boss's Poor Mans Grow

It’s cfls but it’s a great example of what you can achieve without all the fancy bs.

 

[Mikesem420]

Those are some huge containers to start in be very carefully not to over water Im just starting my first grows flowering stage and the seedling stage was the hardest for me I would try an make a humidity dome also if your growing in an open space with low humidity get a hydrometer/temp gauge and try to keep it around 80-85% humidity and 75-80 degrees lights on lights off 68ish untill they get the first set of true leaves then you can half strength feed and bring down humidity week by week till flowering. I would def look into a quantum board also the hlg 100 in 3000k-3500k would be perfect for your space an would help a ton in flower I may be wrong but idt you will get very good yeild with out more red spectrum for flower phase but for now I'm sure the led/cfl bulbs will be fine also what are you using for nutrients?I'm using fox farms line up in my soil grow and hydro grow having really good results so far I'm not a pro but I've learned a ton from other growers and on here. The most important parts is the lights that's like your plants food and then the nutrients which are like your plants vitamins if you want a good harvest make sure you have the right amount of both theres a bunch of good box leds under 100$ that would help a ton later down the road..

 

[Boatshoe]

How exciting! Congratulations!


You’ll get a lot of good support here. @Mikesem420 is right about watering. It’s the first thing to learn. Nothing hard, there’s some good quick videos.
You can add some lights as you go. I’ve used Kellog soil and fertilizer with good luck, you should do well. You’ll need fertilizer.

 

[Ricky11]

Thanks for the early responses, i chose big pots due to them being autoflowering , i read that transplanting can be very strenuous to auto's, again im a rookie so im just hoping they will be ok, im gonna be honest , im not going to get any humidity readers or temp gauges, maybe for future grows, this is more of a , see what i can do with pure basics, i do check the out door temps and humidity online , as this is a garage/shop grow the outside temps are usually the same as the shop , 80-90 in the day roughly 60 at night , hence the 1 regular bulb to not shock them so much at night, humidity stays at a solid 80 most year round , this kelloggs soil seems kinda meh, but i think the little ones like it, with the nutes , when and how much because this soil has some out of the bag , and they are auto's so im assuming very low doses?

 

[Mikesem420]

Thro a fan on them circulate some air you dont want anything above 80-85 degrees but a cheap oscillating fan should help alot I'm sure they will be fine but starting in something smaller like a solo cup is sooo much easier since there so small with such a large area they can become water logged easy but as long as you wait till they dry out a bit then just a light watering less is more with water until they develop some roots then transplant to a larger pot I did peat pots,peat cup solo size, 1gal, 3gal, my sour I went to a 5gal smart pot which are cheap and awesome for root aeration but I had very little shock just use some mychoriza on the roots I had a sample of great white powder and liquid my babies didnt slow down at all. I waited about 2-3 weeks after first set of true leaves before I gave any nutes to my plants but they arnt autos and I used fox farm soil but I would assume the same guidelines with your soil. Good luck man! I'll try an keep up with your grow

 

[Boatshoe]

You can get some good buds just starting out without much investment. That s what my first grow was like. You might amaze yourself.

I use kellog potting soil for outdoor containers, it’s a little rough for indoors but it’s fine other than that. It’s got some nutrients but Cannabis is a heavy feeder and a couple of small bottles of,fertilizer will help them.

You can buy a good Nutrient set or buy some more generic stuff. I like organic like Kellog. Real cheap is some,Fish fertilizer 5-1-1, some general purpose 4-4-4 and some bloom formula. If you want add kelp. That’s maybe 25 bucks for 4 bottles and it will last the grow.
That will cover all the nute bases and I can give you a schedule or explain how to use a nutrient feeding chart from fox farm. Just a few rules.

A little fan is definitely good.

 

[Mikesem420]

One thing I forgot you should def get a good ph meter and ppm meter there not expensive there all over amazon just find ones with good reviews I think I spent like 20-30$ for both but most def needed them you should stay between 6.5-6.8 ph for soil with the ppm meter you have a way of knowing what amount of fertilizer in ec/ppm in your water the first feed would be like 350-500 ppm google it important for growing healthy babes.

 

[Boatshoe]

Except in one case, I disagree about the need for those meters for a first grow in potting soil. If all you ever use is the basic nutes in soil you’re cool. Those are all ph balanced and the soil should be good. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea but not needed yet.

It’s good to know if your water is soft or hard. Do you get scale? That’s white buildup on the glasses and stuff?

 

[Ricky11]

I have fan for daytime , i dont really want to run it at night in fear of it dropping the temps , i have them on a 24 hour light cycle and will probably maintain that untill flower when i will probably drop to a 20/4 , as i say im pretty much stuck with what i have , there is wiggle room for additional light as they mature, and nutes , just worried on the dosage with them being auto's, as for watering you are right , i only pre wated the soil before planting and a little extra after its been three days since and its still moist so i'll hold off untill i see dry soil around the seedling , i plan to keep this thread updated with photo's regularly as its an interesting experiment to see what $70 at home depot equipment and a dream can do, is this the right place to that or should i move the thread?

 

[Ricky11]

Im using distilled water $1 a gallon, yeah as for ph meters temp/humidity meters all that good stuff, im gonna wait untill grow 2 , im doing auto's for the first time, see if i have a green thumb and hopefully the cannabis gods shine down on my simple and humble grow.

 

[Ricky11]

I forgot to add im only growing 2 plants thats all the wife will let me "sigh" but two is better than none , i just hope they are female , im not sure of the success rate of females in online bought feminised auto seeds, any insight would be great , id hate to spen all this time on males.

 

[JoeDaddy77]

Can you get your hands on a couple 3 gallon fabric smart pots? Those are best for autos.... They are maybe a couple of bucks... That's what people mean to use when they say autos don't like to be transplanted. You start your auto right in a 3 gallon fabric pot and your golden til harvest. Just for future reference

 

[Boatshoe]

Yes this is the right place for a grow journal thread. And everyone loves photos!

I use tap water, I try to let it sit overnight for the chlorine. Distilled water is better for the plant possibly or at least you don’t have to worry about it.

If you got feminized seeds, you’ll get females. Have fun.

 

[Ricky11]

I did look around at fabric pots , but I'm lazy as well as a cheap noob, my wife had these containers from her old veggies so I figured they hold soil right ? Lol
I will invest in more suitable equipment like fabric containers and Coco husks for a second grow.
I will keep it updated with photos regularly,
Sometimes I'll be too lazy to get the distilled water from the house and just use water from the hose I know myself too well , I'm sure it'll be fine , although I guess I wouldn't drink the government cocktail myself

 

[JoeDaddy77]

I did look around at fabric pots , but I'm lazy as well as a cheap noob, my wife had these containers from her old veggies so I figured they hold soil right ? Lol
I will invest in more suitable equipment like fabric containers and Coco husks for a second grow.
I will keep it updated with photos regularly,
Sometimes I'll be too lazy to get the distilled water from the house and just use water from the hose I know myself too well , I'm sure it'll be fine , although I guess I wouldn't drink the government cocktail myself

Tap water works just fine as long as you sit in in jug for 24 hours to let air out anything like ammonia air out of your tap water. That's all I've ever used!!

Definitely get fabric pots tho. It make a huge difference, bc the roots will be able to get air everywhere a d they need air as much or more than anything and the fabric pots and BEST for that!!

 

[Ricky11]

Yes I will definitely grab some smart pots for my second grow , would it help if I add a bunch of holes in the side of these containers for the time being?

 

[Mikesem420]

I also use tap water in the beginning of my grow before I bought my air stones I'd leave it out for atleast 24 hours seemed to work fine but I added air stones to my 5 gal resivour to speed up the distillation and not have 5/1gal milk jugs everywhere just to be safe but I didnt have any problems without them i just made sure to add some cal mag with my nutes and make sure ph was below 6.8 and above 5.8 good range I know you said you didnt want to get a ph meter but how will you know when you add nutes it drastically lowers ph I went from 7.1 tap water to 5.1 with nutes I use ph up to balance it out maybe I'm wrong but you can get nutrient lock if it gets to low or high

 

[Ricky11]

I also use tap water in the beginning of my grow before I bought my air stones I'd leave it out for atleast 24 hours seemed to work fine but I added air stones to my 5 gal resivour to speed up the distillation and not have 5/1gal milk jugs everywhere just to be safe but I didnt have any problems without them i just made sure to add some cal mag with my nutes and make sure ph was below 6.8 and above 5.8 good range I know you said you didnt want to get a ph meter but how will you know when you add nutes it drastically lowers ph I went from 7.1 tap water to 5.1 with nutes I use ph up to balance it out maybe I'm wrong but you can get nutrient lock if it gets to low or high

You're right about the pH and I should invest in a meter I'll look into getting one when I get the nutes.

 

[Oldbear]

Yes I will definitely grab some smart pots for my second grow , would it help if I add a bunch of holes in the side of these containers for the time being?

A lot of people get good results with cloth pots. The whole thing breath so no holes needed, and helps with water management. Not expensive. I wouldn't drill any extra holes in what you are using.

They are so small you could probably migrate to a cloth pot and add more perlite right now.