First time for everything

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First Time Caller

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As is said on Mr. Obvious on The Bob & Tom Show.....Long time listener, first time caller...

I have spent a great deal of time reading, reading and more reading....time for the reading to stop and the growing to start. I will be growing indoor but have the land and available water to grow outdoors very remotely. I have 10 White Widows and 20 freebies due any day.

Let's get started with some opinions.

Soil: As for seeding soil, all of the local super stores are pretty well depleted with growing supplies, ie., all they have are Miracle Grow Seed Starting Mix and such. I did find some potting soil and organic soil. All of these have some type of either MG plant food or organic plant food. From my reading, the seeds will not need any type of nutes, other than water, for the first three week. Care to comment of whether I should go with MG seed starting or mix up a potting soil combo of 2/3 potting soil, 1/3 perlite and lime, or just go with the organic and be done with it.

My grow box will be a 2'x2'x4-6' open box. While I would love to spend the money on a HPS, seeing this is my first go round growing inside I am going with this CFL setup for vegging.



These are Home Depot 27 watt, 5500K, 1400 lumen bulbs. Why....they were $4.97 US, per two, so that came out to $4.97 per 2800 lumens. Since my sq. footage will be 4 sq. ft. using three of those setups, I will have 5600 lumens per strip, 16,800 lumens total, 4,200 lumens per sq. foot of 5500K light for, with power strips, plugs and dual screw-ins, $70.00 total. Sure, I'd love to have HPS but I couldn't beat this price for a first timer...

Now what to grow first. Opinions on just jumping in with the White Widows. If I go with the WW's, how many should I germinate in order to be able to harvest the fems or is it just luck of the draw how many of the dreaded males I get? With the size of my box, the way I read it, I'll be limited to 4 flowering plants..or build another box to flower in and keep the fems, if I'm lucky enough to have more than 4 fems, top them and use them as donors as long as I can. If I time my harvest correct, I'm thinking to start the freebies in the spring and transplant those outside, in time for a May harvest.

Lookin forward to some growin'

lightst.jpg
 
your CFL setup is okay, you may want to mix in some 2700k color index into those CFL's tho, you can pick up 26 watt 1750lumen 2700k color index at walmart for like $13 for 6.....good luck ;) Make sure you have that grow box well ventilated, because those CFLS will put off a decent amount of heat
 
I start all my seeds in jiffy pots. You can find info on influencing the gender of seedlings on this site or on the net. Some of the seed companys who sell feminized seeds enclose instructions on how to ensure you maximize your chances of growing females. If you can get clones, you might be better off.
 
Hey there.I too am on my first grow.There are alot of guys here that seem to not even want to talk about anything but hps lighting.They will give you alot of crap about cfl's vs hps.In my opinion so far Cfls work great.Sure hps will give you more at harvest but Cfl's do the trick almost as well.I have 6 girls some on day 10 and others on day 20 of the 12/12 cycle.I ran my veg with 24hr cfl lights but have recently decided to try 12/12 from seed to harvest from now until I find the results because of lack of a flower room.I have a mix of 68watt 6500k's and 42 watt 2700k's.My plants have bud sites everywhere.So far so good.Check out my link under my signature.I also have a pic of 2 plants I started at the same time, one in FF ocean forest the other in mg with nutes.The pic speaks for itself.Look toward the bottom of the page at the post that says Better quality pics(pic 10).It is definitely worth a trip to your nearest garden center that sells FF supplies IMO.I had to travel 60 miles but it was a nice bone ride.If you don't know where to find it,at the ff website you can search for a dealer near you.Thats how I found it.Good luck man!
 
frankcos said:
Hey there.I too am on my first grow.I have a mix of 68watt 6500k's and 42 watt 2700k's.My plants have bud sites everywhere.So far so good.Check out my link under my signature.I also have a pic of 2 plants I started at the same time, one in FF ocean forest the other in mg with nutes.The pic speaks for itself.Good luck man!
frankcos, thanks for the pics that certainly says it all. Looks like a 1.5 hour trip is in order for some ff Ocean Forest. Might as well fill out my shopping list for the trip. I have seen where people swear by Big Bloom so looks like something else to bring home. Any thoughts on anything else FF worth picking up at the dealer?


greenthumberish said:
you may want to mix in some 2700k color index into those CFL's tho, you can pick up 26 watt 1750lumen 2700k color index at walmart for like $13 for 6.....good luck ;) Make sure you have that grow box well ventilated, because those CFLS will put off a decent amount of heat
frankcos and greenthumberish, I did see you both use some 2700k during the veg stage. While researching, I came to the, apparently mis informed, conclusion I was going to use 5500+ for vegging then 2700K for flowering. I'll certainly use your advice but what does the 2700k's do for vegging?


Drinkin from the water hose and trying to take it all in.....
 
Hi FTC...

Welcome to MP! You've got a major leg up on many newbies by doing all the reading and research. Kudos! This forum is a wealth of info and everyone here will be very helpful to help you fill in the holes as your learn about growing this amazing plant. There's a good chance that soon you'll have the Marijuana growing Passion just like the rest of us.;)

I'd suggest checking out some of the other successful CFL grow journals to see what to expect and some of the challenges growers have growing bud with those setups. I highly suggest you look into canopy management techniques like LST (low stress training), pruning, and SCROG (SCreen Of Green). All of these growing techniques do wonders to maximize the amount of light to more developing buds and that will give you a much higher yield of fully developed dank bud. This is especially critical when using lower powered fluorescent lighting and/or lower wattage HID lights as the less intense lighting can not penetrate down through the canopy to lower buds on the plant. The more bud sites that you can keep the light close to, the better all the buds will even develop and mature. If you let the plant grow naturally like a little Christmas tree the lower branches/buds won't get much light and the buds will be less dank, under developed and airy and the only buds that will be fully developed will be those at the top of the plant on the main cola tip. By developing an even budding canopy you'll have much better results.

FFOF is worth the drive I promise. imho it's the best stand alone, out of the bag ready to go soil that is commercially available. Once you learn more about organics, soil mixes etc. you may choose to build your own soil mix but if you want to get started on the right foot with little fuss FFOF is the way to go. If you desire it can be used right out the bag with great results. You won't need any nutes until you plants start to show flowers and even then they will only require nutes ie every 3rd watering and usually 1/3 to 1/2 strength nutes are more than adequate because the soil is rich in organic amendments like worm castings, bat guano, rock phosphates, trace minerals, etc... The one thing nute-wise to avoid when growing marijuana is any synthetic time release ferts as they give the grower no control over how often and how much the plant is being fed.

FFOF is considered a fairly strong organic soil mix. MANY people grow seedlings in FFOF and say they have no problems.... But I've seen FFOF slightly burn some strain's seedlings enough to learn from this and I don't use it full strength for babies anymore. FFOF burning seedlings is a re occurring post that I see on every forum monthly... All you need to do is cut the strength of the FFOF to avoid this. Pick up a bag of Foxfarm Light Warrior soiless mix and combine that 50/50 with FFOF for the ultimate seedling mix. The Light Warrior has added mychorrizae for explosive root growth and it makes a huge difference in root mass. Grow the seedlings in the 50/50 mix until they are about a month old and then transplant them into either FFOF straight or whatever strength final mix you desire for more vegging or for flowering.

FFOF works great as is but it can be improved upon imho. What I liked to add was some additional chunky perlite to help loosen up the soil and improve drainage. I mixed it in at around 4:1 or 5:1... Another great variation is to mix 2 bags of FFOF (3 cubic ft total) with a bag of LW (1 cubic foot) for your final 3:1 mix and then combine that 4:1 with chunky perlite. The LW and perlite does a great job to lighten up the soil mix and the mychorrazae is a healthy shot in the arm for the roots. In time you can learn more about other organic amendments such as bone meal, blood meal, rock phosphates, guanos, trace elements ie azomite, etc to add to your mix.

The more you feed your soil organic amendments the less they will need any nutrition from a bottle. The stronger the soil the less bottled nutes will be needed. If you use FFOF as is or with the LW mixed you will only need to feed your plants nutes about every 3rd watering, always letting the soil surface dry out thoroughly between watering/feeding. With a soil as rich as FFOF you'll want to start out with 1/3 to 1/2 strength nutes and slowly increase strength if you don't see any signs of nute burn on the leaf tips. With FFOF your plants won't need any nutes while vegging unless you veg longer than 5-6 weeks in the new soil or until they begin show flowers after starting the 12/12 flower cycle.

Foxfarm nutes are a great choice and they're very high quality and have been tested by millions of grows. If you want to just get the basics I suggest you skip the Grow Big since the FFOF has veg nutes covered and pick up Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom. Tiger Bloom is the base nute... if you were to get one or the other you'd want to get Tiger Bloom and not only Big Bloom. Tiger Bloom supplies most of the NPK and Big Bloom acts more like a catalyst and is more of the micronutes and additives... If you want to use the full Foxfarm suggested nute lineup for soil, you'll need to pick up 3 other products: Open Sesame, Beastie Bloomz, and Cha Ching. so... the full lineup is BB, TB and these three additions. Foxfarm has a feeding chart that you can download and it shows you when to use what products. The 3 additives are never used together and are only used in specific weeks of flowering. The additives would last for many grows because you only use a small amount for a couple of weeks during each bloom cycle... Whatever you decide, one bottle of each will last many grows in a small soil garden using FFOF.

You can have decent results using FFOF and nothing but water. You can have better results using only Tiger Bloom and slightly better results with using each of the other additives at the proper time. Here's the feed chart... I suggest going with 1/3 to 1/2 of their recommended dose on the chart, watching for leaf burn and increasing strength if they look happy.

Also... if you can afford it, a ph/tds meter is a great investment. Adjusting and maintaining proper ph with your nutes and soil is very important. FFOF is very stable. A tds meter will give you a reading of the nute strength in ppm (parts per million) so you can precisely mix and/or dilute nutes to your desired application strength. They have some really inexpensive meters made by quality brands like Hanna and Milwaukee Instruments. There are also combo ph/tds meters available too. I have a Hanna 9813 that I use and it's been great... You'll probably find a better price online for ph meters depending on your indoor gardening store's price markup. The shipping would be cheap so sometimes you can save a lot by ordering online... but obviously FFOF and other heavy products are going to make shipping impractical so it's a good time for a road trip!

Happy Growing!:cool:
 
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8581&highlight=6500k check this out it tells a bit more about cfls,and was helpful to me.I use both 6500 ad 2700 because I am going with 12/12 from seedling to harvest. because I want to keep a staggered grow starting a few new ladies every 2 weeks, but I don't have enough room for a separate flower and veg chamber.With 12/12 from start to finish I hope to be able to veg plants only to sexual maturity then they will start to flower.So I will be able to have plants at all different stages in one room.That is the plan anyway, I will know soon enough how this works out for me.I also got some big bloom but be careful it will give you nute burn quick, only use 1/2 strength to start out.I plan on buying all 3 nute products next round.
 
Hey man welcome i agree with franko about the cfl's and hps.us cfl guys need to stick together.lol im rocking the ffof as well it's crazy i love to see how much the plants grow everyday. i'm also a first time grower and still trying to fix all the cracks on the way but im doing well.check out my grow maybe somethin i've learned could help you ouy peace bro.
ps ill give you the lick i got my ffof from mad cheap

hXXp://www.seedsofchange.com/SearchResults.aspx?searchTB=fox farm ocean forest&SearchTypeDD=3
 
Welcome first time caller!
Again, good for you for doing the research! Nothing like information.

I as well don't have the setup where I can utilize hps and the heat that's associated with it. I use, and have for thirty years, fluorescent lighting to very good effect. Recently, with the arrival of cheap CFL's, I have added some to my grow chamber. I have eight 4' fluoros, four to a side, for my main lighting. I use GE 4100k bulbs from wally world for vegging. I swap six of them out for GE bath and kitchen tubes at 3000k when they are about a month old and then I add four 26 watt CFL's (100 watt equivalent) in 2700k suspended from above in a home-made white aluminum reflector (makes ALOT of difference!) just prior to triggering flowering.
Believe it or not, the eight bulbs lighting the plants from the sides provide plenty of light to the developing plants. The tubes are four foot tall so there is plenty of light shining down from above to eliminate stretching, and the light provided from the sides greatly induces side branching and large, full leaves with nine or more leaflets per leaf. Works for me. Others will tell you differently depending upon personal preference and past results.
I am sure that hps and similar high output lighting is far superior in certain circumstances, but for a small garden in an enclosed space fluoros are the way to go.
If I were you, if you have the room, drop a few more cfl's down in-between the plants to light them from the sides as fluoro light doesn't penetrate all that well. Knowing that, and making use of the knowledge to your gain is the difference between an ordinary spindly grow and a rich, full grow with large leaves and stinky fat buds!

Oh, and by the way, I use MG moisture control soil for my grows, from seeds up to flowering. By the time I go to flower most of the nutes in the mix is used up and all I do is leach the pots really well and then add bloom booster as needed.

Best of luck to you bro!

Oldskool
 
J Cakes said:
Hey man welcome i agree with franko about the cfl's and hps.us cfl guys need to stick togetherDD=3
Yessah!
 
hey all im new on this site and im new in indoor growing im hoping to get some help here...anybody can help me with that ...if they have allready been true this?
 
let me tell u guys first what i have so you can best advice me about what to do? i have made a order for some feminised BIg Bud seeds..is that god for first time?i have a 400W MH lamp reflector,for soil i have got some poting soil,perlite,organic mix and sand, i was thinking of putting the plants under the Mh lamp just after i putt the seeds in the soil ...do i have to germinate them first?and can i putt them directly under the lamp? please help
 
The answers to all of your questions.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9396

luciano55 said:
let me tell u guys first what i have so you can best advice me about what to do? i have made a order for some feminised BIg Bud seeds..is that god for first time?i have a 400W MH lamp reflector,for soil i have got some poting soil,perlite,organic mix and sand, i was thinking of putting the plants under the Mh lamp just after i putt the seeds in the soil ...do i have to germinate them first?and can i putt them directly under the lamp? please help
 
Thanks Trafic actualy i ahve read a lott of threads and growin guides but i think the best way is to hear it from sombody that did it before...
 
FRom what is ee on the forums i have some of the equipmant i need to start growing the problem is that i cant find in my city the fertilizers that most of the people are using ....! and my seeds should arrive in about 2 days..i dont know if it's a god ideea to put them directly under the 400 W Mh lamp...but it's all i have
 
luciano55 said:
Thanks Trafic actualy i ahve read a lott of threads and growin guides but i think the best way is to hear it from sombody that did it before...

I start my seeds in a damp paper towel to make sure they germinate, then go to a jiffy pot once they do. You can use the 400W MH light as soon as it pops through the soil, but give it 24" distance until it gets it's first set of real leaves.


BTW, that's not just any thread that's THE thread.
 
Thanks gang, I believe what I am going to do is increase my box to 2x3 and put the additional CFLs using vertical orientation on the side walls, thereby providing light to the plant side since I am going for SOG. I should come up with about 4500 lumens psf. Gonna go with a FFOF/Light Warrior combination with perlite.......and watch these babies grow!!
 
frankcos said:
Hey there.I too am on my first grow.There are alot of guys here that seem to not even want to talk about anything but hps lighting.They will give you alot of crap about cfl's vs hps.In my opinion so far Cfls work great.!

When we talk about CFLs vs HPS, we are not giving you crap--we are trying to educate you--they are really not cheaper in any way. The bottom line is simply that, lumen for lumen, CFLs are more expensive to buy, more expensive to operate, run hotter, and produce substantially less bud than HPS lights. They are great to veg with, but when it comes to flowering, you see a big difference with a HPS. :48:
 
luciano55 said:
FRom what is ee on the forums i have some of the equipmant i need to start growing the problem is that i cant find in my city the fertilizers that most of the people are using ....! and my seeds should arrive in about 2 days..i dont know if it's a god ideea to put them directly under the 400 W Mh lamp...but it's all i have

Hey Luci!

Whassup? We'll be glad to help but PLEASE don't jack first time grower's thread... start your own thread in the appropriate section for your question.

Thanx!:cool:
 
The Hemp Goddess said:
When we talk about CFLs vs HPS, we are not giving you crap--we are trying to educate you--they are really not cheaper in any way. The bottom line is simply that, lumen for lumen, CFLs are more expensive to buy, more expensive to operate, run hotter, and produce substantially less bud than HPS lights. They are great to veg with, but when it comes to flowering, you see a big difference with a HPS. :48:

.."yessah"... errrr .. ma'am...;)
 

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