First grow advice

[The Hemp Goddess]

I would run the ventilation separate. You are most likely going to want to run 6" ducting for the flowering space and you should check out insulated ducting. A 4" exhaust for the vegging space should be enough. You cannot just recirculate the air. You actually have to exchange the air--out with the CO2 depleted air and in with fresh air. That looks like a good fan. You will need a speed controller also.

Screen all inlets and outlets. I do not believe that mites do not come in through ventilation vents. I believe they enter on our clothes (after we have been through flora and fauna), in our hair, on our pets, that kind of thing.
If you have 1 basic one, that is probably enough. I believe that we have people on here that have just as much growing knowledge and experience as those guys that write the books--Ed, Jorge, etc. In addition to a number of people with decades of experience on grow forums, you can get a variety of opinions, you can get specific answers based on your individual circumstances. You can be alerted to possible problems with your planned set-up and better alternatives.

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

I've seen a decently priced speed controller at Harbor Freight that seems like it will do the job. Should that fan run at about half power or a little under?

I've been reading up on NV's super soil.. his mix he said makes 150gal's is a bit much for what I'm going to be needing (unless theres a good way to store it and keep its strength). So I'll have to scale it down for what I need.

Anyways from what I've read that stuff seems like it will torch the plants as soon as roots hit the soil if I were to use just that soil to fill the pot. I've read that people run different percentages of soil in their pots. What do they use for top fill; more organic soil? I think 3 gal square pots is what I'm gonna use from after the seedling gains growth and my clones take roots to transplant in. Or do would you recommend to do another transplant to 1 gal (of half gallon if they make it) before I put them into the 3 gal pots.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I start my seeds in quite small homemade pots. I then transplant into solo cups and then into 3 gal bags. I have quite bad arthritis and am having trouble picking up the bags, so am going to 3 gallon pots, too. I have 5 Master Kush in solo cups ready to go into 3 gal pots. I am going to use a mixture of 2 parts super soil to one part base soil. The plants I have going now ran out of nutrients a bit too early so I am bumping up from a 3-1 mixture to a 2-1 mixture. I had kind of a hard time finding reasonably priced square 3 gal pots. Understand and keep in mind that I am still a real novice at this organic stuff.

When I made up a batch of NV's supersoil, I did not make a full batch--it was far more than I could use and I really didn't have anywhere to store it. You can cut the recipe down--I only made up a 1/4th of the recipe.

I use a product that I can get at Home Depot. I rarely go to the "big city" and do not like to run all over town shopping. I use Kellogg's Patio Mix as a base soil. It is reasonably priced and has worked fine for me so far. I use it in my raised garden beds, too.

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

I have no need for 150 gallons of super soil for a long while, I'm slightly confused wouldn't a 3-1 mixture have more super soil in it than a 2-1; and do you mix it up or just layer it (bottom is the super the top is regular soil)? I've sent NV some messages as well, right now till I actually start into things and get an order placed to attitude I'm going to just pick up some regular round pots.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

LOL--sorry, I got it backwards --it is 1 part supersoil to 2 or 3 parts base soil. It has to be mixed and turned regularly--it has to "cook" before you can use it. However, a 3-1 mixture would be 25% supersoil, a 2-1 mixture would be 33% supersoil.

I have a pretty good source for square pots at a reasonable price if you are interested.

 

[Roddy]

:aok: I'm sure it's stated somewhere, but can you give the time you "cook" your soil? :ciao: Sliver and THG!

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

For NV's SS people say they cook their soil for 30 days. Not sure how to store the extra and if it keeps its nute strength after a period of time; so I figure I'll just make a new batch half way through my first flowering plants so it will be ready when I move 2nd cycle of vegged plants to the flower room and then clones into new soil to veg them (for a continual crop sorry if the way I typed it seems a bit confusing). Also when I cook it I plan on using a kiddy pool (Might do a tumbler though) should I just cover the soil with a tarp for cooking.

After the super soil has cooked, is that when you do your 25-33% cut with your regular soil and is that mixed in together or is the ss on the bottom of the pot with the regular soil on the top of the bucket.

Yeah if you could give the the link for those square pots that would be great, I appreciate it!

 

[pcduck]

I store my ss in garbage can and a tote. I use one while the other cooks.:aok:

After cooking I place a good amount of ss in my container then I add some soil to the top of the ss. Does not need to be exact. I just make sure that when I trans-plant that there is a good layer of non-ss soil to set the trans-plant into.

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

Oh okay great thanks duck!

Also questions for those that have done a scrog. I have some unknow seeds I was told they were blueberry seeds (who knows till I get into it I'm going to use those as trial seeds before I risk any known high strain seeds).

Well if I'm scroging plants would the plant sex show up before it actually needs to start being trained (to make sure I have females before I put it under a screen? If I already have a plant trained under a screen is it safe to move the screen away from the plant (if the instance ever occurs) before I put it into flowering?

 

[sMACkaddict]

Not really, I mean, it depends how far your screen is from the pots. But consodering its supposed to be like a foot away, its usually ideal to start with clones. Then you dont have gaps in your canopy. IMO its better to run your grow a couple times(at leat once) to find a good mother.

sMACk

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Oh okay great thanks duck!

Also questions for those that have done a scrog. I have some unknow seeds I was told they were blueberry seeds (who knows till I get into it I'm going to use those as trial seeds before I risk any known high strain seeds).

Well if I'm scroging plants would the plant sex show up before it actually needs to start being trained (to make sure I have females before I put it under a screen? If I already have a plant trained under a screen is it safe to move the screen away from the plant (if the instance ever occurs) before I put it into flowering?

I'm with smack on this--I would not do a scrog with seeds. You really need to use clones for this project. In fact, I really think that clones from the same mother would be best.

Where did you get the unknown seeds? Are you sure they were not from hermy plants?

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

No clue their orgin or their strain just heresay(sp) on that they may be blueberry seeds, dont know if they're hermys or not.

The guy my friend got them from had no clue other than the bud he pulled them out of he said was blueberry, so for all I know it could be ditch weed. Just was going to use them for practice, so I will prolly pop 5/10 seeds I have and find the best mother (if the plants are even worth the time probably not).

If it is ditch weed they're the best lookin ditch weed beans I've ever seen, and he always had killer bud so maybe I'll have some luck. Once I get a new camera I'll throw up some pics of them. I atleast know they will sprout cuz my friend had some seedlings but they all died on him from a high ph in his tap water.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I would be leery about seeds that some guy pulled out of his bud. If this guy grows great bud, he is growing sensimilla and should have no seeds. Seeds that show up in female plants that have not been pollinated by a male should be avoided. I NEVER grow seeds unless I know the source and that they are not from hermies. Probably not ditch weed and that would not be my worry--hermies would.

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

So when I make a purchase from Attitude should I avoid feminized seeds or just avoid it from certain breeders? Other than making the environment right and using a chemical(dont remember what it is) the only other way to make fem seeds is from a hermy that I know.

 

[Hushpuppy]

You don't have to avoid femmed seeds, just buy from a top breeder and be aware that even the top breeders can have femmed seeds that produce agressive hermy traits.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

So when I make a purchase from Attitude should I avoid feminized seeds or just avoid it from certain breeders? Other than making the environment right and using a chemical(dont remember what it is) the only other way to make fem seeds is from a hermy that I know.

I was not really talking about fem seeds from reputable/responsible breeders, although I am not a big fan of fem seeds and do not buy them. I was talking about those seeds people find in great sensi bud that resulted from the plant selfing, generally due to stress. This makes the hermie gene a more dominant gene and the hermie trait is now bred into the seed. This is different than reputable breeders who go through a long process to find good candidates for female seeds. However, like Hushpuppy mentioned, even reputable companies can have hermies. I had a freebie fem seed hermy on me recently. I caught it fairly early, but it had dropped some pollen and messed up a seed run I was doing.

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

I've read in that book I have that plants can drop pollen prematurely even in veg states if they're hermy pants? And I may just play it safe and get some regular seeds till I get more experience first hand on what to look for when lookin for those nanners.

 

[Hushpuppy]

That is a wise decision. Go to worldwide-marijuana-seeds.com and look at everything they have. But make sure you have a few hours to spend looking. Burmese Kush has proven to be a nice strain for me so far, both easy to grow and a heavy hitter. And if you can find it, Blueberry Punch is a very good very beginner friendly strain that makes some solid smoke if you like a body stone.

 

[stickywicked]

I dont have any mold or ventilation , temp or humidity problems since I went with the tent. get one put it in that spare room, through an a/c in the window. Control the room temp with the ac and the tent takes care of itself.

Sticky is mold a problem for you here in the gulf? This will be my first ever attempted grow but I've been workin on plans and trying to learn good methods for the past 3 months, I never knew exactly how hot the attic got here in the sunshine state but I've decided just to use the spare bed room where the temps can be a little more cooler. I'm probably going to run 2 carbon filters just for peace of mind with the laws being the strictest in the nation here.

I was browsing through some grow light supply shops online and found they have light dome covers that contain the heat pretty well to allow your ventilation to work better.

Budking, the main reason why my friend wanted to go with LEDs was to save power, not deal with ballasts (he think's they're more of a PITA but doesnt know much about them), and to lower heat.

That actually make me think of a question what do you guys use for ballasts digital ballasts or regular old magnetic coil-over ballasts?

Also do I want a bulb with a higher PAR rating as well with lumens; or is PAR just another way they rate the bulbs?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I'm a big fan of Mandala strains, especially Satori. I am doing another Mandala run now. I have some Satori, Beyond the Brain, and Ganesh going--my first time with Ganesh. I also have a Satori, a Point of No Return, and a Safari Mix (the PNR and SM are not sexed yet) going with my Leprechan run.