New Growers Journal for A Newbie, DIY Veg setup

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What kind of lighting do you prefer?


  • Total voters
    20
Hey guys. I ended up getting 7 and some change diam pots should be about 2 gallons and was able to do a good replant. They are doing nicely.
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Did you rip the bottoms of the peat pots? Roots can have a hard time growing through the cardboard.

Also, IMHO, these were way too small to transplant. It is a good idea to let them get well established with a good root system before transplanting. It is a lot harder to control the moisture and the temperature of the baby in containers that are too large for their size.

Could you not get fabric pots?
 
Also, looking at those pots, if they are 7" in diameter, they are probably around a gallon (or maybe even smaller).
 
Did you rip the bottoms of the peat pots? Roots can have a hard time growing through the cardboard. Sure did. I I'm all four sides. I was concerned that the diner roots would not be able to penetrate.

Also, IMHO, these were way too small to transplant. It is a good idea to let them get well established with a good root system before transplanting. It is a lot harder to control the moisture and the temperature of the baby in containers that are too large for their size. Thanks for the advice, I was going off of what ever one advised, maybe I misunderstood what everyone was suggesting:oops:

Could you not get fabric pots?

At this time, no i couldn't get fabric pots however, are in my future plans for more grows. Thanks for your advice
 
High Output T5 bulbs are good for vegging and you can flower with them in a pinch. Most CFL's just don't cut it though. If your budget is tight that vispectras is a better option.

as hamster said, you can flower using t5's in a pinch. i did when i started out and had very nice results. also as hamster said in an earlier post, the king leds are affordable and also work well. upon his recommendation, i bought a 1200 and i am pleased with it(5 or so grows, veg and flower and still going strong). cobbling stuff together will probably leave you disappointed in the long run. for a few hundred bucks(about the cost of an ounce) you can have yourself a nice little grow. also as umbra said, genetics are a lot of it. spending about $100 on some good seeds will pay off. if you learn to clone them(which isn't hard as i am able to do it and i am a knucklehead), you only need to buy them once...
 
There are so many affordable lights that were designed for hobbyist grows the money issue is no longer a valid argument for not getting decent lights. a Decent 80-90 dollar light can do wonders in a 2x2 grow space. Used to be really expensive to put together a decent grow room (still is really) but a small grow can be done like the olefogey said for under the price of a zip.
 
Hey there stepheneking. I have to say I respect the effort you're putting into this. It's shaping up rather well for what you're working with really. Nice home made brake too.
I also use a King, on the recommendation of the users here and I'm extremely pleased with the quality. The company is great to work with if there is an issue as well. For $89 you could have a great light in there that would transition to a bigger space later. Maybe get out and do some scrapping if you can?
I don't know you're situation but this is something you want to throw some money at. I'm on a slow build up myself, most of the stuff I buy takes from my entertainment and food budget, sometimes you get blessed though.
B1 just purchased this light and is very happy with it, it's a sub company of Mars Hydro, who is a respected manufacturer in the budget/not-so budget option. A couple people, including myself use this, there are several options(watts/$$$) within that manufacturers listings as with Mars.
Adding a bigger LED is probably going to produce the same amount of heat as the cfl,maybe less. The cost to run an LED is so cheap! Since I referenced scrapping earlier, a months savings of aluminum cans would most likely cover the additional electric.I know scrap metal isn't what it was but it does add up if that is an option for you.
Weed isn't addictive but growing is! Think of the expense as an investment. Eventually you get to quit buying stuff you really can't afford. You still have a ways to go too. I need to read through the thread again to see your plan but you need a space to flower and dry as well, i.e more gear. Tents are great. Put it together and there is your controlled environment to flesh out. If you didn't know, you can click the green words and they'll take you to the item directly.
I just have 1 question for you, are you planning to take them outdoor? If you are, you're pretty close to ok with what you have now in my opinion. I'd switch out the lighting and start buying black gold and amendments. Maybe these lights would be a more cost effective option for you?
Whatever you're planning to do I'll be watching lol! Good luck!
 
as hamster said, you can flower using t5's in a pinch. i did when i started out and had very nice results. also as hamster said in an earlier post, the king leds are affordable and also work well. upon his recommendation, i bought a 1200 and i am pleased with it(5 or so grows, veg and flower and still going strong). cobbling stuff together will probably leave you disappointed in the long run. for a few hundred bucks(about the cost of an ounce) you can have yourself a nice little grow. also as umbra said, genetics are a lot of it. spending about $100 on some good seeds will pay off. if you learn to clone them(which isn't hard as i am able to do it and i am a knucklehead), you only need to buy them once...

Hello oldfogey8 and thanks for your advice ;-) I have been taking some notes as I throw together my planned grow equipment. I know that its important to get a good light upgrade, and its coming soon. For now though I am sitting where I can however, I do figure that I am sitting better than I could've been without the fund-age available to me yet.

I figure I am at about 2.67 sq ft of grow space with my current setup. Also, as I have been reading up on some of the grow guides and advisement on the forum I should consider 20 watts/sq ft for lighting. From my figures I am @ 74 watts of lighting and since my current sq footage is around 3 my watts/sq ft output is just over the available lighting with my current setup. So I figure this will buy me some time to get some good cash together and the updated setup going.
I also am reading up on the genetics so I am better versed ;-)

Clones, I will get there eventually. More to take in first ;)
 
There are so many affordable lights that were designed for hobbyist grows the money issue is no longer a valid argument for not getting decent lights. a Decent 80-90 dollar light can do wonders in a 2x2 grow space. Used to be really expensive to put together a decent grow room (still is really) but a small grow can be done like the olefogey said for under the price of a zip.

Hello St_Nick, thanks for posting. I agree with you that money shouldn't be an issue however, for this I had these lights pretty much at hand so I wanted to get myself going with what I have at my fingertips.:)
 
Hey there stepheneking. I have to say I respect the effort you're putting into this. It's shaping up rather well for what you're working with really. Nice home made brake too.
I also use a King, on the recommendation of the users here and I'm extremely pleased with the quality. The company is great to work with if there is an issue as well. For $89 you could have a great light in there that would transition to a bigger space later. Maybe get out and do some scrapping if you can?
I don't know you're situation but this is something you want to throw some money at. I'm on a slow build up myself, most of the stuff I buy takes from my entertainment and food budget, sometimes you get blessed though.
B1 just purchased this light and is very happy with it, it's a sub company of Mars Hydro, who is a respected manufacturer in the budget/not-so budget option. A couple people, including myself use this, there are several options(watts/$$$) within that manufacturers listings as with Mars.
Adding a bigger LED is probably going to produce the same amount of heat as the cfl,maybe less. The cost to run an LED is so cheap! Since I referenced scrapping earlier, a months savings of aluminum cans would most likely cover the additional electric.I know scrap metal isn't what it was but it does add up if that is an option for you.
Weed isn't addictive but growing is! Think of the expense as an investment. Eventually you get to quit buying stuff you really can't afford. You still have a ways to go too. I need to read through the thread again to see your plan but you need a space to flower and dry as well, i.e more gear. Tents are great. Put it together and there is your controlled environment to flesh out. If you didn't know, you can click the green words and they'll take you to the item directly.
I just have 1 question for you, are you planning to take them outdoor? If you are, you're pretty close to ok with what you have now in my opinion. I'd switch out the lighting and start buying black gold and amendments. Maybe these lights would be a more cost effective option for you?
Whatever you're planning to do I'll be watching lol! Good luck!

Hello Novitius thanks for posting! Thanks, I have been giving a lot of TLC thats for sure! The break worked rather well, lol, thanks.
I am impressed with what I am hearing about King lighting, everyone has had a lot of good advice on the brand. Maybe I should choose that brand, I love the name "King" LoL its a good name, wink wink..... Needless to say I will be looking at this brand. Thanks for advising on the Mars brand as well, I will take a look as well. I really want a good bang for my buck! Tanks for the links;-)
I am planning on a different area for flowering, yes. This will probably be my next investment and then back into the veg DIY updates or redo. Once I get my full materials planned list together I will be sure to post it here to get everyone's advice, I like the discussions. Thanks everyone!

At this time I don't plan on doing any outdoor planting at this time. Most of my future grows, for now anyway, will be indoors. Black gold, thats a new one for me.....I will be looking into it, Im curious.
Glad to hear you will be checking in, thank you for your support and advice! :D
 
Hey guys.....Grow update.:D

They are looking really nice. These are pictures from right now.
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Hey guys, I currently don't have my lighting setup to be adjustable vertically. I am wondering if that should change. I was also thinking of moving the LED I have in there and mount it on one of the sidewalls vertically.

THoughts?
 
Hey stephen, if it were me I'd just lift the pot up! Put a tote or something under them :) But, you're way more hands on with the build than me, you might want to scrounge up a pulley lol!
 
don't over think , put a brick under the pot if you think you need to but the pics look fine ,
 
While we used to use watts per square foot to figure lighting (and it was 50 watts min per sq ft, not 20), with the advent of LED lighting we really don't do that much anymore. It is advisable to take the manufacturer's recommendations with a grain of salt. They often over-hype what their lights are capable of. That is why it is so important to take the advise of those actually using the products. With LED lights, the stated wattage is often not the working wattage. For instance, I have a 700W light that actually only uses about 300 watts. And I can tell you that there is absolutely no way that that light would adequately cover 15 sq ft.

Your lighting is the most important component of your grow space and it directly affects the yield. Without adequate lighting, the best genetics and the best care and nutrients will be a waste.

How many plants did you start? A grow space that is 2.67 sq ft is really not large enough to grow even 1 plant. I would never ever go smaller than 4 sq ft....and even that will be problematic.

I know that I can sound harsh, but I just don't want you to spend 4 months trying to grow a plant (or plants) in an environment where it is not going to work. There are certain things you really need to pull off a successful indoor grow and good lighting and space are 2 of those things.
 
Hey stephen, if it were me I'd just lift the pot up! Put a tote or something under them :) But, you're way more hands on with the build than me, you might want to scrounge up a pulley lol!
I thought about doing that novitius. I actually wanted to make a special leveling floor outa some DIY materials ;-) Yes, I like to be hands on and did think about the pulley.

What do you think about adding in the light on one of the sides?
 

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