new tent grower,need help please

[grass hopper]

been outdoor growing for 3 years and found it is soo easy to grow 10 footers w/ little effort,knowledge..
now i have a legal grow permit,need to grow under lock,key..
bought an xl gro tent.98 by 54 by 78 in. tall.(2) 600 hps lights 424 cfm fan and good size carbon filter.almost complete!!looks very professional but am totally lost as to do next.have a lot of 8-16 in. girls.started under a t5 and a homemade 450 watt veg light.(cool)..

airpots,smartpots,geopots???3 gal.,5 gal.???
medium;30%black loam,65%good quality potting soil,dolimite lime,1 oz,epsom salt.
note,.lights are 63 in.of fin. floor. how tall can i veg before flipping to flower?? how close can the plants get to lights before burning??
what is optimal ht.from plants?? getting dizzy not knowing whats best.any help please.

 

[Grower13]

I keep my plants as close as possible to the light........ 12 inches or so to 600 watt hps.......... if you going to have different starins and different ages of plant flowering at the same time your gonna need away to adjust the height of your plants individually....... instead of adjusting the light's height.

 

[kal el]

Yes, keep an even canopy. Lights... place your hand palm down just above your plants. If the light burns the back of your hand, it's too close. Plants will stretch so I flip mine at about 2 to 3 feet and a lot of pinching. Grow in whatever container you prefer to grow in.

 

[TokeyMcWeedy]

airpots,smartpots,geopots???3 gal.,5 gal.???
medium;30%black loam,65%good quality potting soil,dolimite lime,1 oz,epsom salt.
note,.lights are 63 in.of fin. floor. how tall can i veg before flipping to flower?? how close can the plants get to lights before burning??
what is optimal ht.from plants?? getting dizzy not knowing whats best.any help please.


Always keep in mind that unless you use lst or some type of training the plants Are going to stretch .. A good rule of thumb for stretch is expect 2x plant height...
as for how close?
place your hand just above your tops and see how much heat builds on ur skin in 60secs. lower your lights till u can feel noticeable heat inside of 30 secs then raise up 6 inches..
I run a huge circulation fan over my tops so my lights are only about 6 inches above my tops
Air circulation is key as well.... Soil and nutrients, you are gonna have to research that for your self...Canna Coco is a good and easy 2 part system and produces really well by itself...
Good luck.....

 

[Hushpuppy]

Don't panick, take a deep breath. We will be happy to help you through. First there is a lot of opinions on the different things that you asked about, none of them are wrong(the good opinions) but you have to find what works best for you. Now you don't have a lot of height to work with so you need to focus on keeping your plants short. Typically, most Sativa dominant plants will at least double in size from the flip to 12/12 until harvest. And typically, most Indica dominant plants will only stretch to 1.5x their preflip size. But with hybrids, anything is possible. So you will need to go with the lowest profile pots for planting. I would say no larger than 3gal and probably more like 2gal if you can find them.

A lot of people like the "smart bags" as they aerate real good, but they dry out faster as well and have to be watered more carefully. Nursery pots with good drainage are good to use but make sure you put some kind of larger medium in the bottom 2" of the pots before putting in soil to help with drainage. There is a variety of grow rocks or clay aggregate that work very well.

As far as soil; it sounds like you already have that but you will need to ammend it some or plan to use nute additives. And it is very important when growing organically to get some soil innoculant like Mychorrizae or ZHO to mix into the soil to help feed the plants and prevent disease. Also, you will need to get some pearlite and add to your mix to keep it from packing down too much.If you grow organic soil then I recommend that you stay organic by buying organic nute teas for nute supplimenting through to harvest. Don't expect the one pot of soil to take the plants all the way to harvest as that usually doesn't happen often.

Your tent is going to require more light than what you currently have if you intend to fill it up. You can either order one more 600wHPS or just close in your tent space to 6' long so that it is a 5x6 rather than a 5x8. Being underlit for the space will cause your plants to stretch toward the lights as they are high energy plants. I use 2 600wHPS lights in my 5x5 and 4x4 tents to get heavy, dense buds.

I would not let my plants get any taller than 15"(probably more like 10" if they are more Sativa structured plants) before putting into flower. By using topping during the first run from seed and FIM on clones, you can keep the plants lower and cause them to bush out. This will give you good production while keeping them from getting too tall.

More people will chime in with things I haven't thought of at the moment, so don't get in a hurry or panick. Be patient and it will work out well If you have questions about specifics don't be afraid to ask

 

[grass hopper]

thanks, thanks!
the ducts are run and looks great.from where the lights have been centered in each half bay of 96 by 54,hate to rerun ducts,but there is about 32 in., between lights..this would give enough room for (1)more light.?? note;there is 18 in. from the end of the lights (glass)from the 96 in. ends. is the 18 in. close enough??would you add a 400w or a 3rd 600w in between the existing lights??wish i was more patient.i rushed out and bought (18) 5 gal.smart pots from htg.thats a full tent.also got (7) bags of aurora organic and 4 bags of ocean forest.was gonna get started in am.will hold for a day.please give me your thoughts on a 3rd light...THANKS! have plenty of fan power.on med. speed,keeps tent cool.

 

[grass hopper]

also would a 1000w be too much??should i have any worries about the fan breaking in the near future??i can't imagine how hot it could get if the fan ever failed w/ (3) 600w., or more, in a sealed tent..fire possible??what do people do??thanks

 

[grass hopper]

sorry for my impatience,i have a very good reason why these plants must be relocated into the tent in the next 3 days.again thanks