Newbie needs help

[steve ross strutz]

OK. I live in Oregon where this is legal anyway, but I just harvested my first crop. I grew it in a 5 gal bucket with a 50 watt LED. It had fresh soil suited for pot. It was nowhere near what I was expecting. The buds were very light and airy. I got maybe an ounce. It smokes smooth. Now I want to learn from this and do better. I am trying to keep things simple and cheap. Just growing for me. I want to start my next crop. I now have a 200 watt LED and I am going to use the 50 watt to shine up from the bottom. I want to produce my nutrients organically. I want to use bone meal, kelp meal and a cover crop of clover. Thoughts? How much bone and kelp meal should I mix in my soil?

 

[Keef]

Cuz -- Welcome to MP !-- U gonna need better light !-- Can't help U on the dirt I run Aero under LEDs and use about 600 watts per square meter /yard !-- U at the right place I'm sure someone will come along shortly to point U in the right direction !--

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Do not use the 50W to shine up from the bottom. Plants do not want or need the bottoms of their leaves illuminated. It confuses them.

Look for a good soil recipe. Bone meal and kelp meal are not enough. Just to give you an example, the soil mixture I make up has about 15 different ingredients, the teas I use on my plants have about 10 ingredients. I would not plant clover over them. Clover is a nitrogen fixing plant. If you want to plant clover, do it before you plant the cannabis and till the clover into the soil.

I think you will also probably find that 200W of light is still not nearly enough. I used 0ver 1400 watts of LED in a 4 x 4 tent and it was not too much light by any means. Unfortunately, simple and cheap does not go with good yield and high quality. If you want good yield and a quality crop, I don't think you can really keep it simple and cheap.

 

[Rosebud]

Listen to that lady^^^^ up there, she taught me so much. There is a reason pot costs so much, it costs some money if you want to do it right. If your buying pot now it will save you money in the long run, i think. ha.
Sounds like you want to go organic? i have a good recipe that i feed in flower that i can get for you. You will need to start with the best soil you can. Go to the organic section and read all you can. We will be happy to help you.

 

[burnin1]

Don't get discouraged. You came to the right place for info.

Perhaps a high output T5 fixture would be cheaper? I used a 6 bulb HOT5 fixture many years ago for vegging. I changed bulbs on it twice and used it for flower. It worked surprisingly well. I don't know what those cost these days. LEDs have made great improvements and may be cheaper now. I have changed from a 600 watt bulb to a 2000 watt LED for my next indoor grow. I am slow to change. he he

I wish you all the best with your grows. Things will get easier as you learn and get better stuff to grow better stuff. Hang in there!