Onward to my second grow!

[Wantstogrowbuds]

Last time I grew some bag seed, had a few problems. Did not veg long enough and I got a flimsy yield but good quality buds. This time I ordered some quality white widow genetics. Did soil last time but I think I might try hydro. What I am going for is max yield. I am getting 5 widow seeds and they are feminized. How can I max my yield this time around? I have a 1000 watt light, 4x4 grow room, and a 435 cfm ventech fan. I had good negative pressure on the tent last time but I could only vent it out of the tent? should I get a smaller fan hooked up to help suck air in as well? My idea is to veg longer and keep a mother plant to clone from. How many watts of cfl light will it take to keep momma happy in my closet while the other girls grow? Also, what bucket size works the best for maximizing yield in that space? I'm taking the less is more approach and would like to have the least amount of plants possible but just make them monsters, so keep that in mind. With the drip method am I basically just filling up the res and having a pump that can match the amount of buckets I have?

 

[yarddog]

If you get a smaller fan for intake there is a good chance you will actually decrease your cfms. As long as your intake ports are large enough, the only way to flow more air is to have a larger exhaust fan.

 

[mrcane]

All the best on the grow! I am still on my first grow so don't have to much input.My self I just love growing Stuff "Anything" and will be sticking with soil. Be careful I have the feeling this growing thing is addictive

 

[Wantstogrowbuds]

These babies arrived in my mail box today! Feminized white widow!

View attachment IMG_0220.JPG

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Tell us about the hydro system you are thinking of. I do not really understand the last sentence of your post.

I agree with yarddog on the fan. I ran a 1000W with a 448 CFM fan for many years with no problems.

Green mojo for 100% germination!

 

[Wantstogrowbuds]

Never mind I think I got it now. So if I had four lets say 5 - 10 gallon buckets and a res, what power of pump would I need to make use of the drip method?

 

[Grower13]

what medium are you going to use? how many lines are you going to use? 10 gallon pots/buckets seem big for indoors....... how are you setting up the drainage for the pots?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I never use drip. Even outdoors pumping plain water through drippers, I have problems with clogging and uneven distribution of water.

If you are running indoor hydro, I do not see any reason for 10 gal buckets, either. And like Grower 13, I am wondering about medium and exactly how you plan on setting this up?

 

[Wantstogrowbuds]

I dunno honestly, I feel like my last grow wasn't that great cause I didn't have good soil. Don't get me wrong the buds were good just not very many. What would you guys think of 50% peat moss, 25% dirt and 25% perlite? Then I can add my advanced nutrients I bought for the last grow. I live in a semi rural area and I got lots of farm stores but I'm not sure what they mix their potting soil with, they have top soil and compost as well. Hmmm, I know they have worm castings there but I don't know about bat guano or coco or even if the coco is a part of their mix. I wanna get it started this weekend so I'm kinda antsy but I also don't wanna ruin the crop with bad soil. Where I live we are known for having good dirt for farming but I don't know if it's good dirt for farming marijuana. Also, I'd like to try hydro but I don't know if I could set it up cause I'm not gonna lie i'm pretty dumb when it comes to hands on stuff. I guess if I was gonna go hydro I could do like four plants in deep water culture. What kind of pump am I looking at for something that could run 4 of those?

 

[Grower13]

no top soil or compost......... see if some of those rural store have promix........... add more perlite.

 

[superman]

Going hydro is scary for most people this early, takes balls man.

Not to discourage you but a couple more grows would be wise before going to hydro. It's more productive but requires a little more precision and little problems can turn big pretty quick.
Think about some ProMix and use the same brand nutes as if you growing hydro. Most manufacturers will give you a hydro and a soilless feeding schedule.
Getting to know your nutes and a few more grows will really help!! And a Ph and PPM meter would really help you to keep things at optimal levels and give you the biggest yields.
Peace, Superman

 

[superman]

Maybe think about a DWC bucket or two to start with and the rest in the ProMix.
Hydro is great but requires some experience to really pay off. Good luck dude!!
Peach, Superman

 

[Wantstogrowbuds]

Going hydro is scary for most people this early, takes balls man.

Not to discourage you but a couple more grows would be wise before going to hydro. It's more productive but requires a little more precision and little problems can turn big pretty quick.
Think about some ProMix and use the same brand nutes as if you growing hydro. Most manufacturers will give you a hydro and a soilless feeding schedule.
Getting to know your nutes and a few more grows will really help!! And a Ph and PPM meter would really help you to keep things at optimal levels and give you the biggest yields.
Peace, Superman

I took a look at some Pro-mix products. Would this be qualified as a soil-less mix or an actual soil? One that I liked was the Premeir BX. It does have micro and macro nutrients in the mix so would I still need to use my nutrients or would that just be a secondary kind of things and then I add mine on top? I like this mix because it has some lime in it already, would it still be wise to invest in some of this stuff even though it has it already? I hear that peat has a tendency to get acidic towards the end. Also, the farm store here does have worm castings, would that be good to add even though i'm feeding liquid nutrients still? and what would my watering cycle look like? would I have to do it three times a day like hydro or would it be kinda like the way I did it before with my old soil where I just let it dry up and fed the plants every second watering?

 

[Wantstogrowbuds]

There is also the HP version which has extra perlite and less peat, says good for when extra drainage is needed. This is sounding better maybe? I know drainage is important from my last grow.

 

[superman]

I took a look at some Pro-mix products. Would this be qualified as a soil-less mix or an actual soil? One that I liked was the Premeir BX. It does have micro and macro nutrients in the mix so would I still need to use my nutrients or would that just be a secondary kind of things and then I add mine on top? I like this mix because it has some lime in it already, would it still be wise to invest in some of this stuff even though it has it already? I hear that peat has a tendency to get acidic towards the end. Also, the farm store here does have worm castings, would that be good to add even though i'm feeding liquid nutrients still? and what would my watering cycle look like? would I have to do it three times a day like hydro or would it be kinda like the way I did it before with my old soil where I just let it dry up and fed the plants every second watering?

It's a soil like mixture but without any organic nutrients in it. I call it neutral for lack of another word. It's really just a medium for the roots. You have total control of the nutes and levels. Your plants will get what ever you give them.
It has good buffers to help keep the Ph at good levels.
As far as the worm castings, they're great but work better in an organic mixture. The chemical nutes have everything already in it so mixing in an organic will throw off the levels. I don't like mixing them.
The "every other" watering schedule works fine. I feed twice and strait water once because I run CO2 and they suck up the nutes faster. Good luck!!
Peace, Superman

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I run individual DWC buckets--pretty easy, but you do need to control your pH, something you don't really have to worry about with organic grows. I run a larger commercial air pump as I often have 8 buckets. You can either use one larger pump or several smaller ones. You simply need pumps large enough to give you good air bubbles in the buckets. If you did go with some kind of flood and drain system, you would set to water 3-4 times a day, but this is an automatic process, controlled by a timer. Soil is entirely different.

Like superman says, organics and synthetic nutrients do not go together, so you would need to decide if you want to do an organic soil grow or use synthetic nutrients. I personally find organics harder than hydro, but to each their own. Everyone needs to find the growing method that works best for them and this involves experimentation.

I have not found that peat get too acidic--cannabis likes a rather acidic environment, but it is a non-renewable resource, so I try to use sparingly.

 

[Wantstogrowbuds]

It's a soil like mixture but without any organic nutrients in it. I call it neutral for lack of another word. It's really just a medium for the roots. You have total control of the nutes and levels. Your plants will get what ever you give them.
It has good buffers to help keep the Ph at good levels.
As far as the worm castings, they're great but work better in an organic mixture. The chemical nutes have everything already in it so mixing in an organic will throw off the levels. I don't like mixing them.
The "every other" watering schedule works fine. I feed twice and strait water once because I run CO2 and they suck up the nutes faster. Good luck!!
Peace, Superman

Hey, so I went to Canadian Tire today and they have the huge bags of pro-mix peat moss but i'm pretty sure its just peat moss with all the other benefits taken out. If I was to buy this, I should mix in some perlite right? and what else would need to be put in? would peat moss and perlite work good as long as I had something to adjust the PH of the soil? If so what would those things be lime and what? If I just need perlite and peat moss I could start my grow this week assuming the seeds germinate within that time sequence. They also have bags of pro mix potting soil says its good for tomatoes and that kinda thing but would it work with da weed?

 

[Wantstogrowbuds]

So, so far this is my idea. 60% peat moss, 30% perlite and 10% dolomite lime. Then add nutes when needed. Would this work?

 

[Wantstogrowbuds]

Okay, so I just bought some dolomite limestone and a huge bag of peat moss. I saw some miracle grow perlite there but I was a little thrown off on buying it cause it had nutrients added to it. Very low doses I believe, I think that's the best bet I'm gonna get for perlite without ordering it though. Should I buy that ****? Also, i'm gonna be using those red solo cups, what should my ratios be for that now? Also, i'm gonna use 3 gallon bucket, i'll apply that ratio to the buckets as well.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I would be for using a tried and true soil recipe. Peat is quite acidic, holds a lot of water and I would be worried using a soil mixture that was 60% peat. However, I am not the best organic person--still learning.

I use seed starting mix for seeds if I am not doing hydro.

I do not buy Miracle Grow anything because of what Monsanto is doing to the earth and the people on it. We need to quit supporting companies that are poisoning the earth and killing people.