trying to save money, need help

[mrkingford]

Any ideas on strain?

 

[Friend-of-a-friend]

And usually it's impossible to tell a mature plant in full flowers strain, only whether it's Sativa or Indica dominant, let alone a seedlings. But I'm gonna give it a go and say it's an unknown bagseed strain likely to contain many bad phenos you'll wanna weed out......

 

[mrkingford]

Have no idea what you just said (bad phenos), but after this grow and buying all my proper lights, i'll buy nice feminized seeds and do it right. Imagine if i spent 100 on seeds now and mess them up, so bag seed will do for this grow as a learning tool.

 

[Friend-of-a-friend]

Yuppers, its what I learned on.....get your setup dialed in, then get good genetics

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

What is a T5 flouro tube and where do you buy it and how much is it?
Also, i read and saw elsewhere the foil is good and the underneath of the leaves do need light. is that wrong?
It seems that the foil does reflect well to my eye, but why do you say it is not good?
And my wife won't go for repainting the room flat white, what else can i use?

This may sound harsh, but if you have no idea what a T5 is, you haven't done nearly enough reading on lighting. The people here are willing to help you, but we cannot put your entire grow together for you.

Foil does not reflect well. Whoever told you that it is good, is incorrect. Just because something looks like it reflects well, does not mean that it does. http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13851

The underside of the leaves do not need light.

I am not talking about repainting your room--you need to build or buy a box or other enclosure for your plants. That box or enclosure is going to need ventilation. When plants are put into flowering, they need 12 hours of absolute uninterrupted darkness (for 2-3 months). Go to the growroom section and do some reading.

Also, you may want to do more reading on fem seeds before you decide that is the way to go. There is no way to tell strain from looking at the plants or bud. There are literally thousands of strains and crosses.

 

[mrkingford]

I am reading up as much as possible. I do understand now the difference between the differents lights and lumens needed for vegging and for flowering.
I guess you tube "know it alls", don't actually know it all.
Thanks for the continued help.
I'm trying to price out the different choices and set a realistic budget while not skimping on quality.
I guess i was getting ahead of myself when i stated i would buy feminized seeds, that wil be a choice for a later time, when i get through this 1st grow.
I actually have a 2nd 4ft. flu. shop light in my garage i can clean and bring in and add to the one thats already there.
Would that help any?

 

[Real78]

I would get a package set up as it is cheaper in the long run. Check out THG Supply that is where I picked up most of my set up. Also if you have about 80 dollars build yourself a DWC which you can grow faster every two month once you get them set up right. Build yourself one DWC and one Cloner and you should be good to go for a while.

If you buy fans make sure you buy HIGH OUTPUT in-line fans you will thank me when you do. I picked up just some in-line fans and man that was a waste of money so now I have to save up for HIGH OUTPUT in-line fans.

Make sure you cheap out the DIY part of this forum you will save a lot of money that way by building it yourself

 

[mrkingford]

As far as a fan goes, right now i run a house fan on low a couple hours a couple times a day plus i have a digital thermostat portable heater that keeps it at 78-80 degrees.
I guess my next step is to just watch em and wait 4 weeks til i can flower them?

 

[pcduck]

I would run the fan 24/7

Instead of using a heater I would just add more lights

And you really do need to do a lot more reading up, other wise you are going to be prone to failure.

Unless you are going to be moving this grow outside, I don't see it seceding.

 

[mrkingford]

I need a heater in that room, i live in Maine, it's 41 degrees now at 3:13 pm, and i'm not going to keep my whole house heater at 78.
As far as the lights go, i can't use them for heat as they are flu. and don't put off heat.
I will run the fan all the time from now on, and as far as reading goes, i watched just about every video on youtube and read many things here and elsewhere, and you know what, everyone has different opinions and insist others don't work. Some say "it's weed, it will grow regardless", others say you MUST have excact light,nutes,heat,humidity,etc,etc.
All i know is it only cost me so far 39.00 TOTAL!, and i have 10 small plants.
I will keep reading and taking suggestions through this grow and i will start to buy the right supplies for the next grow, again, the yeild this time is not so important as the learning along the way.

 

[trophy_1]

OK, here's how I grow about 8 ounces every two months on the cheap.

My biggest investment was my HPS for flower, you can get a 400w from HTG for about $150 shipped with timer and hangers. The 400 watt will give you decent yields without alot of heat issues. Also not a big hit on the electric bill.

I veg under 4 40w flouros, I took a large piece of cardboard and spray painted it flat white and made a wrap around for vegging. I keep the lights about an inch from the tops of my plants.

Soil, I've been using basic hyponix from walmart, it has no nutrients added but tends to get compacted so I mix in perlite to help keep it airy and drain well.

Nutrients, I use Miracle grow for veg then switch too General Hydroponics Maxi Bloom for flower.

I do a perpetual grow with separate areas for veg and flower. So I have a new batch vegging while I have a batch in my flower closet. So my flower closet always has plants in it.

I built a DIY bubbler cloner to do clones to keep new plants going for the next cycle. When you find a plant you like keep one of the clones for a mother plant to take future clones from.

I started with bag seeds like you till I got my system working, yes it is possible to grow some quality smoke from bagseed. You will probably encounter some hermies along the way though.

I take a couple clones from every plant I start from seed so I can keep its genetics going if it is a good one. You just need to keep everything well labeled.

 

[mrkingford]

tropy 1;

That was the best explaination for me to understand !
Actually, the way you grow is what i wish to do eventually.
Veg some while flowering others. The yeild is ONLY for me, as my wife does not smoke, so 1/2oz. a week is more than plenty.

Can you possibly post any of your pics to give me a better idea of the proper set up.?
Also, this morning the plants looked great and another leaf set if starting to form. They seem to be growing steadily.
I must admit, i am confused about the next step,
NUTES.
I know i'll need them for flowering, so i better start reading up now.
I am using MG for vegging.
Thanks for the feed back.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Fluoro do put out heat. In fact, lumen for lumen they out off more heat than a HPS. You would be far better off running more lights 24/7 than putting a heater in there. The light will actually contribute to growth. The heater just keeps your plants from freezing. A new light can do the same thing. I also live in a cold climate and we are still getting hard freezes at night.

The people that tell you that "it is just a weed and will grow" are most likely producing a very mediocre product. Quality bud takes time, effort, knowledge, and money.

 

[pcduck]

I need a heater in that room, i live in Maine, it's 41 degrees now at 3:13 pm, and i'm not going to keep my whole house heater at 78.
As far as the lights go, i can't use them for heat as they are flu. and don't put off heat.
I will run the fan all the time from now on, and as far as reading goes, i watched just about every video on youtube and read many things here and elsewhere, and you know what, everyone has different opinions and insist others don't work. Some say "it's weed, it will grow regardless", others say you MUST have excact light,nutes,heat,humidity,etc,etc.
All i know is it only cost me so far 39.00 TOTAL!, and i have 10 small plants.
I will keep reading and taking suggestions through this grow and i will start to buy the right supplies for the next grow, again, the yeild this time is not so important as the learning along the way.

Hey buddy all we are trying to do is for you to get the most for your buck. Without the waste of resources, the cost is the same for failure as it is for success. Yes a lot of stuff is opinionated but in most cases that opinion is from experience:aok:. Good luck with your grow. :bolt::bong2:

 

[mrkingford]

THG;

I have been doing much reading in the last 24 hours. Your last statement, "Quality bud takes time, effort, knowledge, and money.",
PRETTY MUCH SUMS IT UP!!!!!!
I only want to grow enough for me to enjoy, not to profit from or anything else.
I think possibly for me the best way is to buy 4 4ft. T5 54 watt lights for vegging as they are cheaper and dont require a ballist and buy a 400 watt hps kit from htg supply ( i've benn surfing their web site all morning, learning) and build a flower room in the closet in that room and keep the vegging outside of that room. I will also build an enclosure covered with mylar for vegging and cover the closet walls with it.
Currently i'm trying to learn about what nutes i need, how and when to add them and where to buy them.
WOW, it's a lot to learn, i thought i was done school after my 2nd degree, lol.
Dam, i wish one of those was in botany,lol !!!!
More pics to come, i'll take them after i'm done this beer, and a smoke of course.

 

[mrkingford]

pcduck;

Please take no offence, i was merely overwhelmed at all the different styles and ways to do this. I do thank you and everyone else for your help.
trial an error costs too much, for me at least, so i'll continue to soak in the advice from those of you that had sucess already, prior to spending my money, as the money is going to come from the sale of some of my personnel items, once i'm ready and sure of my next steps.
As i stated prior, i'm not cheap, JUST ON A FIXED BUDGET.

 

[mrkingford]

I turned off the lights for a second to take the pic.
How do they look?
Only 3-4 days above ground.

 

[Friend-of-a-friend]

keep that light pretty much right on top of em.Nearly touchin em.

 

[D3]

Lower the light even more, they are stretching like crazy. It sounds like your trying to get all your ducks in a row to prevent any future problems. This wont happen, your going to have problems. Things just happen. I have a couple of things happen every grow, you just deal with the problems as they come. Sometimes, the best way to learn is by doing.

 

[mrkingford]

I just called around my area and found T5 54 watt bulbs but their 14.94 each plus tax.......on HTG website they are only 19.95 for 4 of them and 14.95 for shipping. So 35.00 vs. 65.00 is an easy choice. I'll probly order them as soon as i can. I hope they don't break during shipping.
In the mean time i'll have to suffer with what i have, like i said, it's bag weed, and a learning experience.
But it would be nice to get high from something i grew, even if only a little bit.