trying to save money, need help

[The Hemp Goddess]

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.

I think the 4' 4 tube T5 is a good way to go--that is what I run for vegging. Every fluoro and HID require a ballast to operate. Some lights have the ballast incorporated into the bulb (CFLs), some have the ballasts enclosed within the fixture (fluoro tube fixtures like the T5 and smaller HIDs), and some have the ballasts entirely separate (most larger HID lights), but they all require a ballast.

Before you buy a light, post a link and let others advise you if it is what you need. I would recommend an air cooled reflector. How big is your flowering space going to be? A 400W HPS is good for a space about 3 x 3. I am also a big fan of Panda film over mylar. Mylar needs to be hung without wrinkles to reflect well. It is thin, tears easily, generally cannot be reused, and does not wash well. IMO, flat white paint is superior to wrinkly mylar.

Your plants are stretching really bad. Get the light closer and get a fan on them to strengthen the stems.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Get that plant out of the metal bucket. The nutes can interact with the metal.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

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.

You cannot just buy the bulbs. You need the fixture. You cannot just slap the T5 bulbs into any old fixture that you have laying around.

Post here before you buy anything. You still have some misconceptions of how these fluoro and HID lights operate.

 

[mrkingford]

THG;

Ok, so i'm REAL neverous about this but i did it as you can see in the pic.
But i trust your opinion and stature here. Should i water it?

I also raised the planters with the clays (for target shooting) that i have.
I cant get any closer than that to the light. The ones in the green box will have to make due i'm afraid til i can get more lights.

Also i did not think that a can of cheap FLAT white paint was better than tin foil or mylar, another lesson learned.

As far as the T5s go, i can't put them into the 8.99 hood i bought from ace hardware last week? ( also i did not know that all bulbs have ballists, thanks, i learned another thing today).
I have the box and can read the specs if you need it or give you the part# to look up if need be.
I also have the fan on now toward the plants, i thought the breeze directly on them this early would hurt them, but again, i'll take your advice.

 

[mrkingford]

I was just on dr. chronics web site and was viewing AK47 auto flowering seeds for 50.00. They claim to yeild 30-50 grams indoors while taking only 70 days from seeds to finish?
I never read anything like this anywhere else. Whats the deal?
Thats seems to be a great deal if its true,lol. It states they flower on a TIME frame rather than a light schedule.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Yes, autos flower on a time schedule rather than a light schedule. I am not a fan of autos--ruderalis (from Wikipedia: Ruderalis sometimes known as "ditch weed" can be seen growing at the side of the road...).

There are many people here who grow them for their fast flowering times. Take yield estimates with a grain of salt. These are generally yields that you can expect only if you have really optimum growing conditions and some experience under your belt.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

THG;

Ok, so i'm REAL neverous about this but i did it as you can see in the pic.
But i trust your opinion and stature here. Should i water it?

I also raised the planters with the clays (for target shooting) that i have.
I cant get any closer than that to the light. The ones in the green box will have to make due i'm afraid til i can get more lights.

Also i did not think that a can of cheap FLAT white paint was better than tin foil or mylar, another lesson learned.

As far as the T5s go, i can't put them into the 8.99 hood i bought from ace hardware last week? ( also i did not know that all bulbs have ballists, thanks, i learned another thing today).
I have the box and can read the specs if you need it or give you the part# to look up if need be.
I also have the fan on now toward the plants, i thought the breeze directly on them this early would hurt them, but again, i'll take your advice.

Okay, put the green planter on some bricks or something like that to raise the planter.

Actually, try to look for a good quality flat white paint. It will generally have higher reflectivability.

No, you cannot just put your T5 bulbs in any old fluoro fixture. The number after the T denotes the size of the tube in 8th of an inch. For example a T5 is 5/8" in diameter, a T8 is 8/8" or 1", a T12 is 12/8" or 1-1/2". T5 bulbs need a fixture designed to take a T5 bulb.

 

[trophy_1]

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.

Click the link in my signature its a grow log of my first grow from about a year ago, there are some pics of my setup in there, not much has changed, since then.

One piece of advice on the MG is go easy with it. Start out about quarter strength and slowly increase from there. I generally feed about every third watering. Also don't over do the watering.

I use rain water to water my plants because the ph from my tap is too high. Test your water with ph strips or get a ph meter.

My yield is more than enough for the two of us, we actually give some away and still have enough for us. Its really nice to have quality smoke and not having to pay for it or go looking for it when your usual supplier is out.

Right now we are growing Purple Cindy from Highgrade and its awesome. Just harvested a plant lastnite. Its definitely the most potent stuff I've ever smoked and it smells like citrus fruit.

Just keep reading and learning you will find conflicting info at times but as you read and learn the you will find a consensus on the basics of growing MJ.

 

[Trafic]

I never read anything like this anywhere else. Whats the deal?

This is from the top of the General Indoor Growing page. http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32210

After reading this you need to go to the grow journal section and read up on all of the auto grows (there are a ton of them going on).

You really need to look around this forum a lot more.

 

[mrkingford]

Wow, lots of new info, thanks.
Funny enough, after i lowered the lights to 1", this morning i noticed the plant leaves are much broader and the stem seemed to be more sterdy.
They don't seem to want to strech as they were, i thought they would be touching the lights when i woke up this morning but their not, it seems their growing fatter leaves and stems instead. Most plants have started showing a 3rd set of leaves.
As far as T5's go, i'll guess i'll post here prior to buying anything, and i guess buying a complete unit instead of trying to piece together one would be best for me.
The auto flowering plants seemed to good to be true. Mu luck and i would only yeild a joint per plant,lol.

The green planter CAN'T be raised as you suggested, i tryed it and it puts the plants in the shade, no light hits them at all when raising them!
They are leaning a bit to the light, but otherwise look healthy and have shorter fatter stems and smaller leaves than the others.

Trophy 1; you stated to go easy with the MG? I have no idea what you mean.
From what i understand, i need to starts nutes at the time i flower which gives me a few weeks to learn.
Can you provide a web site or list of nutes needed?, or a link to using them.

And i read through your 1st grow, nice, real nice, i learned a lot.

 

[docfishwrinkle]

one trick 4 spindly plants is to up root them & plant them down in the dirt. bury them about .5" from soil to 1st set of leaves. this will give em strength. in addition 2 lowering lights.

 

[trophy_1]

Trophy 1; you stated to go easy with the MG? I have no idea what you mean.
From what i understand, i need to starts nutes at the time i flower which gives me a few weeks to learn.
Can you provide a web site or list of nutes needed?, or a link to using them.

And i read through your 1st grow, nice, real nice, i learned a lot.

When you first start feeding your plants miracle grow during the veg phase start out mixing it at 1/4 strength then slowly mix stronger solutions on subsequent feedings. If you give it to them full strength at first you can burn up your little ones.

I usually don't feed plants in veg that start from seed until the 3rd or fourth week and then just start them out with a quarter strength solution the first feeding or two then bump it up to half strength.

I usually veg for 8 - 10 weeks so by week 6 or 7 I'm up to full strength feedings. I also add about a quarter teaspoon of epsom salts every couple weeks to boost magnesium.

Basically just watch your leaf tips, if alot of them start turning brown your mixing too strong and you need to cut down on the strength you are mixing.

When I go to flower I switch over to General Hydroponics Maxi Bloom, its very reasonably priced. I mix it at a tablespoon per gallon of water.

In general I probably feed about every third watering in both the veg and flower phases.

Glad you enjoyed my journal, I had alot of fun doing it. I should have done one for my Purple Cindy but got pretty busy. Maybe I'll do one for Purple Cindy round two.

 

[mrkingford]

Where can i buy the Mg and the Maxi bloom ? Excatly what type of MG food do i get? Can you provide the excact name and size of the bag and i'll check around my local area.?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Don't use MG anything if you don't have to. Buy nutes made for MJ.

 

[Super Silver Haze]

Get that plant out of the metal bucket. The nutes can interact with the metal.

Thanks THG, i guess a metal dwc tub is out of the question then. i never thought about any interaction between metal and nutes.

Mrkingford, trust the info you get here. no one here will intentionally steer you wrong. forget about utube education, also here is the quote in my sig. in full.

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey. It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."

keep researching before you spend $. look into a sealed air cooled hood if you get a 400w hps. also you dont need a switchable system, just hps bulb and ballast. i got a 400w hps w/sealed air cooled hood for $239 from HTG.

good luck

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Thanks THG, i guess a metal dwc tub is out of the question then. i never thought about any interaction between metal and nutes.

Yes. Besides, plastic totes and buckets are inexpensive and easy to work with.

 

[mrkingford]

Don't use MG anything if you don't have to. Buy nutes made for MJ.

OK, so i can't go into a local store and ask for MJ nutes, and i'm sure their not noted on the bags that way either, so could you be more specific as to brands and where to get them.?

P.S. i'll post updated pics of the plants tommorrow.

 

[Super Silver Haze]

American Hydroponics
Botanicare
Dyna-Gro
Fox Farm
General Hydroponics
Technaflora
The Guano Company

just surf some hydroponic web sites.

 

[mrkingford]

American Hydroponics
Botanicare
Dyna-Gro
Fox Farm
General Hydroponics
Technaflora
The Guano Company

Are their different choices in each brand to chose from?
are these available at local garden shops or home depot or lowes ?
How do i choose what i need in a particular brand ?

 

[docfishwrinkle]

yes
no, hydro shop or online
google each one & decide what falls into ur bracket

not trying 2b cocky but u need 2 do some research til u think u know it then ask questions. make up ur mind on how ur goin 2 do things then run em past us & well let u know.

take care

DFW