First Grow need a little advice

Hi Everyone I have been going over this forum for weeks and learned alot of neat tricks and ideas and thankful to have found the site. I tried searching for all of my answers first so I apologize if any of my questions have been answered before.

First I have to give mad props to www.marijuana-seeds.nl I ordered the classic pack that comes with Big Bud, Northern Lights, and Bubble gum 10 each I paid approximately $90 including stealth shipping. I ordered on a Sunday and received my seeds the following Friday instead of a shrink wrapped CD case hidden under the case! Genius.

So My first project will be Big bud, using a soil medium, my grow area is a unused shower in the Master bedroom that is Approx 3x3x9. 3 sides of the shower are bright white vinyl and 1 side a curtain that I will prob put some mylar or something on.
I ordered a 400 watt MH/HPS switchable digital ballast from HTG supply that should arrive any day now. I am patient so my plan is to only start 2 or 3 plants and if they all die out or do not work I will try again trying to learn from whatever my first mistakes were.

I will be using a carbon filter for the smell. I have a vent in the bathroom that I will leave on. I also have a window so this brings me to my first question. With fresh air coming in from my bedroom and old air being vented out PLUS utilizing the carbon filter is there any need to vent in more air in or out of my bathroom through the window?

My next question has to do with the heat The total size of my bathroom is approximately 90 sqft the adjcent bedroom is approx 300 sqft with a portable air conditioner on the otherside of the room. First a silly question will my MH/HPS light get so hot that it could possibly melt the vinyl in my shower? Also when I run the A/C the temp in my bedroom and the bathroom gets between 64 and 68 degrees. Should I keep my bathroom door closed while the AC is running or should it be ok?

My last question (for now) is my growing medium. I have seen rave reviews regarding Ocean Forest potting soil. So far I have only been able to find this on line no where local (washington state Redmond-Seattle area). Can anyone recommend another soil that works well that should be able to be easily found locally? Most of the reading material I have read usually just says get "high quality" soil. So what makes a soil high quality.

Thanks for your support

Medcard, I'm going to answer your last question with a question if that's ok... Have you ever thought of NOT using soil at all ??? I use 100% perlite.. I have grown with soil on many occasions and 100% perlite works way way better, the main reason being it's cleaner and almost impossible to over water. With soil grows i found you can sometimes tend to over water and it's a slower grow. Just a thought.

Your second questions answer in my mind is that it should be ok with the door closed. I would also have an intake of air directly from outside coming into your growing environment i find that this is one of the most important things in a grow room.

Hope this helps a little

More fresh air will keep the girls happy to answer your first question I would bring in more fresh air from the window.
For your second question the 400 can get hot but with as much ventilation as you say you gonna have I doubt that anything will burn.(I doubt you would need the ac)your last question you can use any soil.you can get miracle gro soil add some perlite,worm castings and you can have your own good mix.peopl use fox farms because the soil is rich with organic compost and nutes in it.

you can use pretty much anything just make sure its not sand

LiEBE420 said:

you can use pretty much anything just make sure its not sand

Click to expand...

Thanks guys so I went into a grow shop over the weekend and the manager told me that hands down the best soil he ever used was this organic soil that can be bought from a local nursery. So here is the mixture break down that I will be using.

It has soil, Fir Bark Fines, Forest Humus, Peat Moss, Perlite, composted chicken manure, worm castings, bat guano, kelp meal, oyster shell and dolomite lime.

I already have my girls sprouting I used some jiffy peat starters and they are sitting inside of the heated mini greenhouse sprouted in 3 days.

medcard09 said:

Thanks guys so I went into a grow shop over the weekend and the manager told me that hands down the best soil he ever used was this organic soil that can be bought from a local nursery. So here is the mixture break down that I will be using.

It has soil, Fir Bark Fines, Forest Humus, Peat Moss, Perlite, composted chicken manure, worm castings, bat guano, kelp meal, oyster shell and dolomite lime.

I already have my girls sprouting I used some jiffy peat starters and they are sitting inside of the heated mini greenhouse sprouted in 3 days.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a healthy soil mix you've gone with!!! With such an awesome soil STAY organic. Be careful shopping at the grow shop with fertilizers and such, very easy to get confused... i recommend GH FloraNova 2 part Grow and Bloom! Both organic and both work INCREDIBLY well. VERY easy to use...

About your first post... that bathroom window, i would suggest getting a window fan! Pick them up at target, wal mart, lowes, etc... they fit directly in the window and usually have some sort of gasket to seal it to the window. Mine has TWO fans in the unit, and can be independently switched to either exhaust or intake fans. 3 fan speeds, and even a "thermostat" feature, set a temp and if the sensor hits that temp fans come on till it lowers again... this feature doesn't work very well in my model so i just leave it on! very cost effective though, i would have guess no more than 30 bucks EASY.

hope that helps and good luck on your venture!!