First real grow FINALLY!!! all advice welcome

Hey everyone, this gonna be my first official grow. I have been a member of this site since like 2008 and have attempted grows before but failed due to wrong timing. Since then I have only gotten my knowledge up until the time was right and now it is.
My set up is a secret jardin dr90 3x3x6 im gonna run 600w mh&hps I have a lumatek digital adjustable ballast 300 400 600w and super lumen output pretty cool. I also have a 6in vortex 400+cfm inline fan and a 6in air coolable hood. I plan on using the vortex as an exhaust at the top of my tent and ducting to the hood to pull air through it for ventilation and maybe 2 clip on fans for circulation.
As far as strains I will be starting with bag seed I would really like to order some feminized indica dominants but im still debating.
Im starting with FFOF and general organics nutrients go box.
Anyway I will be posting pics (still gotta figure out how) and updating. Please any advice would be highly appreciated!

Looks like you are off to a great start!! You have 9 sq. ft. (3 x 3), and 600w, so you are well past the wattage to square foot ratio which is about 50:1. Since you have 9 sq. ft., 450w would give you that 50w per sq. ft. "ideal", and you are over that which will allow for even bigger buds!!

Make sure you keep the area cool, and always use PH-right water, which is around 6.0 (a little higher for soil, a little lower for PH). Do not over nute!! This is a classic rookie mistake we have all made. When adding nutes always start off with 1/4 strength and then add from there depending how your plants react. Remember, you can always ADD more nutes, but once added you can never take them away so start light!

Try a little fimming or topping. Do this around the 2nd or 3rd set of nodes (about 3 to 4 weeks in). This will give you more branches for a larger yield.

Focus on each phase of your grow as it comes. Counting your yield when you just germinated your seeds is kind of a waste of time. Get your plants through each phase and worry about yield when all is dried and cured.

Good luck, post specific questions as you have them!!

Thanks so much man especially for a quick response lol I was worried i'd be overlooked. Are the cheap petco ph testers ok to use? I already spent well over a grand on my equipment so im tryna get my last little needs as cheap but as effective as possible. Also how many 3gal pots do you think I can put in there without trouble? I was shooting for six thanks again

Yea the cheap-o PH meter will work pick the cal solution with it. Your setup sounds good to me post some pics if you can. How many depends on strain and other stuff

lamopa said:

Get your plants through each phase and worry about yield when all is dried and cured.

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Never in the world of weed have finer words been spoken!!!!

Ok im tryna figure out how to right now im running the tent on and my temps are high reaching 90f but I only have the 6in fan on blowing exhaust and no other fan right now also the room its in.is already 80 sumthin.degrees cus theres no ac should I get a small intake fan I will put some clip ons in

do u have fillter to suck air out?
mraliens

1.2 tent hmmm no fillter to take air out but look no space it will be and look other side of your box light need another tube in to take heat out
i do have them box thing but havent used it yet i just used 2hps 600 n 250 clf for bottom part
mraliens

Yea I put another duct on the other side of the hood I do have a carbom.filter but im waiting til flower time to attatch it to my exhaust duct

Add an oscillating fan, and if you have the room a stationary one that you point at your light to help cool it. 90 degrees is not good.

Thanks thats what I plan to do I refuse to put any plants in there until its ideal

The room its in is already like 85 degrees theres no ac in there at 300w the temp is reaching 89 at 600w its like 92 do you think those fans would make a big difference or the room its in needs to be cooler

u neeed put carbon filter as it work with mine 4.2m tent
mraliens

Im not using it until flower time when it gets too smelly no use using it now and depleting its lifespan and im pretty sure its notgonna help with the temp issue im having Ooo

Im not using it until flower time when it gets too smelly no use using it now and depleting its lifespan and im pretty sure its not gonna help with the temp issue im having

be careful with ffof as the oyster shells buffer the soil for only so long. You'll notice a low ph runoff later on especially if you added extra perlite and/or are watering frequently (the water rinses out the oyster shell)

just re read that you were using general organics i think most of their nutes are veganic so you may be able to get away with not worrying about the ph

what i ended up doing was giving it a flush when i noticed the runoff was 5.5

BlazeBoy420 said:

• Hi is there anyway way someone could possibly tell me how to wire this old hps so i could plug it into an outlet?
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  Thanks​
  
  

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you need a Ballast first.

Sire Killem All said:

you need a Ballast first.

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this really made me fucking laugh, my kinda humor