First Timer - Some 'New' Questions

First off, let me say what an excellent and friendly forum this is. Whilst I've only just registered and this is my first post, I've been a 'lurker' for a while, taking notes and getting my research done..

Having been through the comprehensive topics here, I've got a few Q's which I haven't been able to find some basic answers on (basic as in this is my first time growing).

I'm building a 'room' which will be a sectioned off arear (batoned/dry lined) of around 8ft by 5ft. Because of concerns about heat/detection, I'll be using floro tubes.

I'm in the drawing up plans stage and a few questions have sprung to mind.

One of my biggest concerns is condensation. Whilst the room will be well vented with an in airflow and an extract to carbon filter, I concerned that moisture will appear on the insode walls of the grow room, and even worse, the inside of the window where the grow room will be stationed (it's a clue the rossers look for).
Have I got anyhting to worry about? What is a good cost effective way of keeping condensation at bay?

Hydroponics
At the moment I plan on going down the soil route, but I'm very interested in exploring hydroponics. I like the idea of keeping a constant mix of nutes (I'm even picking up the lingo ) and I already have a hippo pump and 25 gallon tank that'd make a good base (AFAI can tell). However, I've found very little on the praticalities of setting up a hydro system; I've found the odd picture here and there, but no basic diagram explanation (i.e diagrams). I'm wondering if I grew in rockwool and each plant used the same gulley/trench that fed it, would it be feasible, or does each plant need to be fed from the top? It' be very handy if anyone knows of a hydro for dummies guide with step by step pics.

Yeald & Turnover
I want to find a plant that'll grow relatively low, offering a good yield and a good to fast vegging time. Is there any breeds out there people can reccomend to fulfill this?

Flouresent Lights
As I mentioned earlier, I'm going the 'tubes' route. I see that T5 is the way to go. I've found a place selling 4ft x 4 tubes, but not sure if they are T5 or T8. If they are T8 has anybody got experience of the quality of the T8 to T5 converters?
I see that are 3000k tubes are available for flourescent - has anybody had experience of these for flowering?

Breeding....
Of course I'm getting well ahead of myself, but flavour means a lot to me. When ever I'm heading over to Rotterdam, I always make a beeline for Bubblegum, I just love it's fruity taste and smell. I was wondering is it possible 'fruity' strains, with conventional plants. i.e could you cross pollenate a strawberry plant (normal straberries) with an MJ plant?

Store Etiquette
When I go to my local hydroponic store (in UK), should I be open about what I plan to grow (as I'm sure they'll give advice as well) or should I substitute MJ with something else when discussing?

I've heard anecdotal stories of the Fuzz hanging aroung Hydroponic stores to gather intel.... Anything in this?


If I've asked anything that's been covered on your forums, please feel free to send out some 'Try searching you n00b' and then pointing me in the right direction

Any feedback gratefully received.

Keep up the great forum!


BTW: as a small contribution, a little tip. If heading to Amsterdam by Train or Car - stop at Rotterdam and buy your M - it's at least 1/3 cheaper than Dam. Easy to find shop. Get to station; have station to your back. Turn Right, take first left. Follow long road for about 500 yards past their 'china town' (which will be on your right), then you'll see one of the few Rotterdam shops on a corner on the lefthand side.

condensation: use a dehumidifier should keep everything nice and dry

hydroponics: soil is deff way easier to do and if this is your first grow (which im guessing it is) i would highly suggest goin the soil route, but up in the stickies of this section they have free grow videos where mr. green sets up a pretty sweet hydro system and shows you step by step how to do it so i would check that out. you can find his videos on you tube too

yeilds: again with this bein your first grow i would suggest using bag seed, dont wanna waste money on seeds and screw something up and the bag seed you grow will more than likely be 10x better than the shit you got the seeds from, but if your set on buyin seeds check out the seeds section and everyone on here seems to like the attitude seedbank

flouros: i have used flouros throughout an entire grow and they work fine, dunno about the t8 haven't heard of them before, but im sure they would be fine just use enough of them

breeding: sure you could cross pollinate and mj plant with any other mj plant but if you want the same taste and effect i would use the same strain

hydro store: id keep quiet about what your growin just me though

i hope i answered some of your questions good luck and welcome to RIU happy smoking

get what u need at at a hydro store and get out, pay with cash

As far as the humidity goes its good to keep a thermostat in your grow room that tells you the humidity so you can keep it under control a lot easier. If your interested in learning Hydroponics I would check out MuntantLizzard's D.I.Y. Thread or Roseman's Bubbleponics... both have a lot of good information in them.

Good Luck

my room is lined and separated with the black and white plastic called panda film,i have no condensation problems so i would not worry about that unless it becomes a problem(if you have ventilation you may not need a dehumidifier).for small plant with big yield try big bud or what ever you like mixed with big bud(mj plants only I've seen no mixing with other plants).i have big bud diesel but have seen it mixed with just about everything..please look into doing 3 gallon hempy buckets instead of soil its as cheap or cheaper and easier to be good at.all you need is perlite and 3 gallon plastic bucket.if your interested i'll post you a link or 2 on how and why hempy buckets are the way to go.

Thanks to all of you for the quick responses

I know now 'Keep Stum at the Shop' (going to visit one that is not in my area, but next county and pay cash)

I'll be sure to go through the videos suggested - thanks for pointing me in right direction; sorry I missed them the first time.

I'll keep a close eye on the condensation, if it needs it then a humidfier will be winging it's way to my room.

I've grown a single plant before, about 10 years ago from a bag seed. It turned out to be male (and only one I had), so I ended up having it as a potted garden plant on my patio I loved it, my GF didn't (I think sh didn't like the shifting it ecerytime her parents visited - I told her to leave it out, but she insisted )

This time I have a load of bag seed that I got from 'commercial' street crap in london (that brown stuff that has seeds mixed in), that I'm running a test of germination techniques & first vegatation - once I know I have that sussed then I'll go down the seeds route.

I doubt the seeds from the 'commercial' bag will blossom into anything great - anyone have a clue what kind of MJ it'd be?

One more thing.. Seeds... I see adverts for feminised seeds, but I didn't think you could sex seeds - is this just a sales gimmick, or is there some truth to it?

Thanks again guys. Once I get up and running with the room, I'll post pics/progress

You can make feminized seeds by self pollinating a female. Some people fuck with a females light regimen enough to where it produces male parts, and others spray hormones on the female plant to make it grow pollen sacks.

Flourescent Tubes

T5 , T8 , T12

T12 - These are first generation tubes. Big (diameter), not as energy efficent at T8's or T5's, less lumens per watt

T8 - Second Gen tubes. Small diameter, but energy efficentcy, more lumens per watt than T12's

T5 - 3rd Gen tubes. Small diameter than T8's, more energy efficient, more Lumens per watt (10,000 acheivable).


T8 & T12 tubes are compatible with each other. T5 run only T5 tubes. T8's can run T5's with adapter.


T5's are reccomended for growing.

johnny12r said:

my room is lined and separated with the black and white plastic called panda film,i have no condensation problems so i would not worry about that unless it becomes a problem(if you have ventilation you may not need a dehumidifier).....

Click to expand...

One thing to consider is how different the temp outside the window is going to be compared to inside. I'm guessing if you are going to grow year round, you will get condensation in the winter where you are because it will be such a different temperature inside than outside. Just keeping the humidity low on the inside is not necessarily enough because you don't want it to be at zero.

The walls of a normal grow room won't condensate as readily because they are insulated from the temps outside your grow room through the wall. Windows are just one thing of glass (unless you have double-paned windows, which would def help the situation,so check that out for sure).

And just a follow up question: you're going to cover the window right? Cause the crazy bright light will be much more of a give-away to anybody snooping around than the condensation. I would put cardboard tightly duct-taped to the window, maybe with a black trashbag or something to just make the window look really dark, then put insulation, then another layer of cardboard, then cover the inner cardboard with mylar or panda film. This should take care of any condensation and light issues through the window.

I am a first time gardener and having some trouble with the babies.. leaves are lookin curled and yellow... nuts are 1/2 dose .. any suggestions?

Thankfully my window is double glazed already The light isn't a concern as I'm building a complete room, within a room with plasterboard and battoning, it'll be a sealed unit (aprt for air flow bits and entrance door, which I'll 'airlock' with 2 curtains). The room with the grow room in it, won't have anything else in it, so I guess I could actually open the window if condensation appears to equalise the temp - the room will have it's own climate as it'll be sealed.

Thanks for the advice