Getting everything Prepared

A1istor

Member
I hope this is the right thread if not I apologize. I am a complete noob 100% but I have been reading this forum like crazy. I am in planning stages and this is what I came up with.
Seed: Northern Light feminized auto http://www.nirvanashop.com/en/autoflowering-marijuana/798-northern-light-feminized-autoflower-5-seeds.html
Grow Process: Hydroponic( i know soil is more forgiving)
Lights: Led (aiming for blackstar)
Grow room: Sadly I have no real space so plan on making a 3x3x6 box and placing it in my basement.
So as you can see I am at the very basic stage of it all. I would like suggestions as to how to get started, what would be a good route to go. I am mostly worried about aroma so I know vents are needed. I figured building the box myself would give me more freedom and customization. I plan on growing 2-4 plants at a time. Would like to do my first batch before even worrying about continuity or anything of the such. Any suggestions and opinions welcomed.( my wife keeps asking about the bugs that target the plants and how to prevent them)
 

Voidling

Well-Known Member
Good place to start, welcome

3 ft x 3 ft x 6 ft is pretty good space. Mine is considerably less as you can see in my thread.

For this size I would go for photo period seeds. I have no experience with autos personally, but I think you would have a good bit of space going to waste.

Seeds are kind of expensive, at least they are when you have to buy them out of country. If this is the case for you then I'd suggest a small cloning / mother box with couple compact fluorescent lights. Pretty cheap setup, doesn't take much room. The other solution is if you're not quite so picky is to seed your first round. I'd put 9 regular seeds in and let them go. Pull the seeds out and use them for future runs. Or pull the males, sex reverse a female to make feminized seeds.

Hydroponic in my experience take up more space. I don't know your location, but being able to keep the water cool and dark is critical.

Buying a tent is cheaper than an all wood construction. I don't know how you plan to build it though.

For odor you need a fan pulling air out of the cab through a carbon filter. Some people swear by ozone instead. Odor elimination is not the place to skimp.

My buddy reefbongwell has some blackstars, check out some of his grows. He'll likely answer and blackstar questions.

I've been fortunate and never had to deal with bugs in my indoor stuff. My vegetable garden this year is full of spider mites though. Depending on what kind of bug and what stage the plants are in determines what you can do about them.
 

A1istor

Member
I sadly would have to get feom outside the countey to get seed. I never even looked into cloning. What you're saying that would be a cheap alternative I'll look into it. Odor elimination is a top priority for me I live in a city area. I chose led also because of that aspect of me living in a city area it seems less hassle from the electric company. I chose 3x3x6 because I thought that would be a decent size for a hydro setup.
 

Voidling

Well-Known Member
Definitely check out the hydro threads for the dimensions they're using. Here is a 2 x 4 that looks promising if you can keep water temps down https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/156863-grow-2-lbs-2-x.html

I grew with led because of heat issues. I know in my space it worked well but I have very small area and no experience with larger. Reefbongwell has experience with them in larger grows than mine.

Any of those options would be a cheap alternative to ordering more each time. If you clone you can get a pretty consistent grow and product. You can also tweak this GS that way and compare it to previous grows in order to improve.
 

Commander Strax

Well-Known Member
Have you read .. https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/234626-rosemans-diy-bubbleponics-tutorial.html

It is Mandatory reading for new hydro growers

He uses CFL but I substituted LED on my grow and I love them

Northern Lights is a great choice but you may want to go Photo like Void says, you will have more control of size.

Feminized is the way to go, I have been running regular seeds and I am sick of killing half of my crop. But I was afraid of killing good seeds.

Get a good inline fan and Carbon filter along with an ona bucket and smell is not an issue.

Good luck.
 

A1istor

Member
I looked into the tent you were talking about Void. That seems to be a easier and better route to go then building my own. For my first grow I think I'll just go auto and not worry about cloning just to get rhw feel of growing and such. @Strax atm my lnadlord is my mother lol when she moves she is giving my wife and I the house. If growing goes well and with permission from the wife the basement may be my grow room. It's apartment size fits 3 rooms has a kitchen and bathroom best part no walls. All open space. But baby steps.
 

A1istor

Member
For led would I need ballast I think its called or extra circuit board? I am looking to gor for a 400w to 600w led enough for 2-4 plants
 

Voidling

Well-Known Member
Led lights dont use ballasts. I think the blackstar will be the cheapest of the american sellers. They also have the chrome series, a little more expensive but supposed to be better. I haven't seen a side by side.

I ordered my led from china, looks like the blackstar chrome. In my particular case it worked well for a year and a half. They are going to send me replacement parts with my next order, and I need a second light anyway, so I'm hoping that it was a fluke.

LED lights lack as much penetration so you keep the light close to the plants and either lst or scrog them.
 

Voidling

Well-Known Member
Low stress training - involves tying down branches so they bend and grow horizontal rather than critical

Scrog - screen of green. You use a screen above the plant to hold the stems horizontal.

These methods make most of the plant at the same height and distance to the light
 

Voidling

Well-Known Member
I've heard great things about the gorilla grow tents, quite sturdy. There are cheaper ones, but you get what you pay for usually.

As for the hydro system it just depends on if you're a diy type or turnkey type. That type of system is simple to make cheaply. Make sure the lid is definitely light proof. You don't want to fight algae and slime, trust me. It was disgusting to clean out. Make sure to set it up off the ground so you can actually use the drain.
 

A1istor

Member
I try to go cheap on certain things but i plan on using the tent for the long run as you said you get what you pay for. I prefer prebuilt setups so I can learn from it then adapt the system to how I want. So for the first grow I'll use as is.
 
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