My first real indoor grow

My brother was telling me about his buddy who grows indoor(hydro I believe) and that he really enjoys it so that got me looking into it.Found RIU.org and decided I was gonna give it a go with dirt first then try my hand at hydro.

Made me a lil grow room on wheels.Two big metal racks with adjustable shelving,Two 4"-2bulb florescent lights 6500k daytime (one on each shelf).
Had some emergency blankets in a kit i got at TARGET.(see through when no light is on but when on they are extremely reflective,not sure what it's made of but a post I read before says it's mylar.)
**PICS wil be posted after I give some more info**

Bag seeds from some pretty good middies.Started in a paper towel then put in some of them cheap seed starter trays.MG potting soil (started before I really read all the other posts about using it but it's working good for me so far I think)mixed in some peat moss.
Started with sun light till I decided if I was growing inside or back in the woods.Have since transplanted into some bigger pots and they started to thrive.Plants are roughly 3 weeks old...something like that lol wasn't worried about keeping track at the time but I plan to update this.

And now for some pics...Hopefully I can get it right the first time as I normally don't post pics in forums.Not sure of the file size but I'm thinking they may be around 800kb each.I'll try to reduce the size next time.

Ok so there ya have it.Last 3 pics were a little blurry I'll try to clean them up next time.

Any comments,suggestions tip's?

Few things I forgot to add
Using some MG dissolving food tabs in a squirt bottle.I give a few lil squirts every 3 days around the base of the plant and every other day I give a lil foilage feed right before their bed time.Timers set on 6am/off 12am.
Temp is steady 75 using well water with no kind of filters/softeners (told ya I'm out in the country.Nothing tastes as good as pure,cold ground water)
Humidity is reading at like 58
The lights don't put out much heat but to keep the light down i covered it all in a dark sheet and a old blanket and just so happened to keep it at a decent temp.
Also have a small fan blowing through it all.

**one last pic of the set up when it's closed down**

nah man thats a sick setup
when they gte big they obvously wont fit in that cage thing
so when you put them in a dif space hang a few CFL's around it to add to your light

I have a second rack that I'm gonna use once they start to get to big just gonna need more emergency blankets or actually modify it so I can use mylar.

The racks don't show size very well from pics but they are roughly 47x18x76(inches) so they are actually pretty good size.I also have a few of the biggest CFL's Lowes had that I'm gonna put in there.

Question:
Do I need the 35k lights in there right now for anything?They are growing good as is with nothing but 65k so I figure all is good.If so I'm gonna have to upgrade to some 4 bulb set-ups.

No input from anyone else?

Still no input?
Did I really do that well on my first try?I know there are a few things I can improve on but I figured this design would have been picked apart lol.

Ah well...I'll be posting more pics probably Monday.They've already perked up a bit more.I was giving to little water.Now I pour it fast till it covers the whole top of pot then sit it flat and let it soak in.Worked great.Also cut back foliage feeding to every other night.One or two of them started to get a few yellow spots.

pvc and blackplastic room with a MH and a fan or two is all u need for a closet/ shelf type thing

Hey Man Welcome to RIU,

There are some things I would like you to know.

1) I hope your the only person that knows, the most common reason for getting busted is telling someone, second to stealing power.
2) Check your local laws. That is alot of plants, where I'm from over 13 gets you a mandatory minimum of 5 years.
3) Miracle grow is not your best fert solution for your plants. It is a synthetic that your plants cannot properly absorb. It mearly gives the plants a quick pick-up, then a hard crash, making you have to give it more in a couple days. (To compare, it is alot like crack, just for plants.)
4) At your current size I would not be giving them any , espeacially strong, ferts right now.
5) You should strongly refrain from watering before your lights go off. Water+darkness+mild temperatures= mold, & bud rot.
6) You will need alot bigger of a setup for 12 plants. I have one and it currently (While Tied down) is 3' tall, and about 1 1/2' in diameter.

Reccomendations (These are mine, there are many like it, but this one is mine.)

1) Build yourself a grow box, there are many plans on here as to how to properly do it. Mine is 4'tall x 3' wide x 2' deep, and its only enough space for maybe 5 max. Your gonna have 12 monsters on your hands.

2) You need ALOT more light. ALOT more. Only go with 6500k for now while in the vegitative state. I reccomend T5 HO flouro tubes with some aid from 6500k 26w CFLs.

3) Use some good ferts, get rid of the Mansanto produced Miracle Grow crapp. Go to your local garden shop and buy some a)fish emulsion, b)bat guano, c)worm castings, d)bone meal, and e)seaweed extract. Make a tea, or mix b,c,and d into your soil when you transplant.

4) Buy a good timer and set it for 18/6. Alot of people say 24/0, but if your into biology you will know that plants need a dark period to respire.

5) From personal experiance, flower when your plant is about 10" tall, or 8 nodes. I waited until mine was 19" tall, now I have a freakin giant.

Good luck man, I hope I was some help. These are my opinions, some people may love miracle grow and sleep with it under their pillow. I don't like synthetic hormones in my beef, and I don't want synthetic crap running through my plants. Remember, stay smart. Tell no one, not even your brother. Because for people who dont, its always cool to know someone who grows, and that knowledge with a false sense of trust can be detrimental to your criminal record. Take pics, and keep us updated.

PS Read the GrowFAQs

yes man DONT TELL ANY ONE!!!

NO ONE

and you should get some cfl's for side lighting... it will hel pa ton

DAMMIT! Don't ya hate when you type a long reply then hit a button that makes your browser back up and you lose it lol.

Ok,shortening reply lol.

BlessAmerica
1.Only me, live-in GF and my brother know.Brother is a homebody who only associates with like 4 people.He was a fuck up in his younger years and now that he has grown up he stays in the shadows and just goes to work and home.
2.Growing period is a possible 5-30.Didn't see any guidelines for a set number of plants.I do know sale of more then 100kg is a 20 year MMS but I don't forsee myself ever getting that big lol.
3.Yeah I just grabbed cause I've seen some plants buddies have had growing in it and they all looked good and they finished nice.I do plan to do better next round if I don't go Hydro.I bought a SH bubbleponic(yeah yeah i know *cough ripoff*bought before I found RIU).
4.Not giving any other than light foliage mist every other day and doing fine from what i see.Probably won't really need to give much of anything since it's in MG but time will tell.
5.I water during mid day so the little bit of heat produced from the lights will help make a little humidity.Only thing that happens at night is a slight mist of MG dissolving tabs and no more than they would get from dew.
6.I'm thinning the herd soon.Some aren't thriving like the others so I'm gonna transplant them out in the woods.(100+acres to hide them in) plan to knock it down to 8 or so.4 plants would fit pretty well on my racks I think.

For your recommendations
1. The racks after knocking down the number of plants should fit pretty well.The racks are pretty close to the dimensions of your grow box.Still need to modify it a bit but I think it will work.
2.I have a few CFL's but was thinking about buying 2 more 4 foot 2 tube fixtures and mounting them side ways on the rack.Should growing go very well I'm gonna probably buy a few of the 2 foot fixtures also.Time will tell.
3.I plan to do better in the nute department next round.
Can I get a mixture amount guide or just mix all in equal parts?I keep seeing foxfarm is this something I should try to find?
4.Got timer same time I got the lights.Midnight goes off 6am comes on
5.Sounds good.I'll go buy me some 35k lights soon then.They are already close to 8 inches.

Thanks for all the help BlessAmerica

Hey GameBred,

Wow man, Sounds like your really on top of things here. Thats Great! I really have nothing much to say, as you do seem on top, about your reply. But to answer your question about FoxFarm products.... I have no knowledge. Sorry.

Alot of people love it, and from what I understand it is largely organic. I'm not one of those guys who swears by organic ferts only, right now my botanicare's bloom solution is 90% organic, there are some things you just need synthetics for. FoxFarm makes great high quality products from what I've read, heard, and seen first hand at the hydro store.

For mixing your own soil (what I do) that is one of those things you have to figure our what works best for you. I actually learned by mixing my own soil for my vegitable green house. I fill half my container (3gal) with a good soil (preferably compost soil) or Jungle Growth, then add roughly 1 1/2 cup of perilite, 1/4 cup of bat guano, 1/4 cup bone meal, 1/2 worm castings, and then mix it all up, then once blended I fill the container the rest of the way up with soil and mix it all together really well.

Making your own soil is actually pretty interesting. I don't feel the need to give my plants (all, not just my one marijuana) ferts as often. And natural ferts will not (generally) cause nute burn. One thing I have never seen on here that people should know is, if you do go organic, one dose of a strong synthetic like MG can kill all the benificial microbes in your soil.

My first few marijuana grows I messed up pretty badly (this is my first indoor). 1st time (3 plants) I killed the plants in their vegitative state with Miracle Grow (MG), 2nd (6 plants) I placed in to dark of an area in the woods and ~2 weeks before harvest they got bud rot (that was when FL had 4 hurricanes hit the same area, little sun+high humidity and precipitation= death to many plants), 3rd time (2 plants) I used WAY too much MG and when I harvested I didnt flush and the buds were REALLY harsh. Then I grew one plant organically, in full sun, and it was sucessfull, but I gave it to a relative because I was moving a long distance + it was in the woods so..... So now I have my one little Mary grown (indoors 1st time, and last for a while) 99.9999% (lol I hope) organically. I've had no pests, no major stress issues, no real problems.

I didn't mean to give you a life story. Typing high can lead to such pointless rantings. Anyway, just be safe man... Have fun... And number one above all, learn. This should be a hobby, not a source of income, or obcession. Think, when you learn how to grow a weed to it's fullest, imagine when your an old man what you can do to a veggie garden. lol. Peace out man, keep us updated.

I'm just looking to sell enough to cover expenses throw a little towards bills and get certain people high.I'm not much of a smoker I just love the smell/look of good shit lol.I'm more of a "my back,knees or ankles hurt and I want to sleep/Ok why not it's a party" smoker.

Debating now if I'm gonna flower indoors and spend more money or scatter them around my property.Got two sick dogs and one is probably gonna have a rather high vet bill.

I have grown the whole thing inside and my bill hasn't changed at all, actually went down (no joke!). Grant it you have 11 more plants than I do.... But outside you have a higher risk of it being seen. Then again you did say you have 100 acres.......... Do what you think is best.

do BOTH!!!! indoor and outdoor

lol Rae,great minds think alike.Think I'm gonna take a few of the slower growers and put them out in the woods and just keep the inside grow to a few of the better looking plants.Got 5 looking very good.*cross fingers* no males no males no males

I have a thought....ok they're on 18/6 now so if i waited till ready to flower I can put outside and nature is my light timer 12/12.
Maybe I'm wrong.Little tired after dealing with dogs all last night and today but that seems right to me.

Hey you've mentioned a couple times that you have built or own a bubbleponics system but I have only seen pics of your soil grow, do you have your bubbleponics up anywhere to see? Everything else is looking good, I am just starting a new soil grow myself and will be doing the same thing in transplanting the slow growers into the forest and keeping the fast growers indoors. Keep up the good work!

I just started the bubbleponics.Got three already sprouted and 2-3 inches tall.adjusted the light down to the center of the unit,need another light might get me a 2 foot dual bulb fixture for it.
Got three more germing to fill remaining holes in unit.Just added first batch of grow/micro nutes it came with plan to get better stuff next round this is a trial/learning run.
the packets are supposed to be 1 month per but since I plan to change the water every week and they are sprouts I used some digi's and found the weight devided by 4 and added that to the water.Once they get going good I'll increase dosage.I'll post pics as I go.This isn't hydro section but I'll still post info on that grow here also since it's still a indoor under lights grow lol.

May take some pics tonight(dealing with a possibly dying dog so keeping eye on her right now).

Quick question though...The little fan I have is nothing more than a air mover so to help strengthen the stems I've been shaking each pot for 15 secs or so to simulate being blown around by wind (shaking about as hard as you would rocking a baby to sleep)
Will this work as good as a fan blowing on them?

pple on dis dam site r so cool , u guys r great giveing tips n shit good work we should all help eachother

looking goood so far. keeep it upp!