Newbie Indoor Grow

Hi,
I am trying to grow a plant for the first time. I am going to grow the plants I have looked at alot of the posts and have realised that each grow situation needs to be handled in a specific manner. As such, i thought i would detail what i intend to do, post a few pictures and hopefully, someone can point me in the right direction. (P.S: I would usually just buy my stuff, but where i live a quarter ounce costs 150 USD, i really can not continue buying at these prices...)

Seeds


I got these seeds from the last batch i had bought, i have squeezed them lightly to check if they are good, they did not crumple, so i assume they are good. I have read up alot on the germination process and i think i will be able to handle the process. But if someone is able to tell what strain they are and if they need specific nutrient mixes or care procedures, please advice.

Pots



I bought these pots at a plant shop near the house. The one pot is a normal one, the green one has a built in resevoir at the bottom for excess water to accumulate. The pots are around, 0.90 gallon in size. I hope that is enough.


Lighting Source and growing conditions


I appologise for the picture being oriented incorrectly, but i thought it would help discuss the lighting source. It is about 6 feet from where the plant would be. Now,
i can change the lights to high power and run them during the day, to ensure that i raise no suspicion. Any suggestions on wattage?

I do not want to attach any additional light fixtures, just in case some friend enters the bathroom and starts asking questions... I can hide the plants easily, fixtures, tend to be a problem.

Anyway, i am thinking of starting next weekend. From the germination stage..
I am going to buy some potting soil from the shop sometime during the week. Apparently the soil comes with some moss in it, soil, perlite and added nutrition. I have been informed by the shop that i can not buy plain soil and mix it up. They do have perlite. I have been reading many posts about the something schemy, could i try that?

I have purchased Miracle Grow Singles (The NPK ratio is 3:1:2) i guess, i do not need to worry about nutrition for the first three weeks. But anyhow... Any help from you guys will be highly appreciated...

OH YEAH, i will keep posting pictures on progress and growth to make things easier for any future growers..

so are you going to grow it in your bathroom? Pots looks fine tho.
For lights i would recommend you get some CFLs.

From what your desribing a grow with smokable buds is not going to happen,3 wall mount light fixtures 6 ft above plant level is not going to cut it,you should seriously start reading the grow faq,see what types of lighting are good for growing,look at some grow journals & see how the lights must be positioned & the wattages needed.

You dont want to install new lighting incase a friend uses the bathroom ? ,i take it this means you'll be moving the plants when company comes over,not the best idea,you need a stable enviroment for the plants to grow right,this enviroment must have totally uninterupted light cycle's.

Also, humidity levels in a bathroom are going to be out of sight,when & if you get the plants to bud you can be assured of bud rot or powdery mildew on the plants.

I would not ever start the grow until you have a much better understanding of what its going to take,how to set up a grow enviroment & the equipment needed to pull it off,your bathroom is not going to work unless you make some major modifications to lighting & tempertaure/humidity control.

you need a light source as close to your plants as possible without burning them. for tubed flouros about 2" off top of plants, for Cfl's about 6-8" from plant tops. for stronger lights use the hand test. put your hand on plant top. if it's too hot for your hand it's too hot for your plant. your lights or your plant heights must be adjustable up and down for proper lighting once they start to grow. you need a fan on them, even a small one will do, this will strengthen the stems. you can't be always moving them either, they will stress out and may go 'hermie' on you ( a seeded female plant is a hermie).
get them on a 24/0 or a 18 on/ 6 off lighting schedule. make sure you germinate them properly too. put them into 16 oz. plastic cups with drainage holes in the bottoms (no clear cups, roots HATE light) water them every 3-4 days, no nutes or ferts for first 3 weeks
what are you gonna' do about the smell? Once they begin to flower you'll notice the unmistakeable odor of weed in the air. I only have 4 plants, but my entire basement has a weed odor in it. I'm not complaining, but I have utmost privacy, your neighbors on the other hand may notice it...

panhead said:

From what your desribing a grow with smokable buds is not going to happen,3 wall mount light fixtures 6 ft above plant level is not going to cut it,you should seriously start reading the grow faq,see what types of lighting are good for growing,look at some grow journals & see how the lights must be positioned & the wattages needed.

You dont want to install new lighting incase a friend uses the bathroom ? ,i take it this means you'll be moving the plants when company comes over,not the best idea,you need a stable enviroment for the plants to grow right,this enviroment must have totally uninterupted light cycle's.

Also, humidity levels in a bathroom are going to be out of sight,when & if you get the plants to bud you can be assured of bud rot or powdery mildew on the plants.

I would not ever start the grow until you have a much better understanding of what its going to take,how to set up a grow enviroment & the equipment needed to pull it off,your bathroom is not going to work unless you make some major modifications to lighting & tempertaure/humidity control.

Click to expand...

totally agree, if aything smokable comes out of that setup i will be very pissed for having spent so much cash on my own setup..lol

Weed needs love , care and attention, it needs a stable home, and lots of warmth and mostly light , not much different than a human really..lol see what happens when we neglect our own children, don,t put your weed through that!!!..lol read up and make a set up worth putting a seed in.

peace man

Thanks for the input people...
I shall see if i can work this in my closet....
I understand the humidity problems in the bathroom..
I shall update this post with some new set up pictures,

Alrightie, after scouting around, i have found a spot in my closet...





Actually this seems like a very good spot for atleast one plant to grow... Additionally, it is white inside, hence colour reflection is pretty good.. I guess, i could look for a CFL light fixture to fit in here and hang of the rod you can see in the picture... Any feedback would be appreciated...

Any feedback on the miracle grow nutrition and soil options?
Thanks guys

That looks like enough room to start at least 4 plants, that way you can keep the best female to finish a grow. I use liquid MG all purpose at 1/2 strength after fifth set of true leaves are visible, never had a burn problem yet. For soil I was using Lowes store brand but ran out, now i'm using Scotts select potting mix, it seems to be very similar. For flowering I have been using MG bloom flower food at full strength, no problems so far.

Much better location,the closet will work,slow down on worring about fertilizers & soil,those things come later,first you need to concentrate on lighting & air circulation.

Question of maximun importance.

Will the closet door be able to remain open at all times or must it be closed for security reasons,this question has bearing on how to light your space,with light comes heat.

If you cant leave the door open at all times you will need to install air intake vents & powered exhaust vents to remove the heat & bring in fresh air,if the door can stay open you will not need these things.

The absolute best lighting source for growing fat,juicy,heavy,resin coated,sugary buds is HID lighting,you have 2 choices which are High Pressure Sodium & Metal Halide,the High Pressure Sodium is the best all around but either will work,for the sake of quick reference High Pressure Sodium is "HPS" & Metal Halide is "MH.

Things you'll need to get a reaal/productive grow operation going.

Lighting = $150.

Soil & amendments =$20

Appliance timer = $8

20" Inch oscalating fan = $20.

Fertilizer = $10.

PH test kit = $10.

PH lower = $5.

PH higher = $5.

Thermomoter/hygrometer = $5.

Misc hardware = $20.

Plastic sheeting = $5.

First you need to line the floor with plastic for protection leaving enough on all 3 sides to turn up the walls several inches,then you attach the light to the ceiling using a screw hook & chain or rope,i prefer chain.

Then you hook the appliance timer (read heavy duty rated) to the light & set it to 18 hours on & 6 hours off,the fan you can set outside the closet blowing fresh air in in any way you like.

Now your ready to put the plants in the room,bring the light down to within 2 ft of the plants then measure the temperture,it should be between 70 degrees & no higher than 80 degrees,you can adjust temps with fan lcation & by raising the light level,once the plants start to bush out you'll want the light as close as possible to the plant canopy without burning the plant,you check for heat by holding your hand right where the top of the plants will be,if you feel heat on your hand its too close,also use the thermometer to check the temp,remember not over 80 degrees.

A regular mercury thermometer is better than a digital,now way to get a false reading with old style mercury thermometers.

Watering your plants is important but weed likes a certian type of water,plants grow best in soil when the water is PH'ED to a level of 6.5,this is very easy to do & should not be overlooked,these products can be bought at any pet store,walmart,meijers ect,do not let a salesman talk you in to the ph buffers that automaticly set your ph at level 7,this is too high,get the right stuff.

Soil,you can use any potting soil but you'll need to amend the soil,here's is an easy recipie that i use.

Potting soil = 40%

Top soil = 20%

Perlite = 30%

Sand = 10%.

Using such a soil mix will give you light fluffy soil where the roots can easily grow,it also helps prevent root problems associated with over watering,the top soil inthe mix will supply more than enough nutrients to get started with & into the weeks beyond.

Once you have everything in place,the system up & running update back & people will help you through finding out which plants are male or female,also other issues like how to fertilize .

Here is the best dollar value light system on the market,designed for & perfect for growing big fat buds,you can get off cheaper using other lighting but unless saving $20 or $30 is important i wouldnt reccomend it,buy the right light the first time & get growing the right way.

NEW 400 watt HPS Grow Light 400w Hydroponic Sodium Lamp - eBay (item 150225851747 end time Mar-24-08 15:00:00 PDT)

just curious. where can i pick up the types of lights i need to use? i bought standard "grow" lights from Lowe's and they seem to be working well insomuch that my plants are growing at a quick pace.

i'll try to get some pics up so you can see exactly what my set up is.

awesome....
Thanks for the info...
I shall keep updating every two weeks with my progress and pictures..

Hey guys,
I was reading up and i had noticed many people talking about CFL lighting,
could someone tell me if i could use CFL lighting for my grow setup and if yes, how much wattage i should be looking at?

Thanks

You can use CFLs. Many people here do. I cant tell you much, I use some but only for supplemental lighting. Read up on the CFl sub-forum at: CFL Growing

mjmaupin said:

just curious. where can i pick up the types of lights i need to use? i bought standard "grow" lights from Lowe's and they seem to be working well insomuch that my plants are growing at a quick pace.

i'll try to get some pics up so you can see exactly what my set up is.

Click to expand...

Ditch the grow lights. Yeah, that got a good spectrum, but lose intensity in the process. Just get some CFLs and some of the Y adapters so ya can screw two into a single socket.

In the DYI forum, there is a subform *just* for CFL growing. There you'll find the right 'temp' of light ya want (270K 6000K, etc.) I'm on a small HPS, so can't be too much help. sorry

Hey guys,
I looked up quite a few forums on germination..
I figured that i should start it off,
i have like four seeds in total, i took them all, soaked them in water for 12 hours, then placed them on a moist paper towel in a storage container...

It has been about 36 hours, i had a peak and there seems to be no progress..
I closed up the container, left it in a warm place...

Does anyone know how much longer this will be?

Thanks

Crozallian said:

Hey guys,
I looked up quite a few forums on germination..
I figured that i should start it off,
i have like four seeds in total, i took them all, soaked them in water for 12 hours, then placed them on a moist paper towel in a storage container...

It has been about 36 hours, i had a peak and there seems to be no progress..
I closed up the container, left it in a warm place...

Does anyone know how much longer this will be?

Thanks

Click to expand...

This is a response for soil growing.

I really feel this 'germination techniques' are all BS (well useless, and unneeded stress for the infant). The only reason to do it is to get sprouts (or south of) that aren't dead. (or maybe for hydroponics)

I think throw the seeds in jiffy pots or the like. They sprout, keep 'em going. 3 weeks no sprout? Keep the jiffy pot for next round.

(I don't like the jiffy pots in general, just easy to the brain and to type)