Questions from a new Grower

So I'm relatively new to growing and I have quite a few questions that I need answered ASAP since I plan to start growing within the next 2wks. I'll start by telling a little about how I plan to go about things and I'll separate my questions for ease of reading. So here we go:

I have about $1000-1300 to work with. I've settled on a grow closet thats about 59"x59"x78", a 600w virtual sun hps+mh lighting kit, a ph meter,a propagation kit to start my seeds, and an ozone generator. I'm going to grow 2 different autoflowering strains and do in fact plan to clone. I want to start with only 2 plants as I only have 4 seeds (2 of each strain) and then a month later I'll plant the other 2. Now for the questions
Organic Soil Mixture:
I came across Subcool's organic soil mix quite a few times and it seems to be a tried and true mix. My question is what do yall think about using Earth Juice's Amazon Bloom as a base (ingredients listed below)? Can anyone give me a step-by-step break down of how to mix it?

Pots and transplanting:
First off I would like to avoid transplanting all together so I guess my question is is that even possible? If so how? Second I've been looking at smart pots and it seems that the roots grow into the mesh of the bag so I was wondering if I could just start them in a smart pot and then transfer the entire smart pot into a bigger one and cover it with soil? I guess my main goal is to cause minimum to no stress to my babies. Also what do yall think about 2 plants in those huge sterelite bins with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage?

I think that is all the questions I have (for now ) I've been researching this for about 2years now and feel it is time to jump in and start growing since I wish to make this my career. It seems there is a wealth of info for a young woman to learn so I welcome any and all input.

Eath Juice Amazon Bloom Organic Soil:
peat moss
forest compost
coconut coir
feather meal
bat guano
marinebird fossilized guano
steamed bone meal
sulfate of potash magnesia from langbenite
neem meal
earthworm castings
sea kelp (ascophyllum nodosum)
humate ore (leonardite) yucca meal
oyster shell lime

First off, congratz at trying your hand at growing Senora!
Heres my advice:
1. I dont think you can clone auto flowering plants, but then again I dont grow auto's?
2. I would chose a good carbon scrubber over the ozone generator anyday. (cops know what ozone smells like, and high ozone levels can burn plants and hurt your lungs)
3. Growing isnt as easy as you think and even subcools soil is a little flawed. (ive grown with it multiple times)
4. You can in fact grow without transplanting.
Transfer a 3-4 week old sproutlet that was sprouted in a plastic cup into the bottom 1/2 of a 5 gallon pot, veg it, and fertilize accordingly.
When its time to flower: chop off the bottom branches "lollipop" and fill in the top 1/2 of the 5 gallon pot with a blooming soil.
..OR you can simply dampen the soil a little, pull the plant out and fill the bottom half of the planter with bloom mix. (its really really easy)
You really dont need to be that concerned with transplant shock, the only time you really shouldnt transplant is anytime after flowering has started.
All you gotta do is add a little shaving off an aspirin into some water with some superthive, transplant quickly and cleanly without damaging any roots, and you dont need to worry about transplant shock.
5. DONT use Earth Juice Amazon Bloom Soil for a base mix. This is a FLOWERING mix, not VEG, so its already going to have lots of phosphorus and potassium in it.
6. Since your new to growing, you might want to try just mixing Ocean Forrest with Happy Frog, then add lots of Great White myco,Organicare Grow dry fertilizer, a cup of lime, and 1/4 cup of epsom salt. Then when its time to flower, just top dress with some Organicare Flower dry fertilizer and a little more epsom salt.
7. Fuck Smartpots, those things are so over priced, just make a "Earthbox". Youtube "how to make an Earthbox". I grow in earthbuckets and they work great.
.

Persoanlly, if your gonna try growing for a profession, you have alot to learn.
One thing that needs to be factored in is the price of all you fertilizers, its one of your biggest overheads next to electricity, and if your growing for profit you need to keep overhead as low as possible.
But whatever you decide, were here to help when you got questions

Yeah, you don't clone auto flowering strains and I think your going to be wasting a lot of money with everything your buying. Throwing cash around isn't going to give you the grow you want. Only experience will do that.

If I was in your shoes, I would buy one 1.5 cu ft bag of Fox Farm Light Warrior ($12 a bag) which is specifically made for starting seeds and start in one gallon smart pots ($3 each). Stick with a well known Indica because they grow short and are usually very hardy making them very easy to grow.

After three to four weeks of growth, buy two 1.5 cu ft bags of Roots Organic potting mix ($18 a bag) and transplant them directly into the bag. You don't even have to buy more containers. Just poke holes in the bag and be done with it. Don't be scared to transplant either. it's very easy. Just let the soil get a little dry, then roll the sides of a smart pot just like if you were taking off a part of socks, bury the root ball 12 inches deep, then water until you see run off.

For nutrients, a one part all purpose dry release fertilizer is going to be the easiest to use. However, you'll probably do a little better getting a 3-part liquid fertilizer. However the liquid is faster acting and like anything, the more complex you make it the higher the chance of messing up. If you think you have a green thumb, go with the 3-part veg & bloom. Where as if you tend to kill any living plant you touch, stick with a slow acting all purpose dry release blend that will last for the entire season. Anything that says 4-4-4 or 10-10-10, where the numbers are equal across the board, is considered all purpose.

Hope this helps and best of luck to ya.

to be perfectly honest i think that if youre growing indoors you should be doing hydro. that is just my oppinion

you have a fair amount of money to work with and you can probably find a nice hydro set up on craigslist for a pretty fair price.
I just think that you cannot grow a very big plant in a reasonable size pot that would be space efficient indoors.

You should also look for some photoperiod (non autoflower) seeds. autoflowers are hit or miss, and usually they are miss haha


If you have your heart set on growing in soil i recommend planting in either jiffy pucks, or planting straight into a plastic party cup filled with seed starting mix

Then transplanting right into the pot that you plan on finishing in, the larger the better-depending on veg time

I think that Fox Farms Ocean Forrest would be a good soil for you to use, possibly mix it 50/50 with some Fox Farms Happy Frog or Light Warrior because Ocean forrest tends to be pretty hot


As for nutrients, i believe that fish emulsion would be the only nutrient needed for veg and then you can pick any brand for flower. most big name companies have an organic line

And I know many growers have very good luck using smart pots and the smaller pots are fairly priced, id so go for the smart pots.

Yea, stick with Fox Farm Happy Frog and Ocean Forest mixed. That works great for people starting out, that's what I used to do.

Getting a carbon filter instead of a generator was also great advice.

I used to plant clones in a party cup and then transplant into 5 gallon felt pots, but now I actually put my clones into 1 gal plastic pots, FIM when they've reached 6-8 inches, and then replant after a couple more inches of growth into 5 gallon felt pots.

I highly recommend felt pots, but I wouldn't buy smart pots, buy Root Pouches or Root Pots. They work better, are much cheaper, and are made of 100% recycled materials. Another benefit of using these is that you can feel how far down the water has gone in the pots so that you don't over water.

Also, and this is actually my most important advice to you..if your grow closet is 5'x5' you should have 1000w light system in their. A 600w only covers a 4'x4' at best, and that's pushing it.

Ocean forest and smart pots is all i use for my grow, along with the GO lineup... works wonders.

I think you will be better off if you transplant a few times. Your going to want to give your plants plenty of soil (3-5 gallons per sq foot of final canopy space) and if you put seedlings into huge pots your going to have issues. For example, a big pot soaks up a lot of water, but when you put your seedlings in they are going to have tiny roots, so your pots are going to stay soggy a long time before your plants can use up the water. Its better if you have a pot that fits your plant so it can be watered and then become dry again in a reasonable amount of time, your roots need water AND oxygen to thrive so those dry periods are important.

good luck man you will be a pro in no time if you stick around here!