Seeking first grow help!

[sunchild_sc]

Hey guys, thanks for clicking,

I am a newbie grower who is currently in the stages of purchasing all that will be needed to begin my first crop. I wanted to know if anyone could list off some of the essentials, minus luxuries, that I'll need to get in order to start a basic grow. The things I've noted down already are as follows,

Grow Tent
Lights for propagation [CFL] and vegetation/flowering [HPS] [Ballast]
Fan
Humidifier/température
Timer
Grow Medium
Nutrients
PH Kit

Thanks for the help in advance!

Love&Light

 

[astronautrob]

The essentials are.....Grow tent, Lights (if your going to get HPS for flower might as well get MH for veg instead of CFL), Grow medium, fan, time, & cheap nutes if you're going to use em (something like Jacks classic). That will pretty much get you started, and you should get decent results. People have grown good herb with less

 

[sunchild_sc]

The essentials are.....Grow tent, Lights (if your going to get HPS for flower might as well get MH for veg instead of CFL), Grow medium, fan, time, & cheap nutes if you're going to use em (something like Jacks classic). That will pretty much get you started, and you should get decent results. People have grown good herb with less

Thanks for the reply,

in regards to the grow medium, is it wise to buy a medium with already added nutrients or would it be more fitting to buy and add my own nutrients to a medium with no added nutes?

Thanks again

 

[GeeTee]

Might wanna add a carbon filter to that list bro!

 

[sunchild_sc]

Might wanna add a carbon filter to that list bro!

Thanks mate, yeah I was meant to add that one.

 

[astronautrob]

Thanks for the reply,

in regards to the grow medium, is it wise to buy a medium with already added nutrients or would it be more fitting to buy and add my own nutrients to a medium with no added nutes?

Thanks again

Depends on what the added nutrients are, and if they are of high quality. If you're growing in soil, and want something with added nutes, fox farm ocean forest is a good product if you can get your hands on it. A little hot for seedlings but won't kill them and is a good place to start if you don't know anything about growing/soil. Making your own soil is pretty easy also, take a look at the organic section and the recycled living soil threads, it will save you tons of money over the long run. IMO it also grows a superior product, just my 2 cents

 

[sunchild_sc]

Depends on what the added nutrients are, and if they are of high quality. If you're growing in soil, and want something with added nutes, fox farm ocean forest is a good product if you can get your hands on it. A little hot for seedlings but won't kill them and is a good place to start if you don't know anything about growing/soil. Making your own soil is pretty easy also, take a look at the organic section and the recycled living soil threads, it will save you tons of money over the long run. IMO it also grows a superior product, just my 2 cents

Thanks bro, that really helps.

on a tangent, how do you approach a grow? Do you get everything you need before hand or just purchased when needed. I'm in two minds about getting everything now or just waiting until i cross that bridge.

 

[ViceCityGrower]

If you can afford to why wait.

 

[$bkbbudz$]

Thanks bro, that really helps.

on a tangent, how do you approach a grow? Do you get everything you need before hand or just purchased when needed. I'm in two minds about getting everything now or just waiting until i cross that bridge.

When I decided to grow...I set out to learn all I could about what I wanted to do. It just made sense...I knew nothing. So I joined RIU and read, and read, and read, and read, and then read some more. I studied for a good 2 months. By then I knew exactly what I needed to get started. I was living in Disgusta GA at the time. I was so excited I drove to Charlotte and went to HTG with about $500.00. I had a list of exactly what I wanted and was in and out in about 1/2 hour. I went home and ordered seeds.

 

[breakdancer0003]

If you want to make your own soil I have a decent guide in this thread, It also has a list of items i bought for my grow op

http://rollitup.org/t/new-mmmp-grow-dutch-passion-white-widow-blue-berry-orange-bud.896475/

To amend that list

-The Mars hydro lights were so so but I really like them for veg
-The Gh nutes weren't used at all but who knows i might use them in the future
-If you are going straight organic I would recommend other soil amendments with beneficial bacteria ect, if you plan to feed in soil then I really like

-Fox farm nutes

-Emerald triangle hombolt county nutes

and if you want the easiest than

-Techna flora recipe for success kit 37$ for all you need and step by step instructions with ppms PH's feed times and strengths ect.
and like any feeding regiment start at 25% strength and work your way up

http://technaflora.com/downloads/USA2009.pdf

Best advice I can give

-Less is more with everything but light ( so if you have the space and heat mitigation for HPS then I would use MH for Veg and skip the CFL's all together )
-Don't over water
-Do PH your water
-Don't cut a whole bunch off your plant but don't be afraid to prune
-Learn how to LST and make a flat canopy, It's easy and super beneficial
-Start with 2-4 plants and really focus on them
-Don't over water
-Don't feed till 2-3 weeks after your seed pops
-Leave it alone it will grow
-Learn how to read what she wants, she will tell you when shes hungry / thirsty
-Don't over water
-Buy a PH meter for your soil as well as your water
-Make sure your soil PH meter also has a soil moisture meter so you wont need to guess on watering
-Don't over water

 

[sunchild_sc]

If you want to make your own soil I have a decent guide in this thread, It also has a list of items i bought for my grow op

http://rollitup.org/t/new-mmmp-grow-dutch-passion-white-widow-blue-berry-orange-bud.896475/

To amend that list

-The Mars hydro lights were so so but I really like them for veg
-The Gh nutes weren't used at all but who knows i might use them in the future
-If you are going straight organic I would recommend other soil amendments with beneficial bacteria ect, if you plan to feed in soil then I really like

-Fox farm nutes

-Emerald triangle hombolt county nutes

and if you want the easiest than

-Techna flora recipe for success kit 37$ for all you need and step by step instructions with ppms PH's feed times and strengths ect.
and like any feeding regiment start at 25% strength and work your way up

http://technaflora.com/downloads/USA2009.pdf

Best advice I can give

-Less is more with everything but light ( so if you have the space and heat mitigation for HPS then I would use MH for Veg and skip the CFL's all together )
-Don't over water
-Do PH your water
-Don't cut a whole bunch off your plant but don't be afraid to prune
-Learn how to LST and make a flat canopy, It's easy and super beneficial
-Start with 2-4 plants and really focus on them
-Don't over water
-Don't feed till 2-3 weeks after your seed pops
-Leave it alone it will grow
-Learn how to read what she wants, she will tell you when shes hungry / thirsty
-Don't over water
-Buy a PH meter for your soil as well as your water
-Make sure your soil PH meter also has a soil moisture meter so you wont need to guess on watering
-Don't over water

Thanks for the feedback, lots of beneficial information. Can I also ask what the best approach to watering your plants would be? how often, dosage, what nutrients you'd recommend and how much to use? thanks again!

 

[breakdancer0003]

Can I also ask what the best approach to watering your plants would be? how often, dosage, what nutrients you'd recommend and how much to use? thanks again!

-If its soil i would say water and feed when you need too ( the plant / soil will be easy to read esp with a moisture meter)
-If its soiless like a pro mix where you add all your own nutes in the water then there are feed charts established for that
-If its hydro then its the same as soiless there are feed charts already made depending on your nute line.

 

[alaskachic]

What strains are you looking at?