I'm getting ready to do a first grow indoors with a couple Easy Ryders and I have a some questions for anybody kind enough to offer their wisdom and experience, particularly with AFs grown in soil. I have no experience growing anything at all, so everything is new to me. I'll preface this by saying that I've spent several days reading everything I could find on the subject, especially from the forums on this site, so I've already done quite a bit of homework but I still have plenty to learn and lots of questions.
For light I've settled on using CFLs due to size, space, heat, and cost considerations, and I've already purchased the equipment so it's completely settled. I also already happened to have some of the CFL bulbs I'll need (a few 23W(100) 2700Ks putting out 1600 Lumens, and a bunch of 13W(60) putting out 900 Lumens that I may or may not use. Still need to get one or two 42W(150) 6500Ks putting out around 2600 Lumens but HD didn't have any in stock.
For a medium I've settled on using Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil. Did a lot of reading and it was one of the most highly recommended (along with Black Gold and a couple others), and most people said you really didn't
need any nutes at all with it, and didn't need to mix it with anything else. With AFs pretty much everyone said not to use Nutes in the first few weeks anyways, if you use any at all.
These are my questions, in no particular order:
- Although people said straight up Ocean Forest would work great without mixing it with anything, I constantly see people talking about using Perlite, and I've seen a lot of people say you should always use Perlite with any "soil" medium. Should I use it, and if so, how? Do I just mix it thoroughly into the FFOF soil? If so, how much Perlite should I mix with say 1 gallon of FFOF?
- Do I need to do anything to prep the soil such as flushing it etc., and if I do, how long do I need to let it dry out (if at all) before I plant the germinated seeds? Is there anything else I need to do with the soil before planting?
- How far below the surface of the soil should I plant the germinated seed?
- Bearing in mind these are Easy Ryders, using FFOF soil, does anybody that's familiar with this combination recommend using nutes, and if so which ones, how much, and at what point in the process? Everything I saw said not before 3 weeks if at all.
- Regarding the lighting, it seems everybody always says to use 6500K for Veg and 2700K for flowering, but since there's no real Veg with AFs, what color temps are recommended? I've seen at least a few people use a combination of 23W 2700K CFLs and 42W 6500K CFLs throughout the entire grow. Is this recommended?
- So as not to waste electricity, when I'm just starting my two seedlings how much light do I need? I would think that a single 23W, 2700K bulb in a reflective base about 2 inches above the seedling, putting out around 1600 Lumens, would be sufficient for the first couple weeks before adding lights, but any input is welcome.
I think that's it for now, I'm sure I'll have more questions down the road. Can't wait for my seeds to (hopefully) arrive soon and get started. Ordered fems so I shouldn't have to deal with any sex issues.
TIA, and +REP to anybody that can help!
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