New to growing with aerogarden questions

[smokeh]

lo all, this is my 1st post on these forums so be gentle with me

ok 1st of all, i have read some of the stickys in this section and they dont really answer my questions i have.

ive come across the aero garden and it seems quite good. price seems ok, £120 (GPB). ive checked out some videos on youtube an other posts on using aero garden to grow pot but still abit confused.

1) is it worth it?
2) will i be able to grow the plants for the full amount of time? (i read somewhere the light fittings at the back dont go high enough)
3) how long will it take from day 1 of seeding to final day of harvesting
4) are the lights strong enough - had mixed reviews on this, some people have said yes, some said no, get more powerful bulbs.


theres probably alot more questions i have in mind i just cant think of at the moment. if any1 can help me out that would be great.

btw, i dont have any growing experience or equipment. i just seen the aero garden and thought id give it a go if it wasnt too much hassle.

if theres a starters guide as to what i might need / how much to spend to get started then can someone point me in the right direction please.

ps. i cant stress enough that i am a total nub with regards to growing. ive been smoking pot for 5 - 6 years so i have general knowledge of the stuff, just not growing / cloning.... still abit rusty on male / female plants but the stickys will cover that stuff.

thanks again

 

[sTOKEd]

While the Aerogarden can work, the general consensus around here is don't waste your $ - it's too small and the lights are neither strong enough or able to be raised tall enough.

For the same sort of $ you can set yourself up with something much more suited to growing weed than basil and tomatoes.

If you're new I'd recommend you start a soil grow - the plants grow slower than in hydro which means they react to problems slower, which gives you - the grower, more time to fix any nutrient issues.

Depending on the strain you choose to grow, seed to harvest in around 3-3.5 months if you're doing it right.

I suggest thoroughly reading the Grow FAQ (top of the page).

What's your living arrangement? Do you need your grow to be stealth or is this not important? also what's your budget for the whole grow?

 

[smokeh]

thanks alot for the reply, that has helped me move on abit. looks like aero garden is down the drain now.

atm, i am in England living with parents, im 21 years old but i rekon in about a month i should of moved into my new house so i was just at the stage of gathering information and gettin prepared kinda thing.

can u recommend something similar 2 aero garden? just something small to start off with. if it means me using standard plant pots and watering etc on my own that isnt a problem for me to read up about - just wondering if there is any other options out there.

also, i havnt decided on final seeds but ive checked out the Nirvana shop and they denote how easy it is to grow. noticed 1 or 2 strains have said "easy - for beginners" so probably one of them. i think 'Big Bud' was one of them.

budget for growth atm is low. id say £200(GBP) max as this is my 1st ever attempt to grow something. maybe if all goes well i will think of upgrading equipment.

 

[growingmom]

actually..areogarden lights have worked great for my plants, but I finish outside. There are some success stories in these forums if you search them, but most all of them were from modifying the unit..and a lot of trial and error. But it CAN be done.....

 

[Pookiedough]

Aerogarden works pretty good for clones,unless your cat eats them...which my sweet dear kittay loves the taste of clone.

 

[growingmom]

Have the same problem...damn CATS!!!

 

[sTOKEd]

thanks alot for the reply, that has helped me move on abit. looks like aero garden is down the drain now.

atm, i am in England living with parents, im 21 years old but i rekon in about a month i should of moved into my new house so i was just at the stage of gathering information and gettin prepared kinda thing.

can u recommend something similar 2 aero garden? just something small to start off with. if it means me using standard plant pots and watering etc on my own that isnt a problem for me to read up about - just wondering if there is any other options out there.

also, i havnt decided on final seeds but ive checked out the Nirvana shop and they denote how easy it is to grow. noticed 1 or 2 strains have said "easy - for beginners" so probably one of them. i think 'Big Bud' was one of them.

budget for growth atm is low. id say £200(GBP) max as this is my 1st ever attempt to grow something. maybe if all goes well i will think of upgrading equipment.

The Aerogardens can definitely work, but as stated you'd need to modify it and my personal opinion is you'd be better off spending the majority of you $ on better lights than on a hydro setup.

I would stick with soil and forget hydro first time round for the reasons I've given - also, a few pots and some decent soil is going to cost you a sheet-load less than an Aerogarden. The Aerogarden is actually what sparked my interest in growing again and the more I read into it the more I developed the opinion my $ was prob better spent elsewhere.

If you want something easier and don't want to have to deal with heat issues associated with HPS/MH lights, I'd recommend a CFL grow - There's a company called Envirolite in the UK who specialise in Compact Flourescents for growing.

If you're not after huuge yields then CFLs are prob a good way to start.

I'd start off with 2x125w Envirolite's in the 6400k spectrum for the veg stage, then when you want to flower, switch to 2x125w Envirolite's in the 2700k spectrum (leave one of the 6400k ones in for good measure) - that would be plenty of light for a couple of reasonable sized plants in a smallish area which would yield you more than enough bud to last you til your next harvest. < All that light in a closet or something similar would be enough for a couple of Oz or close to, off 2 plants I'd have thought.

GENUINE ENVIROLITE 125W GROW LAMP FOR VEG 6400K on eBay, also Hydroponics, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 15-May-08 17:39:54 BST)

There's a link to the Envirolite on ebay - you'd get 4 of those delivered for $100GBP - you'd prob only need to spend another $50GBP on a couple of fans, some reflective mylar or panda film, soil, pots, nutrients, timer etc.

Good luck and feel free to ask any more questions.

 

[smokeh]

The Aerogardens can definitely work, but as stated you'd need to modify it and my personal opinion is you'd be better off spending the majority of you $ on better lights than on a hydro setup.

I would stick with soil and forget hydro first time round for the reasons I've given - also, a few pots and some decent soil is going to cost you a sheet-load less than an Aerogarden. The Aerogarden is actually what sparked my interest in growing again and the more I read into it the more I developed the opinion my $ was prob better spent elsewhere.

If you want something easier and don't want to have to deal with heat issues associated with HPS/MH lights, I'd recommend a CFL grow - There's a company called Envirolite in the UK who specialise in Compact Flourescents for growing.

If you're not after huuge yields then CFLs are prob a good way to start.

I'd start off with 2x125w Envirolite's in the 6400k spectrum for the veg stage, then when you want to flower, switch to 2x125w Envirolite's in the 2700k spectrum (leave one of the 6400k ones in for good measure) - that would be plenty of light for a couple of reasonable sized plants in a smallish area which would yield you more than enough bud to last you til your next harvest. < All that light in a closet or something similar would be enough for a couple of Oz or close to, off 2 plants I'd have thought.

GENUINE ENVIROLITE 125W GROW LAMP FOR VEG 6400K on eBay, also Hydroponics, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 15-May-08 17:39:54 BST)

There's a link to the Envirolite on ebay - you'd get 4 of those delivered for $100GBP - you'd prob only need to spend another $50GBP on a couple of fans, some reflective mylar or panda film, soil, pots, nutrients, timer etc.

Good luck and feel free to ask any more questions.

ok u lost me half way through that,lol.

i will check out that link soon. would it not just be easier to buy a few plant pots with some soil and then find something to hang some lights on?

ill have to read up on lighting as i dont know anything about it. E.G how powerful the lights should be.

im not planning on growing fields of the stuff to sell. just enough to get me by.

so id say about 3 - 4 plants on basis of 10 weeks growing time.

ill go back an re-read your post an just have to google stuff.

thanks for the help.

 

[sTOKEd]

the plants have 2 distinct cycles - vegetative growth (growing leaves, getting bigger etc.) and flowering (when they start producing buds).

the optimal spectrum (colour) of light during the veg stage is 6400k or "Cool White" if you're looking to buy CFLs online or from a hardware store. The spectrum needed most for flowering is "Warm White" which is 2700k.

Basically, if you plan on using CFLs (which I recommend for your situation), then you'll need certain lights specific for growing the plant and then other lights specific for making it flower...if that makes sense.

If growing from seeds, i'd germinate around 5-6 with the intention of growing 2 females...some plants will end up being males, which don't really produce any smokable bud, and you'll need to get rid of them during the grow - chop them and throw em in the bin.

Anyway, I'd recommend spending a few weeks at least reading up about lights and how to grow before you buy anything or throw any seeds into pots. Good luck mate - the more you read now the more equipped you'll be when it comes time to dive in.

 

[smokeh]

that has cleared some things up abit. i understand about needing 2 different types of lighting for the 2 different stages but just a couple things thats bothering me about lights.

i understand that u told me about the light color being white for flowing. thats fine.

but how did u work out what wattage and how many luminaries i needed? also, i looked at the link i gave me on ebay and also googled a couple things and this might sound really stupid but, wtf do i plug those luminaries into?! lol.

was going to ask about extract fans but that should be easier to work out than electrics. i should only need 1 or 2 fans leading out the window or something.

my learning curve is abit weird, sometimes i have to do the practical side of things to learn. ill give some things ago anyway once ive read up abit more or else im gonna waste about 20 quid on seeds for nothing.

 

[sTOKEd]

just make sure you use lights with 6400k spectrum for growing and 2700k for flowering.

generally speaking you want 50w of lighting power per square foot of growing space..

so if you have a closet/wardrobe, take it's length in feet and multiply by its width - this will give you the area of the space. take this figure and multiply it by 50 - that's how much wattage of lighting you'll need.

plants don't see lumens - it's a measurement of light output that really only means something to humans - i'd worry more about watts than lumens.

the lights themselves plug into an E40 lamp holder - like this..

Envirolite lamp holder E40 plug grow light FREE YOYOS on eBay, also Hydroponics, Plants Seeds Bulbs, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 19-May-08 11:01:07 BST)

you're much better of growing in a sealed box or some sort (e.g a closet) because then you can control ventilation much better - and it's better to cut a hole in a box to install an exhaust fan than to think about cutting holes in your biult-in wardrobe or your wall or something.

 

[smokeh]

thank u very much, thats helped me alot. im gonna save this page in faves. very useful info for me.

i might just grow in an old PC tower case or something. but as for now thats great, thanks for helpin me.

hats off

 

[sTOKEd]

no probs - thats what this site is for.

PCs grows can work but usually the amount of bud you get is not worth the time and it's prob not advisable on your first attempt.

try and find a box of some sort..

here's a simple idea - it's 2 60-odd Liter containers stacked end to end, with one PC fan taking care of the exhaust and a hole in the front which acts as a passive intake for allowing cool air in..

DIY stealth rubbermaid growbox - Cannabis Culture Forums

you'd be able to use smaller lights in this and should get away with less than $150GBP for everything you need including lights, pots, soil - the works..and if done right you'd produce more bud than you could smoke..