Small Size Grow First time

[sk12]

Trying to do my first grow. Have a plan to do 9 plants in a 3x3x5 cabinet.

Seeds:
5 Bomb THC Bomb Fem
3 Advanced BioDiesel Mass Autoflowering Fem

Plan to put 1 Fan creating air in 1 fan venting out a window and possibly one fan slowly circulating air in the cabinet. On the vent I would do a carbon scrubber out a back window using a dryer vent port.

Need advice on:
Soil (There is only a Lowes Home Depot or Walmart here for shopping at. Not a big town.)
Lighting
Seeing how there is 3 feet of space to hang at the top I was thinking possibly this:

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-FLT24-2-Feet-4-Tube-Commercial/dp/B002JQBQZQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366751095&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=EnviroGro+FLT24+%E2%80%9D2+foot

Then adding a few 26WATT CFL Bulbs closer to the plants.

Seeing as the autoflowering states that it can be ready for harvest in 8 weeks Im hoping to possibly do 2 harvests over the summer. Have till August 1st to grow and harvest all.

Looking to start growing as early as next week building the cab this weekend and have ordered all other supplies.

Any advice would be great!

 

[JesterDev]

I personally suggest, if your going the T5 route to get some HO T5's (High Output). You can find setups similar to the one you liked on ebay. I "hear" that the the plants should be less than a foot away from T5's to have an impact, but don't quote me on that. If you want to spent a bit more there are several HID lighting setups on ebay and amazon for a bit more. I think a 400watt would actually do quite well in that space. But heat is always an issue with HID.

T5 HO Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=t5+ho+grow+light&_frs=1


HID Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=complete+HID+lighting+setup&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acomplete+HID+lighting+setup
HID EBay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=HPS+lighting+complete&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=HPS+lighting+kit&_sacat=0

Just shop around either way, there are always better prices out there.

Don't really know much about soil personally, but I have heard good things about Miracle grows "Moisture Control".

 

[sk12]

Would this be a good one off ebay?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/T5-HO-FLUORESCENT-24-2-2ft-4-LAMP-GROW-LIGHT-BULBS-NEW-/261203237594?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd0ed1ada

 

[GrowinDad]

I mix together cheap potting soil, peat moss, perlite and vermiculite. Then I add some lime. Also, look around for places that gear to commercial farmers since you are probably in a somewhat rural area. Or check out nurseries. I don't get any of my stuff from big box, though the soil comes from my local Ace.

 

[sk12]

I mix together cheap potting soil, peat moss, perlite and vermiculite. Then I add some lime. Also, look around for places that gear to commercial farmers since you are probably in a somewhat rural area. Or check out nurseries. I don't get any of my stuff from big box, though the soil comes from my local Ace.

Hmm ill have to look around there is one farming store will have to check stopped at Walmart and all they had was some miracle grow water storage or something someone on another site I think said that kind was good haven't checked lowest yet tho.

 

[joseywales]

I'd recommend a 400-600w HID system with an exhaust fan and filter(to get rid of excess heat and strong smell)
Expect small plants with low yields if you throw that many plants in a small box. 100w per plant is a rule of thumb but like I said you can grow more but don't expect to harvest alot. You will definitely need a fan circulating air inside as well as the intake and exhaust inline fans.

For soil I'd recommend ProMix, Fox Farm Light Warrior, or even just plain compo with perlite, vermiculite, and lime.

Never believe what the seed companies claim the flowering times are for autoflowering strains. Some grow fast and are done around ~60 days(60 day wonder, Super Lemon Haze 60 day, and most Ryder strains etc..) but most take 75-80. Expect to be harvesting the autos around at around 10-11 weeks.

Edit: Here is a guide for your autos.

Weeks 1 - 3. Once you've started your seeds and they break the surface of the soil, they are in their seedling stage. The first set of leaves to appear will usually single fingered, followed by a second set that may still be single fingered or perhaps 3 fingered. Once that second set appears growth will start to accelerate as the new leaves provide more photosynthesis. This process will continue, more new leaves, faster growth. Depending on the type of soil in use, mild vegetative nutes can be introduced at week 2. By week 3 most plants will start to show their sex. Males will start to produce pollen sacks and females will display pistols.

Weeks 4 - 6. The plants are now entering a pre flowering stage. During this time the plants should exhibit explosive growth, often as much as a new set of nodes and 1" vertical growth a day. This is the time when they will gain most of their vertical height. Many people make the mistake of switching from vegetative to flowering nutrients at this point, assuming that since they see flowers it must be the proper time. This is incorrect. If the switch to flowering nutes is made at this time the vertical growth will stop and the plant will put it's energy into producing buds. If you need to keep your plants small, or want them to finish earlier, they by all means switch nutes at this point. But if you want to get the most out of your plants continue feeding vegetative nutes until you see the vertical growth slow and stop. Depending on the strain that will usually be sometime during week 5 or 6.

Weeks 7 - 9. By now vertical growth has stopped and the switch to flowering nutrients has been made. The buds will start to fill out and put on weight, becoming hard and tight. Pistols will start to change from white to brown, orange, red, etc. By now the plants will also have developed a strong smell. Toward the end of this phase the large primary and smaller secondary fan leaves will begin to turn yellow. This is an indication that the plant is moving toward the end of it's life.

Weeks 10 - 11. At this time flowering nutes should be discontinued and only plain pHed water fed to flush the remaining nutrients from the soil and improve the taste. Yellowing of the fan leaves will continue as the plant draws the stored energy from them. Eventually they will die and fall off. By the time that the smaller leaves that come from out of the buds will also start to turn yellow. Then it's time to harvest.

I know that many of you are thinking that the seed bank said the plants will finish in 8-9 weeks, so why are you saying they take 10-11? The claims made by the seed banks are somewhat deceptive. If you switch to flowering nutes at week 3 or 4 the plants can finish in the times the seed banks say but they will remain small and not reach their full potential yield. Years of growing by myself and others has shown that autos do best if you follow this time line.

Of course, there will always be variations depending on the strain, the environment, nutrients, etc. This information is meant to only serve as a general guideline.


Hope This Helps and Good Luck!

 

[sk12]

Do you think it would yield better if I limited it down to 2 of each strain? Making it 4 plants to begin with then sub them in possibly as the time goes on?

 

[Bakatare666]

I personally suggest, if your going the T5 route to get some HO T5's (High Output). You can find setups similar to the one you liked on ebay. I "hear" that the the plants should be less than a foot away from T5's to have an impact, but don't quote me on that. If you want to spent a bit more there are several HID lighting setups on ebay and amazon for a bit more. I think a 400watt would actually do quite well in that space. But heat is always an issue with HID.

T5 HO Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=t5+ho+grow+light&_frs=1


HID Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=complete+HID+lighting+setup&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acomplete+HID+lighting+setup
HID EBay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=HPS+lighting+complete&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=HPS+lighting+kit&_sacat=0

Just shop around either way, there are always better prices out there.

Don't really know much about soil personally, but I have heard good things about Miracle grows "Moisture Control".

If you're looking for cheap, easy soil, I am using MG moisture control for both these grows.
https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-fluorescent-lighting/614769-my-first-indoor-cfl-grow.html
https://www.rollitup.org/outdoor-growing/632050-2-new-seeds-started-outdoors.html

 

[sk12]

Those look good how often do you water? I saw that at Walmart earlier today thought about trying it out. Do you add any extra nutrients or do you rely solely on the nutrients supplied in the soil?

 

[DankyMcNugerson]

hey man i think you'll be interested in my grow journal, i am using T5's for the whole grow. and that fixture you posted IS a High Output T5 light so that would be a good choice. i am using a 4 foot 8 bulb t5 fixture myself. https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/640832-dankys-white-rhino-t5s.html feel free to check it out!

 

[Bakatare666]

Those look good how often do you water? I saw that at Walmart earlier today thought about trying it out. Do you add any extra nutrients or do you rely solely on the nutrients supplied in the soil?

The last grow, fed pretty much every other water, but this grow, I didn't feed for the last 3 or 4 waterings, as they were every other day, and I saw no signs of hunger.
For the most part, last grow, I fed as much as I could without seeing any burning, but this grow, I am only feeding when I see signs of hunger, like today, I fed when I saw a few yellow leaves, and hadn't fed for a week.
I only water/feed when my pots are light as soil only, like nothing but soil and perlite in the pot, or if I see her drooping saying she's thirsty.
Depending on conditions or how she is growing, sometimes every two days, sometimes every other day....... Or even sometimes every day for the Sour Diesel in the one gallon pot.

 

[DankyMcNugerson]

as far as soil goes if you only have those places to choose from (try looking for smaller hardware stores if you can) i would suggest getting one of these

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Jungle-Growth-64-qt-Premium-Professional-Mix-with-Fertilizer-PRO-64/203239264#.UXdcgkrCT-s

and one of these http://www.homedepot.com/p/THERMOROCK-2-cu-ft-Coarse-Grade-Perlite-489701/202187623#.UXdcxkrCT-s

mix 3 parts soil to 1 part perlite. get yourself some nutes and your good to go

 

[sk12]

hey man i think you'll be interested in my grow journal, i am using T5's for the whole grow. and that fixture you posted IS a High Output T5 light so that would be a good choice. i am using a 4 foot 8 bulb t5 fixture myself. https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/640832-dankys-white-rhino-t5s.html feel free to check it out!

Would one of those lights be good for say 4-6 plants or do you think I would be able to do the full 9 plants?

The last grow, fed pretty much every other water, but this grow, I didn't feed for the last 3 or 4 waterings, as they were every other day, and I saw no signs of hunger.
For the most part, last grow, I fed as much as I could without seeing any burning, but this grow, I am only feeding when I see signs of hunger, like today, I fed when I saw a few yellow leaves, and hadn't fed for a week.
I only water/feed when my pots are light as soil only, like nothing but soil and perlite in the pot, or if I see her drooping saying she's thirsty.
Depending on conditions or how she is growing, sometimes every two days, sometimes every other day....... Or even sometimes every day for the Sour Diesel in the one gallon pot.

Ok that makes sense I will see what I can find.

as far as soil goes if you only have those places to choose from (try looking for smaller hardware stores if you can) i would suggest getting one of these

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Jungle-Growth-64-qt-Premium-Professional-Mix-with-Fertilizer-PRO-64/203239264#.UXdcgkrCT-s

and one of these http://www.homedepot.com/p/THERMOROCK-2-cu-ft-Coarse-Grade-Perlite-489701/202187623#.UXdcxkrCT-s

mix 3 parts soil to 1 part perlite. get yourself some nutes and your good to go

I was thinking of working with a combination of those havent had a chance to go check Lowes or Home Depot yet because they are a little further out than Walmart.

 

[DankyMcNugerson]

Would one of those lights be good for say 4-6 plants or do you think I would be able to do the full 9 plants?

now that all depends on how big you want your plants to be .I'm doing 4 plants under my light in a closet right now.2 3 footers and 2 4 footers (never again). if you are concerned with yield i would suggest to looking into doing a Sea Of Green (SOG) or Screen Of Green (Scrog) technique.

 

[sk12]

Would one of those lights be good for say 4-6 plants or do you think I would be able to do the full 9 plants?

now that all depends on how big you want your plants to be .I'm doing 4 plants under my light in a closet right now.2 3 footers and 2 4 footers (never again). if you are concerned with yield i would suggest to looking into doing a Sea Of Green (SOG) or Screen Of Green (Scrog) technique.

Well the seed bank says they grow very short on the non-autos so Im guessing they would get around 2-3 feet high, I estimated the height to be around 4 feet max so that I could work with 1 foot for hanging the light and getting everything inside the cab. Ive been reading seeing people say the plants need 1 foot of space each so thats why I originally planned to do 9 with a 3x3 base.

 

[DankyMcNugerson]

hey man it couldn't hurt to try right? worst case scenario is you run out of room and have to toss a few, but hey a little bit of something is better then a whole lot of nothing right? good luck with the grow, feel free to stop by my journal if you have any questions and i'll see if i can help you out

 

[sk12]

Thanks for the help man I think I am ging to do 6 plants then do the other 3 at a later date probably stick to the auto flowers since it is my first time then after they are done ill do the others.

 

[Bakatare666]

Thanks for the help man I think I am ging to do 6 plants then do the other 3 at a later date probably stick to the auto flowers since it is my first time then after they are done ill do the others.

Not poking fun at you man, and I hate to see you waste seeds, but I just don't see you growing that many plants in the space to their full potential, but I wish you the best of luck!
I only say this, knowing how glad I was when only one of my two seeds sprouted for my last grow.
Had both sprouted, there's no way I could have grown 2 plants in my 2x2 area.

 

[sk12]

OK I will limit it this time do the Autos so that I can get a handle on it and maybe after those are done I will try doing more, in a bigger space maybe.

 

[sk12]

Here's what I did instead found out my roommate would not be here over the summer so I will be growing all plants. Have the first 8 a t5 in a dome. They are planted in jiffy pots with jiffy seed starter soil. The light is set to 20 hours on 5 hours off and is about 2 feet from the top of the dome. Once my roomate moves out next week I will make his closet a secondary room for once the non autos have reached the flowering stage in there I will use the t5 and 6 cfl 100watt eq. Cfl bulbs. While the other room will have the 3 autos with 3 cfl tubes my roommate plans to give me. Not sure on their watts etc. what does everyone think of this setup?