55 gallon rubbermaid tote-Fox farm nutes-Fox farm soil-outdoors

hello everyone. im starting a grow in a few weeks and im trying to get everything figured out before i actually start the grow. I had a few questions that i hope all you guys can answer. Any input is appreciated. im here to learn and Rollitup seems to be where all the real growers are at. Im going to be growing in 55 gallon rubbermaid containers. It has approximately 9 cubic feet of space. i will be mixing 3 cubic feet of FFOF with 1 cubic foot of perlite and4 Cubic feet of good soil from my local nursery. I will be putting 4 wheels on each corner of the container for easy mobility and drilling holes in the bottom for drainage. I am going to be using the Fox farms Trio nutes. i will be starting my 6 seedlings in 6 inch containers with FF Light Warrior indoors under a 2 foot 4 bulb 105 watt T5 High Output light with reflector. I have ordered 1x OG Kush, 1x Purple #1, 1x Northern LightsxBig Bud, 1x THC Bomb, and 1x Hollands Hope. I am planning on vegging indoors for 6 weeks and the transplanting each into their own 55 gallon container in the begginng of June to continue vegging. By the way i am in Central California. The reason im growing in big containers is to get the maximum yield. i Have my medical card and can grow up to 6 mature plants. Want to stay with in the laws limits and just grow some monsters.

My Main Questions are:
1. how big will my plants get in 6 weeks under the T5?
2. Are the 6 inch pots big enough to last 6 weeks? They are 6 inches wide and 7 inches high. i only want to transplant once.
3. How soon do i start feeding my babies and at what strenth?
4. When i transplant outside into their final home will they continue to veg? I will have them on a 18/6 light schedule inside and by june the days have around 14 hours from sunrise to sunset.
5. my grow box is 24 inches by 18 inches. The 6 pots fit in their with a little bit of wiggle room. will 105 watts be enough for this small space or should i get some extra light. i know more light is usually better but i want to know if this will get the job done with good results. the box is 36 inches high with chains to adjust the light.
6. How far should i keep my lights from my seedlings?
7. How far should i keep my lights when they get 3 weeks old?
8. Will mixing 3 cubic feet of ffof, 1 cubic foot of perlite and 4 cubic feet of quality soil work fine?

i know its a lot of questions. if anyone can answer even one please feel free. Im starting my grow in a few weeks and i would like to work out all the kinks before its too late. if anyone could think of anything i missed or anything that doesnt sound like it will work i would be very grateful. Thanks everyone. i Really appreciate it. Hope everyone elses plants are looking healthy and beautiful. Its time to burn one. Smoking some Blackberry Kush right now to help with the thought process.

Anybody got any input at all? any information would be very helpful. thank you

Wow 55 gallon pots!? I'm using 2 gallon haha! You want them to be trees? Awesome! Your small pots are good to start for 6 weeks. I think they should not be more than a foot. Babies should start with no nutes and when they start to grow a second nod of branches you can start 1/2 strength of nutes but it depends on your medium check if they already have nutes. If it does you don't have to add nutes for a while. You have enough light for 6 seedlings and it works very well to use fluo. You must put the lights very close to the plants for it to work properly around 2 inch.

Zakola said:

Wow 55 gallon pots!? I'm using 2 gallon haha! You want them to be trees? Awesome! Your small pots are good to start for 6 weeks. I think they should not be more than a foot. Babies should start with no nutes and when they start to grow a second nod of branches you can start 1/2 strength of nutes but it depends on your medium check if they already have nutes. If it does you don't have to add nutes for a while. You have enough light for 6 seedlings and it works very well to use fluo. You must put the lights very close to the plants for it to work properly around 2 inch.

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Thanks a lot for your input bro. yeah, i am trying to grow some monster trees in my backyard. ive heard a lot of different opinions about how close to keep my lights to the babies. im using the t5 tubes and i think they give off a little more heat than regular cfls. not too sure though. i have them about ten inches above empty pots right now and i put a thermometer inside of one of the pots and the temperature is at around 82 degrees. i think if i put them 2 inches away it will be too hot. maybe i need another fan. when i put my hand two inches away from the light bulb it feels pretty warm. im gonna keep running some trial and error runs to get it to the perfect temp. thanks a lot man. hope your plants do great.

keep t5 lights 6" from top of plant then lower 1" every day till you are 2" above top of plant and adjust as plant grows.

6 weeks will grow to about 2 feet tall, i suggest starting them in 3 gallon buckets, 5 gallon square buckets would be better

they will continue to veg outdoor till early fall

The Growery said:

keep t5 lights 6" from top of plant then lower 1" every day till you are 2" above top of plant and adjust as plant grows.

6 weeks will grow to about 2 feet tall, i suggest starting them in 3 gallon buckets, 5 gallon square buckets would be better

they will continue to veg outdoor till early fall

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Im having a little trouble keeping my pots that close. at the moment i have the lights 12 inches away from the top of the pots.i turned the pots upside down and put the thermometer right on top of the pot. the thermometer is reading 86 degrees. i also have a thermometer on the floor of the grow box and it reads 78. should i be more concerned with the thermometer on the pot or on the floor? i was also told to not put any fans in until the seedlings look strong enough. if i point a small fan right right at the lights will i be able to put the lights closer? thanks for your input bro. really appreciate it.

Nice man i was thinking about doing the same thing cause im legal here in montana also. After talking to the guy at the hydro store about smart pots i think im going that direction i think its cheaper than buying a bunch of totes. check into them they come in 50 gallon size and camo color. There like a cloth material that gives your roots good aration could turn out cheaper for you. I have a 2x2 12 bulb t5 set up i use for veg i keep it an inch or two above the plants and a fan blowing inbetween the light and the tops. i am a master at maximizing my space i use a 55 gallon tote with 8 to 10 cfls with 6 to 10 plants that are veggin 6 inches tall with 4 or 5 sets of leaves then under my t 5s i have 4 clones that are all going outdoors in the smart pots cant wait hopefully see you back here in the fall

montanachadly said:

Nice man i was thinking about doing the same thing cause im legal here in montana also. After talking to the guy at the hydro store about smart pots i think im going that direction i think its cheaper than buying a bunch of totes. check into them they come in 50 gallon size and camo color. There like a cloth material that gives your roots good aration could turn out cheaper for you. I have a 2x2 12 bulb t5 set up i use for veg i keep it an inch or two above the plants and a fan blowing inbetween the light and the tops. i am a master at maximizing my space i use a 55 gallon tote with 8 to 10 cfls with 6 to 10 plants that are veggin 6 inches tall with 4 or 5 sets of leaves then under my t 5s i have 4 clones that are all going outdoors in the smart pots cant wait hopefully see you back here in the fall

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Thanks for the advice. ive heard of the smart pots. sounds like a really good plan. i just need to be able to move them around when i ever i need so i would probably have to make a box for them with wheels. thanks for the help with the t5s. i really need to get a fan in there. do you have a fan going in the first couple days of the seedling stage or do you wait til there a little bit stronger?

PuroChronica said:

Thanks for the advice. ive heard of the smart pots. sounds like a really good plan. i just need to be able to move them around when i ever i need so i would probably have to make a box for them with wheels. thanks for the help with the t5s. i really need to get a fan in there. do you have a fan going in the first couple days of the seedling stage or do you wait til there a little bit stronger?

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Yes use a small fan right away without blowing directly on them for now (just the lights) because at 12inch they will stretch. The lights must be real close!

Zakola said:

Yes use a small fan right away without blowing directly on them for now (just the lights) because at 12inch they will stretch. The lights must be real close!

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thanks man. im going to do a few adjustments to my grow box and ill have some pics up soon.

you are behind schedule bro . I would have them 16 inches right now if i could . In oregon we have a 1 ft restriction on babies so i'll be switching the 1 tf babies under the 600 for about a month till i don't have to worry about the rain/frost then outside they go . the bigger you can get them before they go outside the better . If you really want 10 ft monsters .

chasta said:

you are behind schedule bro . I would have them 16 inches right now if i could . In oregon we have a 1 ft restriction on babies so i'll be switching the 1 tf babies under the 600 for about a month till i don't have to worry about the rain/frost then outside they go . the bigger you can get them before they go outside the better . If you really want 10 ft monsters .

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I wish they were 16 inches right now. Im starting the seeds on the 8th of april and wont have my own location til June. so theyll be in the grow box for a total of 7 weeks. im putting them out on the 1st of june. how long do you think they will continue to veg and when do you think theyll start flowering. next year ill try doing that. thanks for your input bro. hopefully they still get a chance to grow pretty big.

i got my lights closer by putting a fan and now they are about 6 inches away from the top of the pots and the temperature is reading 81. im going to try to get it a little closer. im shooting for about 2 - 4 inches away like everyone else. thanks for all the advice guys. really appreciate it. i have a shot adrenaline strain from samsara in there right now as a test run before i put the real ladies in and she seems to like the like closer. she sprouted for days ago and is looking very healthy so far.

81 is not bad man, if you can maintain that I would be happy and leave it at that. but if you're gonna use that space a lot, consider reworking your exhaust fan, something as simple as reengineering the air flow in the grow space can lower temps by as much as 10F, good luck to ya!

i know this thread is getting a little old but i started my plants already. i currently have the BB X NL, THC bomb, and Diamond girl in their pots. the og kush, purple #1, and Hollands hope are in paper towels right now and should be ready to plant by tommorow morning. i have cellophane over the pots for humidity and i have the lights on to keep them warm. everything seems to be going good so far. my Shot Adrenaline from samsara seeds was a test run and is also doing good. she is going into her third week now and is doing fine. since she is an auto i will be putting her outside soon because i only have room for 6 in my box. im using maxicrop at 1/4 strength to water the seeds and also used them to pre soak the fox farm light warrior soil. the seeds root came out in one day so they seem to like the maxicrop. ill be adding some photos today. thanks for everyones input. ill be updating frequently

will the rubbermaid containers get too hot and damage the roots? is there anything i can do to prevent this from happening because i can just imagine how hot that plastic will get in the summer. we have a lot of days that reach well over a hundred where i live.