A few questions on my first grow-T-5s, Apollo 600 watt and CFLs

Foodeefish

Active Member
This will be My first grow and I have purchased a 4x2x6 Grow Tent. I have read the frequently asked questions and I could not find exact answers to my questions so here goes.
I have Ten T-5 dual bulb setups for growing my vegetables as I have a large vegetable garden. I just ordered an Apollo 600 watt setup with the MH and HPS bulbs. I have grown thousands of vegetable seeds with potting soil and garden soil with no issues
My questions are:
- I am going to use coco and perlite mixture to grow the cannabis and should I start in a single cell 2 inch X 2 inch pot or start in a solo cup or 5 inch pot?
- If I have highly rich garden soil that I add compost to every year, would I get a Better yield using this soil rather than the coco and perlite mix?
- Does anyone vermicompost ( red worm composting) and if they do, do you add the worm casing to your growing soil/mix?
- How many plants can I fit in this 2x3 tent if I Scrog them?
- Should I use both the T-5s and the 600 Watt and if so how many T-5s and should they be set up vertical or horizontal?
- Would adding 4-6 CFL lights add another light spectrum and add to the yield or is using the FLs just overkill.
Thank a million for your guidance.
 

blimey

Active Member
I'll just answer the questions I have experience with.
Coco/perlite is inert, meaning it doesn't have nutrients. You would want a good nutrient line to add to the water you water with, this is called drain to waste and is considered hydro. Using the compost would be organic soil and can be based off of a coco/perlite mix where you add soil ammendments. In general, you will get better yield with the drain to waste setup because you give it exactly what it wants and can "push" your nutrients, however I have done both and would say you get better taste with the organic soil.

Don't add anything to coco/perlite if you're doing drain to waste, it should all be in your nutrients. Casings are great for organic soil though, they can hold water and you can add lots because they don't have much nutrients (it's more of a soil conditioner), so you'll want to add perlite or something to aerate.

Imo the 600 is overkill. The t5's, cfl's, and 600 is probably too, although I have heard about "no shadow" gardens...
 
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