Advise, rate and critique a complete newbie's 5x5 tent setup!

Hello everyone, this will be my first try at growing and I'm looking for advice or feedback on my setup. I will be growing in soil.

Currently everything is on order and I will have the following:
Equipment
1 x Secret Jardin Dark Street II 5ft x 5ft x 6.6ft Tall (DS150II)
1 x 6" Cooltube XL Reflector w/ add-on 26" x 25" Extra Large Wing
1 x 600 watt iPower Digital Dimmable Ballast
1 x 600 watt iPower Hortilife Super High Pressure Sodium Bulb (85,000 Lumen @ 2100k color temp)
1 x 600 watt iPower Hortilife Metal Halide Bulb (55,000 Lumen @ 6500k color temp)
1 x 6" High Output In Line Duct Fan 435 CFM (for carbon filter)
1 x 6”x24” Funk Filter Carbon Air Filter
2 x 6” Booster In-Line Duct Fan (250CFM each) (one for cooltube and one as fresh air intake for the tent)
1 x Speed Bully Motor Speed Controller

Soil/Chems/Nutrients
- Pro-Mix Vegetable & Herb Organic Soil Mix (click me)
- CIL Plus! Worm Casting Compost (click me)
- MyGreenPlanet Hydro Fuel Grow A/B (click me)
- MyGreenPlanet Hydro Fuel Bloom A/B (click me)
- MyGreenPlanet Pro Cal (cal, mag, iron supplement) (1.1-0-0) (click me)
- MyGreenPlanet Massive Bloom Formulation (1-1.5-2. (click me)
- MyGreenPlanet Terpinator (0-0-4) (click me)
- MyGreenPlanet Finisher (0.0083-0.011-0.0505) (click me)
- Zero Tolerance 1 Qt. RTU Herbal Pesticide (Not sure if needed, ordered as contingency plan)
- Zero Tolerance 1 Qt. RTU Herbal Fungicide (Not sure if needed, ordered as contingency plan)

I have 10 purple kush seeds and I was thinking of doing 6 plants for my 5x5. Is that too much, too little or just right? I plan to start their flowering once they reach about 3 feet and I plan on using bamboo shoots or tomato cages as support. I will be using the 6500k MH lamp during veg and switch to the 2100k lamp on flower. I also have two additional 4ft T8x3 bulb fixtures with reflectors I plan on hanging on each side of the main lamp for additional lighting in the same or different spectrums. Each fluorescent tube puts out 2750 lumens and 6 of them will = 16,500 extra lumens for each growing stage. My 600 watt MH lamp only puts out 55,000 lumen so I was thinking of putting 6 x 6500k 48" fluorescent tubes to aid with more light OR I could put 4 lamps at 3000k and 2 lamps at 6500k.

During flowering I was thinking of having all 6 tubes(16,500 lumen) with 6500k light in addition to the 600watt HPS(85,000 lumen) at 2100k to give a more full color spectrum to the plants during flower. Is this a good idea?

I'm super excited and anxious to start! Any input is appreciated, Thanks!

Lol first grow far to much(complicating thing for yourself)if indeed u r a first time grower.....but best of luck anyway .....and yes u have PLENTY to complete your first grow.....

id say veging till 3ft with 6 plants plus all the side lighting etc you might be struggling for room, though indicas don't grow as tall that's still tight, not saying its impossible especialy with training but for your first go id lose 1 or 2, and don't get caught up in all the chems trust less can be easier to deal with until you get to know the plants,
ps youll want a couple of fans in there aswell, if you overcrowd it air flow is vital and get yourself a hygrometer for rh etc, nice set up though, good luck with it

I agree the nutrients were overkill. I don't think I'll be using them my first grow unless I see some problems that can be remedied by the appropriate nutrients.

I was thinking of bumping it down to 5 plants, 4 in corners and one in middle. Every day I'd move a new plant to the middle and alternate. I think I'm going to have to flower at 2.5ft if I expect to double height by the 8th week of flower. If I go to 3ft I'm worried I'll get too close to the HID lights by the end. Perhaps I should use the screen of green method using a lattice

I ended up getting 4.5 gallon buckets that will allow me to put up to 12 inches of soil in them. 80 inch clearance total -10 planter height = 70 inch - 6 inch from top of tent to bulb = 64inch - 22 inches from top of plants = 42 inch(3.5ft) max plant height. what if I put the lattice at say 2ft - 2.5ft plant height and let the colas poke through with the 1ft - 1.5ft to spare? Or perhaps I just keep it simple. I think I'm getting greedy. I'm aiming for 4-5oz/plant with 5 or 6 plants in there, is that being overly optimistic for a plant that can only grow to 3.5ft?

Should I be topping my plants? I'm worried topping will give me less dense nugs and for a first grow I'm kinda nervous...I guess I could top 2 plants and compare them to untopped plants. What's people experience with topping? It seems the consensus is topping give you a higher yield and bushier plant.

I'll definately be grabbing a couple small fans for air circulation inside the tent as well.

My honest opinion is great energy, but slow down. Go as simple as possible to start, reduce variables. But sounds like you are getting stuff for whatever may come.

I don't see anything for ph measurement and adjustment. Or a fan for inside the tent.

Vegging till 3feet seems nuts. They will get 2-3x that tall when you flip to 12-12.

Top and train for sure. Four or five plants should be fine.

Good luck.

Don't take it wrong. You need the nutrients and want to use tham. I think that "cozz" is just thinking that you are starting off with a lot. You'll want to be very careful with them and get as much information on how much & when. Most of these products have literature that go along with the nutrients.
Yeah, cozz is probably like me . i started w 3 plants in my closet using Miracle Grow . . (Don't Ever use MG!!) and added stuff as I could afford it. You are lucky enough to have the $ to start off right. The only thing is, like i said, it can be confusing with all that stuff. It will be worth it to do your homework.

GrowinDad said:

My honest opinion is great energy, but slow down. Go as simple as possible to start, reduce variables. But sounds like you are getting stuff for whatever may come.

I don't see anything for ph measurement and adjustment. Or a fan for inside the tent.

Vegging till 3feet seems nuts. They will get 2-3x that tall when you flip to 12-12.

Top and train for sure. Four or five plants should be fine.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

I bought one of those 3 in 1 moisture/PH/Light probes and a hand held TDS meter. I can go to the local garden shop and get some PH up/down next time I'm in. To be honest I don't really expect the soil PH to change much but who knows, your right.

Right now I'm all worried about the flowering height potential. If I start flowering at 1.5ft or 2ft I'm worried I'll come up short and end up with a poor yield after flower is done. I guess this all comes with experience. As it stands now I'm thinking flower at 2 ft and put a lattice in place to keep everything a safe distance from the HID, I can let the colas pop through as long as they don't get any closer than 20 inches to my light I guess. I'm also nervous about topping...

What's everyone's experience with topping and fimming? I've pretty much decided I'm going to do one or the other. Fimming if done right sounds like it won't slow growth down as much as topping. Anyone have personal experiences with what they prefer?

If you want multiple tops, my rec would be top once then LST. FIM can work, but less certain from my trials. Top once and you have two mains. Stretch each down to an opposite end of the pot and you will be amazed how quickly you are swimming in tops.