First time- planning- for feedback :)

Hello everybody!

First of all I want to thank you all for the resources I read on the forum, they are helpful.

I have decided to grow a little one for myself, I am not a big consumer and I find the idea nice.

I am going to present my plan (I am just in the research phase, didn't start anything) and if you are willing I will appreciate your feedback:

Seeds- I have decided to buy 3 feminized auto-flowering +Speed. I am going to raise one at a time in my closet.

Setting- Like I said, I want to raise just one plant a time in my closet, so I can learn from previous experience.

I consider buying 2, 40W CFL lights , one for the vegetative state and one for the flowering state (blue, red)- using one at the time-. I will use a lamp and keep the light close to the plant using boxes and such, considering the fact that the auto-flowering are not tall plants.

I am going to use white reflecting paper for the walls inside the closet.

Also I am going to have a regular fan in there . For the smell I'll buy something just if I feel the need.

Even thought it is an auto-flowering one I am going to keep it on a light cycle, 18/6 and 12/12.

Other products to use:

I have seen a cheap 3 way meter for PH, soil humidity and luminosity that looks like an ok buy.

I am thinking to transplant it once, from a small pot into a 4 gallons pot.

I am not sure what to use for the soil, regular one from gardening shops (without or with fertilizers ) or choose from an indoor gardening online shop (things like Canna Terra Professional or Biobizz Light Mix).

For the fertilizers I was set on organic ones but I understand that it is easier to use chemical ones.

At this point I think this is all I can think of, at least for products to have in mind. I will post pictures and so as soon as I start growing.

QUESTIONS:

1. First of all for the substrate (soil, earth, that word ), what should I use ? I really don't understand from the description of the products like Canna Terra if they are products to mix or that are enough to use by themselves.
2.Using the fan. I am not sure where to place it. From the back of the closet towards the door or the other way around? Also, would it be enough to have it ON for like 2-3 hours a day ?
3. I read that even though the seeds are feminized, if the plant is stressed they can become males. Should I worry about this?
4. What do you think about the Hy-Pro Terra fertilizer, should I try to find and use different fertilizers for the vegetative and flowering state?

What do you think about my plan?

Thank you for your help guys!

Take care and enjoy the holidays!

Forget a meter for luminosity and soil humidity (whatever that is?)
You NEED a meter for EC (sometimes called CF or PPM TDS).
It tells you the total amount of NUTES in your water/feed and is an invaluable tool to make sure you always give your plants the maximum nutrients (without hurting them).

I tried to grow without an EC meter - just copy how my friends mixed their nutes/water....
But my tap water turned out to have 60% higher EC levels than my friends and I nearly killed my cuttings, with nute burn, in the first week of growing them!

After draining my reservoir of 140lts of over fed water, and replacing it with nute/water that had been tested BEFORE going anywhere near the plants, I managed to save all of them
But it shocked them, stunted their growth and put them 7 to 10 days behind schedule.

Do yourself a favour.
EC and pH testers - HIGH PRIORITY!

Thanks for the tip. The one I mentioned also tests the pH but I think I ll better buy a dedicated one.
The EC testers I have seen are kind of expensive (40-100$) but as you mentioned it will get on the list.

Thanks!

Throw a fistful of dolomitic lime in every 5 gallons of potting mix and keep the money in your pocket you were going to spend on a pH meter.

Yer just stroking yourself.

QUESTIONS and ANSWERS (Opinions, actually).
1 - SUBSTRATE
I started with CLAY PEBBLES because I was using a Wilma Hydro system and also because the person who was instructing me on how to start growing, also used them.
Peer pressure.
I use CANNA AQUA VEGA A & B (I don't change to FLORES during FLOWERIG because CANNA AQUA FLORES A & B has a weird NPK ratio*).
I also use CANNA RHIZOTONIC - which helps the roots after re-potting, nute burn, cold....many types of shock that can stunt growth or even kill the plants.
and
Cannazym with helps plants ingest nutrients and resist disease.

I don't use any of the 'bottled miracle's' that claim to increase bud density by 250% of decrease flowering time by 42 days....
If you follow the forum posts, for a month or so, you may observe the same things I did, speciically that the members who seem the most experienced and knowledgeable, about cultivation, never recommended ADVANCED NUTRIENTS products or any of the hype advertised snake oils that are available at great expense.

I also use pH up and pH down in the constant battle to maintain optimum pH.
As a hydro grower I need my pH to fall between 5.2 and 6.2 - so I aim for 5.8.

EC and pH pensare of little use if they are not accurate so, when buying these meters, it is essential to get calibration fluids.
I use pH BUFFER 7 and CF 28 CALIBRATION FLUID
CF 28 = EC 2.8 = PPM (TDS) 1820
Conductivity Factor, Electrical Conductivity, Parts Per Million (Total Dissolved Solids).
Like CELSIUS and FAHRENHEIT have different scales for measuring the same thing, temperature.
EC x ten = CF (EC 2.8 x 10 = CF 2
CF x 65 = PPM (CF 28 x 65 = 1820)
PPM / 650 = EC (PPM 1820 / 650 = EC 2..

If I could go back and start again I would use COCO as the substrate
and CANNA COCO A & B (works for VEG and FLOWER phases)
plus the CANNAZYM AND RHIZOTONIC I USE WITH CLAY.

It's just an eaier way of growing, more forgiving than the very quick moving CLAY PEBBLES.
FAN
This is a desk fan we're discussing???
It's purpose is to circulate the air, keep the temps down and disturb the plant/s (causing stronger stalk and stem growth).

I turn my fans off when the light is off. The temp already drops to 60*F so the cooling fan would make it unsuitable cold
BUT I also have a in-line fan/filter that is NEVER turned off.
Realistically having the fan turned off during dark hours is feasible BUT having it off for 20 to 22 hours per day seems drastic.

In my 4 x 4 x 6 tent I have my
6" RUCK In-Line fan and 6" Rhino Carbon Filter
18" 3 speed Oscillating Fan
16" 3 speed Oscillating Fan
(these two fans are never on together, I alternate them to cause different angled breezes)
(2 x) 6" 2 speed Clip-on Fans.
WHERE TO PLACE FAN....?????
Position the fan in the place where you think it does most good.
Didn't you say you wanted to grow ONE PLANT AT A TIME?
WithONE PLANTin a CLOSETdeciding where to PLACE A DESK FANshouldn't be that difficult.

I always monitor ebay for cheap fans being sold within easy collection distance.
Last week I got an 18" Oscillating 3 speed for £5.50.
A month ago I got 3 x 6" 2 speed clip ons for £22.25.(Brand new-Sold cheap as a promo for a new hydro store).

3 - FEMINIZED
Worry....Don't worry....
It will change nothing.
Just read how to tell the plants sex and hope for females.

You can still use a male to practise trimming. cropping, LST, HST....
and if you mess up and kill it, it's less of a tragedy.
You can also practise taking cuttings for grow clones.

FERTILIZERS[/B]
I know nothing about that brand but I can tell you that:
1 - Be careful how much you feed young plants in new growing medium -
Often there's enough nutes within it to keep the plant fed for a few weeks.
2 - Keep the same fertilizer/feed.
But alter the strength/amount you give the plant/s as the plant/s grows.
3 - Choose a substrate AND nutes that are specifically made for marijuana AND specifically aimed at the particular substrate you choose.

YOUR PLAN
FIRST - My opinion
Don't buy AUTOFLOWERING strains.
They're no good for taking clones off and you cannot use one as a Mother plant.
As someone who is buying THREE SEEDS, the option of growing a Mother for clone cuttings may be a useful one.

40w CFL (one BLUE, one RED)
This intensity of light will be OK for propagating seedlings but, as it grows into a small plant, it won't have enough lumens to do very well.
40 watts per square foot is the recommended intensity of light.
You never said how big your closet space was but, if it's bigger than 12" x 12",
you would be better off not trying to specialise with different colour bulbs for different types of growth,
but getting the colour that works best for ALL PHASES OF GROWTH (probably Duel Spec)
and using both of them at once.
FAR BETTER TO HAVE ENOUGH WATTS/LUMENS of a SLIGHTLY WRONG COLOUR TEMPERATURE than to have the perfect CCT for VEG, then the perfect CCT for BUD - BUT WITH NOT ENOUGH LIGHT INTENSITY TO CAUSE GROWTH

ONE PLANT PER HARVEST
This won't leave you much room for error.
If it dies you have no alternative plant to work with
ALSO having TWO OR MORE plants allows you to compare them.
It gives you a frame of reference.
(Imagine watching the MEN'S 200m SPRINT - BUT WITH ONLY ONE RUNNER).
I could [sort of] understand just growing one if you had a Kick Ass Sativa and you wanted to take it BIG!
But you're talking about planting an AUTO, then giving it a regular photoperiod...?
(the WORST of BOTH WORLDS).

Why don't you just follow the most common procedure, for your first plant?
As you learn a few tricks you can start to change things around and improvise.
Salvador Dali learnt how to PAINT CLOCKS before he learnt how to PAINT MELTING CLOCKS.

But, don't just grow ONE PLANT, grow at least TWO PLANTS.

And, before I go, I need to say it again:
SOIL HUMIDITY???
Soil can be moist,
Soil can be damp.
Soil can even be wet
But one thing soil can never be is HUMID!

Testing the 'Humidity of Soil'
is like testing the steam content of ICE.

I almost forgot.......
RE-POTTING

If you're using a soil or soil type substrate it's better to re-pot a few times.

When a plant is re-potted its roots immediately find the sides of the pot, then go down.
So, if you put a seedling straight into a 10 gallon pot, the root formation leaves a huge percentage of the grow medium untouched, in the centre of the pot.
But if you put the seedling in a very small pot, its roots can't get so far out (as it stays within the confines of the very small pot)
then you put it in a small pot, and the roots move to the edges....
By enlarging the pots gradually, the plant grows a much better root system.

I use Clay Pebbles and a Wilma Hydro system, so I can (and do) put seedlings or 2 week old clones straight into large pots.
But that's because it's a different process of root formation when growing this way.

GOOD LUCK
but remember, even ONE or TWO PLANTS in a CLOSET can kick up QUITE A STINK!
Maybe you should plan on needing a SMALL IN-LINE FAN and CARBON FILTER
around the time you're finishing the VEG phase and starting the FLOWER
is when you'll start to REALLY NOTICE the SMELL.

AimAim said:

Throw a fistful of dolomitic lime in every 5 gallons of potting mix and keep the money in your pocket you were going to spend on a pH meter.

Yer just stroking yourself.

Click to expand...

I think that's bad advice.
All manner of things can affect pH - and affect it to unknown and differing degree's.
Using a 'one size fits all' cure for pH problems (or potential problems) is like someone telling you a shortcut that will take 5 miles off your journey, without them even knowing your destination.
And if pH falls or rises beyond certain levels your plants stop taking in nutrients.

However, if money is a real issue, pH can be tested without an expensive meter (unlike EC, unfortunately).
pH testing strips - or LITMUS PAPERS - are available very cheaply.

And, when assessing the quality of the advise you receive,
it's always illuminating to ponder how someone could offer you the solution to a pH problem
without even knowing your specific pH.

In order to do that, there would need to be a substance that you could add to your substrate that took pH out of the question completely.
And every grower I talk with makes regular checks of pH levels.

Ask a few people.

My advice, get a few CFLs, not just one. If you can get 3 40 watts, your time wont be wasted.

Nutes, go with DynaGro grow and bloom. Cheap and very good.

As for soil, go buy ProMix, again pretty cheap, throw in a handful of worm castings. That will get you into the first 3 weeks without any nutes.

The fan you want on all the time, preferable oscillating. Place it where it will hit the plants, but not to much.

PH meter and all that crap dont buy. Upgrade as you go, if something doesnt work, change it. The plant grows itsself, your just trying to replicate its conditions.

Thank you guys for the help!

I'll definitely "upgrade" the lights part. I read about the importance of light, my mistake. I find for me cheaper to buy 2 different CFL than a dual one but I'll research more.

I set my mind on autoflowering before I got into detail about growing. I liked the idea of no light cycle, small size, quick flowering. I'll look into it and maybe/probably reconsider. I will start with 2 plants and find an odor solution for my space.

Considering the substrate, NorthofEngland I think some of the suggestions are related to hydroponic grow, right? I do like the idea of Coco, I read that it can be used without a hydroponic system and has it's advantages (especially on pH regulation and oxygen). I really dont want to try a hydroponic system for my first time. What do you think about Coco for regular grow?

this substrate word is slightly annoying, can you call it medium ? especially for a newb, I do recommend "hempy", a very simple passive hydro system, a bucket with an overflow hole, filled with inert substance called perlite or perlite/ vermiculite and fed by hand with a nutrient solution of the appropriate ec/ppm and 'ph'd' to 5.8-6.1. i'd post the hempy link but im too tired