first timer. advice please

hi there,

first grow, got a cupboard 60x150x175 cm

thinking of 3 ultra skunk under 400w metal halide and 400w hps,
also considering using cfl instead, which one would be a better idea?

also what kind of extraction/filtration would i need

any particular reccomendations for nutrient, i think i wanna go organic.

any help greatly appreciated

With that set-up, I would recomment cfl's because of space restictions and heat considerations, a 400w hps will generate quite a bit of heat, so unless you have a good ventilation set-up, cfls will be a bit cooler.

Remember, you will need ventilation anyway to exchange the o2 the plants generate for Co2 that the plants need and to regulate the humidity.

Whatever soil you use make sure you mix at 30% perlite to the amount of soil, to help with soil drainage. Also get a soil moisture meter to check moisture levels.

And the number one piece of advice I can give you is DONT EVER OVERWATER!!! You can always add water but you can never take water out. Overwatering causes more problems and is not easily reversed.

Good luck!

If you want to go organic you have a few options. Most nutrient companies offer organic nutes now. I've used Earth Juice with good success, smells awful though. Roots Organic is supposed to be very popular as well. General Hydroponics has a organic line, hell, even Advanced offers organic Iguana Juice. It's all preference.

I like the main idea man, except safety wise..
I tried a carboard box before and changed my mind about it quickly. It could be a hazord, especially if you want to use an HPS light inside of it. Maybe starting off with CFLs will be safer and less complicated to start with...at least for me. and even then with CFL lights, I'd still get paranoid with cardboard. I use a big rubbermaid box and thats something that i dont have to worry much about and i think its stronger also.

I got 4 CFLs over my plants each is 42 watts each which puts out 150 watts of light each. which got me notice improvements bigtime for the plants compared to how they were in the window getting only sunlight for part of the day lol one day i think i will upgrade with an HPS light though.

and if your needing to do a filter for the smell, try to make an activated carbon filter

https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/101248-best-diy-ez-walmart-carbon.html

with an in-take fan and out-take fan, i still need to put in an out-take fan myself so the heat can decrease in my box

um for example, my grow looks like this

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/241501-upgrades-cfl-box.html

I've made imrovements/changes on it since that thread, but it still looks the same, thats the main idea so that might help a bit

i'm pretty new at this also so i dont know much about nutriants and organic stuff lol

yeah i had those concerns about heat myself especially the smell, secrecy is very important to me.

what size fan do i need roughly?
thanks for the homemade carbon filter guide. very handy

thanks very much for your
any more advice very much appreciated

byronkawalski said:

yeah i had those concerns about heat myself especially the smell, secrecy is very important to me.

what size fan do i need roughly?
thanks for the homemade carbon filter guide. very handy

thanks very much for your
any more advice very much appreciated

Click to expand...

yeah same here, i get paranoid so the smell was one of my most recent problems, i found a few different ways to make a filter and then i found that which helped alot.

about the fan, umm, dosnt matter too much as long as it fits, and i'm just using a normal small sized fan, its simple enough and you can probably get it at just about any retail store, i'd choose wal-mart because that place is cheap, if not there then home depot. i just gotta put in another fan.

and ur welcome, just passing down advice that was passed down to me when i was doin pretty bad at first with my plants lol.

did you start the seeds yet?

not yet, i decided to do my research, find out what i need and get it before i start them. will probably do a grow diary when i finally do get underway

byronkawalski said:

not yet, i decided to do my research, find out what i need and get it before i start them. will probably do a grow diary when i finally do get underway

Click to expand...

nice, smarter then how i just started mine with nothing, it was a headache lol

hi there byronkawalski, im doing a couple of ultra skunk now under 2 x 70 watt hps and 1 blue 250 watt enviro, got brainstorm and bubble bomb going too. i use a 4 inch inline fan and carbon filter, you prob wont need more than a 5 inch. will let you know how the ultra go but they look strong and nice and green and chunky, supposed to stink though.