Need experienced advice on my set.

GrowingLife · Jun 8, 2017

Hello buds,

Hope all is well. Im seeking professional/experienced advice on a set I put together after doing a little reading for some time online, keeping in mind my options and resources. Im hoping if I didn't completely fuck this up, it can also help other beginner growers attempting to put together kits on their own even tho I've always been the guy that googles already asked questions on forums like this.

I'll be trying to grow two Cinderella 99s (for now, and probably will be posting a grow journal) using this setup:

SEEDS :

4 Cinderella 99 Feminised Seeds from Seedsman.

= 28 EUR

GROW TENT :

Voilamart 140 x 60 x 60 cm

= 50 EUR

VENTILATION :

Valve Ution 105 m³/h – 100 mm connection, in line mini air conditioner. - Filter 160 m³/h, 100 mm connection. - Aluminium covered air exhaust hose 100 mm, 3 meter. - 2x Hose Clamps for connecting.

= 57 EUR

30 cm, Power supply: 230 Volt, 50 Hertz, Power consumption: 30 Watt

= 25 EUR

LIGHTS :

Hammered Reflector Assembled with E 40 for NDL & MH

= 15 EUR

Hydrofarm Xtrasun Grow Systems Magnetic Ballast, 400 Watt, White

= 50 EUR

PowerPlant 400W Metal Halide Retro Fit Lamp

= 16 EUR

LUMii 400 W HPS Sunblaster Lamp

= 15 EUR

MONITORS :

TopElek 3-in-1 pH, soil moist and light meter

= 12 EUR

Anpro Thermometer/Hygrometer

= 8 EUR

GROWING MEDIUM AND FERTILIZERS :

BioBizz 50L Light-Mix Potting Soil Bag

= 13 EUR

BioBizz Indoor Try Pack (1. Biobizz Bio-Bloom, 2. Biobizz Bio-Grow 3. Biobizz Top-Max, each 250 ml)

= 13 EUR

5 x 3 Gallon breathable fabric non-woven smart pots

= 13 EUR

TOTAL = 315 EUR

(Yes I did copy paste some of the descriptions lol)

I'd appreciate some opinions on the size of tent Im trying to grow two (maybe three if possible) plants in, The type, quality and prices of the products I picked, whether you expect heat issues in my tent or not and any extra fertilizers or similar products I may need (and any other advice you may have for me)

Thanks a lot for your time in advance.
:hug:

OldMedUser · Jun 8, 2017

A 100mm exhaust, (4" for the metrically challenged), should be OK for a 400W. A 400 wouldn't be quite enough for a 1.2x1.2m/4x4' tent but a tent that size can give you some extra space for a fan etc or room to work on your plants if kept in a 1x1m/3x3' tent. A 140x60x60 is an odd size and too narrow really but it depends on the space you have to keep the tent too. Depending on the shape of the reflector it should focus most of the light into around a 3x3 area. An adjust-a-wing type reflector can be adjusted from fairly narrow to wide open. With good air circulation in the tent you won't see any real difference in temps unless using a sealed hood with it's own fan and separate air source like some do when they have heat issues.

Those pH, moisture an light meter things have their uses but not accurate enough to trust them for pH. With that BioBizz soil and nutes you shouldn't even concern yourself about the pH depending on what type of water you use. Hard tap water build up carbonates in the soil and raises pH well over 7 after a while that is near impossible to correct by just feeding water that you use pH down on. I use RO water only so I never have to wonder if my water is causing whatever problem I may encounter. I also use AN pH Perfect nutes and retired my pH pen a few years ago.

I have one of those 3-in-one gizmos too that I bought early in my pot growing career and for big pots drilled a couple holes 1/4 way up from the bottom to insert the probes to check for moisture without shoving the full length of the probes in from the top damaging roots as they go. Now I just lift the pots to see if they are light and need water.

The light meter part is useful to see where your light is hitting the best but doesn't really give any useful reading other than intensity. A foot below my 1000W Hortilux it pegs the needle past the redline. At 2ft it's just under the 2000 mark that's the highest the scale goes. 2000 what I've often wondered. lol

I'm not as good with exchange on money as I am with measurements but have a general idea and your costs seem reasonable for what you are getting. I would get a spare bulb just in case. Get HPS if you do as you can veg with an HPS for a while with less harm than switching to MH in the middle of flowering and that's where the gold is.

A temp/RH and speed controller for your exhaust fan is a great investment and doesn't have to be fancy. The fan will only come on when needed and if a lower speed keeps the heat and RH down well enough you get the 2 bonuses of quieter operation and lower power usage.

You are lining up most of what you need to have a successful grow your first time out.

Here's some reading material for you.

I found a great spot to download FREE POT BOOKS. I downloaded a grow bible first and got lots more. Books look great and complete like the real ones I have here. No web site but just a page of links. Just right click on what you want and then "Save Link As" to download so they don't open first as some are 50+ megs. They got lots. Enjoy.

Good luck!

GrowingLife · Jun 9, 2017

OldMedUser said:
A 100mm exhaust, (4" for the metrically challenged), should be OK for a 400W. A 400 wouldn't be quite enough for a 1.2x1.2m/4x4' tent but a tent that size can give you some extra space for a fan etc or room to work on your plants if kept in a 1x1m/3x3' tent. A 140x60x60 is an odd size and too narrow really but it depends on the space you have to keep the tent too. Depending on the shape of the reflector it should focus most of the light into around a 3x3 area. An adjust-a-wing type reflector can be adjusted from fairly narrow to wide open. With good air circulation in the tent you won't see any real difference in temps unless using a sealed hood with it's own fan and separate air source like some do when they have heat issues.

Those pH, moisture an light meter things have their uses but not accurate enough to trust them for pH. With that BioBizz soil and nutes you shouldn't even concern yourself about the pH depending on what type of water you use. Hard tap water build up carbonates in the soil and raises pH well over 7 after a while that is near impossible to correct by just feeding water that you use pH down on. I use RO water only so I never have to wonder if my water is causing whatever problem I may encounter. I also use AN pH Perfect nutes and retired my pH pen a few years ago.

I have one of those 3-in-one gizmos too that I bought early in my pot growing career and for big pots drilled a couple holes 1/4 way up from the bottom to insert the probes to check for moisture without shoving the full length of the probes in from the top damaging roots as they go. Now I just lift the pots to see if they are light and need water.

The light meter part is useful to see where your light is hitting the best but doesn't really give any useful reading other than intensity. A foot below my 1000W Hortilux it pegs the needle past the redline. At 2ft it's just under the 2000 mark that's the highest the scale goes. 2000 what I've often wondered. lol

I'm not as good with exchange on money as I am with measurements but have a general idea and your costs seem reasonable for what you are getting. I would get a spare bulb just in case. Get HPS if you do as you can veg with an HPS for a while with less harm than switching to MH in the middle of flowering and that's where the gold is.

A temp/RH and speed controller for your exhaust fan is a great investment and doesn't have to be fancy. The fan will only come on when needed and if a lower speed keeps the heat and RH down well enough you get the 2 bonuses of quieter operation and lower power usage.

You are lining up most of what you need to have a successful grow your first time out. View attachment 3957688

Here's some reading material for you.

I found a great spot to download I downloaded a grow bible first and got lots more. Books look great and complete like the real ones I have here. No web site but just a page of links. Just right click on what you want and then "Save Link As" to download so they don't open first as some are 50+ megs. They got lots. Enjoy.

Good luck!

Okay I looked at my options and I think Im pushing for a 1.2 x 1.2 x 2m. In that case I have a few questions:

Do you think 4 (perhaps 5) plants of that strain would now fit? (Some people say they keep it at 3 and some jump all the way to 8 or 9)

Should I know up it to 600w ?

If so, should I now change the exhaust?

I'll keep the 3-in-1 thingy for moist and just get myself an additional RO filter to deal with pH your way, worry-free. & I'll add an extra HPS bulb for emergencies.

Two extra questions, Any other supplements I should buy along with the fertilizers I picked?

And are 3 gallon smart pots good enough from seedlings till harvest?

Thanks for the reading material and thanks a lot for the quick and detailed answer, appreciate it

x

newbudder · Jun 9, 2017

GrowingLife said:
Okay I looked at my options and I think Im pushing for a 1.2 x 1.2 x 2m. In that case I have a few questions:

Do you think 4 (perhaps 5) plants of that strain would now fit? (Some people say they keep it at 3 and some jump all the way to 8 or 9)

Should I know up it to 600w ?

If so, should I now change the exhaust?

I'll keep the 3-in-1 thingy for moist and just get myself an additional RO filter to deal with pH your way, worry-free. & I'll add an extra HPS bulb for emergencies.

Two extra questions, Any other supplements I should buy along with the fertilizers I picked?

And are 3 gallon smart pots good enough from seedlings till harvest?

Thanks for the reading material and thanks a lot for the quick and detailed answer, appreciate it x

Go for a 1.2*1.2*2 tent with a 600hps and a cooled reflector (if you have an a/c you can spare the cooled reflector)
You can grow in that tent 1-6 plants (or more with SOG).
3 gallon is too small. Go for at least 5 gallon pots.
I wouldn't buy biobizz nutrients.. They're awful. Go for Bionova soil-supermix & bionova pk or any other known to be good brand for organic soil grow.
You shouldn't deal with ph while growing in soil.

OldMedUser · Jun 9, 2017

The amount of plants you can grow in a given space depends on how you want to grow them and how big. You could fill that space with 16 - 10L pots with 4 plants in each for a SoG type grow or a big tub with one plant for a ScroG grow. 4 plants in 12 or 16L pots that get topped and trained a bit would fill it up good.

Definitely opt for the 600W to get decent coverage of the whole space and a 15cm/6" fan/filter combo.

A bloom booster of some kind gets bigger buds and more resin. I use AN's Big Bud and hate to grow without it. I also use Rhino Skin from them which is a potassium silicate supplement with buffers so it's not so caustic. Makes for stronger stems and healthier plants overall. Both will work with any other nutes organic or hydro. If you are sticking with the BioBizz they must have stuff like those as well. I'm in Canada so don't know that line.

CalMag is good too but go easy with it. Way too many people think it's a magic bullet and go ga-ga with it.

The biggest pots I use are 16L and my plants are never rootbound at the end of a grow. Just chock full of fine root hairs from the root pruning I do at each re-pot and I do 3 or 4 of those from sprout usually cutting off the bottom of the root ball each time.

Lots of ways to do everything and none of them are "The One". Try to stay relaxed about it and the plants will repay in Kind. To much fussing around and well intentions kill a lot more plants than a chill attitude.

GrowingLife · Jun 9, 2017

newbudder said:
Go for a 1.2*1.2*2 tent with a 600hps and a cooled reflector (if you have an a/c you can spare the cooled reflector)
You can grow in that tent 1-6 plants (or more with SOG).
3 gallon is too small. Go for at least 5 gallon pots.
I wouldn't buy biobizz nutrients.. They're awful. Go for Bionova soil-supermix & bionova pk or any other known to be good brand for organic soil grow.
You shouldn't deal with ph while growing in soil.

OldMedUser said:
The amount of plants you can grow in a given space depends on how you want to grow them and how big. You could fill that space with 16 - 10L pots with 4 plants in each for a SoG type grow or a big tub with one plant for a ScroG grow. 4 plants in 12 or 16L pots that get topped and trained a bit would fill it up good.

Definitely opt for the 600W to get decent coverage of the whole space and a 15cm/6" fan/filter combo.

A bloom booster of some kind gets bigger buds and more resin. I use AN's Big Bud and hate to grow without it. I also use Rhino Skin from them which is a potassium silicate supplement with buffers so it's not so caustic. Makes for stronger stems and healthier plants overall. Both will work with any other nutes organic or hydro. If you are sticking with the BioBizz they must have stuff like those as well. I'm in Canada so don't know that line.

CalMag is good too but go easy with it. Way too many people think it's a magic bullet and go ga-ga with it.

The biggest pots I use are 16L and my plants are never rootbound at the end of a grow. Just chock full of fine root hairs from the root pruning I do at each re-pot and I do 3 or 4 of those from sprout usually cutting off the bottom of the root ball each time.

Lots of ways to do everything and none of them are "The One". Try to stay relaxed about it and the plants will repay in Kind. To much fussing around and well intentions kill a lot more plants than a chill attitude.

Thanks a lot guys you're wonderful

Will keep you updated when I start and begind a journal, hopefully before the end of this month.

OldMedUser · Jun 9, 2017

Make sure you put a link in here when you do so we know where you are at. Will get a notification when a new post is made in here.

Good Luck!

Lucky Luke · Jun 9, 2017

Some great advice here, thanks OldMed.

When putting together your tent (like i did just last week) have some strong cable ties, electricians tape and duct tape handy. Light yoyos are also good.

600 w seems to be the golden size for watts vs Lumins vs spread.

Here is a good video i found last night.

GrowingLife · Jun 11, 2017

Lucky Luke said:
Some great advice here, thanks OldMed.

When putting together your tent (like i did just last week) have some strong cable ties, electricians tape and duct tape handy. Light yoyos are also good.

600 w seems to be the golden size for watts vs Lumins vs spread.

Here is a good video i found last night.

Thank you very much but guys I need some help again ..

Plans changed, I decided to go for the 1.2 x 1.2 x 2m so I chose to buy some of the equipment as a kit from E-bay (I’m a Uni student and this fits my budget even better), which comes with Canna Coco and Canna A + B which I read will result in higher quality larger yields so I’m using that instead of soil or biofizz/bionova products.

I apologize in advance for the annoying questions I just like getting my answers from you guys.
Now I need to know the following:

600w Dual Spectrum Bulb. Apparently this works for both stages but it’s actually better for the flowering stage than the regular HPS? Due to the fact that it’s been adjusted to emit the type of light MH bulbs do, which the plants still need even during flowering. Is that true? I’ve also read that you could use MH for veg and Dual Spec for flowering to maximize results. Is that correct? That’s an extra 35 Euros for the 600w Metal Halide. Do you think it’s worth it? I’m very confused.

Is Swiftair Inline Centrifugal fan 100m3/hr, Carbon Filter and an extra 25 centimeter fan enough for the new size of my tent?

Coco CANNA Natural 50 Ltr
CANNA Coco A+B
CANNA PK 13/14 1L
I’ll be using 5 gallon fabric smart pots. I have no clue right how to water my future plants or measure anything, and people online are ripping each other apart about the amounts and methods to be used. Should I just follow the brand’s instructions? Also what’s the mixing/measuring/watering procedures and schedules you use for Coco? I’m still buying the RO water filter to filter my tab water. (In case you need to know, the strain I chose, Cinderella 99, flowers in 7 to 8 weeks, someone said theirs took 9.)

Last but definitely not least, in the EU, am I going to get busted for ordering over E-bay, Amazon and a seedbank (all ships in stealth)? I’ve seen lots of mixed opinions regarding this that all made sense, local hydro shop isn’t an option. Let me know what you think.

I owe you one, thank you all very much in advance and I apologize once more but I’d rather be annoying than not sure what I’m doing.

OldMedUser · Jun 11, 2017

GrowingLife said:
600w Dual Spectrum Bulb. Apparently this works for both stages but it’s actually better for the flowering stage than the regular HPS? Due to the fact that it’s been adjusted to emit the type of light MH bulbs do, which the plants still need even during flowering. Is that true? I’ve also read that you could use MH for veg and Dual Spec for flowering to maximize results. Is that correct? That’s an extra 35 Euros for the 600w Metal Halide. Do you think it’s worth it? I’m very confused.

That bulb will do fine. I get the Hortilux Super HPS bulbs specifically as they have more blue light than cheaper ones and I feel that a better mix of light frequencies equates to better buds. Handy to have a spare bulb of some kind so you don't get stuck if your only bulb quits on you.

GrowingLife said:
Is Swiftair Inline Centrifugal fan 100m3/hr, Carbon Filter and an extra 25 centimeter fan enough for the new size of my tent?

Sounds more than adequate. The tent is just under 3m3 and the fan moves 100m3/hr /60sec/hr which is 1.67m3 so it can exchange the air in under 2 min. With the filter it may reduce it's efficiency by half at most and that's still a dozen or more exchanges per hour. The 10"/25cm fan will circulate the air around the tent well enough.

GrowingLife said:
Coco CANNA Natural 50 Ltr
CANNA Coco A+B
CANNA PK 13/14 1L

I don't know much about those nutes and my one trial using coco did not go well but that was my fault using coco from a brick and not flushing it well first as I didn't know I had to. The coco you are getting should state whether it needs flushing or not but likely doesn't. Do not blindly follow their feeding schedule and always start with 1/4 to 1/2 the max. Can always feed one plant heavier to see how well they tolerate it.

GrowingLife said:
Last but definitely not least, in the EU, am I going to get busted for ordering over E-bay, Amazon and a seedbank (all ships in stealth)? I’ve seen lots of mixed opinions regarding this that all made sense, local hydro shop isn’t an option. Let me know what you think.

I NEVER order any grow stuff online. It leaves a paper trail with millions of other paper trails but if for some reason the authorities decide to investigate you leads right to your grow room. If you can, have things you order sent to a different address where growing or other drugs activity is not going on. Whoever is receiving it might end up giving you up under waterboarding tho.

We can't even get blank money orders in Canada any more. Both the buyer and seller's names have to be on it before they give it to you. Closest hydro store is a 2 hour drive for me and a good one is 5 hours away. Shipping costs are very high here too but luckily the heavy stuff like ProMix is available locally.

Seed banks are pretty stealthy and often offer stealth shipping options at extra cost to make sure you get your goods. Cheap insurance for your safety and freedom.

Be safe!

GrowingLife · Jun 12, 2017

OldMedUser said:
That bulb will do fine. I get the Hortilux Super HPS bulbs specifically as they have more blue light than cheaper ones and I feel that a better mix of light frequencies equates to better buds. Handy to have a spare bulb of some kind so you don't get stuck if your only bulb quits on you.

Sounds more than adequate. The tent is just under 3m3 and the fan moves 100m3/hr /60sec/hr which is 1.67m3 so it can exchange the air in under 2 min. With the filter it may reduce it's efficiency by half at most and that's still a dozen or more exchanges per hour. The 10"/25cm fan will circulate the air around the tent well enough.

I don't know much about those nutes and my one trial using coco did not go well but that was my fault using coco from a brick and not flushing it well first as I didn't know I had to. The coco you are getting should state whether it needs flushing or not but likely doesn't. Do not blindly follow their feeding schedule and always start with 1/4 to 1/2 the max. Can always feed one plant heavier to see how well they tolerate it.

I NEVER order any grow stuff online. It leaves a paper trail with millions of other paper trails but if for some reason the authorities decide to investigate you leads right to your grow room. If you can, have things you order sent to a different address where growing or other drugs activity is not going on. Whoever is receiving it might end up giving you up under waterboarding tho.

We can't even get blank money orders in Canada any more. Both the buyer and seller's names have to be on it before they give it to you. Closest hydro store is a 2 hour drive for me and a good one is 5 hours away. Shipping costs are very high here too but luckily the heavy stuff like ProMix is available locally.

Seed banks are pretty stealthy and often offer stealth shipping options at extra cost to make sure you get your goods. Cheap insurance for your safety and freedom.

Be safe!

I was trying to cut down on expenses but I guess it's definitely not worth having my plants go without light for days if something does happen. A back up bulb it is then.

The three websites offer stealth free of charge, where I live there is no way that they'll ever suspect me for anything related to this but Im still going to pay with a Pre paid temp card that doesnt have my name and I'll have it delivered over to a clean house that I trust.

Thank you OldMed! Cant wait to start very soon.

Anyone has some personal experience or advice for the brand of Coco and nutrients that I'm getting?

Need experienced advice on my set.

GrowingLife

Member

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member

GrowingLife

Member

newbudder

Member

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member

GrowingLife

Member

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member

Lucky Luke

Well-Known Member

GrowingLife

Member

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member

GrowingLife

Member