New Grower - Looking for advice on space and quantity with seeds (Small Budget)

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MouseTM

New Member
Greetings fellow enthusiasts,

New user here, long time smoker, thinking about growing for the first time. I will try to make this as short and detailed as possible. I have been doing a lot of research over the last 6 weeks looking into growing with various methods, being hydro, soil, seeds, clones, lighting, ph, etc etc but I have some concerns..

Space:
The closet space I am working with is 2.8' x 2.2' x 5' or (32" x 26" x 60") up to the hangar bar. I can increase my 2.2' of length a few inches if needed, I would just prefer for it to be completely hidden in the corner of the closet. I am planning to build a cabinet (with mylar as reflective material), but I have not yet decided if I'm going to use 1/2" or 1/4" wood. This would take a little bit off my space to grow. Any comments there?

Hydro with non-fem seeds:
From all my time searching, I like the idea of the Hydro DWC bins or separate gallon(s) bins in either hydro or soil. But... and here's the big BUT.. The only seeds I have right now all came from bud I've had over the years. So I'm assuming I will mostly get males, correct? I have over 80 - around 10 strains. I should say now, I only want to have at maximum 6 mature plants at a time. Thinking about starting with just 1 or 2 to see how it goes.

Using clones in a close quarters DWC for SoG (not SCRoG), I would imagine the roots will get tangled with each other, even in netting cups. So, is it ok for female roots to mingle but not mingle with male roots in DWC? This is why I'm thinking about avoiding a DWC bin. Perhaps separate DWC buckets would work? Are they easy to maintain with 100% Coco Coir?

The reason I'm set on DWC is sometimes I have to be gone for a week, a few times a year. Only a day or two more, but not every time. I obviously wouldn't be able to water my babies, which would kill them, so if I can change the res before I leave, would they be ok for 7/8 days? Changing it immediately when I got back? Is all maintenance done during the daylight cycle? I'm thinking a pump and an airstone in each bucket.

Lighting:
I am pretty set on going LED. I don't want to use CFL's simply because in the end they use more energy and produce more heat than LED. I also need to be stealthy here, which is why I can't use HPS. I've read different comments but generally 250W for 4sq ft is what you want? Should I get full spectrum for both cycles? Or would blue/white for veg, orange/red/yellow for flower be better? A T5 could be possible, but I haven't done much research on pricing. I saw x2 125W Equiv 18w actual LED A21's 1600 lumens each on Amazon for $22. They had 5000k and 2700k, so $45 total - free shipping with Prime. Are those good enough for 6 plants? Or would the T5 be way more beneficial?

Filter:
I was thinking about doing this DIY filter from Wolfman:
https://www.rollitup.org/t/the-best-diy-ez-walmart-carbon-filter-for-micro-grows-zen-style.101248/


Overall I want to take a good but safe route. Willing to learn and put time into it but I do need them to be self sufficient in a way. I have already purchased a few of the cheaper items (light timer, good power strip, fans etc) but I'm willing to invest another $100-$200 total. I already have 18 and 30 gallon storage bins (didn't intentionally buy them for this, I just like having a couple on hand) if I decided to go DWC, but I'm thinking wait on that until I can get clones or fem seeds?

Essentially, what methods should I use to grow with these non-fem seeds in my space?

Thanks!!! Happy rolling,
MouseTM
 

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M

MouseTM

New Member
Ok, thanks. If I do, I would have to buy or make some sort of automated watering for when I have to travel, otherwise they will die. Any suggestions there?
 
M

MouseTM

New Member
CannaOG said:
You can just use bigger pots and you wouldn't have to worry about watering as much
Click to expand...
What would you use? Buckets or a runoff pan? I'm assuming the bigger the pot, the more medium, meaning the moisture stays locked in longer? Thanks
 
Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
i tried with small leds for a while, and they did pretty well at vegging, but were shit for budding. you get button buds, all the development up top and nothing underneath.if you're dead set on leds go big or stay at the house. i still use 2 300W led flood lights for veg, one 2700k and one 6500, with an overlapping footprint and get nice results in a 3x3 area. for flowering, i've gone to a 400W hps, vented by a 4 inch 190 cfm inline fan. if you can afford a GOOD led for flowering, go for it, if you can't afford the real deal, go with a hps and a good exhaust fan for under 200 bucks if you shop around.


and oh yeah, i can sell you a box of 24 watt leds, and t5s, if you wanna fool around. they're collecting dust bunnies under the bed.
 
nyceone

nyceone

Active Member
Roger A. Shrubber said:
i tried with small leds for a while, and they did pretty well at vegging, but were shit for budding. you get button buds, all the development up top and nothing underneath.if you're dead set on leds go big or stay at the house. i still use 2 300W led flood lights for veg, one 2700k and one 6500, with an overlapping footprint and get nice results in a 3x3 area. for flowering, i've gone to a 400W hps, vented by a 4 inch 190 cfm inline fan. if you can afford a GOOD led for flowering, go for it, if you can't afford the real deal, go with a hps and a good exhaust fan for under 200 bucks if you shop around.


and oh yeah, i can sell you a box of 24 watt leds, and t5s, if you wanna fool around. they're collecting dust bunnies under the bed.
Click to expand...
How much plants u have under the 400 and how much u yield
 
Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
could cram 5 under it but i try to stick with 3 so they all stay in the sweet spot of the footprint, once its all dried and trimmed i'm getting about 2 oz per plant, but i'll admit i'm just getting started with it. this is my first grow with the hps, and the plants i have under it now did the first half of their flowering under the led flood. next run with the plant being under the hps the whole run i'm expecting at least twice that, hoping for 3 times.
when i switched lights, the buds almost doubled in size within a week
 
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Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
i recently went from soil to coco coir, and i'm very happy with it. sort of a hybrid between soil and hydro. most of the benes of hydro, with the buffers and forgiveness of soil. you can set up a drip system with it, and be gone as long as you like, as long as you have a big enough catch basin to hold the runoff. possibley just run it straight down a drain if theres one convenient to you. you can just make your nutes a little weaker when you're gone, check your runoff ph and ppm when you get back and do what you have to do then.
 
Smootherpete

Smootherpete

Well-Known Member
I tried DWC my first time and botched, went to coco and it's so simple, I don't want to use anything else now. Coco is even easier than soil. I get 12 to 16 oz off of 4 plants every 10 weeks doing perpetual grows. I veg with 6 x 26w(approx. 150W) 6500k CFLs in a small 2' wide x 4' long x 3' high plywood box that I made. Line the inside with reflectix buble wrap(hardware store). I Veg for 10 weeks, when I harvest, I take those clones and put them in the grow tent(4 x 4 x 6.5) with 600W HPS. Can fan 9000 carbon filter for smell and vent it in my attic during summer(Blueberry), during winter I vent in room only with less skunky strain(Black Jack). Winter harvest is a little smaller but still over 12 oz.

Put your plants in 5 gal buckets and you can leave them up to 4 days without watering. If you have to go somewhere for the weekend, no problem, but it's a good idea to water every 48 hrs when you are home to avoid salt build up. Canna coco nutrients is the only thing I put in, NOTHING ELSE! I fill 2L bottles up to the funnel shape with city water, I leave air at the top for shaking them up and I put 2.5 ml of A and 2.5 ml of B, that's it, that makes my pH 6.2. Look up how to make hempie buckets for drain to waste coco and you're good to go.

P.S. The only thing aside from canna A + B that I use is ZHO powder, it really gives those young clones a head start, I tried with and without and there is a real difference. The roots shoot out of the bottom extremely fast, nice white ,thick and fuzzy roots. I used it every time I transplant. I also use a bit of pH down in the summer because chlorine in the city water is more elevated and makes pH slightly higher.

Good luck with whatever method you decide to go with!
 
M

MouseTM

New Member
Thanks all for the replies! Sorry I didn't see the notification email - late reply

@Shrubber, I mainly want to stick with LEDs because of the HPS gives off a lot more energy right? So the electricity bill would be considerably higher? What's the price range for a "good LED"?
"when i switched lights, the buds almost doubled in size within a week" - That's a pretty big boost! That's good to hear about the coco, I bought a couple bricks for when I get started. I know about ph but what is the ppm exactly?

@Smootherpete Did you do soil with DWC the first time and now you do Coco in DWC? "I get 12 to 16 oz off of 4 plants every 10 weeks doing perpetual grows." - Crazy! So you're essentially going from 150W to 600W for flowering? What does this exactly do to help with the type of yield you're getting? Short/bushy etc?

"Put your plants in 5 gal buckets and you can leave them up to 4 days without watering. If you have to go somewhere for the weekend, no problem, but it's a good idea to water every 48 hrs when you are home to avoid salt build up." - Does this mean you're no longer doing DWC? "Canna coco nutrients" - I was looking at the DynaGro nuts, do you use Canna during veg too?

Thanks!!
 
Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
you have to buy a ppm or tds meter. thats parts per million or total dissolved solids. They run anywhere from 15 to 150 bucks, i find the 15 dollar one from Homedepot works fine. bought a 10 dollar bottle of solution to check it and its been within .o1 so far.
you check your water before you start and subtract whatever it is with nothing in it. mine varies between 35 and 70 ppm, i guess depending on what they need to add down at the water plant. i pull a couple of 5 gallon buckets and let them sit for a couple of days before i use them, to let any chlorine gas out, then i check the ppm, and add nutes up to where i want. for seedlings and cuttings i go about 150 ppm, (which would actually read 180 to 220, depending on what the water was when i started) then i go up to about 600 ppm by the end of veg, when they hit the flower room they start getting 800, by about a week to ten days before cutting, i've worked up to about 1000 ppm. then they get one good flush with just ph'ed water a week before the end.
Of course we might not be using the same nutes, so you'll have to experiment, put in the amount you normally do and see what it reads. some people like to push it till they start to see tip burn then back off slightly, but i don't like to work that hard honestly.
 
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Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
by the way, no soil or coco in dwc, (deep water culture)...just water, maybe something like hydroton clay pebbles to support the plant in a mesh basket.

also, i don't have numbers at hand to throw at you, but a 400 watt hps doesn't use a lot more energy than a comparable led light, and from what i've seen, they don't produce that much more heat, they put all those fans on the "nice" led grow lights for a reason. check out what Lofty had to do to keep these very good leds cool
https://www.rollitup.org/t/new-loft-grow-room-input-appreciated.899067/page-8#post-12608248
 
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