Noob here need some small grow start up advice.

Ok so not sure where to start. I have a couple books on growing and as far as the actual process of growing is concerned i understand Generally everything till the harvest stage. (haven't quite gotten there in the book.) Basically there is a chance that I may be leaving with a friend and we discovered that the basement wall has a nice hideaway thats tucked behind the wall. Im not looking to make a large grow just a moderately tiny efficient 4-5 plant set up. I am honestly doing it for my chronic back and headaches which is why I am choosing a heavy sativa and a heavy indica to attempt to grow. So here is where the first question comes in.

1. Do i need to take care of an Indica and a Sativa differently? Can they be grown side by side?

2. Also what are some things that are absolute must haves for a small grow like this what would you suggest?

3. What would be better soil or hydro?

4. Around How much does the start of a small grow typically run?

5. I possibly could get a clone should i try growing straight from a clone?

6. Would it be easier to grow a clone or start from scratch?

I really am not sure what I need to ask If anyone knows any videos that I can download (legally) on how to grow that would be awesome cause i kinda am in need of a crash course.

1.) yes and no, I would say its possible to grow em side by side, why not, but the indica will finish faster Im sure, so no tangling them up in a scrog together or similar and the stavia will mostlikely also get taller if you just let em grow up, so you will need some training or a way to place em on some stands to keep em at the same/right distance from your light source, but with a little work I see no problems here


2.) keep it simple, "less is more" some clever person once said, and specially to begin with, use common sense and logic, in the end, all we want to do is "copy" nature indoors as we for one or another reason cant grow em outdoors, good light, right grow medium, good air/co2 exchanges, some wind and of course the water and food the plant need is all stuff you need to provide


3.) soil, but thats just me, hydro give great results, but you would need to make some more investments to start with and with hydro you also need to be more precise with PH and Ecc Aso.
soil is more forgiven, and to a new grower it would probably be more easy to run/use. but there is no "right way" here, many ways to Rome. but IMO I would start with a few plants in soil (I did) and get some experience before getting the hugh, expensive set up that require lots of time and some experience to run

4.) ? please explain ? in form of cost to buy or run ? I would say minimum of 400$ to start a good small scale grow for personal use, might get away with 200-300$ to start with but before then end you would have spend them +400$ Im sure, a good quality MH/HPS light in 400W or 600W can easily cost you half the budget, as for running cost, so many differences to take in to account, in my part of the world power is expensive, but my 600W still only cost me around 80$ a month to run (now I use LEDs)

5.) sure why not, your get a "head start" and don't need to pop the seeds

6.) nighter I guess, some say seed plants get bigger/yield more I dunno, with clones your way ahead so if time is a concern it might be better ?
there are pros and cons I guess, with seed you don't get other Ppl bugs in to your grow room and they are also easy to ship aso. up to you, try the clones to start with I would say, then your off and away to a good start


hope this help some ?

use google and youtube, they have some good videos

[video=youtube;A07ivfk93TE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A07ivfk93TE[/video]

If you go on isohunt or something theres a few torrents with like a pack of videos and e-books which you can download...
Helped me out quite a bit when I didn't know much about indoor growing... even though I havn't started my first grow yet (2 or 3 weeks fingers crossed)

Hey, slipon pretty much answered it all but I just wanted to add a few things.
U can grow them side by side but dealing with lighting would be a pain in the butt if your new to growing this is because your heights of your plants will throw things off.
I love the idea of keeping it simple, just like Slipon said, so think of the basics, clean water, maybe go into a 2 part feed program instead of a three with General hydro since your new and price is decent. Dont worry about CO2, just make sure you have some air moving around either with door open or vent air out, since the grow is small, the idea is just to circulate air, use a basic feed program and get a decent wattage bulb so u can get some weight. Is height an issue? Will heat become an issue? I would get a 600HPS but if those two variables are a problem it might be to much. For some reason I am thinking its a small room thats hidden like udner the stair case or something?
I would go soilliess grow medium because its sterile and usually has a good mix of 50/50 perlite and peat moss, good drainage and water retention. Go soilless for your first year of growing.
I would go clones allll the way!! Seeds take longer generally by one month and usually have some extra height to them. I would also grow in 2 gallon pots for your 6 plants. If I were u, I would by some seeds online that you would like and simply grow them, clone them down and use clones for now on.. But during this time, use the clones your buddy can hook u up.. Generally 5 bucks a clone. Buy feminized seeds.
Growing is not complicated, its only as complicated as you make it! Best example, what happens if you are trying to set up a auto watering system for 200 plants in 2 gallon pots? Each watering takes 110 gallons of water and you have to water every second day.. U can also add an auto fret top offs etc, more money and more possible problems. With more experience the easier it is to do these things, but start one by one with upgrading the system.
Glad u came to RIU because thats a good place to ask questions to learn, some people might rag on you and say get a book, this and that but they are clowns. Have you read the Jeorge's marihuana grow bible? The new edition? Its pretty good, It makes it complicated at parts but its really not. he over kills lots but its only cuz he has all ranges of audiences and cant look stupid or anything. I find it all daunting because its blah blah blah with basics! But its were I started and I love the book sill. Lots of good soil mixs and pictures to really help grasp how things work..
Best luck!

Herbzman said:

If you go on isohunt or something theres a few torrents with like a pack of videos and e-books which you can download...
Helped me out quite a bit when I didn't know much about indoor growing... even though I havn't started my first grow yet (2 or 3 weeks fingers crossed)

Click to expand...

...or you could look on Youtube for millions of free videos and spend the money on the books legitimately if you think you need them.

-spek

I myself do hydro and you can build your own cab or make one out of a closet of sorts. I've grown indica and sativa at the same time and the sativa does stretch more and takes a couple of weeks longer. seeds I prefere unless you are experienced with clones, still no biggy with clones they root easy if you use some clone root hormone solution. imo hydro is quicker and puts out bigger buds and takes up less room. if you go hydro you you will want ppm meter and a ph meter that has water temp on it. also you will need a conversion ballast so you can switch from HM to HPS bulbs. MH(metal halide) and HPS (high pressure sodium). Most use MH for veg and HPS for bloom because of the light spectrums but you can do a grow from beginning to end with each. you will also want a light hood that is enclosed in glass at the bottom so you can vent the heat from the bulb out. you also want a nice carbon filter for some plants and the their stench. and then you mush choose your hydro system by far ebb & flow is the most popular its almost a mix of soil and hydro if you use rockwool.

here is my system in my small SF apartment:

View attachment 2624361

the most you have to worry about with hydro is the ppms and ph which is easy with a meter and you can get good ones for cheap. use the lucas method it easy as pie, u only use flora bloom and flora micro which also works for soil but with hydro you don't have to lug around soil.

I almost forgot you should use at least 10% h2o2 (hydrogen peroxide) it will kill unwanted fungi and converts to oxygen as well.

good hunting my friend I wish you the best.

this is my current grow hippy headband x 3 and elephant stomper x 3. Now two are very healthy and 3 well they are bouncing back. I hadn't re calibrated my ppm meter in months and when I did I realized it was 10.8 off so I re calibrated it and flooded the kids and the ones in bad shape believe it or not are bouncing back