Preparing to buy tools for my first grow - please help

Hello guys,

I made a list of things I want to buy for my first grow. Because it is my first grow, I was advised by someone in this forum to do a CFL grow.
Please let me know if there is any correction or things i need to add to this list

I want to buy:

1.) Grow Tent: Secret Jardin DS60 it looks like this : http://www.drgreens.co.uk/Tents-Sheeting/Grow-Tents/Dark-Street-DS60-Rev-II
Its 60x60x140 CM not inches. Is this good enough for two plants?
2.) 4xCFL lights of 45 Watt
3.) A electricity timer 12/12 16/8 etc.
4.) Humidity and Temperature reader.
5.) Dehumidifier (is it necessary? )
6.) Soil the best and most expensive in the store
7.) I will get cow manures and use it as fertilizer also use some fertilizer from the store
8.) I will buy the clone solution.
9.) PH tester


3 things I'm uncertain about.

1.) What about circulation? Do I need to buy a small fan and attach it inside? Or do i need a machine or something?
2.) After the plants starts flowering where can I grow clones? do i need to buy a separate smaller tent for this ?
3.) What can I buy in order to attach the CFL's ? Do i need to buy chains?/
4.) Can i start of with mini pots and put them into a 30L pot?

Thanks for the help guys

You will be spending too much money for your first grow. if I was you I would get a 150w HPS MH Grow Light mh for veg hps for flower, Ph tester the 3 drop solution works great been using it since I started, Two 3 gallon Fabric Pots, 12 or 8 inch Circulation fan, Humidity and Temperature reader and a cheap timer, all this you can get from ebay cheap. Your food Bat Guano Mexican& Jamaican the Mexican for Veg Jamaican for Flower, Dolomite lime, Azomite, and Kelp meal& Molasses for flower all the smallest bags cause your only doing two plants so it will be cheap. Last some earth Organic soil from lowes with some added perlite. You can start your seeds in red plastic cups and transplant them to your 3 gal organic made soil pots once the cotyledon's turn brownish yellow.

I wouldn't worry about doing clones till your 3rd grow at least so you will have some exp under your belt. Don't want to bite more then you can chew your first time in.

I bought the Secret Jardin 60 - good first grow space , 4 CFL Lights, personally I went more but for the sake of budget you can get away with deferring this purchase and making 2 45w to start with, then as your plants grow get the remaining. timer is key, I picked up one for 12 bucks at hardware store ,, thermo and humidity meter is good, dehumidifier I would only purchase if you know for sure you will have regular humidity of above 75%. Dirt, I dunno that the most expensive definitely means the best... food for thought. and for clones I actually didn't worry about that and just went feminized seeds until I can handle that little bit of mayhem . Hope it helps, oh and don't forget some seeds

I think you have it about right. a couple things I would recommend:
1.) Space is tight, you can see my cabinet in my Jedi journal below is just under 60x60 and it was completely filled with a single plant. I did a lot of training to get a full canopy, but this also limited my future light expansion. I would recomend going the next size up if you have rom for it.

2.) Get a good extraction fan to pull heat out, you will also want a circulation fan within the tant to keep the air moving, this prevents mold and strengthens your stems.

3.) Dehumidifier is a maybe, I didn't use and I live near the beach with 70% humidity outside the grow box, good ventilation keeps this under control. I very much doubt you could fit this in the 60x60 tent with 2 plants.

4.) Before adding raw manure, do some research. You can just use a good quality soil that does not contain time released nutrients.

I agree with Lord Megatron on the soil, though I dont think you are going crazy by buying a tent, it would have been cheaper for me to buy a tent than everything I ended up doing to make my cabinet and ensure it was light tight with good airflow. This will depend on where you plan on putting this.

The two biggest catches when growing the first time
1.) You, don't over do it with nutes and water.
2.) Heat, make sure you have good ventilation and airflow (this is particularly true during indoor summer grows)

Good luck

I did not see that you said cm not inches. Is there any way you can start in a closet?

Cyklos said:

Hello guys,

Its 60x60x140 CM not inches. Is this good enough for two plants?

Click to expand...

you will also need a vented hood and an exhaust fan, as well as a carbon filter

bimple said:

you will also need a vented hood and an exhaust fan, as well as a carbon filter

Click to expand...

Dont need a vented hood for CFL, but good catch on the carbon filter. If you are concerned about stealth at all, you will want to look into odor control. There are some in the DIY section that can be done on the cheap.

If it were me and I wanted to achieve the best results, I would get a 400w HPS, an air cooled hood and a good high velocity inline fan and carbon filter.

A switchable ballast will allow you to run MH for veg and HPS for flower.

A single clip on fan would be enough for creating "wind" in the tent. The exhaust fan is the important one here.

Quality soil and simple nutrients. I like DynaGro products. You would only really need the "grow" and "bloom" formulas and possibly cal-mag supplement. I like Botanicare's "cal-mag plus"

I would grow out one plant in that space for a couple months then flower. A 5 gallon bucket with plenty of drainage holes will be a good pot for it.

If your humidity is very high, esp in flowering, youll need a dehumidifier. Good ventilation can help with excessive humidity but if the area that the tent is very humid, youll need to do something about it. Dehumidifiers work well but give off heat. The best thing to do is to have the tent in a room that has heating/cooling regulated.

I just came back from work and already 8 replies. Thank you so much for helping me, I really appreciate it guys:

Some follow up questions and answers:

1.) Circulation: I'm a noob handyman i have no idea how to add and exhaust etc. Is the exhaust this tube that you connect to the outside? Or this machine that you see in videos? Its probably expensive isn't it... I did a picture of where I want to put the tent so you know where it is located.
2.) What does the term "MH" mean, and what exactly is the ballast for? An electrical ballast (sometimes called control gear) is a device intended to limit the amount of current in an electric circuit. I found that on Google why do I need this??? To safe electricity?
3.) Some people advice me to go with HPS some say with CFL, I debating now what would be better for me as a noob.
4.) Lord you said Last some earth Organic soil from lowes with some added perlite what is perlite ? Is it used to regulate PH?
5.) Can I give tap water or special PH level water a must?
6.) HBbum your guide Jedi OG Kush Journal (Harvest Complete) is not working can you give me another link please?
7.) There are some in the DIY section that can be done on the cheap. What does DIY stand for? What the different between a Exhaust fan and a Carbonate filter?
8.) Should i go for the 80x80x140 instead of the 60x60x140?

My room is a little messy sorry i just hung the laundry for my GF.View attachment 2729758View attachment 2729759
I dont sleep in this room its my guest room

RIU was having problems a bit ago, the link should work fine.

DIY, Do It Yourself

You can CFL, HPS/MH require you have better ventilation to control temps, this will cost you more but is easier to work with once you get your ventilation figured out.

I recommend you spend some time reading the stickies to figure out the basics up at the top of the newbie section. That should help you understand the basics. Also, you might considering picking up a book on basic growing which will also help.

First off i suggest reading here or other sites for at least a month before buying anything.

I have the same tent and it works great. Use a cheap Active Air 4 inch extraction fan with a cheap carbon filter. Fox Farms organic soil, but any quality organic would do. Add earthworm castings at 10% and chunky perlite at 20% to veg soil.

Up pot and use same mix with 2 tbsp of Rainbow Bloom Mix per gallon of soil. Just water no added nutes. I ph my water as it is very alkaline and use a little lemon juice to lower it. The cheap drop test kits are good enough.

I have used cfl with large clamp reflectors. They work ok. Without a good reflector you lose half the light. The reflectors trap heat so a small fan in there would be nice, aimed right under the lights.

I would go with a hps or mh 250 watt in there for flower. Covers that area perfect. You can veg with about half that wattage or just use the hps.

Air intake is one or both of the holes at base of tent and hang filter inside the top of tent with ducting from it going out top of tent. Speed control for extraction filter so you tailor the temp you want in tent.

I have 6 small plants in my tent in 1 or 2 gallon pots. You could do as little as 1 plant in a 5 or 10 gallon pot but veg it a long time and prune or train the top if needed so it fills the tent side to side. When it flowers you will get from almost no stretch to double. Assume no pure sativas. I veg 5 weeks or 6 if you count the seedlings being in paper towels for close to a week.

Cow manure is kinda hot from what I know. If not using the above recipe I gave you can use blood and bone meal to cover extra nitrogen and phosphorus, they are cheap.

oops missed the fact it was a cfl grow - but yes a carbon filter is a good idea

Do yourself a favor and watch all the free grow videos stickied and check out the wealth of info available online for free before going ahead on your list. With that, ill make a little list for stuff to consider, im on my phone so bear with me.

1. Tent of choice size.(consider hood size, exhaust fan and filter size)
2. Exhaust fan and carbon filter( I DIY filters and finally bought a phresh filter, will never go back)
3. 400w Metal halide, hps combo, dimmable with air cooled hood
4. 5 gallon bucket for pot, (drill holes for good drainage.
5. Good organic soil
6. Bag of un-ammended perlite.
7. Saucer for your pot
8. Organic feed line, botanicare grow and bloom or the like.
9. Eye drop style ph test kit.
10. Grade A genetics! Grab a pack of fem seeds, do one plant to start, learn to train it while vegging, flowering. Get a harvest under your belt.
11. Solo cups for germinating(slots at bottom for drainage.)
12. Fuck my thumbs hurt, im done