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Total Newbie need help with first grow instructions

4

420novice

Member
Hi Guys, I am extremely new at growing, I tried for fun a few years ago without reading or researching and my plants died within a couple of weeks. I am more serious into wanting to learn now and have done lots of research, but a lot of what I read is honestly like gibberish and or conflicting to me.

Im ordering supplies now and have some super skunk femanized autoflowering seeds on the way from ams (heard autoflowering is the best way to go for a beginner?)

So far my gear consists of 2 Lumii Maxii E40 Reflectors, 2 125w Blue Spectrum 6400k CFL lights for vegitation, 2 600watt 2700k hps bulbs, 2 LUMii 600w Compacta Potted Ballast, a ph tester, ph up/down solution, some voodoo juice for strengthening the roots/stems and 5 gallon plastic pots.

I have a space for my grow area that is made into its own room by insulation board, is that ok or should I grab a grow tent?

Is a plain jane fan blowing in the room/tent ok or do I need to do something more advanced? If a plain fan is not ok, what would you guys recommend for a very basic and unknowledeable grower such as myself?

I've heard soil is the most user friendly way to go, but have heard mixed things about plain soil vs nutrient filled soil. I believe I am supposed to germinate the seeds then put them into there "forever" pots in PLAIN soil with no nutrients for the first two weeks, is this correct? Ive also heard mixed things about planting seeds in a cup/small pot for a couple weeks then transplanting into "forever" pots, but more people say that will shock the plants rather then help?

If this is correct, when do I start to "feed" the plants with nutrients, what exactly should I be giving them and how often? I know absolutely nothing about plant nutrients.

From what I've read, I will be using the 6400k cfl bulbs the day of transplant for about 14 days at 18-20 hours of light per day then switch over to the HPS for 18 hours a day? (ive also heard with autoflowering a lot of people doing 12/12?)

Is there anything else I should or shouldn't be doing? I know the long time users on here have probably read similar threads time and time again, but any help is greatly appreciated. Im $500 in on supplies thus far for a hobby and would like to get some kind of yield out of this grow instead of throwing away my money.

Thanks in advance, I look forward to talking with a bunch of you.
 
lio lacidem

lio lacidem

Well-Known Member
First off welcome. In my opinion autos arent good for beginners. Any stress you put an auto through exponentially decreases yield.
Your fan question. Yes you need an exhaust system to change out air. You also need the fan to circulate the air.
soil is your choice. I build my own organic soil and use that from start to finish.
and lastly you wanna keep the auto on 18/6 they dont need 12/12 and it will make yield less.
 
Cpappa27

Cpappa27

Well-Known Member
420novice said:
Hi Guys, I am extremely new at growing, I tried for fun a few years ago without reading or researching and my plants died within a couple of weeks. I am more serious into wanting to learn now and have done lots of research, but a lot of what I read is honestly like gibberish and or conflicting to me.

Im ordering supplies now and have some super skunk femanized autoflowering seeds on the way from ams (heard autoflowering is the best way to go for a beginner?)

So far my gear consists of 2 Lumii Maxii E40 Reflectors, 2 125w Blue Spectrum 6400k CFL lights for vegitation, 2 600watt 2700k hps bulbs, 2 LUMii 600w Compacta Potted Ballast, a ph tester, ph up/down solution, some voodoo juice for strengthening the roots/stems and 5 gallon plastic pots.

I have a space for my grow area that is made into its own room by insulation board, is that ok or should I grab a grow tent?

Is a plain jane fan blowing in the room/tent ok or do I need to do something more advanced? If a plain fan is not ok, what would you guys recommend for a very basic and unknowledeable grower such as myself?

I've heard soil is the most user friendly way to go, but have heard mixed things about plain soil vs nutrient filled soil. I believe I am supposed to germinate the seeds then put them into there "forever" pots in PLAIN soil with no nutrients for the first two weeks, is this correct? Ive also heard mixed things about planting seeds in a cup/small pot for a couple weeks then transplanting into "forever" pots, but more people say that will shock the plants rather then help?

If this is correct, when do I start to "feed" the plants with nutrients, what exactly should I be giving them and how often? I know absolutely nothing about plant nutrients.

From what I've read, I will be using the 6400k cfl bulbs the day of transplant for about 14 days at 18-20 hours of light per day then switch over to the HPS for 18 hours a day? (ive also heard with autoflowering a lot of people doing 12/12?)

Is there anything else I should or shouldn't be doing? I know the long time users on here have probably read similar threads time and time again, but any help is greatly appreciated. Im $500 in on supplies thus far for a hobby and would like to get some kind of yield out of this grow instead of throwing away my money.

Thanks in advance, I look forward to talking with a bunch of you.
Click to expand...
Your biggest mistake was starting out with cheap genetics. AMS sucks, their plants hermie and aren't stabilized. Order from some of Rollitup's sponsors they have been tried and true. . The seedbanks here in the States will have your seeds to you in a couple days no customs or headaches, no shit! other than that throw the seeds in some straight pro mix in a solo cup and keep em damp and warm, not wet. I cover mine with saran wrap and put them about the refrigerator in a cupboard and forget about them for about 2 days and check them and when they sprout take the plastic off and put them under the cfls. While your waiting on them to sprout do alot more reading. I could write a book on this question but I cant so search the forum and you will find ever questions answer. Just keep it simple. Good Luck
 
4

420novice

Member
lio lacidem said:
First off welcome. In my opinion autos arent good for beginners. Any stress you put an auto through exponentially decreases yield.
Your fan question. Yes you need an exhaust system to change out air. You also need the fan to circulate the air.
soil is your choice. I build my own organic soil and use that from start to finish.
and lastly you wanna keep the auto on 18/6 they dont need 12/12 and it will make yield less.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. My "grow room" is a smaller room within a big room, in a basement, do you think cutting a 3-6" hole in one of the walls (insulation board) would be sufficient enough for an exhaust. The fan would blow into the room and the air would only have the hole as means to escape outside of the grow room. Or do I have to get more high tech then that? lol. Sorry if that sounds silly.
 
4

420novice

Member
Cpappa27 said:
Your biggest mistake was starting out with cheap genetics. AMS sucks, their plants hermie and aren't stabilized. Order from some of Rollitup's sponsors they have been tried and true. . The seedbanks here in the States will have your seeds to you in a couple days no customs or headaches, no shit! other than that throw the seeds in some straight pro mix in a solo cup and keep em damp and warm, not wet. I cover mine with saran wrap and put them about the refrigerator in a cupboard and forget about them for about 2 days and check them and when they sprout take the plastic off and put them under the cfls. While your waiting on them to sprout do alot more reading. I could write a book on this question but I cant so search the forum and you will find ever questions answer. Just keep it simple. Good Luck
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. I tried to order "easybuds" Royalqueenseeds which from there description you can throw in a window sil and completely forget about and still get a yield, but there was no option to ship to the US.
 
Cpappa27

Cpappa27

Well-Known Member
Order something like
Northern lights
Skunk
Afghani
Haze for first grows they are very stable and tough landraxe geneics that can take abuse. You can get versions of any of those from almost any seedbanks out there. Type in the search bar up top u.s. seedbanks don't forget the dots and you will find a whole slew of them.
 
4

420novice

Member
Cpappa27 said:
Order something like
Northern lights
Skunk
Afghani
Haze for first grows they are very stable and tough landraxe geneics that can take abuse. You can get versions of any of those from almost any feedback out there. Type in the search bar up top u.s. seedbanks don't forget the dots and you will find a whole slew of them.
Click to expand...

thanks, just saw this after I posted lol
 
Cpappa27

Cpappa27

Well-Known Member
420novice said:
thanks, just saw this after I posted lol
Click to expand...
No problem. The biggest mistake I ever made in the beginning was caring for them top much. Now I sometimes don't even go in the room till,it's time to water again. Keep it simple and you will do fine. Come on here throughout the grow and ask questions and we'll help you through it. Combined with an equal amount of research on your end and youll be a pro in no time. The faster you learn the faster you learn.
 
4

420novice

Member
Cpappa27 said:
No problem. The biggest mistake I ever made in the beginning was caring for them top much. Now I sometimes don't even go in the room till,it's time to water again. Keep it simple and you will do fine. Come on here throughout the grow and ask questions and we'll help you through it. Combined with an equal amount of research on your end and youll be a pro in no time. The faster you learn the faster you learn.
Click to expand...

I think I will be the opposite, I am extremely busy with multiple businesses, this is just a hobby for me and to save me money from buying weed lol. As soon as everythings all set up I'll be sure to make an updated post. Thanks for your help, going to order some more non autoflowering seeds today.
 
Feracon

Feracon

Active Member
I'm new to this also, but I've been doing a ton of reading and talking to various ppl on here the past 5 days. I've already made mistakes ordering the wrong stuff that made my life harder and learned from it.

I'll tell you what others told me: Read through the entire starters guide on growweedeasy.com, every time you see a link to a more in-depth page on a topic you're not comfortable with, open it in a new tab to be read over later.

I bought my nutes separately and got granules with proper NPK ratio but that had no measurements for marijuana which was totally useless. Fixed that with this set of nutes https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017H73708/
Common direction I see is to only use half the recommended doses, they're in the business of selling nutes and will direct slight overdose.

For PHing your water you can use https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BNKWZY/ , again there's a lot of other solutions out there that i had to weed through. Also I've seen a lot of people saying dont PH your soil, it's gonna make you worry and then you try to flush and fuck everything up. Just use good water and not too much of it. Lift your pot before you water, and use that weight as your gauge for when to water, when it's near that light again, you know you need to water.

For your fan inside, make sure you dont have it static facing your plants or it'll wind-burn them curling the leaves in on themselves lengthwise, something that blows a soft breeze and moves back and forth looks to be a good choice.

Honestly GWE will answer 90% of the questions you have I think.
 
Bareback

Bareback

Well-Known Member
420novice said:
Thanks for the reply. My "grow room" is a smaller room within a big room, in a basement, do you think cutting a 3-6" hole in one of the walls (insulation board) would be sufficient enough for an exhaust. The fan would blow into the room and the air would only have the hole as means to escape outside of the grow room. Or do I have to get more high tech then that? lol. Sorry if that sounds silly.
Click to expand...
Not ideal ventilation , it's better to pull air than push it. In low out high.
 
4

420novice

Member
Thanks for the replies guys. Just bought some haze seeds, I'll look for some afghan too.

Im ditching the 125watt cfls I have and grabbed two 400watt 6500k metal halide bulbs for vegetation stage. I've heard they are a night and day difference?

In your guys opinions, I bought the two reflectors and was only planning on using the two mh bulbs for veg and two hps for flowering. Only going to start with maybe 5 plants. Is that enough light or do I need to buy more reflectors/bulbs? If so, this shits getting expensive quick lol
 
Bareback

Bareback

Well-Known Member
420novice said:
Thanks for the replies guys. Just bought some haze seeds, I'll look for some afghan too.

Im ditching the 125watt cfls I have and grabbed two 400watt 6500k metal halide bulbs for vegetation stage. I've heard they are a night and day difference?

In your guys opinions, I bought the two reflectors and was only planning on using the two mh bulbs for veg and two hps for flowering. Only going to start with maybe 5 plants. Is that enough light or do I need to buy more reflectors/bulbs? If so, this shits getting expensive quick lol
Click to expand...
Should work. Be sure to watch the temps.
 
Bareback

Bareback

Well-Known Member
Yeah about, but room temp can be misleading. I mean if the whole room is hot or cold it's a bad thing. But if there are hot spots from lights or reflection or equipment it can be a hidden problem.
 
4

420novice

Member
My plan is this and I'm more then happy to hear better suggestions or critiquing.

I realize the hps and mh lights are going to heat the room up. This being said I'm planning on having two fans at opposite ends of the room and on the moving left to right setting. These will be on the floor or plant height. Towards the top of the grow room im going to mount a 6-8" exhaust fan to suck hot air in. I'm hoping this will give the perfect temperature balance while helping the plant stems grow strong.
 
Bareback

Bareback

Well-Known Member
Have you already bout the hood. If not consider a vented hood and vent through takes away a lot of heat be for it can build up.
 
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