First Grow Setup - Advice, Tips, Tricks, Knowledge Would Be Appreciated!

[chadster152]

Alright! So first off, this is my first post here on RIU. I've been lurking on these forums for about 4 years...reading, searching, drooling over grow journals, researching strains, techniques, systems, and basically just biding my time till i had the cash, place, and ability to start a grow. And now it is here...Almost.

The Setup (things marked with a * I have yet to buy, but are just a Home Depot/Hydro store trip or amazon order away)

• 600w MH/HPS w/ 6" Air Cooled Hood, both bulbs (the HPS is marked as a "Super HPS" and it says it produces more lumens than a regular HPS...is this legit??) and an Ipower electronic ballast
• Virtual Sun VS4800 Tent (4'x4'x6.5')
• DIY 4 Site RDWC System (Four individual 5 gallon buckets for plants, One 15-20 gallon tote for epicenter/reservoir)*
  • 6" basket bucket lids
  • 350 GPH pump
  • Piping (2" with a waterfall setup for the res)
  • Hydrofarm 15 LPM air pump
  • Hydrofarm 4" Active Aqua round air stones
• Veg Nutes*
  • Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro (or just Grow...whatever my local Hydro shop has in stock)
  • Dyna-Gro Mag-Pro
  • Dyna-Gro Pro-TeKt
  • Botanicare AquaShield
• Flower Nutes*
  • Dyna-Gro Bloom
  • Dyna-Gro Mag-Pro
  • Dyna-Gro Pro-TeKt
  • Botanicare AquaShield
• VenTech 6" 440CM Inline Exhaust Fan*
• DIY 2-layer Carbon Filter (inner layer activated carbon, outer layer activated carbon pre-filter thats used in humidfyers/air purifiers)*
  • 7" Dia. x 18-24" tall
• Misc. Meters (PPM/Temp/Ph for res, Humidity/Temp for tent)*

As you can see, I'm still gathering all the stuff i need, but I'm looking to start this grow probably the first or second week of November. What do you think of my set-up? Any questions, comments, advice, changes, and tips about my setup are welcome.

The Strains (I am ordering 2 strains, possibly three)

1. Cherry OG from Emerald Triangle (definite)*
2. Blueberry Headband from Emerald Triangle (option 1)*
3. Sour Jack from G13 Labs (option 2)*
4. Delahaze from Paradise Seeds (possible, may wait)*
5. Bag seed I've collected over the years

Any questions, comments, advice, changes, and tips about the strains are welcome.

My Goal & The Plan
My goal is 0.75g/watt or 16oz. My plan is to start with seed, veg for a month on 18/6, take clones for mothers/next round (hopefully by the time I'm ready to flip them, ill have another tent and some CFL's or a MH for mothers and clones), flip to 12/12, then enjoy. I am still up in the air about what training methods i should use to accomplish my goal; topping, supercropping, LST, SCROG, a combination of a few, or all of them...So any questions, suggestions, advice, changes, and tips about training are definitely welcome.

Thanks for stopping by,

Chadster152

 

[thomashankle]

I am by no means an expert or even experienced cannabis cultivator, but my advice for your first time would to be keep it simple. And by keep it simple I mean let the plant do its own thing and communicate with you and vice versa. Topping and supercropping are great techniques, but before you can stress your plants the fuck out, you need to control them in a simple environment and learn how they grow without being tampered with. That's just how I feel though. And like I said I am not an expert by any definition of the word. If you have room to experiment, and are willing to accept that you may fuck your plants up, go right ahead -- it could turn out wonderful.

Other than that, I have the 600W digital/dimmable iPower ballast myself, from Amazon. What do you think of it? I ordered two, and one came with two busted bubls... UPS had obviously been playing a mean game of catch with my box holding my god damn lights.

 

[bigbudahluva]

u should easily hit .75g per watt. i hit 1 gram a waat using cfls in soil on my first grow. as ur going for hydro and multiple strains first grow i think u will have ur work cut out. goodluck though

 

[huth420]

going for hydro and multiple strains first grow i think u will have ur work cut out. goodluck though

agreed id say youshould be growing 4 of the same strain being your first grow and jumping into hydro. But the setup looks decent andi like ipower

 

[chadster152]

agreed id say youshould be growing 4 of the same strain being your first grow and jumping into hydro. But the setup looks decent andi like ipower

Ya sorry if i wasn't clear...but on the strains, i will definitely be running only 1 at a time, i just listed all the strains that i was thinking of ordering so i could get some commentary on them.

@thomashankle - I have gardened before in soil so i know the basics of growing a plant, but in order to maximize yield, grow space, and light...i feel like i definitely should train. I totally understand what you are saying tho...I am hoping that it turns out wonderful. I got my ipower setup through amazon as well...i havent fired it up yet but after going over everything that came in the box (my MH bulb also came with a piece of glass rattling around in it, damn fedex) I think its pretty well built. Seems like the whole setup is pretty legit, no cheap looking or feeling parts.

@bigbudahluva - thanks for the encouragement! I sure hope i hit .75g/watt or more!

~Chadster152

 

[huth420]

Dont need to take it easy on lst and such with first grows anyway imo. Its called low stress for a reason and you seem fairly well informed so I think youll be fine

 

[chadster152]

Dont need to take it easy on lst and such with first grows anyway imo. Its called low stress for a reason and you seem fairly well informed so I think youll be fine

Thanks for the compliment, i appreciate it. I would like to consider myself fairly well informed, but definitely still learning...I cant wait to get my hands dirty and get some hands-on experience!! I agree with you on training, although i could see how supercropping could be very stressful on a plant if you don't do it right or over do it. I'm thinking of going with topping, lst, and a variation of supercropping (where instead of bending the branch, you just break the inner cell walls so they rebuild stronger which accelerates growth) during veg, and then setting up a screen right above them before i flip and then they will stretch through the screen and i can train them into an even canopy and it will also support the branches once the weight starts to pack on.

@huth420 - how is your grow coming? I see in your signature it says you started flower Aug 1st...you already chop them?

 

[huth420]

Chopped one the other is still going, maybe a week left. I just did the bonzai lst and it came out great for the photo plant in my second cycle. Ill take a pic. Its so bushy


the top 2 colas in the back are from a different plant, the new conf cheese is even canopy

 

[chadster152]

Those look great! That bonzai technique looks interesting...i was thinking of going with the technique in this thread : http://forum.grasscity.com/outdoor-marijuana-growing/430113-lst-low-stress-training-step-step.html

 

[chadster152]

Any questions, comments, advice, changes, and tips about my setup are welcome.

Any questions, comments, advice, changes, and tips about the strains are welcome.

So any questions, suggestions, advice, changes, and tips about training are definitely welcome.

Anybody have any insight?

 

[chadster152]

Bump.........