1st Grow! diary - advice more than welcome!

Hey all, new to the site and also new to growing. I am going to set up a grow diary in the hope that this fourms wealth of knowledge will help me through my first grow! I will recieve the seeds monday 15/12/09

A little about me and my situation: I live in Dublin, Ireland... I'm 19 and I'm sick of waiting in the cold for dodgey dealers that give me oven dried crap... I deferred from college and so have some time on my hands now. I have limited money and most of that goes on weed ^^ although im not rich or looking to get the top notch equipment, I do want to do this right and put some effort into the plant thats made my days on this planet a little (somtimes alot) more hazey and therefore better!

I have 7 afghani Kush seeds and plan to germinate 3 of them to grow for the 1st batch. I am using a soil based medium, I was thinking 1/3 perlite 1/3 vermiculite 1/3 peat moss - soilless mix, but to be honest im not sure what nutrients to add to the plants through the water supply and at what time!

I have around 5ft sq of space in my growing closet and the walls are painted matt white, I have been advised to give aluminum-foil a miss due to the occurance of hot spots.

To germinate I plan to place 4 pieces of kitchen paper on a plate and wet, place the seeds around the paper, place 4 more pieces on top and wet, place into a plastic bag without sealing the bad and leave for 2/3 days, can anyone please tell me if this method is correct? I am trying to learn from information I'm getting off the internet and have only been learning a few days so am always up for opinions etc...

As for pots, I am getting 7 four gallon net pots, I was going to seed in a plastic cup with holes cut down the side and bottom for drainage, if thats not a good idea can anyone reccomend another way??

I'm not 100% sure as to how i go about planting the germinated seeds (depth, moisture of soil etc..) or when they are ready to be planted, and again im not sure as to when they should be transplanted to the four gallon pots after that!

I will take some snap shots of my grow space and all of the equipment (low budjet as it may be!) and hope to hear from the grow experts and learn from your advice. Thanks very much for your time, Alan

ive been growing for a little over a year and have had some success ( 2 lbs outdoor and 1 lb indoor) i have found that the simpler the set up the higher chance of things going smoothly. indoor i took 1/2 miracle grow and 1/2 compost for my grow. this is the easiest for me because ive never had to really add nutrients because of large pots and its all already there. in my opinion nute deffieciencies are the biggest problem you can face. after you soil is straight all you have to focus on is lighting, cooling and watering. for lighting the space you need you can get a 400 w hps and/or metal halide (hps is better for flowering) (mh is better for vegging) or if your on a budget cfls arent bad, theyre convenient, and not as pricey, just make sure you get plenty of them about 1 for every 12-16 in. and if your worried about stealth put in one of these http://hiddendoors.com/home.asp depending on the amout of light per sq ft you might need to think about ventilation. lights can get running at a high light schedule a lot of people use 18 on 6 off or 24 on and 0 off your choice i have had some success with 18/6 watering whenever the top soil gets dry (no more than once a day) if the leaves droop cut back! humidity facters into how much you water and what your temp should be. temp should be 72-85 degrees. if a plant gets much over 95 degrees indoors without a ton of humidity then plants cant grow and eventually die

and for germination i put my seeds in purified water for about a week or a few days after the white root comes out then just poke a small hole big enough for a seed in the soil and start to water it keep it moist to the touch until it sprouts

kid cannabis said:

and if your worried about stealth put in one of these http://hiddendoors.com/home.asp

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I made my own hidden door. Its amazingly awesome. it has latches i made that fall into place and everything. Much more secure now.

I have a 4x4 area and a 400w mh/hps would like two. one is not enough. To germ I use toilet paper one square for every 4 or 5 seeds roll it up get it damp put in to a baggie seal it put it someware dark and warm for 4 days. I like this cool tube realy cuts down on the heat room runs about 74 warm to 70 cool. humitiy is 53% I water when soil is dry 2" down, every two to three days depending on size of plant. lights run 24/7 in veg

stumps said:

I have a 4x4 area and a 400w mh/hps would like two. one is not enough. To germ I use toilet paper one square for every 4 or 5 seeds roll it up get it damp put in to a baggie seal it put it someware dark and warm for 4 days. I like this cool tube realy cuts down on the heat room runs about 74 warm to 70 cool. humitiy is 53% I water when soil is dry 2" down, every two to three days depending on size of plant. lights run 24/7 in veg

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nice. i got 4x4 for flowering with a 600hps, and two 2x4 veging spaces. It works good for me. I got a cool tube too, and i love it

see how many replies you already have my man? subscribed. and if you have any questions about budget, let me know b/c every component i've purchased for my grow is secondhand.

Yeah the help is great and much appreciated, I'm going to take some pics of my grow area now and look online for some lamps as I can now see they will be my biggest purchase yet will be more than worthwhile im sure... Okay thanks all and I'l keep you updated when I get everything sorted!

yea right now i have a completely stealth(people go through my shit alot) grow going on i have 2 rubbermaids painted white on the inside with 3 cfl's a piece. i have 5 plants crammed into each and i plan on pre sexing soon so i have room. i have them running through a carbon filter and im putting up a fake wall.