first time grower, need help!!

i finally decided to start growing and i'm just now getting all the stuff i need to grow, and i need all the help anyone can give me...

so my set up is a big box lined with tin foil...so my first question is wat kind of lites do i need, ive read probly a million things on it and wat i've deduced (big word a pot head right) is that mh lights are best for the veg stage, so i plan on growing 2 for right now (snow white feminized) so how many mh would i need and wat wattage, i also heard that hps is best for flowering stage, same, how many and wat wattage

next is i'm making my own soil mix (this is being grown in my room btw) and i heard a good mix is 40% potting, 30% top, 20% perlite, and 10% sand, with a little peate moss mixed in, is that a good mix that will grow good?

and i've heard a million diff things on the nurtients, like blood meal is the best but it can burn the roots?

if someone could suggest all the right stuff for me i would be very appreciative

thnx, keep smokin that good stuff, peace

Get yourself a son agro 430 watt hps light setup and grow!!!!

cfl's are ok, but you have to have 500 watts worth to get any decent bud.

Lose the tin foil, go with white plastic or mylar.

Its not a good thing to use.

Yah tin foil produces hot spots. Get some mylar and lay it flat. A small 250w or 400w HPS would be a good start. Can also get a 400w MH Conversion bulb so you can use the same ballast for both bulbs. We use General Hydroponics nutes (Florabloom, floramicro, floragro) they get expensive in large quantities but they work beautifully. Had success with fox farm nutes also. Good luck on the grow!

CLOSETGROWTH said:

Get yourself a son agro 430 watt hps light setup and grow!!!!

cfl's are ok, but you have to have 500 watts worth to get any decent bud.

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yeah but hps / mh are more difficult to find & setup cuz of the ballast unless ur ordering online and there much more expensive either way, not to mention the heat they give off in comparison and i dont think a first time grower is going to be able to set up a cool tube or a really effective way of cooling the grow box with powerful lights like those,

cfls on the other hand are so easy to find & setup and you can find them in both 2700k and 6500k spectrum and just change them out (or go half n half) for flowering, much better in my opinion for a first time grower especially for small 2 plant grow

ok, so lose the tin and get some mylar, wat about the soil mix and nutes?

A good potting soil with little to no nutes is great, mixed with say 30% perlite for drainage, is all you really need. Start there - as you learn, you can add extra stuff.

i am a newbie on my first stealth cab grow.2x2x2..... i did cfl's and am about to harvest and i think ill get about an ounce off one plant

ok, so i got some miracle gro organic pot soil, it has barely no minerals at all in, so if i mix about 30% perlite it should do just fine? and can anyone give me a good brand of nutes for them, i read 30-15-15 is good for veg stage and 15-30-30 is good for flowering stage, wats a good brand i cn get from lowes??? thnx for all the help so far

Sounds right. Lowes doesn't have a whole lot to offer, nute-wise. Can you order on-line? This is what I use:
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/Jacks-Fertilizer-20-20-20/productinfo/FE-JP-2020/
Comes in a couple sizes, the 4# tub will last almost forever. I use it throughout, and add their Blossom Booster (10-30-20) for flowering.

DoeEyed said:

Sounds right. Lowes doesn't have a whole lot to offer, nute-wise. Can you order on-line? This is what I use:
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/Jacks-Fertilizer-20-20-20/productinfo/FE-JP-2020/
Comes in a couple sizes, the 4# tub will last almost forever. I use it throughout, and add their Blossom Booster (10-30-20) for flowering.

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I actually found some decent water-soluable nutes at a lowes before that were what i was looking for at vegging.. but then after that i could never find it there again.
If you can't order online im sure with some patience you could probably find something useable at your lowes or home depot but ide try to find a local gardening store if all else fails. (I like going to these stoned and just walkn up n down the aisles and imagining the possibilities of the fields of bud i could grow with it all)

PS DoeEyed lol i love that you had to put your location on your profile that says u r a woman.. made me laugh pretty hard.. were people mistakin you for a guy that often?

Yeah, pretty much, I'd say about 95% of the threads I responded to, or even in my own journal, people almost always said something like: Thanks dude! or sweet, brah! lol Believe it or not - I still get it occassionally, even with that as my location. I don't take it personally - the majority of growers are men, so the assumtion always follows. What's a girl to do?

hello
id say probaly start with cfl's their far more efficient for small grows as a person pointed out ealier, the heat put out by high intensity discharge lights will be a massive inconvienience for a mere 2 plants,
xullix

and you can use mylar but IMO its a bit exspensive whereas you can just paint it a flat white white paint
x

ok, i just ordered the 20-20-20 fertilizer and the 10-30-20 blossom bloomer and it was really cheap, $31 for both of them, until there was a $15 shipping and handling , oh well tho, thnx for the advice and link, hopefully it will work really well

oh, and i forgot to say i cant find any mylar in my town at all, so would it be ok to use some white parchment paper, or would i be better off buying a small thing of paint and just painting white

drakhoan said:

oh, and i forgot to say i cant find any mylar in my town at all, so would it be ok to use some white parchment paper, or would i be better off buying a small thing of paint and just painting white

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just paint it white, that will work well. or just order some mylar online, but a roll will cost you at least 50 bucks. if u are on a budget i recommend flat white paint.

try to invest in a descent light. at least 400watt. light equals weight as long as all other factors are acceptable.

roots organic is a very popular soil if you want something easy to take care of. you could get a descent crop off of just plain water and roots soil. but usually after a couple of months in the soil the plants will need some supplemental nutes. so get a simple 1part and a micro. most major brands make descent nutes. everyone has their favorite though.

oh and definitely don't skimp on fans you need lots of air flow in the room to keep the plants healthy. little oscillating fans will work until you can get an inline fan.

hope that helps,
ss

oh and by major brands i dont mean scotts or miracle grow. dont waste your money on that junk. if there is no alternative where u live, there is always the internet.

drakhoan said:

ok, i just ordered the 20-20-20 fertilizer and the 10-30-20 blossom bloomer and it was really cheap, $31 for both of them, until there was a $15 shipping and handling , oh well tho, thnx for the advice and link, hopefully it will work really well

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Did you get it anyway? I know the shipping sucks - but trust me, it'll last you for a really, really long time - like years. It works well - only kind I use in my grows, you can look at my journal, or I have albums in my profile, if you like.

For cheap mylar, you can get emergency blankets. I use them. $2.88 each at Walmart in the camping section, or you can find them on-line.

DoeEyed said:

Did you get it anyway? I know the shipping sucks - but trust me, it'll last you for a really, really long time - like years. It works well - only kind I use in my grows, you can look at my journal, or I have albums in my profile, if you like.

For cheap mylar, you can get emergency blankets. I use them. $2.88 each at Walmart in the camping section, or you can find them on-line.

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yea i ordered as i soon as i read ur responce, its the best thing ive found and i've been googling and looking around my town for a month , and so if i get the emergency blanks at walmart theyre mylar, or mylar lined? would i like have to trim it to get the mylar out