Getting started with soil growing, complete noobie needs some pointers! Please help!

ns420

ns420

Active Member
Hello,

I am just getting started, and need to order some soil / lights / nutrients / carbon filter for my first meidcal grow.

I am trying to keep costs down, but still get reasonable results.

I will be growing indoors, in an upstairs bedroom of my house.

I have heard many great things about using Fox Farms soils and nutrients, and planned on buying this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fox-Farm-Ocean-Forest-Soil-Grow-Hydroponics-FREE-SHIP_W0QQitemZ110453144699QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19b7853c7b
and this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fox-Farm-Trio-Grow-Big-Big-Bloom-Tiger-Bloom-Qt-Quart_W0QQitemZ120481930059QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0d485b4b

For lights I have been looking at this 400watt Metal Halide for vegging:
http://www.htgsupply.com/growlights.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=155&typeID=55 ($155)

And for flowering I was going to run two of these 600W HPS with Hortilux Super HPS bulbs:
http://www.htgsupply.com/growlights.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=101&typeID=58 ($279 each with the Hortilux Super HPS 600W Bulb)

And I am open to suggestions on what I should use for carbon filtration, and moving air... I plan on venting out of the window in the room and bringing air in from the attic. We live in the city, and are only a few feet away from our neighbors so efficient odor control is a must.

I am going to be using the 400W Metal Halide to veg in a 4' x 4' closet that's vented into the 6' x 10' flowering area that has 600W HPS bulbs, and then vent the flowing area out the window... will heat be an issue? How many plants should I plan on being able to flower in a 6' x 10' flowering area at one time? Are two 600w HPS bulbs enough for a 6' x 10' flowering area? I know you can't have too much light... but I don't want to cook my plants with too much heat...

I plan on experimenting with the screen method (scrog I think it's called).

I estimate everything to cost $1200, and would like to stay in this budget but get the best results possible. I can upgrade things once I have a couple grows under my belt and a bit more capital to work with.

Any advice, criticism, or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
 
ns420

ns420

Active Member
Anyone else have any opinions to share? Did I make a good choice for nutrients? soil? lights?
 
JN811

JN811

Well-Known Member
ns420 said:
Anyone else have any opinions to share? Did I make a good choice for nutrients? soil? lights?
Click to expand...
everything looks good man, soil may be a bit heavy on nutes for seedlings. I will 2nd htgsupply:-P! I recieved my product in 3 days!! Plus they have 2 year warranty for ballast and 1 year for the bulb!
 
ns420

ns420

Active Member
JN811 said:
everything looks good man, soil may be a bit heavy on nutes for seedlings. I will 2nd htgsupply:-P! I recieved my product in 3 days!! Plus they have 2 year warranty for ballast and 1 year for the bulb!
Click to expand...
Sweet, what do you recommend for seedlings? This is the one area I need to address quickly, as I am in the process of germinating some bagweed seeds to experiment on and don't have plans on what to do with them once they germinate... I figured I would use some rockwool cubes, which I would keep moist until they produce roots, then put the rockwool cubes into some small pots with soil once they have a good root system started and eventually moving them to 5 gallon pots for flowering.
 
ns420

ns420

Active Member
Is it worth it to invest in cooltube reflectors with two 600W bulbs? Or would the extra $100 that it would cost be overkill?
 
JN811

JN811

Well-Known Member
ns420 said:
Is it worth it to invest in cooltube reflectors with two 600W bulbs? Or would the extra $100 that it would cost be overkill?
Click to expand...
I started my seeds in Fox Farm Happy Frog and they are loving it. I would definitely recommend it for seedlings and it can be used for the entire grow, you'll probably want to add nutes once your flowering or even later in vegetation. You can switch to ocean forest when you transplant if you want. As for the cooltube reflectors, it really depends on your budget and your room size and the temps. I wish I had a cooltube, but I'm growing in a 10 square foot closet, having 16 sq feet you might be fine. If you have a full sized room for flowering you will be fine with a bunch of fans. You can always upgrade later if your temps are high. Cooltubes are also a good idea because you can put the bulb closer to the plants without worrying about burns allowing more light to penetrate the leaves and buds, which in return will speed up your growth. Also, I'd say 2 600 watts should be good for your flowering room, you wont have to worry about cooking any of your plants. Just think about getting some mylar too, like you said you can never have too much light
 
ns420

ns420

Active Member
Thanks for the replies. I plan on using mylar to coat the walls of the veg and flowering areas. If anyone else has any advice or things I should think about I would be happy to hear them!
 
Clevelandblazn5

Clevelandblazn5

Active Member
they took about 3 days to deliver, i got the 4'' carbon filter since im only growing in my closet, everything is working great no complaints, i didnt hook the filter up yet im about to start flowering in a week and a half
 
ns420

ns420

Active Member
Clevelandblazn5 said:
they took about 3 days to deliver, i got the 4'' carbon filter since im only growing in my closet, everything is working great no complaints, i didnt hook the filter up yet im about to start flowering in a week and a half
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. :)
 
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