Looking to start my 1st grow - Have questions

First off, I live by myself in a 1 bedroom apartment. I want to build a grow box out of ply wood, possibly divided up into 2 sections. One section for all year veg for clones and other half for flowering. I'm going to build in computer fans on the sides with act carbon filters, mylar inside the box, small oscilating fans. Probably 1 mounted in a corner in each half. I also want to devise some sort of light system. Hopefully a hanging one that can be lowered and raised. Not quite sure on that yet.

Area that I'm not sure about is an irrigation plan. What would the best way to keep the plants watered efficiently? Also, what should chemicals should I be aware of that I may need to purchase?

I also plan to have Ph meters, humidity and temp gauges built in.

To start, I'll probably paper towel the seeds from Nirvana. Then transfer into rockwell or whatever its called, and then transfer into some sort of contraption that has the irigation all set up for it. Just need some idea's for that, and any criticisim. It's all welcome.

For more info, I plan on only growing for personal use, so would 2-3 plants yield at least an Oz until next harvest? I'm very new to growing, all I know is what I have found here on RollItUp.

Also, if I failed to mention something needing it, let me know. I'm tryin to get it all figured out before I start it.

+ Rep for any1 that can help me out, and get going, and hey if you stick with me through the entire grow, you'll get some seeds of your choice from Nirvana. I wanna get some grow experience under my belt.

Thanks RIU Members,
Brandon

what type of light u got planned i mean is it cfl's or hps for flowering and what u going to use on mothers
soil or hydro it sounds like u are thinking soil
if soil set up some deep tray for plants and set up a drip system
give me more info and i or others can help u more
im sure u could get a ounce a plant on first grow but how many mothers u planning to keep

I plan on CFL's all around if thats possible. Going with soil. Can you expand more on a drip system? Would 1 mother be alright? Would that yield enough for personal use. Wont be going crazy on plants, at least not at first. Thank you for taking your time to respond. Much appreciated.

sure you can use cfl's all the way through
for a drip system u could use something like this it is ebb and flow system but u can use it for soil http://www.bghydro.com/bgh/static/articles/0806_byos.asp
yes one mother should get u enough clones
yea get your wet feet first then go bigger if u want

ac3sacc said:

I plan on CFL's all around if thats possible. Going with soil. Can you expand more on a drip system? Would 1 mother be alright? Would that yield enough for personal use. Wont be going crazy on plants, at least not at first. Thank you for taking your time to respond. Much appreciated.

Click to expand...

I personally wouldnt go for a drip-system right off the bat. Again, this is just my opinion, but i found that the hands on time with the plants for watering was just more time watching and learning about the plant itself; eg: what makes it tick, what temps it prefers, how much water and how often it actually needs it, etc. Each strain (or even plant itself) is different, and dialing in is an important part of learning to get the most out of a strain, or even just getting the most out of your grow in general. Iam only on my second grow, so dont take my advice as expert, just throwin things out there.

As for nutes, start off simple imo. Something like the FF liquid trio, or AN equivalent if preferred (i havnt used AN, so no experience with it to share). Start at 1/4 dosages to see how they react, upping it as you go. Feeding only every other water is the common method.

As for weight thats going to depend on strain and growing conditions of course. I personally veg mine to around a foot, then flower. Keeping my T5 setup close enough to limit stretching, i can reach 10 nodes and have full colas growing before the plant hits 2.5ft, which yielded around 1 oz each last time, and with introducing topping on my second grow, looking at about 2 each.

Honestly, topping is very easy to do, and will usually increase your yield (i didnt top the first grow and i really regret it, its REALLY easy). Uncle Ben has a thread here that you should read, you wont be disappointed i assure you (check my BlackJack journal for pics of my results).

Even without the topping, its not unrealistic to hope for about an oz a plant your first time barring any major setbacks.

Sorry this response was so long, but i hoped it helped a little. Best of Luck!
-KK

fabfun said:

sure you can use cfl's all the way through
for a drip system u could use something like this it is ebb and flow system but u can use it for soil http://www.bghydro.com/bgh/static/articles/0806_byos.asp
yes one mother should get u enough clones
yea get your wet feet first then go bigger if u want

Click to expand...

I will defintly check a local store for a drip system or devise how to make one myself, I'm sure I could make a custom one much cheaper. I had something like that in mind, but didn't know it was called a drip system and/or specs of one. Thanks Fab. I will post more on progress and/or questions as they arise.

KlosetKing said:

I personally wouldnt go for a drip-system right off the bat. Again, this is just my opinion, but i found that the hands on time with the plants for watering was just more time watching and learning about the plant itself; eg: what makes it tick, what temps it prefers, how much water and how often it actually needs it, etc. Each strain (or even plant itself) is different, and dialing in is an important part of learning to get the most out of a strain, or even just getting the most out of your grow in general. Iam only on my second grow, so dont take my advice as expert, just throwin things out there.

As for nutes, start off simple imo. Something like the FF liquid trio, or AN equivalent if preferred (i havnt used AN, so no experience with it to share). Start at 1/4 dosages to see how they react, upping it as you go. Feeding only every other water is the common method.

As for weight thats going to depend on strain and growing conditions of course. I personally veg mine to around a foot, then flower. Keeping my T5 setup close enough to limit stretching, i can reach 10 nodes and have full colas growing before the plant hits 2.5ft, which yielded around 1 oz each last time, and with introducing topping on my second grow, looking at about 2 each.

Honestly, topping is very easy to do, and will usually increase your yield (i didnt top the first grow and i really regret it, its REALLY easy). Uncle Ben has a thread here that you should read, you wont be disappointed i assure you (check my BlackJack journal for pics of my results).

Even without the topping, its not unrealistic to hope for about an oz a plant your first time barring any major setbacks.

Sorry this response was so long, but i hoped it helped a little. Best of Luck!
-KK

Click to expand...

Kloset, can you expand on topping? And what kind of chemicals may I need to purchase to maximize the plants potential? Thanks you two!!

hey bud, i dont know a whole lot about topping. I actually need to read into it myself, this being my first grow. But as far as chemicals hes talking about Fox farm brands trio pack. I forget all the names but it comes with big blossom and grow big, and something else, along the lines of extreme grow (not real name, but i think its similar) at my hydro store the combo pack is like 55 bucks but well worth it...I transplanted a dieing sprout into fox farm ocean forest soil and it not only came back to life but after 1 hour i was able to move the toothpick i had holding it up because it was standing on its own and 3 days later is growing strong under a 23 watt cfl...good luck bro

ac3sacc said:

Kloset, can you expand on topping? And what kind of chemicals may I need to purchase to maximize the plants potential?

Click to expand...

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Topping is basically removing the top growing tip of the plant in order to make it grow several colas instead of only one. This way you'll be increasing you yield and you wish to, you may keep the top you removed as clone.

I use organic stuff, from BioBizz (BioGrow, BioBloom and TopMax. Probably not what you're looking for to "maximize" their potential but they seem to be easier to use for a newbie like me (from what I read, less nute burns, for example).

Good luck!

For my flowering chamber, I have a Garment Rack that kinda looks like this.... A roll of that mylar bubble wrap insulation stuff & duct tape closed it in real nice, and is an easy to work with reflective material. It comes with a crap zip-up cover, which I provide additional covering to more fully block out light.



Topping.... look up FIM Also look at LST low stress training, which some folks might characterize as "Bonsai". Its all about training your plant to have an even canopy, rather than a Christmas tree shape.

I don't know why everyone says hydro is harder...
I would suggest watching "I grow Chronic"
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=i+grow+chronic&aq=f

He gives you some pretty good set up info - even though his set up is a little more than you are talking about.. I patterned my first grow after his set up... I have changed the way I do things quite significantly over the last year, but he teaches you how to set up an ebb & flow type grow, and a top feed hydro system. he lets you know all the ideal parameters for your room environment and basic growing technique. I found it easier to watch some videos on growing to grab info than figuring it out as I went.

I started with hydro not soil. It's easy. alot easier than people make it out to be. I personally have my own design that I made for my DWC system... nothing fancy, but it works and very low maintenance.

sorry I can't help more on soil - it's different for sure. I use GH 3 part nutes. topping is explained very well by Uncle Ben...
https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/151706-uncle-bens-topping-technique-get-179.html

and it works well... you will learn that these "advanced techniques" (topping, FIMing, LST, defoliation, super cropping, etc..)are relatively easy to do once you do them, and the mystery is fairly easy to take out of equation once you have a handle on it... you will do it once - it will work - and you won't be scared to do it to all your plants.

good luck... but don't be scared to try hydro...

Thank you guys for your awesome and in depth responses. + Rep for all you folks. I have all your guys' stuff noted. Please feel free to keep contributing.

my buddy just got everything he needs to follow the guy who put out the youtube video "deep water culture" i havnt botherd watching it yet but he swears its the simplest system for hydro

haven't seen the DWC video... I grow DWC and I can attest that it is very easy to maintain and there's no cost after initial start up other than replacing things like nutes, and shit that breaks or burns out- which you would have to do anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErhBTW9Bf2k&feature=related

no pumps, no watering schedule, less ph worries, no mess, and great results. I too am a big advocate for DWC as a superior growing style.

I just wanted to add that you might want to think about skipping the rockwool, and going straight to soil, after germination. IMO, it's alot smoother to place them directly into soil, rather than starting in rockwool, then having them adjusting to a new medium, soon afterwards. Rockwool is meant for hydro, mainly.


Also,...yeah, an ounce is certainly doable, per plant. Topping is an easy method, as mentioned, and works really well. I use it, sometimes topping a couple times, for 4 or 8 main colas. I still get an ounce per plant, even if I run into problems. Otherwise, they're good for 2-3 each.(vegged to 14-18")

Tons of good advice listed already. Here are a few I'd recommend taking into consideration.

Ventilation - OVER KILL! Go bigger / more than you'd ever expect to need with a speed controller right from the start.

Grow room - whatever you think you want now, add 50% more. I never have enough room.

Lighting - CFLs are fine for veg and such. But for flower you'll quickly decide you should of gone HPS. 2 areas should be considered, veg / flower.

Odor - Plan on eventually getting a big scubber for the flower rm.

Soil / soilless - If you experience power failures you may wish to consider soil.

Temps - Here we have temps from 0 - 100 deg depending on time of year. This is a issue that definately needs to be considered in your build. Maybe not initially, but sooner or later. Also, with temp (seasonal) changes comes a definative change in ambient humidity.

Strain - Keeping a mother and learning precise tactics that work for you on a particular strain can really make awsome herb. But, you'll tire of it after awhile and will wish to grow different flavors / types.
Cloning is sweet for sure, but, learning to hermie is awsome. When you get something you want to save but not grow, learning to hermie to gather seed for future is a nice venture. Quality seeds are expensive,,, make your own.

Learning curve - Tons of info on the net. Most of it good. However, not all of it works effectively with all styles / conditions of growth. You really need to find what works for you the way you choose to work it. Doesn't make some info wrong, just not always good for everyone in all situations. A guy in Arizona may need a humidifyer but the dude in Brazil probably not. A guy growing sativa will have different needs than a guy that always grow indica or AFs.

Planning - Try to keep it as simple as possible. It is a weed and a ton of products are made more to get you to spend $ than actually help you. Decide before hand what you definately want to do, may want to do, and have no interest. Meaning would you be interested in sog, scrog, FIM, lst, breeding, continuouse grows, etc. Maybe all you're interested in is starting seedlings indoors for your outside grow in short season areas.

Sorry, limited help with this reply. Just trying to start you out in a way to save frustration / time / money.

Good luck. Hope something here is useful for you.

.....and beware! pot is not addictive,,,, but growing as hell sure is!

^^ very nice + Rep

thanks for relinking that thread from UB guys, i guess it didn't stand out in my post (the phrase 'Uncle Ben has a thread here' was a link).

as said before, topping is quite easy, if you read the first page of that thread, it should all be pretty clear and straight forward on what you want to do. Like cowell says, none of those techniques are hard to do, and they all tend to yield great results. I would recommend just starting with LST and Topping (easiest 2 techniques imo) for your first go, maybe play with a different tech second time around.