New Plant Mom Overwhelmed

Virgin Ground said:
If cash isn't an issue for the op there are some better products as far as equipment.
Not a bad idea to do a general search for the tent on here and see what the owners have to say about it. I would trust them over a blind Amazon review. Same for the rest.
Click to expand...

i'm a bit worried as well .. i'm a gear whore though, and i believe good gear constantly pays for itself. and you don't need piles of it either. there's no doubt she'll upgrade over time, especially if she has success with this grow.


@Newbs87 the stuff you have will be ok for a good couple grows, but as you get settled you'll notice what other folk run.

if you haven't pulled the trigger on the amazon stuff we can help guide you through some better gear. if you have already pulled the credit card out - don't worry, it will be ok as you learn.
 
bluter said:
i'm a bit worried as well .. i'm a gear whore though, and i believe good gear constantly pays for itself. and you don't need piles of it either. there's no doubt she'll upgrade over time, especially if she has success with this grow.


@Newbs87 the stuff you have will be ok for a good couple grows, but as you get settled you'll notice what other folk run.

if you haven't pulled the trigger on the amazon stuff we can help guide you through some better gear. if you have already pulled the credit card out - don't worry, it will be ok as you learn.
Click to expand...
I have not. I actually had them in my cart about to order last night but then decided to wait until I got some advice. Someone mentioned tent threads earlier and I was just looking for those when I noticed your comment.
 
Hi @Newbs87 and welcome to the forum! :welcome:
It is great to meet another plant Mom... we used to be very much outnumbered!

Let me say that after trying MegaCrop I found it to be an easy to apply but moderately difficult system to "read". Everything in MC requires you to be able to "see" the correct color and correct growth of your plants, so you know when to give more or less of the nutrient. For someone with a little experience, this might be easy... but for a brand new plant Mom... maybe not so much.

I love the Geoflora Organic system. No reading of the plants is required. Simply apply either the Veg or the Bloom product once every two weeks by tossing the granules onto the top of the soil and watering it in. This gives you a truly organic grow, because you are applying raw nutrients to the soil along with the microbes needed to process those nutrients, in those granules. At 1/3 cup application rate for a 3 gallon container, the product goes very far and is very economical, and of course with the smaller containers typically used in Veg, the Veg product goes further than the bloom product does. When I first used this product I got the 4lb sample packs of each. I ran 18 plants at the start down to 11 plants at the end, all the way through Veg and almost finished Bloom, before I started running out of Bloom product. I ordered 8lb replacements of each and will easily get through the next couple of grows before I need more.

The biggest bit of advice I can give you as a new Mom is to learn the importance of proper watering and successive uppotting. I developed a watering method a few years ago and wrote about it, and the ideas seem to have caught on and now growers all over the world monitor their wet/dry cycles and know to water the outside edges. I invite you to read my thoughts in my "Properly Watering" articles, referenced in my signature lines below.

Good luck in this new hobby... I suspect it will "grow" on you! Start up a grow journal so you can keep track of the various milestones in your journey and leave notes for your future self to read as you learn this hobby, and then we can all follow along with you too! I also invite you to check out some of my grow journals as well as various tutorials... it is so much fun to be new at something! There is so much to learn!
:thumb: :circle-of-love::green_heart:
 
Newbs87 said:
I have not. I actually had them in my cart about to order last night but then decided to wait until I got some advice. Someone mentioned tent threads earlier and I was just looking for those when I noticed your comment.
Click to expand...


cool.... stand by lol
 
Emilya said:
“I love the Geoflora Organic system. No reading of the plants is required. Simply apply either the Veg or the Bloom product once every two weeks by tossing the granules onto the top of the soil and watering it in. This gives you a truly organic grow, because you are applying raw nutrients to the soil along with the microbes needed to process those nutrients, in those granules. At 1/3 cup application rate for a 3 gallon container, the product goes very far and is very economical...”
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for all this info. I have found the geoflora organic nutrients: veg and bloom and have then added to my cart along with a 3 gallon geopot fabric pot. I noticed when reading the info on the geoflora that it says it works best with peat and coconut fiber based growing media and soils. I was looking for one of these and they seemed to suggest they were better added to a base soil... so, can I transplant directly into say peat moss and then just add the geoflora, or will I need some other base soil to mix with the peat moss and then add the geoflora? Hope my question isn’t confusing lol.
I’m looking forward to reading your other stuff as well!
 
i am going to recommend a few things for gear. i will give a range and recommend our sponsors wherever possible.
we will stick to the five basics you need and go from there.

first - light.

light is the singular most important thing you will need. bar none. you really want to spend here if no where else. and you will get what you pay for.

when you buy a light you want it matched to the size of your grow space (tent). don't believe crap mfgr claims about a led being equal to 1000 watts etc. that is voodoo marketing. you want a led light that consumes about 30 to 50w from the wall plug in, per sq ft, for the tent / space you hang it in.

on this board i recommend

great fantastic choice : - @Budget LED , @NextLight

the first is one of the best bangs for your dollar on this board. they build a rival to probably the best known brand i am not recommending. the next on the list is hard in the running.

really really good choice : - @Mars Hydro

the number one budget choice on this board. i am a bit hard on them but there are many many folk here running a mars and love them. their newer stuff is better. there's always newer stuff with em. longevity / build components is the biggest issue.

i won't recommend individual lights from the sponsors, as they have different ones matched to grow space size. they all will consult.

tent

first - gorilla grow tents. bar none. they set the standard. we have sponsors on the board selling them.
make sure to reach out to the sponsors. there are board discounts for all these items.

the thing with a tent is you don't know what a good one is until you wrestle with a shit tent. poor tents destroy themselves in a grow or two and make the experience non-joyous. get a good tent.

really really good choice - @Mars Hydro .. really. they do have decent tents.
they aren't gorillas, but i would buy them all day long over near any amacrap offering. you might even swing a package deal with light included. ... i'm lookin at you fake smokesara (lol - inside joke ) :p

maybe don't mention my name .. like i said i'm hard on them .. :cheesygrinsmiley:


exhaust fan :

vortex builds the best dog on the block. for just about any parameter. you might wanna skip over a whole bunch of stuff and get a vortex fan with adjustable control built in. vortex builds the best. adjustable control allows flexibility.

there are other brands. i actually run a couple cheap exhaust fans in my spaces, that i would not normally recommend. i got lucky on a vivosun vortex knockoff, and the other is a straight cage air mover most would find annoying.

there are two main different fan types. cage fan. or induction. vortex style is induction, it uses dual blades and is quieter. cage will move a pile more quickly, it used to be standard, and is louder. washroom fans are cage.

noise can be a factor in fans. i have the luxury of trading noise for dollars. i can run cheaper louder fans.

the amount of air movement is the parameter most judge a fan by. you want to exchange air in the space every 3 - 5 minutes.

filter

phresh is the current king. they have a couple different styles, i currently run a charcoal cone paper filter on the flower space i am really impressed with.

i've run a series of straight charcoal filters as well. until the last couple years i found even cheap brands worked well. in the last 3 yrs though stuff has kinda gone sideways with filters. now it's more brand quality oriented.

i still have older charcoal filters i bake and recharge. it's a stinky process for other posts.

do a phresh, or cheap filter and count on replacing.

ph / ec meter

all brand oriented quality. you can't get away from it.

blue lab , hanna, apera, all get top marks.

don't buy the ones that look like usb sticks. get the ones that look like dildos, preferably ones with the replaceable probes. you might be hard on them ... :cheesygrinsmiley:

personal recommend is the apera 60 series meters. they come with some goodies ( like a case ! ) and are rock solid against the rest. all are lab quality, once you get past the usb stick type junk. apera has the best pricing and bang for buck at that level.

i really hope this helps as a start. you can always upgrade as you go. it's what everyone does. good gear does save over the long haul, and offers a better chance of continued success.
 
What region do you live in? We can help find something appropriate.

I'm using it with Pro Mix. I mix the initial allotment into the soil and then water it in well. Top dress every two weeks after. Keep soil evenly moist to protect the microbial herd.
Pro Mix is peat based with added buffers but is devoid of nutrients (USA). This means that there is nothing to skew the NPK ratios either.
 
bluter said:
i am going to recommend a few things for gear. i will give a range and recommend our sponsors wherever possible.
we will stick to the five basics you need and go from there.

first - light.

light is the singular most important thing you will need. bar none. you really want to spend here if no where else. and you will get what you pay for.

when you buy a light you want it matched to the size of your grow space (tent). don't believe crap mfgr claims about a led being equal to 1000 watts etc. that is voodoo marketing. you want a led light that consumes about 30 to 50w from the wall plug in, per sq ft, for the tent / space you hang it in.

on this board i recommend

great fantastic choice : - @Budget LED , @NextLight

the first is one of the best bangs for your dollar on this board. they build a rival to probably the best known brand i am not recommending. the next on the list is hard in the running.

really really good choice : - @Mars Hydro

the number one budget choice on this board. i am a bit hard on them but there are many many folk here running a mars and love them. their newer stuff is better. there's always newer stuff with em. longevity / build components is the biggest issue.

i won't recommend individual lights from the sponsors, as they have different ones matched to grow space size. they all will consult.

tent

first - gorilla grow tents. bar none. they set the standard. we have sponsors on the board selling them.
make sure to reach out to the sponsors. there are board discounts for all these items.

the thing with a tent is you don't know what a good one is until you wrestle with a shit tent. poor tents destroy themselves in a grow or two and make the experience non-joyous. get a good tent.

really really good choice - @Mars Hydro .. really. they do have decent tents.
they aren't gorillas, but i would buy them all day long over near any amacrap offering. you might even swing a package deal with light included. ... i'm lookin at you fake smokesara (lol - inside joke ) :p

maybe don't mention my name .. like i said i'm hard on them .. :cheesygrinsmiley:


exhaust fan :

vortex builds the best dog on the block. for just about any parameter. you might wanna skip over a whole bunch of stuff and get a vortex fan with adjustable control built in. vortex builds the best. adjustable control allows flexibility.

there are other brands. i actually run a couple cheap exhaust fans in my spaces, that i would not normally recommend. i got lucky on a vivosun vortex knockoff, and the other is a straight cage air mover most would find annoying.

there are two main different fan types. cage fan. or induction. vortex style is induction, it uses dual blades and is quieter. cage will move a pile more quickly, it used to be standard, and is louder. washroom fans are cage.

noise can be a factor in fans. i have the luxury of trading noise for dollars. i can run cheaper louder fans.

the amount of air movement is the parameter most judge a fan by. you want to exchange air in the space every 3 - 5 minutes.

filter

phresh is the current king. they have a couple different styles, i currently run a charcoal cone filter on the flower space i am really impressed with. they have few different styles.

i've run a series of straight charcoal filters as well. until the last couple years i found even cheap brands worked well. in the last 3 yrs though stuff has kinda gone sideways with filters. now it's more brand quality oriented.

i still have older charcoal filters i bake and recharge. it's a stinky process for other posts.

do a phresh, or cheap filter and count on replacing.

ph / ec meter

all brand oriented quality. you can't get away from it.

blue lab , hanna, apera, all get top marks.

don't buy the ones that look like usb sticks. get the ones that look like dildos, preferably ones with the replaceable probes. you might be hard on them ... :cheesygrinsmiley:

personal recommend is the apera 60 series meters. they come with some goodies ( like a case ! ) and are rock solid against the rest. all are lab quality, once you get past the usb stick type junk. apera has the best pricing and bang for buck at that level.

i really hope this helps as a start. you can always upgrade as you go. it's what everyone does. good gear does save over the long haul, and offers a better chance of continued success.
Click to expand...

That's a great write up @bluter , bookmarked for some future planning!
 
Virgin Ground said:
What region do you live in? We can help find something appropriate.

I'm using it with Pro Mix. I mix the initial allotment into the soil and then water it in well. Top dress every two weeks after. Keep soil evenly moist to protect the microbial herd.
Pro Mix is peat based with added buffers but is devoid of nutrients (USA). This means that there is nothing to skew the NPK ratios either.
Click to expand...

I live in the eastern Kentucky tip, close to both the state lines for Virginia and West Virginia.
 
Newbs87 said:
I live in the eastern Kentucky tip, close to both the state lines for Virginia and West Virginia.
Click to expand...
I think y'all have Lowe's down there, correct? Most of the time they carry Pro Mix or Sunshine mix #4.
I use the cheapest Pro Mix (all-purpose) but most should work for you. I think they carry HP and BX.
Sunshine Mix is similar to these.
 
Newbs87 said:
Thanks so much for all this info. I have found the geoflora organic nutrients: veg and bloom and have then added to my cart along with a 3 gallon geopot fabric pot. I noticed when reading the info on the geoflora that it says it works best with peat and coconut fiber based growing media and soils. I was looking for one of these and they seemed to suggest they were better added to a base soil... so, can I transplant directly into say peat moss and then just add the geoflora, or will I need some other base soil to mix with the peat moss and then add the geoflora? Hope my question isn’t confusing lol.
I’m looking forward to reading your other stuff as well!
Click to expand...
Hi Newbs, I ran some Geoflora as a kind of a second thought rescue this run. I put it on the soil of a 1 gallon plant with a pollinated branch. I didn't originally plan to save it and couldn't pot up. The geoflora worked a charm and I have a perfect freaky mature plant with the seeds I wanted on one branch. It kept her healthy! This is a quarter of her.
IMG_0214.jpeg

IMG_0214.jpeg

Godfather OG @Weed Seeds Express
 
Newbs87 said:
Wow! I posted this right before laying down this morning and had no idea that I would wake up to so much friendly advice! Thank you guys so much! I’m starting feel excited about it now that I know there’s such an active and friendly community.
Again thank you. I’ll keep y’all updated and I’m sure I’ll have other questions eventually.
Click to expand...
Welcome @Newbs87! Get used to receiving great advice from 420 members. That's what they do!

Here's my 2 cents worth for new growers, keep detailed notes on everything you do to your plants and when you do it. At the end you'll have a valuable reference point for how to go about your next grow. :Rasta:
 
Whats the NPK of the miracle grow? I would suggest going to a local hardware store and buying "Fish Fertilizer" at like $5 a gallon...its high in N and wont burn even if you over fertilize, which it doesnt seem like your doing. Always follow manufacturer directions with fertilizer.

A common mistake for new growers is to over water (which can be fine in a high-draining medium like coco coir) which causes wilting. It looke like your tips of the leaves are bending down which could be over-watering so let the soil (or whatever) dry out on the first top inch of soil (such a small pot) for like a day and then re-saturate it. Let it drain, reapeat.

12 on/off light schedule is for flowering only, you want at least 16 hrs light (like in summer) ON and 8 off. I wouldnt suggest more than 20 hrs on/4 hrs off. The more light hours the more time it has time to do its sugar production/chemical processes and suck up nutrients. At night it respirates and grows.

Seems like you have a good setup going, just make sure you get the limiting factors all good (light, water, nutrients, air flow, etc) and then provide the correct environmental factors in your tent (RH, airflow, light intensity, etc) and you will do just fine.

I suggest you read a lot and/or buy a book on cannabis growing, it will help a lot. If yo udont have the money, then spend many hours reading the forums and learning the stages of growing.

It also helps to grow anything at all...most plants are similar but knowing how each is different actually helps a lot I found.

Hope that helps
 
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:Namaste:
 

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