Come Grow With Me: A Beginners Guide

[Buds Buddy]

OK ya'all, Are you ready to start growing ? Guess you wouldn't be riding the 420 Mag train if you weren't. Anyway, I'm going to keep this real simple while providing pics & details from start to finish. I'll be posting & adding pics throughout the day.
Today I'll be putting up the tent & all the necessary equipment. It's just a small 3' x 3' x 6' tent & I'm only doing 1 plant (Peyote Wi-Fi).
I'll be assembling the tent in a few minutes so I'll add pics. Hopefully this little grow will help some of the new guys out. My average is 9 oz. per plant; but I'm shooting for a 12 oz. grow this time & I'll be cloning along the way for those interested in that. I'm looking to grow this plant in the same manner I grew this one.

2A-Gorilla Glue.JPG

• Buds Buddy
• Jun 1, 2020

GG#4

If I happen to run into issues somewhere or are unable to answer your question I do know the right people to call on for the correct answer.
So I'll see you all soon as I get this tent up & we'll get Rockin'.

 

[VetSmoke85]

Great idea. Sure I can pick up some handy tips following along. Will be great for those on their first attempt or getting ready to start. Everyday is a school day. Hope my gorilla glue colas turn out close to that.

 

[PE636]

Well, I'm not a beginner, or an expert either, but I'll follow along. Good luck on this grow!

 

[Buds Buddy]

Great idea. Sure I can pick up some handy tips following along. Will be great for those on their first attempt or getting ready to start. Everyday is a school day. Hope my gorilla glue colas turn out close to that.

If they don't at least you'll see how I do it for next time. Thanks for joining.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Well, I'm not a beginner, or an expert either, but I'll follow along. Good luck on this grow!

Hi & welcome aboard.
I'm treating this as to someone who never grew before & going through tent assembly & all.

 

[PE636]

Hi & welcome aboard.
I'm treating this as to someone who never grew before & going through tent assembly & all.

Good stuff I'm sure it will be appreciated.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Although this is pretty basic, I'll go through it anyway. But for those just starting out & thinking about buying a tent it may be helpful to see how easy assembly is. I've been able to set up a 5' x 5' myself this way. A 4' x 8' tent or larger you may need some help. I've done them myself but it is a PITA.
In the 1st pics you will see the contents of the box. The instructions come with it; but I don't follow them exactly. You'll see why later. All the poles come numbered so makes things simple.

I always assemble the bottom 1st & work my way up. For this tent all the #1 poles are for the top & bottom. The #3 poles go into the corners after the bottom is assembled. The #2 poles go into the #3 poles to get the 6' height. From there you just connect the corners & top pieces. So far everything is per the instructions.

 

[Buds Buddy]

This is the part I do slightly different. They put the tent on the frame with the frame standing up. It can be a pain if you're not that tall. I like to spread the tent out & lay the frame on it's side & slide it right in. Once it's in ... zip her up & stand it up tall. Here are the pics showing the way I do it. Also pics of the tent assembled with pics of all 4 sides. Plenty of duct holes, Air Vents & a viewing window.
Next pics will be a little later today. Ventilation, light & fans come next.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Hey All, I've got the tent completely together, except I need to go buy a small humidifier tomorrow. All I have are big 6 gallon ones & that's way too big for this tent.
Anyway, on to the Exhaust & Intake. When it comes to this you want to make sure you buy a big enough fan for the tent you are using. For instance I'm growing in a 3' x 3' x 6' tent so multiply the 3 x 3 = 9 & then 9 x 6 = 54 so I have 54 cubic feet of grow space. So my In-Line Fans have to be able to accommodate that many cubic feet. I would usually go double the required CFM Fan Size. Better to run your fans on low to preserve your carbon filter & it eliminates smells better.
So, I'm running a 4" Inline Fan & Carbon Filter for my exhaust. This Fan is rated at 203 CFM so it will do the job just fine running on low to medium.
Here are the pics of the equipment & the way I installed it & why.

In the next pic you'll see how I installed my hanging bars. I put the 2 vertical to hang the fan & filter on since it was a straight shot out the back of the tents 4" vent hole. Make sure your airflow is sucking in through the filter.

I this pic you'll see the Exhaust Duct hanging out the back of the tent. In my next post we will make ourselves a window duct kit to connect this duct to & exhaust it out the window.

 

[Buds Buddy]

My Homemade Window Exhaust Duct Kit. All I used for this is a 4" collar, 1/4" thick piece of wood (10" x 35.5" for my window) & some Weed Barrier Material to cover it. Weed Barrier ... LOL. I figure out approximately where I want my exhaust to vent & place the collar in that area & trace it. Use a jigsaw to cut it out & install it by folding the flaps down.
Then just to keep things on the low I cover the side that faces out the window with weed barrier material.
Here are the pics of what I've done.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Install this in the window & connect the duct & you're good to go.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Next up is the Intake Air. I also use a 4" Inline Fan & Carbon Filter for this. Only this is one of those plastic housing inline fans & they only put out 190 CFM. It will still do the job just fine. In the pic you'll see I installed a Dryer Air Vent.
I had to go buy 4" duct today & all Walmart had was the kit so I installed it for the hell of it. Not necessary. Just 4" duct coming in through the tent duct hole works fine. Once again, attach your fan so it is sucking air in through the filter. Connect your duct to the fan & you are good to go. Since I'm sucking fresh air through a filter & into the tent it will require me to run this fan a little faster to keep up with the exhaust. I just leave the Intake Fan & Filter outside the tent to supply air from the house. Usually cooler in here then outside.
Here's some pics of the Intake Air Install.

 

[Buds Buddy]

OK, have to resize more pics before we get to the lights & accessories.
We'll get there, hold your horses.

 

[6thsense]

Im pretty useless so Im just here to watch

 

[Buds Buddy]

More then welcome. Seems here lately the site has gotten a lot of new members who want to learn to grow. Figured I'd try to help out. I'm no master; but I have 4 years growing experience so I can pass on some knowledge at least.

 

[PE636]

Weed Barrier!! Hehehe. I'd hire ya! Nice work and explanations.

 

[Buds Buddy]

OK, the Tent is assembled & Intake & Exhaust are in so "Let There Be Light". I'm using a Mars Hydro TSW 2000 for this grow. It's the newer model with the dimmer switch so I can adjust to lower light for the seedlings. Seedlings like a about 40,000 - 50,000 Lux at the canopy if you choose to use a Lux Meter. I have one. Sometimes I use it sometimes I don't. In the 1st pic it just shows that I use ratchet rope hangers (yo-yo's) to raise my light from the floor of the tent. I just use a couple of zip ties to attach the rope hangers to the tent hanging rods.
Here's the light.

I couldn't get my little clip on fans to hold to the tent poles so I found this 3' length of wire closet shelving in my shed.
I zip tied it to the tent poles and wah - la, I have a way to mount my fans. So my 2 small fans are mounted to the wire shelf along with a surge protector.

Another thing that you really should have is a Temperature / Humidity Monitor like the one I have hanging in the corner.

And here is the tent just about ready to roll. I need to buy a small humidifier tomorrow so I can get the fans & filters flowing right to keep my temp & RH in check. I'll do a 24 hour test run to kind of adjust things before starting the grow. I'll dial things in as I go as things will change over the next week or 2.
We're getting close.
Hope this is helping some of you out there who are just learning.
We'll get to Nutrients & stuff tomorrow.
All I got for now. Time to burn a fatty !

 

[6thsense]

OK, the Tent is assembled & Intake & Exhaust are in so "Let There Be Light". I'm using a Mars Hydro TSW 2000 for this grow. It's the newer model with the dimmer switch so I can adjust to lower light for the seedlings. Seedlings like a about 40,000 - 50,000 Lux at the canopy if you choose to use a Lux Meter. I have one. Sometimes I use it sometimes I don't. In the 1st pic it just shows that I use ratchet rope hangers (yo-yo's) to raise my light from the floor of the tent. I just use a couple of zip ties to attach the rope hangers to the tent hanging rods.
Here's the light.

I couldn't get my little clip on fans to hold to the tent poles so I found this 3' length of wire closet shelving in my shed.
I zip tied it to the tent poles and wah - la, I have a way to mount my fans. So my 2 small fans are mounted to the wire shelf along with a surge protector.

Another thing that you really should have is a Temperature / Humidity Monitor like the one I have hanging in the corner.

And here is the tent just about ready to roll. I need to buy a small humidifier tomorrow so I can get the fans & filters flowing right to keep my temp & RH in check. I'll do a 24 hour test run to kind of adjust things before starting the grow. I'll dial things in as I go as things will change over the next week or 2.
We're getting close.
Hope this is helping some of you out there who are just learning.
We'll get to Nutrients & stuff tomorrow.
All I got for now. Time to burn a fatty !

I use a mars tsw2000 and ts 1000 in my 4x4 excellent lights

 

[Buds Buddy]

I use a mars tsw2000 and ts 1000 in my 4x4 excellent lights

I must agree. Probably the best bang for your buck out there. I actually have 3 of the TSW 2000's. All I need is 1 for this tent though. It's good for a 4' x 4' Veg & 3' x 3' Flower.

 

[Buds Buddy]

OK, I got me a small humidifier. Just a $25 Cheapo but it should do good enough for a 3 x 3 tent. I plugged it in about an hour ago with the tent open & Humidity went up 6% already.

In a little while I'll be setting the timer so I'll try to explain that as I use 7 day digital timers.
But for now I thought I'd show you how I prep my soil & pots for germination.
I use 2 types of plastic solo cups. One cup Solid Color & the other is See Through.

I do it this way so I can put the clear cup inside the solid cup & light wont get to the roots. Roots don't like light.
But the advantage is I can lift the clear cup out of the solid cup to check root growth so I know it's ready to up-pot.

But before I do this, I prep my 1st up-pots. I'll be using a 2 gal. pot. I'm using Fox Farms Ocean Forrest Soil (FFOF).
This grow I mixed 50% New Soil with 50% of the soil I used last grow. When I up-pot to 5 gallon I'll use all new soil as the plants will be old enough to handle it.