First Grow Ever - Soil

[TheDoorMouse]

well this is my first time growing any thing but corn and wheat, but have been looking into it, reading up on the many different ways, and debating on which would accommodate my lifestyle, and what best fit my criteria. and it was;

soil: i want to use fox farms ocean forest potting soil?
pot size: 5 Gallon pot
light: ?
nutes: fox farm peace of mind, or big bloom
grow area: tent
temp: i want to maintain at 75-80 with fans and temp controlled heaters?
humidity: 50 to 60% wondering if a bestbuy humidifier would work?

i will be going to get the seeds here before to long, not sure what i want to grow yet. pictures will be posted when i have purchased and set it up. i wanted to run my shopping list by everyone to make sure I'm not missing anything.

 

[ilikebike]

Re: First grow ever - Soil -

that soil will be an excelent medium! also depending on how many seeds you germinating your going to want...

4'' centrifucal Fan w/Filter
pH Meter/ pH Down
MH Light/Florescent fixture (For Veg)
HPS Light (For Flower)
Tempature Gauge

Best buy humidifier would be ok, try to get one that has an ajdustable dial on it so you can dial it in at 50% humidity

Come by my page and check out my journal, plenty of help and ideas in there!

 

[QueenTokelove]

Re: First grow ever - Soil -

Sounds like you have it pretty much together to me also. I can't wait to see your set up.

 

[TheDoorMouse]

well i had to drive 8 hours to get all my stuff but i accomplished it.

my grocery list is as follows:

Fluorowing W/125w daylight bulb (early life and veg)
Hortilux 400W HPS (flower)
Xtrasun 6"air coolable reflector
Fox Farm Happy frog potting soil
Roots Organics Buddha bloom and grow
Age old kelp

I also bought two light timers, several pots, light ratchets, a sticky zipper, and a roll of gorilla tape.i went to Sears and got adjustable shelves(2'6"deepX3'wideX4'tall), then wrapped the whole thing(and floor) in black and white poly. i also mounted the fluorowing in the center on the bottom of the top shelve. this will be my Early Life/Veg box. i will post some quick pics in a second when i figure out how to do it, and tomorrow i will post some good pics with better detail.

 

[ilikebike]

wow that is cool you made your own grow cab, stinks that you gotta drive 8 hours to get to a hydro store, damn that sucks but you made it happen, cant wait to see TONS OF PICS!

 

[Mark Green]

You are off to a good start man! Any idea what beans(strain) your gonna get? My mothers are in happy frog and they seem to love it! I would also grab some calmag or epsom salt(cheaper).

 

[TheDoorMouse]

I germinated several seeds. Most of them come from med grade caps collected over about 2 years, so I know that it will be a quality strain.

I live in the middle of the Texas panhandle and most of the hydro shops are owned by head-shops and nobody has any idea about what's going on when it comes to growing anything, therefore I have to drive to Albuquerque 4hrs there and 4hrs back.

Epsom salt and calmag for what, if you don't mom me asking.

 

[Mark Green]

I don't "mom" at all! Mj has a tendency to be a magnesium hog while in flower. It's just a thought, you may get lucky and not need any.
Hope the seeds sprout!

 

[TheDoorMouse]

Hahaha iPhones have a tendencies to type whatever they want. So do I dissolve the salt in my water with nutes?

 

[QueenTokelove]

Hahaha iPhones have a tendencies to type whatever they want. So do I dissolve the salt in my water with nutes?

I don't know if you can dissolve with nutes. But I usually just have a gallon jug for each nutes, salt or whatever else I need. That was quite the shopping list you have, I am almost envious..j/k...If I had money to get everything at one time, I would've done it too. Can't wait to see what strains you choose and your set up.

 

[Icemud]

Wow...Doormouse...sounds like you did your research and your off to a good start!! Great job on the journal so far... can't wait to see photo's... I too am a soil grower, organic, and even though I'm on my 2nd grow...I will try to help ya with what I can... also, my journal's are pretty detailed, so if you need to brush up on any pointers..lots of good info in there..

I'm def in for this one!!

 

[Mark Green]

I know right, my iPhone does the same thing (using it now). Yes, you can mix the Epsom salt with your nutes or make a foliar spray. Each at a Tsp to a gallon, ph as normal. It is easier to use warm water to dissolve the Epsom salt.

 

[Twelve12]

Congrats on starting your grow. Looking forward to see what strains you pick for your first run. I would recommend using Digilux 400w HPS over the Hortilux. You get 5,000 more lumen with Digilux. Also look into getting a carbon filter and inline fan, to exhaust the heat and clean the air at the same time. Unless you have no issue with odor.

 

[Mark Green]

5k extra sounds good to me.

 

[TheDoorMouse]

Well I germinated about 30 seeds, not sure what the strain is, but 19 sprouted roots and I have planted them in seed starters with the happyfrog soil. I'm sorry I haven't posted any pictures. I can't seem to figure out how in the heck to convert my I phones pictures into the correct format to post on this site. (Oh and btw the seeds come from nothing but med grade bud. I have been collecting them for over a year and a half.) i think I am going to take the females that look the strongest and throw all the males and weaker looking females away, then start a cloning processes.

 

[Icemud]

I would recommend the Ushio Opti-Red 400w HPS over any other HPS bulbs...by looking at the spectrum output charts, they have the highest concentration of Red output, even over the hortilux.... They also have an enhanced blue end for better growth than many HPS bulbs...

 

[Mark Green]

That's how I started, bag seed. That way your not so woried about killing them.

 

[TheDoorMouse]

my little early life/veg box

i germinated about 30 and 19 sprouted roots and were planted

and my first one has shown i hope it is a little female

 

[Mark Green]

Keep it up!

 

[TheDoorMouse]

Well I have 5 that are up and out of the soil, I had to rasie the plants to the light, because what has sprouted seem to be stretching for light. I will post several pics of the whole setup in a while. I feel like these are my little babies and can't seem to keep my eyes off them!!