First Grow - Ice - Soil - 400W MH/HPS

[livfree]

Being that it is 4/20/2011 I thought I would put the 4 ice seeds into germination today and visit the the hydroponics/garden shop for soil and buckets tomorrow as well as home depot to build a box.

I will be growing in a 2x4x4 space with 400w mh veg and hps for flower. Hopefully at least one if not two are fem haha.

I am a first time grower, ive had experience clipping with a friends hydroponics and took and interest, purchased two books on growing and settled on soil rather then hydro so anything my friend taught me (acceptable ph levels, feeding, nutes etc) about growing is out the window so any advice is readily accepted.

Was thinking about 3 gal buckets but was considering 5 gal in case only 1 or 2 are fem so i could veg them longer, could increase heighth of box from 4 to 5 feet if the longer veg time makes it necessary.

Ive been reading other journals and have heard much about foxfarms oceanforest for soil with other substrates (perlite,vermiculite, worm castings etc) as mediums. Any recomendations for a soil medium? Seedling medium?

As for feeding the book ive got as well as these journals i am sort of confused. I read about blood meal, bone meal, etc being added to the soil, but as for watering is it similar to hydroponics in that you premix nutes and water the medium? or do you simply water and the nutes are in the soil only needing to be replenished at times?

Will hopefully get some pictures up of the box (preferably some seedlings) this weekend.

Leave any tips and comments in regards to soil medium, how to control the ph as well as measure (same meter used as the hydro ph meter?), if grow space is too much/too little, recommended nutes and amount of feeding as a general index. I understand alot is determined by genetics and what the specific plant needs. I plan on cloning (hopefully if fem) and mastering this strain in the long run

 

[MadMardo]

Re: first grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

Good luck mate

 

[KannabisKid]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

Grats on starting your first grow livfree.
I'll help you out as much as I can. 3g buckets can be done, but bigger is better in some cases. 5g buckets will get you maximum growth potential. FFOF is great for cannabis, but not necessary. Check to see what's in your local hardware garden center. Just not MG. I use Black Gold Natural and Organic potting soil. This soil has a good bit of perlite already, so I didn't add more, but you can. Worm castings are good if you have some. I mix mine right into the soil before planting. The plants love it. Works fine so far. As far as feeding goes, the bloodmeal and bonemeal are not necessities, depending on the condition. A real good liquid veg nute and bloom/flower nute are really all you need to start with. They are water soluble and are mixed with water, then applied to the soil. You'll also want a ph tester to check your runoff water's ph to make sure you're in range. I hope that helps a little.

 

[livfree]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

ya ive got ph tester, ppm meter, timers, some nutes (gh i believe ill have to see if i can use for soil, are there soil and hydro specific nutes?) etc from my buddys hydro gro got all my equip from him. but thanks i didnt even think of testing the runoff that makes sense haha, I will head to the garden center later today to get buckets and soil etc, do you think 5 gal buckets are necessary for my box though? i was thinking theyll end up around 3ft when harvested an the box will be either 4 or 5 ft high so they should have a decent bit of space between the 4 of them and even more if less turn out to be fem. checked on them this morning looks like all 4 of them are starting to crack their shells after 24 hours so im excited

 

[KannabisKid]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

You'll definitely want to get some soil nutes. I have both versions of FFGB and the chemistry is different on them. The hydro versions are different due to the different ph zones the plants are in and what nutrients are absorbed better in those ranges. Hydro is lower around 5.5-6 and soil is a little higher upwards of 6.7 I beleive. I haven't tested my ph, I adjust my water/nute mixture to around 6.8, then feed/water. 5 gallons are not necessary. 3g are fine since you want to max out at 3'.

 

[livfree]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

Ya I picked up FFGB actually before i even read this, picked that up looked at the size of the 5 gal buckets and said I definitely dont need that big of pots haha, I just picked up a bag of FFOF, worm castings, and perlite cause Ive heard nothing but good things about it. I figure next time around ill get another kind and run both at the same time see how the genes take to the diff soil mixtures. definately excited, should i start these boys (hopefully girls) out in dixie cups then chop the bottom and stick in the 3 gal or just start them off in the 3 gal?

 

[KannabisKid]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

Sounds good. You're off to a good start. Definitely use the perlite. It will help. You might want to germinate using the paper towel method, being you first time. It is a really quick method, but you do need to be careful. Dixie cups will be fine, as long as light doesn't penetrate to the roots from the sides. And make sure you have some drain holes in and along the bottom to prevent over watering. I wouldn't cut the bottoms when transplanting though. Carefully remove the whole thing from the cup then place in the new soil. This will cut down on the stress when transplanting. Less messing with the roots. With the worm castings, you won't need to add nutes for a few weeks. What kind of light will you be putting the seedlings under. Are you going to start with fluros or right under the 400w?

 

[livfree]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

Ya im using the paper towel method right now i checked this morning and 3 of 4 were cracking couldnt tell if the 4th was didnt want to touch it just left it be. I was prolly going to do cfls or just daylight, i do have a t5 but i didnt want to use that big ol thing on 4 little babys.

Any complications from going from sunlight to box? I would have to have the cycles begin at the same time right, say the sun rises at x and sets at y, I would want the lights to start at x and end at y? Would starting/ending at different times even if cycle was the same length stress it out or would just the one day of extended or shortened light not do much?

 

[KannabisKid]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

Cfls and daylight would be good. I think if you keep them under 24hrs it would be good. You could alternate by putting the plants in the box at night and in the sun during the day. You just don't want to put the sprouts in the most intense sunlight starting off, but gradually working their way up to it as they start getting more leaves.

 

[SteveHman]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

Congrats on starting your first grow. I've been reading a few of the hempy journals and that may be of interest to you as well, kind of a mid-point between soil and hydro. You are basically using a soilless mix and then feeding them with hydro type nutes. Looks like a promising option.

I have only done hydro, so I will basically be sitting back and watching your grow. I have a space about the same size as yours, (2x6x4) so I understand some of the challenges you'll run into height wise (the reason I am using LEDs). If you can find the square buckets, they will be shorter for the same volume. I think if you try to use the 5 gal round buckets and then have your MH light hood, that will only leave you about 18 inches of growable space (give or take). Are you planning on LST or SCROG to control height?

Best of luck on your grow!

 

[livfree]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

Congrats on starting your first grow. I've been reading a few of the hempy journals and that may be of interest to you as well, kind of a mid-point between soil and hydro. You are basically using a soilless mix and then feeding them with hydro type nutes. Looks like a promising option.

I have only done hydro, so I will basically be sitting back and watching your grow. I have a space about the same size as yours, (2x6x4) so I understand some of the challenges you'll run into height wise (the reason I am using LEDs). If you can find the square buckets, they will be shorter for the same volume. I think if you try to use the 5 gal round buckets and then have your MH light hood, that will only leave you about 18 inches of growable space (give or take). Are you planning on LST or SCROG to control height?

Best of luck on your grow!

Well actually, ive built the box so the the the lamp is fixed to the roof, i should finish building it today and get some pictures up of it as well as my sprouts which im proud to say two have popped up and a third is starting to push its way through the soil. I'll put up some pics tomorrow of everything.

Since the lamp is fixed it will have all of the four feet to grow minus the 3 gal bucket space of course so about 3 ft probably a little under. Since the light is fixed I will have to prop them up on something to adjust height and lower them over time. Right now i have the little sprouts under the porch outside getting normal daylight and looking pretty good so far.

I was considering LST and I am very interested in SCROG but being my first grow if anything LST. I'm mainly using this first go as a learning experience about the strain, how much it likes to eat, etc. So I imagine I may run into some height issues in the final stretch but not too much of a concern right now as this is just a hobby, I haven't even smoked in about 3 years!

 

[TheRockGrower]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

Congrats on starting everything up Im gonna have to keep stopping back to checkout your progress.

 

[livfree]

Re: First grow: Ice/soil/400w mh/hps

sorry i been MIA, but heres to not bs-ing haha.
two of my babies seem to have been shocked, all four germed and then i put them all into soil, after two days these guys shot right up and after waiting 3-4 days on the other two I tossed them.

these seeds are from nirvana and are SUPPOSED to be feminized but who knows, will definately be considering ScRog now that I only have two. Planning on cloning and flowering a couple clones to make sure are fem. Any advice on when to take clones and flower them? And has anyone had any experience with nirvana feminized seeds?

 

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