First Time Grower Help?

[t1tree]

Hi all,

I recently got my medical marijuana card (MI) and i think im going to talk my mom into letting me be her caregiver.
this will enable me to legally grow 24 plants (i think).
I know little to nothing about growing anything so if i could get some tips or anything useful, it would be very appreciated!

We have an unfinished basement, with a lot of space. i'm unsure of the different ways of growing (e.g. hydroponics, soil and whatnot) so if someone could explain that to me, that would be useful. I could possibly put up walls if necessary, which it probably will be, but i am trying to limit this whole setup to $5-6k if thats possible (idk).
i want to grow under 1000w hps light(s) while trying to yield a minimum of 10oz a plant (keyword 'trying')
what ways can i go about achieving this goal? are my goals too high or is my budget too low? i could move to less plants, possibly 16 or 12 if that would make a difference. my whole goal is to make my money back off my first harvest. like i said, i know nothing about this stuff so excuse my lack of knowledge, thanks to anyone that can help!

 

[OMeWanCannabi]

to


The short answer to your questions is: I would start here most anything you need to know will probably be found there.

 

[Emilya Green]

Greetings t1tree, welcome to the forum! Major props on your plan to help your mom too! You have a lot to learn and I suggest you start reading now. Growing weeds is nothing like growing vegitables, and you are going to have to put aside any preconceptions you might have, and learn how to grow a weed. The information is out here, you just have to find it.

I strongly suggest starting your first grow in soil. Soil is very forgiving and capable of producing very high quality pot. Others will tell you that hydro is faster, produces more... but let me tell you my experience with it. It is hard, and it can get very expensive to put everything you need in place. When things go wrong, it goes very wrong, very fast. I am a fairly accomplished gardener of weeds, and I failed with a 6 month attempt at hydro. Not only do I recommend soil, but I recommend doing it the right way, and building a strong soil with amendments that will get your through your entire grow, and not relying on a commercial soil. Also, if you do it the way I am doing it, with a totally organic soil, you never will need to add anything else to your garden but light, love and some water.

A 1000w light is a good idea, but a 600w will work too, and be a lot less expensive to run and set up. I also commend you on your 10oz plant idea, but typically first attempts are nowhere near this goal... I consider a 2-3 oz plant as a success in my indoor garden. Start off slow.. run 6 or 8 plants on your first couple of runs so that things don't get away from you, and learn your techniques on them. You can't just plant a seed and let it grow and expect to get huge yields... you are going to need to learn to top, LST, FIM and many other techniques that force our plants to produce the amounts that you are wanting.

Lastly, don't trust anything you learn on the internet until you see it in practice in your own garden. Everyone has opinions, you need instead, your own knowledge. As you will no doubt see with this message, you will have to filter all the opinions and then make up your own mind what to do. This is why you need to start reading now, to get a base that you can build from.

Good luck, and when you find you have specific questions, there are many out here ready and willing to try to help.

 

[t1tree]

thank you both so much for the replies, they were both very informative! Emilya, you seem very knowledgeable about growing! I do know that this is a game of trial and error, but that's why i am trying to "jump the gun" and start off inside the door and not just put a foot in the door. I read a lot that if you are going to invest, then go big. I appreciate your thoughts on my goal of yielding 10oz a plant, and i may lower that goal to 8 but i expect nothing less after all the research, time, and money i am going to be putting into this. I see that you suggest a 600w hps over the 1000w hps. i know that both will work, but from my understanding, the more wattage, the more it should yield. again, im just going off my prior, but acute, knowledge. what is your opinion on LED lights? from my understanding, they are much more expensive initially, but the running cost as well as the temp. emittance is low. would LED be a good investment for long term usage? i plan to harvest 3 times a year.
I also notice that you said i should stick to 6 or 8 plants, but whats wrong with running 12? i feel like that way, i could have more "subjects" (plants) to experiment with.
I know a guy who grows using something he classifies as "deep water irrigation" and he said he would help me get a set up like his. he won 3rd place for his strain 'tutankhamun' in cannibus cup or something along those lines, so i trust that he knows what he's doing. if you know anything about this method of growing, could you further explain what this is? im very curious and might go with it since he says he brings in around 60k a year alone off of 9 plants (so he says).
thank you again for your very detailed and informative reply, it was very useful!

 

[Emilya Green]

thank you both so much for the replies, they were both very informative! Emilya, you seem very knowledgeable about growing! I do know that this is a game of trial and error, but that's why i am trying to "jump the gun" and start off inside the door and not just put a foot in the door. I read a lot that if you are going to invest, then go big. I appreciate your thoughts on my goal of yielding 10oz a plant, and i may lower that goal to 8 but i expect nothing less after all the research, time, and money i am going to be putting into this. I see that you suggest a 600w hps over the 1000w hps. i know that both will work, but from my understanding, the more wattage, the more it should yield. again, im just going off my prior, but acute, knowledge. what is your opinion on LED lights? from my understanding, they are much more expensive initially, but the running cost as well as the temp. emittance is low. would LED be a good investment for long term usage? i plan to harvest 3 times a year.
I also notice that you said i should stick to 6 or 8 plants, but whats wrong with running 12? i feel like that way, i could have more "subjects" (plants) to experiment with.
I know a guy who grows using something he classifies as "deep water irrigation" and he said he would help me get a set up like his. he won 3rd place for his strain 'tutankhamun' in cannibus cup or something along those lines, so i trust that he knows what he's doing. if you know anything about this method of growing, could you further explain what this is? im very curious and might go with it since he says he brings in around 60k a year alone off of 9 plants (so he says).
thank you again for your very detailed and informative reply, it was very useful!

Practically, using a hood to direct your light, you will be dealing with approximately a 6x6 growing area. You are right about wattage, and if you can afford the electricity to both run the 1000w and move the heat away, you should get bigger buds with the 1000w vs the 600w. There is a sweet spot at 600w though, that gives you the very most bang for your buck, and it is still enough to produce very high quality buds... but then again, you get a little more with 1000w.

In that 6x6 area, you will experience a phenomenon called the law of diminishing returns. More plants often times crowd each other, stealing light and air from each other, and a curious thing happens... Sometimes fewer plants actually produce more. If you want to go crazy... go for two 6x6 areas and two 1000w lights.

The other thing you are not considering is the amount of time it will take you to veg a plant capable of 10oz. Expect to veg for 3 months, and then of course to flower for another 8-10 weeks. Again, the law of diminishing returns comes into play as you consider the electricity to run for almost 6 months on a run, compared to a smaller and more efficient 3 month run. I will get two runs in during the time you get one in... and my patients are medicated much sooner. You might end up with more in the long run, but at what cost? Also, I can easily run 12 plants in my 6x6 space... your monsters simply won't fit. Less is more sometimes...

Regarding LED... it is a good technology. Penetration is excellent and cost to run and lifetime of the lights hands down is better than anything else available to us. Some plants however do not like LED and you won't know until you try any particular strain, how it will respond. LED lights are fairly new tech, and new and unproven companies have sprung up to fill the need. Some are better than others and the stories of people being sold junk abound. There are also those who love LED and would never do anything different. Personally, as someone fairly knowledgeable about electronic technology, I see LED as an intermediary technology, and I feel something much better is just around the corner. I personally will not invest any more than I already have in LED and am perfectly happy running my combinations of a very high tech PurPar growth bulb in early veg, 600w MH in late veg and as a supplent for several hours a day in flower, and a 600w HPS full time in flower. Thats right, I will run 1200w in flower for 3 hours every day... 600w the rest of the time. When affordable plasma lights targeted to color like LED's become practical, I will most likely move in that direction... but for now, this seems to be the most bang for my bucks.

As far as the deep water irrigation goes... you will have a steep learning curve there, and again all of my earlier warnings about hydro. Let me throw this at you too, not even considering that soil gives you a buffer against mistakes and in hydro if it goes bad, even for a day, your entire crop can be ruined. If you go hydro, your plants will only be a product of whatever nutrients you throw at them. There are hundreds of choices and within every product line, there are many many products that you can choose to use or not use. You can spend however much you want to on all this stuff, and you may indeed produce some fine buds by doing so, but bottom line, your plants only will have what you give them in the mix and if you scrimp on anything accidentally, your plants will not develop to their fullest genetic potential. My strategy is, I think, superior. I may not get the same rapid growth that appears with hydro, but I get FULL development of the strain's genetic potential. I grow organically, letting natural processes break down everything that the plants could possibly need, from a properly amended super soil. I have no need to measure and mix, adjust and monitor. I simply water when they need it. If you want your garden to become another full time job, go for hydro. If you want your garden to be as expensive as it can possibly be, go hydro. I spent a little over $100 USD to build my soil for this run. That's it... total cost... nothing but water from here on out. Let's compare the cost of your buds to mine once we are done... oh, there is that law of diminishing returns again!

 

[t1tree]

thank you for another great reply! your setup sounds very reliable. i should mention that not only am i growing for my mother, but i am also looking to bring in more money for my family (e.g. selling to dispensaries) so low yields are something i am trying to avoid, maybe i can lower my yield expectancy to 6oz a plant? how much space would it take up to grow 24 plants that yield around 6 oz? given that i use soil and 2 1000w hps lights (remember i can also build rooms as big or small as needed. and also how long would the veg stage be for a plant to produce around 6oz? sorry if these are 'dumb' questions. just trying to learn!

 

[t1tree]

also i forgot to add, what if i have two rooms, one for veg and one for flowering. 12 plants in veg, 12 in flowering. that way i could harvest more frequently and have a good system going. im not sure if theres anything wrong with something like that but if so please explain! thanks again!

 

[Emilya Green]

thank you for another great reply! your setup sounds very reliable. i should mention that not only am i growing for my mother, but i am also looking to bring in more money for my family (e.g. selling to dispensaries) so low yields are something i am trying to avoid, maybe i can lower my yield expectancy to 6oz a plant? how much space would it take up to grow 24 plants that yield around 6 oz? given that i use soil and 2 1000w hps lights (remember i can also build rooms as big or small as needed. and also how long would the veg stage be for a plant to produce around 6oz? sorry if these are 'dumb' questions. just trying to learn!

At least 2 months, if not more. I am vegging for about a month and a half to get no more than 3 oz per plant. Three months veg was actually being conservative for a 10oz plant, it could take longer. How long is your friend vegging? Let's also make sure that we are not talking apples and oranges here... these oz measurements we are talking about are dry weight, after it has been harvested, dried and cured. Your wet harvest will be approximately 4x this number. Also, you will not be able to grow this many huge plants under one light.. they will need to be spread out a little. Plan on two 6x6 areas and I think you will be happy.

the only dumb question by the way, is the one you didn't ask. Don't be shy, I am playing here all week.

 

[Emilya Green]

also i forgot to add, what if i have two rooms, one for veg and one for flowering. 12 plants in veg, 12 in flowering. that way i could harvest more frequently and have a good system going. im not sure if theres anything wrong with something like that but if so please explain! thanks again!

That is how I would do it. I have 3 tents... one for flower, one for veg and one for breeding.

 

[bigliv25]

you can breed in the same house without pollinating all the girls in the house? it would only affect the ones in that particular tent?

 

[Emilya Green]

you can breed in the same house without pollinating all the girls in the house? it would only affect the ones in that particular tent?

my breeding tent was isolated from the others... no airflow in or out of the area. That worked in the winter, having it in the same room even, but in the summer i would need some airflow... the love tent would have to go out in the garage

 

[bigliv25]

I see so it'd be a bad idea now

 

[Emilya Green]

It all depends on airflow. One year I set up a separate air filtering system for that tent, and vented her out another window... that worked too. Pollen can be managed, you just have to be careful.

 

[4Dutchess]

That is how I would do it. I have 3 tents... one for flower, one for veg and one for breeding.

Hello Emilya, The room I was going into fits a 5'x9' tent perfect, but also will fit two 4'x4' tents good too. Someone here said to use just one big tent because less to control. Thoughts?? My friend still has more free equip. for me, another hood, cords. not sure. I will get the rest needed soon after. I never bought stuff from Amazon before yesterday and got some FF Open Sesame, humidity reader, coming soon.
My yard grows beautiful at 8.0 PH. and I plan to bring it down to 6.0-6.5. Will this make a difference to a already beautiful grow?? Im stepping up my game! Peace!

 

[Emilya Green]

Hello Emilya, The room I was going into fits a 5'x9' tent perfect, but also will fit two 4'x4' tents good too. Someone here said to use just one big tent because less to control. Thoughts?? My friend still has more free equip. for me, another hood, cords. not sure. I will get the rest needed soon after. I never bought stuff from Amazon before yesterday and got some FF Open Sesame, humidity reader, coming soon.
My yard grows beautiful at 8.0 PH. and I plan to bring it down to 6.0-6.5. Will this make a difference to a already beautiful grow?? Im stepping up my game! Peace!

Hi 4D!
Less to control? Isn't that the point of indoor growing, that control thing? And you are getting free stuff too, so lets find uses for all of this stuff, and let you exercise complete control over your environment. One tent is not going to allow you to breed, veg and flower all at the same time, and keep in mind that if you wanted to go full out production, you can always flower in all 3 tents... a trick that I typically do at the end of a growing season before shutting down for a few months.

Outside I would not worry so much about your pH, mother nature is quick to adjust things where she wants them out there in her soil... now if you are in containers outside and feeding with synthetics, by all means adjust that pH... the only thing natural there is the sun and the wind.

 

[4Dutchess]

Hi 4D!
Less to control? Isn't that the point of indoor growing, that control thing? And you are getting free stuff too, so lets find uses for all of this stuff, and let you exercise complete control over your environment. One tent is not going to allow you to breed, veg and flower all at the same time, and keep in mind that if you wanted to go full out production, you can always flower in all 3 tents... a trick that I typically do at the end of a growing season before shutting down for a few months.

Outside I would not worry so much about your pH, mother nature is quick to adjust things where she wants them out there in her soil... now if you are in containers outside and feeding with synthetics, by all means adjust that pH... the only thing natural there is the sun and the wind.

Thanks! It will be good practice for me to PH my yard grow this year since its a step I havent incorporated in my system. Some are in pots still and some are planted. Im waiting for them to show sex so I can pull males and replant the potted ladies
I have time to decide about tents yet. Im still partial to one big 5x9 and using the closets for a cloning, seedlings station. If I do use these closets, I will do it right/professional. I also have a makeshift area by the washer/dryer Ive used already for clones and it works ok.
Someone said to bug bomb the grow room in between grows for pests, true??

 

[Emilya Green]

Thanks! It will be good practice for me to PH my yard grow this year since its a step I havent incorporated in my system. Some are in pots still and some are planted. Im waiting for them to show sex so I can pull males and replant the potted ladies
I have time to decide about tents yet. Im still partial to one big 5x9 and using the closets for a cloning, seedlings station. If I do use these closets, I will do it right/professional. I also have a makeshift area by the washer/dryer Ive used already for clones and it works ok.
Someone said to bug bomb the grow room in between grows for pests, true??

I don't bug bomb unless i need it. and I am afraid of chemicals in my house... I just keep the room clean all the time, and I am fanatic about not letting outside things come into the grow area. What I do, do, every time between rounds is to wipe things down with bleach water after sweeping out the tent. I don't know that I am preventing anything by doing this, it is just a girl thing.

Regarding the closets... they will work fine, as long as you are able to control the smell. The beauty of tents is that you are able to set up a totally controlled environment with negative air pressure, so that any smells that originate in the grow room, stay in the grow room... or they are totally filtered and sent away safely. There is not a closet in my house that I could make that happen in... the house is just too leaky. Closets would not work here for that reason, although it would have been much easier to set up the spare bedroom in that manner, but that smell stopped that plan on the second week they were in the closet. It was obvious right from the start that if I ever wanted to have visitors, I needed to totally control that odor.

 

[4Dutchess]

I don't bug bomb unless i need it. and I am afraid of chemicals in my house... I just keep the room clean all the time, and I am fanatic about not letting outside things come into the grow area. What I do, do, every time between rounds is to wipe things down with bleach water after sweeping out the tent. I don't know that I am preventing anything by doing this, it is just a girl thing.

Regarding the closets... they will work fine, as long as you are able to control the smell. The beauty of tents is that you are able to set up a totally controlled environment with negative air pressure, so that any smells that originate in the grow room, stay in the grow room... or they are totally filtered and sent away safely. There is not a closet in my house that I could make that happen in... the house is just too leaky. Closets would not work here for that reason, although it would have been much easier to set up the spare bedroom in that manner, but that smell stopped that plan on the second week they were in the closet. It was obvious right from the start that if I ever wanted to have visitors, I needed to totally control that odor.

Im not too worried about the smell.
My outdoors hasent smelled too bad yet but Im thinking its the strains Ive grown?? Im not sure if same strain is different when grown inside??
My neighbor grew something a few years ago that smelled(stunk bad!) the neighborhood for a 60 yard radius around his house. Im not sure what strain he grew, indoor or out,(assuming outdoor). It wasent skunk but it was putrid! For 3 weeks it stunk up the whole block and I know he was sweatin bullets.
Emilya, yesterday was summer solstice, approx. how long before I can really tell sex with my yard grow?? 2 weeks??

 

[Emilya Green]

Emilya, yesterday was summer solstice, approx. how long before I can really tell sex with my yard grow?? 2 weeks??

I would think that they should be turning soon... it doesnt have to be 12/12 to trigger flower, I would have thought that you would already be seeing it. I am not an experienced outdoor farmer of weeds though...

 

[4Dutchess]

I would think that they should be turning soon... it doesnt have to be 12/12 to trigger flower, I would have thought that you would already be seeing it. I am not an experienced outdoor farmer of weeds though...[/QUOTE
Ive already had a good idea with how to tell females but the guy who gave me the indoor equip. showed me exactly where and what to look for. Ive found 6 out of 30 so far but waiting patiently. Its funny but when you see the hair sticking out of the pod it is a beautiful thing!! Its also very distinct when you see it.