First Time Growing Indoors

[MsLinda]

Hi

This is my first post. I have been reading so much the past 3 weeks, I think my head is going to explode.

I grew 2 plants last year, outside. I did almost everything wrong (from what I've been reading) but I got some beautiful plants.

I am so excited to try again, this year, I'm growing some indoors and have started germination of 7 seeds (from TrueNorth). I will also be growing 2 or 3 plants outside.

I am going to do some experimenting with different soils plus the indoor and outdoor growing.

I have 2 different soils ... MG Organic and Fafard Professional Agro Mix.

My question, for now, is lighting.

I can't, right now, afford the $300 - $400 lights but I saw this: LED 300w Med Base Yard Dl Nondim from Home Depot (Canada) and was wondering if it was any good?

I have the suspicion they are not the right lights. I appreciate any replies

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

The soil mix's look fine & both are organic rated.

I looked up that led which i'm pretty sure is just a domestic bulb type actually wattage is 38 w aprox, 4000 kelvin more likely not the best choice.

Ideally for germination, young seedling & vegging you need either cfl or T5 tubes off 6500 kelvin that is the blue spectrum of light which helps promote growth whilst vegging. The cfl's will come in various wattages to which you can or may be able to get the larger types for growing 125 w, 250 w etc T5's are usaully are 25 w per tube once again different designs from 1 tube to units holding 4 tubes.

Mmm sounds like ya got a few plants for indoors so you are looking at ideal spacing per plant on average most will say 60 cm by 60 cm is good but can get away with slightly less but it might get cramped inside the tent or your grow area depending on strain growth habits.

So lets just say 4 plants per one meter square a 400 w hps is pretty alright for that area coverage & should provide happy results.

I guess you could find complete lights kits on the internet some where with a cheap hood/reflector, more likely a magnetic ballast plus a 400 w hps thrown in for good measures for less than what ya mentioned price wise.

 

[MsLinda]

@Fuzzy Duck ... thank you so much, not only for the informative reply, but for checking up on the soils and such I mentioned in my post

I'm beyond excited right now and I will check out the information you gave me

 

[Donald McGonagle]

I second Fuzzy Duck on T5's. I have LED, CFL, FL and HPS. I'm also a new grower. All indoor attempts have failed until I used LED (lack of ventilation for heat produced on other lighting caused problems). T5's seem to be the best bang for buck on initial cost, light output, heat output and cost of use (electricity $$$). I wasted money on the "best" lighting without the proper conditions for them. Hopefully other new indoor growers can learn from my mistakes. Good luck!

 

[MsLinda]

@illigalsmile ... thank you for that. -We learn great lessons from our mistakes and as excited as I am, I am prepared for the worst.

 

[Deedoubleusee]

I've seen some decent lighting kits for under$200. Around 160-180$ you can get a 600w or 1000w digital ballast hps and mh combined 6" cool tube with wings timer ratchet hangers. The Apollo kit on Amazon has pretty good reviews check it out. I almost got one but I want with a magnetic 600w because of stories I hear about rf interference

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Hi MsLinda if you have any other questions of concern feel free to ask feel free to chin wag a little

Indoor growing is pretty easy most of the time once environmental conditions are known & how to deal with them, a bit like i'm trying to grow in my garage in the middle of winter or the spare bed room etc two very different conditions all together !

So ye ideal set up takes some thinking !

Temperature will be one of those things ya gonna need to deal with on average around 25 c is pretty good lights on but can get away with a little higher, lights off i don't like my temps dropping below 20 c... i just work on my base environment conditions & how it effects my tent conditions then just tweak it here 'n' their.

Another choice will be exhaust fan or inline etc as for providing suitable air exchange per minute or hour depends on where ya come from in the world plus various calculations to work out size of fan needed for area of growing, most will suggest getting some thing the next size up that what you really need.

 

[Hgrk17]

Hey here to help with whatver i can. My first grow but i feel safe to say i put in about 20.hrs of research maybe more before i planted so i can relate to your head exploding haha. Just food for thought though i have seen good and bad results from miracle grow because of the extended nutrients they release over time, fox farm ocean forest is what i use and the soil is already ph balanced for our plants perfectly. My plants are loving it if you want to check it out. 1st Grow - Strawberry Kush Closet Grow

The Kushman

 

[MsLinda]

Thanks everyone ... for all the information and help.

I have started keeping a journal.

Right now I have 8 plants growing indoors (come summer, I'll be trying out a few more outside).

I am growing different strains (I'm a bit like a mad scientist when I become interested in something, lol) ... I have The Doctor, White Widow, LSD, Jock Horror and I also have a couple that I'm not sure of (I lost the tags I had on the pots to identify them). There are a couple that are not doing well.

The LSD were planted on the 21st and they're about an inch or a little more, they're growing so fast.

I have a lot of work to do but I am going to enjoy this phase of learning and not stress too much.

My first grow last year, I planted 2 plants outside. I got them from a friend and have no idea what they were (what strain) and I knew nothing about growing and I went on a trimming frenzy and continued trimming and clipping all through the grow (I didn't know that was bad, lol) but, my plants grew taller than I am (I'm 5'4") and from the two plants, I yielded approximately 24 ounces.

This is how new I am ... I had NO idea of the different strains ... I had no idea that some pot could make you feel energetic (I've always gotten sleepy) ... there is so much to learn and right now, I am in awe of it all.

I am so thankful for this group ... I think I would burst if I couldn't chat to anyone

MsLinda

 

[PacificPeach]

Hi Linda,
I just stumbled across your journal I am very new to growing myself. I've been enjoying it so much! I read a few times on here that the growing process itself itself is very therapeutic and I agree with whoever came up with that. I also feel overwhelmed at times by all the information available.
Peaches

 

[bengalfan]

I've seen some decent lighting kits for under$200. Around 160-180$ you can get a 600w or 1000w digital ballast hps and mh combined 6" cool tube with wings timer ratchet hangers. The Apollo kit on Amazon has pretty good reviews check it out. I almost got one but I want with a magnetic 600w because of stories I hear about rf interference

I had cable people knock on my door today running an Apollo . Going to pick up a magnetic tomorrow. Rf interference is not to be taking lightly

 

[Cultivator]

I would go with minimum 400w hps or 600w hps. the led you mention would be a waste of time. the 3 big things that are needed in abundance for plants to thrive is..

1.. light more the better and avoid cheap leds
2.. airflow. air movement isn't just about temps its about allowing the plants to breathe also.
3.. o2 in the root zone. this can be done by adding nutrient mix at 69f and having an airy medium such as cococoir.