Luxx's very first grow

[luxx]

hello, im luxx. I have been reading the journals of other people and it seems that i would have more of a motivation to grow with professionals like yourselves. My project is going to start from scratch.

Area - half room and closet
Number of Plants - 2 mothers, many clones from there
Seeds - trying to acquire
Soil - need to purchase (still battling the hydro vs. soil thing)
Lights - Need to purchase
Air Vent - not a clue yet.

So as you can see i am still in the planning stage. I don't want to rush the first grow so i can get it right.

As far as seeds is concerned, the seedless canibus that i stash rarely has seeds and if it does then they are to weak.
Any good methods of obtaining seeds for decent prices would be great. Now i can get some stuff that is so-so that has seeds, but im not sure that i should grow so-so plants and be proud of them.

My plans are to keep the mothers in 18 hours of light to keep them from budding. Cut whenever i can to get nice clones. Use the early budding method to check for sex.

Lights, im still a little foggy on when to use what light, but i know that i need to make two seperate sections to have one light proof for budding.

I realy want to try a hydro system, i will just use a soil medium for the learning curve. So for soil im going to make a nute filled mix formulated by the people in this forum.

I live right next to someone so i need to keep stench down to a min. I might take pics of the room to get suggestions on my next post.

thanks ahead of time, i know i will be pointed in the right direction.

 

[Retired One]

Welcome to 420 luxx. Glad to have you here. Sounds like you are at the beginning of a great journey. Explore the site, as well as the sponsors, learn post and share. Before you know it you'll be on your way...don't hesitiate to call if you need help.

 

[luxx]

Thanks SW - gonna do all my research. Looking at strains from seed banks online at the moment. Not sure how safe it is to have seeds sent to me. Well either way im not going to ship to my grow spot.

Any links to nice first time growers strain would be awsome.

 

[Retired One]

You can find everything you need right here 420 Magazine - Sponsors.

 

[luxx]

so im placing a order to dr. chronic tues. for a cheap strain of fem seeds. i hope everything goes good.

I will update with pictures of my complete build and grow. Any suggestions i might want to know about as a first time grower, feel free to let me know so i can get this right the 1st time. No Mistakes.

 

[Smoke4Life]

I don't know if you have read it yet but here is another great link with lots of info How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know

 

[Dain Bramage]

well good luck i was once told if you can learn from your mistakes you will do well,but if you can learn from others mitakes you will go far. I have gone from soil to ebb and flo hydroponics to airoponics back to soil all in serch for what work best for me.I have found soil to be much more forgiving and with less overall time demands.So what is your over all sq. footing for your veg/mothers and for flowering clones.This will decide your light needs as will your budget.I am useing 8 four ft. t5 florecents for my mothers and clones.This helps pramote low node spaceing keeping my plants short till budding.For that i use two 430 watt hps on light movers.This gives me almost the lumes of a 1000 watt garden but with better covrage.There are low oder strains out there none i have worked with,but good ventiation is important not just for securty but for a healthy garden. your plants will need constant fresh air,with the vented air put threw some type of air filter .I use activated carbon in a inline fan system with an ozone generator at the end then out the chimminy for the fire place.

 

[pan4gold49]

luxx welcome.
Be sure to read threads to find out what works the best.
I'm a hydro grower and can help you along that path.

Pan4

 

[luxx]

Dain Bramage - thanks for your insight, i am currently working with a 4 foot by 4 foot section with a 10 ft ceiling. So what is that 16 sq ft? Ive estimated that i can place 3 full grown plants at a time, with however many clones i can get in there without the bigger plants blocking light and air flow.(edit. If my 1st harvest is a success, then i will expand to the whole room, as for now its a storage room that i throw my crap in so i dont have to pay someone to store it.) As far as lights go, i am still debating what i should do for veg state, MH or Florecents- i know most of the pros and cons, i didnt know that the florecents promote low node spacing. Might be the nail in the coffin for MH. For budding im going to purchase a Hps, not sure which, this is going to be a semi-budget grow so i want to have the right stuff for as less as posible. (If i do it that way it will mean more to me.) As for ventilation, im going to run 2 6inch air ducts with a homemade carbon filter. The pickups from the tops of the plants and lighting and the input air is going to be forced by a medium sized fan.

Smoke4Life - I might have skimmed over it. I will give it a clear look and posibly take notes.

pan4gold49 - thanks, i studied up on the many hydro type systems. so i think im going to go with soil, but, after i get some success with soil, i will graduate if you will, to a aeroponics system.



on another note, my bro gave me some Miracle Grow All purpose plant food. is that ok to use? he also gave me some soil that he had mixed for his plants to help me start my seeds. He didn't tell me the formula he used, is there a way i can test concentration levels on that soil to see if it is adequate?

I will post pictures as soon as I buy rechargeable batterys that my camera like (wont work with cheap batterys, ugh.).

Thanks again guys(or girls). Theres no way i could do it without you.

 

[luxx]

so i started germing my seeds, and i think i made a mistake, i have them between sheets of paper towel inside two plates. well i used coldish water instead of warm water. They have been there for 18 hours. I have 6 in there and out of the 6, 5 look to be breaking open like a clam would. What should i do? heat them up some how? or i should be ok?

 

[Retired One]

they are germinating...just give them a little time.

 

[HazeSeeker]

Dont wory ... be happy its starting , and im in!

Good luck

 

[pan4gold49]

Don't worry to much luxx you should see the tap roots soon.

Pan4

 

[DrTentgrow]

Good luck with your grow luxx be nice to see some pictures.
Welcome

 

[luxx]

yes, sure enough 6 out of 6 seed with nice sprouts in the last few hours (hours 24-39) so i decided to plant. I found some used planters to oddly with 6 sections 1x1 inch, 3 inch depth. Cleaned them with cold tap water, then room temp water. Sunk the seeds in with tweezers about 1/4 inch from surface. Placed my temporary HID light (one of those tall standing 7 foot lamps where the bulb faces upward. Unscrewed the top part and let it hang from a zip tie on the cord.(also the bulb im using i don't think is very good although im waiting for 2 sets of 4 foot fluorescents. Its a fluorescent bulb that screws in, it says its 18watts. will it work?))

while looking around my possible grow areas i find that my hot water tank (which is in the closet of one of my bedrooms), has a drain tray and a drainage system that drains through the wall into the next apt. Wondering if i can use that to my advantage, like run a drainage pan to that pan or something.

im sorry about all the long descriptions, stupid camera used to work, ill most likely go to walmart and get another cam. (any suggestions on a new cam thats good yet affordable let me know.)

 

[pan4gold49]

Sound good so far Luxx.
Get a camera that has at least 4x zoom and 5mp or more.

Pan4

 

[Dain Bramage]

stay away from all purpose fert's like miracle grow.Find a ferterlizer that is more geared to what your growing .I use advanced nutriens but thay are over priced to some pepole.You want to feed your plant diffrently when thay are veging as aposed to when thay are flowering.For exampel i have vegatative mix made with kelp(love that stuff,seeweed too)and it is 0.30n-0.25p-0.15k.A flowering mix i used was 2n-4.5p-3k(i think)seedling's when planted should not be feed nothing but water for the first two or three weeks and at 1/4 strenght.Make sure you keep notes on when and what you feed your plants.Try to find out the ph of your house water,this can efect your plant's ability to feed.Let all tap water stand for two days to off gas the clorine if it has any.

 

[luxx]

thats what i figured(about the nutes) im going to try a few places that have gardening supplys to find the right stuff. as for ph, i just relized that my water is drinkable, but not very tasty. It also has a feint smell of metal. I was going to use bottled water, but i read that it doesnt contain the minerals that tap water does. so i dont know. i need to get a ph tester.

(update, still broke, no new camera yet. my 6 out of 6, 5 are breaking the surface, but it was weird, i didnt notice the seedling untill after i gave them a little water. its amazing. its like im playing god - with plants!)

im going to the club now, smoking on a weed called Dr. Gonzo or Gonzo, its ok i rate it 8-10 looks and 8-10 high (must be a hybrid, got a body high and a head high at the same time.)

 

[luxx]

so i spent some money on my system today, i got the 5 pack of 23 watt cfls. Replaced my old single 13 watter with a splitter and 2 23w and added 2 extra 23w on another fixture. i also added 24 more sprouts (minus males and burn-out mistakes, i want to have 4 nice females.)

some of the sprouted seeds were in the paper towel too long and the seed casing fell off. I planted anyway to do a learning experiment with the situation. So far so good.

I read soo much material regarding nutes, when i goto the store, i see all these products and it makes me wish my memory was better. So for vegging, what is something i can get at say a Ace hardware, or a K-mart, walmart type thing, That will help with my high ph of my tap water.(or should i change soils. Right now im using a potting soil that has no nutes in it.) When the plants roots mature and the height of the plant is one foot or greater, i am going to have a good mix, 1 part worm castings, 1 part compost, 1 part topsoil, 2 parts vermiculite, 2 parts perlite, 3 parts Styrofoam.

having a problem measuring a the amount of water im using. Im afraid im not using enough, but at the same time, i might be using too much. I dont know, i will up the amounts of water gradually.

 

[Dain Bramage]

what size contiers are you useing .I use one gallon of water for two to three gallon pots when my plants are in full bloom drawing up lots of water and putting on weightIn the begining i will give them about a 1/4 of that.I know there is some rule about how much run off you should have but cant it rember right now.Love your soil mix but top soil ? Could you not get some cheap potting soil insted?Let your tap water sit for a day or two to off gas any chlorine and the ph will come down some i think.As far as what you will find at those store's i don't know?