Need help setting up room SO CONFUSED

labradoodle

labradoodle

New Member
Hello everyone! first time grower here and I really want to do it right... BUT i know I am going to make some mistakes, maybe I have already.

I really need help setting up my room:

I have a 7.5' x 9' x 6.5' high space in my basement that I am splitting into 2 rooms.

I am going to have a 7.5'x5' flowering room and a 7.5'x4.5' vegging/mother room.

The rooms are made, they are sealed, i have ventilation and heating taken care of for the up coming winter.

The equipment i have 3'x3' flood table that is already setup for ebb and flow. I have a pump, air pump, 1000w lumitek ballast and a high pressure sodium light. I also have 2- 4' shop lights that take 2 t-12 lights each (i bought the 6500k tubes from home depot because someone said they would do for germination and seedling.. maybe vegging?)
i have the bigger 3.5 rockwool cubes as well that i will move them to when big enough. I have regular planter trays, heat pad, thermometers, timers etc.

I germinated 5 feminized Northern light seeds and 10 regular hindu kush seeds from a seed bank... I pretreated the rockwool cubes for 20 minutes with pH adjusted distilled water and 10ml of miracle grow seedling/germinating/cutting solution (4-12-4). After the seeds had a root of a quarter inch or so i put them in the cubes and placed them under one of the shop lights w 2 flourescents in a humidity tent over tray.

THIS IS WHERE I AM AT NOW! waiting for them to sprout.

How should i setup the veg room and flower room with the space and equipment i have? The ebb and flow table sits 2.5' off the ground meaning i only have about 3 feet until they would hit the light/ceiling above.

I want to raise the seedlings and clone them for sex and get AT LEAST one nice mother from the northern lights and one nice mother from the kush then start cloning and flowering.

i am really confused on how to go about this now... and what else i need to make it happen... I don't have anyone to run this buy and feel like a heatscore running back and forth to the hydro store!
i have been reading like crazy and searching threads TRUST ME! but i need some specific guidance from here please.

when i know which mothers i want ? how will i store them? how best to use the 3x3 ebb table ? veg room or flower room ? .... suggestions, i keep reading and reading and keep getting new info and changing what i want to do everyday.. i just dont know anymore!!!
 
Well here's what I would do if this were my grow. I personally feel like your flowering room can always be bigger than the veg room. Since you have height restrictions you need shit to stay low and bushy. Fill the 3x3 tub with medium of choice. I like hydroton great for flood and drain. I would put up to 10 cuts in a tub that size. I also like soil for moms easy to keep moist and happy for extended amounts of time. Veg your babies about 8-10 inches under those shop lights. Then they need a bigger light. I like rockwool for clones then you can just put the cubes right in the bed(tub). Use at least a 20 gal res for that tub. If you have the lumateck switchable ballast buy and
MH bulb and put the clones in the bed and let them get buff under the 1000 watt MH, then when they fill out your space flip the cycle and put the HPS bulb back in. Ive vegged under the hps if needed, but the MH seems to get them bushy. Make a scrog that covers the area and prune the plants into your scrog. Goal is to keep it low and bushy. Its gonna take a long ass with the seeds. If you can afford it buy some cuts from a shop. 150 bucks in cuts could save you 8 weeks. Well hope this helps.
 
Great reply man, thank you very much.

I will use your suggestions so far. My question is when i move the 8-10 inch veg plants to the tub and put them under the MH light should i keep the light cycle 18 hours until they are bushy? Then when i put in the HP sodium light, switch the light cycle to 12 hours?
If you could clarify that, that would be awesome.

What kind of light will the mothers need? i am planning to have 2-3, 5 gallon buckets with soil OR coco...?

since the table only takes up 3x3 ... would you suggest doing some other cutting in some soil and also putting them in the flowering room so i have more options?
 
Yeah use the MH light at 18+ hours for veg then cut to 12 hours when ready and put HPS bulb in. Moms need a good light I recommend a 250 or 400watt MH. I like soil for moms. And yes max out that grow area add more potted plants if you cant get the bed to fill out enough, but if you tie and bend the 10 in the 3x3 tub you could easily fill the 5x5 room. Over crowding can be a problem too. In the flower room I like hydro or soiless mediums. Bugs love dirt I find them always in potted soil. Always use a preventative, neem or some kind of pest control. Bugs suck!
 
P1050164-1.jpg

3x3 flood table that I have. I think it is way too high off the ground, there is only 4 feet until the ceiling from the top of the table... I don't think that is enough space. I am going to try to find a shallow yet big reservoir (15 gallons?? someone suggested that) then I can cut the feet down.
P1050165.jpg

Propagation setup, dome on heat pad
P1050166.jpg

Do my levels look ok? temp is steady at 77-82F and humidity is 55% (humidity does bounce all over the place? maybe meter is crap?)
P1050167.jpg

Feminized Nothern Lights have all sprouted at same rate
P1050168.jpg

Regular Hindu Kush seeds (not feminized) about 4 of the 8 have sprouted. Interesting that the feminized seeds are having a faster started, I germinated them all at the same time. It has been exactly 1 week since planting seeds.

My plan is to have one good Northern lights mother and one good Kush mother. Everyone so far has suggested to put mothers in soil, what about deep water culture??

The other 4 feminized northern lights maybe i will just flower and bud when they are ready ?

i might be getting 2-3 clones this week. So i could try to veg the 4 notherns and the clones and put the 6-7 or so on the flood table for the first cycle ? I dont know need some ideas. Thanks
 
I wish someone told me that before i started using rockwool. I was planning on putting the 1inch cube into the 3 inch cube and going from there.

Is it possible to put the rockwool cube into a dirt, coco medium? or do i take it out of the rockwool ?

Can I use the 1000w HPS for veg when they get bigger? or save it for flowering?

When should i take the dome off and move the lights right up close to the plants?

Also, i have some root stimulator and veg. stage plant food, when should i introduce these?

I'd like to keep this rolling, so any help would be appreciated!
 
Castaway, trust me when I visit the forum I am reading other peoples joirnals and articles. I just like to see ppls opinion woth regards to my setup. This is a part of my research and I am using the thread to chronicle the chronic.
I know on forums can be annoying when ppl constantly as questions so I apologize for that.
There is lots of conflicting info on growing too so I'm just trying to clarify things for myself.
Obviously if noone helps me out, I'm gonna try to figure it out. Ill keep posting and doing what I learn.
 
labradoodle said:
Castaway, trust me when I visit the forum I am reading other peoples joirnals and articles. I just like to see ppls opinion woth regards to my setup. This is a part of my research and I am using the thread to chronicle the chronic.
I know on forums can be annoying when ppl constantly as questions so I apologize for that.
There is lots of conflicting info on growing too so I'm just trying to clarify things for myself.
Obviously if noone helps me out, I'm gonna try to figure it out. Ill keep posting and doing what I learn.
Click to expand...

Hey Lab, don't sweat it. Here is a link for you, it has tons of info How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know :peace:
 
DO NOT TRY to remove your plants from the rockwool cubes thats bad. Put them in soil or get them in the medium and get your hydro on.


I want to believe you are doing the research you say you are. However there are some very fundamental things you dont seem to have a grasp of. These are the types of things that if you were doing the correct reading shouldn't even come up as questions.


I applaud your wanting to do it right. You seem to be very dedicated. Can I suggest you buy a book? If you decide to hydro having a reference book is so nice. For troubleshooting, pests, diagnosing symptoms such as copper leaf, black leaf, yellow leaf leaf droop and so on. Good books may also provide you with daily check lists which will be of vital importance to a first time hydro grower. As hydro can be very unforgiving and can go south fast. You can even check google books... I believe they have marijuana horticulture books for free. I also check the websites and forums for new and up to date growing tips but you are doing that.

Good luck, don't get discouraged if you run into problems.

On a personal side note: In the basement you described if I was a first time grower. I would look in to a Dutch Sea of Green growing technique in soil. It would be perfect considering your height limitations.
 
Hope you don't mind me chiming in here. I have to agree with everyone that you should keep reading and researching. That being said the rockwool cubes you have them started in will be their home for life, at least their life. When you replant for the first time you will just plant them and the rockwool cube you have them started in.

They will stay under the dome until you start to see roots coming out the sides or bottom. Don"t just take them from underneath the dome, you want to make sure you ween them from the it. Meaning taking the dome off for half hour or so three or four days ahead of transplanting, the next day leave the dome off a little longer, etc... they will have a better chance of adjusting to their new environment. You can have the lights right on top of the dome at this time.

Since this is your first grow I would suggest you use soil as this is more forgiving, you will have enough to think about. You can eliminate the table and just put the tray on the floor. There's something to be said about hand watering,

If you decide to use soil you should not need to feed them for a couple of weeks or so after you transplant them. By then, you will know what to do because you will have read the book :)

Good Luck
 
Lab, those are seedlings and don't need nor want to be coddled. Get them out from that dome, and run your best light for them. Florescents are fine for cuttings and to maintain moms, but those babies are equipped to handle moving air and strong light. They may grow spindly and slow where you have them.
I'll get back to you, but right now it's late, I'm stoned, and will fall down soon.
Read what you can of my journal, and I'll help de-mystify conflicts in style ;)
 
Propa Gator said:
Lab, those are seedlings and don't need nor want to be coddled. Get them out from that dome, and run your best light for them. Florescents are fine for cuttings and to maintain moms, but those babies are equipped to handle moving air and strong light. They may grow spindly and slow where you have them.
I'll get back to you, but right now it's late, I'm stoned, and will fall down soon.
Read what you can of my journal, and I'll help de-mystify conflicts in style ;)
Click to expand...

Friggin Propagator you nailed everything on the head.

I just made about a $100 error, in my excitement and rush to get this whole project going i overlooked a bunch of stuff that you guys have pointed out for me.

The seedlings are all fucked now, they stopped growing, they stretched, stems got super weak, fell over, stems rotted lol... horrible horrible chain of events.

I still have 7 kush seeds left. I am not giving up and going to try to learn from my mistake. I went out and bought some seed starting soil (0-0.01-0) which is supposed to be pH balanced perfectly for seedlings.
I will be using this soil mixed with about 40-50% perlite to help with draining in a hempy cup (plastic party cup with drain holes in the bottom). The seeds are in papertowel and the tap roots are coming out, i will be putting them in the soil tommorrow and will leave them in the dark until they sprout.

3 mistakes i made were using rockwool and not properly preparing them, using nutes right away thinking i was going to have an advantage and over watering.

This time NO rockwool, using soil and no nutes until week 3 or so.

I wont be using the dome .... and the lights are the next issue. all i have is those florescents and a 1000w lumatek ballast with a HPS light right now.
Should i use the HPS or go get a MH ? should i use the 1000w or get a whole new one ?
Man, what a waste of 2 weeks but definitely some valuable lessons learned .... gonna keep it simple this time.. Thanks for all the input peoples, i wont be giving up! but right now back to square one...I really appreciate all the input everyone, thanks.
 
My plan is to eventually transplant them to 5 gallon buckets with quality soil mix and put the buckets on the ground to maximize my 6.5 height that i have. Hopefully this is a more noob friendly approach, let me know what all you guys think.. i am going for idiot proof this time haha
 
Lab, I'm sorry for your loss; your cost for education.
I recall revising my advice, to delete further warning about fungus in damp places. I didn't want to overwhelm you :)
I can advise you to grow using my methods. I know they work, and on budget.
Coco coir is wonderful. Near aero rates of grow, super forgiving, and the lowest cost media for growing that I know. I use it straight, no filler. I use it cradle to grave: seeds, clones, veg and bloom. Moms too.
My largest grow container is about 2.5 liters, and my moms are in 3.5" sq pots
You can't drown plants in coir unless you block the drainage, and air reaches roots very well. Perfect grow medium: the very best available for the very least money. These are facts as I know it, and you will likely not hear this from the grow store guy. Get a 5kg block of coir at that store. It will hydrate out to 70 liters. My last block cost me less than $12 ;)
You don't need more lights, yet. That big HPS will do you good for a straight through grow, and you have florescents for moms and cuttings.
Whatever dirt you have your seedlings in will transplant into coir just fine. Just let them grow enough to hold a root ball, and you're good to go in coco. I never spray water on my cuttings or plants; I fear fungus. (and spider mites)

Having said all that, if you have all your hydroton, pumps, reservoirs, big deep trays ect, fugedaboutit. Ebb & Flo are a reliable couple to know.
What you really need is at least one successful grow. When you are smoking your own, you will know.
 
social smoker said:
sounds like a plan veg em a couple wks under the flos then use the 1000w
Click to expand...
That's not my advice, exactly. I say let them sprout up into 1000w HPS light.
CMH or MH or T5HO 4200k or fancy high$ LEDs would veg more efficiently, but his big yellow light is more better than T12s to give seedlings a good, strong start. Later is for later with the refinements.
 
Propa Gator said:
That's not my advice, exactly. I say let them sprout up into 1000w HPS light.
CMH or MH or T5HO 4200k or fancy high$ LEDs would veg more efficiently, but his big yellow light is more better than T12s to give seedlings a good, strong start. Later is for later with the refinements.
Click to expand...

didnt say it was your advice bro i would start them with the flos :roorrip:
 

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