Newbie Grower

[bentofox]

Hello there fellow growers. Im here to ask all of you for advice on growing indoor cannabis. I've been doing alot of research and trying to fit all the pieces together, but there are just a few holes I'd like to cover before I do start growing for the very first time.

Im planning on getting a 24 x 24 x 48 grow tent as well as using LED lights.
For my first grow, i would be experimenting on Northern Lights, since I've heard theyre the easiest to grow for beginners.

For my first time im planning on growing 2-4 plants tops.

I have a slight budget and would like to hear from you guys what you would recommend when it comes to soil and lights, as well as all the advice you can give me for my first grow.

 

[bentofox]

I am not trying to grow them tall, but as much yield as i can.

 

[newbiegrwer]

Find a good led with dual switches so you can get a good light spectrum for the plant. I just bought a nova n300s led on amazon for a very reasonable price as well as a 48x48x78 tent. Led lights need to be kept between 18 and 24 inches from the plant so a 48 inch tall tent leaves little plant space once you factor in the pots they will be in. Make sure to do some research on training methods to keep your plants as short as you can. Fluxing may be the way to go there but it is a very difficult and long process compared to the other methods especially for a beginner. You will want a quality soil for sure, not one that has fertilizer already in it. Try to find promix or fox farm. For nutrients I would definitely go with fox farms. You'll learn pretty quickly that this isn't cheap or easy. It will take a lot of investment in both time and money. But it's worth it. Come back here with any questions you have leading up to your grow and make sure you start a journal of your grow and put a link here so we can check in on it.

 

[bentofox]

Oh yes, i know for a fact that doing this will require alot of time and money. But for my first time, i just want to get the hang of it. Im not trying to perfect it yet.. like any beginner i know there will be alot of trial and error. I just dont want to end up getting something that wont work completely. But thank you so much for your information

 

[AngryBird]

It is a bit tricky to find what medium is best for you. Soil is most probably the easiest to find for you?

if you choose soil, you need to get some perlite or other to fluff up the soil (roots need their oxygen) and it helps us to not kill or babies when over watering,,(which we mostly all tend to do in the beginning)
I have this chart, and in my case,I don"t use coco, I use soil with compost. It shows you a good idea of what needs to go in pot.

And of course, more drain holes.

 

[bentofox]

What would you suggest when i comes to buying led lights for about >4 pots

 

[newbiegrwer]

What would you suggest when i comes to buying led lights for about >4 pots

You will want about 4 sq ft (2 ft x 2ft) per plant if you want to grow decent size ones and about 2 sq ft (18 in x18 in) for small ones. That means 4 plants of a decent size will slap fill up a 4 ft by 4 ft tent. You want to get enough light to effectively fill that space. Do some research on whatever brand you are looking at and look for the coverage area at 24 in and the par value at that height. Par and spectrum are the only effective ways to measure led lights power. Watts and lumens mean nothing when it comes to leds. There are expensive brands and cheap ones. You have platinum and kind and black dog and others at the top of the price range mars hydro in the middle and then at the cheaper range there's a lot but be careful. I found that 300w nova n300s for about 130 and it may not be the most powerful but it does have a good spectrum and coverage and has a 5 yr warranty and it's us made. I'm going to be using it for seedlings and veg as well as seed breeding away from my bigger grows so it will work perfect for me. Do what makes you comfortable though. But if money is no object I would pick a platinum or one of the big mars hydros.

 

[Graumbr]

Hi bro! I have few recommendations for you:
1 - Do not use coco for the first grow - it needs to be constantly fertilize. You better try peat mixture - you can buy it at the garden shop (by the way - the organic nutrients you can buy there either).
2 - Buy organic nutrients of 2 kinds: for growth (with N domination) and for bloom (with P and K domination).
Start to fertilize it after 3 weeks of growth - before that the soil contains enough nutrients for the plant.
P.S. Sorry for my lame english, i'm from Ukraine.

 

[AngryBird]

+++++++++++++++++++

Hi bro! I have few recommendations for you:
1 - Do not use coco for the first grow - it needs to be constantly fertilize. You better try peat mixture - you can buy it at the garden shop (by the way - the organic nutrients you can buy there either).
2 - Buy organic nutrients of 2 kinds: for growth (with N domination) and for bloom (with P and K domination).
Start to fertilize it after 3 weeks of growth - before that the soil contains enough nutrients for the plant.
P.S. Sorry for my lame english, i'm from Ukraine.

Hi to no need to apologize for bad English weclome