Oldnoob's First Grow: Starting From Scratch!

oldnoob

Well-Known Member
I'm starting this journal with the hope that the sage advice I've seen freely offered, will enable me to get my grow out of the ground and all the way to a successful conclusion.

I'm a senior on a small fixed income now, so I don't have the budget that a lot of the other growers seem to enjoy. This is going to be a bare bones operation - initially at least.

So.... on with the show

Over the last few months, I have scrounged enough material to build a small grow room. Its approximately 4'w x 8'L x 8'h. The floor, walls and ceiling are all R20 insulated. My plan is to get this going as a perpetual eventually but for now, if I manage to get a plant to harvest, I'll be pround enough!

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Looks like you are well on your way to having a fantastic setup! A decent size space also. Have you thought about intake and exhaust? If you just have the one light in there, you should be able to hold good temps without an exhaust...for now anyways. Once they start having a smell to them you'll want one. But a fresh air intake is a must. Even if you leave the door open and have air circulation you'll be ok.

What kind of strains were you looking into trying out?

Welcome to :420:. You'll love it here...trust me. :thumb:
 
Wow - thats quick! You people are amazing.
Welcome Dan and thanks already Nismo.

I have got a couple holes provided for ventilation - one low in the wall and one in the ceiling. Both plugged with foam for now as I'm trying to establish environmental parameters. Heat is NOT going to be a problem. Lack thereof is more of an issue - I'm at Lat 53 - forecast is for -20C in a few days so with luck……

I also have an old 400W MH (magnetic ballast!) that was only used for the first half of a grow I tried many years ago that got shut down. Never was able to bring myself to get rid of the light. Would it still be worth using? Also picked up a Mars Hydro 400 some time back but …. you know. I've wanted to grow for some time but finally have the time now that I'm no longer working for a living, although that has other drawbacks. (Think I mentioned finances already)

I acquired some BC Big Bud seeds - stayed in country for seeds - nervous about international shipments - to start with. Nothing too fancy as I wanted to get operational before getting too ambitious.

Smell shouldn't be too much of a problem. I am on a farm and the room is in an outbuilding so I'm not going to worry about that until I have to. Could probably just live with it for at least this first run through. I want to work out the bugs and get a smooth system going eventually. Fresh air in was going to be one of my questions - only later.

First i was wondering about media. I have some greenhouse supplies; Promix and Perlite. Bought a bag of SeaSoil and mixed them together in equal parts. Added a good handful of bonemeal and that is what I've got this in at the moment.
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Do you think this will be sufficient?
 
Hi ON! Welcome to the mag. Lots of great people on here who will give good advice. your soil mix sounds good. You probably already know but one of the biggest mistakes newbies make is over watering. Also you don't want to give them nutes for at least 3 weeks. I look forward to seeing your progress and will help if/when I can.

:passitleft:
 
Over the last few months, I have scrounged enough material to build a small grow room. Its approximately 4'w x 8'L x 8'h. The floor, walls and ceiling are all R20 insulated. My plan is to get this going as a perpetual eventually but for now, if I manage to get a plant to harvest, I'll be proud enough.
8 x 4 feet is a good sized space, but the paint on the panels looks to be water-based and under growing conditions too much moisture can be lost by absorption through unsealed wood panels!

Oil-based paint can't be used as sealant because of harmful solvent vapours...
 
Boy, you folks really throw out the welcome mat!

Welcome ween, thanks for the 'down on dirt. I'll have to get into nutes in a bit - they are a bit pricy.

Glad to have you watching dr.h, seems there's several of us Canucks here…

Appreciate the critique Lance. I used drywall (gypsum board) and there's a poly vapour barrier behind it. (Then insulation, etc) Just flat white paint to brighten it up. I know I'm going to have to work on ventilation down the road in part to control humidity but will the walls be OK as built?

Pull up a stool mouser - glad to have your company.

Hi islandgrow. I'm sure my mistakes will teach us all a couple things. (to avoid)

Welcome aboard ken. Lots more space in the watch room than there is in the grow room.

Again, thanks to all. this type of response is what makes this such a great place

:Namaste:
 
Best site on the interweb..IMHO...couple things I might suggest...if Ya haven't taped your joints...maybe a bead of Mono to seal them to prevent moisture from getting behind the drywall and causing Ya' grief...despite general consensus...Miracle Gro works when used in moderation...I went with Fox Farm nutes for this years grow...they were a not bad deal in the spring on the ZON.ca...however, they have doubled in price now...currently, General Hydroponics and Humbolt are more budget friendly(I'm a cheap SOB!...lolool)...I'm on a break right now till spring and leaning towards a more organic approach...we'll see...by all means utilze your MH...more light and some heat...Cheerz...h00k...:hookah:
 
Nice setup so far! How many plants are you trying to grow at once? And are you just gonna let them grow and see what happens or low stress training, Scrog, sog, etc. Just curious how other beginners such as my self are doing it. I'm using my 400w mh light and it helps keep my temps up especially when it drops below freezing outside and my tent is setup in the garage.


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Hey dr.h, gotta agree - great site! I'll see about caulking but with the wallboard not surface sealed, I don't know if it will make a lot of difference. By grief, do you mean mould?
If we're already talking nutes….. I have some commercial fertilizer used in greenhouse operation. Two part, one part buffered for pH maintenance and the second part focused on Cal/Mag. I was hoping to be able to just use this as the cost is right. Do you think this would work? Also got a Hanna TDS meter with the greenhouse supplies but the probe has dried out and a new one is C$150 which I simply do not have.
Thats what I was thinking about the light too. Guess I'll work on getting that rigged up too.
Is it OK to start seedlings under a MH or is it too much for the little ones?
Thanks again for your council doc.

Hi SG, Thanks for visiting

I started three beans, one's already up and starting to stand straight. just looked at the others and the second one is crawling out of the dirt. Numero tres is still slumbering. (I hope)
Wanted to get at least one lady out of this and wasn't too confident in my sprouting methodology so i used the numbers approach - better too many than none at all!
I want to try the training techniques I've been reading about so probably a bit of topping and LST.
Hope your tent stays warm - thats why i went to an insulated shed. Winter gets dam cold here at times.

Thanks again and good growing
 
You may want to use a CFL for your seedlings. You should put a link to your journal which will draw more traffic when you visit others journals they'll see the link. Something to consider for future grows is doc buds high Brix blend aka the kit or DBHBB. It's an organic option that grows the highest quality produce, check out journals by Duggan, Cannatard, Shiigity flip, sweet sue, you've already seen canna and Nis, of course doc bud himself and a bunch of others. You'll see a bunch of journals with lots of great results, even mine (I'm also a noob.) the kit is very reasonably priced.
 
Yeah noob, was thinking about any moisture getting to the back of the drywall thru the joints...mold just luvs that chit!...your soil mix and stuff you have on hand may be fine... just did a quick read up on sea soil...seems like it has it all...not sure about the MH with seedlings...was thinking when they got a little bigger...personally, I would just start with some CFL's or Flouro's...you can get them so close and build some nice plant structure before putting them under the big guns...cheerz...h00k...:hookah:
 
thanks ween, got your pm but won't work - I'm too far north
tried adding a signature link but it doesn't look right - any guide for that on site?
Working on the journals - lots to read. Some of these set ups truely are:jaw dropper:

Hi dr.h, thanks for your help
You got me thinking about moisture now - going to have to revisit a couple things in the shed.....

Haven't got a cfl or floro option. Going to try the HID for a bit, can always go back to the LED if they start to stretch. About 16-18" above right now. I'll check em in the morning

This is where I am now. Two out of three sprouted so far.
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Hey noob...given the time of year and your latitude...humidity might not be so much a problem...maybe maintaining humidity could be an issue...in my former working life, I saw so much money spent on mold remediation...made me a tad anal about providing a safe environment...whether it be human or agricultural...at the end of the day...air circulation is paramount...cheerz...h00k...:hookah:...
 
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