Several Questions...

[BlackFly]

First time gardener - sorry for the newbie questions...

1. Is a GE Fluorescent ( Cool Light) w/ 3350 lumens better than the GE Fluorescent (Plant) w/ 1900 lumens? what should i use to germinate in soil form seed?
2. At what time can you vegetation sex a plant?
3. in a 4 x4 area why 1000w over 2 450/500 HPS/Metal Halide?
4. How much water at all times?
5. what are the avg. times for germination, vegetation, & flowering, to final.
6. how many plants can i get into a 4x4x7 ft. space?

Thanks for your time...

 

[zolar]

1 cool white is a bluer spectrum flouro and will work fine if mixed a warmer spectrum flouro and its probably much cheaper

2 sexing plants is usually easiest after flowering cycle 12/12 light /dark has been going at least 10 days it could take up to 3-4 weeks for differences to show up -- there are lots of pictures on this in this site

 

[zolar]

3 i use a 400 MH/HPS in a space thats 3x4x 61/2 h

4 watering depends on your soil mix and temps and envriomental stuff unique to each grow i use about a pint toa quart in each 5 gallon bucket every day or every other for plants under 2-3 ft tall and more during flower
5 germ upto 3 weeks -- usually severaldays with paper towel method the 3 weeks is direct seeded in soil and thats my opinion for 1 inch seedlings

number of plants depends on plant and pot size and shape
square pots pack denser ie in a 8x10 darkroom tray or cake pan i get 9 4inch square pots in for early stages

i usually have 4- 8 plants in my space 3x4 ft i like lots of room for air flow and use 5 gallon buckets and want enough space to easily rotate move or pick upa pot with out bending and putting my back out

go surf the grow journals and tutorials on this site you'll cut down the number of stupid sounding questions that experienced folk take for granted as basic knowledge

 

[Stix]

First time gardener - sorry for the newbie questions...

1. Is a GE Fluorescent ( Cool Light) w/ 3350 lumens better than the GE Fluorescent (Plant) w/ 1900 lumens? what should i use to germinate in soil form seed?
2. At what time can you vegetation sex a plant?
3. in a 4 x4 area why 1000w over 2 450/500 HPS/Metal Halide?
4. How much water at all times?
5. what are the avg. times for germination, vegetation, & flowering, to final.
6. how many plants can i get into a 4x4x7 ft. space?

Thanks for your time...

1) Cool Light would be a higher K value. Probably around 5000 - 6500K Rating which is good for veg. No idea what plant is. I'm guessing it may be something in the middle. Probably around 4000 K. But the lumens are pretty low. Lumens are important as well. Color of the light and the number of lumens are important. Higher the lumens the better.

2) Can't sex a plant in vegetative stage. Gotta put the plant into flower in order to determine the sex

3) Never seen a 450 or 500 watt HPS or MH light. But, some people like 1 big light as opposed to 2 smaller and some like 2 smaller instead of one bigger. Benefits of 2 smaller lights would be that you get a better light coverage. You have light coming from different angles to penetrate the canopy better. However. You can achieve this with 1 big light by putting it on a light mover.

4) If your talking about nutrients then I can't answer this. It depends on if your growing Soil or Hydro and what kinda nutrients and what stage of growth your in. Pick a growing style then pick your nutrients then follow the feeding chart.

5) germination is usually a few days: Vegetation is whatever you want. On average I would say around 4 weeks: Flowering depends on the strain. Indica is usually around 8 weeks. Sativa around 10 - 12 weeks.

 

[Stix]

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[BlackFly]

1. I have 4 Fluorescents - should i use all cool whie, or the plant ones, or a mix?

2. how long under Fluorescents until moving to the veg room with 2 600w hps?

3. a little sketched about being on the net discussing this.... paranoid/skeptical about using the net to research..... any info on security?

4. what is the safest, most reliable seed company to order from??

Thanks again for all your help

 

[zolar]

i'd suggest mostly cool white 3 to 1 plant the bluer light will keep your seedlings shorter

you need to keep those flouros near less than 6-8 inches away from plant to cut down on stretch from not enough light

any time after you have a couple sets of true leaves 3-5 leaflets type

security check forum security section on proxys
use an old win 98 or 95 sysdtem they don't reveal as much info about you or you can assign info revealed different values

cotse-- church of the swimming elephant privacy info check the site

if youy've posted pics taken with a cellphone or digi that had info entered for warrasnty your personal info is there unless you have removed the tags /info be aware of this

not up on digi photo but i can make my own photo paper for alternative process fine art stuff

 

[BlackFly]

I have 4 rooms - 1. closet under stairs for seedlings/ clones 3x5x3 - 2. veg. room growing area 4x8x8 - 3. flowering room growing area 4x8x8 4. vent/ utility/ dry/ manicure room. --- All concealed in 1 bedroom.
- I want to have a cycle of harvest....
1 - What is the most amount of plants I can get in the 4x8x8 growing areas ? under 2 600w hps's in each room.
2 - Is it best to have a total of 4 600 hps lights? or should I vary with halides or 1000 watts?
3 - im using random seeds now & i really want to invest in quality... any help on the most discreet & inexpensive companies??

Thanks again for all your help..... I've got a lot of time on my hands after being laid off......

 

[paul1791]

If you have lots of time I would take the advice someone gave of doing the research and study yourself. That's what I did. I went through many of the old grow journals. If you do the same , you'll pick up on it. Better to take the time in the beginning.

 

[Stix]

If you have lots of time I would take the advice someone gave of doing the research and study yourself. That's what I did. I went through many of the old grow journals. If you do the same , you'll pick up on it. Better to take the time in the beginning.

It's amazing how much you can learn by reading grow journals. Take a look at completed journals. You have the opportunity to read and watch entire grows unfold right here live or in the past. Problems will arise and solutions will be suggested along the way. Take some time each night and pick a journal and read. You'll be amazed how much you'll learn. You'll get addicted like I did 3 years ago when I came on this site to learn how to grow. It's all here. You just gotta read then ask some questions along the way.

 

[BlackFly]

started a grow journal ...
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Black Fly Beginner - 2009 -----------------------------------------