New to growing, and I have some questions.

[Who?]

First of all, let me say that this is my first post, but I've been lurking both icmag and gardenscure for about 6-8 months on and off, toying with the idea of actually doing this. I'm a few months away from starting and I have some questions, if any of you guys can help me, I'd really appreciate it.

Let me start off with telling you guys what I have planned. I'm going to be buying a Mill's Pride C22 cabinet from Home Depot for $109. And a 400W HPS with used ballast from InsideSun.com for $100. I plan on going either soil or organic soil, haven't really decided which yet.

I know this question is more suited for the Mill's Pride Club post but I'll ask both here and I'll post a reply in there. Is it possible to use the bottom for flower, and the top for vegative? Is it enough space up their for about 4 moms and some clones? I'd be placing a barrier to partition the top by 1/4 and 3/4. The first 1/4 would be for the carbon scrubber and the inline/centrifigul fan, and the 3/4 side would be for the moms/clones. Possible? Is the vertical seprator in the C22 removable or is it needed for structual reasons? I plan on placing a piece of plywood on the back for added support.

This second question is more for the soil and organic soil guys. What are the pro's and con's to both? I read some posts in the orgo section saying that the taste is much better with the organic, but.. they didn't really talk about any drawbacks. There has to be some or else everyone would go organic.

With the above conditions, what strain do you think I should choose. Right now I have some Power Plant, NL#5 and WW clones waiting for me. However, I want one more. I'm going to have four flowering plants at a time. Right now I'm toying with the following: Dr. Atomic's Blueberry x Northern Lights, DNA's L.A. Confidential, T.H. Seed's Chocolate Chunk and BC Buds Sweet Toothe. If any of you guys have any feedback on any of these strains, PLEASE let me know. My main concerns are if they are mold resistant, if they are feasible for a new grower, size of yield and flower time.

Sorry for all the questions, I don't mean to bother anyone but.. I've been lurking these forums for quite sometime and some of these areas haven't really been touched up on, at least not what I've read. I'm really blabby right now, got my hands on some good stuff.

 

[Guest]

Check out the micro grow forum, for your cabinet question.

As for the method you use.
I grow orgo soil. But I have grown just about every way and it depends on you.
Organically grown herb is obviously better, but it to some people is alot more of a hassle. That part is up to you. The difference to me is, with orgo you spend some time mixing and combining and bubbling. Its alittle messey, smelly.
On the other hand you will spend all your time making sure your plants are ok testing and metering and flushing.

I would say go orgo!http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=36542

 

[Guest]

Let me start off with telling you guys what I have planned. I'm going to be buying a Mill's Pride C22 cabinet from Home Depot for $109. And a 400W HPS with used ballast from InsideSun.com for $100. I plan on going either soil or organic soil, haven't really decided which yet.

Sounds good. Go organic if you can, lot better smoke. ALso make sure you got ventalation; 400's need it. Inside sun ballasts are not the greatest looking and most efficiant, but they are not complete crap either. Plus it has warranties and a very nice owner .

I know this question is more suited for the Mill's Pride Club post but I'll ask both here and I'll post a reply in there. Is it possible to use the bottom for flower, and the top for vegative? Is it enough space up their for about 4 moms and some clones? I'd be placing a barrier to partition the top by 1/4 and 3/4. The first 1/4 would be for the carbon scrubber and the inline/centrifigul fan, and the 3/4 side would be for the moms/clones. Possible? Is the vertical seprator in the C22 removable or is it needed for structual reasons? I plan on placing a piece of plywood on the back for added support.

Ouch uh.. I dun do cab, closet only sorry!

This second question is more for the soil and organic soil guys. What are the pro's and con's to both? I read some posts in the orgo section saying that the taste is much better with the organic, but.. they didn't really talk about any drawbacks. There has to be some or else everyone would go organic.

Well, look at it this way. When you go grocery shopping why is it that prganic goods are always so much more expensive? Because they are more quality made, and made better for that reason. You can still be organic even without nutes.

Everyone does not do it from multiple reasons ... some may find the mixes confusing, some don't have access to the products but most of them go for the cheap way... organic is way more expensive IME. But you get the dank, quality bud that tastes fucking so sweet when cured for 30+ days.

I am sure many people will argue what is best but I personally, don't like to fight mother nature... so I let me plants embrace it, getting only what would be found outside. Chems are nasty!!!

With the above conditions, what strain do you think I should choose. Right now I have some Power Plant, NL#5 and WW clones waiting for me. However, I want one more. I'm going to have four flowering plants at a time. Right now I'm toying with the following: Dr. Atomic's Blueberry x Northern Lights, DNA's L.A. Confidential, T.H. Seed's Chocolate Chunk and BC Buds Sweet Toothe. If any of you guys have any feedback on any of these strains, PLEASE let me know. My main concerns are if they are mold resistant, if they are feasible for a new grower, size of yield and flower time.

Any strain really.... although if this is your first grow you need to stick to cheap seeds to make sure you can grow first. A yield is something not to even expect in a first grow. Stay away from Hazes and Sativia dominent strains. Look for a fuck-proof strain. NL is good, skunks are good, white strains, hashberry is good for cabs ...anything hardy.

Hope I have helped.

 

[admiralcornport]

instead of that used referb ballast... go to hidhut.com and check out their 400 hps digital
Brand new same price... just have to get the bulb and socket and reflector. Works perfectly

 

[Jesusbuiltmygro]

I would definitely go organic.

As a new grower organic soil is exactly what I would recommend. The reason you don't see the drawbacks of organics on the forum is that there is none.. haha. The only real drawback I can see if that chemical nutrients are cheaper and have longer shelf lives.

Organics are more fail proof as they are harder to burn. Organic soil contains microbes such as bacteria and fungi that actually helps the plant grow and increases nutrient uptake.

Start with a premixed organic soil like Fox Farms or even Miracle Grow Organic. Don't worry if your nutrient is 100% organic for now. Just focus on getting a solid grow down without major issues. A premixed organic soil coupled with something like Earth Juice or Pure Blend Pro will ensure you have all your nutrients and make your life a lot easier. Whatever you do, do not try to mix your own soil from scratch. Guano is a great additive but harder to find unless you order online or live in CA heh. Fish emulsions are a great nutrient for organic soil grows and highly available.

Dont use too small of containers. You do not want to get your plants rootbound, but as a new grower you will have the tendancy to veg your plant longer than it needs.

As soon as your plants start to develop a significant branching system start learning to clone. Rapid Rooters are a good medium to clone, as are oasis cubes and even rockwool. Soil will also usually work fairly easily. A healthy yield is very much about timing. If your timing forces you to delay blooming it could put you at a higher chance for nutrient deficiency, disease or other problems. So, you really want to spend the least amount of time in veg to ensure you get a good yield. This means getting to cloning ASAP. Once you get clones basically switch to bloom. The key to your first grow is basically getting your clones. Don't even worry about yield until you learn the basics.

Oh plus you can recycle your soil and it only gets better with time. Having to throw out soil every grow was one of the main advantages of hydro. No days the availability of organic fertz is so high that you'll find more organic nutes than chemical in many stores. However a full range nutrient like Earth Juice or Pure Blend Pro will definitely be a good start.

Red wigglers will eat out your soils dead root matter (the rootball left after harvest) and the red wiggler worms leave a nice fertilizer behind called earth worm castings. Organic soil has the great advantage of being the ideal medium for the natural beneficial ecosystem that goes on naturally at your plants root zone. Hydro and chemical growers struggle to form anything in comparrison to the ecosystem that thrives in organic soil.

Subculture is a nice additive especially for those who plan on recycling soil, however most of the beneficial microbes will develop just fine on their own. The only challenge to organic soil is having a big enough container to host the massive growth and NOT OVERWATERING. I suggest using a planter with drainage though some indoor organic growers use drainless contianers. This is a great idea, just not for new growers.

 

[sensirocker]

Right now I'm toying with the following: Dr. Atomic's Blueberry x Northern Lights, DNA's L.A. Confidential, T.H. Seed's Chocolate Chunk and BC Buds Sweet Toothe.

*rubs hands* well well, those are some sick strain options, Who?... once you get some experience growing those will be really nice to have available. I tried some L.A. Confidential in so cal and it was stellar. Hmm but for your first grow, i would go for dr. atomics BBxNL.... it will be hard to fuck that girl up. Other than that, i would recommend some cooling for your cab, because a 400w'er is gonna heat that wooden box up quite a bit. If your going for economics, check the forums for the "Stanley Blower Mod." It works just as well as a Dayton 265cfm blower at 2.5 times the cost.
And also, dont get a used ballast.

Good luck man!

 

[Lucky 7]

for soil you can do no better than Fox Farm Ocean Forest & mix it with Fox Farm Light Warrior Organic mix



These mixes are both light; that might not sound important now, but your aching back will thank you for spending some $$ & going light!! Not to mention the fact these mixes grow fantastic pot!!

Yeah, you'll need a new ballast; don't make problems for yourself

 

[senseless]

these guys ^ covered all the stuff i would say.

i think you can definatly fit a super small veg/clone area on the top of your cabniet. i did a super micro grow my last grow with a 400w hps in under 4 feet of space. check out my third grow in my signature. i also used soil/ soil-less mix and fed the plants with liquid nutreints to get the plants what they needed. i used Pure blend pro nutreints wich are organic based. and i used bat guano late in flowering.

if you want organics go with 100% organic soil and fertilizers like fox farm, bio bizz, ect..
if you want to use chemical fertilizers why use soil? just make a simple ebb and flow table and do hydroponics. you will harvest a little more bud in a shorter amount of time. its way more simple than you would think too. for hydro General hydroponics and Botanicare nutreints are top of the line and i would personally never get anything else. ive grown with them and ive seen and smoked bud from my freinds grows with them so why get anything else? plus they are the most simple to use line of nutreints out there and ph buffer your tap water if its not to hard. check out my first grow where i used hydro with no ph testers, ppm testers, or did 1 reservior change out the whole grow. my second grow is prett cool too, small scale bio buckets system (simplest system ever!) but it failed due to gnats. peace man hope i helped.


senseless

for refrence...

 

[Who?]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I actually wanted to go with a hydro set up, more specifically a DWC Bubbler setup. I am still playing around with the idea of doing this, however, I've been told that hydro setups usually taste worse then organic soil/coco coir. If I were to go hydro, DWC would be the only way, I don't like the ebb and flow tables. I don't know why, I think they scare me

As for the strains, I'm leaning most towards Chocolate Chunk at the moment. I mean, just listen to the name! Makes my mouth water.

senseless, can you tell me about the soil tables?

 

[senseless]

what soil tables? like the one in my 3rd grow?

its just a wood frame using 2x6s and laying plastic over the middle. the only problem with this is that there is no drainage holes so nutrients and bad shit accumulate in the medium and then your ph drops.. unless you do a completely organic grow with absolutely no chemicals where the soil is self sustaining and ph balanced. but thats hard. especially for a novice grower. pots filled with soil or a soil-less mix would be a much better choice.

dwc is in fact a million times harder than ebb and flow.

ebb and flow is probably the simplest hydroponic setup. smple to set up and simple to use. it uses 1 simple pond pump to flood a tray with plants ever other hour depending on plant size and the medium you use, when the pump turns off the water drains back to the reservior. theres no complicated tubing running all over the grow room or anything. just 1 tube from the pump to the tray and 1 tube wich is the overflow from the tray to the reserviour to prevent from flooding your house.

^4inch rockwool block on top of rockwool slabs is a common method i see as well as coco cubes and slabs, or you can just use one 6 or 8 inch block. it all works... if you use coco you need coco specific nutreints though...like canna. i also hear canna coco is the best of the best.

if you really want to do dwc, instead do a bio bucket system. its easyer to set up and way easyer to maintain weekly. plus you never have to change the water wich will save you loads of $$ in nutreints. and its priciples are based on bennifical bacteria that live in and colonize the root zone and growing medium to help protect against and fight off harmfull disease, pathogens and deadly root rot.

chocolate chunk....mmmm...sounds delicious but you never know. people give exotic names to make people appeal to them. try searching for other peoples grow..a name means jack shit..example youd think ak47 was a one hit wonder...but its not.

got any more questions? send me a pm.

senseless.