Nutes, Soil, and Ventilation

[RemyDuron]

Hey, I'm gearing up to start making a cab and starting a microgrow, but there are a few concerns I have that I haven't been able to really find an answer to.

Nutes: Well, first of all, is it safe to order nutes online? Will it get me on any kind of a list? Should I have them sent to a PO Box? There's just no place around here that sells anything like the nutes I read about using, and the nearest hydro shop that could have something useful is a few hours away.

If I can order nutes online, what should I get if I'm budget conscious? My first grow will be bag seed, so I don't want to use any super expensive nutes on them.

Soil: The selection of soil around here is about as dismal as the selection of nutes. There's three varieties of Miracle Gro potting soil (regular, moisture control, and organic), some Expert potting soil (which seems to have just as much nutes as the regular Miracle Gro, and I found some generic looking brand (Earthpower or something like that) at Wal Mart that didn't seem to have any nutes at all. There's also top soil of these brands available. Should I go with one of these or just bit the bullet and order some Fox Farms?

Also, I've seen several people advise mixing the soil with various things before using it. If I am using nutes, what should I look into mixing in? I don't have a lot of space for dirty work, and no private area outside, so I'd like to avoid mixing a whole lot if possible.

Ventilation: How often should the air in my cab (which is <9 cubic feet) be replaced? And how large should my passive intake openings be compared to my outake fans?

Thank you for your help. Sorry if this is a lot of questions for one thread, I wasn't sure if it would be better to break it up or keep it in one. Seems like this takes up less room.

 

[dev0n]

Soil additives and gardening products are a massive industry, a lot of which is conducted via remote order. You probably have little to worry about ordering these kinds of products shipped. You definitely want to check into what's available in the garden areas of home improvement and department stores, not to mention specialty gardening retailers in your area before you resign yourself to the expenses involved with shipping.

What you mix in with your soil will depend on whether you're starting from seed straight into this soil mix, as well as what's available in your area. Something harmless and safe like organic compost is easy to find and great to start seeds in, as well as Miracle Gro seed starter mix on the cheap side and Fox Farm Light Warrior on the pricey side. Peat pellets also work okay if you have no alternatives. For veg/flower: good compost, perlite, vermiculite, earthworm castings, bone meal, blood meal, etc are all very common soil additives available at just about any gardening store.

For nutes: well if you ask me I'd say use compost, EWC and some molasses and feed your ladies a good compost tea and let the microherd take care of the nutes (check the sticky threads in the Organic Soil forums for instructions on making an ACT setup and different recipes for teas), but there are a ton of products out there that are designed to supply the soil with what the microbes would normally do. Fox Farm's Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Tiger Bloom come to mind as decently priced (in my town) plant foods. There are many that are cheaper, though, just look around.

Replace the air in your cab completely at least every 1-2 hours. Considering the volume it won't take much either. There are a ton of threads on air circulation and exchange mathematics in the Growroom Designs & Equipment forum.

Good luck!

 

[B. Friendly]

no worries about safety or security with online ordering, sure use a PO box.

if you're on a budget here's what I would go with:
Promix HP soil, zero amendments
CIL Plant Starter 5-15-5, only for babies or first week
Dyna-Gro Grow, cheap and super concentrated ie less salt build up in soil
Dyna-Gro Bloom, same
Dyna-Gro Pro-Tekt, a must this contains silica and is greatly needed by plants
Liquinox B1, cheapest on market and works great, ie stress remover

if you can afford them
General Hydroponics: Rare Earth, Floralicious Plus, FloraNectar, Subculture M & B, KoolBloom

Here's my nuts schedule, I dropped all listed amounts in half since there is so many