My Grow Plan, looking for feedback.

[Guest Eikel]

Greetings OzStoners,

 

Well, I've been out of the folks place for about a month now, and now I've got my own house and all I can start of my first grow.

The grow will be for personal comsuption only (well, maybe my brother can have some) so I don't need pounds and pounds of the stuff.

 

I've gone out and picked up 4 x 20-litre pots, I plan to purchase 2 x 400hpw lights and grow 2 lots of 2 in a couple of cupboards.

The reason for growing 2 sets in 2 cupboards instead of consolidating into a room is that I want to grow a male and female together and harvest alot of seeds incase I want to regrow in the future.

 

My plan is as follows:

 

1. Obtain about 4 different strains from Mjoz (If anyone can explain to me how the ordering process works with potopia.tv, please PM me).

2. Seed 10 seeds of one strain at a time.

3. Allow saplings to grow to a height of around 10-20cm outside in 15cm pots.

4. Pick best 4 candidates for growing and keep.

4. Transplant into 50/50 soil perlite mixture and move into grow cupboards indoors.

5. Allow plants to extend to approx 3-4 feet and turn to flowering.

6. Bud plants for reccommended duration of strain.

7. Harvest and enjoy!

 

I've decided not to go Hydro as I don't want the expense (or risk, I've heard Hydro carries higher legal penalties).

I plan on following Pipeman's first grow strategy (minus the alkaline soils and other little mistakes).

 

My questions are numerous and probably beginner stuff so here goes:

 

1. Should I seed/initial-grow indoors instead of outdoors?

I planned on seeding outdoors as I have a good private spot in my garden and I figured it would be less maintenance than starting them in the cupboards.

 

2. In step 3 am I letting them get too big for the potsize? I don't want them to get root-bound.

 

3. When growing or flowering in the cupboard, what ferts should I use? I'm no expert so I'd like easily obtainable products (i.e. from bunnings, home-depot, nurseries etc...).

 

4. Will I be able to identify males from females as early-on as I intend to?

 

5. Where do you get hpw lights and the covers and stuff from? (I did say I was a newbie).

 

6. Out of the 2 female (harvest-quality) plants in the cupboard together, will I be able to expect a decent yield?

 

7. Can anyone think of anything else I've overlooked?

 

 

Thanks for your responses.

 

-- Eikel.

Edited January 30, 2005 by EIkel

[Pickle]

Uh, don't follow Pipeman's grow threads, he was a noob, he didn't listen to anyone and paid the price.

 

His setup is probably alright but i am sure you can find a better grow guide using that setup by someone else who knows what they are doing. If you follow the advice in that thread, make sure you listen to what everyone tried to tell him too.

 

FYI, those links to Pipeman's grows and comments in peoples sigs are meant to show how not to grow.

 

Pipeman, don't take it personal, your advice was about to screw things up for someone. If you have anything to say, try and show this bloke where you made you maistakes.

[everest]

mate good luck . But read some more .

use searles premium , grow indoors - using fluros ..... then hd's . buy 1 strain . (sorry rodwal) ..... clone ya plants to get more of the same . reeeeeeeaaad more .

[sLiM sHiFty]

Hey and welcome to the site,

 

 

Well i'll quote and answer your questions as quick as possible ( im not exsperienced myself so the other memebers can correct me if im wrong )

 

The reason for growing 2 sets in 2 cupboards instead of consolidating into a room is that I want to grow a male and female together and harvest alot of seeds incase I want to regrow in the future.

 

Seeding you plants will affect the yield .. but seeds are a great way to stealth you growing skeems while your not growing, while clones will die off if left un-attended etc. If you are intending to seed your plant you can always collect the pollen from a male (outside) and pollenate you female on the lower branches and not sacrifice yield. I myself would still have a 2 room setup and while one plant is in flowering have one in vegetation and also having lots of seeds is not a very good if you get raided by cops because they consider them as fully grown plants.

 

Transplant into 50/50 soil perlite mixture

 

You could have problems with insects ... iv never grown indoors with soil wtc but iv seen alot of people on this site have problems with insects because of the soil or coca they use.

 

Should I seed/initial-grow indoors instead of outdoors?

 

It really depends on your medium you intend to use, if you are deciding to start off your seedlings indoor with rock wool cubes under the 400 i would say no because of the maintenance ... fluros are the best for seedlings and clones becuase the dont give out intense heat. If you are starting them outdoors the soil has to be at least 15 - 20 degrees celcius for the roots to form ( from what iv read ).

 

Where do you get hpw lights and the covers and stuff from?

 

You can get all the stuff you need from your local hydro shop or nurseries, if you want second-hand stuff look in the trading post or classifieds of your newspaper ... i sometimes look in the herald sun and theres hydro gear going for a cheap price.

 

Out of the 2 female (harvest-quality) plants in the cupboard together, will I be able to expect a decent yield?

 

That really depends on your growing style ... some growers on here tip their plants so the lower branches get better light penetration ( mj leaves absorb something like 85% of the light ) theres lots of growing styles.

 

well iv answered as much as i can ... im sure someone will be able to give you all the info you need.

 

 

~ peace out

[Guest Eikel]

Thanks for the responses guys, I've got the confidence now to actually go ahead and give it a try.

 

Just ordered WonderBerry x Apollo13 and Indoor mix from potopia, I'm hoping these strains aren't too hard to cultivate for a newbie.

 

Serious question though, should I look at going straight to a Hydro setup? Bearing in mind my total gardening experience is: "Dig hole, take plant out of pot, put in hole, fill hole with soil".

 

If I DO go a soil/perlite medium I plan on following only the GOOD parts of Pipeman's grow, I realise the majority of that grow was how NOT to do things.

 

Anyways, thanks for your feedback, will be posting my grow diary as soon as I've got all my gear organized.

 

-- Eikel.

[Pickle]

Have a look at a DWC/ScrOG setup if you want to have a play with hydro, it's one of the easiest hydro setups to make and grow in and has the advantage of only growing one or two plants at a time if you get busted.

 

I would suggest though that you have a look at a few other grow threads and see if you can get your head around another grow setup. Soil is good but if you are going to grow indoors you might want to get something faster and more productive.

[Shivan]

Hiya Eikel, i have grown in soil a couple of time and only had a few successes with MJ mainly due to my lack ok knowladge but i had alot of probs with bugs

Iam now on my first hydro grow and everything has been way smoother. I have found that if you make noob mistakes with ppm or ph you can see the plants react quicker and was easyer to fix my hydro set up and lights cost about $350 from local hydro store it came with pump, airstone, 4 pots hose and attachments, 2 tanks, clay pebbles and some nutes for veg stage. I also needed RW cubes for seeds a heat and grow dome seedling and clone mixture a ph meter and a ppm meter which also got into 300-400 (because i went electronic ppm and ph testers) You could save alot of money but makeing a setup your self there are alot of links on how to do this.ill post a link to my pics of my grow it shows my klozit.

 

http://gallery.klozitking.net/Shivan1

 

Shivan

[pipeman]

Uh, don't follow Pipeman's grow threads, he was a noob, he didn't listen to anyone and paid the price.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

huh? I listened to all the advice mate. If you read that thread basically all I did was thank people for their advice.

 

and what price did I pay? Harvested some good bud and learnt a lot from that first crop. :smoke and I'm using seeds from that grow outside right now

 

Elkel,

 

First of all if you're worried about the harsher laws for hydro, putting them in soil doesn't get you around those laws. Under the law hydro is defined as anything grown inside. If you keep it under 5 plants you're not getting yourself in too deep. In some states setups can be classified as "advanced" which can attract harsher penalties, but a small grow with a simple hand watered or drip fed hydro system shouldn't be too much of a concern.

 

If you are planning on starting this anytime soon its the wrong time of year to be vegging outdoors. the days are getting shorter and your plants will flower pretty early. I reckon a better plan would be to get em humming under lights indoors, take clones and stick em outside to sex, then when you know where your males are at, ditch em and finish the females inside. Or grow the plants to a foot tall, turn down lights to flower, ditch the males and continue with the rest.

 

With seeding if you have a flowering male anywhere around your house its likely you'll seed your females. Also with seeds you are not assured of getting the same quality genetics as the originals. Clones are a better way to go in the short term IMO. If you have a flowering male outside putting a pollen filter on your intake to your growroom is probably a good idea, and don't visit your females without having a change of clothes and shower first if you've been near your males.

 

Soil is slower growing and also more susceptible to pests which doesn't make it ideal for indoor grows. If hydro setups seem daunting, just get a 50/50 perlite and vermiculite mix and hand water daily. no more complicated than soil really. Check your PH, start with 1/4 strength nutes and build up. Hard to go wrong really.

 

get all your shit from a hydro shop if you can. They sell nutes specially designed to grow dope.

 

veg to 3-4 feet? You'll need a big cupaboard to finish those plants. Dependsin on strain they could be 6-7 feet by the time they finish + clearance to light + light height you are looking at a cupboard maybe 9-10foot tall. With a 400 watt cupboard grow its more about spreading your plant out under the light and flowering when 1-2 feet high.

 

And yeah mate stay away from that verrom mix, and the funny part is the only reason I used it is because it was recommended to me by a grower on this site. Maybe if I hadn't listened to that advice I would have had a better grow, hey pickle? If you do go with a potting mix, try and get something with a PH of around 6.5

[everest]

well said pipeman ...... i picked through your grow thread heaps of times mate .