Pointers 4 the noobie

[Guest Field_of_Light]

I personally find that if you are on a budget soil is not the way to go...its too hard to control the variables and then if you do fuck up..to fix what you have done...

 

Get a bag of perlite...some medium sized pots...up to 350 mm depending on your grow space.....more plants is better tha having one plant you have to grow for 3 months to the correct size for your space...

 

So you can get some 20 litre pots within pots...and make a cheap recirc system....you dont need to buy everything new...cept maybe some grommets for your inlets etc....and as you go get the other things you need to maximise your crops...including the knowldge of your plants...a good grower can turn a shit plant into a winner and a beginner can turn a good plant into a poor yield and smoke.

 

Ozmocote sint the best stuff to use either...plants have differing needs for flowering and growing...you would be better off going to a fertiliser store and buying powdered nutes and make em up your self...they are very cheap and work as well as 60$ nutes but they only cost 20$... and will last you 6 months or more....small systems it will last you about 1.5 years...

 

I think Luke Skywalker has a simple recirc setup for you to immitate...

Edited August 3, 2003 by Field_of_Light

[Guest Urbanhog]

in the mean time check out www.treatingyourself.com FOR FREE SEEDS!!!!!!, thats where i got the WR, AK, M39 and it cost me nothing.

Did you know that the site is for genuine medical users? I don't like the idea of non-medical users getting free seeds from medical cannabis sites.

[Black_one]

Well I don’t like it but iv signed up at centre link for some payments till I get some work ( the c#*ts give you a tree load of forms to fill out )So I can now afford a better grow.

 

I inspected the light, I dunno if it is halogen or not. But i will describe the lamp in detail… ok the only markings on it are the brand name "Portaflood". The bulb screws out, I don’t think it is a bayonet fitting (Bayonet is the little prongs right?). The light end of the Bulb is 12cms Across. The total length of the bulb is 11cms in the middle of the bulb there is a imprinted "GE" in the Glass (I presume "General electric")

 

The only other things I can tell you about this lamp is that something in the bulb rattles I presume this is the element, so I don’t think it is halogen

 

I’m working on a drawing of my builtin wardrobe with dimensions and maybe you guys can suggest a Setup....

 

Oh and if I do get some seeds from Ts I will send back better seeds as soon as im in a position to do so

Edited August 3, 2003 by Black_one

[Guest Field_of_Light]

Yeh if you find its a halogen...dont waste your time....you 400 HPS is about 180 brand new....

[Guest Urbanhog]

http://www.greenwonder.com/hpslite2.jpg

 

this is what metal haide globe looks like.......

 

http://www.northernlightsgrowroom.com/images/index.1.jpg

 

the one on the left is a MH globe, and the one on the right is a HPS globe.

 

http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/l-sun-star.jpg

 

this is the typical grow light set up.

[Black_one]

Ok well I have decided

 

I will germ some seeds when I get them and grow them under my Floodlight for 2 weeks or so

 

By then I will have hopfully saved enough $$$ to buy a proper lighting setup on a timer

 

Im going to grow in earth for now as I dont want to get caught by well meaning but misguided family members

 

I have 5 mths till I have to move so that provides me with ample time to grow. Can anyone recommend a qualitly Nuti I can buy online?

 

Im also in need of rockwool or is there a better way to germ my buttons of joy?

 

Is it just me or is growing addictive ?

[RobbieGanjaSeed]

I think from memory, in Qld electricity costs' a 400watt light run for 18-24 hours for the first month, and then 12 hours a day for the next two months there-after is about 30 dollars a quarter. But I may be out on that price. It wouldn't be far out but.

 

The problem with the bubblers mightn't be so much the noise, as it is the servicing of the buckets. If you're going to keep it on the sly, you'll be doing some interesting dancing down the hall way with heavy buckets to change the water without detection.I think soil would be the best way to go.

 

Make a good soil up of worm castings, very good potting mix, and a good percentage of perlite. Alternatively use a very good quailty potting mix, and water with extra nutrients in the water. I'd still mix Perlite at about 25% though, but maybe that's just me.

 

I bought two PH metres, and neither are reliable. Bost cost 120 dollars plus. I can't stand using the liquid drops, but they are very reliable. I'll be using the tape I think from now on. I could have bought a lot of tape for the price of two ph metres.

 

You won't need a metre to test the nutrient levels if you're using soil. Just buy a product called "manutec" ( a very good fertaliser that disolves entirely) and use according to the instructions. Of course you can test the soil, and the nutrients before you water, and ultimately this will get you a better outcome (perhaps), but many people have grown without doing so and have had raging success.

 

Don't use it (nutrients) every watering. If you're dead set going to use bubblers, then a metre to test the nutrient levels is going to be very handy, but not neccesarily a must ($160 ? ). This is going to depend on your experience with plants in general. If you aren't going to use a metre to test nutrient levels; just use the nutes as weak, and increase them slowly until the plant is growing at it's best. If the leaves are standing upward, then the plant is very happy, if the leaves are drooping, then you may well be over fertalising. If the leaves are dull in colour, then you're underfertalising. Toss the water/nutrient out each week, and start fresh. But this is a very, very rough guide. By the way, this rough guide is applicable to plants grown in any system, including soil. Most nutrients bought for using in hydro systems wil give a nutrient mix far too strong for healthy plant growth if you follow the instructions on the bottle. I have no idea why this is the case, but I've found it to be so in all the nutrients I've bought. If you're going to use hydro nutes, record every mix you make, as in how many mls per litre you mixed, so you reproduce it when u get it right.

 

I sincerely think soil is your best option. Make sure you spray regularly for insects but, as soil will create a higher chance for an insect problem, or so I'm led to believe. Use a nutural spray like pyretherum or perhaps neem, as spraying serious insecticides in closed spaces could kill you. You can buy an insect spray from Kmart in the gardening section that you apply similar to mortein for flys and such, but be extremely careful. just because it doesnt smell noxious doesn't mean it isn't. Infact, a lot of the deadliest gases on earth don't have any odor.

 

You can get second hand lights from hock shops cheaply enough (120-150 dollars), and having tried about every light imaginable, I wouldn't use anything else. I've used flood lights, with very poor results, and huge electricty bills, I've used mercury vapour, and got the thinnest heads you could every imagine, and then worse still. And of course used fluors. The fluoros will give you buds, but they aren't going to be anything to write about, and I'm quiet sure you'll be unhappy. And the cost of running fluoros is going to upset you too. Fluours are very very good however for the veg period, so if you have a few fluoro tubes laying around to use for the first 4-6 weeks while you get some more $$ together, then you might consider that.

 

Qld hydro shops are dearer than they ought to be when considering lights. I don't know where you are, but you might do well by looking interste over the net for alight, even considering freight, they might be cheaper than local prices. A light I have bought at Sulphur creek in Tasmnaia is almost 100 dollars dearer here at my local hydro shop. There are other places to buy grow lights that are amost always cheaper than hydro shops too. So look in the yellow pages before you buy, if you decide to go for a new light. A 400 watt light with a basic reflector can be bought for around just over 200 dollars I think. That was the last price I paid for a 400watter at any rate, so unless ya realy stuck I'd say u should just buy a new one.

 

Use a small fan that will cost less than 20 dollars at the supermarket. have it blowing on the plants from the time of emergence to give good stem strength and air flow. Ventialting the space from outside, and dumping the "used" air back outside the grow is optimun, but not essential.

 

Having considered everything I can think of, I'd take what spendoola you have, and search the second hand shops for a second hand grow light. The bulb is almost certainly going to need replacing, but if it glows (and test this before you buy it), then it should get you a crop or two while u arrange another bulb (60 dollars +) Get the price for a replacememt bulb before you buy it, making a real choice then of if you should buy it or go for a new one. Forget what the salesman says, it will need a new bulb at least, and even then buying electrical gear second hand is always a gamble.

 

Then using 12 inch pots, get the best potting soil you can lay ya hands on and a box of MANUTEC for growth , see bunnings or mitre ten. When u go into the head period, buy a box of the flowering nutrients. This is a great product that in fact has come down in price over the years and will set you back around 7 dollars a box.

 

Regarding the idea of buying a second hand light, this should be a very last option. This is the most crucial part of your equipment.

 

Ebay btw has often got cheap hydro eqipment from time to time. Recently a few brand new hydro units passed in as they didn't meet the reserve, but I'm sure they could have been purchased very cheap. The one in particular would have been perfect for what you're doing. It's retail value is around a hundred dollars, and was passed in with the highest bid being just 35 bucks. Surely it would have been sold if it reached 50 or so. It was one of those 2 plant systems, with a smart valve.

 

Click on "messages" at the top of your tool bar, and I'll send you a note with what to do about seeds.

 

cheers

rob

 

PS. Urbie, is that combo HPS/Mh your light? Or did you pinch the pic off the 'net? just wondering what such a light costs?

Edited August 9, 2003 by RobbieGanjaSeed

[pipeman]

Add a couple handfuls of general purpose osmocote and you can do a whole grow without needing any extra nutes.

Bullshit.

I've only skimmed the other responses in this thread, but soil and osmocote is a cheap and easy way to go, and although its not ideal you can get good results with it.

 

If anyone thinks its bullshit take it up with sols.

 

The buds in this pic I grew with potting mix, osmocote, and tap water.

[pipeman]

in the mean time check out www.treatingyourself.com FOR FREE SEEDS!!!!!!, thats where i got the WR, AK, M39 and it cost me nothing.

Did you know that the site is for genuine medical users? I don't like the idea of non-medical users getting free seeds from medical cannabis sites.

yeah I have to agree, weekprik also mentioned that he tried to get seeds off JRS. You shouldn't be taking advantage of these services if you can already get your own seed IMO. Leave them to help out people who really need it.

[Guest weekprik]

first those that know me know I dont get the seeds just because I can,

I got them before I brought clones from SPC,

on treatingyourself.com I had to provide a medical cert from my doctor prooving I was a med user,

Sure I smoke for rec as well,

 

I should have stated that those sites are for med users only,

I have given the seeds I got away to other people that needed them, but I kept 1 seed of each strain and they all came up nicely,

 

I never recieved seeds from JRS.

Edited August 4, 2003 by weekprik