First grow

[Luvgetnbent]

Hey fellas...

 

i'm preparing for my first virgin grow. i've made my cupboard, equipped with intake & extraction fans, eye bolt & chain to hang light (which i'm getting tomorrow). The soil mix i've made comprises vermiculite, perlite, river pebbles, lava rock, styrofoam, and potting mix (about 35-40%). I have some nitrosol liquid feeder, which seems to have sufficient amounts of N, P & K.

Is this mix sufficient for holding nutrients, for airation and drainage??

is there any nutrient solutions i should use instead of just home variety nitrosol??

any feedback or advice would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks guys...

[sLiM sHiFty]

hey buddy ...

 

I think you'v gone head over heels with this growing stuff ... dont worry we all get excited about growin good weed.

The soil mix i've made comprises vermiculite, perlite, river pebbles, lava rock, styrofoam, and potting mix

 

Firstly, how are you intending to grow ?? Recirculating, Flood & Drain or just plain old potting mix ?

 

It seems to me your still confused

[Pure]

I would mabey ditch the vermiculite and the styrofoam. vermiculite holds far too much moisture for you rparticuler mix ( can be good with things like clayballs or straight perlite ) , as for styrafoam just up the amount of perlite in the mix , if it was my mix I would also replace the potting mix with coco but that is a choice thing soil works fine and dandy ,you should also be aware that allot of soil mixes come with a much larger risk of bugs compaired to somethign like straight perlite or clayballs

as for Nutrients I tend to use nutrients and aditives made for hydroponic growing and get good results but others will argue that it is the aditives that make the big differences not the nutrients nitrosol is apparantly one of the better " hardware store " type nutrients compaired to somethign like thrive

 

hope that helps

[Luke Skywalker]

Yeah, I'd agree with pure there.

 

Welcome to OS Luvgetnbent.

[Luvgetnbent]

I am getting excited that is true!

This is my first serious indoor growing project. I've grown outdoors before, but never gave it a level of committment.

Let me reassure you i'm not some idiot kid who has found his dad's copy of Grower's Handbook 2 days ago and just learned of hydroponics! I have a very good idea of what i'm doing and i am not confused! i post questions here so i can hopefully get some info i didn't know before or for just a 2nd opinion on something.

I am growing 7 plants in 6 litre pots in a cupboard using a 400w HPS lamp, the cupboard has been sealed for moisture and light leaks. i'm not using any passive hydro systems of growth. i'm just gunna waterfeed them by hand in their pots. if i change my mind, i can always put wicks in the pots and have a little wick/reservoir system. Oh and it's not plain old potting mix!! It's the medium mix i explained before (the one you quoted me on).

If you actually have some advice or suggestions, i would appreciate it greatly. If not, don't bother posting a reply, go outside instead of sitting at ur computer all day.

 

Thanks to the other guys, seems like you actually know what you're talking about.

[sLiM sHiFty]

Hey buddy ...

 

You took my post the wrong way, the mix your using seemed a little odd to me.

 

I mean lava rocks and river pebbles what are they for ?? I would be using this as extra drainage ( fill the bottom 3 - 5cm of pot with pebbles or rocks to assist with drainage ). But why would you even bother using styrofoam, lava rocks, river pebbles, vermiculite and perlite as a media ... I only say this because in the 3 years iv researched on growing Iv never come across such a strange mixture, did you invent this one yourself or was it some advice you picked up ??

 

The styrofoam would act as perlite if you didnt have any, why would you use it if you had the real deal ?? Iv known a few outdoor growers that have told me they use to use styrofoam, but we live in the 21st centry now adays.

 

This is one of the main rreasons we are trying to build a FAQ at this site.

 

New topic luke " Simple SOIL Mixes "

[Luke Skywalker]

Actually, styrofoam acts very distinctly to perlite, as it is totally hydrophobic, and all water passes over it with nothing being held on the surface. By contrast, perlite is full of crevaces on it's surface, which all hold water, and is somewhat porous as well, so whilst it does provide much better drainage than most media, it too absorbs a fair amount of moisture. Much more than styrofoam.

 

Some growers do use complex mixes, they can have advantages and disadvantages really, and particularly if you're a new grower, I would recommend trying something simpler, and a lot easier to mix up, than the one you quoted Luvgetnbent.

 

Oh, and btw, if you're growing in soil, and particularly if you're growing from seed, you'll need a minimum of about 20 liters in soil space for the plants to grow to any decent size and get a good yeild. 6 liter pots will stunt and constrict seed grown plants, and give a clone plant a bit of a tight fit too. So you may need to go back to the drawing board and think about this again.

 

Hope that helps mate.

[Chev]

I'm with pure too hahaha, just jokes man

Hmmmm, my advice would be to save yourself shitloads of trouble now, and set-up a run-to-waste system. If you're experienced, you'll know how big those suckers get in the 12/12 cycle. You'll be in there constantly watering, bugger that! And as for your mix........ I'd probably be using a perlite/vermiculite mix (70/30), and giving the soil and everything else a miss. I fucking HATE fungus gnats (scarid fly), and they love soil (and coco).

I use dutchmaster nutes, always have, and they've worked well for me. Canna is another top brand too. But in the end, most of them are the same! Just make sure you use a decent hydro nutrient, not bloody thrive or anything like that

[greenacres]

i grow my indoor plants in soil, i use 4 parts potting mix 1 part perlite. i also water by hand its no big deal takes about 5mins every few days.

only use top quality potting mix scabbing out on a cheaper mix will cost ya big time in extra ferts and more watering time. i use 20ltr plastic drums for pots.

cheapest way i found was to buy a few 10 ltr plastic buckets drill some holes in the bottom and you have your first pot. when you are ready to flower your plants repot into the 20ltr pots. works for me, but i like all organic plants.

20 ltr square drums i get from a recycle centre for 50c each