pre grow jitters..

[SOOTY]

hi all, ive been reading up on growing indoors and planning my first grow.got my head wrapped around most of the process but there's a couple of things im still unsure of, so some questions are...

#1. ventilation: i have a 6 inch can max fan for my 1mX1mX2m tent, i assume its not needed for small plants but when do i actually need to start running this? (this first grow will be running 600w led and cfl side lighting) i have other circulating fans as well and i understand air movement is a key factor just unsure when to run the larger fan.

#2. watering and nutes (coco-perlite run 2 waste) : i have read a lot of people don't feed nutes until 2 or 3 weeks in, but others have said they will feed them within first week (at low strength). is this just preference from 'learning from experience'? or is there any sort of general rule of thumb to this?

#3. in regards to nutes: whether it be 1 week or 3 weeks in, how much can u mix up at one time for further use? i have read that up to 1 week is ok? i understand the nute co. recommendations are at full strength and should be dropped back?

example: if i had 2 plants that are however old enough to be needing nutes, and the nute co. says to add 1/2 tsp each of part a,b,c to 4 litres water... should i be adding only a quarter of that abc to 4 litres water? will the small plants drink 4 litres a week? will be watering by weight of pot..

sorry if ive put anyone to sleep reading this, all advice much appreciated [emoji6]

[Gazza2001au]

hi all, ive been reading up on growing indoors and planning my first grow.got my head wrapped around most of the process but there's a couple of things im still unsure of, so some questions are...

#1. ventilation: i have a 6 inch can max fan for my 1mX1mX2m tent, i assume its not needed for small plants but when do i actually need to start running this? (this first grow will be running 600w led and cfl side lighting) i have other circulating fans as well and i understand air movement is a key factor just unsure when to run the larger fan.

#2. watering and nutes (coco-perlite run 2 waste) : i have read a lot of people don't feed nutes until 2 or 3 weeks in, but others have said they will feed them within first week (at low strength). is this just preference from 'learning from experience'? or is there any sort of general rule of thumb to this?

#3. in regards to nutes: whether it be 1 week or 3 weeks in, how much can u mix up at one time for further use? i have read that up to 1 week is ok? i understand the nute co. recommendations are at full strength and should be dropped back?

example: if i had 2 plants that are however old enough to be needing nutes, and the nute co. says to add 1/2 tsp each of part a,b,c to 4 litres water... should i be adding only a quarter of that abc to 4 litres water? will the small plants drink 4 litres a week? will be watering by weight of pot..

sorry if ive put anyone to sleep reading this, all advice much appreciated [emoji6]

 

#1: your fan is too big for that space, use a 4" fan and run the fan from day one to the last day

 

#2: u can water a 7 day old seedling with 1/6th nutrient

 

#3: as above

Edited April 1, 2017 by Gazza2001au

[SOOTY]

cheers gaz, the fan is 2 speed so can i just run it on low setting or still too much?

[Ford Fairlane]

Hey sooty,

 

run the extraction fan now, you need airflow as much as you need light. Good idea to get a decent size fan, can't have to much airflow imo. and yes run it at a lower speed and noise will be reduced.

 

In coco you don't need to feed for a little while, imo. yes low strength when you do. Keep in mind that in the firat few weeks, most growth is occuring underground and you won't see to much happening. Just imagine those roots searching for food and creating a strong base for the plant.

 

If you use an airstone and ensure no light, little heat or other contamination can enter the reservoir for sure can mix up a weeks worth of nutes in one hit.

 

The plants will use whatever they use. However, usually require a drink around once a week when young, but go by the weight of the pot as you plan to. personally, I tend to mix up about 9 ltrs at a time and that easily feeds two mature plants in flower with plenty of runnoff in 15 ltr pots.

 

I see you are planning on using a 3 part nutrient. Keep in mind a coco specific nute should be used in coco.

 

[Sir PsychoHashy]

What Ford said.

 

Your fan is NOT too big, too much airflow is not a bad thing.  But if you have the option to dial the speed down you may want to do that, especially when the weather cools off.  I have a 6 inch fan in a much smaller tent than that, and it is definitely not too big, and would in fact recommend nothing smaller except for tiny clone tents.

 

I always start seedlings off with a light nute mix, around EC 0.8.  You have to learn to adjust nute strength to the plants' needs rather than to their age, this will come with experience, but as a rough guide raise strength slowly, and once signs of nute burn on the tips of the leaves occurs back it off a bit.  If they start going pale, up the strength slowly again.  Very rough guide but you'll work it out over time.  Get an EC meter so you can accurately measure where you need to be, and obviously PH is extremely important so measure it as well.  And periodic flushing of run to waste coco is also important.  Until the plants get well established they will drink bugger all, go off the weight of the pots as a guide to when to water while they are young, once established properly their drinking rate will go up fast.

[SOOTY]

thanks ford and hashy, pretty much what i needed to hear. still gathering equipment and have ph test kit and ec pen ordered. thanks again people, much appreciated [emoji108]

[SOOTY]

and the reason i got the bigger better fan was basically because of reading up and taking notes on what experienced growers recommended.. (cheers s.e for the can fan recommendation) read a lot of people saying not to skimp on ventilation

[merl1n]

Hey Sooty,

Listen to both Hashy and Ford ( and not just because they are moderators ) because they are two experienced growers. First off you can never have too much airflow, but not enough airflow and you'll have no end of troubles (I know cos initially I had minimal air flow). Don't forget that as well as intake/exhaust, you also need a circulation fan blowing thru the canopy. Just relying on your intake exhaust will leave pockets of uncirculated air, humid uncirculated air is fantastic for growing a crop of mould. Not what you want. By the fan blowing through the canopy it will stir the air within your grow space, it will also flex the stems. Stems are a bit like muscles, the more they flex the stronger they will become. You need strong stems to help hold up the weight of the developing buds, otherwise your buds will end up facing the floor.

 

Why a 3part nute mix? As a newbie I'd recommend the 'KISS' theory, keep it as simple as possible. Personally I use a 1part nute mix, that way there are less things for me to stuff up on, but I agree with Hashy get yourself an EC meter. You could buy a pH meter too but I use a single drop pH test liquid in a test tube, its accurate everytime, where from my experience the meters can stuff up without you knowing.

 

Hope it helps

Merl1n

Edited April 2, 2017 by merl1n

[Harry Bootlace]

cant wait to see it go Sooty, mainly because I love Sooty and think he would really grow good dope.

Sweep on the other hand....

[Sir PsychoHashy]

yep, also keen to see you get started Sooty.  I'll advise taking your time to set it all up properly, and planning your grow as much as you can, but all the finer points are experience, so hook into it and be ready to make the fuckups we've all made