New grower need advice

[maklov]

Hey everybody, firstly i'd like to say hello to everybody, I been a stalker of this site for a while, finally started my own grow so thought id sign up to get a helping hand.

 

So, before I start I'll say money is a little restricted at the moment, so my grow setup is somewhat budget yet reasonable. I want to know if i can carry on with my setup or if i need to upgrade in order to get any decent results. My initial goal is to get a 2-3 oz dry yield. and this is what I have going..

 

Tent

Grow Tent 80Wx80Hx50L (CM)

 

Lights

130W CFL 4500K

200W LED mixed spectrum

 

Ventilation

x2 Computer fans

 

Strain

Unknown

 

Containers + growing medium

solo cups + 4LTR GEO POT w/ coco peat/ perlite 70/30 mix

 

Water

de-chlorinated tap water

 

Nutrients

Hy-Gen cornucopia cocogrow (currently at 1/2 strength)

 

Now this is the dilemma I'm facing, the tent is, lets face it, a veg tent, its not very big. However people grow good plants in small places soooo, When it comes time to switch to flowering should I just throw a 2700k 130w cfl in there to get the best budding and simply train the crap out of it so it fills up a small space OR..

 

Do i get a bigger high standing tent, put a 400-600w HPS in there and use that as the flowering tent and keep what I have as a veg tent. I'm sure this option is probably the better one but obviously the more expensive.

 

I currently have 3 seedlings growing from seed, they are looking healthy and must have just established their roots because growth is starting to become real noticeable. So i want to get organised for the switch over but not sure which path to take.

It all comes down to how much weight I am likely to get from my current small tent with extra CFL lighting thats 260w of CFL and 200w of LED or if its gonna be a massive difference with a HPS.

Thanks for reading and hope to hear from you.

 

 

[Serrated edge]

first ,,,if your using bag seed ,,you could get all males or if you get some females but they could end up stretchy plants ,you never know,

 

My suggestion is to get fem seeds,,,,a taller tent, even if it's a crap cheapo till your more on your feet to upgrade.

Good size is 1.2 x 1.2 x 2

 

Also at least a 400 w light ,,,600w won't cost much more if a cheap magnetic ballast. I prefer seperate veg and bloom globes but there are single globes for veg and bloom.

 

Yield ,that's up to you ,,

[maklov]

first ,,,if your using bag seed ,,you could get all males or if you get some females but they could end up stretchy plants ,you never know,

 

My suggestion is to get fem seeds,,,,a taller tent, even if it's a crap cheapo till your more on your feet to upgrade.

Good size is 1.2 x 1.2 x 2

 

Also at least a 400 w light ,,,600w won't cost much more if a cheap magnetic ballast. I prefer seperate veg and bloom globes but there are single globes for veg and bloom.

 

Yield ,that's up to you ,,

 

I was looking at ordering seeds but it looks like Australia has really clamped down on the seed banks, I can't find anywhere to order them

[Serrated edge]

Seedsman Seeds

[billygoat]

Bigger tent for sure

[merl1n]

I have to agree with both Serrated and Billy

Fem Seeds and BIGGER tent.

Sure you can try your bagseed but you never know what your gonna get. Start with a decent known and you're more likely to end with a decent.

Start with decent unknown and you could end up with a hermi or a stringy, spindly waste of time and money.

Sure people have used smaller spaces, but it can take a shitload of growth management. As a newbie it's much simpler to have a bit of space. Go big. And the same with your fans, computer fans may be OK for computers, but not so good for grows. There are some calculators available to assist, here's one that I've used https://cannaversity.com/calculators/lighting.php . It will give you 'some idea' of the air exchange volume you'll need for your space. Now, also don't forget you'll need something to assist in stirring the air within your grow space to prevent stale air pockets, a circulation fan blowing through the canopy is what I use. This does 2 things, 1)stirs the air and 2)Flexes the stems. Stems are a bit like muscles, the more they flex the stronger they become and therefore the more weighty buds they can hold upright.

As for your lighting, go the HPS imo. A 400w will get you started, you can upgrade later if you wish. HPS will see you thru for both veg and bloom. MH good for veg but not so good for bloom. You can get a MH/HPS combo and switch over to flower but the additional cost can push the budget a bit. LED are good for lighting the inside of a rubbish bin imo, some people have had good results from LED I must admit, but as a seasoned grower I'd go the HID over LED every time. LED might save you some power but HID is gonna get you the results you desire.

 

As for yield, you are just starting out, banking on yield now is just asking for a big dose of disappointment. Start with a low expectation and anything above that is a plus. Planning on elbows(Lb) only to get Oscars(Oz) has popped many a grower's bubble. Start with a low expectation and improve from there. It's all a learning. You have to learn about you space, learn about you management, learn about you lighting, learn about your nutes. Once you have everything keyed in for your environment then you can start tweaking things to improve your yield. But talking yield now can only lead to a big dose of disappointment when that dream (Lb+Lb+Lb  ) turns out to be fluff (1/2 oz  ). My aim has been to improve on the former grows  It only takes one cock up to be left with  anything extra is a bonus

.

Start small, learn and improve. And the very best of luck. We all had to start somewhere. Nobody starts at the top.

EDIT: When ya get asked for a password at https://cannaversity.com/calculators/lighting.php just hit cancel

 

Hope it helps

Merl1n

Edited December 25, 2017 by merl1n

[maklov]

I have to agree with both Serrated and Billy

Fem Seeds and BIGGER tent.

Sure you can try your bagseed but you never know what your gonna get. Start with a decent known and you're more likely to end with a decent.

Start with decent unknown and you could end up with a hermi or a stringy, spindly waste of time and money.

Sure people have used smaller spaces, but it can take a shitload of growth management. As a newbie it's much simpler to have a bit of space. Go big. And the same with your fans, computer fans may be OK for computers, but not so good for grows. There are some calculators available to assist, here's one that I've used https://cannaversity.com/calculators/lighting.php . It will give you 'some idea' of the air exchange volume you'll need for your space. Now, also don't forget you'll need something to assist in stirring the air within your grow space to prevent stale air pockets, a circulation fan blowing through the canopy is what I use. This does 2 things, 1)stirs the air and 2)Flexes the stems. Stems are a bit like muscles, the more they flex the stronger they become and therefore the more weighty buds they can hold upright.

As for your lighting, go the HPS imo. A 400w will get you started, you can upgrade later if you wish. HPS will see you thru for both veg and bloom. MH good for veg but not so good for bloom. You can get a MH/HPS combo and switch over to flower but the additional cost can push the budget a bit. LED are good for lighting the inside of a rubbish bin imo, some people have had good results from LED I must admit, but as a seasoned grower I'd go the HID over LED every time. LED might save you some power but HID is gonna get you the results you desire.

 

As for yield, you are just starting out, banking on yield now is just asking for a big dose of disappointment. Start with a low expectation and anything above that is a plus. Planning on elbows(Lb) only to get Oscars(Oz) has popped many a grower's bubble. Start with a low expectation and improve from there. It's all a learning. You have to learn about you space, learn about you management, learn about you lighting, learn about your nutes. Once you have everything keyed in for your environment then you can start tweaking things to improve your yield. But talking yield now can only lead to a big dose of disappointment when that dream (Lb+Lb+Lb  ) turns out to be fluff (1/2 oz  ). My aim has been to improve on the former grows  It only takes one cock up to be left with  anything extra is a bonus

.

Start small, learn and improve. And the very best of luck. We all had to start somewhere. Nobody starts at the top.

EDIT: When ya get asked for a password at https://cannaversity.com/calculators/lighting.php just hit cancel

 

Hope it helps

Merl1n

 

thanks everyone, looks like im investing in a new tent haha.but... just for arguments sake, I want to carry on with my small cfl grow, I must learn what i can create otherwise it will bug me for ages. Im going to add 1 more light to my small tent before flowering and just see what happens. I should get some photos up.

[merl1n]

Hey Maklov,

Ohh for sure, if you want to continue by all means do so, as I say '...it's all a learning...' just don't be having HUGE expectations under a cfl. It will still grow and still flower under a cfl, but not as well, nor as dense as under HPS.

Also when you turn 12/12 there is a large growth splurt that occurs. If you fill the space with veg growth the splurt can overwhelm the space you have. My plants almost double in size once going 12/12, so be aware. I grow under HPS and they get HOT. I was tying buds down so they weren't getting burnt by the lights, had strings running all over the place. This made plant management a real pain in the arse, but I learnt

 

Merl1n

[maklov]

Haha yeh i bet. I'm planning to do a mini scrog. Should help keep the canopy contained. But i still think there isn't enough information online about my specific grow setup so im trying it out for myself. See what happens .

 

Only problem is i got 3 random seeds in solo cups. I have 1 4ltr geopot to upgrade one lucky winner too. But i gotta wait till i can determine sex. Think I'm gonna struggling sexing the plants in solo cups

 

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[Serrated edge]

Chuck em out and wait for fems.