1st Timer & some q's

[organic3000]

Hi All, I am a first time grower & poster.....great site btw.

 

I want to do an indoor grow in soil and try and keep it as "organic" as possible.

I am thinking of getting a 400w Sontagrow, growing in my garage & have a few questions:

 

 

1. Light: from what I can see this is a good light to use for both veg & flowering....is this true?

 

2. What is the ideal area/number of plants that can be grown under this light?

 

3. Ventalation: is it enough if i recycle air to the grow room from the air in the garage or do I need some intake from outside?

 

4. Nutes: I would like to use a natural fert. like blood & bone, how often should I apply it and what suplimentary nutes can u suggest if thats not enough? (i still want a big haul).

 

 

Thanks Guys..........

[Pickle]

1. As far as i recall, it's both red and blue so yes it's good for both. I use a Lucagrow 400W HPS and it works.

 

2. It depends on your grow method, but in soil, in pots 4 would be about all you could fit.

 

3. As long as there are no fumes, paint, fuel or other potetial carcinogenic/flamable things venting into the air you should be ok.

 

4. For soil indoors you can use anything you use for outdoor. It's basically the same thing as planting in the ground, the only difference is you can control the environment a bit more (pest and disease wise).

 

Good luck.

[loves420]

'1. Light: from what I can see this is a good light to use for both veg & flowering....is this true?'

 

I start my girls with flow lights and build them up to my 750HPS. But your light should work

 

 

'3. Ventalation: is it enough if i recycle air to the grow room from the air in the garage or do I need some intake from outside?'

 

I grew in my garage for a few year until spider mites invaded. remember spider mites love heat and a garage can get very hot. Watch the temperature. I've baked my plants before. I agree with Pickle as long as there are no fumes, paint, or fuel it should be fine.

 

hope this helps...good luck

:smoke

peace

Edited January 19, 2005 by loves420

[jackfrost]

Gday Mate,

 

the phillips light you have will be OK for both veg and flore - but - remember straight MH is better for vegie growth because of the color is more blue in the spectrum and the growth rate in veg will be quicker with shorter internode length.a

 

What ive found is using a mixture of HPS and MH lighting in the flore stage is that you will get alot bigger buds, - but - a normal plant that finishes in 8 weeks under straight HPS will take another 2 weeks if you add the MH.

 

If your going to the trouble of setting up a indoor grow room I would not use dirt as your medium. Setup a bucket grow using lava rock or clayballs as your medium. The amount of yeild with increased speed will more then make up for the inconvience. ( see fenengi420's simple setup)

 

As far as air - you can use he air in the garage - but - the plants would rather get Co2 rich air from outside - result = more yeild.

 

And lastley bro - all these so called organic nutrients is a crock of shit - if you look on the goverment webpage the companys that bring or make these products in australia have to list the ingredients with a lad break on all the metals and minerals that they contain. All of the so called organic nutes have more heavy metals then a good quality chemical nutrient, like general hydroponics.

 

 

Jack

Edited January 19, 2005 by jackfrost

[Tom]

High there organic3000, welcome to Oz Stoners.

 

1. Types of HID lights used for growing:

 

Metal Halide - mostly for veg stage.

 

High Pressure Sodium – mostly for flowering stage.

 

Horticultural - HPS/MH - veg and flower stages (Son-T-Agro, Son-T-Plus, Lucalox, Lucagrow, etc.). The Son-T is my favourite globe for single room grows, the 600w lights are also the most efficient of all the wattages.

 

To set the light to grow height, start at a safe distance above the plants (approx 45cm for 400w, 90cm for 600w, 1200cm for 1000w), hold your hand palm down level with the top of the plant for a few minutes. If it feels too hot on the back of your hand the light is too close, if cool then it's too far away. If it's pleasantly warm and it feels as if you could hold your hand there all day then it's OK.

 

2. A 400w will cover 8 square feet (2 door wardrobe size), a 600w will cover 12 sq ft and a 1000w will cover 20 sq ft, so as many plants as you can fit into the area without them interfering with each other.

 

3. I would intake from outside the garage and exhaust into it, that would avoid any noxious fumes in your grow room and will let you deal with exhaust smell easier.

 

4. I would look at hydro for indoors (you can get organic hydro nutrients), soil seems to increase your chances of pests and is a bit more trouble when you need to flush, check the "my hydro set-up" and "pipemans first grow" links in my signature for more information.

 

[organic3000]

Thanks for the replies guys they were great.........

 

 

some further questions:

 

1. what type of light is the SonTagro.....ie HPS or MH.....? What are flow lights? Would I be better off starting the plants under a couple of CF's or stick them under the 400W Sontagrow ASAP?

 

 

2. When and how is best way to administer the fertaliser say blood & bone,

and is there any way to know if I am feeding them too much or too little, in a soil set up?

 

(The shoots are about a week old now and are doing ok in the potting mix. They still have only 4 leaves so far. I have been keeping them in the sun during the day and then putting them under a single 10w small Fluoro tube at night)

 

 

"If your going to the trouble of setting up a indoor grow room I would not use dirt as your medium. Setup a bucket grow using lava rock or clayballs as your medium. The amount of yeild with increased speed will more then make up for the inconvience. ( see fenengi420's simple setup)"

 

The reason I am going for soil is that I prefer bush buds, for the taste & smell & the fact that they are less potent. I am also trying to avoid that "hydro" characteristic of the ganja.

 

 

 

 

Once again thanks for your input.........

Artie.

Edited January 20, 2005 by organic3000