Starting out I would do a 250W CFL and grow one plant at a time with a small fan blowing on the light for cooling. I would use happy frog soil with the fox farm trio, cal/mag and potassium silicate for PH up, you wont need a down.
New Grower Can I ask your advice?
- Thread starter knocker powell
- Start date
hey joe - thank you very much for your advice. i appreciate it buddy.
Hey hey, you sound like you're after the same kinds of quantity as I am, so the question that it came down to for me was did I want to grow 3 or 4 plants all at the same time, or one after the other throughout the year. This decides which tent size to get really
I went with one plant at a time, so got myself the smallest possible 40 x 40 x 120cm tent, which, touch wood as I'm currently on my first ever grow, will hold one plant comfortably xD This way I'm not tempted to produce more than I need and decide to get ambitious and sell, I'm doing this to move away from the unregulated market, not to Break Bad!
With doing a number of grows through the year I figure I will also be able to take my time when picking strains to grow depending on what I'm in the mood for, and should anything ever go wrong, and I end up caught I will only have one growing plant in the evidence book... Maybe overly paranoid and more work, but I want to be careful.
Lights, I can't recommend anything because from what I can tell, you can get a fantastic yield from whichever type you use, just make sure you get the right wavelengths for each stage of growth, some bulbs and LED panels have both so you can keep the same bulb through the whole grow which is useful for small set ups, or you could go with seperate or supplemental bulbs between grow and flower, there are guides in the lighting section of the forum for each type
The medium your plant will grow in is again, something you can pro and con between the different types, I've gone for soil because it seemed to be easier to control things like ph, and it generally comes preloaded with some nutrients that your seedling will need for the first weeks before you start feeding, but there are many other options too, if you're so inclined xD
Other than that, things to consider are as mentioned above in airflow and smell, with a small tent you will only need 2 fans really, a small inline fan to extract the used air from the tent, and a small clip on desk fan to move the air inside around is plenty. Replacement air comes in through vents at the bottom of the tent, but this all scales and larger tents and rooms can have multiple fans of each. Smell can be dealt with by using a carbon filter on the end of your extraction fan if you want, or take your chances... If you're in the attic the smell won't get far from one plant I imagine, I hope not at least 'cos I don't have a filter
That's all I can really think about the preliminary setup planning that I did, there will be more to consider but you'll come to those as you explore!
You can check out my grow journal in my signature, see how I'm getting on with my 4 week old Pakistan Ryder and all the equipment I mentioned in this rather long post, sorry!
Peace out!
I went with one plant at a time, so got myself the smallest possible 40 x 40 x 120cm tent, which, touch wood as I'm currently on my first ever grow, will hold one plant comfortably xD This way I'm not tempted to produce more than I need and decide to get ambitious and sell, I'm doing this to move away from the unregulated market, not to Break Bad!
With doing a number of grows through the year I figure I will also be able to take my time when picking strains to grow depending on what I'm in the mood for, and should anything ever go wrong, and I end up caught I will only have one growing plant in the evidence book... Maybe overly paranoid and more work, but I want to be careful.
Lights, I can't recommend anything because from what I can tell, you can get a fantastic yield from whichever type you use, just make sure you get the right wavelengths for each stage of growth, some bulbs and LED panels have both so you can keep the same bulb through the whole grow which is useful for small set ups, or you could go with seperate or supplemental bulbs between grow and flower, there are guides in the lighting section of the forum for each type
The medium your plant will grow in is again, something you can pro and con between the different types, I've gone for soil because it seemed to be easier to control things like ph, and it generally comes preloaded with some nutrients that your seedling will need for the first weeks before you start feeding, but there are many other options too, if you're so inclined xD
Other than that, things to consider are as mentioned above in airflow and smell, with a small tent you will only need 2 fans really, a small inline fan to extract the used air from the tent, and a small clip on desk fan to move the air inside around is plenty. Replacement air comes in through vents at the bottom of the tent, but this all scales and larger tents and rooms can have multiple fans of each. Smell can be dealt with by using a carbon filter on the end of your extraction fan if you want, or take your chances... If you're in the attic the smell won't get far from one plant I imagine, I hope not at least 'cos I don't have a filter
That's all I can really think about the preliminary setup planning that I did, there will be more to consider but you'll come to those as you explore!
You can check out my grow journal in my signature, see how I'm getting on with my 4 week old Pakistan Ryder and all the equipment I mentioned in this rather long post, sorry!
Peace out!
Hey hey, you sound like you're after the same kinds of quantity as I am, so the question that it came down to for me was did I want to grow 3 or 4 plants all at the same time, or one after the other throughout the year. This decides which tent size to get really
I went with one plant at a time, so got myself the smallest possible 40 x 40 x 120cm tent, which, touch wood as I'm currently on my first ever grow, will hold one plant comfortably xD This way I'm not tempted to produce more than I need and decide to get ambitious and sell, I'm doing this to move away from the unregulated market, not to Break Bad!
With doing a number of grows through the year I figure I will also be able to take my time when picking strains to grow depending on what I'm in the mood for, and should anything ever go wrong, and I end up caught I will only have one growing plant in the evidence book... Maybe overly paranoid and more work, but I want to be careful.
Lights, I can't recommend anything because from what I can tell, you can get a fantastic yield from whichever type you use, just make sure you get the right wavelengths for each stage of growth, some bulbs and LED panels have both so you can keep the same bulb through the whole grow which is useful for small set ups, or you could go with seperate or supplemental bulbs between grow and flower, there are guides in the lighting section of the forum for each type
The medium your plant will grow in is again, something you can pro and con between the different types, I've gone for soil because it seemed to be easier to control things like ph, and it generally comes preloaded with some nutrients that your seedling will need for the first weeks before you start feeding, but there are many other options too, if you're so inclined xD
Other than that, things to consider are as mentioned above in airflow and smell, with a small tent you will only need 2 fans really, a small inline fan to extract the used air from the tent, and a small clip on desk fan to move the air inside around is plenty. Replacement air comes in through vents at the bottom of the tent, but this all scales and larger tents and rooms can have multiple fans of each. Smell can be dealt with by using a carbon filter on the end of your extraction fan if you want, or take your chances... If you're in the attic the smell won't get far from one plant I imagine, I hope not at least 'cos I don't have a filter
That's all I can really think about the preliminary setup planning that I did, there will be more to consider but you'll come to those as you explore!
You can check out my grow journal in my signature, see how I'm getting on with my 4 week old Pakistan Ryder and all the equipment I mentioned in this rather long post, sorry!
Peace out!
How dare you apologise for a 'rather long post' - Man Alive! I want to shake your hand, Malevelo. How lovely of you to take the time and trouble to reply with such an overstuffed hamper of wisdom and general good sense. The one plant at a time routine is a sparkler - i hadn't even thought of doing that but damn it, you're absolutely right - a keen bit of thinking should one ever have the misfortune to have a knock at the door from the fuzzingdales.
Thanks for the advice on lights. I've been having a wee think about LED's today - if i'm getting the right end of the stick then they don't heat up as much as the trad lights - is that because they don't have ballasts? they're cheaper to run and, as you say they can deal with vegging and flowering - is there a downside to them do you know?
Soilwise, I did my little outdoor grow with some biobizz soilmix and it felt really good, think i'd deffo use that for my indoor. what do you use?
And thank you for the tips on airflow and smell. Yeah, am thinking about being up in the attic. I do have a space in the basement too but it's where the gas and leccy meters are and so prob not the best location to be cooking dem beans. - Just a quicky on the attic - are you worried that it might get a bit cold up there in the winter? (presuming that you're in uk - apologies if not) Would I have to take action to increase the temp in all of the attic for when the light isn't on?
so many questions. i'm sure many of them will be answered by reading your grow journal which i'm about to do go and do right now - and very excited about it I am too! thank you again Malevolo, it really is good to connect with someone who's in the same boat as you. You sir are a gentleman and a scholar!
all the best
knocker
Hey again I'm not in the UK anymore no, but have an almost identical climate to you as I'm only over the Irish Sea xD
You're spot on about LEDs, they're cooler generally, and cheaper to run but the downsides as far as I can tell are they are quite pricey so it's more of a lump sum up front and then save it back slowly on your electric bill. If that is the route you'd look to take, as I say, make sure they're delivering the correct blue and red spectrums of light.
That soil would be a great base, I'm just using generic garden centre potting soil with about 25% perlite mixed through it. You might want to look into getting some additional filler for it as well for an indoor grow though, both perlite and vermiculite are porous volcanic rock that helps with drainage and aeration making sure your plants roots are taken good care of.
You will definitely need to consider where you keep her, with the fans running there's a bit of sound and as she grows she will give off a quite noticeable smell unless you have a carbon filter, so somewhere least likely to be disturbed by visiting gas and leccy men might be an idea... I'm not too concerned about being in the attic for mine though, it actually gets quite warm up there as it's well insulated and seems to just collect a lot of the heat from the house... Hot air rises after all You can get a cheap Hygrometer which will measure the temperature and relative humidity, so it may be an idea to grab one of those and try putting it in a couple of potential places and watch what it's like there at different parts of the day.
Just take it easy, and try to read as much as you can... Many different people have many different ways to do this, but there is never necessarily a right or wrong way to do something, just their way, and perhaps your way. That's the great thing I think about this site, you will be given advice, and not instructions (Also check out some of the crazy experiments some of these guys do, have a look at this one for example!)
All the best mate! \o/
I'm not in the UK anymore no, but have an almost identical climate to you as I'm only over the Irish Sea xDYou're spot on about LEDs, they're cooler generally, and cheaper to run but the downsides as far as I can tell are they are quite pricey so it's more of a lump sum up front and then save it back slowly on your electric bill. If that is the route you'd look to take, as I say, make sure they're delivering the correct blue and red spectrums of light.
That soil would be a great base, I'm just using generic garden centre potting soil with about 25% perlite mixed through it. You might want to look into getting some additional filler for it as well for an indoor grow though, both perlite and vermiculite are porous volcanic rock that helps with drainage and aeration making sure your plants roots are taken good care of.
You will definitely need to consider where you keep her, with the fans running there's a bit of sound and as she grows she will give off a quite noticeable smell unless you have a carbon filter, so somewhere least likely to be disturbed by visiting gas and leccy men might be an idea... I'm not too concerned about being in the attic for mine though, it actually gets quite warm up there as it's well insulated and seems to just collect a lot of the heat from the house... Hot air rises after all
You can get a cheap Hygrometer which will measure the temperature and relative humidity, so it may be an idea to grab one of those and try putting it in a couple of potential places and watch what it's like there at different parts of the day.Just take it easy, and try to read as much as you can... Many different people have many different ways to do this, but there is never necessarily a right or wrong way to do something, just their way, and perhaps your way. That's the great thing I think about this site, you will be given advice, and not instructions
(Also check out some of the crazy experiments some of these guys do, have a look at this one for example!)All the best mate! \o/
Do you have easy access to your loft because i too was considering growing in my loft until i realised how much hassle it was going to be to keep getting a ladder out then carrying water up through a tiny hatch. Just something for you to consider.
sage advice. good man yerself - as they're known to say in Ireland. - mate, loved your journal and have absolutely subscribed. can't wait to see how you go on. have a good day, sir. cheers, kp.Hey again
You're spot on about LEDs, they're cooler generally, and cheaper to run but the downsides as far as I can tell are they are quite pricey so it's more of a lump sum up front and then save it back slowly on your electric bill. If that is the route you'd look to take, as I say, make sure they're delivering the correct blue and red spectrums of light.
That soil would be a great base, I'm just using generic garden centre potting soil with about 25% perlite mixed through it. You might want to look into getting some additional filler for it as well for an indoor grow though, both perlite and vermiculite are porous volcanic rock that helps with drainage and aeration making sure your plants roots are taken good care of.
You will definitely need to consider where you keep her, with the fans running there's a bit of sound and as she grows she will give off a quite noticeable smell unless you have a carbon filter, so somewhere least likely to be disturbed by visiting gas and leccy men might be an idea... I'm not too concerned about being in the attic for mine though, it actually gets quite warm up there as it's well insulated and seems to just collect a lot of the heat from the house... Hot air rises after all
Just take it easy, and try to read as much as you can... Many different people have many different ways to do this, but there is never necessarily a right or wrong way to do something, just their way, and perhaps your way. That's the great thing I think about this site, you will be given advice, and not instructions
All the best mate! \o/
ay up haunts - loving the mental cat avatar! - really good point about the water lugging. mind you that's what i've got kids for - ' can you carry that 10L bucket of water for daddy? And no - don't ask what it's for!!' seriously though, great point. it's between the attic and the basement and the utility meters are in the basement so prob not the greatest place for me to have a little grow room. looks like i'm gonna have to become adept at carrying buckets of water on me head whilst scrambling up a ladder!
Hey hey!
The water is definitely a factor that will need considering, I'm lucky that we have one of those foldable loft ladders that just folds up and down into the landing ceiling, so shifting up and down a few times a day isn't a huge issue to me, at least anyway!
My girl is using approximately 2.5 litres a week, so I keep 2 x 5 litre water bottles up there, one with that weeks feed in it and another with plain tap water so I have plenty at hand for my needs for now, and hopefully that'll work for the rest of the grow. Obviously additional plants means more water required though.
You will also consider drainage, for the most part there won't be any spare water, what you put in the soil will be used by the plant but most feeding schedules recommend a flush half way through between veg and flowering, and that means running 3 or 4 times the volume of your pot through the soil to run off, and that's going to be interesting for me... It may mean having to move the plant down into the bathroom so I can use the showerhead and then back up again with a pot full of wet soil which will be quite a weight too. That or build a make shift sink upstairs and draining out the soffit next to the hot water overflow pipe, but that also means taking maybe 50 litres of water up there...
All fun and games!
The water is definitely a factor that will need considering, I'm lucky that we have one of those foldable loft ladders that just folds up and down into the landing ceiling, so shifting up and down a few times a day isn't a huge issue to me, at least anyway!
My girl is using approximately 2.5 litres a week, so I keep 2 x 5 litre water bottles up there, one with that weeks feed in it and another with plain tap water so I have plenty at hand for my needs for now, and hopefully that'll work for the rest of the grow. Obviously additional plants means more water required though.
You will also consider drainage, for the most part there won't be any spare water, what you put in the soil will be used by the plant but most feeding schedules recommend a flush half way through between veg and flowering, and that means running 3 or 4 times the volume of your pot through the soil to run off, and that's going to be interesting for me... It may mean having to move the plant down into the bathroom so I can use the showerhead and then back up again with a pot full of wet soil which will be quite a weight too. That or build a make shift sink upstairs and draining out the soffit next to the hot water overflow pipe, but that also means taking maybe 50 litres of water up there...
All fun and games!
Hi Knocker...is it ok if I throw my two pennies worth.
I only started growing indoors last year after having grown nothing but photo's outdoors for years.
If your growing just for you and think 2/3 oz will last you then personally I would go for an 80x80x160 tent which will fit inside a standard wardrobe. I wouldn't grow in your loft for a couple of reasons, one of them especially seeing as though you live in the Smoke. You get a lot of helicopter traffic in London and the met have heat sensitive cameras on both their choppers, not a problem in the summer but in the winter a tent in the loft even with led's or cfl's will be warm enough to melt frost and give a heat source for the camera. Secondly going back to frost, in the winter if your loft is properly insulated then no or little heat will warm it from your house so when it's sub zero and frosty outside the inside of your loft won't be much warmer, plus as mentioned before it's a ball ache hauling water etc up a ladder.
as I said I would go for an 80x80x160 tent with a 300w dual spectrum cfl for your first couple of grows just to get the feel of indoor growing.
I use plant magic soil in 15l pots so that would suit your needs too. Location location location, I would try to put it in a wardrobe either in where the meters are or like me I have it in my bedroom with a padlock on the zipper to keep the kids out.
With the tent being 80x80 there will be enough room inside for extractor fan and filter so the only thing showing externally will be a little length of exhaust ducting, this will make the whole set up look more just like a storage unit, being just a big upright rectangle so to speak and make it a lot more hideable, I hang the bedspread over mine if we have guests round and it looks just like a piece of furniture with a cover on it
Strain wise, most auto's are now yielding 2oz upwards, I just pulled 4g over 3oz from one plant so I'm well happy with that as it lasts between harvests.
I hope this helps a bit, it all sounded so much simpler and shorter in my head....the joys of smoking your own bud, you can probably tell I'm a bit baked.
Anyway man if you want to know anything just give us a shout there's plenty of very knowledgeable friendly people on here who will come to your aid should you need it.
Happy growing and I look forward to your first journal
I only started growing indoors last year after having grown nothing but photo's outdoors for years.
If your growing just for you and think 2/3 oz will last you then personally I would go for an 80x80x160 tent which will fit inside a standard wardrobe. I wouldn't grow in your loft for a couple of reasons, one of them especially seeing as though you live in the Smoke. You get a lot of helicopter traffic in London and the met have heat sensitive cameras on both their choppers, not a problem in the summer but in the winter a tent in the loft even with led's or cfl's will be warm enough to melt frost and give a heat source for the camera. Secondly going back to frost, in the winter if your loft is properly insulated then no or little heat will warm it from your house so when it's sub zero and frosty outside the inside of your loft won't be much warmer, plus as mentioned before it's a ball ache hauling water etc up a ladder.
as I said I would go for an 80x80x160 tent with a 300w dual spectrum cfl for your first couple of grows just to get the feel of indoor growing.
I use plant magic soil in 15l pots so that would suit your needs too. Location location location, I would try to put it in a wardrobe either in where the meters are or like me I have it in my bedroom with a padlock on the zipper to keep the kids out.
With the tent being 80x80 there will be enough room inside for extractor fan and filter so the only thing showing externally will be a little length of exhaust ducting, this will make the whole set up look more just like a storage unit, being just a big upright rectangle so to speak and make it a lot more hideable, I hang the bedspread over mine if we have guests round and it looks just like a piece of furniture with a cover on it
Strain wise, most auto's are now yielding 2oz upwards, I just pulled 4g over 3oz from one plant so I'm well happy with that as it lasts between harvests.
I hope this helps a bit, it all sounded so much simpler and shorter in my head....the joys of smoking your own bud, you can probably tell I'm a bit baked.
Anyway man if you want to know anything just give us a shout there's plenty of very knowledgeable friendly people on here who will come to your aid should you need it.
Happy growing and I look forward to your first journal
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