New Grower Help! Soil Advice Needed, First Grow with Berry Ryder, Candy Kush, Think Different, and WOS NLxBigBu

[tk4190]

Hi, first grow here. About put all my equipment together, and seeds have passed customs(hopefully lol)!! Should be looking at putting them in the dirt Monday all goes planned . (Sorry the pics are outdated, only have two lights hanging. Will post updated later)


Bought a basic cabinet from Lowe's for $124. Specs are
-38.5" x 70.5" x 20.5" (A bit narrow but I think I'll be growing autoflowers first, can always built another clone/veg cab later.)
-2 MarsHydro 600 (about 272W apiece, so almost 550W) and a Sun Systems 150W HPS.
-Apollo 390CFM Inline 6" Fan
-Homemade Carbon Scrubber
-Lined with Mylar, and inside completely sealed.
-LightProof box for intake (sorry, forgot who, but someone on ICMag, basically a box with 4-5 baffles, little airflow resistance)
-5,000BTU Portable AC


So I am in the final stages of prepping everything. This will be my first grow, but I didn't want to run into any problems, aka bountiful harvest. I've been researching and I decided to use WG's Grow @ Lowe's Soil Guide. I've managed to find everything except the 32QT Harvest Superpowered Organic Potting Mix and the Natural Course sand. Seemed to carry every other brand potting mix and they only had pavers sand, which looked dark and sand for sandpits(playsand).

So my only question until the seeds get here is:
-What other kind of Potting Mix is recommended/similar enough to use with my remaining items?
-What would be preferable, pavers sand or playsand?

Thanks all!

 

[tk4190]

Update! Seeds arrived!!! Happier than a pig n shit lol.

Also did some light reading, and still a bit confused, but decided to go with two 32qt bags of Dr Earth Home Grown Potting Soil.

So the game plan tomorrow is to first, go to the store to get some distilled water from the store to germinate(since i have a water softener installed at home), make my soil mix, with sand, perlite, and Bio-Tone Starter.

Aiming for 6 plants, but thinking that would almost certainly be overkill in my space....38.5" x 20.5"...any thoughts? Can't wait to get started

 

[flyinhawaiian]

Update! Seeds arrived!!! Happier than a pig n shit lol.

Also did some light reading, and still a bit confused, but decided to go with two 32qt bags of Dr Earth Home Grown Potting Soil.

So the game plan tomorrow is to first, go to the store to get some distilled water from the store to germinate(since i have a water softener installed at home), make my soil mix, with sand, perlite, and Bio-Tone Starter.

Aiming for 6 plants, but thinking that would almost certainly be overkill in my space....38.5" x 20.5"...any thoughts? Can't wait to get started

Hey TK. From the size of your cabinet I think 4 would be the max I would do. Just my opinon..As for soil I like either Roots organic or Happy frog. Both sold at Hydro shops or Organic garden shops. Check out my set up and current grow in this section. I have 4 plants going right now in a area close to the size of your cabinet. Good Luck!

 

[redroadster43]

I would not put more then 4.

Sent from my SCH-R530X using Tapatalk

 

[tk4190]

Hey TK. From the size of your cabinet I think 4 would be the max I would do. Just my opinon..As for soil I like either Roots organic or Happy frog. Both sold at Hydro shops or Organic garden shops. Check out my set up and current grow in this section. I have 4 plants going right now in a area close to the size of your cabinet. Good Luck!

I would not put more then 4.

Sent from my SCH-R530X using Tapatalk

well I was a little too stoned last night and germinated 5 seeds in Root Riots lol i guess we'll see if 4 or 5 germinate. Thanks for the suggestions! went ahead already and got Dr Earth, but I'll give Happy Frog a shot next time, could only find Ocean Forest around here, and it seemed too hot of a soil for me.

Will keep updated once anything happens...

 

[tk4190]

Quick question! Once I get some sprouts, I know I need to get them under some light as soon as possible. I have 2 MarsHydro 600 LED's, and a 150HPS Sun System. And a shitty desk led lamp that i just replaced the bulb in...15W 5000K color, 590 Lumens.

Which of these lights would be preferable for seedlings? I was thinking of just one of the MarsHydro 600's placed in the center about 30" high....but wasn't sure. Thanks!!!

 

[KapScot]

Several Questions...

Re size of cabinet and how many plants : there's still quite a bit of variation between strain sizes but I would have thought 3 would have been optimum - remember you still need to be able to get in and about them for care and maintenance, but go with 4 if you want to try.

You asked about sand... Play Sand or Paving Sand?. In an ideal world neither but that depends on the description. Kids play/sandpit sand tends to be beach sand which has been washed and cleaned - this is a smooth sand and doesn't help as much with drainage/texture as a course horticultural sand would. Paving Sand on the other hand (assuming this to be sand which is sold for paving/building etc). is a courser sand (which is good) but it may contain salts and other impurities which you might not want in your pots, at worst paving sand will contain a small % of cement mix (lime based) since it is designed to form a firm crusty layer under paving slabs.

Lights - no real reason to not be using them all - it's not the quantity of light which seedlings don't like but rather the high temperature and low humidity which stresses them out. As long as your lights are not too close to the plants and you are removing heat they should be ok. To combat the low humidity (this will increase as plants grow and transpire) you can place a temporary plastic cup over your seedlings like this.




And personally speaking I wouldn't bother much with buying distilled water, ok for germinating perhaps but not for general watering - even with soft water you should be fine. You might want to consider an alternative water source for when the girls are older and really thirsty - harvested rainwater for example - generally pH neutral and since your soil growing you should be fine with its minor impurities.

Have fun

 

[tk4190]

Several Questions...

Re size of cabinet and how many plants : there's still quite a bit of variation between strain sizes but I would have thought 3 would have been optimum - remember you still need to be able to get in and about them for care and maintenance, but go with 4 if you want to try.

You asked about sand... Play Sand or Paving Sand?. In an ideal world neither but that depends on the description. Kids play/sandpit sand tends to be beach sand which has been washed and cleaned - this is a smooth sand and doesn't help as much with drainage/texture as a course horticultural sand would. Paving Sand on the other hand (assuming this to be sand which is sold for paving/building etc). is a courser sand (which is good) but it may contain salts and other impurities which you might not want in your pots, at worst paving sand will contain a small % of cement mix (lime based) since it is designed to form a firm crusty layer under paving slabs.

Lights - no real reason to not be using them all - it's not the quantity of light which seedlings don't like but rather the high temperature and low humidity which stresses them out. As long as your lights are not too close to the plants and you are removing heat they should be ok. To combat the low humidity (this will increase as plants grow and transpire) you can place a temporary plastic cup over your seedlings like this.


View attachment 555063

And personally speaking I wouldn't bother much with buying distilled water, ok for germinating perhaps but not for general watering - even with soft water you should be fine. You might want to consider an alternative water source for when the girls are older and really thirsty - harvested rainwater for example - generally pH neutral and since your soil growing you should be fine with its minor impurities.

Have fun

Thanks for the detailed reply! I thought the same about the sand, decided to go with a small amount of play sand. I know i sound like a noob but I am, and have no idea what I am doing lol so following the Grow @ Lowe's Guide. Have the lights under the small LED light for today, but might transfer them later tonight. Thanks for the cup idea, will definitely use that! Humidity is very low, around 43% in there currently.
And thank you for the distilled water knowledge, read a few threads on here that scared me from using my tap softened water, but I already bought a dozen gallons lol. once they run out, i'll give the tap a shot. Thanks again!

Just moved 3 of the barely sprouted cubes under a small LED lamp for a day or two before they get in the pots. two still haven't sprouted yet, but i can see it coming.

 

[tk4190]

Almost ready to move to the 3 gallon pots! just one more day I'm thinking...what do ya'll think? fully sprouted, the runt at far end was stuck in the seed, I had to tweeze the casing off. But all others seem to be doing great!

When I move them to 3 gallon pots, what should I have the two MarsHydro 600's set at? 30"? it will be around 81* in the cabinet.

 

[tk4190]

Transplanted them! Think I set lights around 25", too low? high? That was fun!!!