New Grower 8x8 LEDgrow

[Gaigenale]

Hey guys new grower here in an 8x8x8 tent with (4) 2000 watt LEDs (not sure of actual wattage but its a 192 LED cannalight). I also have a large ventech carbon filter and a decent sized fan pumping in fresh air, and one small inside fan. I have an extra 600 watt (actual wattage unknown) LED I could also add if you guys think it's worth it but my budget is mostly used up for lights at this point. For my soil mix I used 2 cubic ft of happy frog 4 cu ft of promix ultimate organic, 1 cu ft of worm castings, 1 cu ft of perlite. I also have the three basic foxfarm nutrients I plan to slowly add. Also have PH up and down solution and water and soil ph testers (cheap ones).
I purchased a seed pack from ILGM which they are pretty well screwing me over on considering its been like 20 days and they havent accepted my payment. But also grabbed some white widow max from MSNL so hoping those get here quickly. Your thoughts and tips are appreciated thanks guys.

Questions:
1. Is it fine to use ph downed tap water for my plants?
2. Will small holes in my hand-me-down grow tent amount to larger problems?
3. I am using 3 gallon fabric pots. How many plants can I grow with my current amount of light/space?

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

@Gaigenale Welcome to AFNI wish I had a space like that. There are too many variables to give you an honest answer. A ballpark is 15 if you can reach into the tent from outside on the sides. with one aisle down the center. I calculate an Auto plant needs about 3 sq ft. in my grows. With enough patients you might be able to fill it with just 1 Photoperiod plant. Not that I would want to. If you design a transport system maybe a few more.

You need at a minimum 2 - 16" oscillating fans. The exhaust system may be too small depending on the heat generated by the lights and your environment.

If you have never grown before I would suggest you start with 8 plants two under each light. That should give you easy space for working and you will learn how to improve on the next run. If you start with too many (Bath of fire we all jump in to) plants can overwhelm you and the space leading to poor cultural practices. You cannot reach some plants to properly defoliate for air flow.

What you need to learn about watering will come with practice. Here are the basic rules: Never let the soil dry out. Soil and or coco can become hydrophobic if allowed to dry. This means it repels water. This in turn will create dry pockets in the soil and roots there will die. If your soil - coco have accidentally dried out use a surfactant to help re-wet it. I like yucca powder. Don't let soil remain soggy by watering too much too often. Root rot, damping off, molds, fungus gnats and other problems start in soggy soil. When you do water water the entire pot. How to learn when to water starts before you plant the seed. Fill your container with fresh soil/coco and weigh it (heft it) this is the lightest weight and consider it a dry pot. Now slowly water until the soil/coco will no longer absorb the water and run-off begins; weigh the pot (heft it) this is the maximum water, the wettest the pot can get. The difference between wettest and driest is the maximum water weight, for ease of explanation lets just say the water weighs 20 pounds. When the pot loses 10 pounds (half of the water weight) it is time to water again. There is an art to watering.

You really should not move fabric pots around much once the plant is rooted as the media slips too much and can damage the roots.

I think that covers hardware accept maybe a good PH soil probe like the Accurate 8 or its clone. Not really there is so much more I am just too stoned to type.

 

[Gaigenale]

I had considered moving three lights to the right 4x4 half of the tent and then having the other 2000 and the 600 watt in the back left which would give me one fourth of the tent to work in the front and more complete coverage over the spaces with light over them. The tent is old and jerry rigged up and has a lot of small holes and stuff I have worked to cover with duct tape. The biggest downside is it only has one entrance so watering from the outside is a no go. You think I need another oscilating fan other than the larger fan bringing in fresh air and the one zip tied inside? I also have to figure out some cheap drip trays for the fabric pots I bought I only realized today..

 

[Gaigenale]

Also I am hoping the exhaust system works well I thought that since it weighed like 50 pounds it was heavy duty but maybe that's just the carbon filter itself..

 

[420Forever]

Hey guys new grower here in an 8x8x8 tent with (4) 2000 watt LEDs (not sure of actual wattage but its a 192 LED cannalight). I also have a large ventech carbon filter and a decent sized fan pumping in fresh air, and one small inside fan. I have an extra 600 watt (actual wattage unknown) LED I could also add if you guys think it's worth it but my budget is mostly used up for lights at this point. For my soil mix I used 2 cubic ft of happy frog 4 cu ft of promix ultimate organic, 1 cu ft of worm castings, 1 cu ft of perlite. I also have the three basic foxfarm nutrients I plan to slowly add. Also have PH up and down solution and water and soil ph testers (cheap ones).
I purchased a seed pack from ILGM which they are pretty well screwing me over on considering its been like 20 days and they havent accepted my payment. But also grabbed some white widow max from MSNL so hoping those get here quickly. Your thoughts and tips are appreciated thanks guys.

Questions:
1. Is it fine to use ph downed tap water for my plants?
2. Will small holes in my hand-me-down grow tent amount to larger problems?
3. I am using 3 gallon fabric pots. How many plants can I grow with my current amount of light/space?

heya @Gaigenale and to afn! sure, u can uze ph downed tap, jus make sure u leave it set out for at least 24h first great commune here to help ya get dialed in & anything u need, jus give a holler

ppp &