Loose ends

[getnasty]

First off, soft and cuddly, higs 'n kissesthe time out counter for session log-in's on these forums. -_- I just spent an hour typing up a well versed, thoroughly organized post, only to have it discarded when I hit post, because my session had timed out.simplygreat.


ANYWAYS..............................


I refuse to put that much more effort into this post, so I'm just going to ask the questions instead of explaining my setup.

closet space is 2ftx4ftx6.5ft. it's not near a window, so I cannot ventilate. taking the door off the closet and replacing it with black plastic, then putting up a throw rug in front of that. going to have oscillating fans inside the closet. my ventilation should be adequate, yes?

using fluoro's. I need T5's right? Will these cause too much heat in such a little space?

how do i check the ph balance of soil? how do i increase or decrease it? im growing auto's for my first grow experience ever, and like regular plants, they don't like acidic soil... tends to produce more males than females. so i need to know how to keep my soil and water in check, if you guys could help me out with that. im gonna buy an organic planting mix from lowes, or another gardening center. what should i be looking out for?

also, i know nothing about nutes. i need someone who can dumb it down for me and explain it well enough for me to understand at the same time. im not trying to pull off a perfect phosphorous, nitrogen, potassium, co2, grow up here... i just need to know if i can use plant feeds for giving my plants nutrients. i know you cant use too much on the plants or it'll burn them up, which is even moreso true with auto's... my question basically is should i bother with nutrients being that they grow so fast? and if i do, what solution/mix do i give them, so as not to kill them off? and how frequently?

thanks in advance... im sure i'll have more questions when the replies start coming in.



-getNASTY-


EDIT


http://www.marijuanapassion.com/Site_Rules.html[/b] <--------

 

[getnasty]

i would run a 400-600 Watt HPS in a aircooled hood in that space with like 3 medium sized plants. your going to have to ventilate some how even ith T5s so might as well get the right lights gfrom the get go. floros will create more heat. i would look into a smaller clip on fan to hang up to get some air circulation since the bigger oscillating fans will take up too much space in that size of a room.

as for co/2 its really not needed as a system right away, it only works if you have a sealed room and proper regulate it, in that space youll get enough with proper ventilation and just by opening th door.

theres many chemical ph up and ph down also certain soil additives that are natural and will keep ph in check. around 6.5 seems good for my plants in soil and quality soil is ther out the bag.

Hey Puffin, thanks for the reply!

I figured co2 wouldn't be as important for me off the getgo, but thank you for confirming. In regard to the lights, I cannot locate any 400w bulbs and ballasts on craigslist. I have on the otherhand been able to locate a 1000w one with a ballast for a decent price. Would you suggest that in place of the fluoro's too? Also, as far as the oscillating fans are concerned, I intend to use the 9 inch ones on makeshift corner shelves inside the closet. I believe this will keep my air circulating well.

Do you think I will need an incline fan for this setup to help with exhaust?

 

[getnasty]

So I pretty much have to have an inline, then. If only ventilation weren't so important. D: I'm afraid that's going to delay my start time even more. If I have the 1000w, the inline fan will still not help with the cooling enough? The smaller wattage bulbs seem to be more expensive on craigslist, and unfortunately, I have to be a bargain grower at the moment. A whole lot of sighs tonight!

 

[Hushpuppy]

I have to disagree with you Puffn, The T5 floro lights don't emit nearly as much heat as the hps lights. You can grow some decent bud under them. The key to that is to get enough of the T5 to get 5000lumens per square foot of floor space. A 2x4 would have 8sqft which needs a light source of 40,000lumens.

A 400w HPS would be ideal(and you can get some good deals on those on EBAY. I just got a nice digital setup for $120) But You can also use an 8bulb 4ft T5 fixture to get 40k lumens. You can get it with mixed bulbs so that yopu have good spectrum for both veg and flower.(you will not get the best results from the T5 in flower as you would with HPS but for the money, you will get good bud) and after a couple grows, you can buy you an HPS, then veg with the T5s and flower with the HPS.

With the T5s you will not have to worry about as much heat buildup as with the HPS, but you still need to make sure you are exchanging your air within the growspace with fresh air from the outside (even if it is just exchanging air with air from inside your house where you live and breath) The plants have to have some fresh CO2 to breath or they will not do well.

As far as soil goes; you don't want to get any prenuted soils. Just basic neutral soil so that you can nute it yourself. You can order all the stuff you need online at any of the online hydro stores like discount hydro.com or HTGsupply.com, or even on EBAY.

Do some reading of the stickies at the tops of each section thread. There is a lot of great info there. Good luck with it. Patience is the key :icon_smile:

 

[Locked]

While you can grow some bud under T5's I wouldn't recommend it. They do great with vegging but sorry they just don't penetrate enough for my liking to flower with. If that is all you can afford at first then go for it but I wld also be saving for an HPS. Jmo

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

This is a hobby that requires some "basic" supplies:

Lighting--you need 3000 lumens per sq ft for vegging and 5000 for flowering. I am with Hushpuppy on the T5s--great for vegging, not so much for flowering. A 1000W is too big for that space. I would go with an air cooled 400W HPS. You are going to need intakes and exhausts for your space. I simply built a box in my closet--you may want to consider this.

Ventilation--ventilation is for more than keeping your space cool. Your plants need a continual supply of fresh air all the time the lights are on for proper photosynthesis.

If you are having problems with photo period plants, you are going to have the same problems with autos. Buy a soil that does not have any nutrients in it. Buy nutrients formulated for mj. I like GH Flora series of nutes. Many use Fox Farm. There is no reason to believe that autos are more nute sensitive than photoperiod plants--this is simply not true. Follow the directions on the nute bottles for the age of your plants and you should be fine. They DO need nutrients.

I would encourage you to look for growing stuff online rather than just hoping to find something on Craig's List. I have a 2 x 4 x 4 space that I set up quite inexpensively. Good deals are out there if you look.

 

[getnasty]

I see some big names here! Thank you guys n gal for the information and tips! I've decided to grab up a 400w HPS. Being that I'm strapped for cash at the moment (the whole reason for this new venue, hehe), it makes more sense to get the hps bulb now, and buy the fluorescents down the road. I've also decided to postpone another couple weeks in putting the room together, to accrue enough funding for an inline fan and carbon filter.

One question, though:

Last night I disinfected and painted the closet I intend to use as my grow space. Now that the paint has dried, should I disinfect again?

 

[nvthis]

Ouch! Riding the redline already? Hehe.. I'll rep ya, see if we can get ya goin' in the right direction

 

[Hick]

Ouch! Riding the redline already? Hehe.. I'll rep ya, see if we can get ya goin' in the right direction

..

 

[ArtVandolay]

It's always a good idea to copy your post before hitting Submit . It's also worth a try to hit the browser Back button just in case that recovers it, too :hubba:

 

[getnasty]

Thanks for the tips, and thank you Puffin! And @nvthis, lol. I sometimes get a little out of hand with my language. I'll watch it on here. lol