Pre Grow Planning Advice Please

[FourTwenty4Life]

So I'm going to be doing a soil, indoor grow within the next 2 months or so. I've been planning it out with 1 of my friends who is going in on it with me monetarily/getting some end product out of the deal. I have some preliminary ideas but I would like input from some of the experienced SOIL growers on here.

I've only grown twice before and it was a few years back. I ended up getting a lot of males and about 7grams of bud the first time. The second time, my one friend did the dumbest thing in the world and left all 8 plants we had growing in the back of his car's trunk and they all died...lol needless to say I was pissed and I pretty much gave up after that.

Now I'm ready to try again and do it right. I'm looking to do a SHORT strain, nothing bigger than about 4-4 1/2 max feet from ground to top. I've narrowed it down to either Buddah Seeds Autoflowering White Dwarf feminized OR Barney's Farm Violator Kush feminized which claims it stays short/bushy and very dense, trichromed buds. I'm looking to do 3 plants and I'll be happy if I get at least 2 ounces out of everything but obviously will aim for more. Which strain do you guys think is better to do for my situation?

The grow setup is as follows:
-start in 6 inch potters, move to 12 inch potters till end
-about a 6ft X 8ft area covered in mylar on all sides and bottom
-3 CFLs for veg stages
-1 400w HPS w/blue spectrum and reflective cover, lumatek digital ballast
-Fox Farm Open Sesame, all 3 soil bloom juices
-Sungro Sunshine Natural & Organic Soil Mix #4
-Excellofizz CO2 tablets
-Distilled Water
-C02 digital reader
-digital thermometer
-2 fans for intake and exhaust + 1 fan to blow on plants
-ph indicator
-brown bags & ties for drying
-jars for curing

If I go for the VK, obviously I'll use everything listed but if I go AF White Dwarf, I'll use very limited nutes,etc..I plan on starting light cycle 24/0, 20/4,18/6,12/12 for VK OR 20/4, 18/6 for AF White Dwarf. I was also considering trying to make the 'soil wedding cake' when you re-pot during flower cycle but contain the roots in a ball of soil and then put on TOP of entire potter so that roots can extend down further and promote more growth.

Any suggestions, advice, previous experience with either strain I listed, etc..please share. Thanks. :hippy:

[FourTwenty4Life]

*damn, missed the 10 min mark to edit. Also have a digital light timer, just wanted to add that.

[LolaGal]

Hmmm...where to start?

If possible, I'd paint the walls white instead of using mylar...if no paint possible, use white plastic instead...better for light reflection than mylar.

The CO2 tablets sounds expensive... Never used em, but you can get the same benefits from baker's yeast, sugar, and warm water....Very cheap. A lb. of baker's yeast about $3.....put it in a bucket and change water & add sugar to keep going or you wind up with alcohol....

Strains sound fine...White widow, good short indoor strain too.

Oh, I'd start in 3 inch pots, then graduate to 6 inch then 12 inch. This allows the roots to get well established, and is mostly a personal preference....

Feb. 14th good planting day by Moon, will help plants get established....

Have fun!

[FourTwenty4Life]

Hmmm...where to start?

If possible, I'd paint the walls white instead of using mylar...if no paint possible, use white plastic instead...better for light reflection than mylar.

The CO2 tablets sounds expensive... Never used em, but you can get the same benefits from baker's yeast, sugar, and warm water....Very cheap. A lb. of baker's yeast about $3.....put it in a bucket and change water & add sugar to keep going or you wind up with alcohol....

Strains sound fine...White widow, good short indoor strain too.

Oh, I'd start in 3 inch pots, then graduate to 6 inch then 12 inch. This allows the roots to get well established, and is mostly a personal preference....

Feb. 14th good planting day by Moon, will help plants get established....

Have fun!

Thanks Lola. I already bought the mylar and I can't paint the walls but I'll remember that for future grows. I also already have the C02 tabs. I knew about the yeast idea but I read you have to change it like 3 times a day where as with the C02 pucks, you can use roughly just one every other day. I like the gradual pot idea though and it makes more sense so I'll start small and work my way up to the 12inch. Thanks again. I'll be posting a Grow Log once I start. It's an indoor grow too by the way, not outdoor. If I would put these outdoor where I live on 2/14 like you said, they would die lol. It's pretty cold where I am right now. I'm thinking in about 4-6 weeks I'll start. I still have to debate which strain. It seems like I MIGHT get better yield with the Violator Kush but it's also going to take longer.

[frostymcfailure]

looking great! Remember with cfl's its best to do a 4wblue to 1w orange ratio. Light hangers can be very helpful as well. A timer if not already included would be swell as well. One gallon of soil per foot of height is a good rule of thumb.

[FourTwenty4Life]

Thanks for the advice, I like the soil-height rule, makes sense. Which strain should I do, the white AF dwarf or Violator Kush??