Before the first grow

[zacskoman]

All right...so after lurking here for a couple of weeks and reading a couple books on the subject, i decided to start my first grow soon ( in a week or two)...I just want to tell you guys about the planned setup so if I made a mistake somewhere please tell me...so here goes:

-4x4x6 DIY box for both veg and flowering, constructed from plywood, mylar material on all the walls (possibly another small box for a mother plant later on but now i decided against it for practical reasons)
-i'm going to try to grow 6 mature plants at a time ( legal limit)
-600w MH/HPS air-cooled lamp
-about 100 CFM for exhaust for cooling the lamp (question: if i have this cooling the lamp with a passive intake on the other side, do i need to have another exhaust fan for the box, and if so, how powerful? is it worth to get intake fans as well at this size? or better yet, what ventillation system would you use?)
-a smaller fan for circulating air mounted on the wall
-i'm planning on getting smart pots for the plants, given the size of the box i'm thinking 5 gal is the best for flowering, and maybe get 3 gal pots for the first transplant stage...or what do you think?

-as a grow medium and nutrients, i decided on fox farm products (potting soil, their nutes for veg and grow, and the sledgehammer for flushing from time to time)...are they good? I haven't bought them yet so if you have feedback on these products please share!


So I have a couple random questions...

-what timer setup do you use? and how do you set them? i'm not necessarily talking about the timer for lights (I'm planning on doing 20/4-12/12 btw), but timers for the fans...i read that it is good to have them turn on and turn off periodically, however i couldn't find any specific info on this

-do you think that in this box the temperature is going to be normal (if you have a box this size then you might now) or do i need to do something extra about it? I live in SoCal and I plan on putting the box in my garage that is not heated.

-if using smart pots how often do you need to water? I know that it is impossible to tell the exact timeframe, it depends on the setup and the plants and whatnot, but just an approximation would be fine...

-what fans do you recommend? noise is kind of an issue, not a serious one, but the more quiet the fan the happier i'll be ( we jam sometimes in the garage..) are computer fans too small for this? if not, how do you attach them to the exhaust duct? cuz the duct is in imperial (6") and the computer fans are usually in metric...what do you use? or just forget comp. fans and get a "growing" fan from amazon? as you can see the area I still have the most questions about is ventillation...because I think it is really important , I am just not an expert...hopefully one day I'll become one but in the meantime I'll need to rely on you guys...:)

-I'm thinking of getting clones for the first time...not going to start from seed...not out of laziness, just because there is a time factor in it too, and given the limited area, i want to make sure that they are going to be female plants... so how do i transport clones safely? they are about 1 hour away from where I live...and also, how common is a non-female plant in clones? is there a big chance that one or two is going to go hermaphrodite on me?

Well these are the questions I can think of right now, I'm pretty sure there are tons of other ones floating around in my head I'm just kinda stoned right now so...I'll keep 'em coming :)

thanks for the replies in advance!

:smokin:

[Bloomin Idiot]

So I have a couple random questions...

-what timer setup do you use? and how do you set them? i'm not necessarily talking about the timer for lights (I'm planning on doing 20/4-12/12 btw), but timers for the fans...i read that it is good to have them turn on and turn off periodically, however i couldn't find any specific info on this

goto lowes or home depot and get a timer that triggers a relay, they last way longer and safer. (they have a water heater one that works great.

-do you think that in this box the temperature is going to be normal (if you have a box this size then you might now) or do i need to do something extra about it? I live in SoCal and I plan on putting the box in my garage that is not heated.

the temp will be correct if you make it so. you might want to more than double the cfm and then turn the fan down as needed with a variable speed control.

-if using smart pots how often do you need to water? I know that it is impossible to tell the exact timeframe, it depends on the setup and the plants and whatnot, but just an approximation would be fine...

My rule of thumb in soil- 300ml a day to start then increase as needed.

-what fans do you recommend? noise is kind of an issue, not a serious one, but the more quiet the fan the happier i'll be ( we jam sometimes in the garage..) are computer fans too small for this? if not, how do you attach them to the exhaust duct? cuz the duct is in imperial (6") and the computer fans are usually in metric...what do you use? or just forget comp. fans and get a "growing" fan from amazon? as you can see the area I still have the most questions about is ventillation...because I think it is really important , I am just not an expert...hopefully one day I'll become one but in the meantime I'll need to rely on you guys...:)

if you do as i say with a speed control should be quiet when turned down. that size fan is not that loud

-I'm thinking of getting clones for the first time...not going to start from seed...not out of laziness, just because there is a time factor in it too, and given the limited area, i want to make sure that they are going to be female plants... so how do i transport clones safely? they are about 1 hour away from where I live...and also, how common is a non-female plant in clones? is there a big chance that one or two is going to go hermaphrodite on me?

the place selling clones should pack them, just run ac in car in way home if its way too hot. there are not going to be male clone most likely.(its a clone of a female plant). dont worry about hermmies just dont stress out your plants.

Well these are the questions I can think of right now, I'm pretty sure there are tons of other ones floating around in my head I'm just kinda stoned right now so...I'll keep 'em coming :)

thanks for the replies in advance!

[zacskoman]

goto lowes or home depot and get a timer that triggers a relay, they last way longer and safer. (they have a water heater one that works great!

thanks for the reply!!

so what triggers the fans? is it timed (every 30 mins for example) or are there heat sensors or what? how often should the fans turn on? or should I just leave them on?