Basic Indoor Grow Questions preparing for first time

Hey guys, I got some basic questions in an attempt to prepare for my first indoor grow. Setup is in the corner of my buddies garage.

I've been looking around these forums a lot for tips as to what type of dirt to buy, lighting, nutes, etc. So far I'm looking at miracle-gro dirt and nutes, i already bought a CFL 65W (or 60W, i dont remember.) Any opinions on these would be great.

My friend has a legit hookup and we're getting 3 clones for free, so at the moment we are planning on starting 3 plants within a week or two. I have some questions about clones, specifically how do you start them? All I plan on using is dirt, so do I just stick them in a small amount of dirt and let them begin to grow? I have germinated seeds before (more for fun, cheap ones my buddy got out of his stash), but I've never heard much about clones.

I know I'm going to need more lights for 3 plants, how much W/Lumens would you suggest? And as a rule of thumb how many W/Lumens are need for a single plant? I've heard that 100W per 1 plant is a good number.

Current Materials:
-65W CFL
-Small fan, good size for 3 plants
-Miracle gro dirt and nutes (need to buy)

Anything else i should look into?

I'm not sure how you plan on those clones, but NO, you cannot just stick them in soil. You'll have to use some sort of rooting hormone.

As for lighting, I've heard to shoot for 5000 lumens per square foot or more. for three plants, most people will say you want at least 15,000 lumens. I personally have a total of about 12,000 on four plants right now and they are doing great... then again I'm growing them smaller (2 feet or so) for several reasons.

I also successfully grew two plants under ONE crappy cfl last winter. (they were small, and the yield was laughable, but IT WORKED. and the plants were pretty healthy.

Play around with your equipment, definitely invest in some really good reflective material (space blankets work great) but as a general rule with cfl's: more is always better.

I'm still a newbie at this too, so i can tell you you'll find yourself freaking out about every little thing that happens to your plants. What Ive figured out is that relaxing and taking it easy is the best way to go. If your plants start to look distressed, don't start flooding it with nutes and water. Oh and you'll probably over water... it's soooo easy to do, so just take it easy on watering too.

That's all I've got for now, good luck on your first grow... It probably wont be your last. It's really really fun. :jointsmile:

sorry i forgot something.

One thing you'll want to check before you start is the color temperature of your cfl. 6500k is ideal for vegetation, 2700k for flowering.

again, good luck

Thanks for the reply and input, a few more questions for ya or for anyone else lookin.

Where can i get that rooting hormone you spoke of? Is it available at home depot or lowes somewhere like that? If so...could you recommend a brand name so I could find it.

Although I believe these clones will be coming already rooted in dirt (hopefully,) so in that case i dont need the rooting hormone...right?

As for lighting, should i just buy a couple 40W to get to around 12-15k lumens, or should i buy more 23W ones? All i have is a 65W atm, around 2k lumens i believe.

What is your opinion on soil? Ive heard using sterile soil while the plant is in the smaller pot in the beginning stages is good, or should i start with miracle gro dirt?

Any other random tips even if i haven't brought them up would be great. I plan on starting a grow log soon, first post will be once i actually receive the clones and have the setup going.

Thanks everyone.

Also, how what kind of light sockets do you guys use? Where can I get those Y sockets that hold 2 lights?

you can get those Y adapters at home depot for under 3 bucks a pop and I just hang an extenstion cord down the middle of the grow box with multiple female sockets at the end and start with just a male plug-in that fits a bulb and stick a Y adapter in that then another 2 Y adapters in that one so essentially you can fit 4 bulbs and I do the same on the other side of the extension cord so I have 4 cfl's hanging on one side and 4 hanging on the other for a total of 8. then I hang 2 cfls on their own on each side of the extension cord where theres a gap between cfl's. 10 cfl's at 23-26w each. this is enough for a few flowers, especially if your growing in a 2.5 sq. foot box like me. add mylar or some other reflective material around the lighting area. I use miracle grow and seems to work fine. just be easy on nutes and water and you'll be fine. good luck:thumbsup:

Forget the rooting hormone, it's snake oil in my honest opinion. You can just put it in some non fertilized soil and keep it moist and it will root. The best way to go would be to make a bubble cloner and root it in there or get some rockwool cubes and make a humidity tent. The clones want high humidity and VERY little nutrition. Keep them looking as happy as you can and wait until the leaves start to yellow a little to remove the tent.

Get as much light and air going as you can.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Went to home depot yesterday and picked up...

-4 23W 1600 lumens (those, plus the 65W/2k lumens i have should be enough for 3 plants, right?)
-two Y sockets with extension, etc....
-3 5 gallon buckets

So at the moment my lighting adds up to 8400 lumens.

Minor set back...my buddy is considering backing out on my grow space, but I have other friends who are interested.

Heres another question for you guys. My buddy is considering backing out because he is worried about the smell the plants produce once they flower(which is very potent i know). What are your opinions on how to reduce smell? I read on here that half a box of baking soda on a plate could help reduce the smell, but I havent heard from anyone who has actually tried it...therefore im not willing to say that it works yet.

I looked up some filters/fans and the few i looked at were 100$+...are there any cheaper methods that work well? I'd be interested in anything you guys throw out there (hopefully with factual experience).

Thanks again to everyone who has been replying and supplying me with valuable input, it's very helpful.

perhaps you should start reading here! you have a lot of it to do young padawan.

all of the questions you pose are answered ad nauseam!

don't even think of putting your plants into 5 gallon buckets. first off the lighting won't do them justice. you need more light.....PERIOD!

activated carbon for the smell. you can build your own filter. again, this can be found on the boards.

read through some CFL grows. there is tons of useful information that can be found. look for monkeybone's current grow. it's pretty nice for CFLs.

then go and read some more!

the faddenator gave you good advice as well!


-shake

I've searched through all the forums and will continue searching for good tips, and thanks for that tip on activated carbon btw.

Whats a brand name for activated carbon? Can i find it online or in a local store?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by headshake

don't even think of putting your plants into 5 gallon buckets. first off the lighting won't do them justice. you need more light.....PERIOD!

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I'm not going to start them in 5 gallon buckets, but after enough growth isn't a 5 gallon bucket a good size once the plant gets closer to full growth?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GreenGopher

I've searched through all the forums and will continue searching for good tips, and thanks for that tip on activated carbon btw.

Whats a brand name for activated carbon? Can i find it online or in a local store?

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you are welcome. just because you've read and know some tips doesn't mean that you are prepared to start. i can tell you this by the list of equipment that you are proposing to use. i'm not knocking you. you should of seen what i've started with. trust me, i've been there. while yes you can grow a plant or two with the stuff you mention, it's really worth investing some money and getting the right equipment. again, i'm only speaking from experience.

i don't think activated charcoal goes by any brand names. sure you might find some with a brand name on it, but you can buy it in bulk both locally (pet stores, maybe hardware stores etc) and online. you can also buy a pre-made filter online. just google it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GreenGopher

I'm not going to start them in 5 gallon buckets, but after enough growth isn't a 5 gallon bucket a good size once the plant gets closer to full growth?

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that's cool. just throwing it out there. i've sen and heard crazy things on these boards. half of it is me proposing them!!!!

good growing!


-shake