Need help. Few questions.

Okay guys, I am very new to the cannabis scene but I learn really fast. I already know most of the growing info I'm going to need but I do however have a few questions I would love to have answered.

1. What does 20/20/20 in soil mean? (I was lead to believe its the soil:fert:sand/perlite ratio. Please correct me if I'm wrong.)
2. What is the best way to germinate a seed?
3. How big of a pot would I need to grow about a 4 or so foot plant?
4. The local shop around here has the following Plant Food/Fertilizers to choose from. Which should I go with?

Miracle-Gro, Bayer, and Ross.
Natural/Organic: Neptuneâ??s Harvest, Glorious Gardens, Espoma, Ringer, and Bio-Green.
5. For the first few times should I invest in getting a HID/HPS lighting system or should I try a few times with other types then work my way into the more expensive lamps?
6. What's the easiest way to tell a female from a male?
7. Once the plant begins growing, what should I add to it along the time of it's life? As in, is there something I should do specially with adding fertilizers later or that sort of thing?
8. What is curing?
9. How are the "fruits" dried?
10. How badly is an odor controller needed? (As in would a fan do fine?)

Thanks ahead of time. Any help is greatly appreciated.
-Krayzie

lots of questions... you should get a book... it will make your life so much easier

1. N/P/K = 20/20/20 it is the fert ratio - This is fertilizer terminology. â?? N means Nitrogen. P- means Phosphorus and K- means Potassium. When fertilizers are listed on the label they are always in this order and the number means the % of each element. In other words a 10-15-10 fertilizer contains 15% Nitrogen, 15% Phosphorus and 10% Potassium.

2. keep it warm, dark, moist... this is ideal... but not mandatory, except for the moist part...

3. no need to grow to 4 feet tall.. 1-5 gallon pots are fine. find a good soil mixture , only water when top 2-3 inches are bone dry... when you do water.. flood the plant... flower when you plant is 12-20 inches tall

4. you will need to get a book (or search on line) and find the proper fert ratio for your plant...... become familiar with NPK, PH and PPM....

5. YES get HPS.. minimum 400watt

6. plant will reveal its sex when the plant has 3-5 nodes... female has white hairs... male has "balls" they look like little rose buds.... you'll KNOW

7. BOOK : )

8-9-10 - you will cut the plant down and hang it... you can trim the plants before they are dry or after... plants will be dry and ready to smoke in 7-29 days...

drying plants can really stink., especially when you disturb them...when you pick them and prune them and harvest your goodies it will STINK real real BAD... like your house got sprayed by a skunk.....


these are just the basics.... good luck

: )
SMB

dont take miracle grow. organic fert is good.

250w hps is ok for like 4 plants from my opinion.

start with vegging 18/6 than flowering 12/12

the bigger your pot is the bigger the roots will be.

mylar is pretty good for reflecting light.

males got lil balls that makes pollen, females got white pistils. kill males if u dont wanna have weed with seeds

metal halide is prefered for veg, and hps for flower.



hope itll helps!!!!

peace!!!!

Ok guys I have a layout for how I'm gonna grow my first 2. I have 2 old subwoofer boxes. I'm planning on busting out the walls from them andusing those. My only question now is: How bad does it smell as it's growing and/or budding? Also what harm can come from a normal lighting bulb with low heat output instead of starting off with expensive lights? Also I read somewhere that if I buy a HPS light system I can put a HID bulb of the same watts in it and have it work. Is this correct?
Thanks again

yo you said 1 question and u just asked 3 lol.

yea the smell can get kinda bad if u have few females. if u cant afford a ventilation system(more for professional and commercial growers), then just put incense, or open a window.

cheap lights SUCKS. like 100w lights or halogen is the worst thing. your plant will just fuckin grow and get thiny and will sucks. they dont have the right spectrum. so the thing is to get MH, HPS, or a bulb. i guess thats it

dunno for the HID thing sry

Haha that's an example of why pot is BAD! :D

If you can't put a MH bulb in an HPS lamp then do most people spend 600$ just on the lighting? I mean I know that it's a good investment considering what you make back but I still don't have $600 lying around just for the lights. If anybody has any suggestions it would greatly be appreciated.

One thing I do have though are the long bulbs. I'm not sure if they'd do any good, but I think it's worth a try even though I only have 1 seed.

Use fluorescent light for vegging and get a 250w HPS for flowering, this is OK for 4 plants. 250w lamps are pretty cheap, you can get them for about £80 - £120 (don't know what that is in $$$).
You can get light systems which will run both MH and HPS but usually only newer systems do this, older systems will not.

ballasts that run hps and mh are quite crap, a 1000 watts is only 500 watts for each buulb

I'm gonna get 2 flourescent lights and get an HPS in time for budding.

sounds like you're working on a bedroom grow...ya can't hide a grow from mom. no way...

and using hid's in such a closed environment would be better suited for baking bread...iow, it's gonna get way too hot to control w/o an elaborate vent system...which is rather noisy by itself, let alone the ballast hum from the lights. then there's the smell...ozone/neg. ion gens work great but also are somewhat noisy and an unusual item around the homes of most...

Yea I got everything figured out. Im growing em in my closet. And my parents don't know wat they are ("It's a school project!"). and as for the smell, my room smells like ass as it is :D

Also. Male or Female?

gimme a break...

WTF?????

Did I just like waste too much time on this thread?

What a shitty thing to do Da1TK....

I' d lock thiis thread and delete the fucker....

doh!