New Grower's First Journal

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Both are 1000W in size. For those not in the know, metal halide bulbs produce light at the proper frequency for vegetative growth, whereas high pressure sodium bulbs are excellent for flowering./

don't you mean proper color spectrum? white light is made up of many different frequencies, no?

My intention is to shoot for 3 plants this first go round. With any luck one of them will be a fine lady. In particular, I'm trying the Caramelicious strain, an Indica/Sativa cross that has a decent yield but evidentially is good for a "first crop". I have a small propagation kit that will house my seedlings in rockwool cubes until such time they are ready for their final homes.

are you going to be putting the rockwool cubes in the soil? if you do make sure to remove the wrapping to allow the cube to breath or it can hold too much water and cause problems.

also, don't forget to pre-soak your rockwool. it can cause pH problems, so you might reconsider using it.

To this end, I have purchased some sterile organic soil, along with a large container of worm castings. Truthfully, I was considering growing in pure castings, but I wasn't sure if this would be advisable, so I figured that would be my first question to all of you. Do you think there would be any adverse affect to growing in pure worm castings, as some have suggested to me?

pure worm castings would be bad. they retain water and get muddy which will drown the roots of your plants. cannabis likes wet/dry cycles.

also, pure worm castings would provide too much N i believe. i'd be careful with any advice from someone telling you to use only castings.

Furthermore, one of my other reasons for growing this strain is its unique smell. That is, rather than the usual skunk effect, this Caramelicious produces a nice sweet aroma that doesn't seem as conspicuous (or so I'm told). Still, just to be cautious and courteous to my neighbors, I've attached a fan and vent system to my light ballast which is connected to an active charcoal filter (or will be I should say, it hasn't arrived yet).

Finally, my room will be set off with a nice CO2 generator to assist with plant growth. Well, in a proper sense it's a propane heater that while burning produces carbon dioxide, but you see where I'm going with this.

i would assume that you are aware that co2 works better in a sealed room with slightly elevated temps. if you are running exhaust you are going to be wasting your co2. you should really worry about getting dialed in before messing with co2. if you are not dialed in you won't know if the co2 is doing a bit of good.

not only that, but co2 is toxic and can cause death to you and your plants.

Also, I'm using some highly diluted Earth Juice for my nutrient supply, mixed down to 25% strength as to not burn the plants chemically. I'm a little unsure about the feeding though. Do you guys think it's advisable to mix it in my water supply when I want to feed my plants, or would a spray bottle and "leaf feeding" be sufficient?

Anyway, stay tuned for pictures once I get the room completely setup. Any thoughts or criticisms are welcome, and I hope you enjoy this thread!

you should start with 1/4 strength if you don't know where to start. i would think that the bottles or a feeding schedule on the website would tell you what to use and when.

the 1/4 strength will not suffice as your plants get big. that's what the schedule if for. if you don't have any experience you probably don't want to start messing with variables but keep it simple.

you always mix your nutes in water, and NEVER mix them together without adding them to the water.

good growing!


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