First time grower, advice?

[CaliTunnlRat]

Hey all, I'm planning on starting up a few plants pretty soon so I can enjoy marijuana's many benefits without having to pay for it. I'll be growing indoors, in my attic. There isn't an outlet up there, but my friend is pretty good with electronics and he says he'll help me install one up there. I plan to start out with just 3 plants, how many florescent bulbs would I need? I already know to rig them so I can have them three inches from the plants and raise it as they grow. I already have a few pots to use, and I plan on getting a pH tester and something to adjust the pH so I can just use tap water. I can get some potting soil, am I forgetting anything? Do I need some type of fertilizer? Please give me some advice so as to have my growing experiment be successful one.

CaliTunnlRat Reviewed by CaliTunnlRat on 01-27-2010. First time grower, advice? Hey all, I'm planning on starting up a few plants pretty soon so I can enjoy marijuana's many benefits without having to pay for it. I'll be growing indoors, in my attic. There isn't an outlet up there, but my friend is pretty good with electronics and he says he'll help me install one up there. I plan to start out with just 3 plants, how many florescent bulbs would I need? I already know to rig them so I can have them three inches from the plants and raise it as they grow. I already have a few Rating: 5

[turtle420]

Hey there!

I suggest you read, read and read anything else you find in your path.

The growing hobby is super cool... very rewarding.

As to the electrical installation: Get it right the 1st time!

Don't go cheap with that part.
Get proper sized cables... proper circuit breakers... proper GFI circuits.

Other than that, go for it!

[Weezard]

Hey all, I'm planning on starting up a few plants pretty soon so I can enjoy marijuana's many benefits without having to pay for it. I'll be growing indoors, in my attic. There isn't an outlet up there, but my friend is pretty good with electronics and he says he'll help me install one up there. I plan to start out with just 3 plants, how many florescent bulbs would I need? I already know to rig them so I can have them three inches from the plants and raise it as they grow. I already have a few pots to use, and I plan on getting a pH tester and something to adjust the pH so I can just use tap water. I can get some potting soil, am I forgetting anything? Do I need some type of fertilizer? Please give me some advice so as to have my growing experiment be successful one.

For a first time attic grow, you will need to plan ahead.
You will need at least 9 pots for 3 plants.
A small, medium, and large for each girl.
Anything will do.
You can use plastic bags if ya want.

Heat is going to be a major problem.
Think insulation and exhaust fans.
So are water spills and aromas.
So get a kiddie pool to keep theladies in.
(Careful shmareful there WILL be spills.)

I recommend coco coir instead of soil for many reasons.
hauling dirt in and out of an attic is a PITA.
2. 5Kilo blocks will take 3 plants all the way and will run you 'bout $32.
I buy mine on-line.
With coco, you just use tap water and hydro nutes.
And perhaps a little CalMag if your tap water is too soft.
One tsp. of Dyna-grow in a gallon of tap water will put the PH right where you want it.
You will never have to guess if it's time to water.
Coco is very light and fluffy when dry.
Just heft the pot, if it's still heavy, it's still wet.
Very hard to overwater as well because it holds lots of air even when soaked.

How does it perform?
Check my album.:thumbsup:

Aloha, and best of luck.
Weezard.

[unkownSuperstar]

Hey all, I'm planning on starting up a few plants pretty soon so I can enjoy marijuana's many benefits without having to pay for it. I'll be growing indoors, in my attic. There isn't an outlet up there, but my friend is pretty good with electronics and he says he'll help me install one up there. I plan to start out with just 3 plants, how many florescent bulbs would I need? I already know to rig them so I can have them three inches from the plants and raise it as they grow. I already have a few pots to use, and I plan on getting a pH tester and something to adjust the pH so I can just use tap water. I can get some potting soil, am I forgetting anything? Do I need some type of fertilizer? Please give me some advice so as to have my growing experiment be successful one.

Hi,
I am just getting near to the end of my first grow in my loft so what I can do is let you know where I went wrong then hopefully you won't make the same mistakes.

In the loft one thing you need to consider is heat, I have had a real problem with this and I live in the UK. I have used a HPS dual spectrum 600w lamp, the dual spectrum lamps are good for the veg and flowering stages and I am pleased with the results they are much more powerful than floro's. If you are in the loft you might want to consider a cool tube, which blows cold air across the tube but you will need somewhere to vent the warm air into.

It took me a while to get decent airflow in my grow room and I regretted it. You need fresh air coming in from a fan low at the far end of your grow room, because it can get cold over here I made a hole in my loft hatch and it sucks air from my house. Rather than the cold air outside, it means I have less chance of getting unwanted insects in my grow room. You will then need an extraction filter with a carbon filter (Gets rid of any unwanted smells, then you don't make your street smell of weed). Have a circulating fan blowing 24/7 as this moves the air around and lessens the chance of mould. I would have your lights come on in the evening then you don't have heat issues with the sun and the lights going at the same time. MJ plants love light so paint the walls in your room white as this will reflect the light. I had my lights on 18 hours on four off during the veg cycle, then switched to 12/12 during flowering.

If you are planning to use potting soil, most will have a lot of nutrients in them so there will be no need to add nutes for at least the first three weeks. When you do start adding them start off with a very week solution, and build up. Don't give them too much as this can be fatal to your beloved plants, its better to under nute than over. I found the CANNA range of nutrients to be fantastic. You will need one for vegging and one for flowering. I would wait no more than 4 weeks before moving on to the vegging cycle (Depending on the type of weed you decide to grow) as they continue to grow big style in the flowering phase. Continue with your vegging nutes a week into flowering the flush the soil with plain ph balanced water and switch to flowering nutes.

Add 25% perlite to your potting mix, and put some gravel in the bottom of your plant pot this will help with drainage. I didn't at first and you get the same results as overwatering. With regards to watering resist the urge to water all the time, wait until the first 3 inches of your potting mix are dry then water. As much as MJ plants love water, you can drown them. They need there roots to dry out and then be wet again. Apparently most first time growers over water and its disasterous.

You need to keep an eye on the ph of your soil, get a testing kit etc. This is really important. I mixed my soil with a cup of lime for every cubic foot of soil, it acts as a buffer for the ph and makes life easier. Test your water before you water your plants, and you can get a ph up or down to balance it.

The main thing I did wrong is without realising it was light was getting into my grow room during the dark period. I ended up with a bunch of hermies, which you don't want. You must have no light - none in your grow room at all during the dark period. So set your lights to come on for times when you can visit your grow room.

Oh and buy decent seeds it makes all the difference!!!

In a nutshell I would say the most important things to take care of are airflow, drainage, don't overwater and ph. If you need any more help let me know and do some research on germinating your seeds.

Laters

UKS