New to Growing...Need some advice...

[Nik]

Well, my uncle has been growing weed for 16 years and he just harvested his outdoor plant and it was some of the best commercial weed i've ever smoked. So i have decided to grow it indoors with proper nutrients and stuff to see how it comes out. He's giving me 2 clones of the plant after they root,the plant is female obviously,since it's a clone do i have to worry about any males? I have a growbox about 6 ft x 3.5 ft with a shelf on the top for storage of nutrients and other ect. I need to know what lights to get to grow 2 plants in that small area. I will have a fan in or near it to keep it ventalated,i got a timer for the lights if that helps, I was thinking about getting 3 flourecent tubes(i'm kinda broke) and putting one on the top and one on each side,but i want some experianced feedback,can someone tell me the basic things i need to know before i start? I'm using soil btw,not hydro system...

Nik Reviewed by Nik on 10-23-2006. New to Growing...Need some advice... Well, my uncle has been growing weed for 16 years and he just harvested his outdoor plant and it was some of the best commercial weed i've ever smoked. So i have decided to grow it indoors with proper nutrients and stuff to see how it comes out. He's giving me 2 clones of the plant after they root,the plant is female obviously,since it's a clone do i have to worry about any males? I have a growbox about 6 ft x 3.5 ft with a shelf on the top for storage of nutrients and other ect. I need to know Rating: 5

[Cornelius]

as long as you don't stress the clones too much they should stay female. For two plants I would recommend Compact Flourescent Lights, as they put out more light for the room they take up and are not very expensive. Get "Cool White" or "Daylight" color temperature ~6400k for vegetative growth and "Warm White" ~2700k for flowering.

You can leave the lights on 24 hours a day in vegetative growth and your plants will grow faster and do not need darkness.

Here's a decent Grow Guide to get you started.

http://www.nirvana-shop.com/info_growing_guide.php

and another

http://www.marijuanahydro.com/cannabisplant.html

Do not over water or over feed your plants. And read as much as you can. This forum has a lot of good stuff on it, use the search feature to find it.

[Nik]

thanks for the feedback,i appreciate it greatly,what kind of pots should i use?is it ok to just start with 2 5 gallon buckets?1 for each plant? and where can i buy these lights without having to pay big money...i don't have any light sockets so i thought it would be easier to put in the tubes but it doesn't matter really,anymore i should know i would appreciate

[TheGreenFog]

That will do ok for a little bit, but it will be an utterly insufficient amount of light for that space. 21 square feet...! Get more light! Unless of course, you want severly stretched plants like mine.

Good Luck!

TGF

P.S. How tall is your space.

[Nik]

it's in like a cabinet but the cabinet is 6ft tall and about 3 1/2 feet wide,i'm gonna get a hps 400 bulb with a ballast when the plant starts to flower,as far as i know that's what i read to do, but how much would it cost to get the bulbs for vegetation?i need the sockets and the bulbs so how many do i need?about 21 sf

[Cornelius]

a shitload get the hps, if you can get a switchable ballast so you can use MH bulbs for veg then HPS for flower

that would be ideal methinks

and if you're getting the 400 watt you should think about more plants or ScroG to maximize your energy to bud efficiency


anyhow, get some high wattage bulbs (at least 42 watts) that way you don't need nearly as many. I'm not sure how many total you want, as I just started my first grow myself with CFLs. good luck

[Nik]

thanks for the info but how much is all this gonna cost,i'm on limited funds....i'm not getting to hps bulb untill later because i can't afford it right now but i got 2 months to get the money for it,but can't i just use cfl bulbs untill flowering?than switch over?i only have enoough room for liek 2 plants so should i get a smaller bulb?thanks for the help

[TheGreenFog]

it's in like a cabinet but the cabinet is 6ft tall and about 3 1/2 feet wide,i'm gonna get a hps 400 bulb with a ballast when the plant starts to flower,as far as i know that's what i read to do, but how much would it cost to get the bulbs for vegetation?i need the sockets and the bulbs so how many do i need?about 21 sf

For some reason, that is what I thought you were saying. So, the space is 6 feet tall, 3.5 feet wide...and how long? Your square footage is your width x length, then multiply by height for full volume. But the height only matter when determining how tall you will let your plants grow and how you will manage your light situation.

If you are limited on funds, you should get some strong CFLs, like Cornelius mentioned, maybe the 42 watters (~$10 each), and some sockets (~$6 at WM/HD/Lowes) and use these for veg until you can get your HPS for flowering. Remember to keep the CFLs as close as you can to your plants without burning them. Most people on here will say 1"-2" but I have had the experiene of burning them that close so...practice makes perfect. Oh and by the way you can get those sockets with reflectors too to help direct the light where you want it. Check out my left-side veg room in my thread for a visual.

Good luck, brudda. Be safe.

:rasta: imp: :smokin: :stoned:

TGF

[Nik]

great info,just what i was looking for,and it's about 2 ft long so i figure just enough room for about 2 nice plants...i appreciate the info on the cfls,what should i get as far as nutrients go?for vegging and for flowering...