First Grow, Any Help Appreciated!

[bluewind]

hey thanks for taking the time to check the post!

main goal is just to have 1-2 plants cycling constantly for personal use
the strain i'm using is called,Blue Deity

I spent the last two weeks taking notes and doing my own tests with the pack of 100 free seeds I got from overgrow canada, so far I have 4 , 2'' sprouts under two 100w 1700 lumen daylight cfls, will be getting another lamp cord so I can add another two 100w 1700 lumen bright white cfls ( I noticed a hydro shop had a single 6500k bulb for 40$, should I scrap my current light setup for that single bulb, maybe two of them?)

anyways I just picked up a 2x2x4 tent and some coco coir, I just noticed all the specifics of the coco coir and now i'm worried my current setup won't work. Would anyone be able to recommend a simple nutrient list to feed my plants daily, as well as what/if i'm supposed to add a fertilizer mix when I transplant. I will probably be using tap water if that helps the calcium deficiencies


Current setup:
2x2x4 tent
x2 100w DAYLIGHT cfls (1700 lumens, kelvin not stated)
adding another x2 100w bright white cfls when I buy another lamp cord
air purifier that i use as a fan also
running botanicare coco coir with perlite/worm casting mix( not purchased any nutes yet)
humidity/temp
sprouts are 2'' away from the lights


So far my list of items that I still need to get are,
ph kit
ph tester
nutrients for coco coir ( idk which ones )
carbon filter (will get during flower )

let me know if you feel like i'm missing anything please!

thanks in advance for any replies I might get!

 

[Chefboiyard]

Air movement, doesnt have to be a filter but atleast bring air into the tent. Co2 is big if your looking for weight. Tnb naturals is awesome for that. Temp amd humidity guages, better to know what you need to fix then just guessing. Especially in a rapid climate change. Always ph your water so a ph meter. As far as lights, if you dont have one, i would rock a marshydro led. Cant go wrong with leds. Cheap and heatless. Or platinum led but they are a little more expensive. And dont be lazy! Your plants dont care if you had a bad day they want to live and they need YOU

 

[bluewind]

Air movement, doesnt have to be a filter but atleast bring air into the tent. Co2 is big if your looking for weight. Tnb naturals is awesome for that. Temp amd humidity guages, better to know what you need to fix then just guessing. Especially in a rapid climate change. Always ph your water so a ph meter. As far as lights, if you dont have one, i would rock a marshydro led. Cant go wrong with leds. Cheap and heatless. Or platinum led but they are a little more expensive. And dont be lazy! Your plants dont care if you had a bad day they want to live and they need YOU

thanks for the reply, I already have a temp gauge and a fan inside the tent on 24/7, is the CFL setup i plan on using not sufficient? ( two daylight cfls and two bright light cfls all 100w, just growing 1-2 plants..) I also plan on buying a ph kit and tester tomorrow!

 

[Rcubed]

First of all, welcome to the farm. I hope your first grow goes well. I've never grown in 100% coco so I'll tell you what I'd do then if you choose to stay 100% coco then the coco guys might chime in. I'd use 1/3 coco, 1/3 top soil, and 1/3 earthworm castings, and some perlite for extra drainage. This mix will help you have a trouble free first grow. After your plants get motoring you could add some top dressing fertilizers. I use composted chicken manure and Alaska fish fertilizer, but you could use something like Fox Farms marine cuisine at a couple tablespoons a week for each plant. Don't get me wrong coco is a great medium, but not as forgiving. As it is you'll be limited by your lighting so anything you might gain by using coco will be negligible. Also, you wont have to deal with regulating ph and nute levels. JMO

 

[Chefboiyard]

thanks for the reply, I already have a temp gauge and a fan inside the tent on 24/7, is the CFL setup i plan on using not sufficient? ( two daylight cfls and two bright light cfls all 100w )

Thats actually what i used when i started. You will get buds but not full potential. Your plants like to stretch and not fill in as tight due to lack of light. I would highly recommend getting an led light. I have a marshydro 600w i got off amazon for like 100 bucks and it works just as good as my $500 led. Even a 300watt will do wonders. No heat and no change to your electric bill. But if you dont have the money run with what you have. Its always nice to learn by trial and error. Emrald harvest is a good nutrient line too. I use the 3 part mix and its awesome.

 

[bluewind]

First of all, welcome to the farm. I hope your first grow goes well. I've never grown in 100% coco so I'll tell you what I'd do then if you choose to stay 100% coco then the coco guys might chime in. I'd use 1/3 coco, 1/3 top soil, and 1/3 earthworm castings, and some perlite for extra drainage. This mix will help you have a trouble free first grow. After your plants get motoring you could add some top dressing fertilizers. I use composted chicken manure and Alaska fish fertilizer, but you could use something like Fox Farms marine cuisine at a couple tablespoons a week for each plant. Don't get me wrong coco is a great medium, but not as forgiving. As it is you'll be limited by your lighting so anything you might gain by using coco will be negligible. Also, you wont have to deal with regulating ph and nute levels. JMO

hey thank you! will look into those fertz next time i'm heading to the hydro store! I guess I could ask the guys behind the counter which nutrients to use with the coco coir but I don't want to bring any suspicions.. would I be able to mix some of the coco coir with cheap dollar store soil ( which is what the sprouts are currently planted in ) and what do you mean by not having to regulate ph and nute levels, if I just use pure coco or your mix recommendation?
''you'll be limited by your lighting'' is my cfl setup not going to work? :(

 

[Rcubed]

hey thank you! will look into those fertz next time i'm heading to the hydro store! I guess I could ask the guys behind the counter which nutrients to use with the coco coir but I don't want to bring any suspicions.. would I be able to mix some of the coco coir with cheap dollar store soil ( which is what the sprouts are currently planted in ) and what do you mean by not having to regulate ph and nute levels, if I just use pure coco or your mix recommendation?

Unless your water is way too alkaline you won't have ph worries in soil. Organic matter keeps the ph slightly acidic. As far as nutes you won't be needing much, so you don't need to monitor them. Just use your eyeballs. Don't give them anything if they're going good. If you notice they're starting to grow like crazy give them a little food. Do everything gradual and light and you'll have no worries. Don't overwater and don't overfeed.

 

[bluewind]

Unless your water is way too alkaline you won't have ph worries in soil. Organic matter keeps the ph slightly acidic. As far as nutes you won't be needing much, so you don't need to monitor them. Just use your eyeballs. Don't give them anything if they're going good. If you notice they're starting to grow like crazy give them a little food. Do everything gradual and light and you'll have no worries. Don't overwater and don't overfeed.

makes sense, start small see how it goes, don't fix it if its not broken, roger. Now i'm more worried my light setup is not going to work, I spent so much time looking up which cfls to get too lol

 

[Rcubed]

makes sense, start small see how it goes, don't fix it if its not broken, roger. Now i'm more worried my light setup is not going to work, I spent so much time looking up which cfls to get too lol

Boiyard is right. Get a cheap LED instead of a CFL. Your light is super important. I use CMH, but your tent is probably too small for that.
Here's some I'm just starting with the mix I gave you.

 

[Chefboiyard]

Boiyard is right. Get a cheap LED instead of a CFL. Your light is super important. I use CMH, but your tent is probably too small for that.
Here's some I'm just starting with the mix I gave you.
View attachment 783137

 

[Shadrock5]

Hey blue,
I dont have a ton of exp but im on my well i think its my 3rd grow set to harvest in about 10 days
I have used coco but only as an aditive I run soil grow sometimes mix with coco depends on of I have it, but I use fox farm happy frog for seed and clones i go from small solo cup to 1 gal pot with ff -hf then when I pot up to flower i use the happy and a mix of ff strawberry field. I have found that If I use very few nutes and have way less problems most i do is maybe 3 weeks befow flowere i add some dynagrow (grow only) they need nitrogen for the comming weeks...not the bloom or any other of thier line only the grow and I use led light so I find If i add calmag at least every three watering i dont get blotchy wierd leaf issues that make me freak out and ask everyone - what is wrong with my plants lol- because usualy its cal mag. Dont know why your frowing in just coco many ppl do but the ff is a decent charged soil and if you pot up regularly your realy shouldnt need to many nutes. Soil has a way of giving what the plants need i mean your adding worm castings etc and the ff already has it and its fairly balanced I dont use the ocean one but the strawberry field mix for flower.... lets say this i got a min grow room 2.5x2.5 and gonna pull 5 zippies ez ....dry weight and im using very few nutes just good soil I do need to ugrade my lights but I read this befor my last grow ... someone said If tou spend more than 5-10 min a day with your plants its to long and thats the best advice I have seen yet. So my 2 cents.... soil is great and its cheaper than dumping nutes full of salt that mess up your plant and you can dump it in the flower bed and nobody knows lol. I know 5 zz tops aint the best yeild I can do but improvement will come from better lighting and experience. Again im a bit noobish also so take it all with a grain of salt ... just dont pour a bunch of salt laden nutes into your coco it will have you pulling your hair out cause everyday it looks like some new unexplainable problem. Get some dirt lol.

 

[bluewind]

Hey blue,
I dont have a ton of exp but im on my well i think its my 3rd grow set to harvest in about 10 days
I have used coco but only as an aditive I run soil grow sometimes mix with coco depends on of I have it, but I use fox farm happy frog for seed and clones i go from small solo cup to 1 gal pot with ff -hf then when I pot up to flower i use the happy and a mix of ff strawberry field. I have found that If I use very few nutes and have way less problems most i do is maybe 3 weeks befow flowere i add some dynagrow (grow only) they need nitrogen for the comming weeks...not the bloom or any other of thier line only the grow and I use led light so I find If i add calmag at least every three watering i dont get blotchy wierd leaf issues that make me freak out and ask everyone - what is wrong with my plants lol- because usualy its cal mag. Dont know why your frowing in just coco many ppl do but the ff is a decent charged soil and if you pot up regularly your realy shouldnt need to many nutes. Soil has a way of giving what the plants need i mean your adding worm castings etc and the ff already has it and its fairly balanced I dont use the ocean one but the strawberry field mix for flower.... lets say this i got a min grow room 2.5x2.5 and gonna pull 5 zippies ez ....dry weight and im using very few nutes just good soil I do need to ugrade my lights but I read this befor my last grow ... someone said If tou spend more than 5-10 min a day with your plants its to long and thats the best advice I have seen yet. So my 2 cents.... soil is great and its cheaper than dumping nutes full of salt that mess up your plant and you can dump it in the flower bed and nobody knows lol. I know 5 zz tops aint the best yeild I can do but improvement will come from better lighting and experience. Again im a bit noobish also so take it all with a grain of salt ... just dont pour a bunch of salt laden nutes into your coco it will have you pulling your hair out cause everyday it looks like some new unexplainable problem. Get some dirt lol.

thanks for the thoughts! I think i'm going to use 50/50 regular dollar store soil which actually sprouted seeds and coco mix, as for nutes I will buy cal-mag and maybe a 3 piece nute kit (grow,micro,bloom ) will upgrade my cfls to a 600w mars light when I can!

 

[Shadrock5]

And I agree for what you will spend on the cfl lights you can get a decent inexpensive led i statred with a mars 96 reflector and its. Been great I know i will hee al kinda sh.....t about mars thos and that - never had a diode burn out never had a fan break runs cool as cucumber and I actualy love it its the blurple Im tired of and it does have good spectrum and its been running for like at least a yeat straight so forget the negatives ppl throw out we all dont have 1k for the premier lighting system but for what the cfl will run ya for the intendity you meed for flowet grab a 70 dollar led and run it till it quits

 

[Chefboiyard]

What he said✌

 

[Shadrock5]

thanks for the thoughts! I think i'm going to use 50/50 regular dollar store soil which actually sprouted seeds and coco mix, as for nutes I will buy cal-mag and maybe a 3 piece nute kit (grow,micro,bloom ) will upgrade my cfls to a 600w mars light when I can!

Far as the mars goes I would go with the reflector series because it spreads the photons around and you get a little better mix of the blue and red. Im acualynlooking at the sunboards and the quantum boards ds and they arent that overpriced but im not sold on them yet. If your gonna use soil dont use the dollar store stuff go to a nursery and get som fox farm or I have heard pro mix ff is 17 bucks and I can do alot of plants and clones with it its a big g ole bag lan worth the money

 

[Rcubed]

Far as the mars goes I would go with the reflector series because it spreads the photons around and you get a little better mix of the blue and red. Im acualynlooking at the sunboards and the quantum boards ds and they arent that overpriced but im not sold on them yet. If your gonna use soil dont use the dollar store stuff go to a nursery and get som fox farm or I have heard pro mix ff is 17 bucks and I can do alot of plants and clones with it its a big g ole bag lan worth the money

Yeah FF will do the trick. I just figured he already had the coco and dollar store soil. All he needs is worm castings and perlite and he'll be good to go.

 

[bluewind]

Yeah FF will do the trick. I just figured he already had the coco and dollar store soil. All he needs is worm castings and perlite and he'll be good to go.

the coco coir comes in a perlite/worm casting mix :D
and I cant find ff anywhere around me, I just figured if the seeds sprouted in the dollar store stuff it cant be that bad..

 

[Shadrock5]

The problem with some of the cheaper led lights is the plastic lens cover they can get well sorta light the headlights of your car the get like milky and it messes up the spectrum. Glass optics tend to be a little too focused like a laser so you get hot spots and no edge light. If someone would make a light like the optic 2 with. 120 degree glass optic i bet it would be bangin but .... my 96 reflector is 90 and 120 degrees so i get the same parenin my lil closet all around I just need a little more penetration now that i can actualy make a plant look like a plant should look heh heh

 

[Rcubed]

the coco coir comes in a perlite/worm casting mix :D
and I cant find ff anywhere around me, I just figured if the seeds sprouted in the dollar store stuff it cant be that bad..

You're good to go then. I thought it was 100% coco.

 

[bluewind]

You're good to go then. I thought it was 100% coco.

yea it's a decent mix, might test run a pure coco and 50/50 cause why not!