Birdman - maybe we should start an over 60's newbie thread! I was in the same boat last year when i threw in some bagseed with my tomatoes & peppers. Unless you already have some good genetics, i recommend using whatever mj seeds you can get from friends, bagseed etc. to start with.
1) You'll need a grow area that you can make light tight if you grow indoors - unless you have a closet, basement room, attic, garage etc, a grow tent is the easiest way to start.
2) Ventillation, ventillation, ventillation!!! The next most important thing. You must be able to bring in fresh air & exhaust heat to keep your plants healthy. For me, my basement works great cause it's cool, dry & i can exhaust outside in the summer & inside in the winter (to save heating costs).
3) Lights - Fluorescent's are fine to start with - i used T-12 shop lights with compact fluro bulbs to get mine started, then graduated to an old 400W HPS that was given to me. If you need 1 light to get you from seed to bud then a T-5 fluoro with mixed bulbs is what i recommend.
4) Water - You must know the condition of the water you use. Understanding the pH of water is crucial, so get an inexpensive pH test kit & check it out. Most tap water runs alkaline (pH 7 & above) so you'll need some pH down to correct this to pH 6.5 - 6.0.
5) Medium - Start in dirt - period. Put your seeds in any light seed starting mixture in 18oz. beer cups (with holes in the bottom) to get them going. After they become root-bound i re-pot to 3/4 gal sized containers with a better soil mix (
Fox Farm Ocean Forest,
Happy Frog, Black Gold etc). The final transplant should be to a 2 or 3 gal sized pot. I use 1 3/4 gal rose buckets & still some of my plants grow to 5'.
6) Fertilizer - Nutes are a huge headache & expense to a lot of people. Keep it simple and start with
General Hydroponics 3 part unless you have a good formula already for your tomatoes. Lotsa choices here but don't get too complicated - there's plenty of ferts you can use right off the shelf that will work fine while you dial in your water & dirt.
7) Equipment - Besides the supplies you'll need to make your grow area light proof & the lighting source you have, a good inline fan should be near the top of your list. Many choises here - it depends on the size of your grow area. You should also have some small circulating fans moving the air around your plants full time.
I'm sure i forgot something important here, but you must address these 7 things before you can grow inside. Outside? Don't know the weather in the UK but if it's close to NE USA, it might be too late to put something in the ground this year. The 5 girls i planted in my urban tomato patch this spring are already 3' tall. My rule of thumb for outdoor growing is for every 4 plants only one will survive to harvest due to spider mites, squirrels, possems, ground hogs, rats, heavy wind, poor soil, hail, thieves, bud rot - you see - this is a long list.
I hope this helps a little & keep the questions comming - there's lotsa people here who can help you way better than me...
Pease,
OY
