Noob medical grower with tent and 600w hps light

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Xsoldiercloud

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Hey guys. First time medical grower here trying to make some decisions as I wait on my tent and fan to be delivered.
I picked up the Jorge Cervantes growers bible and have been hitting the books slowly putting together my own grown kit but still have some questions I'm hoping you can help with.

I am going to be growing in a Mars Hydro 48x48x80 tent.

For my lighting I purchased a Yield Lab 600W HPS+MH Air Cool Hood Reflector Grow Light Kit

For ventilation Im waiting on delivery of
Mars Hydro 6 Inch Inline Duct Fan and Carbon Filter Combo with Thermostat Controller

I'm trying to decide on a good medium as well as the proper seeds. I was recommended https://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/ and from what I can tell the auto flowering seeds seem to be a good bet for new growers am I correct in this assumption? I read auto flowering seeds usually produce smaller plants. I usually prefer indica strains too which I read are typically smaller as well. Do you guys have better seed website recommendations?

What sort of grow medium would you recommend for a soil type grow? Seeing as I've spent a good amount of money on a quality tent and lighting I would like to get some quality medium and the recommended extra nutrients for a successful first time grow.

What size container is recommended? I see people go through stages of things like solo cups in the seedling stage and moving to a bigger container after.

Are the fabric multi gallon bags a good place to grow or is the traditional plastic pots better?

Is checking the water pH level and changing it really super important for water from the hose? I live in suburban Illinois near Chicago with pretty good tap water if that matters?

What else would make this grow easier for a complete noob? Anything good and easy to measure water I'm feeding etc? I was thinking of just using the water hose from the back of my house straight down to the basement through the window well for easy access to water, but I'm open to getting some sort of spray container that I've seen on some of these forum posts.


Should I get some additional cooling solution to help with the HPS light heat? I guess I was thinking of higher wattage light producing bigger yields. Didn't think about the size of the tent and heat being an issue. Then tent is going to be setup in the basement of a house with central AC and concrete floor basement, so I hope that helps a bit.

Thanks in advanced guys! I'm hoping to start this operation and will be posting on the grow diaries section by the middle or end of June. Hoping to have a late summer/ fall harvest.
 
Odiesel

Odiesel

421
93
Starting from the bottom up. I would recommend supplemental cooling being that the HPS/MH light of that size will put off a substantial amount of excess heat.
If you want to start with something easy as far as medium I would recommend coco. Very good growth rates and being that its similar to a hydroponic medium can't really overwater it. I have barely had any experience with soil but with my brief trial and all the usual questions i see Getting the proper watering with soil as a beginner can tend to be a bit tricky.
You 100% need to be checking the PH/PPM to get a baseline. With amended living soil medium a lot of the time you can just get away with watering with tap water non phd etc, but if you dont have the proper macro/micro nutrients readily available in your medium and you are feeding with any sort of supplemental nutrients (especially as a beginner) Your best bet is to monitor ph/ec. They will always be your first fallback on gauging/monitoring your plants health.
Traditional fabric pots are great to grow in they allow good aeration as well as cheap. Depending on what medium and how you plan to feed/Water i would recommend as a good starting point 2 gallon pots.
If you are looking for something soil like as i mentioned before coco coir would be a great starting point. It is similar to hydroponic growing and would need to be fed every watering unlike soil grows that you might have some available nutrients in the medium that can be accessed by just plain watering feeds.
If you are a beginner autos are great Mephisto and Night Owl make some awesome crosses that are very good quality. If you are looking for something with more longevity and able to experiment on of course Photos would be the way to go. Some great genetics i have been working with lately at a good price have been Clearwater Genetics.
So as a tldr i would recommend coco coir for feeding along with floraflex or some other cheap salt based nute. Canna nutes i have also heard good things of, Jacks 123, etc. There are plenty and i think with nutrients you can spend forever testing what is best. In the end as long as you have the proper NPK ratios and your plants are digging the EC you are feeding it doesnt matter what is put into them. Monitor what is put into and coming out of your plants medium so you can have as general understanding of what is happening inside of the medium. Do some research on VPD and just enjoy the process.
 
Ponky

Ponky

3,941
263
Need a fan for the light. A 6" duct fan. And I would use 4 5 gallon nursery pots. Hard plastic. And get a 2 gallon watering can.
 
X

Xsoldiercloud

20
3
Thanks for the reply guys! How many CFM should be enough to keep the tent cool for the 6" inline fan? Any recommendations for a decent fan?
 
ImpulsiveGrower

ImpulsiveGrower

Supporter
2,081
263
Hey guys. First time medical grower here trying to make some decisions as I wait on my tent and fan to be delivered.
I picked up the Jorge Cervantes growers bible and have been hitting the books slowly putting together my own grown kit but still have some questions I'm hoping you can help with.

I am going to be growing in a Mars Hydro 48x48x80 tent.

For my lighting I purchased a Yield Lab 600W HPS+MH Air Cool Hood Reflector Grow Light Kit

For ventilation Im waiting on delivery of
Mars Hydro 6 Inch Inline Duct Fan and Carbon Filter Combo with Thermostat Controller

I'm trying to decide on a good medium as well as the proper seeds. I was recommended https://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/ and from what I can tell the auto flowering seeds seem to be a good bet for new growers am I correct in this assumption? I read auto flowering seeds usually produce smaller plants. I usually prefer indica strains too which I read are typically smaller as well. Do you guys have better seed website recommendations?

What sort of grow medium would you recommend for a soil type grow? Seeing as I've spent a good amount of money on a quality tent and lighting I would like to get some quality medium and the recommended extra nutrients for a successful first time grow.

What size container is recommended? I see people go through stages of things like solo cups in the seedling stage and moving to a bigger container after.

Are the fabric multi gallon bags a good place to grow or is the traditional plastic pots better?

Is checking the water pH level and changing it really super important for water from the hose? I live in suburban Illinois near Chicago with pretty good tap water if that matters?

What else would make this grow easier for a complete noob? Anything good and easy to measure water I'm feeding etc? I was thinking of just using the water hose from the back of my house straight down to the basement through the window well for easy access to water, but I'm open to getting some sort of spray container that I've seen on some of these forum posts.


Should I get some additional cooling solution to help with the HPS light heat? I guess I was thinking of higher wattage light producing bigger yields. Didn't think about the size of the tent and heat being an issue. Then tent is going to be setup in the basement of a house with central AC and concrete floor basement, so I hope that helps a bit.

Thanks in advanced guys! I'm hoping to start this operation and will be posting on the grow diaries section by the middle or end of June. Hoping to have a late summer/ fall harvest.
Hey it looks like you’re actually in my area. I’m in the south burbs of Chicago myself and have clones and seeds on deck. Purple kush feminized 7 for 30 plus shipping. As for the pot size it’s all preference. I like 3 gallon pots but I’m trying out 10 gallon this time but that plant is also massive. Get used to lifting your pots to know when they are heavily watered or super light and in need of some. You can also read the plant which will have some slight droop instead of being perked up towards the light. Keep a notebook handy and write down when you watered and how much. Eventually you will see the patterns and be able to dial in your waterings even more. This part is crucial for learning I think. For soil grows I love the Coast Of Maine Stonington blend. It’s been made for cannabis and does cost a bit more but is well worth it! Don’t overthink things and leave the plant alone lol so many plants get killed with too much “love”. There’s a lot of good info here forsure so tap in!
 
Cashmeh

Cashmeh

2,007
263
I have the 8 inch infinity fan for my 1000w in a 4x4. Safe to say I have no issues cooling the tent. The main issue is it sucking in the sidewalls. The higher cfm you pull, you might want to consider an inlet fan. I know for my 900cfm i have to have a booster inlet. My 4x4 goes from a 3.5 x3.5 to 4.5 x 4.5 lol.
 
chuck88

chuck88

151
63
I like to KISS 😉

Three gallon fabric pots. ProMix HP which is ph buffered so no need to ph your water, within reason.

ProMix is considered "soilless" and has no nutrients so You control the plants feeding requirements.

Geoflora nutrients has a good reputation. My last grow was with Mega Crop from Greenleaf Nutrients. They have a one part and a two part, I used the one part.

It is also ph buffered and you feed by weight. Their web site has a feeding schedule where you enter the amount of water you want to mix and it gives you the weight for each stage of the plants growth. You will need an inexpensive scale that reads to two decimal points. This one has a tray which makes it easy to pour the measured amount into your water container.

I've also used Advanced Nutrients, works just fine but you need to measure out ml's with multiple bottles. Quickly tired of that !

I start in solo cups and transplant to final pot. Makes the early watering easier.

Auto's can be just as productive as a photo depending on the strain. One thing that is a bonus with photos is if you have an issue you have time to correct it before flipping to flower.

Auto's have their own time schedule and will do their own thing 😉

And a slight energy saving, auto's go 18/6 for the whole grow, photo's are 12/12 when flipped to flowering.

A fair amount of auto's have a suggested "to harvest" time of 85 days, my last run was 122 days !

For photo's I usually veg for 50 days and then flip to 12/12 for flowering. Last photo run was 120 days in comparison and 420 hrs less of lights on !

Good luck with your first grow, eh ?

Cheers
 
Last edited:
X

Xsoldiercloud

20
3
I like to KISS 😉

Three gallon fabric pots. ProMix HP which is ph buffered so no need to ph your water, within reason.

ProMix is considered "soilless" and has no nutrients so You control the plants feeding requirements.

Geoflora nutrients has a good reputation. My last grow was with Mega Crop from Greenleaf Nutrients. They have a one part and a two part, I used the one part.

It is also ph buffered and you feed by weight. Their web site has a feeding schedule where you enter the amount of water you want to mix and it gives you the weight for each stage of the plants growth. You will need an inexpensive scale that reads to two decimal points. This one has a tray which makes it easy to pour the measured amount into your water container.

I've also used Advanced Nutrients, works just fine but you need to measure out ml's with multiple bottles. Quickly tired of that !

I start in solo cups and transplant to final pot. Makes the early watering easier.

Auto's can be just as productive as a photo depending on the strain. One thing that is a bonus with photos is if you have an issue you have time to correct it before flipping to flower.

Auto's have their own time schedule and will do their own thing 😉

And a slight energy saving, auto's go 18/6 for the whole grow, photo's are 12/12 when flipped to flowering.

A fair amount of auto's have a suggested "to harvest" time of 85 days, my last run was 122 days !

For photo's I usually veg for 50 days and then flip to 12/12 for flowering. Last photo run was 120 days in comparison and 420 hrs less of lights on !

Good luck with your first grow, eh ?

Cheers
Yep first time grow! Have had a medical card for like a year in Illinois. It's time to stop paying those absurd prices for my 8ths...

So I looked into the nutes you mentioned. You are referring to these? https://www.arbico-organics.com/pro...mBhvVbTllS_eEPyVURIyevNs7i-T2uSBoCiz4QAvD_BwE
When you say 1 part 2 part. This would be a 2 part that I linked you correct? So I would be feeding the veg nute until the flowering starts and switch to that when the time comes?

I'm planning on starting from seeds and growing 5 plants. How many of these nute bags would I need? Should I go for the bigger bag?
 
PulsePeet

PulsePeet

Supporter
75
53
Hey guys. First time medical grower here trying to make some decisions as I wait on my tent and fan to be delivered.
I picked up the Jorge Cervantes growers bible and have been hitting the books slowly putting together my own grown kit but still have some questions I'm hoping you can help with.

I am going to be growing in a Mars Hydro 48x48x80 tent.

For my lighting I purchased a Yield Lab 600W HPS+MH Air Cool Hood Reflector Grow Light Kit

For ventilation Im waiting on delivery of
Mars Hydro 6 Inch Inline Duct Fan and Carbon Filter Combo with Thermostat Controller

I'm trying to decide on a good medium as well as the proper seeds. I was recommended https://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/ and from what I can tell the auto flowering seeds seem to be a good bet for new growers am I correct in this assumption? I read auto flowering seeds usually produce smaller plants. I usually prefer indica strains too which I read are typically smaller as well. Do you guys have better seed website recommendations?

What sort of grow medium would you recommend for a soil type grow? Seeing as I've spent a good amount of money on a quality tent and lighting I would like to get some quality medium and the recommended extra nutrients for a successful first time grow.

What size container is recommended? I see people go through stages of things like solo cups in the seedling stage and moving to a bigger container after.

Are the fabric multi gallon bags a good place to grow or is the traditional plastic pots better?

Is checking the water pH level and changing it really super important for water from the hose? I live in suburban Illinois near Chicago with pretty good tap water if that matters?

What else would make this grow easier for a complete noob? Anything good and easy to measure water I'm feeding etc? I was thinking of just using the water hose from the back of my house straight down to the basement through the window well for easy access to water, but I'm open to getting some sort of spray container that I've seen on some of these forum posts.


Should I get some additional cooling solution to help with the HPS light heat? I guess I was thinking of higher wattage light producing bigger yields. Didn't think about the size of the tent and heat being an issue. Then tent is going to be setup in the basement of a house with central AC and concrete floor basement, so I hope that helps a bit.

Thanks in advanced guys! I'm hoping to start this operation and will be posting on the grow diaries section by the middle or end of June. Hoping to have a late summer/ fall harvest.
Make sure you keep your environment right. Read up on vpd here: www.pulsegrow.com/vpd
 
chuck88

chuck88

151
63
Yep first time grow! Have had a medical card for like a year in Illinois. It's time to stop paying those absurd prices for my 8ths...

So I looked into the nutes you mentioned. You are referring to these? https://www.arbico-organics.com/pro...mBhvVbTllS_eEPyVURIyevNs7i-T2uSBoCiz4QAvD_BwE

Yes, that is the Geoflora nutrients. I haven't used them (yet) so I suggest you do a search for using them in whatever medium you decide to use.
When you say 1 part 2 part. This would be a 2 part that I linked you correct? So I would be feeding the veg nute until the flowering starts and switch to that when the time comes?

One part OR two part is the Mega Crop nutrients. Click on "Greenleaf nutrients above". I prefer the KISS of the one part. Some like to custom mix and go with the two part.

Geoflora comes in veg and bloom.
I'm planning on starting from seeds and growing 5 plants. How many of these nute bags would I need? Should I go for the bigger bag?

The smaller bags of either company will get you through a few grows.

Cheers
 
X

Xsoldiercloud

20
3
I like to KISS 😉

Three gallon fabric pots. ProMix HP which is ph buffered so no need to ph your water, within reason.

ProMix is considered "soilless" and has no nutrients so You control the plants feeding requirements.

Geoflora nutrients has a good reputation. My last grow was with Mega Crop from Greenleaf Nutrients. They have a one part and a two part, I used the one part.

It is also ph buffered and you feed by weight. Their web site has a feeding schedule where you enter the amount of water you want to mix and it gives you the weight for each stage of the plants growth. You will need an inexpensive scale that reads to two decimal points. This one has a tray which makes it easy to pour the measured amount into your water container.

I've also used Advanced Nutrients, works just fine but you need to measure out ml's with multiple bottles. Quickly tired of that !

I start in solo cups and transplant to final pot. Makes the early watering easier.

Auto's can be just as productive as a photo depending on the strain. One thing that is a bonus with photos is if you have an issue you have time to correct it before flipping to flower.

Auto's have their own time schedule and will do their own thing 😉

And a slight energy saving, auto's go 18/6 for the whole grow, photo's are 12/12 when flipped to flowering.

A fair amount of auto's have a suggested "to harvest" time of 85 days, my last run was 122 days !

For photo's I usually veg for 50 days and then flip to 12/12 for flowering. Last photo run was 120 days in comparison and 420 hrs less of lights on !

Good luck with your first grow, eh ?

Cheers
Hey man, hopefully you are still lurking somewhere out there. These are the auto strains I am planning on growing because they share similar Flowering times. I kinda just bought auto seeds without planning the flowering time, but I suspect if keeping them all on the same light cycle throughout the whole grow makes this less of a problem?

Auto Seeds Trans Siberian x 3 (65-75 days flowering time)
Auto Seeds Candy Kush x 1 (65-75 days flowering time)
Auto Seeds Ultra Lemon Haze x 1 (65-70 days flowering time)

For these auto seeds do I want to keep them at 18 hours of light and 6 hours darkness throughout the whole growth? Trans Siberian actualy recommends in the notes to give it 48-72 hours of complete darkness for a final flush right before harvest.

TIA!
 
chuck88

chuck88

151
63
Hey man, hopefully you are still lurking somewhere out there. These are the auto strains I am planning on growing because they share similar Flowering times. I kinda just bought auto seeds without planning the flowering time, but I suspect if keeping them all on the same light cycle throughout the whole grow makes this less of a problem?

Auto Seeds Trans Siberian x 3 (65-75 days flowering time)
Auto Seeds Candy Kush x 1 (65-75 days flowering time)
Auto Seeds Ultra Lemon Haze x 1 (65-70 days flowering time)

For these auto seeds do I want to keep them at 18 hours of light and 6 hours darkness throughout the whole growth? Trans Siberian actualy recommends in the notes to give it 48-72 hours of complete darkness for a final flush right before harvest.

TIA!
Hay @Xsoldiercloud

I use 18/6 for my auto's, some go with longer on times, even 24/0 but I believe they benefit from a dark period.

I'm also in the "flushing is for toilets" group ! At the end of my grows I'm usually on a two day water/feed schedule. Prior to harvest, the girls get a feed/water and two days later nothing.

Another day and they are harvested at lights on. I've tried the 48 hours of darkness and the only benefit I can see is the buds are a little drier which means the hang/dry time is maybe a day shorter. It won't hurt them so you decide 😉

Breeder times are only a suggestion under perfect conditions. They are done when they are done, he, he...

Last grow I had a King Gelato go ~120 days ! They didn't offer a flowering time for this particular strain but all their other strains where 85 days.

If using something like ProMix HP keep a careful eye on watering, a wet/dry cycle works the best for me. Some days my girls wanted water at lights on, some days closer to lights off.

Watering is key with auto's ! I use the "pick it up" system to judge when it's time to water.... Every second day at noon is not close enough. You are on Their schedule.

Good luck with your grow !

Cheers
 
X

Xsoldiercloud

20
3
Hay @Xsoldiercloud

I use 18/6 for my auto's, some go with longer on times, even 24/0 but I believe they benefit from a dark period.

I'm also in the "flushing is for toilets" group ! At the end of my grows I'm usually on a two day water/feed schedule. Prior to harvest, the girls get a feed/water and two days later nothing.

Another day and they are harvested at lights on. I've tried the 48 hours of darkness and the only benefit I can see is the buds are a little drier which means the hang/dry time is maybe a day shorter. It won't hurt them so you decide 😉

Breeder times are only a suggestion under perfect conditions. They are done when they are done, he, he...

Last grow I had a King Gelato go ~120 days ! They didn't offer a flowering time for this particular strain but all their other strains where 85 days.

If using something like ProMix HP keep a careful eye on watering, a wet/dry cycle works the best for me. Some days my girls wanted water at lights on, some days closer to lights off.

Watering is key with auto's ! I use the "pick it up" system to judge when it's time to water.... Every second day at noon is not close enough. You are on Their schedule.

Good luck with your grow !

Cheers
Thanks for the response! I'll keep that in mind with the flushing. Good saying btw haha. I'm going to be using a blend of:
60% Bush Doctror Coco loco
40% Ocean Forest

Will be adding perlite and Worm Casings as well.

For Feeding thanks to the suggestions on this thread I've settled on:
Mega Crop 1-part and Bud Explosion PK Booster from GreenLeaf. I'm contemplating adding Sweet Candy as well.

Once my final items and seeds arrive I'm going to post on the Grow Diaries from Seed to Harvest. Going to be looking for advice as I go as this is my first grow. 🤞
 
Last edited:
chuck88

chuck88

151
63
Thanks for the response! I'll keep that in mind with the flushing. Good saying btw haha. I'm going to be using a blend of:
60% Bush Doctror Coco loco
40% Ocean Forest

Will be adding perlite and Worm Casings as well.

For Feeding thanks to the suggestions on this thread I've settled on:
Mega Crop 1-part and Bud Explosion PK Booster from GreenLeaf. I'm contemplating adding Sweet Candy as well.

Once my final items and seeds arrive I'm going to go to post on the Grow Diaries from Seed to Full plant. Going to be looking for advice as I go as this is my first grow. 🤞
Sounds like a plan !

Careful with the Bud Explosion. Don't add it until After the first week of flower and deduct the amount used from the Mega Crop one part.

I usually don't go over 1000 ppm with both...

Cheers
 
SmokinJo421

SmokinJo421

315
43
Yep first time grow! Have had a medical card for like a year in Illinois. It's time to stop paying those absurd prices for my 8ths...

So I looked into the nutes you mentioned. You are referring to these? https://www.arbico-organics.com/pro...mBhvVbTllS_eEPyVURIyevNs7i-T2uSBoCiz4QAvD_BwE
When you say 1 part 2 part. This would be a 2 part that I linked you correct? So I would be feeding the veg nute until the flowering starts and switch to that when the time comes?

I'm planning on starting from seeds and growing 5 plants. How many of these nute bags would I need? Should I go for the bigger bag?
Let me start by saying I'm guilty!!
You want to avoid liquids as your paying for water.
Sometimes it's necessary tho.
I'll ALWAYS use Humboldt County's Own additives. (Except purple max)
If you do use Promix (I do) use the Hp
You mite want to look at "super soil"
Tga Subcool has a great recipe & easily source able. Keep in mind you still need a soil base.
Completely organic NO nutes needed ever, only ammendment & top dressings. Never toss soil either. It is a bit costly to start, keep in mind tho you'll never need to buy dirt again or nutes.
I'm using Humboldt County's Own complete line this season. I have tried alot of lines too.
Aurora's "Roots organic" master program was by far the best I used. But very expensive & like dude said ALOT of bottles to measure from. Also not diluting or cross contaminating each other. Lots of measuring & cleaning.
Super soil stays ph stable for the most part too.
Water analysis if possible, at least a chlorine filter, or let water sit 24hrs to gas off chlorine. (Ph does climb)
If I could start over I would be pheno & gene hunting.
From seed you'd grow as many of the same strain (within reason) and build a few mother plants to stock your own garden. It's a process & I really REALLY regret not doing it earlier.
Like 1 guy said k.i.s.s
Keep it simple stupid
6 P's too
Preventative Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance
 

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