Noob with noob questions

[ShaggySparx]

Been studying while acquiring all my grow materials for the past year now still a few things I'm not sure of. I have a Hydro Crunch 31" x 31" x 71" tent with Viparspectra 300w led and 5- 3 gallon fabric pots. I have 5 autoflower seeds that came from a buddy of mine, they could be one or more out of about 20 strains. I just placed them in the Jiffy Pellets so I'm hoping for the best. I also ordered some feminized Blueberry and Quebec Gold 2.0. WIsh i would've found this site sooner i got ripped off :(

Like i said, I've been studying a lot and nobody seems to have an agreement on when to feed nutes. I have Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil and the 3 Fox farm nute bottles. Most say you don't need the added nutes with the fox farm soil and that it has most of the nutes the plant needs for its whole life cycle? Someone help me understand this nutrient thing and when and how.

Secondly, how do i maximize yield in this space for both the autos and the regular fems? I know you can't top an auto. But should i use ScrOG or LST or both? Or should i go with SoG?

Lastly, Light. How close or far do you place the LED? Do you use it at the full spectrum, or do you use the separate Veg and Bloom setting it has? And finally, I have a 24"x18" 96W T5 which came with the tent. Could i use this on the side of the tent or would it be too much?

Thanks for any and all info. I'm sure I'll have more questions eventually :p

 

[MIMedGrower]

Never heard anyone say ocean forest is full cycle. It needs added nutes but no one can say exactly when. Your plant will tell you.

I transplant up from cups to 1 gallon to 3 gallon every few weeks and can water only through veg. But by week 2 or 3 in flower in the final pot they need fertilizer. The leaves will fade a little and lose their luster. Or i may see white tips on the lower leaves meaning micro nutes are running low.

If fertilized too early it can cause nutrient problems from the excess.

Also i feel it needs 25% added large perlite for drainage. Mixed like that it has been completely stable through many bags and grows.

 

[az2000]

I just placed them in the Jiffy Pellets so I'm hoping for the best.

FYI, in case you don't have great results with Jiffy Pellet. I used them once and felt they were too dense, slow-drying. Also, the net seemed to impede the roots.

I soaked a few pellets in water, cut the netting and saved the fine peat content (let it dry). I then put some perlite in a plastic baggie, and stepped on it a few times to crunch the perlite into fine (sand-consistency) material too. I mixed equal amounts of the pellet guts with this fine perlite. Maybe 2:1 guts to perlite. Or, 1:1. (Somewhere in that range.).

When I plant seeds, I fill a 16-20oz cup/container with my potting mix. I wet it. Then scoop about 1tbsp out making a depression. I fill that depression with my guts and perlite mixture, and wet that. I plant the seed in that.

I like that better. It doesn't seem to stay as wet as the pellet material by itself. And, the roots can go where they want without the net interference. (I like it better than planting directly in my soil because my soil consistency is kind of chunky compared to the initial sprout.

Regarding your question about using the T5HO. Your tent is 5.17 sq ft. Not having a PAR meter, I think of these things in terms of watts sq/ft. I just googled your LED fixture. It uses 130w actual. That's 25w/sq ft.

High-end LEDs can grow at 20-25w/sq ft. I suspect this lamp isn't in that category. You might need about 40w/sq ft. Which means it might cover 3.25 sq ft.

T5HO ideally runs 40w/sq ft (45 would be better in mid to late flower). So, your 24" (4-tube?) fixture is 96w and will cover 2 sq ft.

So, the two together might work well. But, they might not have good footprints to work together in a sqaure area like that. I.e., two 2-tube T5HO fixtures might be better. Or, 4 one-tubes.

Not sure about the distance to canopy for the LED fixture. It has reflectors. Those lamps need more space than LEDs mounted on white boards. The literature says 24" in veg, 18" in flower. That sounds about right. If you see bleached leaves, it's too close. (T5HO is typically close to the plants. Like, 4" in flower. It can be 1". The only damage that can occur is if they plant touches a tube.).

 

[Jimster]

Like i said, I've been studying a lot and nobody seems to have an agreement on when to feed nutes. I have Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil and the 3 Fox farm nute bottles. Most say you don't need the added nutes with the fox farm soil and that it has most of the nutes the plant needs for its whole life cycle? Someone help me understand this nutrient thing and when and how.

Thanks for any and all info. I'm sure I'll have more questions eventually :p

You are on your way to trouble already by thinking about using Fox Farms with a couple bottles of nutrients. Every grower has a different style... some feed a little, constantly, some feed more, but not as often. It is a matter of choice and style. I can't say which is best as each has it's own advantages and disadvantages. Regardless of what style you prefer, or your own style, but too much nutrients will NOT make for a bigger and better grow, it will cause you problems with nutrient lockout, nutrient burn, Ph swings, and a host of other issues. Fox Farm stuff is pre-loaded with plenty of nutrients, maybe more than enough, in their bagged soils. To me, they are at the upper end of how much fertilizer to use. Some strains are great with it ad some seem to suffer a little. Most plants will adapt and be OK with it as time goes on and some of the nutrients are used up.
As the nutrients are used up, you will need to replace them to provide enough food for them, but not too much to over-feed them as there is still remaining nutrients in the soil from before. You will learn that the growing process is a constant balance of providing enough of the right nutrients, but not enough to overfeed them. Plants have different needs and appetites during flowering and vegetative growth, so most growers adjust their nutrients to reflect the stage their plants are in. Watering is the same, with heavy waterlogged soil being bad, and damp and loose is better, at least for me.
I prefer to fertilize every 10-15 days on avg, and use a medium called Promix, which is based on Peat/Vermiculite and Perlite. It doesn't have much nutrients in it and they need to be added. I use less than most growers, but that also prevents some possible problems with overfeeding. I add a few other items to it and run a simple operation. Others use a lot of nutrients and constantly monitor their levels to prevent problems. Each has it's own merits and problems, that is what makes growing so unique... it has a little bit of the grower's personality in it.

 

[OldManRiver]

You are well on your way to disaster. A plant isn't a puppy. Nutes aren't food. Sun is. Give your plant light, water it gently, and feed occasionally, as it gets bigger. Most of those bottles are useless. I feed lightly, with botanicare pro, veg and then bloom. Nothing else. I grow trees. See the links in my sig.