I am reposting this as I initially posted it in an existing post so it didn’t get many replies. I realise now I should have posted it here in the first place…
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Well we finally located some seeds and they are on the way and will be here in a couple of days so now it is time to get organised. My sister and I are both starting this new hobby and her son doesn’t think we can do it so we are determined not to fail. I will list what we are looking at getting and would really appreciate some feedback into our choices. If they are bad choices just let us know as we are both newbies here.
Ok first of all we are both using 1.2m (L) x 1.2m (W) x 2m (H) grow tents . All the info below will be for 1 tent.
Lights - We are looking at 2 x Spider Farmer SF2000 LED grow light 200w full spectrum dimmable hydroponics panel . Myfriendis410 suggested 2 x HLG 260 XL R-spec but we only have 1 store in Australia that sells HLG and they were extremely expensive compared to the US. He suggested the 2 lights so we could save on power by only using 1 light when only 1 was needed. So anyway the Spider Farm one we are looking at seems to be comparable to the HLG but we could be wrong.
Exhaust = Spider Farmer 6" or 4" (?) inline fan air carbon filter 8 feet ducting ventilation combo . We are not sure about whether we would need the 6" or the 4". To be honest we don’t really know what the different sizes do.
Pots - 25 litre Fabric pots . Some of the seeds we ordered are of the compact variety, up to 100cm high, while the others are up to 180cm high. From what we’ve read the 100cm ones could actually be grown in a smaller pot but we wondering if we should just grow them all in the 25 litre to save any confusion. I have read though that the pots shouldn’t be too big so some advice here would be great.
Humidity - Do we need a dehumidifier - we have around 70 - 80 % average humidity where we live so we assume the tent would retain higher humidity. Options to remove humidity and what is ideal humidity. We found this, Wireless thermometer - Hygrometer made by Baldr . Is this what we need?
PH & TDS - We have found a Bluelab PH pen (for measuring PH and temp). Would this item be acceptable? Could someone explain what the TDS means and do we need to buy something in regards to it. Also is there an ideal temperature in which to grow the plants?
Nutrients - We are looking at Living Soil as Jack’s is very hard to come by in Australia and we are looking for something that requires the least amount of work. We read that the PH would need to be around 6.2 - 7, is that correct? If we use Living Soil can it be reused the next time we grow?
Well thanks in advance guys. Without the help from this forum we wouldn’t have the confidence to try this. You are an amazingly generous group of people.
Ok i would suggest the 6inch inline fan system would be better specially since we have high humidity here in oz the inline fan will draw out heat and the humidity which should keep it in the right range ,you will want one to two clip on fans for inside the tent to keep air flow in the tent all this will help with humidity and heat ,if you can post a pic of ur tent so we can get a good look at the size of it ,u want a temperature and humidity gauge so u can keep a eye on the temps and humidity ,you want to make sure u keep ur temps between 25-28 degrees Celsius and you want ur humidity around 60-80% for seedlings and when there in vegg stage ur humidity will have to come down to 55-60% and in flowering stage you want ur humidity around 40-50% and ur temps for flowering stage should be around 25-26 degrees Celsius for the first half of flowering for the second half u want ur temps at 18- 23 degrees Celsius if u can i hope this helps you out give me a shout if theres anything else
TDS stands for total dissolved solids and is measured in PPM - parts per million. A standardized, supposedly universal measurement is EC - Electrical Conductivity.
When nutrients are mixed or dissolved in water, a meter is used to determine if its strength is appropriate for the age and size of the plant.
The lights you chose should do fine; at some point you may want to add one more for denser flower but only using your setup will tell the tale.
Living soil is difficult to maintain and many end up supplementing to get through the grow.
There are many other nutrient lines available and perhaps one of those may suit your needs. General Hydroponics makes a great line of supplements and really only need the base 3: Grow, Micro and Bloom. PH up and down along with check/cal solution for your meters.
That sized tent would allow you 4 smaller plants or two larger ones.
When plants are small they take up very little space so having two lights allows you to turn off one and reduce the output of the other for a savings in electricity as well as heat rejection in the grow space (fan). Once plants spread out into the space, you can energize the second light.
Some smaller fans to stir air inside the grow space will be necessary as well.
Thanks for all the great advice. I haven’t set up the tent yet…didn’t want to jinx the seeds arriving. lol I will post a pic when it gets set up. Will probably get to it in the next couple of days. We are planning on getting a temperature and humidity gauge but still trying to work out the best one to buy. Thanks for the offer to help out with any future queries though you might regret offering since we really are total newbies and need help with just about everything.
I didn’t realise that living soil was difficult to maintain so we may have to reconsider different approaches to nutrients. I will check out what you have suggested and see whether it is available here.
Did you have any advice as to what sized fabric pots we should use for 100cm & 180cm plants?
@Cazz You will have a hard time fitting 1.8m plants in your tent. Even tho I’m metricated, I’m going to flip back to Imperial. Logistically, you have a 6 foot tall tent. Your grow bags will be almost 1 foot tall, and will be if you put them on plant risers so you can catch the runoff. Your lights will hang down from the top, you might be able to hang them within half a foot of the ceiling. The closest you wat them to your plants at the end will be 18", meaning your plants can grow within 2 feet of the ceiling. Your plant max height from soil level is now 3 foot.
You will need to top and train your ladies to keep them short and bushy. Look up and study LST techniques, basically bending upper branches downwards and outwards so that the lower branches can all be at the same level (the canopy). You want an even canopy so all the buds can get the same amount of light. You don’t want a tall Xmas tree where the top bud gets too much light and the lower ones not enough.
And when you flip your lights from 18on/6off to a 12/12 schedule, your plants may double in size! So when they are about 18" (45cm) you need to flip them so they can finish within your height limitations. But don’t sweat it, everyone has this issue when growing indoors, and it’s easy to do.
Pot size for a 4x4 tent, 7 gallon is good, 25 gallon grow bags take up a lot of space, you can’t move them around, and will take forever for them to get rootbound. Bigger pots also means bigger plants, so you don’t want too big!
Good luck, happy growing, and keep us posted! Lots of great folks here to help you along the way! Remember to ask questions BEFORE you buy, no sense getting buyer’s remorse if you can avoid it!
Edit: ok you are planning of 25 LITRE pots! Thot it was gallons…you are good with that size!
Living soil can and is done all of the time but I would not recommend it for a new grower. Using any good cannabis-friendly soil in anything smaller than a 25 gallon pot will mean you’ll need to supplement in flower as soil will become exhausted. You will have enough on your plate with your first grow.
We are thinking of changing to the single light, SF 4000 450w, as it gives us a bit more wattage. Could some of the chains be disconnected in the early stages when not as much light is needed so save on power? Also it can be dimmed, would that not save on power?
If we buy the Grow, Micro & Bloom or an equivalent what soil should we be buying? Unfortunately I am not just new to all this I am also not a gardener so I have no idea as to soil etc.
As soon as I read your message I realised I had completely forgotten about where the lighting will be etc. It was a real face palm moment. lol You gave lots of helpful info in your post which will be very helpful to us, thank you.
Yes, but you will have excessive coverage with little plants. No reason you can’t do that though.
As a rule of thumb; stay away from Miracle Grow products. If nothing else you want a soil appropriate for use with tomatoes but the main thing is a soil mix that has a PH around 6.3 or so. A lot of soils are unsuitable for this reason. They won’t hold PH in correct range and this will cause issues during the grow.
Good organic ingredients, few added chemical salts, dolomitic lime in the mix etc. Just not sure of what’s available to you in Oz.
From which company? Do you get Advanced Nutrients line there? I use that line. Jungle Juice Grow, Micro, Bloom, and SensiCal. My first indoor grow, that was it, plus their Bud Candy and Big Bud, and some blackstrap molasses. It’s a great product that it pH’s itself. For my medium, I used ProMix as it doesn’t have anything in it, don’t have to worry about burning your plants or buildups when using with AN products (this grow, I added VooDoo Juice and B-52 to the mix). Working great, no issues. And I used ProMix 30+ years ago with different ferts, no issues.
I grow with organics so i use kelp meal and alfalfa meal, fish bone meal, bat guano and volcanic rock dust fertilizer, superworm frass sea bird guano and worm castings .but if ur wanting to use a synthetic nutrients i would look at nimbin nutrients Australia have a look on there website the prices are fair you can get there range on ebay as well. I only use other nutrients in flower stage and i use nimbin products and i use marvel black premium soil its from richgro its a good soil .this is my plants so far
I went and had a look on the nimbin site. Is it he Base Nutrient I would be after and if so is that all I would need till the flowering stage? What is required for the flowering stage?
In your pics your plants are covered with a wire mesh of sorts. Will I be needing something like this also? I gather this is to train the plants so they don’t grow too tall? They look nice btw.
Yah base A&B nutrients its good for vegg and flowering then you want the phat bud and mega pk, bud master and cal/mag all these other nutrients that talking about is what i use the only thing i dont use is the A&B base nutrients cause i grow with organics i only use the flowering boosters from nimbin i will be using the base nutrients next grow as i want to find out what sort of results i will get with using the complete nimbin range. I have a scrog net and you will need pipe cleaners for training
I will list what we are looking at getting and would really appreciate some feedback into our choices. If they are bad choices just let us know as we are both newbies here.
