Let me introduce myself...

[GrumpyOldMan]

Hello, I'm new to growing, and so new to the group. I'm 63, retired contractor, got plenty of free time, so I've done a fair amount of READING, but I have NO practical experience except for a couple of house plants that I manage to keep alive. I've spent almost $1000 on name brand items, so SHOULD I have everything I need, so please bear with me if I ask a "Newbie" question...

Thanks,
GrumpyOldMan

[SoOrbudgal]

Welcome Just go ahead and start by telling us what you want to do and how you " think " you want to do it. We all started this way like you. I live in a legal rec. grow state and can have 4 plants but right now i'm outdoors with them. Indoors a whole different knowledge. Now just keep it real simple for the first time, maybe just do 1-2 plants so you get the feel. Tell us about all your equiptment we like lots of details

[PLreef]

Welcome to the Forum GrumpyOldMan . This site is great, bunch of super helpful growers to help answer questions. Take a look at this link. Something to get ya started.

https://www.growweedeasy.com/basics

[GrumpyOldMan]

I can legally grow 4 plants here as well, since I've got time, I'm going to try both soil and coco at the same time ( 2 plants each) to see which one I like (have success with),
I'm sure there will be a LOT of trial and error.

But from what I've read:
I know my soil/coco PH's, and thanks to this site, I also know how to treat the PH with UP & DOWN, (Not sure about the perlite/soil ratio though)
I've read that when I'm giving nutrients, I want approx. 10 - 20% runoff, to ensure that the roots get a good watering, otherwise I want less than 10% runoff to prevent washing away the nutrients.
The Temps and Humidity are things that I'll have to work out once I get the lights set up and get an idea of heal gain, but I have a 100 cfm exhaust fan, so I don't know how that's going to work out.
Watering when top inch is dry, more frequently with coco, I'v got a moisture meter, so I'll be using it until I feel comfortable using my finger.
Add nutrients to water, THEN test PH, going to measure amount of water going in and PH, as well as runoff water quantity and PH. to get indicator of root PH and health (not too sure about this either)
I'm SURE I'll have questions about nutrient feeding.
I plan to keep my LED lights about 14" - 16" away from the plants depending on leaf burn or "stretching" - 18 hours a day in vegetative, and 12 hours a day in flowering.

Here's what I've got:

4'x4'x80" Maxsisun tent
2 - MF2000 Maxsisun 230w LED lights
4 - 5 gal fabric containers -
FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting soil
MotherEarth Coco bale 100% coco
RapidRooter plugs
100 CFM exhaust fan

Just got the tent today, went together nicely, a little hard to pull the tent over the frame alone - need two people.
The rest of the stuff will be here later this week, so I'll have it all set up by this weekend, so I'll post pictures then.

I've ordered seeds from the UK, so they won't be here until the 8 - 15 of October.

- L.A. Peyote Kush - Indica dominant
- Amnesia Fast - Sativa dominant
- White Widow - Indica donminant
- Blueberry - Indica dominant

all feminized/autoflower

How am I doing?
Any comments are welcome.
Thanks

[PLreef]

Sounds like you've been doing your homework. It's nice seeing a new grower actually take the time to do some research before jumping in.
Your list looks pretty good except I would be a little leary of those lights. Those amazon special lights freak me out a bit. Are the UL certified? Last thing anyone wants is a fire in their tent.
Happy growing. Be sure to post photos as they grow. We love pictures.

[MagicMike66]

Welcome to the site, you’re in the right place and sounds like you’ve done a bit of homework first. A couple of pointers if you want to listen lol. Best way to know when your plants need fed is to lift the pot when it’s dry then lift when it’s wet. Feed when it’s light, it’s far easier than knowing how wet the medium needs to be. Don’t worry about testing the PH of your runoff. It’s just one more thing to stress about IMO. As PLreef mentioned, those Amazon lights usually aren’t the best (I’ve been there) but should definitely yield some bud out of it. Use your first grow as a learning experience, if you get some useable bud out of it then it’s a success. Don’t forget to post pics of your grow, we love bud porn here

[crunchyfrog]

Hi pal, good luck with your grow.

I also am a grumpy old man (except when I am imbibing which is normally most of my waking hours ha ha). I also grow in a soil coco mix (Fox Farms Coco Loco). You asked about the ratio of perlite. I use 1 part perlite, 2 parts Coco Loco. It really helps with drainage and helping the roots get air/oxygen. As you mentioned, I will say your exhaust fan sounds a too small for 4 plants and 460 watts light. Once you set up your tent/grow you can see how hot the tent gets but too high of temp can cause issues with your plants. Of course, you will need a fan to move air around inside the tent, they love air circulation.

Also, for reading, Nebula and Sirius articles on this website cover just about everything as you may already know.

[Fjeff]

You mentioned that you plan on transplanting. I don’t feel you want to do that. Germinate then go right to your pot you plan on finishing in. Auto plants will start to flower in 4 weeks and all that stress will not be good for your final yield. Best of luck.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Good point, I've read doing it both ways, but you made a good point about the autoflowering being so quick. I've just read about having to be careful as to not over/underwater, but I'm getting a moisture meter, so that should help with that until I get a feel for what they need.
Thanks

[PLreef]

When it come to autos you have to be on point. Any little screw up can cause them to stunt. I always plant my autoflowers directly in their final pot. They typically don't like being transplanted. Not to say you can't do it successfully but I try to steer new growers away from it.
As for watering. Start getting used to the weight of the pots. If they are lite they need water, if they are still heavy wait another day or 2 till they are lite again. Moisture meters are useless in my opinion. Not very accurate.

[GrumpyOldMan]

CrunchyFrog, I had read about putting a small fan in there for that reason, so I'll probably swipe my wife's little fan...I've got some temp/humidity meters coming, so I'll be able to monitor that.
I've created a rather complex spreadsheet to write everything down - don't want to trust it to memory...so that I can hopefully be able to duplicate whatever method works for me.

[GrumpyOldMan]

PLReef, MagicMike66,
I had read about these lights on another website, so I checked into them, and found they had fairly decent reviews, but then I happened to find a indepth (15 minutes) youtube video reviewing these particular lights. The only thing he didn't like was the light spread wasn't great when you raised the lights up high, so we'll see...

Also, MagicMike66, checking the weight of the plant is how my wife checks our house plants, so I know what you're talking about.
Thanks

[GrumpyOldMan]

PLReef,MagicMike66,
I wanted to add to this post, but I got distracted...ANYWAY, I would really like to stay with LED lights, but I don't have to if you think I should go with a different type of setup, so, which lights would you recommend, I'm not against sending these back and getting new/better/different ones if need be.

Here's the video I found about the lights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk4bVBxqgw0
Thanks again for everyone's input - never too old to learn.

[MagicMike66]

I use HPS as I like how dense the buds are that you get from it. It does come with heat issues so you do need good extraction. I can’t really comment on led as I’ve not used them other than the cheap one I got rid of but I would like to get one in future as the better ones seem to offer better spectrum. Give this one a try and see how you get on 👍🏻

[george66]

Sounds like youve just about got it covered,i would definetly upgrade your exhaust fan to anything over 200cfm,preferably nearer 3-400cfm,at least 1 oscillating fan to keep the air moving around the plants.If it helps i usually make my medium from 60 or 70% coco with 30 or 40% perlite,doesnt need to be exact.You also need to get some risers for your pots.Good luck.

[GrumpyOldMan]

I found the 100 CFM fans at Home Depot for $20, so since my tent has multiple openings, I can get as many as 6 more fans. they only draw 5 watts, so that's pretty cool...
I just figured that since the tent is 106 Cu.Ft., and so if I had a fan that changed the air in just about a minute that would have been sufficient. So I guess I'll get a couple of more fans...
Thanks

[GrumpyOldMan]

PLReef, thanks for the input on transplanting, so should I go ahead and germinate them in a paper towel, (I've been able to successfully germinate seeds the paper towel way, so I feel comfortable with this method. I've never used starter plugs before, but they look pretty straightforward, so I've got some coming.) or can I start directly from a RapidRooter plug,

Also, as I said, I'll be using 5 gallon fabric containers, that hold 16 qts, so I need 4 - 5 qts perlite and 12 qts soil?
Thanks

[PLreef]

I dont use anything but the soil in the pot. 1/3" deep hole, drop bean, water... Done. Lol
I try for about 25% perlite. Sounds like your numbers are right on.