Hey - thanks for inviting me in! I just germinated 2 grandaddy purps and 2 white widow - all autos. I have them in a brand new 2x2x4 grow tent. Purchased fan and filter combo from A/C. I have a Spider Farmer light as recommended as well. They are tiny right now...just little seedlings. Sorry in advance for request for a little handholding, as I have not much of an idea about the details and confusing myself by looking at so many YouTubes and various experts, etc. I think I MAY know enough now about optimal temps and humidity for various stages of growth. Hope so, at least! Anyway, Using Nebula's recommendation on that blog about nutrients (Super Thrive Grow and ST Bloom), I have both of those and also planted in Coco Loco...in other words, everything she recommended for this particular "cube" grow. When do I start added nutes, how frequently, and what measurements? In addition, I installed both the A/C fan and filter outside of the tent to maximize room inside. At what level should I run that fan, if at all right now? I currently have it at level 4 (I can also place a small fan inside for circulation and not use the external fan, until I need to use the filter when they get closer to flower?). Just looking for a basic hard-to-screw up plan with enough of detailed directions to follow until I get on a bit more solid ground with experience. Anyone willing to help out? If so, thank you very much in advance! PS This is only my second grow...grew some Zsittlez autos in 5 gal pots last summer and did surprisingly well without a tent but aphids took over and no matter what I tried and all the recommendations from more experienced others...disaster. Keeping ALL the girls indoors from now on until or unless I learn another way to deal with those guys. Thanks again...
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I don't grow autos. I grow photos almost exclusively but most of the care is the same.Originally posted by KathyLH View Post
So let's do a checklist first...
2 x 2 x 4 for your grow space.
A/C Fan and Filter.
Spider Farmer light.
Super Thrive, ST Grow and Bloom for nutrient.
Coco Loco for media.
Where did you place your 2 x 2 tent? I'm assuming somewhere in your house like a bedroom or office as you mentioned your first run got eaten up by aphids. If your tent is in an office or bedroom try and find a way to exhaust your tent to the outside like through a window. You can mount the filter in front of the fan and exhaust it all outside. The room your tent is in is called a lung room as it feeds the tent with whatever environment the lung room has. You don't want to be exhausting the humidity and heat back into your lung room as this will change the environmental specs of the room and the conditions in your tent will change over time. This applies more to larger tents but it's good practice to set it up this way if you think you may move onto a larger grow space. I grow in a 5 x 5 as my main tent and I have a couple of 2 x 2 x 4's like you that I use to house my mother plants and for testing.
I'm assuming A/C means AC Infinity? What size fan? I'm also assuming your fan has a speed controller and isn't being controlled by one of their digital controllers? You're going to have to play around with the speed of the fan to see where the happy medium is as far as stabilizing your temperature and humidity within the range you want to be in.
What is the wattage of the light you have? I'm guessing that you have an SF-1000? If so then your light can use up to 100w of power. I like something a little more powerful as I like to push my plants but it should be sufficient for what you want to do. I currently have a ViparSpectra 1500 Pro in my tester 2 x 2. It is rated at 150w. The way you calculate the size light you want is to multiply 35 x the sq/ft of your tent. In your case you have a 2 x 2 so you have 4 sq/ft of floorspace. 35 x 4 =140w. This is the minimum that you want in your tent. 55 x 4 = 220w. This is the maximum wattage you want in your tent. Anything in between that will work.
I've never used ST products to grow cannabis so I can't say how good they are. If Nebula recommended them then they must be effective. You're going to need a Calcium/Magnesium amendment. You may also need pH UP and Down. I use a product from General Hydroponics called FloraNova Grow and Bloom. I supplement with mono silicic acid(GH Armor SI), Hormex(Similar to Superthrive) and GH CALiMAGic at particular stages of the plants growth.
I always suggest to new growers to start out in potting mix set up for cannabis. Coco can be more labor intensive as you will probably need to water more frequently and have to amend with calcium and magnesium. Coco doesn't hold onto those very well like soil does. Coco's benefits are accelerated growth due to higher O2 in the root zone so it has its merits but, for newbs, soil can help correct a lot of minor mistakes that would hurt you in coco. It's not a bad medium to start in but just understand that it can be more labor intensive vs soil.
Do you have a way to measure the pH and PPM/EC levels in your feed solutions? I suggest you look into buying dedicated meters to accurately measure what you are feeding your plants but pH strips will give you a general idea of where your pH is. In soil you want to land around 6.5 pH. In Coco you want to your pH between 5.8 and 6.0 in veg and 6.0 to 6.2 for flower. The cheap chinese meters you see on Amazon are not very accurate and tend to break fairly easily. I use meters from a company called BlueLab. Another company that makes a good accurate meter is Apera. They aren't cheap but if you think you'll be doing this for a while they'll be your best friends! PPM means Parts Per Million. EC means Electrical Conductivity. Two ways of measuring how much nutrient you have in your water.
On to your questions....
Optimal temp/humidity. It depends on the stage of growth that your plant is in. For photoperiod plants I go by the following ranges.
Seedling/Clone - 72° - 78°/65% - 75%
Veg to Flower - 77° - 82°/55% - 65%
Last few weeks of flower - 72° - 78°/45% - 55%
Nutrient application. Follow the manufacturers recommendations but I would start out at 1/4 of what they recommend and start upping the amount to see how much they can take. Over and underwatering are the two biggest issues that newbs tend to make. The best way I've found to know when to feed them is to use the light pot method. Before you feed them feel how light the pot is. This will be your indicator as to when to water. I posted this on the forum for those that want to get more in depth about watering practices, pot and media choices in relation to that. If you have a second I recommend you read it to understand how choosing the right pot size can affect your growth rates and overall health of your plant.
Watering cannabis explained by Aqua Man - GrowWeedEasy.com Cannabis Growing Forum
The fan in your tent is really all you need now as the filter is to scrub the air of any aroma you may not want others to smell, i.e. neighbors. Right now you aren't flowering so the filter is only really needed when your flowers are starting to smell. If the smell of unflowered cannabis is offensive to you or whoever you may be concerned about then attach the filter. I would invest in a small fan inside the tent for better air movement. I would suggest an oscillating fan if your tent was bigger but for the 2 x 2's I always recommend Honeywell Turbo Force fans. They're cheap and sturdy. You want air moving constantly so that diseases like Mold or Powdery Mildew can't get a foothold in the garden. Run both fans so that the inner keeps the air moving and the inline/exhaust moves it out of the tent and refreshes the tent with fresh air coming through the vent flaps at the bottom. You want to constantly be refreshing the tent with fresh CO2.
From the little I know about autos they don't like to be transplanted nor do they like to be topped so I would use a 3 gal cloth pot as its final home but a plastic pot will suffice. The cloth pots help with keeping the soil oxygenated and also keep the roots from getting root bound. If you read the link I posted you'll understand how pot size and shape relate to plant health.
Can you post pics of the seedlings as they are currently?
Sorry for the long post but I tried to answer as many of your questions along with giving you some advice that I've learned over the years cultivating cannabis. -
You have the benefit of your first grow. Bummer about the aphids. That is the reason I think indoors is the way to go, at least for me. I follow the coco schedule here: https://www.growweedeasy.com/general...ora-trio-guide . If you are using a different brand, most people start at 1/4 of manufacturer recommendation, then adjust if needed from there. Schedules need to be tailored to the grow. I keep my fans on high all the time. For me it is a matter of keeping the air moving to promote a healthy environment. Coco needs lots of calmag. pH of solutions in is also important to monitor. You will have to determine what techniques are best for you. Study GWE, the answers are there.
Don't worry, be happy, grow sticky buds.Comment
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Geez...two for two answers that have me increasingly excited to LEARN! I had not considered exactly WHY to have fans on all the time and on high - good to know. I have some of the basics you mentioned: the calmag, pH meter to measure and stuff to correct if necessary. I was under the impression that FF CocoLoco was part soil and part coco and perhaps didn't need nutes until mid flower or so but can't remember where I read that and if I remembered accurately or not - must learn more about that as well. Thank you for the help and the link - I will certainly be checking into all this great info. Grateful!
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