Help! I don’t want to start off on a bad foot

Down about 1/2 inch and cover w loose soil! Welcome to the Forum from a fellow Ohioan!

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General rule of thumb is plant the tap root down and seed up. However some will plant tap root up. Say it helps from getting helmet head, which is where the seed comes up but the shell has trouble coming off of the coytledons

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I was thinking of getting this next week. No clue if it’s what I need for year around growing or how many plants it can hold etc any suggestions?


https://www.amazon.com/BloomGrow-Alphapar-Spectrum-36x20x63-Ventilation/dp/B08G1JM5GZ/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2A1MI031NV205&dchild=1&keywords=bloomgrow+alphapar+new+tech+pro+full+spectrum&qid=1627188865&sprefix=bloomgrow+alpha%2Caps%2C186&sr=8-2?tag=greenrel-20

I’d stay away from kits. Buy nice or buy twice. In that size tent you’ll have your hands full with 1 plant.
This is my Northern Lights Auto in a 48"×48"x55"


She’s full,1 plant. Looks nice right? Nope… My tent is 55" tall, a good foot short of what would be ideal. The colas are encroaching on the danger zone and there’s not much that can be done aside from supercropping a flowering branch…no no no.
This plant was topped and LST’d and it’s upsetting that she’s not gonna be the best she can be. Live and learn…:v::blush:
Edit- she’s 48 days from sprout in this pic. Completing 1st week of flower.

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Yip I love it “buy nice or buy twice “ it’s absolutely true . You have some decisions to make first before you buy anything:) how many plants and will you start new crops from seed or clones? Then build the tent around your goals . Also read as many new grow threads as you can , a lot of info out there on hacks and bargains but also real world reviews of particular kit you will need with good advice on alternatives. Good luck:) I’ll tuned in to see what the pros sort you out with :wink:

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I decided to stay out doors for the time being. I have recently transplanted my seedlings into 10 gallon fabric pots using happy frog soil. I planted marigolds around them to deter animals away from my pots.

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I know this is a month late but figured I’d add my $0.02. Kits seem convienient but TBH they contain the cheapest supplies. Let’s start with vent fans. There has been an advance in the types of motors that go into inline fans. The new motors are called EC motors. They are super quiet and extremely energy efficient. Check out ACInfinity cloud lineT-series fans. They have a control panel that will trigger your fans to run automatically should certain thresholds be crossed, in temp, or humidity. Kits will come with old fans that are not near as quiet or efficient. Not every grow tent is the same. Though they all look it, most are not built with super quality. You can tell by looking at a quality tent, say gorilla tents, then scope out vivosuns tents. That being said Gorilla tents are pretty spendy. Lights are gonna be a more spendy bit. Going too cheap on your light is a mistake. If you plan on growing QUALITY marijuana, indoors, and at quantities to keep you from going to buy weed at dispensaries or illicit marketeers you will want to spend more then $200.00 dollars, flat out. Beware of buying from Amazon, as third party sellers aren’t the Best Buy’s on Amazon. I suggest ordering directly from the manufacturer. Marshydro, spider farmer, and HLG are the most commonly seen lights here on the boards. Check out this cat on YouTube…


He tests lights using an apogee par meter and reviews them vs. what the sellers say they do, if they lie he calls them out. As for the other equipment often sold in these kits…. Straps and fabric pots and nets are a dime a dozen, so having them all piled into the kit allows them to increase the cost to you without costing the producer anything. In my opinion you can put together, piece mail, a much higher quality setup then one you can buy pre packaged, For just a few dollars more.

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I still have not confirmed the sex of my plants yet. But they seem to be growing just fine. I bought 5 lsd auto flower seeds and tomorrow will mark 2 weeks old for them

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Autoflowers are females so you should be good. The girls look happy :v::green_heart:

The ones pictured are not auto flowers. They are photo period plants and do not know the strain or the sex

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You can throw together a good 2x4 or 3x3 set up for less than $600 with all higher quality products from ac infinity and HLG. Cheaper than lesser Chinese brands like spider farmer or mars hydro. HLG has sales where you can get a 260 kit (boards, heatsink, driver) for a little under 300. Can save 40-50 on that by buying a driver somewhere else. Since the same boards and heatsink are under 180 with code diy10, tax and shipping included. Then appropriate meanwell driver can be found easily for ~75. Ac infinity 3x3 $99, 4" turbine 99 or 120 with digital controller, their filter $50. Accessories $50. Or you can spend over 600 and get decent set up with a spider farmer kit. That bloomgrow light is 100w with subpar LEDs. In fact if anyone really wants that bloomgrow kit I’ll point you in the direction of where you can obtain it for $129. Because that’s it’s actual value. Amazon just over doubles it because they’re Amazon. Would be a waste of $129 though. The fan and filter would need replaced halfway through first grow, light would barely flower one plant. In reality they are unbranded. Makes an ok veg light. Since that’s where I got my veg tent (4’x4’x7’) and light for $99, bloomgrow. But they are unbranded. Mines a blurple too, basically advertised the same, heck the third picture of the kit on Amazon still shows the blurple. The light does pull 101 actual watts. But my 20w with Samsung LEDs does just as much work in my veg tent as it. More maybe. My seedlings are definitely happier back under the 20w instead.

I just bought me a 1000 watt LED grow light from Amazon for my auto flower plants and they are doing so much better. I do not have a tent so I use a box lined in alumin foil and hung the grow light over the box. I plan getting a grow tent sometime this fall or winter to start my other photo period gorilla glue seeds and my other auto flowers seeds that I will get towards end of winter. I prefer to grow outdoors and will continue to do so but like to start them under lights to grow strong before putting them outdoors. I have the land and space in middle of no where and won’t have to worry about smell etc. my auto flowers will be 3 weeks tomorrow and my photo period just turned 6 weeks.


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Just a tip. This “1000w” (101 actual). Is not something optimal for flowering more than a 24"/24" foot print. Great for veg tho before they go into one of the flower tents.

You can tell distance from light in the background. Rest of the information is displayed. So I guess they would work better for autos. But have to be too close to cause any sort of footprint on 12/12 and low dli. 60 is closer to optimal mid flower. The 34 is where my plants sitting. The 45 on 12s is within 6-8". Grow lights really are deceptive, few reputable companies that don’t cost an arm and leg.
These lights claim full spectrum but give some really bogus numbers if metering is set to it.


I thought the lights have to be 4” from the plants?

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Definitely not.

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I watched the entire video and the formulas are a bit Greek to me but I get the jist of the importance of light. I have a grow bible that I got from Amazon and it suggested that I get a 1000 wat grow light but know the distance of the light and the plants is frustrating to me. I keep checking my plants to make sure they are not burning. Which I don’t think they are because they are still very green. I just stated fertilizing them. I just want them to get strong enough before I plant them in my 10 gallons fabric pots and move them to my land. I have a thermometer and humidity sensor in the box with my plants but not sure what the lvls should be. Any info would greatly be appreciated.

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When that bible says 1000w it means cmh/hps. Which are great but produce much more heat and current quantum board LEDs have much better spectrum and spread. Always go by actual from the wall wattage. Not an equivalency statement like the 1000w blurples. If it doesn’t say “actual draw” anywhere in the lights ad. You can be sure they are trying to pull a fast one. For flowering with cheaper/older LEDs aim for 50 actual watts per SQ foot. With quantum’s ~35-40 is all you need. I run 240 in both my 3x3 and 2x4. The 2x4 isn’t quantum and isn’t nearly as bright. But at the same time blows my 1000w blurple away.

If heats not a concern though hid (cmh/hps) fixtures are much cheaper. But over time are more expensive from running costs and replacing bulbs.

I have issues with once they germinate to get them to veggie status. The other ones growing at my property now has same as my auto flowers are doing. I got frustrated with my first ones that I just planted on the fabric pots and hoped for the best which they got stunned a little bit once the recouped they took off and are doing really well. I might just do the same thing with my auto flowers since they seem to be growing very slow like the other ones did. I really wanted to wait till the hit the vegatative stage but not having any luck with that. I suck at growing anything inside my house. I have killed every house plant that I have bought or giving to me but I am awesome at growing a garden and flower beds. I tend to them every day and even talk to my plants. But trying to make something stay alive in my house is a death sentence for any plants. I still plan on getting me a grow tent and try to do better late winter with my photo period gorilla glue seeds. I feel I will eventually get it right. I can not grow to harvest because I live in a small town where houses are close together and have a sherif that lives behind me so I can’t risk growing at my house due to the smell they produce during flowering stage. My plants at my property are already smelly and they don’t have any flowers on them. So the option to grow from germination to harvest at my house will be impossible. Sure I can start them at home but they have to be moved not long after vegetation starts

Good charcoal filters can scrub the scent but I’d also be apprehensive with the sheriff so close. I only have a problem with smell when drying, because the area I previously used was blocked off from where the air would circulate through the filter. I run a business on the same property i grow and I’ve never had anyone say anything. Brother a couple times while drying but that was it. He can’t stand the odor, is here daily. Definitely notices it long before me, luckily the ac infinity filter has worked great for going on 1.5 grows. The first kit filter I used failed quickly, already had the replacement on hand luckily. After learning here that kits are not what they seem.





I’m actually filtering double recommended with a 4", still no smell outside the tents.

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