My journal, first time

So as I stated this will be my first grow. I have been doing as much reading as I can so I feel as though I have a good understanding of the BASICS. I write down alot of info in my little bible ive been making but still have a few questions. Long story short here is my gear run down.
3x3x6 tent
FFOF medium
5 gal grow bags
Viviosun 4" fan/carbon filter
Flora nutes(micro, bloom, gro)
PH up/down and a meter
1200 philzon LED
Heater, humidifier
2 small 6" fans for circulation(might only need one)

5 Likes

I will be doing my first grow with white widow autos because I was told it was an easier plant to start with and im really just wanting a grow under my belt before doing photo plants. One question I have is with my temps. Controlling my heater is a little scary. As far as melting the wire or damaging the breaker. Recommendations would be appreciated. I also will link the controller im looking at and hopefully to get advice or someone who uses it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GQWY9HM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_sTxBCb1ZTP5SS

I also know the light I purchased(philzon 1200w) will fall extremely short if I were to upscale my area but I am not. I am not “legal” as far as being able to grow. I dont plan on my grow being for anyone but myself. So in turn, I will only be doing 2 plants at a time, no matter what. I am stay low profile and always will. I think the light will do ok and its def not the best but I should do ok if I control all other elements in the tent. Thanks guys

3 Likes

I’ve grown many wwa, have one about to flower right now actually. So if you need any help just ask. That light may be a little small for your tent. Also, one wwa can easily fill out your 3x3 tent too

4 Likes

I also am under the understanding that the FFOF runs a little how for seedlings. And my plan is to germinate and go straight to their forever home, no solo cups, just straight to the 5 gal containers. With that said. Should I buy a small cfl to start the little sprouts or just keep my LED a little further away? And on a side note, I know the philzon 1200 LED is pretty shitty honestly. But right now im honestly not willing to drop a grand on a light. I could see myself doing a couple hundred but nothing more. I would be willing tosacrifice a few grams every grow running a little less quality light honestly because like I said, this is strictly for me

3 Likes

Thanks for the reply. I honestly will do one at first. I purchased 20 seeds of WWA so I have plenty. I also dont want to have soo much bud that it just sits for a year either.

1 Like

I always start at least 2 seeds and keep the healthiest of the 2 also I use a 55w true 55w 5600k cfl to put over my seedlings. I recommend starting them in a solo cup just because it helps them establish a root system better. I don’t know anything about focfarms. I grow in coco coir myself. I do use the general hydroponics Flora trio tho and recommend you start around half strength

Welcome to the forum!

If odor is going to be a concern I would recommend going with a 6” filter and fan. Your going to want to turn over the air in the tent quicker than the 4” will do in a tent that size. If you want to build your own light, I think you’d be surprised at how reasonable they can be.

2 Likes

Welcome to the forum we have a lot of knowledgeable members and staff glad to have you aboard we will be more than happy to help you from start to finish @imSICKkid if you want to contact someone put the @ Symbol in front of their name no space

4 Likes

Welcome to the forum.

My advice as a new grower is to really key in on maintaining a good pH and ppms in a cannabis friendly soil (like FFOF). Pick up a TDS meter so you can measure the ppms of the runoff. Is the pH meter you propose one for measuring liquids? That’s the one you want, not the one the goes into the soil. This is an amazon link to the things I have to manage my grow. Amazon.com - Idea Lists

I haven’t used FFOF but I have seen people caution folks to instead use something like happy frog or one of the other FF seedling mixes to avoid nute burn. I have seen a lot of folks on this site in FFOF get nute burn.

You don’t need to spend a grand to fill out a 3x3 tent. If you have do-it-yourself skills, you can do it for $250. If you aren’t a DIY-er, you can pick up something $300-$400. @dbrn32 is the local lighting guru.

Good luck!

7 Likes

try one WWA in a 2x2 corner of your tent,
this light is not good, but it will light a 2x2 area in flower.!

if u want good results from a 3x3 tent, return the Philjunk and get HLG QB.!

5 Likes

Thanks for the info guys. Im an electrician so building a light would actually be really fun. I wanted to reply back last night but being a “new member” wouldnt allow me to reply. Someone should change that rule. And since I dont know how many replies I can have today this might be long.

So with the light I currently have(phlizon 1200) I know I fall short. What I would like to do is find a supplemental light that I can pair to help the veg side of things. I think with running this light for ONE white widow auto will be ok for the flower stage as I see wayyy more of the red spectrum. Its not really purple or blurple but more reddish pink. I am also deep in my budget after buying everything, including seeds and im about 500 in the hole(im not scared to spent money although I do have a full household to tend to). So with said, to help me with the veg stage would a marshydro light be ok to ADD along with this light to get me through my first grow? My tent is 32x32x72. I am very interested in building a light for my specific tent and I DO NOT have plans to expand. This bud is strictly for me and honestly I have yet to find a good person, aka plug, so I said fuck it, im just gonna grow my own. I have looked at several of the DIY threads for lights and plan to look a ton more. But specifically for my dimensions what would be a good light from seed to harvest that would fit my tent as well as my budget? For the time being would I be fine with purchasing a supplemental light that has a better veg spectrum to go along with the light I have now?
@dbrn32

Ventilation:
Im growing in my attic so I purchased a 4" exhaust fan and carbon filter. And someone stated it may be not enough but after I set up my tent I have negative pressure so I would think it was enough. I purchased a fan speed controller for it to actually tone it down. Another problem is with the temperature outside(live in Okla) the temps arent staying warm enough because all the warm air my heater puts out gets pulled right out with the exaust causing my heater to run CONSTANTLY. The air coming into my tent is from the small screen at the base of the tent so its around 45 degrees in my attic. I figured I should find a return air vent in the attic to tap into with some ducting that way im pulling air from my 70 degrees house instead of my 45 degree attic. I feel like that will solve the problem with the tent not being able to stay stable.

FFOF:
I stated thats the medium I will use but for my seedlings im going to start in solo cups. What medium would be good that I could grab from Walmart or something that wont burn my little ones?

1 Like

I went and took a look at philzon 1200, spd graph shows about 1:1 ratio of blue to red light. It’s already probably a better veg light, so I’d save your money for whenever you’re planning on completing build.

For a 3x3 you’re looking at probably $250-$400 depending on exactly what you want to do. The 4 packs of qb 120’s make a nice light on hlg-240h-c2100a. But if you want to do strips or cobs there’s some really good options there too.

2 Likes

@dbrn32 thanks for taking a look. I have been doing some reading/watching on building my own. I watched the series growmau5 did on YT. I will probably start buying parts here and there. Like I said, I will honestly 100% never upscale from this area just because its strictly for me and there will be no handouts considering I just moves up here to the Tulsa area. Id like to make a square frame that eats up alot. Like a 30x30. So would it make sense to go the cob route? Just for “design” purposes? Thanks for taking the time

1 Like

Not necessarily. The boards i mentioned would fit in that space, i think they’re about 9"x11" or so. Would really keep your light levels up too. Plus driver has built in dimmer that would allow you to fine tune light intensity as you seen fit.

Strips fit good as well, just about everyone makes a 560mm strip that would work real nice. I like cobs though, so if you would prefer them i can help with that just as well.

The growmau5 videos are awesome! A lot of the stuff is a little dated though. There’s not really any reason to solder anymore. And there’s several generations of newer leds.

@dbrn32 is this kit the one you mentioned

Horticulture Lighting Group 135 Watt Quantum Board LED Kit V2? For $212.00?

1 Like

Same company, but not what I was referring to. That is a complete kit using single board of higher power.

If I am strictly doing one auto plant at a time would the kit I mentioned do the trick? Or would it be a waste of money to go that route?

1 Like

Not a waste of money, but not your best option. The board is only something like 11x6" and just a little small for space.