Questions from a first time grower

I recemtly decided it was time to try growing my own plants but I am a total newbie. I have read so much about all the different aspects of growing but I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. From what I have read you all seem like very helpful people so I hope my questions will not be too much of a bother as I am sure they have been asked multiple times before.

I have purchased a 1.2m (L) x 1.2m (W) x 2m (H) grow tent so far and I was wondering can I grow more than 1 plant in there and what size pot/pots should I use?

I am going to order Cherry Pie, Sour Diesel & Bruce Banner seeds - all auto flowering and feminized but that is not set in stone as I just picked what was quick to grow and the right height for my grow tent so if anyone has better suggestions I am open to them.

My other question is about lighting. There seems to be so many different options that I don’t know what to choose. Is there any best way to go? And what wattage should I be looking at to get the best end result?

I did have another question…there is always one more :slight_smile: What should I be using as soil and are there particular nutrients I need to get?

Thank you to anyone taking the time to read this. :slight_smile:

3 Likes

Welcome to the forum @Cazz
There are a lot of good growers here and helpful ones.
Your questions will garner a lot of comments and each of us has a preferred method. So your answers will be somewhat conflicting at times. Its a can of worms type of questions you ask.
But I suggest you start simple. One or Two plants at first to get your feet wet.
Buy the best light you can afford.

4 Likes

Hi there. welcome to your new happy place :blush:. There are going to be so many options and opinions your head will spin. But, like many of us, I ordered wrong lights. your tent should do 2 plants. I grow in 5gal fabric pots. FF ocean soil because it has enough nutes for at least a month. I use Jack’s 321 because of its ease of use. Now, the light. This is most important other than the tents heat and humidity. HLG is kinda the go to light here. I have a spider farmer 4000 (450w). I also have a couple cheapo lights sitting in a closet.

1 Like

Welcome to the community, this is a great place, Newbie myself only on 2 grow. I understand it all can be overwhelming but once you start, you will figure out as you go. I grow autos as well, I use a mixture of FFOF and ff happy frog with perlite added to help drainage. I also use fox farm trio of nutrients. I use these cause for me they are easy available
Stat with 1-2 plants it will not be as overwhelming. Aslo besides a good lighting you will need a good ph pen. And tds meter. Please keep us up to date and there are so many great people we will help you, liked they have helped me and countless others

1 Like

Welcome to the best grow forum on the web.

We’ve all been new growers at one time and the state of the art dictates growers stay on top of new developments. I have just a few general points to make:

First would suggest photoperiod over autoflowering. The thing about autos is they’re on a clock and if you do anything to slow or stall them they will not produce. Photoperiod you can just veg longer until at desired size then flip the light schedule.

Lights are the single most important tool of the grower. All processes depend on the light. Inadequate light will cause all kind of issues including low yields. HLG makes a great light as does Spyder Farmer. Stay away from the bulk of lights sold on Amazon as they are wildly exaggerated as to performance. Two lights IMO would be better than one as you can use one until plants are large enough; saving you money on electricity. A couple of HLG 260 XL R-spec would do well in that space.

Invest in quality meters to monitor PH and TDS. These are essential tools for the indoor grower. PH up and down along with calibration/storage solution is needed too. Apera and Bluelab make good instruments.

Pick one person and follow them. Do solicit advice but you will, as stated, get conflicting information. Best to stick with one person you trust.

Follow other grow journals.

When container growing (unless using living soil) you WILL be using supplements at some point. There are dozens if not hundreds out there. Personally I like Jakc’s for it’s ease and cost.

You will need an exhaust fan. A/C Infinity is the leader in fans and is a wise investment over cheaper alternatives. Stirring fans in the grow space are a must as well. A meter to monitor the environment in the tent is a needed item too.

7 Likes

welcome to the community. great advice posted above. Happy Growing

2 Likes

Welcome to the community !

1 Like

Welcome to the community no shortage of good help here.

1 Like

@Cazz Welcome to the Class, you’ve landed in a great space! Soak it up!!

1 Like

@Cazz , welcome! First, the LIGHT is the #1 piece of kit you need. The LIGHT is the #1 most important thing you can invest in. I know this cause I could have done better if I’d known! HLG lights are great. I do like Atreum lighting for their broad spectrum. But you won’t go wrong with HLG. @Myfriendis410 has you covered, and knows his stuff, like so many here.

1 Like

I’d also recomend not starting with Autos as i have read hundreds of remarks that they require more experienced growers. The photos are more forgiving for newbies.

1 Like

New grower here too. 10/10 paper towel germinated White Widows and 10/10 sprouted seedlings 1-3 inches above soil following planting transfer. Two days for paper towel germination and 3 days after planting in the soil, looking good. Soil mix is as follows: 58% All Purpose Promix, 10% Burpee Raised Garden, 19% Master Garden Potting Mix, 4% NK Perlite and 10% Mushroom Compost. The Master Garden and Promix already contains perlite, hence not as much perlite needed. Just giving you some ideas for what might work for soil composition. I got all these a Menards.

1 Like

Thanks so much everyone for the warm welcome and all the great advice it is really appreciated. :smile:

Thank you for all your info. I’m still a little in shock here as I didn’t realise how expensive this was all going to be. :upside_down_face: Does around $800 sound about right for 2 of the HLG 260 XL R-specs? Something I probably should of mentioned is I am in Australia so that is AU dollars. As to the exhaust fan I am not sure what is needed. I looked up the company you mentioned but there are several kinds and I don’t know which one would be sufficient for my tent.

My daughter said she can make living soil if that is preferable for the plants. She does all the gardening here and has a worm farm so she can help with that aspect.

I’ve seen fabric pots mentioned a lot and wondered if they are preferred over any other pots?

You mentioned that stirring fans are needed…is that just normal fans that circulate the air in the tent?

The meter to monitor the environment, is that to measure temperature and humidity? Does it have a specific name that I could use to search for it?

I’ll do as suggested and refrain from using autoflowering. I understand now more about what it means and it makes sense to stay away from them at my stage of growing.

As you can see when I said I was a newbie i wasn’t kidding. lol Thank you for helping to improve my knowledge as I really want to do make this work.

Thanks so much for your help. :smile:

Thank you for your advice. Every little bit gets me further along on this new growing adventure. :smile:

I’ve decided to stay away from autoflowering for the moment, thanks for the advice. :smile:

1 Like

Thanks for the advice! I am still reeling from the cost of the lights but I guess I am trying to replace the sun here. :smile:

1 Like

In Oz dollars that sounds about right. But it’s a one-time expense which will benefit you later.

There are some recipes floating around on this forum: just type in the search bar for living soil.

They actually do a great job over plastic pots.

Whatever kind of home fan that will fit. I have a variety.

Thermometer/hygrometer: any small battery powered home unit.

Another option on lights if you are handy is to build them. I did that and saved half over buying. There’s a thread here that can help you with that if interested.

You’re going to have more questions too: don’t sweat being new to this as there’s a lot to learn.

2 Likes

@Cazz , one thing re autos; yes they are a little more touchy cause they start to flower in 3-4 weeks, so they need a good start. But you don’t need a tent to control the 12 hrs of darkness.
What about trying one auto and 2 photos in your tent. If the auto goes down you have the 2 photos. But you gained experience.

1 Like

I have a quick question if you don’t mind. Lightly fanning the seedling sprouts 1 to 4 inches tall seems like a good idea to drive the plants into developing a firmer stalks. Any opinion on this? My sprouts are getting a little big long in the tooth but not laying over yet. Getting a little bit nervous but the plants look very healthy and firm. So I’m trying to prevent that from happening before it’s too late with the introduction of a little breeze tonight (going on right now). I’ve been rotating the tray holding the plants religiously too to develop stalk strength but they are wanting to run. Thanks.