New grower looking for advice

[DarkLotus760]

Hi all I am new here and this is going to be my first time growing indoors. I have a 3ft wide by 8 ft. long 8 ft. tall closet in my room I was thinking of growing 4 plants the strains are 2 Master Kush, 1 Mendocino Purp's and 1 Green Crack all Med seeds with a 400 watt Son Agro HPS light with mylar covering the walls. First I am wondering will the 400 watt HPS light be enough for all 4 plants as well as are these good strains to start with and will I need a venting system or will leaving the door cracked with a fan on rotate going be good enough? I will be using Premier Pro Mix BX potting & seeding Mix which I will be adding Perlite soil amendments too it so that it has added drainage and soil aeration I was told that this is really good soil. The things is thought is that I was wondering will I need to add additional Dolomite lime to this mix or will the Dolomite that is already added to it be enough? Also should I add worm casting to this mix for the added nitrogen, and added micronutrients and added aeration or will my soil be fine without the worm casting? Mind you I am a first time indoor grower and any and all advice would be highly appreciated so that I can have a successful grow. Also I would like to thank you ahead of time to all who answer back .

[DarkLotus760]

Thanks grow pant for the line I'm check it out. Man I thought I could get some help here but I seems like everyone is snobs here JUST BECAUSE I AM NEW. Im find me another site where I can actually get help

[Blaze4daze]

Welcome DarkLotus

Looks like you made some great choices with your growing supply's. Premium Pro Mix is a great soil base to start with and should have plenty of dolomite Lime in it for you to get underway. Yes you'll want to add worm castings to your mix. Use the whole bag for all 4 plants and spread a handful around close to the bottom of their containers also, then the rest mixed into the mixture.

You'll want to get your soil mixture all ready and add to your starter pots and it will be there and ready when you transplant from your starter pots into their final containers. 5 gallon buckets work well as final containers, just drill 7~8 1/2 inch holes at the bottom of the buckets spaced evenly around the bottom for maximum drainage and best results.

All your seed choices are great strains to grow. My next grow, I too will be growing Master Kush as I have been wanting to grow that strain for a while now. A 400 watt light should be fine to get you thru this grow. Another good idea is to paint the inside of your closet white, or pick~up a roll of Mylar to line the walls so your light has a reflective surface to reflect the light back to the plants.

A circulating fan inside is a must and you'll want to keep it pointed just above the plants, or below them, but not right on them, they'll need the extra co2 it brings to the grow area. Depending on the circumstances of your location and the secrecy you need, a flow thru venting system might be needed to remove the smell and excessive heat build~up. If not that big of deal you could just leave the door cracked a~bit to get some fresh air circulating thru with just a fan to start with.

Here is my soil recipe I retrieved from the growing indoor section, posted early last season and might help. Give us a day or two sometimes to get back to your posts. Sorry it took so long to get your questions answered, if you have more let us know, Best of Luck to ya.
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Here is my soil recipe. I have had, very good results, using these ingredient's. There is probable a few other ingredients, that some growers use, but I got this soil recipe, from an Old~timer, grower, that told me to just stick to these ingredients, for best results.
and not try to get all fancy, with new~fangled growing technology, ingredients.

Happy Frog Natural Organic potting soil /with Humic acid
Large course Perlite
Natural & Organic Earthworm castings Blend
Indonesian Bat Guano
Bone Meal (for root development)
Blood Meal (for extra Nitrogen) Nitrogen is critical, in early plant development.
Mycorrhizal Inoculums simply called Mykos. (VERY important for root development) I use a small handful spread around, just under the transplant, and a full handful (spread around the container), (a couple inches up), from the bottom of the container (pot), Not mixed into the soil mix. ( personal preference, I guess. ) Because, Bone Meal is already in the mix.

You can get these Ingredients, at your local hydro supply stores, and local gardening supply locations.

[Mega nute]

Sorry you all feel that way about getting and answer. A lot of us are going threw our outside harvest and not online at all. Again we apologise as we are not all snobs and would be glad to answer your questions. Mega Nute

[DarkLotus760]

Thanks Blaze and thanks Mega Nute I was going to give up on this site but thought I would give it another chance. Mega Nute I have been on here everyday bro and seen that there has been quite a few people answering to other post on here and browsing my post but nobody just wanted to take the time to actually help me out except the Mods and you and a junior member like myself. Blaze I had decided to go with a 32"x32"x63" Mylar indoor grow tent and a inline fan and carbon filter venting system. Again Thanks Blaze I had been looking for advice about adding the extra dolomite to my soil because I didn't want to kill my babies. Also do you need starter pots or can you just start them and finish them in one pot? I have heard that you can use one pot for the whole process then I have heard from other people I talked to that you should use a starter pot then transfer that you get better results? Also I got a buddy who has grow sacks would that be better then the 5 gallon bucket or do it really matter? Again thanks to all who answer back to me I really need the advice I am disabled and trying to grow my own because the shops in my area are really expensive and being on a fixed income I need to find a better system of getting my meds and growing my own seems more sensible then having to pay for a delivery service.

[Blaze4daze]

@DarkLotus

From what I understand Dolomite Lime is added to the good soil mixes and helps with pH, for your soil mixture, so adding extra might cause problems when using liquid plant food nutrients, taking the pH way too high when nutrients are added when feeding with them. I'm sure a little wouldn't hurt, but watch your pH real close if you decide to use extra D.L., ok? Using extra D.L. also may require you to use less nutrients (then needed) also, just to keep your pH between 5.9~6.5, you have to think about that too.

If you have the opportunity to use those grow sacks and if their new, not used, then I would use them. I have used them in the past and was told when I bought them that they were reusable, come to find out they wouldn't hold~up for another grow. Their real cool to use and drain well, but only good for one grow, the ones I bought anyways. I like them alot.

Yes! you can start those sprouts in the final containers and skip transplanting if you wish. I use starter pots for my plants cause they fit into my Veg area better for Maximum coverage from the lighting. It would be more difficult for me to use the big containers the whole way cause my two grow area's are different sizes and the small starter pots allow my plants to all fit in their veg area and still get great coverage. Either way you should be fine, if you have the room.

This is a great site, I've traveled the gambit of grow sites and have made this one my home. Many fine people here and lots of great growers too. Sometimes it might take a day or two to get to you for me anyways, as there are many newbies, that we are trying to get to, to help with questions and lots are harvesting right now, so hang in there, we care.

Hang~out and read thru the (Grow Diary Section) and see how we around here do it. click back a page or two there, some good grow tips all over the place there too. Best of Luck and don't hesitate to ask for more help, ok?

[kbag]

I would like you to think again about the tent you have 8ft of hieght the tent is 63" in hieght by the time you get your yoyo hangers in there and light you will be really restricted for height. You could save some money as well by just painting the walls white seen many good grows in just white painted rooms.
You can still add the carbon filter etc.

[DarkLotus760]

Hey Kbag the closet that the grow tent is going in fits the grow tent like a glove on the sides but I understand what your saying. My tent could be taller but I wasn't planning on letting them grow too big I was going to try and take the tops and tie them down to train them I don't know if this will make a difference? Plus this is just for personal use and the tent I have has slots for the yoyo hangers to hook too as well as for the venting system so I don't have to do anything but hook everything up in the tent. Would it be better to try a SOG in this tent instead of just a few plants?

[kbag]

i much prefer to lst myself but i am a bit stoned now and will try my best to answer to questions in the morning . It will be a long one .

[DarkLotus760]

Hey Kbag thanks for the advice I was looking over the grow tent supply I am going to be buying from and your right the first tent is too small so I found a tent that's 48" Wide x 24" Deep x 84" High. I think I'm buy that one instead so I don't have to worry about burning my plants from the lighting system.

[kbag]

I am glad you thought about it . I brought a secret jardine tent pile of poo imo. In hindsight i wish i had brought the green Qube tent it looks alot more sturdy and is not to expensive compared to others,

[DarkLotus760]

Yea I found a place called gotham hydroponics that sells grow tents suppose to be able to hold 100lbs from the roof but Idk I might check that green Qube tent your talking bout.

[DarkLotus760]

Hey Blaze or Anyone I was wondering with the grow tent that is 48"x24"x84" which when multiplied equals 96,768 cubic feet if my math is right. My question is will a 6" Grow bright High Velocity inline fan rated at 424 cfm output be enough for my grow tent? I want to be sure that my exhaust system will be efficient enough mind you my duct work is not a straight shot to the outside it goes up and then around a corner to the outside and I am not sure if this set up will be efficient enough to expel the heat and stale air from my grow tent mind you I am using a 400 Watt HPS Son Agro lighting system. If anyone could let me know if this fan will do the job or will I have to use a 8" fan instead? Also how long should I let it run and how often should it kick on to expel the air?

[kbag]

Hi DL you sure them dimensions are right? 24 inches depth seems a little small to me. To answer your question though yes the 6" will be more than sufficient especially at 424cfm.
If you are doing a stealth grow where need to control odour make sure the carbon filter is capable of filtering 424 cfm otherwise you will be exhausting the odour from the plants.
If you are planning on using a carbon filter and a intake fan as well a 4" fan on the intake should stop any negative pressure from the 6* extract.
With that 6" fan with all vents closed and no intake fan the tent will suck itself inside out lol.

[DarkLotus760]

Yea my dimensions are correct. Why does 24 inch depth seem small you got me stumped there what am I missing I though it would be enough space but you say its kind of small should it be bigger and if so why? Ok so the 6" will be too big then should I go with a 4" fan? The 4 inch system has a CFM of 170. An yea it is a stealth grow because where I live there are too many grubby fingers around here and I am not going to try and grow in my back yard because I don't feel like coming home to no plant because some wanker got a latter and jumped my fence to steal it. I stuck up a pick of how I want to do my system sorry not advertising just was the only pic that shows how I wanted to do my exhaust system. Any suggestions about if I should keep the 6 inch fan instead of going with the 4 inch instead? Hope the Picture helps to let me know because I just want to be sure I have enough power to pull the exhaust air through everything properly as well as allow it to exhaust all air without having any stale air still left in my tent. I had read on another site that with the way I am going to be running my duct work up around a corner and down and out would cut my flow of exhaust an could possible lead to stale air being left in the tent or exhaust system.