New Grower All Advice Needed - First Auto Grow Setup

[ShapeShift]

the 96x3 will work well for 2 or 3 plants alone. I have one and have done well with it. BUT if I had to do it all over, I would have got 2 of the 46x3 reflectors so I could angle them for better coverage on the sides. live and learn lol. and you cant go wrong with the Mephistos. good strong genetics. as far as the Fastbuds, I just spouted a LSD-25 so we'll see how they do. good luck with your growing.

Thankyou for your advice elsamurai
I was thinking the same about being able to angle the two small LEDs slightly off to either side then just having the one LED above.
Is there a big difference in the reflector series to the older model (white) I saw I could get 2x 300w older model Mars LEDs for approx $200.
Or as you said would I be better off with the 2 smaller reflector series ?

 

[ShapeShift]

As far as I can tell, there's not an enormous difference between soil and soilless mediums once your grow is under way, essentially it comes down to nutrient management, soil comes preloaded with some nutrients to get the plant through the seedling stage and start rooting, however these may not be ideal for canna, whereas with soilless grows you're completely in control of what is in there, and can fine tune/dial in nutes depending on your preferences.

I started out with soil because it's something I don't need to micromanage right now, but that's my preference while I'm learning

I see, uve got me thinking now! I might try soil for my first indoor auto, as that's what I'm used to. Although I have only ever used soil from round the yard which seems to be gluggy and compact quite hard and dry out to little dirt balls,. have never actually purchased any type of medium but I'm sure I'll notice growing differences when I do
I'll probably look for a light soil mix with some perlite and chuck it in a smart pot or air pot .... What pot size would you recommend for autos ?

 

[elsamurai]

Thankyou for your advice elsamurai
I was thinking the same about being able to angle the two small LEDs slightly off to either side then just having the one LED above.
Is there a big difference in the reflector series to the older model (white) I saw I could get 2x 300w older model Mars LEDs for approx $200.
Or as you said would I be better off with the 2 smaller reflector series ?

the big advantage to the reflector model is the ability to just run it on veg setting till flower then turn on both veg and bloom and the light spectrum seems more rounded as the old model relies a lot on the red spectrum but both grow excellent plants. and as far as pot size, I like 2gal/7 liter or 3 gal/11 liter size and for strains that get huge a 5gal/18liter or 7gal/26liter. I got some of the air pots and I've seen fantastic results with the smart pot fabric pot's. a lot depends on the grow size too. smaller pots generally mean smaller plants, but not always.lol.

 

[ShapeShift]

the big advantage to the reflector model is the ability to just run it on veg setting till flower then turn on both veg and bloom and the light spectrum seems more rounded as the old model relies a lot on the red spectrum but both grow excellent plants. and as far as pot size, I like 2gal/7 liter or 3 gal/11 liter size and for strains that get huge a 5gal/18liter or 7gal/26liter. I got some of the air pots and I've seen fantastic results with the smart pot fabric pot's. a lot depends on the grow size too. smaller pots generally mean smaller plants, but not always.lol.

That's great how you can run only veg and then both in flower, but does this mean you get half the amount of watts per light ? (When running only in veg mode). Would the two reflectors 46x3 running only veg spectrum still have enough light power to veg 3 plants? Sorry I'm such a noob when it comes to this at times, but I just want to have it produce and not go wasting the limited money I have on the wrong thing, (like my cfl setup that failed

By the way I am aiming to get the mars hydro tent 3'3"x3'3"x5'11", just to make sure will the two 46x3's cover this area ?

Thankyou mate

 

[ShapeShift]

Also, as I said I've never grown proper seeds from a company before, only seeds I've found in average weed around here.
Will I notice a big difference when growing a reliable strain from a seed bank ?
Eg - mephisto, fast buds, Buddha seeds

 

[Malevelo]

I might try soil for my first indoor auto, as that's what I'm used to. Although I have only ever used soil from round the yard which seems to be gluggy and compact quite hard and dry out to little dirt balls,. have never actually purchased any type of medium but I'm sure I'll notice growing differences when I do

I would definitely imagine you'd see a difference! One thing that I've seen recommended in numerous places is to not use soil from the garden indoors, it is possible of course, but fresh soil from outdoors will run the risk of having things like bugs and bacteria that can decimate an indoor grow. If you did have to use garden soil that's lived outside you'd be looking at a lot of stinky prep work, some of the recommendations I've read require cooking it in the oven and things... I'm gonna stick with bought soil thank you very much! Your plan for a light soil with perlite should work perfectly

What pot size would you recommend for autos ?

Unfortunately I can't give a recommendation for this, the bigger the better really I'd say, within reason. The bigger your pot, the greater room your roots will have to grow, and a bigger root ball equals a bigger plant. Just consider how much room you are going to have in your grow area. Another thing I would definitely say is one plant per pot, as that way you can adjust nutrients individually if you ever need.

 

[ShapeShift]

Thanks again melevelo!

Well I'll definitely be sticking to buying my medium now!
I guess I've learnt the hard way, growing crap soil, crap seeds, barely any nutes but I feel I have some experience with training, tipping and LST with my previous outdoor grows but they have never produced nice buds (which I can understand why). But I think in having some reliable seeds, proper medium/pots, nutes, LEDs ect I will be more confident and have nothing to worry about.

I've now stumbled across another little problem with lighting, I spoke with Tina on AFN from mars hydro and she seems to think with the 3x3x5 grow tent from there website that two 48x3w or one 96x5w reflector LEDs won't be enough to cover the area..... so many different opinions.....

 

[ShapeShift]

the 96x3 will work well for 2 or 3 plants alone. I have one and have done well with it. BUT if I had to do it all over, I would have got 2 of the 46x3 reflectors so I could angle them for better coverage on the sides. live and learn lol. and you cant go wrong with the Mephistos. good strong genetics. as far as the Fastbuds, I just spouted a LSD-25 so we'll see how they do. good luck with your growing.

What size grow area did you have success with the 96x3 reflector ? Was it bigger then 3x3x5'11" ?
Would be awesome to hear more about that grow ? How much did you harvest ect, and was that 96x3 your only light source ?

Thanks samurai !

 

[elsamurai]

What size grow area did you have success with the 96x3 reflector ? Was it bigger then 3x3x5'11" ?
Would be awesome to hear more about that grow ? How much did you harvest ect, and was that 96x3 your only light source ?

Thanks samurai !

my space is 20x36x 63 inch. and I also have an LED 135w (80 actual watt) I grew 3 Auto Assasin, Auto Chemdog that all yielded 2+oz each, and a Vision seeds Blueberry bliss, Sweet Red Poison, that yielded 1 1/2 oz each.

 

[ShapeShift]

Awesome thanks for the reply samurai I checked some of your grow journals, great work !

If anyone could help me decide again, as I have another option......

250w mh/hps with a lumen output of 33,000, I do realise it will run at a hotter temperature then the mars hydro LEDs, but where I will have the grow tent us quite cold, approx 18'c even in summer. I thought possibly this might be good with a hps as it will warm up the grow room a bit.

I can get the hps setup for around $90, and then I may even get one 48x3w mars hydro led, still looking at the same mars hydro tent too.

Please share your thoughts