New Grower Help with my new semi-advanced set-up

[Athlete]

Hello growers!

I just joined AFN as I am starting my first auto grow. I have purchased what to me looks like a proper 'deluxe' first set-up, and want to share it with you along with a few questions

I have purchased:
400W Hps/HP (two bulbs - one for veg and one for flower)
Diamond Mylar
4 inch inline with 5 inch isolated ducting (Winflex)
A timer for the lamp
A thermometer/hygrometer
A Super Turbo Honeywell fan
A PHRESH FILTER 200m3/H 100x150mm
A Thermostat controller (Winflex)
4 x 11L (3 gallon) pots
+ some extra stuff like clamping, easy rolls etc.
Also, I have purchased BioBizz Nutes (Grow, Veg and TopMax)

Now... I setting this up in a closet and my plan is to go extra stealth. This is the reason why I bought the 4 inch fan with speed controller, the silent ducting and the Honey Well Fan (which I heard is suposed to be very silent). Also the diamond Mylar should be 100% light proof. This has to be a quiet operation as I am living with my girlfriend and don't want her to be annoyed by light leakages and a fan working over-hours.

I have searched this forum thoroughly but still have a few questions concerning the first grow.

1) Number of plants and yield.
I know yield is highly genetic and has to do with the skills of the grower. I have grow outdoors before so I do know a little about photoperiod plants. I am planning on growing four plants at a time. I this a good idea? I could also stick with 1,2 or three if it makes more sense. Would two plants growing under a 400W give me significantly smaller yields than four? I have read that it depends more on the Lumens per plant rather than how many you can stuff in there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

2) Soil.
I do not have access to funky BioBizz soil mixtures and have therefore bought the BioBizz products. I want to grow organic. Would any soil from the local gardening center work? I have a little perlite I could mix with it.

3) LST
I have read many threads about LST as a way to maximize yields from autos. When can I start to tie down my ladies?

I have purchased one of each of the following seeds:
Northern Lights Auto
Amnesia Haze Auto
Auto Kush
Viking Sativa Auto
AK Auto
Big Bomb Auto
Skunk AutoPlan is to grow 4 plants first, and then 3 afterwards.Since it is not easy to get seeds here where I live (Believe it or not - even online is difficult) I want to maximize yields so I don't have to go through the troubles of getting new ones all the time. If 2 will produce same yields as 4 under a 400W I will stick with two.

So many questions! Hope you guys can help me a bit as I have not been able to find answers to my questions. Any advice, thought or 2 cents worth of anything is gold to me as I am a complete beginner. Advice on maximization of yield and inputs on stealth would be awesome

Thank you guys loads!!

 

[blue]

Hey There! Nice post!

Looks like you've done your reading, and can empathise with the situation of wanting stealth from noise and light (and smell!)

I gonna meet your questions with a couple more! But first a couple of considerations.

In your closet, where will you vent the heat to? It needs to be taken away from the area (if you vent into your room with a 400 w hps, it'll probably get quite hot in there, and then as a result probably stay hot in your cupboard (because the intake will be bringing in warm air))

Do you have a cool tube for your 400 watt? I found running an "uncooled" 250w in a small space to be troublesome.

2 more bits to get would be a digital PH reader (like Bluelabs or a cheaper Essesntials one is good) and some lemon juice (Biobizz is organic and apparently chemical ph down messes with the nutes) .. although biobizz say you don't need to PH your feed with their soil and nutes... I don't know.


1) Number of plants and yeild will depend on your floor space. I have 60cm x 60cm and can "reasonably" fit 2 plants in there. I could fit more, but it would be a nightmare to water and move around and risk getting moldy. etc.
You'll want to give enough space for adequate air movement to stop this.

Yeild ... I'd concentrate on getting to harvest and count that as a success. But i yeild upto around 4 ounces on a good Auto in an 11 litre pot and better growers could probably get 8-10 (see TaNgs grows)

2) Soil. I'd go for biobizz light mix. Make it easy on yourself. Thats how i started, and learned quite a bit. If you buy an "average soil" and things go wrong, you'll be kicking yourself!

3) LST - If you're limited on space, LST can work really well. I usually use ties to keep the canopy even if possible, it makes for a bigger yeild.

Advice on maximising yiled: Read lots of journals from good growers (plenty here) and quiz them. Mostly don't give them too much love - lke the song says, too much love will kill you(r plants) every time!

Have fun - don't panic. No smell, No sell, No Tell. and you'll be golden.

Dont forget to let your water "gas off' to remove the chlorine (takes about 24 hours)

 

[Athlete]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience!

No, I do not have a cooltube. I wanted to purchase one but heard I needed two fans, one for the cool tube and another for the actual closet itself, which turned me off (more noise!).

I do not have access to biobizz soil where I live. Some people told me that cactus soil would do the trick. Any thoughts on this? I have a cheap PH kit, nothing electronic. I will buy some lemon juice to adjust the PH in case that is needed.

I have not yet purchased the closet but I am thinking of 80 x 60 x 130 actual grow space (in cm). It should be possible to keep it cool, right? The fan is ExtractOR Winflex VK 100 mm 250 m3/h.

I live in a cold country and temperatures rarely exceed 30 degrees Celsius. I have a window in the room I want to grow in, so I can keep that open. Additionally I have the honeywell fan to circulate the air within my closet.

THANKS!

 

[blue]

Do you have a garden centre near you? If so, "John Innes seedling starter mix" will be okay! You should mix it with plenty of perlite to keep it airy!

You could use just one fan with a cool tube. A cool tube will allow you to get the light closer to the plants and increase the effeciency of it. That will increase your yeild.

if you have the room, it would look something like this

Hot air
^
|
----Ducting------<-- [out take fan blowing to the left] ---Ducting----- [Light with cool tube] ---Ducting---<--- [Carbon Filter]


Hope that kinda made sense

The cheap PH kit wont help much - its too inaccurate to be worth using.

Cactus soil, i don't know!
If you're really limited, get something with as few nutrients in as possible (so a seedling mix) that wont burn your plants and mix it with perlite.