New Grower Looking for some advice on my first grow!

[Skurge]

Ok, so I'm going to be starting my first grow in a couple of weeks, but before I go spending 1,200$+ on what is going to be a pretty small setup, I was hoping to get some direct guidance/advice from someone more experienced, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Tent - 2x4 Gorilla Grow Tent Lite

Ballast - Apollo Horticulture Purple Reign 400w-1000w

Hood - Apollo Horticulture 6" Air Cooled

Lighting - EyeHortilux Daylight Blue 400w for Veg - Switching to 400w SHPS Enhanced Spectrum at first sign of pre flowers

Ventilation - Vortex S Line 6" 347 CFM with passive intake. I understand the fan is a bit overkill, especially since I don't plan to use a fan controller, but I will be upgrading to 600w or 1000w eventually and would rather not have to replace a smaller fan. My big question here is if the passive intake flap on the bottom of this 2x4 tent will be enough to create negative pressure. The 6" Fan

Soil - OF 70/30 Perlite

Nutes - AN Micro, Grow, Bloom, Big Bud, Overdrive, B-52, Voodoo Juice and Cal Mag (going to work out a feeding schedule later on).

Containers - 3 Gallon Smart Pots on 4-arm plant stands (I've read that when using smart pots, it's best to have them slightly elevated so that root pruning can occur on the bottom as well as the sides of the pot).

Beans - Samsara Shot Adrenaline - Canuk Cheese from True North Seed Bank

I plan to grow 4 ladies at a time on this setup

Everything will be ph'd to 6.5 from the very start

1200$+ seems like a pretty big investment for such a small setup, but I'd rather go big and not skimp out anywhere. Initially I was going to go with a 600w in a 4x4, but the room I'm growing in is already pulling 5.5-6.5A on a 15A breaker so 600w is just cutting it too close imo.

Questions/Uncertainties

When running this 400-1000w Ballast at 400w with a 400w bulb it should only be pulling 400w correct?
Apollo Horticulture Ballast

Will OF be too hot for AF Seedlings? Should I go 1/3 Light Warrior 1/3 OF 1/3 Perlite? Or a different medium entirely

Does anyone here use Advanced Nutrients? I see a lot of people using Biobizz or Trio. Would anyone recommend that I use different nutes?

I plan to use Voodoo Juice from the start (when prepping soil for planting), is it ok to use full strength (I believe 8 ml/Gallon) on AF Seedlings? Or should I go 4 ml or even less? Chances are I'll be adding more Voodoo Juice and some B-52 Around 7-14 Days

My only option is to use city tap water and I'm somewhat concerned about PPM. I'll have more info on the exact PPM of my tap water when the TDS meter comes in. My only option is to filter it thru a brita filter and let it sit out so that some of the chemicals can dissipate. I'll be storing my water in an 18 gallon bin using an air pump to keep it aerated, which I'm not sure is even necessary but meh.

If there are any major changes that I should make, I'd like to know before spending $ on things that might not be necessary or of high quality. Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance =]

I will be posting a grow journal to AFN once I get things going.

 

[namvet25]

The 400 watt should be using 400watts.OF can be alittle hot for seedlings.I would use more light warrier with ffof and only one quarter perlite.Any one of the nutes you mentioned would be great.I wouldn't use nutes until there at least ten days old than only half of recommended dosage.

 

[calabria420]

hey skurge what upnice little set up u got goin ! as a former sparky I can advise you that as long as your bulb is 400 w then that is the most power that will be drawn from your circuit from that bulb ! make sure you have your ballast adjusted to 400 w as well, and of course im sure u knew that already . also if your running 5-6 amps on that 15 amp circuit youll only be using the equivalent of 720 watts . where I come from in Canada electrical code allows us to be able to use/load 80% of the 15 amp circuit(we run a pretty tight and safe code here)...so 12 amps or 1400 watts approximately per 15 amp circuit which depending on what else your going to be adding on that circuit you might be able to up your light wattage if youd like too ...like I said even at 1400 watts or 12 amps your safe cause your only using 80 % . hopefully that info helps you out a bit and makes sense lol! if u have any electrical questions im always glad to help ! but always remember to make sure when your working on electricity that your circuit is turned off for safety especially when heavily medicated ! don't know how many buzzes I got off those damn wires before ! good luck and all the best on your grow!

 

[Skurge]

Thanks for the tips, so I'll probably end up doing 1/3 OF 1/3 LW 1/3 Perlite. Everything I've read has said to go 1/3 perlite especially in smart pots. I'm sure 1/4 and 1/3 wouldn't make much of a difference but meh.

I know that I could PROBABLY get away running a 600w, but don't want to take any unnecessary risk especially since I'm growing in an apartment. If my math is correct, a 600w Light + the 66w from the fan would put me around 11.1A. When my pc is at max load this could go up to 11.6-12.1A, if I'm charging my phone that will add too it, haven't run my charger on the KW meter yet, there are also spikes when things are powered on (especially my TV). Chances are that it would be running at 11-11.5A 90% of the time which is fine, but I'd rather give myself enough breathing room and not have to worry until I get into my own house (which will be within the next year). Once that happens I'll either have an actual grow room or I'll move up to a 4x4 with x2 600w and have a 20A circuit put in.

Has anyone used voodoo juice in their soil prep? I'm just worried about using full strength with seedlings. But from what I understand voodoo juice only contains beneficial microbes and shouldn't cause any kind of burn anyway correct? So the recommended 8 ml/Gal is ok from the get go?

Also, with Tangs Feeding Schedule, do you know if he feeds every watering or every other?

 

[Dr Fluff]

Hi Skurge

Welcome to AFN

Nice start to your thread, lots of details and some good questions, I'm looking forward to your grow journal.

Let me invite you over to the intro section of the forum, where we can get to give you a proper AFN welcom and you can get to meet some of our awesome members.

Nice to have you with us brother

arty

 

[MrMojoRisin]

That OF has enough nutes to last for 2-3 weeks. Also, you really need to watch your pH with OF, it runs everything down quite a bit. i'm having to go in on my bag seed grow at 7.1-7.2 ph because the soil is so hot. May be worth giving that soil a good multi day soaking in pH'd water to try and even off the ph a bit. Dod some watering/runoff tests with it for sure.

 

[Skurge]

Hi Skurge

Welcome to AFN

Nice start to your thread, lots of details and some good questions, I'm looking forward to your grow journal.

Let me invite you over to the intro section of the forum, where we can get to give you a proper AFN welcom and you can get to meet some of our awesome members.

Nice to have you with us brother

arty

Thanks man, posted an introduction over in the intro section.

That OF has enough nutes to last for 2-3 weeks. Also, you really need to watch your pH with OF, it runs everything down quite a bit. i'm having to go in on my bag seed grow at 7.1-7.2 ph because the soil is so hot. May be worth giving that soil a good multi day soaking in pH'd water to try and even off the ph a bit. Dod some watering/runoff tests with it for sure.

Actually stopped by a local hydro store today, their prices weren't too bad, so a lot of my gear has changed. Ended up going with roots organic, from what I've been reading the PH can be a bit low, but I can fix this by pre soaking with PH'd water correct? I've also read other things saying that the ph of the soil isn't that big of an issue, as long as it isn't to one extreme or the other, but it's the PH of what you're putting into it that matters? A lot of people are saying their run off with roots organic out of the bag is around 5.5 (didn't know this at the time) and pretty much just went with what the guy at the hydro store recommended.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Thanks man, posted an introduction over in the intro section.



Actually stopped by a local hydro store today, their prices weren't too bad, so a lot of my gear has changed. Ended up going with roots organic, from what I've been reading the PH can be a bit low, but I can fix this by pre soaking with PH'd water correct? I've also read other things saying that the ph of the soil isn't that big of an issue, as long as it isn't to one extreme or the other, but it's the PH of what you're putting into it that matters? A lot of people are saying their run off with roots organic out of the bag is around 5.5 (didn't know this at the time) and pretty much just went with what the guy at the hydro store recommended.

Runoff at 5.5, but what did they go in with pH wise? That's the kicker. If they went in at 6.5 and got a 5.5 run off, that means the soil is actually 4.5ph.

I'm still pretty new at all this myself, but from what I've read/been advised, you do need to "watch" the soil pH if it's out of whack. The OF was down at like 4.5 for me, crazy hot. I just happened to check the runoff one day and realized the soil needed to be adjusted. Still working on it. if your soil is naturally in the right zone then you should not worry too much and focus on the input.

Yes, if you can, i would spend time before planting getting familiar with your medium, soaking to even out pH etc. It's one mistake i made and am still dealing with it.

Here is a chart someone posted for me when i was asking for help:

 

[redrobbo]

Mix some Dolomite of Lime into your medium.1-2 tbspn/US gallon is the usual dosage.
It takes 2-3 weeks to buffer your soil back up towards neutral.
Crushed oyster shell will do the same,maybe a little quicker.
Im subbed up for your grow by the way.

 

[Skurge]

I'm going to be getting everything setup today or tomorrow, my beans should be here in 7-14 days, so I assume it's fine to start pre soaking and balancing the PH of my soil now? I have everything that I would need to do it besides the dolomite of lime which I can get easily. I've actually seen some grow journals on here with people using roots organic and not having any issues. I'll know more once everything is up and running. Thanks for all the help guys.

I also tested my tap water straight from the tap (city water), the PPM was 80-100, but the PH was almost 9.0!!! After letting it sit for 12 hours to allow some of the chemicals to dissipate, the PH has dropped to below 8, and I'm assuming it will continue to drop. Going to do another test tonight. I'm hoping it will get closer to 7 and I'll just PH down it to 6.5. Wasn't expecting the PPM to be so low, but at a PH of 9 out of the tap isn't this almost unsafe to drink (not that I drink it)?

Using a hanna instruments Dual PH / PPM / EC Meter, factory calibrated (calibration info comes in the box, all hand written and seemed to be on point). I think these readings are accurate, but I am going to re calibrate just to be sure.