Grow Room My Very First Grow .... Hoping To Help Newbies To NOT Make The Same Problems

[latebloomdude]

Hello Everyone, I started this thread to share what I learned on my very first attempt to grow. Although I spent months researching before I started ... I made some really bad mistakes .... And could have lost my entire first grow. I don't want this to happen to anyone else .... So here we go:

First mistake .... I decided to grow HYDRO.
Second mistake .... I bought a Grow Box

Of these .... The grow box ... 36 inches tall ... Was the worst mistake. I really didn't need any box at all. And it caused many problems. I actually moved the grow outside of the box when one plant completely topped out. I was lucky and saved the grow barely. I will stop here and will describe the box in my next post. Bye till then.

 

[devils lettuce]

before i started i almost bought a grow box. it looked so nice and ready to go . im so glad i didn't because even though i had dwarf autos they grew to over two feet tall and bushed out.. i also did months of research and made every noob mistake ph lock out, burning my plants being to close to the light after a growth spurt,nute burn,temp control and more . BUT it taught me allot and showed me what not to do .

IF i can offer one suggestion to new growers . get a ph pen .. even if it cost 10$ off ebay make an effort cause it does weigh heavily on your plants life and yield

 

[latebloomdude]

My grow box was found on eBay ... It is the Colorado grow box. There were two sizes and I should've gotten the four foot high one instead of the 3 foot one. If I had done that I probably would've had any problems with the box to speak of. I bought this particular brand because it had movable lights .... And I had read that it was beneficial to be able to have the lights just a few inches above your plants. The box had 6 ... 23 W CFL's each for the veg cycles and bloom cycles. These bulbs worked. .... But the cradle that held them took up too much room in the box and it was difficult to position it. In addition the box contained the air pump, a timer, and electrical strip. All of these took up too much room so that any plant about 2 feet in length would have a problem. When I had to move the plants outside of the box I actually took all the mechanisms out-of-the-box .... I then drilled a hole in the top of the box so that I could suspend the light bulbs ... Controlling the height by simply pulling on the electrical cord or releasing it. I will explain how I am now using that box, as a second grow site .... After I explain what happened to my plants.

 

[devils lettuce]

i bought an old rv and turned it into a grow box lol

 

[NekoSempai]

Hey whats up man. Great to see a new grower coming to the perfect place.

Im not at all an expert, but Im always willing to help in any way my knowledge will allow.

Are you going to stick with hydro? or will you go soil?

I’ve read several different times that soil is far more forgiving. Specially with Organics. So long your soil isn’t hot to start out with of coarse.

 

[devils lettuce]

i used ffof cut with light warrior and i had no issues of the soil burning my seedlings .. they thrived greatly

 

[Trapper]

i used ffof cut with light warrior and i had no issues of the soil burning my seedlings .. they thrived greatly

I thought about doing that with the Happy Frog & Light Warrior or like a 2 or 3 cup-sized crater in the middle filled with Light Warrior.

 

[latebloomdude]

Hi .... I'm going to do both . The gutted grow box will be used for soil grows with really short autos And a new Bubbleboy setup will be hydro for larger auto and smaller photos. I've :stoneslap: gotten free photo seeds when I bought auto seeds.:Sharing One:

 

[latebloomdude]

I now have a new respect for old RVs :stoneslap:.... Now I know why all the local folks have so many of them rusting away in their yards :grat:

 

[latebloomdude]

The reason I started the thread by saying going Hydro was a mistake .... is due to the complexity of mixing the various solutions, and the weekly reservoir maintenance. My grow box had a small 2.5 gallon one ... and I drained it every 7 / 8 days. I never got all the water out using a siphon .... and I never cleaned it either ..... because I didn't think my plants would survive being pulled out of it. I did everything right regarding the PH and the varying combinations of the General Hydroponic nutrients. It just took a lot of attention to detail and exact measuring. Sadly, growing became more of a chore than a joy .... and I often worried that I would screw things up. From everything I've read, dirt seems more forgiving.