Indoor Newbie - Auto WW Soil Setup - Need Advice

[realNeat]

Hello everybody! I'm brand new to growing and to this website - brand new to the herb as well believe it or not.

I ran across a forum thread in AFN promoting cobs from B.Smo, and I think I would like to give them a try (3500k). I was about to buy the ViparSpectra 450W dimmable full spectrum before I found this thread.

I'm curious if you could help with some other questions that I have in reference to my gear list.

I have 5x auto-fem WW seeds on the way from MoC. I think at max I want a 3'x3' tent, but should I go as high as 6' tall if I will only ever grow Autos? Also, with those dimensions, how many Autos would you grow in there at one time and how many cobs would you need? Could I go with 2 cobs per 2 plants? Would you try 4 plants in a 3x3 area, if so, would you run 4 cobs? A lot of my indecisiveness has to do with not knowing what size to expect these plants to grow to. I will always use Autos but will try new strains each grow.

Can you help describe a decent setup for me in regards to tent size, cob numbers, and plant total?
Also, most tents have all of the penetrations built in for ducting and cords. Besides a couple small fans, will I really need a cooling system with this setup? I guess I will need a fresh air intake and carbon exhaust system still for scent...

Any help you can provide would be much appreciated!

There is so much information out there and products and packages it's a bit hard to absorb it all and make my own conclusions solely. If you were in my shoes growing Autos with off-shelf LED or Cobs, how would you do it?

 

[AutoWonders]

My current run I am using one cob (I have four right now) with reflectors per plant. I am going to try 3 plants under two cobs without reflectors as a part of my next run. For curiosity purposes. I just harvested two of my four plants today. The cobs were remarkable for those two.

I am using a 4x4 tent currently with 6 inch inline fan and carbon filter. If you need to be careful about odor and or heat, you will want an inline fan and filter. Make sure the carbon filter CFM is larger than the inline fan. I utilize a variac controller for the inline fan. That is probably my favorite piece of equipment. Highly incremental. Buy the cobs from www.cobshop.net you will no doubt like them. Low heat, no noise, low electrical use and small and light. Doubt that I will go back to the over priced mass built led lights. I've kept two, but only as backups.

 

[realNeat]

Thanks for that. I'm not personally worried about heat but don't know what to expect as to odor. Some won't be a problem. I know light/dark cycles aren't important with Autos (going 24/7 probably) so I plan to keep things open and airy. I think I will go with 2 plants for this first try with a cob for each.

I was also reading and thinking I would use the Fox Farm Ocean medium with extra perlite. It seems that I would not need to supplement the soil until probably early flowering state, is that right? I've also read that Autos should received 25% or 50% strength nutrient concentrations.

Can anyone tell me what to expect from these White Widow? Average height, width, yields? What are your favorite strains?

 

[AutoWonders]

Thanks for that. I'm not personally worried about heat but don't know what to expect as to odor. Some won't be a problem. I know light/dark cycles aren't important with Autos (going 24/7 probably) so I plan to keep things open and airy. I think I will go with 2 plants for this first try with a cob for each.

I was also reading and thinking I would use the Fox Farm Ocean medium with extra perlite. It seems that I would not need to supplement the soil until probably early flowering state, is that right? I've also read that Autos should received 25% or 50% strength nutrient concentrations.

Can anyone tell me what to expect from these White Widow? Average height, width, yields? What are your favorite strains?

Fox Farm Ocean Forest is a "hot" medium, so in general terms, you won't need nutes until approx. week 3 or 4. Start with 1/4 amount. When I last used that soil, my mix was 50/50 Ocean Forest/Perlite. As far as White Widow goes, I grown several and never had a particularly tall one. They were a pretty healthy strain and I probably averaged in the neighborhood 2.5 ounces. However, each persons environment and mediums are different, so one never knows for sure what their yield will be.

 

[realNeat]

Fox Farm Ocean Forest is a "hot" medium, so in general terms, you won't need nutes until approx. week 3 or 4. Start with 1/4 amount. When I last used that soil, my mix was 50/50 Ocean Forest/Perlite. As far as White Widow goes, I grown several and never had a particularly tall one. They were a pretty healthy strain and I probably averaged in the neighborhood 2.5 ounces. However, each persons environment and mediums are different, so one never knows for sure what their yield will be.

Great information, thank you. At week 3-4 these Autos will have begun the Flowering stage correct? And so what nutes should I prepare for besides a Bloom?

 

[AutoWonders]

Great information, thank you. At week 3-4 these Autos will have begun the Flowering stage correct? And so what nutes should I prepare for besides a Bloom?

Well, we are all hopeful they start flowering around that time. I've had 2.5 weeks a number of times. You can feed it veg nutes until it stops vertical growth, then move to flowering nutes.

Most of the the time I used Fox Farms trio of soluable nutes when in soil. I think I began growing with their liquid trio. I would suggest that you keep your nute lineup basic until you garner more experience. You can do additives later. Do more research too.

 

[realNeat]

Do I need to purchase a ppm meter if I decide to use distilled water for watering and nute applications?