Prepping for first grow

[cannadad]

Hey everyone! I haven't even begun my grow yet and I already feel SUPER overwhelmed about it all. Granted I have severe anxiety, so I'm sure that plays a role in said feelings of overwhelmed. As you'll probably be able to tell from my list of questions, I am not a green thumb by any means. This will be the first plant I think I've ever grown in my life.

First, I'll detail you with my "plan"
-Growing in my attic
-2x2 or 3x3 tent (my concern with a 2x2 is the maximum height of 48"...valid concern or not really?)
-Super soil (just add water during grow?)
-2 plants, both a different strain (open to recommendations (1) strain for daytime anxiety control, (1) strain for nighttime enjoyment and sleep)

So my original plan was to attempt a DWC setup, but after some research and Q&A with experienced growers I decided that I should maybe wait for a later grow to try DWC. Since then I've been trying my best to understand the idea behind super soil. I guess prepping your soil with nutrients (or buying pre-prepped) before planting your seed, and then basically just adding water during the grow. That idea sounds great to me. A few questions regarding the super soil idea.

(0) What's the difference between a dry amendment and a nutrient? Or is a dry amendment just the term for the process of adding nutrients to soil?
(1) I love the idea of prepping everything beforehand and just adding water throughout the process. I see growers running various super soils that mention top dressing and dry amending during their grow. Is that for deficiencies during the process, or is there just not really a way to get all the way through a grow without adding nutrients?
(2) I have heard great things about Nature's Living Soil. Which to my understanding is a "concentrate" that you add into your soil (i.e Fox Farm) prior to planting your seed. Correct? And if yes, from there on is it just add water?
(2a) How does this differ from Bio360 "BioALL" that doesn't seem to be a "concentrate" to add to anything. No Fox Farm or other soil required? Which would mean that the bioALL is your medium, correct? And then just add water throughout the grow?
(3) Is there a way to prevent bugs/insects from the start of the process? Is that a "controllable", or will there always be threats of bugs no matter what?


On ANOTHER note, I found someone local to me selling the following for $225 - is it worth an hour drive?

Vivosun Grow Tent Setup
- 2x2 tent
- VS1000 LED light
- Straps to adjust lighting
- 6" inline duct fan (240 CFM)
- 6" duct work
- 6" carbon air filter
- 6700 mAh USB fan
- One pair of sunglasses


I'm sure I will have tons more questions as we go, so thanks in advance for taking the time!!

 

[Drownomatic]

Get the biggest tent that will fit in the space you plan to use. In a 48" tall tent you are going to lose at least a foot off the top for the fan, filter, and lights.

Soil is more tolerant of mistakes, I love the idea of as natural as possible, others embrace the high technologies.

As far as the setup, I don't know your budget vs how handy you are.

If I had an unfinished attic, I'd be looking at the foil cover foam boards from the building center

The light isn't enough to give the killer yields I see in many of the experienced grows.

The 6" AC Infinity fan claims 400+ cfm, so the fan is some off brand.

I don't think its enough of a deal, and the usb fan worries me.

 

[Suki]

You need to check the joists in your attic to determine if they are floor or ceiling. If they are ceiling joists you're not going to want that kind of weight up there without adding additional support, as they really aren't meant to hold much more than the weight of the drywall longterm.

 

[cannadad]

You need to check the joists in your attic to determine if they are floor or ceiling. If they are ceiling joists you're not going to want that kind of weight up there without adding additional support, as they really aren't meant to hold much more than the weight of the drywall longterm.

Thanks for the heads up. How does one determine whether they are floor or ceiling?

We store quite a bit of things up there and I walk around fairly often with no issues, but certainly haven't checked the make or build.

 

[cannadad]

Get the biggest tent that will fit in the space you plan to use. In a 48" tall tent you are going to lose at least a foot off the top for the fan, filter, and lights.

Soil is more tolerant of mistakes, I love the idea of as natural as possible, others embrace the high technologies.

As far as the setup, I don't know your budget vs how handy you are.

If I had an unfinished attic, I'd be looking at the foil cover foam boards from the building center

The light isn't enough to give the killer yields I see in many of the experienced grows.

The 6" AC Infinity fan claims 400+ cfm, so the fan is some off brand.

I don't think its enough of a deal, and the usb fan worries me.

I might as well update the post with some pictures of the attic in the morning for reference.

Yikes, the notion of losing at least 12" of a 48" tent hurts.

I appreciate the feedback about the tent bundle!

 

[Zaaboot]

Hello squire, the more space the better if you have space for a larger footprint take advantage.
I have yet to try living soil, but i have just got some blumats and four boxes of ecothrive - it seems to be the way forwards, I am just setting up space to try it out.
Personally I would not go for ready made sets, your preferred set may cost more but it will suit your space better as you chose it.

I would say I have been little help, but interested in which direction you take

Z

 

[Suki]

Thanks for the heads up. How does one determine whether they are floor or ceiling?

We store quite a bit of things up there and I walk around fairly often with no issues, but certainly haven't checked the make or build.

Yeah I was reading about it at one point as I was eyeing various parts of the house that could be used as grow space I was doing research on finishing an attic and found that if your house is prefab/has a prefab roof with the W shaped trusses, its pretty much a no-go.

What to Know About Finishing Your Attic’s Flooring

Got an unfinished attic you'd like to convert to living space? Flooring matters. Learn which attic flooring approach makes sense for you.

www.familyhandyman.com

Needless to say, I went another direction

 

[Suki]

Responding in purple cause this is easier for me lol.

Hey everyone! I haven't even begun my grow yet and I already feel SUPER overwhelmed about it all. Granted I have severe anxiety, so I'm sure that plays a role in said feelings of overwhelmed.

First, take a breath. We all have to start somewhere. We've all screwed up, its how you learn what works and what doesn't. It's part of the journey of growing.

-2x2 or 3x3 tent (my concern with a 2x2 is the maximum height of 48"...valid concern or not really?)

I started in a 2x2. I very quickly realized I wanted more space (or, I was told I needed more both by the fine folks here and my husband) and ended up with a 4x4 under my Christmas tree. But! I really enjoy the 2x2 still as well. You just have to be mindful of the space you are working with and plan your grows with the space in mind. I specifically chose strains that were described as staying small, and then did a lot of various training to keep them as small as possible. You can definitely keep the fan outside of the tent, and tbh you can put the filter outside as well. If you get a slim light (I *love* my HLG100 Rspec, and they have a discount code for AFN members) and mount your fan and filter outside the tent you will only lose as much space as the light needs for headspace. With running short strains and/or doing intense training I have had zero issue with running out of height. You want to make sure you get a quality light though, I had two of the 100W spider farmer lights in my 2x2 to start and my one RSpec blew the pair out of the water. I've had anywhere from 1 to 7 plants in there at a time but that was purely for my own curiosity, not something I would advise.

-Super soil (just add water during grow?)

1000% yes, but make sure you do your research. There are some really great organic growers on here who are more than happy to help! I believe @pop22 has a guide somewhere.

-2 plants, both a different strain (open to recommendations (1) strain for daytime anxiety control, (1) strain for nighttime enjoyment and sleep)

Love this, 100% doable in this space.

So my original plan was to attempt a DWC setup, but after some research and Q&A with experienced growers I decided that I should maybe wait for a later grow to try DWC. (good call )

(0) What's the difference between a dry amendment and a nutrient? Or is a dry amendment just the term for the process of adding nutrients to soil?

Technically dry amendments *are* nutrients, but when you see people talking about nutes more often than not they are talking about bottled/powdered salt nutrients. Dry amendments would be things like kelp meal, guano, etc that get added to the soil during the grow to recharge the soil with food for the plant (or really food for the microbes to make into food for the plant). Dry amending would be the action.

(1) I love the idea of prepping everything beforehand and just adding water throughout the process. I see growers running various super soils that mention top dressing and dry amending during their grow. Is that for deficiencies during the process, or is there just not really a way to get all the way through a grow without adding nutrients?

The biggest factor in this imo is container size. A living soil is going to do better in a larger container if you want it to be water only due mostly to volume but also in stability in moisture levels and such. In organics you are feeding the soil (and its microbial herd) and not the plants themselves as you would with bottled nutrients. Which means that keeping that herd happy is gonna be a top priority. Just like with our plants, they have conditions they thrive in, and others that they can just kinda get by in. I'm actually about to start two plants in a single 10gal in my 2x2 with living soil myself. Having started with salt nutes because I thought all this soil stuff was too complicated, I cannot say enough about how much I love using a no till living soil lol. It has taken so much stress out of growing for me. Last I saw build a soil doesn't have their take and bake kit available currently but that is what I went with and I absolutely love it.

(2) I have heard great things about Nature's Living Soil. Which to my understanding is a "concentrate" that you add into your soil (i.e Fox Farm) prior to planting your seed. Correct? And if yes, from there on is it just add water?

Stay far away from NLS, I have seen nothing but problems from it. I bought some when I was toying with the idea of doing organic without researching first and quickly realized I had made a mistake.

(2a) How does this differ from Bio360 "BioALL" that doesn't seem to be a "concentrate" to add to anything. No Fox Farm or other soil required? Which would mean that the bioALL is your medium, correct? And then just add water throughout the grow?

I've actually never heard of this brand or product so I'm not sure, but there are premixed water only type soils available. I know a lot of people use BAS, Kis, promix, etc but I've never used the prebagged myself.

(3) Is there a way to prevent bugs/insects from the start of the process? Is that a "controllable", or will there always be threats of bugs no matter what?

Some bugs are good, springtails, rove beatles, isopods, worms, etc. As far as other bugs, fungas gnats are most common. Things that require a plant host will be less common as long as you're not bringing plants into the house, at least to my understanding. It doesn't hurt to keep neem oil around just in case, though pray you don't need it cause that stuff is noxious af.

On ANOTHER note, I found someone local to me selling the following for $225 - is it worth an hour drive?

Vivosun Grow Tent Setup
- 2x2 tent
- VS1000 LED light
- Straps to adjust lighting
- 6" inline duct fan (240 CFM)
- 6" duct work
- 6" carbon air filter
- 6700 mAh USB fan
- One pair of sunglasses

Nope. Starting with quality gear is the way to go, that way you're not wanting to upgrade in a few months when you get into the swing of it. Like I said, super highly recommend the RSpec (if you look in my grow journal in my signature you can see the WMD I just harvested from under that light like 3 posts back, she was grown under 100w in my 2x2). Mars hydro has an AFN discount code too and they have really nice quality tents. As far as the fan and filter, I like the ones I got from Mars but I don't know a huge amount about them. I run a 4" in the 2x2 and a 6" in the 4x4. I use a 40 something inch tower fan in the 4x4, but I've used two tiny USB fans in the 2x2 with no issue.

If you're seriously leaning towards a super soil I would recommend doing a living soil in an earthbox, its about as simple as you can get. @WildBill is the resident earthbox guru, and @Fermented_Fruitz and @nizmoKush are both organics peeps as well. There's a bunch more, but I'm high and can't think of anyone rn.

 

[Bill.de.Cat]

with so many variables to consider it does get overwhelming. I assume since it's first grow your main concern is just getting to the end with some nice plants, in that consideration keep it as simple as you can and realize, no matter what, your going to look into upgrades down the road......we all do, lol. Consider your target plant size ( 1 or 2 foot or as big as they can get), choose appropriate pot size ( 1 or 2 gal pots can grow some nice plants while keeping them manageable), then plastic or fabric pots ( fabric dry out quicker but less chance of overwatering problems), grow medium ( I use FF happy Frog, can be tricky with all the different manufactuers supposedly following the recipe but I've found it gets me into flowering, 4 weeks, with just useing water before adding bloom nutrients), nutrients ( a salt based or a dry ammendment, Dr. Earths, type. Both have good and bad points), bugs...( if going with soil plan on fungus gnats and have yellow sticky pads ready. never had a problem with any other critters), and finally.......water quality....city tap, well tap, distilled, RO?....my well tap water was most of my problem during first grow, high PH and calcium due to limestone aquifer. Switched to store bought distilled and saved my grow. If you go with store bought water, read the labels, you would want distilled or RO water.....not spring, purified etc. as those are just basically tap water.....PH you water-nutrient mix after mixing before giving to plants.....can go as fancy or basic as you want...first 2 grows I just used a pool PH kit, got the mix between 6 and 6.5 and did well....have since upgraded to Apera PH20 pen......no matter what, have fun, learn as you grow and ask for help anytime..good luck..

 

[nizmoKush]

mars hydro has 2.3x2.3 tent that’s I believe 60 tall