Hey guys, I'm looking to start my first grow, however I need a few tips!


Seeds!
I'm looking at these strains to kind of keep a middle ground between cheap and quality:

http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk.../prod_521.html

http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk.../prod_356.html

and then of course the freebies you get for spending tiers from attitude

http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk...prod_1078.html

http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk...prod_1128.html

I think all in all it ran me somewhere around 80 dollars from attitude, I chose them because I didn't like that fact that most people had to wait 2-3 weeks to get seeds from Nirvana, and Attitude has the awesome package tracking, plus my shipment is garanteed with their stealth delivery option.


Lights!
Anyway I'm going to be doing a CFL grow, I already went out and purchased 2 bulbs of each.

For Flowering: (2 pack 26w 100w equiv running on the 2700k spectrum and 1750 lumens)
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...043&lpage=none

Couldn't find a link on the Veg CFL I bought but it's a 26w 100w equiv with 6500k spectrum and 1600 lumens


Soil!
This is the area I'm having the problems with, I went out and got some Organic Miracle Grow: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...655&lpage=none

This soil seems pretty Airy, however I've been researching about using Coco as a medium, and I think I want to go Coco instead. My reasoning is that; I will basically be controlling when and where my plants get nutes and more specifically the types of nutes they get, and it seems pretty beginner safe, in that it protects from overwatering, which is something I can see myself easily doing.

I've pretty much made up my mind on this, unless that is, anyone has had any luck or is familiar with the Organic Miracle Grow and how it affects the grow, during Veg and flowering stages.

Now the problem is my inability to find a good place to buy Coco, nor do I know what the preferred soil consistancy would be for a container grow, also the little information I've been able to pick up about Coco is that it already has some plant minerals in it that are specific to the Coconut plant, so you have to use Coco safe nutrients to not overload the plant with the nutrients that are already present.

So basically what I need help on with this is any link or place or company to buy good potting coco soil, and any nutes that are compatible with it, I've heard Gravity works well for flowering, what about during the Veg stage?


Miscellaneous!
PH Strips - I'd also like to add that I have PH strips to ensure my PH is in the 5-6 range that is recomended for Coco grows (although I havn't seen any designation as to whether this was a hydroponic only thing or for all grow types, any clarification would be good on this!)

Odor Control - I plan on making the Cup carbon scrubber detailed here, The BEST DIY EZ walmart carbon filter for MICRO grows Zen style.
If anyone has any info on how well, or not well, this works or any cheaper(don't think it can get much cheaper than this method) or better working method, it would be much appreciated! I also plan on buying some Zeolite, as I've heard it works nearly 100% for all types of odors, and it's impossibly cheap.

Humidity - I have a humidifier that I will be placing in the cabinet along with a temp/humidity guage.


Questions!
Just to summarize:

1. Any information on growing in containers using Coco mediums.

2. What kind of Coco soil to use as far as grain size etc, also a link to a website to purchase it off the internet, or direct me to a retailer that I can go to.

3. I know CFL 2 lights probally won't be enough for 3-4 plants, but is a rough estimate on lighting needed good to go at 1 light per plant? And possibly add some lower lights(heard lights in the blue spectrum are great to add during flowering to improve color and taste) during the later Veg/Flowering Stage if my plants are really bushy?

4. What kind of Coco safe nutes should I use, and where can I get ahold of some Gravity!?

5. Any links to journals of grows that might be similar to mine would be extremely helpful.

6. As a matter of PH controlling, what is a good way to raise or lower water PH, and how does adding nutrients into water effect the PH, does the PH still need to be readjusted when adding Nutes or is the addition of nutrients neglible?


I'm a perfectionist, and I want to make sure all the chips are stacked in my favor before I start this grow, any help suggestions comments on my choices, and explanations on any of the above or anything I havn't listed would be extremely helpful and appreciated! Thanks for reading, I'm hoping to start growing sometime within a weeks time!

Good job with researching before the grow. I sorta learn as I go (my 1st grow) and have had some problems along the way. I've also been able to solve a few as well, thanks to the people and info found on this site.

Can't really help you with any of your questions except 1.
My water ph is 9.2 out of the tap with 160ppm TDS.
When using straight water on the plant, I have to use ph down. I have heard of other things to drop ph, but I haven't used those and cannot comment on them.
Now.... once I add nutes to my 9.2 tap water, my ph drops to 6.3- just where I keep it for soil.
I don't know if all nutes will create this kind of a drop. Being my 1st grow, I have nothing for comparison.

Good luck with your upcoming grow.

the nutrients you use must be pretty acidic, when you say PH down, is that an actual product you use to drop PH, concurrently is there a PH up if your water starts at an initially lower PH level and you are using acidic nutrients such as yourself?

200 real watts per square foot, which is about 8 of you 23 w per plant.

Thanks for the imput, I might have to order some larger wattage of the internet, the lowes and home depot in my area don't have much for high wattage CFLs

Little update, I went ahead and put in an order, spent a little more than I was wanting but I think in the end it'll pay me back 10 fold found a site that was reasonably cheap, although the shipping almost cost more than the actual products I went ahead and got:

50 litter bag @ $19.25 http://www.hydroasis.com/hy/productd...large-bag-50-l

Coco A & B 1 lt. @ $21.90
http://www.hydroasis.com/hy/productdetail.aspx?id=1041

PK 13/14 250 ml. @ $5.95
http://www.hydroasis.com/hy/productdetail.aspx?id=1056

Rhizotonic 250 ml @ $17.95
http://www.hydroasis.com/hy/productd...uct=Rhizotonic

Altogether it was $65.05 and shipping was another $41.13, so $106.18 total the weight of the soil really smacked me in the face on the shipping lol, but what can you do?

So now i just need to sit back and wait for everything to get here!

Yes, there is a product called PH Down- there is also a product called PH Up.
Both can be found at your local grow shops. In a pinch, I've heard that you can use PH down/up that was designed for aquarium use. I have no idea if the products have the same active ingredients. Since I buy my nutes at the grow shop, I just picked up some PH down while I was there.
I don't know what you will be using for nutes but I use the basic General Hydroponics nutes. As mentioned previously, I haven't a clue whether all brands of nutes will have a similar reaction to PH.

Here's a pic of the GH brand PH down for reference:

Attached Images

gh-ph-down-large.jpg (7.8 KB, 2 views)

Double check Home Depot man I found some 68watt cfls there and my bitches are rockin with it lovely! Besides,certain shit I refuse to buy online...yaaa mean!

It's been a long day. I re-read your post and know what you will be using for nutes after all. I just can't tell you what to expect in the way of PH changes.

Be sure you read the nute labels carefully before mixing. With the GH 3part, you must mix the micro 1st or, from my understanding, you will get nute lockout. I don't know that this is fact, it's just what I've read and I haven't tested for verification.

I plan on going pretty low on nutes, and increasing as the plants can handle it, I think that's the only way I'm going to get good results and still be able to learn how much to give and what the plants can handle, also since I'll probally be growing 2-3 different strains they probally won't all like the same solution. Reason I got the rizotonic is mainly because I read that it was good to give even as a seedling and promotes strong root growth, which in turn gives you bigger plants in the long run, at 18 dollars for 250 ml I'd say it better work lol! Is GH 3 part the nutes you use? I had to go with Canna products as it's highly recomended by everyone on here that uses coco products for a beginner.