A bunch of Newbie questions.

Hey guys,

Ok I am new to this forum and very 'green' to growing (not in the good sense of the word lol)
My neighbour many years ago gave me a single plant he grew from seed. It turned out female. I never gave it any ferts and grew it in soil.
Well it turned out being awesome! She gave me about an ounce of blow your mind smoke.
Now many years later I would like to try to do it right.
What gave me the bug to grow was someone in my building threw out a aerogarden 7 pod. I thought to myself "it must be broken".
Brought it home filled it up plugged it in and it works perfectly!

So Bam! Now I want to grow!
So I think first things first I need to find where to get seeds?
I looked all over the net but found it sketch that I have to send a money order first..
Then I found a high times store down the street that sells seeds and you can order whatever ones you want! Score!!
So not to go crazy on my first grow I got a party pack, 50 bucks for 12 seeds of unknown origin but was told that a lot of people were getting blueberry out of these seeds.
When I get better I will get feminized seeds of choice.

Now for what I have (or on order) so far;
Aerogarden 7 pod, [FONT=&quot]2X 26W plant grow that come with the aerogarden, 4X 40W 2700K, 2720 lumens, 4X 15W spot lights, 4100K, 650 lumens all cfl's and single cheap sockets.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]I have on order an active air in-line fan 165 cfm and an odor-sok rated 190 cfm, air pump rated for 20 gallon and air stone, PH tester and adjusters.

Ok so I know the aerogarden is something I won't want to be using for long because of it's size but will be good for a start.
I do want to build the grow box for the long run though. For when I get 'bigger and better' hopefully.

So enough rambling for now lol. Here is a few questions I need all you gurus advice on.

[/FONT] 1. Is gyprock ok to use? I have a few sheets of bathroom board for free. If yes should I plaster the joints (hehe) inside and out?


2. Should I paint it flat white or use reflective mylar or other? Should I add anti-mildew additive to the paint?

3. Can I run the cfl sockets in a circuit? As in connecting all the positive terminals in line and all the neutrals in line to make 1 switch and/ or 1 plug.

4. Where can I get parts for the aerogarden 7 pod? I have the unit (free) but don’t have whatever you need to put in the holes.

5. Do I have enough lights?

6. What size growbox should I make? Space available is 3’ 4” deep by 6’ wide by 9’ high.

7. Do I have enough ventilation? I have on order an active air in-line fan 165 cfm and an odor-sok rated 190 cfm. Can I just have the intake passive? Do I need an oscillating fan on the plants?

8. I smoke in the house with no worries about neighbors smelling but I know weed can get pretty stinky. Is the odor-sok good enough?

9. What ferts should I use?

I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface here. Forgive my noobieness I'll learn quick

Thanks for all the input and the pointing me in the right direction stuff

Phewff that's a lot of rambling. Time to blaze

Kev.

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keeping my fingers crossed I can get some answers and advice today

I'll answer the questions for which I believe I have the capacity to do so

2: From what I've read on here, a lot of people use mylar but a lot of experienced growers don't see the need for it if the walls are white. It's your call there really.

3: You can run CFL bulbs in a single ring. However, make absolutely sure that any junction boxes you use have a wattage capacity that exceeds the wattage you're putting through it. Personally, I try to keep each junction box to <100W each just for my own peace of mind. I then fuse each circuit and have surge protectors on the extension lead which they plug into. Also, make sure you fuse the plug and if you can earth the circuit then that's great.

5: From experience, I reckon you probably have enough lighting to produce a crop - more than I'm currently using and I have a few pretty decent sized buds growing at the moment. But you can never have enough to produce a fantastic crop. If I were you I'd run through this issue with a trial-and-error approach; if you notice slow growth, stretching or just general lack of mass when all other variables are fine then you probably need more lighting.

6: This intertwines with question #5 and with question #7. I found a thread somewhere on here that gave a formula to work out how much air you need to input/extract in a minute and other stuff on how many lumens per sq. unit of space is required. Perhaps an oldie can answer these three issues for you better than I.

8: Depends on the strain. Prepare for the absolute worst, stinkiest plant imaginable; hope it isn't as bad as that. Works for me and my bagseed. The main issue occurs when the smell is allowed to build up, and with adequate ventilation with carbon filters you'll probably be fine.

9: I'm not going to answer this specifically as it's a very debated issue. But you should be familar with the basic components of fertiliser (N-P-K) and use those which suit the growing stage (high N in veg', and opposite for flower). Lots of info' on this so perhaps a bit of research is required on your part here. What I will say is that LESS IS USUALLY MORE. If you notice your leafs "burning" (turning yellowish) at the very tips then you've over-nutrified your growing medium.

I repeat, do not go crazy with nutrients . It's a silly mistake.

If you've ever grown tomato plants before then you won't have too many problems with MJ. It's very similar in my experience and seems to enjoy the same growing mediums (I use a mixture of tomato and strawberry soils for my MJ and just push the pH down a little. All the micro and macro nutrients I could possibly need, and I supplement it with fertilisers when I feel it's necessary).

If you're green fingered you'll have no problems

Thanks Doomah!
I appreciate your reply and great answers.

I am planning on having 2 dedicated 15 amp breakers for my grow box.
What is better?1 12 plug power bar or 2 6's or other?
I don't think 1 12 would be good because of the maximum wattage of the power bar.
But im just guessing
I know I am going to have a ton of watts going but the amperage is going to be well below the 30 amps I will have available.
Amps= watts divided by volts. My 10 lights will only be pulling 2.23 amps. Then there is the aerogrow, the fans, air pump, etc.

So only 100 watts per junction box? that would only be 2 or 3 lights max per. I was hoping for 4 at least per string.
all great electrical advise! thanks.

I know more light the merrier but also more light means more heat and more stink.. and probably more bud.
I guess I have enough to start with until I learn to control all the variables better.
I'll try to find that thread or other info on light to air balance.
I wonder if the odor sok will be enough? I guess only one way to find out.
I'll have to read more on ferts. Read, read, read and then read some more lol.

I have grown quite a few things but all in soil this is my first hydro grow.
Green fingered? I hope so!
I do have a little brown stain on my thumb and index finger hehehe

Thanks again for your reply Doomah.

I had to google "power bar" I'm guessing you mean what we call "extension leads". I don't think the amount of sockets will really matter that much so long as everything's fused and you don't have victorian-age wiring. You might be able to get away with lower ampage breakers than that; actually I read a scientific article a few days ago (can't remember the reference) which stated that most lighting breakers are 2-3amps and could provide extra safety with less than that. I'm certain that my extractor fan doesn't pull that many amps, but unfortunately I had to go with a 15amp fuse on that 'cause it's all I could find at the time.

I run max' 100 watts per junction box because my "junction boxes" (really just ceiling roses which I've rigged as junction boxes) aren't designed for that many watts. Also means if my surge protector blows up and I end up having high surges running through my circuits, I'm less likely to lose all my CFLs! My house is wired in radio circuit, not ring-main, so with 60-year-old electrics one has to be extra cautious. Particularly as there are actually only two sockets in the room and I'm running lots of other stuff off them as well.

You can put at least 4 CFLs per circuit if you wish, I doubt there would be any danger. Hell you could have hundreds on one circuit if it's all wired and fused correctly, and various capacities are higher than what you're putting through it.
The grades of cable and boxes you can get vary from basic, household extension lead-quality cable to fireproof, kink-proof ultra super duper armored cable. If you're buying from a hardware store then usually if you tell them how many watts/amps/volts you're running through it then they'll provide you with what you need.


I think you're right with the quantity of lighting - you should be fine at least for the first grow or two. As for odor sok, I'm afraid I'm not familar with it. I use carbon filters which I get from a nearby garden centre - a few handfuls of carbon trapped in a thin bag of mesh, so I don't have to mess around with smashing carbon up and putting it in cloths etc like so many people here seem to. I just place the filters in line with my ventilation and forget about them. Works really well actually.

I'm afraid I can't help you at all with the hydro aspect of your grow - I've no experience at all there. So you'll definitely have to do some research on the fertilisers. I got along fine with my soil grows without reading a single thing about fertilisers and just using common sense. I've never really had nutrient burn or deficiency.

As for the green fingers, I'm glad to hear of the hard work your hands show hahah

Good luck!

not trying to be negative man, but i wouldnt put cfls in series, not for safety reasons, but it will reduce the power output for them, i think..

and no offence to but id recomend learning more on eletrical beofre you play with it. you have 2 x 15 amp lines and is way way way over kill for that little load. you have about what i have for breakers but i run multi big lights. so now if sometyhing goes bad in your wiring the wire will burn beofre any breakers go..not safe
im no knocking your ideas or eager to grow but i hate seeing new guys burn their house down or other isssues with wiring....cfl run in the milli amp range..not even 1 amp each,

welshsmoker said:

not trying to be negative man, but i wouldnt put cfls in series, not for safety reasons, but it will reduce the power output for them, i think..

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Not on a normal ring main mate. Plus with the right cable and breakers there wouldn't be a problem with a big handful of lights. If you wire a load of ceiling spotlights in a kitchen it's the exact same principle, all in a ring and suitably switched with breakers. And as Medi 1 says below, you do need to be careful about what the amperage is. I'm not really sure what the maximum wattage and frequency of connections you can make in a single household ring main, but IEE wiring regulations would state it somewhere. If your circuit is using 3amps then ideally you want a fuse which is as close as possible to 3 amps.

Sometimes things can still go bad anyway. With a lot of extractor fans you can fit fuses and breakers on the circuit all you want, but if the fan stops and the motor overloads then unless you've got a thermal fuse close by on the circuit you've got a fire.

View attachment 1290577View attachment 1290576View attachment 1290575View attachment 1290574dont forget to add any household ityems that are on that same line as the amp load total as well as the grow lights.lView attachment 1290573
heres a real old set up i made years ago weith cfl and a dresser for the wiring. i ran 2 lights from each outlet with a "Y"splitter.



View attachment 1290572

So daisy chaining like in your pics is what I want to do.
So why is this dangerous? They are cfl's after all and will be plugged into a power strip (power bar) with surge protection and and in-line breaker ( it's probably 13 amps).
But really what danger could I encounter with this set up if wiring is done correctly and kept away from water?
(As Doomah mentioned) In fact in my kitchen is a string of spot lights that aren't even 'wired' they are in a track and the two contacts sit on a strip of copper. They are 90W halogens and have never had a problem.
Also all cfl grow box how to videos I have watched on you tube show the wiring of the lights in this same manor and no mention of additional breaker of fuse needs.

welshsmoker said:

not trying to be negative man, but i wouldnt put cfls in series, not for safety reasons, but it will reduce the power output for them, i think..

Click to expand...

sorry mate, didnt realise they were on a ring..

only danger...or something to take notice of is the amp loads. dont want a 30 amp breaker running 10 cfl that draw in the milli amps. if by chance something shorted it will burn the wire to the breaker and not trip the breaker and may....i say may..cause a fire. keep the breaker close to the amp load. if the bar is rated to the 13 amp you say then you should be ok...but make sure thats what it is...dont be guessing or assuming with eletcricity
and make sure that even works..ive had many bars that claim they did and didnt do shit when i was over or had an issue. the one in the wall would go before the power bar

the two standard electrical lines coming into this room are 15 amp breakers.
One will be for random room stuff. The other will be for the grow.
The power bar is a high end model with a $40,000 guarantee on it.
I could also use a gfi plug if you think it is necessary.

i think your over thinking this now...lol...plug it in...

Medi 1 said:

i think your over thinking this now...lol...plug it in...

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LOL that's what the guy at the hightimes store said to me also.

nothing wrong with that. especialy with electricity and not being 100% confident on it

I do live by the expression 'go big or go home' so I have to be careful I don't go overboard with this.
I need to keep it simple and learn as I go I guess..

great, and im willin to help on 102 103 and so on. who cares....10 million already posted negative comments to there dood.

Thanks for pointing out that link Serapis.
I don't think there is anything wrong with me asking my questions in my own thread though.
It is an interactive forum and not just a library.
By asking my own questions and good people like Doomah and Medi1 answering it gives me explenations for my perspective and not someone elses and or standard form answers that may be out of date information.
thanks for the help.