Looking For A Paid Mentor

Kelsey20 · Jan 25, 2012

I would like to get one of the pro's to give me a little advice before biting the bullet and spending a ton of money. I have done some reading, probably enough to understand terminology and general concepts but I have zero experience.

In my line of work, I receive alot of Amazon gift cards as compensation and if possible I'd like to buy the bulk of my stuff there. I would like you to spec out what to buy for an approximate 6x12x8 room. (One of the 12' walls has not been studded up yet so width is a variable at this point) The method of my grow is one of the things Im confused about, I'll need a hand in deciding whats best for me.

The building is insulated and cooled. On my to-do list is a partitioning wall with a door, some sort of coating on the walls, and any needed electrical upgrades. My hubbie's pretty good with his hands so it shouldn't be too tough.

Anyway, I'm willing to pay someone with a good rep a small fee thru Paypal for pointing me in the right direction. Thanks ahead of time! :peace:

Illegal Smile · Jan 25, 2012

I'll give you free advice - don't do that. Don't let someone else tell you what to do anymore than you'd let someone else pick your wife. Go slow and learn on your own. Start on a small scale with a very small investment (I'll suggest for free how to do that). Learn some basics the hands on way and then you'll be ready. Maybe you'll need to ask some questions at that point - but you'll be an educated question asker.

I always tell newbies - the best "yield" you can hope for in your first coupke grows is the learning you harvest, not the bud.

trader54321 · Jan 25, 2012

im willing to help

kentuckyboy · Jan 25, 2012

How many plants are you trying to grow? I'm a newbie growing in my spare bedroom closet with a 400w HID setup. I paid about $200 for my setup w/shipping. It came with an air cooled hood, ballast, timer, 2 hangers, and a metal halide and high pressure sodium bulbs. I'm growing 4 plants in the space I have available. You could maybe grow a couple more with the 400w depending on how big you let them get. I decided not to get an inline fan and have to cut holes in my ceiling or walls. So far I haven't had any temperature issues but it is winter right now. If I would've went went a bigger light, I definitely would've had to get some ventilation going on. I just have a large floor fan blowing into my closet for some air circulation. That's really all I had to buy except for a few other things like soil, pots, fertilizer, thermometer, and good genetics. That's basically it. This should give you a basic idea of where to start. I never looked on Amazon for lights, but I am sure you can find some on there. And don't pay anyone money for adcice that people should give you for free. Best of luck to you and happy growing!

nick17gar · Jan 25, 2012

honestly, i tried soil, failed miserably. then i tried hydro, worked great. now im back in soil and its great too. hydro costs a bit more to set up, and requires daily checks. but the yield is awesome. soil is a little more forgiving. and if you cant be there everyday, thats ok, every 2-4 days is fine. start with whats important, a good light system. after you know soil/hydro, get all that stuff.

save yourself some time too, start germinating seeds, and planting them in some 12oz party cups or something (or if hydro, use those round coconut cores). til they have to be transplanted or put into bigger pot/hydro system, you got a few weeks

massah · Jan 25, 2012

yeah don't go out and waste money on all the knowledge we have here that is for free...rollitup is here for a reason...to pass along the great knowledge of growing marijuana. There are several videos on the subject from start to finish on how to build a grow op. Just head on over to youtube and search for "grow room setup" and things like that...you'll find tons of information on the subject.

Now the biggest thing you'll have to decide is what you want to grow in, more than the lights as thats a pretty standard thing(400watt HPS for 3x3' spaces, 600watt for 4x4' spaces, 1000watt for 5'x5' spaces)...So you need to figure out if you want to go hydro or soil. Soil is inherently easier to start off with, BUT you need good soil to begin with. You want to get a prelimed soil that you don't have to worry about PH with. Most generic potting soils and garden soils have dolomite lime mixed up in them, if it doesn't you can easily mix some in yourself. The Dolomite lime gives your plant calcium and magnesium but also buffers the PH to around 6.8 which is a good PH for soil growing. The other thing soil needs is drainage, so you need to mix in perlite even if your soil comes with perlite in it, its not enough. Always do about a 4:1 ratio of soil to perlite. Marijuana loves soil that is light and airy...something that dries out relatively quickly and doesn't hold moisture for several days.

With hydro its a whole other ball of wax, but when done properly it provides larger yields and quicker results, but requires more maintenance.

The biggest thing I can suggest is what Illegal Smile said, keep it small for the first go around...see how well it works and expand on your experiences. If you have 0 prior gardening experience its going to be more difficult for you. Marijuana is a plant, so a little basic knowledge on gardening goes a LONG way to making a marijuana growing operation a success.

Kelsey20 · Jan 25, 2012

kentuckyboy said:
How many plants are you trying to grow? I'm a newbie growing in my spare bedroom closet with a 400w HID setup. I paid about $200 for my setup w/shipping. It came with an air cooled hood, ballast, timer, 2 hangers, and a metal halide and high pressure sodium bulbs. I'm growing 4 plants in the space I have available. You could maybe grow a couple more with the 400w depending on how big you let them get. I decided not to get an inline fan and have to cut holes in my ceiling or walls. So far I haven't had any temperature issues but it is winter right now. If I would've went went a bigger light, I definitely would've had to get some ventilation going on. I just have a large floor fan blowing into my closet for some air circulation. That's really all I had to buy except for a few other things like soil, pots, fertilizer, thermometer, and good genetics. That's basically it. This should give you a basic idea of where to start. I never looked on Amazon for lights, but I am sure you can find some on there. And don't pay anyone money for adcice that people should give you for free. Best of luck to you and happy growing!

I'm looking to supplement my income with this project, so I'd like to go as big as possible without breaking the bank. Currently I have about $600 credit on Amazon with more coming in daily.

As far as the exhaust goes, I was hoping to use a squirrel cage I scavenged out of an air handler I had replaced last year. On lighting I'm currently thinking about a couple 600's or more. I'm not too sure whats needed for the area I'm laying out.....it'll be considerably larger than your average closet.

I do realize that people will chime in with free advice and its very much appreciated. It's just that given my level of experience and the amount of money I'll potentially sink into this, I feel that solid direction from a pro would be a worthy investment. I'm not looking for someone to hold my hand from screwing sheetrock to curing...pretty much just someone to say "Buy Light X and go with method Y". I totally expect to learn most of the grow process as I go, I just hate to buy a bunch of crap I don't need. Know what I mean?

Kelsey20 · Jan 25, 2012

@massah, nick and illegal....

I totally expected to be noob bashed. Yall are cool as hell.

If I were looking to light up a 6x12, by massah's numbers, Id be looking at 2x1000? I've also seen pics of a couple rooms with fluorescents on the side walls....good idea? How many plants should I shoot for per sq ft?

Hydro is what I really had in mind, I just wasn't sure if that was a lofty goal for my first shot. However if that was the end result Id hate to invest money in going a different route. I do have zero gardening experiance, but I am a fairly technical thinker. Given the right instructions I think I could make it work. Like you said, the info's out there....I'm mainly just worried about biting off more than I can chew.

This building is about 100 yards from my house, and I work from home, so I'll be able to tend to it pretty much all the time.

Id skimmed The Cannabis Grow Bible and read that Kool Seal would be decent on the walls, I think itd also seal it up fairly nicely. Good idea?

MJH54321 · Jan 25, 2012

Don't go out and buy anything yet!!! You have to figure out how you'll be getting rid of all this weed, don't go asking around just do some secret research. Find someone who you could trust enough to buy the produce first. You don't want to be growing like 5 plants, getting 40 - 60 oz and not being able to sell it!

Lights:
There isn't a certain make or model of light to get,just the type eg. CFL (rooting), Metal halide (vegetation), High pressure sodium (flower). Just look at the size of the room and think about the heat issues you may have. In my opinion 1000watt lights are ace but I'd prefer to have 2 400watt lights so the light coverage is bigger, really the more light the better but just remember to consider heat issues as it could cost you more to get the heat down if its too hot.

Ventilation:
Ventilation helps with a couple of things; Smell, Movement and Air change just to name a few. Carbon filters attach to the fan and pull air from the grow chamber/room this basically kills most of the smell from the danky ladies :-P

. Plant movement isn't essential but helps strengthen them up, a little breeze is like a low wind outside and you could use small desk fans or large floor fans to achieve this. Air change is important for your room as it refreshes the air that the plants used and breathed back out, you'll have to lookup air changes as i can't remember the requirements.

Soil/System:
Imo if your willing to pay for someone to give you advice DON'T use a hydro system it'll be alot more hassle and money in the short term and soil is alot more forgiving. Dont use soils from standard shops/centres just spend that extra £5 or $10 on some coco coir soil from a proper hydro centre, this is because most shops/centres only sell soil with nutrients already impregnated into the soil and Imo and many others its total crap. Miracle grow is the devil for weed :fire:

I'd suggest using soil for at least two grows then look at experimenting with systems when you have other main factors sorted and understand a little more about it all.
I'd suggest using separate pots for each plant as like with systems if one plant has a problem it can very easily spread to the other without you knowing until its too late.

Nutrients (nutes):
TBH there is waaaay to many to start with, there is a nutrient for near enough everything you could think of, you dont need to go and buy the most expensive. When i first started i only used a basic grow nute, a basic flower nute, a bloom booster and a nute to help ripen if its nearing the end of life but pistils haven't changed colour.
When you have gotten a bit of experience you can then start experimenting with more and different nutes, just remember to read about nutrient lock up before you start mixing and adding new nutes.

Other then the areas i have covered slightly there is alot more to be read about and most of it will improve taste, smell, look and yeild but these are the things you play about with when you know more about it even though you'll always be learning (speshally if you come on here alot)

I'd also suggest reading about common diseases for cannabis as prevention is always easier the eradication.

and one more thing, keep taking pictures and keep "rollitup" upto date with your progress, some people might be able to help out and give tips when you post pictures and info.

Hope this helps abit.

Keep on reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bigjoint:

Illegal Smile · Jan 25, 2012

Don't think of the entire room as the grow space. The grow space is within the room. You have to be able to get in there and move around and work. Also one of your biggest problems will be heat. If you are going to grow year around you will need lots of AC. I wouldn't even finish the room yet. Wait until you decide on some of these factors and then design the room around that. And think about electricity up front. The room should have a dedicated circuit and sound wiring.

If I had a room that size, I would build three "pods" each 3-4 ft square that I could walk all around. I'd put a 600w hps over each. I'd also have a small veg room apart from that. The veg room has to be light sealed from the flowering room. It only takes a little bit of veg space to feed a lot of flowering space. I would do hydro but that's just me. My lights would be digital ballasts with dimmable feature. Mine is Lumatek. I would move slow and set up one to see what heat is like. Maybe you need cool tube hoods and maybe not.

Remember, it will cost a lot more to have to undo what you've done and redo it because you didn't plan ahead. I know you're in a hurry, but haste really does make waste.

Illegal Smile · Jan 25, 2012

MJH54321 said:
Don't go out and buy anything yet!!! You have to figure out how you'll be getting rid of all this weed, don't go asking around just do some secret research. Find someone who you could trust enough to buy the produce first. You don't want to be growing like 5 plants, getting 40 - 60 oz and not being able to sell it!

5 plants and 40 oz? I would love to get half that! LOL But the point is well taken, plan ahead all the way and be realistic.

MJH54321 · Jan 25, 2012

Illegal Smile said:
MJH54321 said:

Don't go out and buy anything yet!!! You have to figure out how you'll be getting rid of all this weed, don't go asking around just do some secret research. Find someone who you could trust enough to buy the produce first. You don't want to be growing like 5 plants, getting 40 - 60 oz and not being able to sell it!

5 plants and 40 oz? I would love to get half that! LOL But the point is well taken, plan ahead all the way and be realistic.

Click to expand...

I haven't got the space for 5 plants, I'm still only doing 2 at a time but that's sufficient for me. A friend of mine was able to get 12 - 15oz per plant. I started using the same techniques as him and its improved my yeild to 10oz and now im using the fox farm nutes he uses so im hoping that may push it to 12oz per plant

Edit: i was gaining just over 7oz per plant at first.

Kelsey20 · Jan 25, 2012

Illegal Smile said:
Don't think of the entire room as the grow space. The grow space is within the room. You have to be able to get in there and move around and work. Also one of your biggest problems will be heat. If you are going to grow year around you will need lots of AC. I wouldn't even finish the room yet. Wait until you decide on some of these factors and then design the room around that. And think about electricity up front. The room should have a dedicated circuit and sound wiring.

If I had a room that size, I would build three "pods" each 3-4 ft square that I could walk all around. I'd put a 600w hps over each. I'd also have a small veg room apart from that. The veg room has to be light sealed from the flowering room. It only takes a little bit of veg space to feed a lot of flowering space. I would do hydro but that's just me. My lights would be digital ballasts with dimmable feature. Mine is Lumatek. I would move slow and set up one to see what heat is like. Maybe you need cool tube hoods and maybe not.

Remember, it will cost a lot more to have to undo what you've done and redo it because you didn't plan ahead. I know you're in a hurry, but haste really does make waste.

I've already considered what youre saying about the 'pods'. The room Im building is the first of 3 planned. I'll try to illustrate with this crappy ms paint drawing...

edit: actually the build order would be 1,3,2....but you get the idea

MJH54321 · Jan 25, 2012

Kelsey20 said:
I've already considered what youre saying about the 'pods'. The room Im building is the first of 3 planned. I'll try to illustrate with this crappy ms paint drawing...

View attachment 2018285

Imo i'd say you need 2 square foot for the growth of the plant and around 1 foot around the plant to tend to it and check it. If you have the cash you could have a 600watt over each plant.

MJH54321 · Jan 25, 2012

Or if you have round pots your could have them next to each other and just spin the pot round from the front to gain access to the back of the plant. means a couple of extra plants in the space.

Illegal Smile · Jan 25, 2012

I think you can see the complexity of this now. There are a hundred ways to approach it. MJH is assuming soil, I'm assuming hydro.

I'm also confused. Are you talking about three rooms each 8x12? I don't mean to burst your bubble but I think your reach is way beyond your grasp. Basically, I think you need to do at least one grow with one light and then expand slowly. I wouldn't do anymore construction for now beyond what it takes to support that one grow. Perfect that and you're ready to move on. I know that sounds like "grasshopper" shit, but any other way and there's a trainwreck out there waiting for you.

BigBuddahCheese · Jan 25, 2012

Umm you have the internet all your information is free. Now granted 90% of it is misleading or bogus, but if you're not smart enough to realize that as well then you should not be growing. I have always said growing is 90% common sense and 10% knowledge it doesn't take a botanist to grow but many have issues, guess they are common sense challenged.

Also information that someone has given to you "worked for him" but may not "work for you" or might not have the same results. Experiment and test, this is not a overnight journey it takes years to find your "click" or what works for you. You will change methods, nutrients and any other variables to get it "dialed" in, but again that can take years.

Be patient and common sense you will be fine.

Kelsey20 · Jan 25, 2012

Illegal Smile said:
I think you can see the complexity of this now. There are a hundred ways to approach it. MJH is assuming soil, I'm assuming hydro.

I'm also confused. Are you talking about three rooms each 8x12? I don't mean to burst your bubble but I think your reach is way beyond your grasp. Basically, I think you need to do at least one grow with one light and then expand slowly. I wouldn't do anymore construction for now beyond what it takes to support that one grow. Perfect that and you're ready to move on. I know that sounds like "grasshopper" shit, but any other way and there's a trainwreck out there waiting for you.

Oh I totally feel ya on that. Ive only started on room #1...likely 6x12. Rooms 2 and 3 are projects for the future.

On a side note, can anyone tell me if this light is worth a damn? I'll go ahead and get that much coming. Should I be looking at multiple lights for this area?

http://www.amazon.com/Grow-Light-hydroponic-Dimmable-Hydrofarm/dp/B005HB232A/ref=sr_1_8?s=garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1327500463&sr=1-8

Illegal Smile · Jan 25, 2012

I sense we have someone in a financial near-panic who wants and income stream fast. I can certainly appreciate that, but having seen it before, I'm not sure growing is a good plan, at least not the zero to sixty in one second approach. Nobody wants to be psyched about an idea and have a bunch of old-timers throw cold water on it. But we've been down similar roads or seen others go down similar roads. This is like starting any small business. Anyone will tell you that you can't expect to make much money the first year. But you are lucky - you want a business that you don't have to jump into head first. Do something else for income and start this on the side. Let it grow.

boneheadbob · Jan 25, 2012

Kelsey20 said:
. I would like you to spec out what to buy for an approximate 6x12x8 room. !

W X H X L is the industry standard so as not to cause confusion So your room will be 6' wide x 12' high x 8' long.

Just remember "women have legs"

That will be 100 dollars, thanks you

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