Newbie to this

Another dumb question: How tall do you guys generally let your plants get?

That is a tricky question. There are many techniques for growing. Unlike growing Christmas-tree like outdoors, folks have height restrictions indoors. For example, I use low stress training (LST) in my 6' basement. I let them grow to nearly two feet in small pots, then when I transplant I literally plant them sideways and tie down the end temporarily. They grow that way for 2-3 weeks. Then I release them and use trellis like supports. I get a few weeks of veg/maturing without the additional height.

More stupid questions: 1)Why do you transplant your plants when they are 2ft tall(or at all for that matter)?
2)Do you mean you actually transplant them at an angle into the ground?
3)Then you tie the tops of the plants down?
4)Please explain the "trellis like supports"?

I'm assuming that by the time your plants are 2' tall, they are quite fat and bushy, yes?

This is all quite new to me(as you know), but I was assuming I needed to build a structure that would allow my plants to grow to 5', or 6' tall. I guess that isn't true.

I now think I need more schooling before I even build the structure.

Oh, and one other thing: I see in ads for grow shops... that they speak of "grow tents". Can I buy something like that instead of building a plywood structure?

Thank you all for putting up with my kindergarten-like questions. I really appreciate it!

After they come out of the EZ Cloner they go into 6" pots. I let those grow tall, usually 3-4 weeks.

Yes, when I transplant them into final pots (3 gal nursery buckets), I plant them literally parallel to the ground. I do not have a recent pic of this, but here is one a couple years old:



I don't use those large screens anymore, now I just run a piece of bamboo between buckets and use these little wire "S" hooks I make as needed from about 18ga wire. They stay like that for 2-3 weeks. The side branches get a chance to mature as well as the "top" continues to get longer, but I've reduced the overall height of the plant by probably a couple feet with the same plant growth/maturity.

After the "S" hooks are removed the plant springs up of course, but remains at about a 45 degree angle, and nice and full. As you will see below, the space between buckets also fills in with greenery, creating a full canopy by the time I switch.

I recently posted about the trellis I created. I originally made it from wood but had the idea for PVC just as I finished the first prototype. Here is a picture of it:



Just 3/4" PVC, special fittings bought online, cup hooks installed every 6", big rubber bands from Walmart. It fills in nicely:



The fittings allow for expansion horizontally and vertically. Here it is with a second "story":



Yes, you can buy grow tents in many sizes, and they are quite reasonably priced. I would suggest that if you do go with a tent you don't need my trellis at all. Maybe tomato cages, placed on the buckets at transplant time (no LST). A large tent (approx 5' x 8' x 6' tall) is around $250 at HTG. I use one of these for drying as well as finishing up a few plants.

The tents are great. They are reflective on the inside, zippered access everywhere, special outlets for venting and lots of structure to hang stuff from. They just aren't that roomy. You can grow 8 good sized plants in the size I mentioned. If you have the room, ambition and $ I would build a room; depends on the size of op you intend to have. You could always start with a tent and then expand later..it won't go to waste.

Good luck!

I am sure you find all this info overwhelming....I did at first too! But I am in a similar situation moneywise, not working on disability insurance in Canada I bought my grow light off e-bay for 40 bucks plus del, got bulbs this way too Bought a large bag quality soil, started with Jack's both veg & flower, added blackstrap mollasses in flower Did 1 plant cuz the other 2 were male, took 3 clones off her Ended up with a nice harvest of about 8 ozs since I got my licence last yr Took a break cuz it's time consuming with my disability, pain issues and low energy levels at times I guess if I had to put a price on my investment I spend around $600, which wasn't all at once. The light is a biggie, don't scrimp on it, use cfls for the start. But invest in a small wing reflector with at least 400W( up to 600W is you can) but I have been using 400W with no major heat issues or electrical issues. The light and ballast costs the most but it`s one time. I used Metal Halide for vegging & high pressure sodium for flowering, but lately I just use the hps 400W for the whole grow cuz itès so much easier not to change the bulb, just lowering the light when need be with a cheap pulley system that cost 10 bucks. Good luck keep up with the reasearch, post any questions or problems, people very helpful and friendly here!

I don't think I can afford the tent. Tet, you sure have a nice set up and it looks like you used good old fashioned ingenuity to make what works best for you and to obviously get the most possible yield. I love the idea of planting them at an angle to get the best bang for your buck by growing the side branches out. Very cool! We have to talk more.

And Louise, You're absolutely right, very overwhelming, but it's starting to make sense.

I visited the Grow Depot yesterday and I'll tell ya, the young man who was helping me there seemed very well-versed at all of this. He suggested that, since my financial situation is what it is, to buy one 600w light set-up, which he stated, will get me three plants to maturity and add more down the road if I needed. I'm going to try to get to their discount party today, but have some family commitments that could interfere initially.

I also do want to learn to do teas! Since I have time and space, I think this will be a cool learning experience!

Thank you all for your tidbits of info!

Oh, another lame question: What do you use for cloning? How do you do it?

I saw some stuff at Garden Depot, called "Clonex", but they had many different types(more confusion). Is this the standard way of doing this?

search rollitup for cloning threads...there's a ton of em.....

I use a couple of Clonex products. The gel is used before you put the cut in the cloning machine or soil or whatever. There are also many rooting powders available for this. What they do generally is provide hormones the plant needs to develop roots. The Clonex solution is used in the water that you use in the cloning machine or water the plant in soil, etc. It provides some basic, light nutrients and vitamins for the clones.
I use an EZ Clone, which is basically a tub with cover. There are holes in the cover to hold round foam rubber collars, which hold the cuttings. Aerated water is sprayed on the stems constantly underneath. They also sell bucket cloners that use a 5 gal bucket and can do 8 at a time. That would probably be fine for you, they cost about $50 for the whole setup.
You can also just take a cut, dip it in gel or powder, and stick it in a pot. This takes longer but works fine. Just keep it misted or use a dome for humidity.

Man, I've been trying to study up on this stuff and check out some DIY videos on youtube, but the best resource I've found is right here. Thank you very much.

Sheesh, some of those videos are painful to watch! People with no humanly right to teach, trying to teach how to construct a grow room for folks like me (lacking sufficient funds). Jeez, get a grip on the english language before attempting to use it to educate people (OK, rant over).

I wasn't able to get to the Grow Depot yesterday, but am working on getting a ride there today. Maybe I can plead my case and they'll extend the discount for one day.

I think I'm going to start out with one 600w light ( I'm gonna give ebay a try for some of this-Thanks Louise- great idea! ). I suppose I can get a few plants going to maturity with that. And thanks to tet, I'm getting a better grasp on the whole cloning thing. Maybe I'll get a couple bulb-type CFLs to get the seedlings up and running. Again, any advise/do's & don'ts are welcome here.

I really want to learn to use teas and the correct nutrients to make my first crop worthwhile. So, please PM me with some info.

Oh, one thing I did gain ( I think ) from a video was testing the pH of my soil. Or was that for hydroponics? It mentioned that the media should be between 5.8 and 6.2. Is this important info?

Thanks again to all!

Oh yeah, P.S. - I definitely want to do a low ceiling type grow room. Those Pics tet posted were very inspiring and I really want to design my set-up like that! I only need a few plants budding at once, as I'm only doing this for myself. Advise here too! Do I need that many plants going at once to provide free meds for myself only?

How about LED lights? Anyone use these? I see them relatively cheap on Ebay.

Also, this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hydrofarm-JSV2-2-Foot-Jump-Start-T5-Grow-Light-System-Easy-Assembly-Plant-Flower-/231074673146?pt=US_Hydroponics&hash=item35cd1fb1fa

Heck, I could essentially use a bedroom closet with something like this.

Ok I'm not gonna get in a big discussion about this, so no one get any ideas lol

However...if LED lights were all they are touted to be, everyone would be using them. They aren't.

Yeah, I've been reading the growweedeasy.com stuff with the green haired chick ( she seems to be pretty informed/knowledgable ), and the LEDs that she suggests are way out of my budget limits. I'm guessing the MH or HPS lights are the most reliable for consistency. I think it would be worth the $150, or so.

What do you think of that hydrofarm thing on ebay for $40 buy it now for seedlings?

Again, how much do I really need to grow for just myself?

when i told you to search rollitup I meant the entire site, I didn't say watch stupid videos on you-tube.....most all your questions have been answered you just have to do some work to find the answers.....

I'm not familiar with the hydrofarm fixture, give me a link and I'll take a look. HTG has 2' and 4' T5s that are really nice. I have one of the 4' and about five of the 2'. I use those for cloning and for the small pots, which all together is about a month. You'll be surprised how well they do under them once they're rooted.

Search on RUI is almost useless.

On RIU too lol

HTG's Tek 2 T5's are great. I have two.

mdanforth, I know, I've been trying to read much of that site and I think I mentioned I thought the chick was "informed and knowledgable". I definitely was not dissing her info. I tried looking on youtube myself, thinking there might be some info that would be helpful. Some is, but you have to weed through ( huh huh, he said "weed through") the lame stuff. Thank you for that link.

tet, This one I posted earlier: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hydrofarm-JSV2-2-Foot-Jump-Start-T5-Grow-Light-System-Easy-Assembly-Plant-Flower-/231074673146?pt=US_Hydroponics&hash=item35cd1fb1fa or, maybe not...now that I look closer, this is(the lights, anyways) just what you were referring to.

That looks like a good deal for what you get, the rack and all. Of course, there's no telling how good the light is. I just know the ones at HTG are really nice. They cost about twice as much though.