First Grow Questions - Day 6!

Hello, rollitup! This is my inaugural post. I am a long time cannabis enjoyer, first time grower, and I just wanted to get some opinions from some seasoned growers!

A little bit about my grow:

I am using a 4x4x80ish tent. I have (2) Mars Hydro 600W lights (newest version, presently at around 24”). Growing 6 pots (autoflower), 5 in FF Happy Frog/Perlite in 5 gallon fabric pots, and 1 Coco/Perlite in a 3 gallon pot. Tent equipment includes timers (21-3 light cycle), hygrometers, a humidifier (and dehumidifier for flower), 6” Vivosun exhaust fan with insulated ducting (for noise), XL Exhale CO2 bag (mycelium) a couple of small fans, a space heater, and a temp-controlled outlet (set at 80 with the heater kicking on at 78.5 and the exhaust fan at 80.2 - which helps keep my temp perfect, humidity at around 70%, with exhaust coming on roughly every 4-5 min for 30 seconds or so).

I pH my water (filtered tap) to around 6-6.5. No nutes have been given yet.

So far, everything is going great. All 6 plants are doing very well as of today (day 5 going into day 6). I had a couple of quick questions so I can keep this grow on the best track!

1) I have ordered some SCD Bio Ag for some beneficial microbes. Do you have any opinion on this? Has anyone used it? Will it make a difference in soil, or coco?

2) I know that the Mars Hydro are burple ass mediocre lights. That said, I’m trying to decide what to do. Should I return them (2 of them) and get a better LED setup (and what recommendations would you have that are high quality and cost effective)? Or should I roll with them (seem to be doing great) and maybe add some supplemental lights for flower in addition to those two? If I did, would I be able to add maybe just a couple of 2700-3000k COB lights to supplement in flower? Maybe HID? If anyone has any links with good suggestions, let me know! I really want to get the most out of this grow and give my plants what they need.

3) Next week I am planning to start feeding. I gave cal-mag, GH Micro and Bloom. I have a pretty good idea of how to feed my coco plant (thanks to a great channel on YouTube), but I’m a little more unsure about the soil. I elected to use a soil that wasn’t too “hot” (FFHF), so I’m assuming I will indeed need to feed. However, from what I’ve been able to deduce from researching online, soil seems to possibly need less in terms of nutes (due to the fact it has some, whereas coco is a hydroponic medium). Is that correct? What would you aim for in my position?

Look forward to hearing from you guys! I’ve enjoyed lurking around. Once I have time to (figure out how to) remove geotagging from iPhone photos, I’ll try to get some up for you all. I like to stay cautious! Happy growing guys!

1) No idea.
2) Two of these will do you well https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/kits/products/260w-qb-led-kit . They are on clearance because they are the older version but who cares, they will do wonders over what you have.
3) Don't feed them anything you assume wrong. At 12 days old they don't need anything in happy frog

My Advice:

1. Don't over water as you have them in HUGE ass pots for small little plants.
2. Don't be constantly fucking with your shit. Leave them be, let them grow they know what to do.
3. Watch your PH just make sure it stays in a decent range, its soil so PH is not AS important, but a factor in success none the less.
4. Don't kill your shit
5. Feed them when they need it

Thanks for the reply. Here are a couple of photos just to give you guys an idea.

jtrizzy said:

1) No idea.
2) Two of these will do you well. They are on clearance because they are the older version but who cares, they will do wonders over what you have.
3) Don't feed them anything you assume wrong. At 12 days old they don't need anything in happy frog

My Advice:

1. Don't over water as you have them in HUGE ass pots for small little plants.
2. Don't be constantly fucking with your shit. Leave them be, let them grow they know what to do.
3. Watch your PH just make sure it stays in a decent range, its soil so PH is not AS important, but a factor in success none the less.
4. Don't kill your shit
5. Feed them when they need it

Click to expand...

So you would buy 2 of those and return my two, or use them as supplemental light? That single purchase is all I need? Nothing else I would have to order?

DocofRock said:

So you would buy 2 of those and return my two, or use them as supplemental light? That single purchase is all I need? Nothing else I would have to order?

Click to expand...

Those two are all sir, get the 3500 spectrum. It’s good all round spectrum. You could get one 4000 and one 3000. Use the 4000 to veg only than switch on the 3000 in addition in flower.

Monitor HLG website ... they sell fairly fast.
Also reach out to @robincnn and @Stephenj37826 .... they love bringing growers over
from the dark side..... lol.

QB 260
QB 120s
QB 304
QB 288
QB 324

All of them are great choices and can be wired for many ... MANY configurations .
Mars WILL grow weed , but you will outgrow them quickly. For getting your feet wet , they
will work .... not stellar but they will work. We all started with basic shit at one time or another.

You will find QB grows may need some supplemental HEAT to grow areas , but you will gain better penetration, increased vertical growing ( due to their flat design ) and most importantly.......Quality LEDs . As far as Kevin spectrum .... 3000k / 3500k / 4000k will work from veg to harvest . So you can stick with one if you like. 4000k actually flowers very well ( and has a bit more blue for shorty nodes ). Looks like you are pretty prepared with equipment.

Keep us posted. Good luck

DocofRock said:

Next week I am planning to start feeding.

Click to expand...

DocofRock said:

I’m a little more unsure about the soil

Click to expand...

The soil, FFHF, has enough nutrients to carry that plant for weeks, and weeks, and weeks....Its real easy to knock the balance out of whack with too wet of soil. There are tender developing roots in there that will be drowned very easily.
Most inexperienced soil growers never give their plants a chance, to even come close to "needing" water.
Its also much easier to recover a plant from a deficiency, than to get one back on track from overfeeding. If that particular soil is wet down too often, without a plant sizeable enough, to pull the water out of it, the pH of the medium will fall below the health zone, and then you will see a cascading effect of seriously poor plant health...

Budzbuddha said:

Monitor HLG website ... they sell fairly fast.
Also reach out to @robincnn and @Stephenj37826 .... they love bringing growers over
from the dark side..... lol.

QB 260
QB 120s
QB 304
QB 288
QB 324

All of them are great choices and can be wired for many ... MANY configurations .
Mars WILL grow weed , but you will outgrow them quickly. For getting your feet wet , they
will work .... not stellar but they will work. We all started with basic shit at one time or another.

You will find QB grows may need some supplemental HEAT to grow areas , but you will gain better penetration, increased vertical growing ( due to their flat design ) and most importantly.......Quality LEDs . As far as Kevin spectrum .... 3000k / 3500k / 4000k will work from veg to harvest . So you can stick with one if you like. 4000k actually flowers very well ( and has a bit more blue for shorty nodes ). Looks like you are pretty prepared with equipment.

Keep us posted. Good luck

Click to expand...

Cheers, I just ordered 2 of the QB260 from HLG, both 3500K. Looks like I’ll be returning the Mars hydro

jtrizzy said:

1) No idea.
2) Two of these will do you well. They are on clearance because they are the older version but who cares, they will do wonders over what you have.
3) Don't feed them anything you assume wrong. At 12 days old they don't need anything in happy frog

My Advice:

1. Don't over water as you have them in HUGE ass pots for small little plants.
2. Don't be constantly fucking with your shit. Leave them be, let them grow they know what to do.
3. Watch your PH just make sure it stays in a decent range, its soil so PH is not AS important, but a factor in success none the less.
4. Don't kill your shit
5. Feed them when they need it

Click to expand...

Took your advice on the lights and purchased 2 of the ones you linked me

DocofRock said:

Took your advice on the lights and purchased 2 of the ones you linked me

Click to expand...

Great! Wise choice. They good lights. Easy to put together, 10 min each. Those will last you a VERY long time. 570 total watts for that space is great! They dimmable as well total lumens if both were turned up all the way is 89,000 lumens, you good lol. Just over what a 600w hps would put out, but Best part, very low heat and 30w less energy to put out 9000 more lumens than a 600w hps. Now, keep them nice and high don’t be putting them 12” away. Let the plants grow into them. Also very good drivers they come with. You will be happy with them.

Thats a darn big pot for a tiny seedling - i see overcomplications come watering which at first is probably gonna be in a ckuple of weeks with that volume of wet soil.

70% humidity is not ideal humidity or suited to lights and carbon filter, let that slide to a 40-50% (read where to not place your meters below).

Co2 is for pros and a myco bag wont do nowt.

Everything seems so complex there im good with just adding some basic knowledge.

Dont put hygrometer and thermometers under lights as light heats them and gives wrong readings - basic grow set up 101.

Calmag... why is it not already in your ferts?

We dont ph soil or water/ferts for soil - thats stupidy. I never ph'ed coco its not a res but some may idk the complete science there just try both ways and if one works or both use the simplest.

Hope that helps - just a plant keep it simple

New grower of Cannabis in an indoor environment, but have plenty of history growing stuff outside in soil. Few things:

You don't want to put your plants in such a big pot right away, maybe work your way up, IMO this allows the plant to grow optimally.

You will want to get a better exhaust fan eventually. Vortex and AC Infinity are solid choices.

Good on you for getting the QBs I know you will love them.

Finally just let the plants grow, don't worry about every little thing. Cannabis is a wonderfully resilient plant.

Lastly, Have fun!

Midnight Warrior said:

New grower of Cannabis in an indoor environment, but have plenty of history growing stuff outside in soil. Few things:

You don't want to put your plants in such a big pot right away, maybe work your way up, IMO this allows the plant to grow optimally.

You will want to get a better exhaust fan eventually. Vortex and AC Infinity are solid choices.

Good on you for getting the QBs I know you will love them.

Finally just let the plants grow, don't worry about every little thing. Cannabis is a wonderfully resilient plant.

Lastly, Have fun!

Click to expand...

Theres some recent trend towards putting seedlings in massive fabric pots thesedays - they might as well stich the words 'Badass grower' on the side of it and increase lrofits

DocofRock said:

Thanks for the reply. Here are a couple of photos just to give you guys an idea.
View attachment 4290330 View attachment 4290331 View attachment 4290332 View attachment 4290333 View attachment 4290334

Click to expand...

With my autos I use these TaoTronics for the first three weeks. At 18"-24/7. One per plant

My two cents....you have 1 bastard child in the mix. Don't treat her like her soil cousins or she'll be to the wayside before you start. If you're indeed running coco and perlite in one pot....you need to feed it now. You'll need to manage a lower pH than your soil girls and you'll need to run a different feed / water program as well.....if you're going to take real advantage of the medium that is. You'll also want to give more Mg and Ca to your coco girl vs your others in general.

You will for sure have your challenges though with such small plants in such large pots. For the future, a solo cup makes a fantastic first home, and it will make your job as the grower / water wizard a whole lot easier.

Good luck.

CannaCountry said:

My two cents....you have 1 bastard child in the mix. Don't treat her like her soil cousins or she'll be to the wayside before you start. If you're indeed running coco and perlite in one pot....you need to feed it now. You'll need to manage a lower pH than your soil girls and you'll need to run a different feed / water program as well.....if you're going to take real advantage of the medium that is. You'll also want to give more Mg and Ca to your coco girl vs your others in general.

You will for sure have your challenges though with such small plants in such large pots. For the future, a solo cup makes a fantastic first home, and it will make your job as the grower / water wizard a whole lot easier.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight. Yeah, honestly my thinking with the big pots was simply not to stress them by having to transplant, as it’s my first grow and my confidence in transplanting without causing my autos stress isn’t that high yet. What would you all suggest at this point? Roll with it? Transplant?

In regard to the coco grow, I do indeed plan to treat it differently. This is partially because I’m enjoying spending time in the garden, and also because I wanted to compare the grows and see which medium I prefer for the future.

I have a really good understanding of my feed schedule for the coco — I’m a little more uncertain about the soil. In retrospect, I probably would have done this differently, but that’s part of the learning curve I suppose. So far I’m leaning towards simply doing coco/perlite, starting off in smaller pots, and doing 3 gallon pots instead of 5 (for my future auto grows).

One other question... these QB 260W lights, do they just use regular power cords (can I plug them directly in to my mech timer/surge protector? Or do I need some type of special plug or adapter?

Big pots with little seedlings isn’t good. I see this a lot with first time grows and there often times ends up being big time issues cause of the soil moisture being excessive. Their journals simply end and they disappear like whispers in the wind. Not saying you will have big issues, just recommending to not do that next time. Plants in correct size pots are much easier to keep healthy. Transplant doesn’t shock anything as long as you aren’t extremely clumsy or violent about it. They shouldn’t skip a beat, in fact, they should love it.

danjac82 said:

Big pots with little seedlings isn’t good. I see this a lot with first time grows and there often times ends up being big time issues cause of the soil moisture being excessive. Their journals simply end and they disappear like whispers in the wind. Not saying you will have big issues, just recommending to not do that next time. Plants in correct size pots are much easier to keep healthy. Transplant doesn’t shock anything as long as you aren’t extremely clumsy or violent about it. They shouldn’t skip a beat, in fact, they should love it.

Click to expand...

So what would you think about maybe putting them in 3 gallon pots? Still too big for this stage? Or perhaps put them in solo cups and then in a couple of weeks, put them into 3 gallon? I’m watering very sparingly. In this first week, I’ve watered lightly maybe twice... the rest of the time I’ve simply moistened the top of the soil using a spray bottle. Due to the fabric pots, perlite, circulation, and exhaust fan, they seem to be draining/drying out relatively quickly (except for my bottom left one which probably could use more perlite in the mix.

Just thought of another question, shoot. On the coco grow, should I (going forward) add nutes to EVERY watering? Once or twice a week? I really don’t have any idea when to start adding nutes for the soil plants.