I am always willing to help anyone who is serious about growing. I tend not to help those that are way off track and have unrealistic expectations about what this hobby is. So far you've shown you are one of the good ones. Given some time and experience you'll be succusseful at this. I've been around doing it for 6 or 7 years now (hopeless before I found forums and which books to read) and I've learned a lot over my many grows. I've assisted others with many many grows in real life sorts speak, and I have a pretty good understanding of the "mentality" of the peopel who are generally succussful vs. those that don't get it, and will never get it.
Growing a plant indoors is in general not a difficult task, but there are a lot of details that you have to pay attention to and if all of those details are adhered to, leave it alone and don't try to play God. This is the basic list of details that are important. If you don't have a good understanding or you'd like some informaiton on any of these sections, please ask and we'll make sure you've got it down.
1) Temperature/Humidity/Ventilation
2) Light. Lots of it, used efficently during lights on. None of it, absolute darkness during lights out.
3) Containers - Proper color, proper drainage, maximize size for your space for the # of plants that you want to grow. More rootspace = bigger healthier plants.
4) Soil - A good quality soil save you a lot of trouble down the road. I use FFOF with Fox Farms nutrients and honestly, not that happy with them. But then, I'm going back to hydro after this grow. My last 3 or 4 have been soil as I've been trying to find the right "recipe" and while my plants are doing well, hydro has been more productive for me. I didn't want to leave a big gaping hole in my growing knowledge so I tried to put a legit amount of time into being a dirtfarmer. I believe it's a total of 5 grows in soil for me and that's enough.
5) Water(ing) - Your water source should be good clean water. Some people can get away with using tap water. As such most nutrient manufacturers do not add Cal and sometimes Mag (depends on lineup in my experience) because it's found in tap water. If you live somewhere with particularly hard water (high ppm) you should avoid using tap water. If your water is relatively soft (200ppm or less) then it's generally better to go ahead an use the tap water. If tap water is used, let it sit out for 24 hours with the lid off to evaporate chlorine
If you use distilled water or water that has been purified (generally through Reverse Osmosis) then you will certainly need to add Cal/Mag and I prefer a product from Botanicare called Cal Mag Plus. I add it to RO water because I find it gives me consistency no matter when I move or what the water is like, I start from zero PPM. I started in hydro so I think it's just a thing now for me.
The watering schedule and practices are also very important. The plants should be watered only when the container is dry. This is generally a longer duration during the early days and shorter near the end. Do not water just the center or just the edge of the container. If this soil is allowed to become very dry the water will find paths to follow and you'll notice that it drains very quickly. Simply dumping around the edges will allow the water to pass straight through, out the drainage holes and never have a real chance at resaturating the soil. Apply the water at a pace that allows the soil to absorb it. Spread the water evenly between center and edges. You do want the entire pot moist as best as possible as it encourages healthy root growth and ensures that you are using as much of the rootmass as possible. It took all that time to grow it, use it!
6) Feeding Schedule and nutrients - With good quality soil you won't need nutrients until about 6 weeks into it. The most important tidbit that I can offer on this subject that is so damned vast, is that nutrients do not make your plants grow faster, bigger, or have larger yields.
If your plant has adequate access to the nutrients that it needs it will grow as fast as your lights and it's genetics will grow. If it is lacking access, it will show symptoms as it begins to use its own stores to continue on. If it has an abundance it will burn or it will suffer from toxicity.
7) Pests. There are lots of them. I have addressed this problem by bug bombing twice during every grow. Once at the beginning of the last week of veg and again at the end of the first week of flower. Using this regimen I have never had to deal with spidermites, thrips, aphids, or any of the other crapola that is out there. If you don't want to use pesticide just make sure that you are doing something to fight this fight before it becomes a problem. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure (or however that goes). After I see "crowns" on my plants it is to me, to0 late to use pesticides without risking having residue on or in the final product. That's why I get it done before the planst have "flowered" at all and it has prevented any late flowering problems for me.
Good luck...If you have any problems or questions feel free to ask. There is a lot of information on this forum on every subject imagineable so don't be scared to use the search function. I'm not sure if the growFAQ is still up, most of it is pretty outdated, but the plants grow the same way so it's still valid. I realize that you know alot of this information, but in case you missed something or had a question about something I just want to make sure you've got ALL of the basics that you need to get to the end with a successful crop. There are more details in between, but they can be addressed during the grow if they come up, this is a good start. If you've got all these things, you've got a good start.
lol. so i may edit this tomorrow when completely sober. lol. but its the basics u will need to look into.
