Indoor organic questions. Have amazing outdoor compost. Help!

I have a few questions about taking my organics indoors. I have worked in family gardens for about 12 years (Fruit and Vegetable gardens).

-Do i really need to use fertilizers for the best results indoors? I have well seasoned compost that is a mixture of horse, cow, manure, wood shavings, hay, leaves, wood chips, and about 20 truckloads of food. Also I have an aged earthworm compost bin that "was" raw food with shred newspaper clay and leaves. mostly raw food (No meat or dairy to avoid rodents).

-Could I use a mixture of this soil indoors and avoid nutes all together? I despise Guano because I have seen more diseases from it than anything I have tried in my lifetime. I want to preserve the plants NATURAL flavor.

-What size pot do I need per plant? With 8 square feet of floor space what kind of spacing can I use? How many should i put in this area, if topping trimming and using LST?

-I have read a little about the CMH 400w, and it would seem that it is better overall if you are using a 400w HPS light or lower? Anyone have experience with this, I have not seen MH comparisons with this light? I have either 756w of 4ft T5's, or a 1000w MH for veg options. Could I instead use the CMH 400w for veg?

-My goal at first is to produce clones from some fem seed I have, 5 Utopia Haze, 1 White Russian. I want to make a mother of my White Russian and 1 of the 1 Utopia haze for a small stealth Mother box, so I can move them into my 2x4 room and force flower.

If anyone can help me out a little I would much appreciate it!

Oh yeah, please do not respond about lighting burning plants, I will not have a heat issue from any solution.



Pictures coming once I finish sealing air leaks that are not my intake and out-take, and Paint the room.

yeah you can mix in some lime, bone meal,blood meal and a few other things before hand and skip nutes. just try it on some test plants first your compost may be strong, or high in some nutes low in others once you find out what it needs added you will need little to no ferts

...I'm sure you could use your mixture as a compost tea to reenrich the soil. I use organic teas when I grow in soil to fertilize, and my plants love it.

...one gallon of soil for every foot in hieght of the plant is a good rule of thumb for pot size.
...I'd go with the fluros for veg, HPS for flowering...however, you can flower or veg with any of the lights you mentioned.

Thanks for the feedback!

I love the compost tea idea! I usually would just add more compost outside for the same effect.

I guess if its a gallon per ft for indoors, 5 gallon pots would suffice for my first indoor experience, and judging by the size of pots i can only fit 8 in a 2x4 area.

Since you brought up flowering, my first season will be under a HPS/CMH (650w and 400w) with side lighting from the T5's. Call this excessive, but I find it a piss poor job of mimicking the sun

I notice as good of results or better with the T-5 for veg growth rather than the 1000 Watt MH. Many people frown on bringing outside organics inside because of possible insect pests and potential pathogens. However, it is possible. I would recommend sterilizing your compost outdoors with a black or clear plastic covering. This will kill off most insect pests and pathogens in the soil. This will also kill off the beneficial organisms in the soil which will have to be added back through aerated compost teas. Once the compost is sterilized it can be mixed with an aggregate to promote better drainage and aeration. Perlite, hydrokorrels, and gravel are all appropriate materials. this turns your compost into potting soil! Other additives can be added in for fertilizer and or PH adjustment, but this potting soil will have nutrients available already for a few weeks of growth. Afterwards you can liquid feed with aerated compost and or guano teas throughout the cycle with excellent results.