Newbie questions: Is this a realistic plan?

Hi all, this is my first post in this great forum, i've been reading here for a while and picked up some valuable info already. I've done some outdoor growing with local seeds in the 90's and want to get started with my first indoor grow.

Still in the planning phase i have reached a point where some input from more experienced people is required. Here's my plan for a grow with Lowryder feminized seeds and the questions i couldn't answer yet:

1) Lights

I've done some research into CFL, LED and HPS lamps and apparently for best results people usually recommend HPS. Due to a lack of space and to keep the electricity consuption low, i thought i get a 400W HPS and 125W or 250W CFL for vegging and to have a booster later on if necessary. Maybe a 125W blue CFL for veg and a red one as a booster? The other option i have read about was a 250W HPS plus 250W CFL. This seems to be the more versatile solution i guess?


Most people grow the Lowryders with 18-20 hours of light throughout the grow. When i look at the energy consumption, wouldn't it make more sense to use a photoperiod seed which runs with 12/12 for the majority of the time? I just picked the Lowryders because they have this "idiot proof" reputation but i also have some photoperion seeds like Super lemon haze, Kandy Kush, Aphrodite, Smile and La Blanca (Attitude freebies, Reserva Privada and Kannabia Seeds)


2) Grow medium and nutrients

I've started my outdoor grows in a sterilized, low-nutrient soil for seedlings, in a fibre pot on the window sil for a while before i planted the whole pot into the soil at my outdoor spot. I've never used any nutrients. For the indoor grow i thought i will do it the same way. A fibre pot for the young plant which goes into a (2 Gallon?) pot. Unfertilized soil for the seedlings, some bat mix soil in the big pots and no additional nutrients for the first 4 weeks. Then a slow start with something like the Canna terra flores. No nutes for the last week.

OK, that's enough for now, i am sure i will ask more questions later but this should help to pick the right the equipment and get started.

Looking forward to reading your input,

S

grab the book Marijuana Horticulte and the Indoor/Outdoor medical growers bible, by jorge cervantes and start there.

spend money once and get the right equiptment first off, with space restrictions and heat issues you might want to look at T5's, a bank of 8 T5's will out yield a little corkscrew lamp, but not a HPS.

So you are planning on giving your plant no food either from you or the soil?...and you expect it too live?..thats a living organism and it needs food.

more watts the better, i myself use a 400 watt hps, so my opinion would be to use 400W HPS and 250W CFL and u should see a decent yield. as for the photo period veg for a month and then flower for two months. u will get four harvest a yea that way hope i answered some of your questions.

jesus of Cannabis said:

grab the book Marijuana Horticulte and the Indoor/Outdoor medical growers bible, by jorge cervantes and start there.

spend money once and get the right equiptment first off, with space restrictions and heat issues you might want to look at T5's, a bank of 8 T5's will out yield a little corkscrew lamp, but not a HPS.

So you are planning on giving your plant no food either from you or the soil?...and you expect it too live?..thats a living organism and it needs food.

Click to expand...

na that book is not really very enjoyable to read and some parts seems outdated..... how about the "greg green" growers hand book" or how about ed rosenthals "offical Oaksterdamn course book" ive read about 5 grow bibles now and i think the greg green book and the oaksterdamn course book where so far most helpful/enjoyable to read....

jesus of Cannabis said:

spend money once and get the right equiptment first off, with space restrictions and heat issues you might want to look at T5's, a bank of 8 T5's will out yield a little corkscrew lamp, but not a HPS.

Click to expand...

Heat is not an issue, height is limited to about 3-4ft for the plants plus pots plus light. i'm going to get a "cool shade" lamp which can be connected to an extra fan so i should be able to get a bit closer to the plants. At this time of the year i am more concerned about the room getting too cold when the lamp is switched off. How cold can the plants get at night without problems? I think the lowest temp i get in this room is about 10° centigrade.

jesus of Cannabis said:

So you are planning on giving your plant no food either from you or the soil?...and you expect it too live?..thats a living organism and it needs food.

Click to expand...

Of course they will need nutes but for the seedlings i always used unfertilized, sterilized soil. After a week or two i thought i will move the plant from the little pot into a bigger one with a different soil, something like the Plagron Bat Mix. According to other growers here, this should be sufficient for the next 2 or 3 weeks before i start using something like Canna Terra Flores. From my outdoor grows i made the experience that any kind of nutrients too early burnt the plants. The soil at my outdoor spot was obviously good enough, in some years my plants got about 10 ft high with very thick and dense buds without any nutes. My question was if this is sufficient or if i should purchase any other nutes.

The more i think about the auto flowering seeds the more unsure i become. Maybe i will grow them in the garden this summer and get started indoors with the photoperiod plants. Here are the seeds i have (all feminized), which ones would you start with?

Autoflowers:
The Joint doctor's Easy Ryder (AK47xLowryder#2)
World of Seeds Pakistan Ryder
Nirvana Seeds Bubblelicious
Nirvana Seeds Auto Northern Lights
The Sativa Seed Bank's Jock Horror

Photo period:
Kannabia Afrodite
Kannabia Smile
Kannabia La Blanca
Reserva Privada Kandy Kush
Edit: Also got some Super Lemon Haze by Green House Seeds

The Seed bank i order from is very fast, So if you have any other nice and easy strain in mind, please let me know.

I'm really looking forward to my first indoor grow. Growing outdoors in Germany can be quite dangerous so i didn't have the opportunity to spend alot of time with the plants. After getting them to the spot i only could clean out the stinging nettles around the plants 2 or 3 times before harvest, apart from this the girls were on their own.

Thanks guys

S