Nutes, Bulb, and soil questions

Hey guys,

I am currently awaiting the arrival of some seeds, The strain Lowryder #2 X AK47, and I just have a few questions with the details of some of my equipment. I was wondering if I could use a small wattage cfl bulb through the life cycle of my two plants that I am planning to grow, and if 125w will be enough for two plants side by side, if I put a reflective sheet around/behind them. I know that I also might need to supplement in a HPS bulb for some additional light, i was just wondering if a low wattage like, 70 for instance, would be enough to get the job done or if I should just spring for a higher wattage light.

Also I have some questions when I come to nutrients and their use... I was looking at a fox farms soil nutrient trio pack and was wondering if anyone has used this before and if it would be good for a beginner. I also read online that I would not have to start fertilizing until the third week of growth, is this correct or should I be watering/fertilizing the entire time?

And last but not least, I am planning on purchasing a bag of the Agro-ponic grow medium to use for these plants? Is this an adequate enough growing medium or should I go with something in the actual soil department like Ocean Forrest potting soil?

Good luck with them.

About the lighting, when the plants gets biggers its better you get more lights of course. But if you ain't gonna put them tall and for example do in a pc grow case, i think it's enough of lighting.

About the nuts and the soil, i can't talk about what i dunkno. Wait for some expert to tell you whats up.

Good luck.

thanks man, i think im gonna just use a small wattage cfl light until i have enough for a nicer set up. its hard especially since i didnt start planning this until a few days ago and the seeds a re supposed to be coming today. lol

Uncola7 said:

I was wondering if I could use a small wattage cfl bulb through the life cycle of my two plants that I am planning to grow, and if 125w will be enough for two plants side by side, if I put a reflective sheet around/behind them. I know that I also might need to supplement in a HPS bulb for some additional light, i was just wondering if a low wattage like, 70 for instance, would be enough to get the job done or if I should just spring for a higher wattage light.

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A single CFL will work for sprouting a few plants, but once they get much size to them, you simply won't be able to illuminate the whole thing with a single CFL. If you are going to go HPS, then just do it and move to the HPS when it outgrows the CFL. You can still supplement the lower areas with your CFL while using the HPS, in fact the HPS will lack blue spectrum, which can lead to stretching, so adding some 6500k CFL's can help keep shorter bushier plants with an HPS in veg. T5's are worth looking into as well, but hps can be ideal for flowering, so take all that into account when you decide which way to go. Also different light technologies require different methods of growing to maximize, so if you have other restrictions (like a lack of ventilation, or limited height, etc) they can lend themselves to one type of light over another.

Uncola7 said:

Also I have some questions when I come to nutrients and their use... I was looking at a fox farms soil nutrient trio pack and was wondering if anyone has used this before and if it would be good for a beginner. I also read online that I would not have to start fertilizing until the third week of growth, is this correct or should I be watering/fertilizing the entire time?

Click to expand...

I can't speak to long term, but I just barely switched from fish emulsion and magical to using FF grow-big (6-4-4 +mag/bor/copper/fe/mang/zi). I'm pretty happy so far. I'll probably switch over my flowering nutes to the FF line when I run out of the alaska flowering bottle.
I am of the opinion that many people overdo the additives, and companies who sell them have a vested interest in selling you stuff. The needs of the plant (from all the research I have done at least) just don't strike me as that complicated. At the same time, I have a bit of a biology background, so I'm already doing things to improve my bacteria load to increase nitrogen breakdown, and the few complicated things that really are involved. Keep in mind that I'm mostly talking about soil grows, hydro has much more stringent requirements since you can't assume that the medium contains anything the plant can use (other than the pure water itself) and it's nearly impossible in a hydroponics situation to replicate the same bacterial processes which break down organics in soil. Sorry if that is tmi, but I guess a short answer would be that FF is a good brand, if you want to use a lot of additives, their kit is probably as good as any... As a minimum, in soil, you need to be giving N-P-K, as well as trace elements, mainly magnesium, iron, and calcium, but possibly also boron and manganese. Most everything else comes from soil, and rarely needs to be added.

Uncola7 said:

And last but not least, I am planning on purchasing a bag of the Agro-ponic grow medium to use for these plants? Is this an adequate enough growing medium or should I go with something in the actual soil department like Ocean Forrest potting soil?

Click to expand...

The more inert your medium the more you will have to ensure that trace elements are provided. There is a little bit of a learning curve involved with that (and a slight cost) that isn't involved in most soil grows. There are some advantages though. You have a lot more control, and inert mediums tend to drain and aerate well.
For soil you can just buy quality brands like FF and know that the trace elements are covered and acidity will be right. You can also get more complicated and develop your own mixes. Soil also fosters bacteriological processes that break down nitrogen and other compounds into soluble forms, so you have a little more freedom in what types of nutes can be used.