*"Noob" has entered the chat* - First time grower

[Martin7318]

I've been lurking around the corners of this group for most of the day like some crazy uncle at a kiddies birthday party.

@CreX lead me here after I asked him about grow diaries. This, after a week and a half of paranoid questions and lengthy discussions on growing Married-Iguana's (I may have the spelling wrong). When he mentioned he was a moderator of the site I thought I had fallen victim to yet another proudly South African Marketing gimmick.

I have just started my first grow, got my entire setup from a friend who's immigrating, the shit I've smoked out of this tent gives me hope, my lack of green thumbs and knowledge of photosynthesis leads me here. A group of black belts in the art of growing the things I smoke, in tents, under expensive lights. *Your plants look amazing, guys*

The name is Martin, and it's a pleasure to be here. I look forward to the "Haha" reactions and the "Don't do that again"comments. Cheers.

[Totemic]

Welcome to the forum

[GGG]

You at the right place brother , growers that grow in SA , can't get better than that.
Tell us what you have going , tents lights ,strain and more

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[Martin7318]

26 minutes ago, GGG said:

You at the right place brother , growers that grow in SA , can't get better than that.
Tell us what you have going , tents lights ,strain and more

Sent from my Hisense Infinity H50 using Tapatalk
 

Thanks for the warm welcome, definitely seems I've found my new lurking grounds!

I've got 280w total GrowOpz LED lighting (2x QB-75 + 1x QB-130)

120x60x180 Mars Hydro Grow tent

6" Inline Exhaust fan with ducting

2 x Clip fans for circulation.

 

Currently have 7 seedlings as pictured, they're all under 1 of the QB-75 lights

The 3 bigger girls in the center are Deluxe Sugarcane seeds from In-House genetics (Germinated by previous equipment owner).

The other 4 were germination experiments (I expected some to fail but got 100% success there), these will most likely end up as gifts or moving outside.

 

I got some BioBizz nutrients with the lot so I will be using those first time around, I have not started with any feeding yet. Just PH water and a few blown kisses every day.

 

Not sure what else to include here, but yeah, pretty much sums it up.

[GGG]

You received a very nice setup , don't need more realy to do a good grow. Deluxe is one of the best around .
Keep a grow diary and we will help if you need any .

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[Naughty.Psychonaut]

Welcome! 

Looks like you got all the right stuff there bud! Excited to see the difference between the 4 sugarcane phenos and what you do with them!

You gona grow the experiment plants out aswell? What soil you using brother, looks a bit barky. That tent doesn't look like it's 120x60, did you get 2 tents or is this something else? 

[Stinger96]

Welcome home. and enjoy bud.. This is not vleis book or Insta your gram.. Ask away and don't be shy.. If you ask you get.. Info that is..

[Marzcanna]

 

Welcome bro! Nice setup, looks like you ready to grow some monsters 

 

[Martin7318]

10 hours ago, GGG said:

You received a very nice setup , don't need more realy to do a good grow. Deluxe is one of the best around .
Keep a grow diary and we will help if you need any .

Sent from my Hisense Infinity H50 using Tapatalk
 

Thank you, always good to hear I've got the right stuff. I got some of the last deluxe from in this setup and it was really good. Definitely trying to mimic it.

Since I'm still very early days in this grow I think I'll post it up, would be awesome to hear all the opinions, do's and dont's. Thanks for the welcome.

 

2 hours ago, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

Welcome! 

Looks like you got all the right stuff there bud! Excited to see the difference between the 4 sugarcane phenos and what you do with them!

You gona grow the experiment plants out aswell? What soil you using brother, looks a bit barky. That tent doesn't look like it's 120x60, did you get 2 tents or is this something else? 

Appreciate the warm welcome, thanks. I'm pretty amped they have made it this far already so definitely keen for the rest of this ride!

The 4 experiment plants are all bag seed from various strains, no idea what to expect of them. If possible I'll try get 1 or 2 of them to grow outside, will see how it goes and how quickly they grow.

The soil is called "420 Mix", I'm not too sure I made a good decision there. It was the 1 thing I had to go out and buy separately. I thought going cheap was a good idea for my first grow, only cost R100 for 30 litres. Gave it a feed of Biodyne's Environoc when last watered. Was told it would be good for the soil.

The tent is definitely 120x60, picture was taken with a wide angle, messed with proportions haha.

[ORGANinc.]

14 hours ago, Martin7318 said:

I've been lurking around the corners of this group for most of the day like some crazy uncle at a kiddies birthday party.

@CreX lead me here after I asked him about grow diaries. This, after a week and a half of paranoid questions and lengthy discussions on growing Married-Iguana's (I may have the spelling wrong). When he mentioned he was a moderator of the site I thought I had fallen victim to yet another proudly South African Marketing gimmick.

I have just started my first grow, got my entire setup from a friend who's immigrating, the shit I've smoked out of this tent gives me hope, my lack of green thumbs and knowledge of photosynthesis leads me here. A group of black belts in the art of growing the things I smoke, in tents, under expensive lights. *Your plants look amazing, guys*

The name is Martin, and it's a pleasure to be here. I look forward to the "Haha" reactions and the "Don't do that again"comments. Cheers.

Welcome brother, Looks like quite a line up for you! Show us the pics! 

Word of advise for those brown self de-compostable pot thingies you using there. I also Used those first grow. And learnt roots normally get bound and hinders grow somewhat, Had to remove them and plants started growing again. But your experience might be different, so don't quote me 

Good luck, keen to see them!

Edited August 11, 2021 by ORGANinc.

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

only a pleasure

with the experimental plants being bag seed they might turn out male, so just keep an eye on that. best for them would be to wait till about 3 sets of true leaves then "pre-sex" them by placing them in a 12/12 light cycle to see what sex they are, males get culled females go back into veg with the rest.

if you veg them till they big you gona waste space, time and money. unless you want a big male.

that 420mix, who makes it? Is it that 3sixty stuff? I haven't heard too much about it, but still would suggest going for FreedomFarms Premium Classic next time you buy for when you pot up. 

with it being in a living soil I am assuming you gona go with organic nutrients? that Environoc was the right move, you added some microbes to the soil, they'll form a win win relationship with the roots of the plants and the soil. they "eat" organic compounds that the plant can't break down itself yet, and they "poop" out stuff your plant can uptake. basically... 

now you gotta keep those little microbes alive by giving it more organic compounds, so stick to organic nutrients, they're rich in organic compounds. I would suggest biobizz with the added organic dry ammendment here and there. 

hahahah ooh ok cool cool, I am seeing it as a perfect square in the photo, but I see now the pixels look a little distorted in some places

have you any IPM in place brother? this is a must for any type of gardener. 

[Martin7318]

1 hour ago, ORGANinc. said:

Welcome brother, Looks like quite a line up for you! Show us the pics! 

Word of advise for those brown self de-compostable pot thingies you using there. I also Used those first grow. And learnt roots normally get bound and hinders grow somewhat, Had to remove them and plants started growing again. But your experience might be different, so don't quote me 

Good luck, keen to see them!

Thank you for the welcome. I'll go ahead and start a diary today with the pics I have, keep an eye out. Would love to get your opinion on things!

Your Competition diary looks great, amped to see the end results!

I germinated those 2 seeds (in the little brown pots) a few days before receiving the equipment, I was itching to get started so bad!  They're from those free seeds McDonald's was handing out not too long ago . I may consider shoving those in some pots like the rest now, thanks for that information. Growth on them has been far slower that the others, and the 1 isn't looking too happy with me over the last 2 days.

 

1 hour ago, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

only a pleasure

with the experimental plants being bag seed they might turn out male, so just keep an eye on that. best for them would be to wait till about 3 sets of true leaves then "pre-sex" them by placing them in a 12/12 light cycle to see what sex they are, males get culled females go back into veg with the rest.

if you veg them till they big you gona waste space, time and money. unless you want a big male.

that 420mix, who makes it? Is it that 3sixty stuff? I haven't heard too much about it, but still would suggest going for FreedomFarms Premium Classic next time you buy for when you pot up. 

with it being in a living soil I am assuming you gona go with organic nutrients? that Environoc was the right move, you added some microbes to the soil, they'll form a win win relationship with the roots of the plants and the soil. they "eat" organic compounds that the plant can't break down itself yet, and they "poop" out stuff your plant can uptake. basically... 

now you gotta keep those little microbes alive by giving it more organic compounds, so stick to organic nutrients, they're rich in organic compounds. I would suggest biobizz with the added organic dry ammendment here and there. 

hahahah ooh ok cool cool, I am seeing it as a perfect square in the photo, but I see now the pixels look a little distorted in some places

have you any IPM in place brother? this is a must for any type of gardener. 

I honestly didn't know "Pre-sex" was a thing, sounds like the foreplay of man and plant, I'm interested!

As mentioned in reply to @ORGANinc., I think I'll start a diary to answer all the grow specific questions and answers, believe me, there's going to be a lot of them...

420 mix is 3Sixty, yeah. Dude at the grow shop I went to mentioned it being a new formula with less bark, so I assume the older batches were like 50% bark . Freedom farms seems to be what most people advise you use, I'm a bit of a cheap skate and sometimes forced to learn about capitalism the hard way. I may need some convincing to spend the extra R70 on a bag haha.

I look forward to the suggestions if you'd be so kind as to give them as I go, watch for my Diary later today.

I had to Google "IPM", something about Pest management. The short answer is no, I've got nothing of the sort in place.

Edited August 11, 2021 by Martin7318

[donnob]

Hey @Martin7318, welcome to our glorious family! Plenty of mistakes have already been made on your behalf so just plug in and play.

1 hour ago, Martin7318 said:

I may need some convincing to spend the extra R70 on a bag haha.

By the time you're convinced you'd have spent well over R70 and lost valuable grow time in tried and tested soil. The medium is where you can't skimp and have to give that extra attention because at the end of the day that is literally the lifeblood of your magic plant. In the grand scheme of things, a good soil will give you a happier plant and a happier plant will give you a bigger yield, a difference in yield worth way more than R70 

[Martin7318]

3 hours ago, donnob said:

Hey @Martin7318, welcome to our glorious family! Plenty of mistakes have already been made on your behalf so just plug in and play.

By the time you're convinced you'd have spent well over R70 and lost valuable grow time in tried and tested soil. The medium is where you can't skimp and have to give that extra attention because at the end of the day that is literally the lifeblood of your magic plant. In the grand scheme of things, a good soil will give you a happier plant and a happier plant will give you a bigger yield, a difference in yield worth way more than R70 

Thanks @donnob, you're right and I know it. I'll definitely go for something better next time around. Soil was a hard one for me to work my head around while doing all my studies on the matter. Appreciate the input

[PsyCLown]

@Martin7318 Welcome to the forum.  

Growing can be much cheaper than paying for bud, can also be a lot more rewarding but unfortunately indoor does cost money. Especially when you want to do it right.

You already have a lot of the expensive stuff. It is well worth spending ab it more and getting proper stuff which is tried and tested and works well and will give you the results you want.

Cheap out on certain things and you will suffer, which can lead to you being demotivated and not wanting to grow anymore - not to mention all the time (time is money) wasted and the hassle of trying to deal with the issues which arise from trying to cheap out on certain things.

 

Freedom Farms and Organics Matter are both good soils, spending R200 on a bag of soil is well worth it compared to trying to use some cheaper soils or some which are not tired and tested and having the health of your plants take a nose dive, which leads to lower yield and bud which could have been better. A grow from seed / clone to bud takes at least 5 months. If 5 months of your life is not worth R200, I don't know what to say  

 

I myself like to save money and will often view multiple angles to see if or how I can save some bucks, the same applies to my growing - but I have learn that sometimes you just need to spend the money and it is well worth it.

If you want to use cheaper medium, then consider hydro or coco. Hydro will require a learning curve and some additional equipment, coco is a lot closer to soil - has it's own set of pros and cons. @CreX and I both grow in coco.

With coco you can buy 5KG bricks and take the time and effort to expand it and buffer it yourself and save some money, or buy some BioLeaf which is ready made and cheaper than soil (For R199 you get 60L versus 30L of soil from Freedom Farms & Organics Matter).

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

hahahah there you get some convincing already! you know everyone uses it, how much more convincing do you need hahah yeah no honestly the biggest thing for me about FF is the consistency, I have tried a few different brands and I keep coming back to FF simply because each time the next best thing comes along everyone tries it untill someone runs into a hot batch or something, I've heard a lot of soils are more attractive breeding grounds for unwanted fungus gnats and soil dwellers that you dont want, specially with soils that contain bark. 

trust us, joooooiiin uuuuss

I like what @donnob said, the difference in your yield wild be worth waaayy more than the R70 

 

[GGG]

From another view point regarding spending for soil, if you trade indoor bud for money( against the law) then it's between 2-3 grams if I remember the prices right. You will most definitely get more yield than that 2-3 grams if you do a tried and tested consistent soil . It's well worth it buddy. I never skimp on soil

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[Martin7318]

@PsyCLown@Naughty.Psychonaut@GGG Thank you, guys . Lesson learnt. *Note to self, don't mention being a tight arse on 420sa, you'll be schooled. haha

Do you guys think I should go get some trusted soil for the next repot? Or should I finish what I have on this grow and go the right way from there? Anything I can do to this existing soil to ensure it's okay?

[Marzcanna]

I'm a coco guy myself but when it comes to soil I truely believe in mixing your own soil, I know the guys here like FF and I don't have anything against it or any other soil brand for that matter but I have gotten more consistency out of my own soil mix than some of the brands out there, just anther option to look at if you want to save some cash

Edited August 11, 2021 by Marzcanna

[PsyCLown]

@PsyCLown@Naughty.Psychonaut@GGG Thank you, guys . Lesson learnt. *Note to self, don't mention being a tight arse on 420sa, you'll be schooled. haha
Do you guys think I should go get some trusted soil for the next repot? Or should I finish what I have on this grow and go the right way from there? Anything I can do to this existing soil to ensure it's okay?

I think you may end up with issues using they soil.

Perhaps give it a bit of time, see how the plants do and decide from there. If you don't experience issues you might be able to get away with it, otherwise repot into some other soil to help make life easier until harvest.

Nothing wrong with being conscious of pricing or trying to save some bucks, not everyone is fortunate enough to have a bomb setup or afford one, so work with what you've got.

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[Martin7318]

@Marzcanna@PsyCLown Thanks for the input, I'll see how it goes. I'm sure if I miss something someone here will point it out. At least I know to be cautious.