Asking advice: growing small scale

[HeartCore]

Jodels,

Just for the purpose of smoking for free, I want to setup a small growing space for a small number of cannabis plants.

I'm thinking of a maximum of 5 plants. I've done growing before, just not small scale so here's a few questions

1) 5 plants, I intent to use 400 watt lamps but the growshop advices 600 watts. Does anyone have experience with this? Is 600watts yield a lot more than 400watts yields?

2) I would love to know what seeds you have used and what you advice. I grew from cuttings before but want to go seed road this time.

3) What would be average yield per plant (yes I know this is hard to say since planttype and growing conditions play a large role but I want to have an indication of how many plants I need to grow to be able to supply myself with 1-2 grams per day )

4) More to come...

 

[Rutger]

What I know from text book experience and only little for real growing is :

1. 400 watt is sufficient but 600 is more efficient with light. Keep in mind if you want a small space with only 5 plants 400 is probably also good, the more watts the more heat en especially in a small place 600 W is sometimes to much to handel. 600 Watts you also have to hang higher from you plants so do not know how high you can go in space. (that sounds strange doesnt it.)

2. I have experience with Nirvana seeds wich are always cheap and of resonable quality. the Sensi seeds I heard good stories about , the same goes for Dutch Passion. These are all regular seeds, female seeds are much more expensive , but keep in mind if you do not use some sort of seedling propigator you are putting money and time from you lamp into potential male plants and you have to start out with 10 seeds at least to get you 5 females.

3. Good growers can get 1 gramm for each Watt , so 400 wat means 400 grams yield, does not really matter how many plants , can be one as long as it has all the room it needs.
Realistic is to get 0.5 grams - Watt , this is considered already good for the first few growths.

Pff that was a lot, as I stated before, most knowlege is from reading, reading and reading about this kind of stuff. As small part of from growing myself, wich is really fun by the way.

 

[HeartCore]

Rutger,

Many thanks for your reply!

Space is not really a problem, I have one moderate size bedroom reserved for all my growing needs. First time I grew I had two 400 watts lamp and a yield around 700 grams so that looks ok.

Probably going for one 600 watt lamp anyway.

Now I've never grown from seeds so if I can get some cutting somewhere (will be hard after recent happenings with the growshops) I will just start with cuttings. On the other hand, I know I will love playing with seeds, experimenting etc.. but besides that, I just want to smoke good quality for free

Thanks again. I'm going to read some more and will probably come back with more questions.

HC

 

[Ilian]

the space is not the space on the ground, but in the hight. 400W can be 40cm above your planet while 600W must be 50-60cm from it

 

[Rutger]

Yes but if he has a whole room I think the hight is not the problem. IF you are using a closet or something small, the 600 W might be too much.

700 grams from 800 Watt is great for a first time grow. I wish I had the space for it, would be great.

Also got this contract stating that if I get cought violating any opium law I will get a fine of 5000 euro from the "woningbouw".

I do not even smoke weed anymore so it is not really worth the risk for me, a pity though.

 

[Ilian]

outdoor growing is fun too, and legal.. 5 plants outdoors should give you a lot of weed in some months

 

[HeartCore]

Also got this contract stating that if I get cought violating any opium law I will get a fine of 5000 euro from the "woningbouw".

If this is literally in your contract, they could theoretically fine you for smoking a joint or am I missing something

And yes its an entire room, lights can go as high as 2.50 m so no prob

 

[nightblader]

2. I have experience with Nirvana seeds wich are always cheap and of resonable quality. the Sensi seeds I heard good stories about , the same goes for Dutch Passion. These are all regular seeds, female seeds are much more expensive , but keep in mind if you do not use some sort of seedling propigator you are putting money and time from you lamp into potential male plants and you have to start out with 10 seeds at least to get you 5 females.

Do you happen to remember what kind of gift you got from Nirvana by any chance? I think on their shipping they mention that they will send you the seeds 'with' a free gift.

 

[MrEmo]

if space is no problem i w ould use 600-1000wHPS, but veg them under fluorescent lights for economy.
i would forget hydroponics and use a peat based compost, it if far more forgiving of any mistakes or over/under watering.
dont spend a fortune on larger pots. buy 20l buckets and drill hiles for drainage.
mix the compost 3 or 4/1 pearlite. again it helps protect against overwatering and maintains a reasonable amount of air within the soil protecting from root rot, while maintaining a stable soil temp.
do not over feed the plants, and if you suspect you have flush the pots with 60l of fresh water, then feed again according to the instructions on the feed.
if you cannot fing a peat based compost lookf for a John Inness N0.3 compost, which is loam based and contains all necessary micro nutrients. it is heavier than most composts but produces lovely healthy plants.

any further questions just ask

 

[im1badpup]

i was doing what mnemo was saying.. oversize pots, canna pro, westlands advanced n john innes no3 give me a nice mix,

a very light nute feed, 5 plants under a 600w give me around 450-500g.

theres no maintanence really and not much can go wrong its the easy way

good for the lazy ass stoner lol all you gotta do really is water em

 

[MrEmo]

i was doing what mnemo was saying.. oversize pots, canna pro, westlands advanced n john innes no3 give me a nice mix,

a very light nute feed, 5 plants under a 600w give me around 450-500g.

theres no maintanence really and not much can go wrong its the easy way

good for the lazy ass stoner lol all you gotta do really is water em

good advise. with a few plants and a lot of light, maybe a desk fan on the top of the plant so you can put the light closer, youi will get an excellent yield.
get a regular gardening book, it has enough info on plant health and symptoms. dont overfeed. flush the pots before you trigger them, then give them a flowering food.
if you think you may have over fed them flush the pots and feed them again.
if you seriously over feed them stick them under the shower.

ask advise here too, there seems to be a few people know how it works

9 plants under a 1000w lamp, peat based garden center compost, i was getting 1600g beautiful colas. allegedly

 

[im1badpup]

holy shit mnemo i need some horticutural lessons from you, i could maybe hit 1200g under 1000w in bubblers with 9 plants or a lot of small plant sog style.. but both are intensive in the way id be using bacteria, gmb, boosts etc and have to keep on top of things daily with an eec pen ..

 

[MrEmo]

you do need to get to know the strain you are growing. once you learn its preferences you can give it what it needs as you see the signs. peat based compost, which they are fazing out just now, seems the ideal medium. its practically a hydroponic medium, with nutrients added,. what puts the yield up is having a large light very close to the tops of the plants. 18 inches. youjust need to make sure there is always an oscillating fan blowing the tops of the plants continually, and a reasonable through flow of fresh air.
Pure Power Plant was always my highest yielder, though a lot of my friends wouldnt smoke it because it usually killed the conversation for the rest of the night

 

[HeartCore]

Funny how a four year old thread gets resurrected

Since that time, I tried a small scrog grow in a cabinet 60x60x200 (cm). I fitted a 250 HPS bulb and arranged the air flow with PC fans connected to an old ac adapter. I tried a few Haze strains and the one that worked best for me was one which has to remain *unknown* haze since I got these seeds from a guy I can't contact anymore and he only told me it was very good haze. This strain responded very well to the small space and the training over and through the grid I used.

I haven't been able to grow in a year since I needed the room for something else but when I do it again, I would go with a 400W HPS bulb instead because they will yield bigger and more compact buds.

Still it was very ok with this setup:

 

[MrEmo]

@ HeartCore
the Haze strains seem to be happy grown indoors, but the long flowering period and relatively low bud drnsity often put people off.
the high from a small pipe of Haze is usually enough to make it all worth while, though.
not a great commercial crop, but who gives a fuck about that? a beautiful smoke

 

[im1badpup]

nothing better than smoking ur first grow the(wow i grew this cheesy grin in the mirror when stoned)

 

[sidefx]

i really want to put one plant outside near the lavender in a SKY PLANTER check this out u can grow whatever init apparently strawberry herb tomatoes reckon it would go nicely