Help with Grow Kit for begiiner

[bkstylz]

Okay I finally received my grow Kit w/ tent right along with my seeds (5 feminised White widow and 5 Feminised Trainwreck)
With the grow kit, I got:
10 3 gallon grow bags with Starter Plugs
1L Monkey Juice Grow part A & B for Coco Coir
1L Monkey Juice Bloom part A & B for Coco Coir
10 starter plugs
2 blocks of Coco Coir grow medium
400 watt both High Pressure Sodium and Metal Halide Grow Light System with Timer
- Ventilation Fan
- Thermometer
The problem is, I know pretty much next to nothing about growing and especially about using Coco Coir and fertilizers. I basically woke up one morning and decided to order a grow kit . I haven't the slightest idea how to use a grow bag, I didn't even know you could use anything besides pots. I've been looking around for the past week online trying to find information on coco coir. The problem is when I go onto these boards and start reading posts, usually the lingo is a little out of my league.
I am hoping someone can either help me understand how to use this stuff in simpler terms or point me in the direction of some good tutorials for beginners.

[dizzydank]

never used grow bags myself, but ive seen peeps have great results with coir growing. if u want u can put ur sprouts in a 20 ounce plastic cup. u can either use the coir or get some soil. keep the seedling under 24hr light if u can or at least 18/6. ur gonna want the metal halid for veg. transplant em as needed.

[procell]

http://forums.mycotopia.net/grassroo...p-s-picks.html (Cap's Picks)

For starters then download the overgrow files (available at the top of the grass roots page)and there is the main place to start

[AmBe]

this is what i do.

put your seeds in a cup of water with 1-2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide and keep it around 70 degrees.

after they break open i put them in a jiffy pod or a plastic beer cup full of potting soil

you could get by on a cfl instead of the 400 watt for a couple weeks or you can use the 400 watt. if using the 400 watt keep it atleast 18-24 inches away from the medium

hps and mh lights get alot hotter than cfl's or flouros

wait till they get about 5-8 inches tall and transplant into your grow bags.

don't water everyday, wait tell the medium is almost dry before watering ( usually 3-5 days ) and only water enough to see water come out the drainage holes in bottom of container

post pics and ask about anything your unsure of and give long enough for a quality reply before taking action

[bkstylz]

Yeah thanks guys. I definitely plan on keeping a pretty tight grow journal for my first time around.

But what do I do with the fertilizer??

DO I fill the grow bags all the way up with coir??

and someone on my other post mentioned that I should get an automatic watering system. Is that necessary??

[dizzydank]

u dont need auto watering. go hydro if thas ur intent.

[tobynutz]

whats up man? heres what i would do with your stuff. soak the seeds and germinate them in the plugs they provided. keep those in plastic cups(make sure you poke drainage holes in the bottom and sides towards the bottom) until they are a few inches tall like stated above. i would use the coir but if you are undecided do a couple cups of each coir/soil. dont use your fertilizer for a while. just put it up for at least couple weeks and dont even look t it lol. many people who are new see a little bit of yellow and rush to feed the shit out of young and tender seedlings which usually kills them or stunts them so bad you may as well have killed them. you can use your 400w but its way overkill and it must be kept about 2 feet away for a couple weeks or else you will scorch them. id say use some compact flourescents for a week or two and then bump it up to your nice and big light. once you see roots throught the bottom holes transplant them into your grow bags. the bags are kinda cool. they save a lot of space when not in use. once they are about a foot tall or just look like they have really taken hold in the soil you can start feeding them lightly and increasing to stronger. best to start slow and work your way up. its better to need more than to burn the shit out of them. i hope that helped lol

[bkstylz]

No I don't want to go hydro......yet. I thought I was buying a soil based kit seeing how thats what they have it under on the HTGsupply website.

[bkstylz]

I will probably keep posting questions during my setup to this thread and then create another one for an online grow journal. So keep a lookout for me because I probably need more help than I realize and any that I get from you this first time around will be much appreciated.

[Lookyhere]

Just have to throw in my 2 cents. First of all, I would read as much as you possibly can. Get a couple of High Times magazines because they have some good info and articles to help you with some problems or questions and I just think that reading the most you can is going to help you out. Also, go into the grassroots and just read everything, even if you don't think it really pertains to you. IMO you can never have too much knowledge. FYI, Hydro will give you gigantic yields in a quarter the time. We were harvesting every 45 days. That is 8 crops a year. Hydro is pretty easy and companies like General Hydroponics make it even easier. Since you don't have the hydro setup might as well start with soil, but keep hydro in mind if you want to step up your yields. Rockwool is a great medium and I am partial to General Hydroponics. Also, you should get Olivias cloning gel now. Once you get some females you should learn a little about cloning them. It is very simple and then you won't even have to mess with seeds or males again. There are a lot of people on here that will be willing to help you out and give you advice and answer your questions, but seriously start reading everything you can get your eyes on. It's fun reading (I think), not like studying for a midterm.

[spesh1]

I highly recommend you check out George Cerventes' book Marijuana Horticulture out. Everything is right there in order, from start to finish, broken down in simple terms for beginners to advanced. Excellent book. Well worth the 16.95

[scientia]

I can vouch for the grow bags, I like them a lot. They save space both when in use and when not. (cannabis uses a taproot, so more vertical potting volume = better)

I'm on my first grow too, as are a bunch of other grow logs on here atm. Check those, they should help quite a bit. With that awesome of a setup, it shouldn't be that hard.

Two things of note:

@ AmBe, I'm guessing you are referring to untopped plant height when you say 5 to 8 inches before out of the cups, because I think a topped plant would almost certainly be rootbound by 8 inches.

Never water straight from the tap. The temp difference, chlorine, and dislodging of the roots will shock seedlings to death. Been there, done that. Get some gallon jugs of water, fill them and let them sit a day or so before using.

Also, liquid karma is a really good supplement of growth hormones which I recommend getting if possible.