Trying to make this barney simple.

I am a first time grower and am wanting to make this grow as simple as possible. I live in northern cali and on the 2nd floor. Tent- Mars hydro 48x48x80, Light- 2x sp250, Inline fan- AC Infinity t6, Carbon Filter- vivosun 6in, Pots- 4x3 gallon fabric pots, Soil- Super soil auto flower concentrate mixed with Great Lakes water only soil, Strain- Seedsman blue dream'matic auto, 2 soil moisture meters, drip trays and pot elevators, 3 oscillating fans- 1 for each light and 1 to move air, ph tester and up and down,and netting later in the grow. . I have a friend who is an electrician that i am going to have double check the electrics before i start. The goal of this grow is to only have to add water. I plan to use the same nestle water I get delivered. Anything I'm missing or advice is much appreciated. I'm trying to get everything together before payday in a week.

the great lakes is a water only mix already... you don't need the super soil mix. I would use just the great lakes but add some perlite because great lakes holds quite a bit of moisture... or maybe add 1/3 coco... if you want to use the super soil mix, I am assuming your are using natures living organics autoflower mix, they specifically tell you to use a soil with as few nutrients as possible. The great lakes is practically a super soil by itself. I would do one of 2 things... either find a lighter soil mix with fewer nutrients and use the super soil mix, or... add perlite and or coco to the great lakes and maybe top dress around week 5 with a few table spoons of a bloom focused dry organic fertilizer. Also... if you are using 3 gal pots I think you could probably do 9 in that tent... if you are only going to do 4 plants i'd opt for 5 gal pots. Also nice setup... don't be afraid to add a 3rd sp250 around week 5 or 6. you may not "need" it... but you can def do 600-700 true watts of LED in a 4x4.

this is a very similar setup to the one i have going now. I have 3 autos going in a 2x4. I am using an autoflower focused super soil mix along with roots organic green light soil in 5 gal fabric pots. I am using an HLG 260 watt quantum board because it is just what i had that would work in a 2x4 tent. My goal is also to make it as simple as possible... mostly an add water setup. I also am using some fungi and have some mammoth p that i haven't used yet but I want to use when the plants start into flower. I am using citric acid to ph my water to 6.5.

thanks for the advice. i am going to up the pots to 5 gallon. i looked at light soil for the autoflower concentrate and came across biobizz that people have been using together. gonna have to look further into it.

i reread your post and i think i am going to follow your lead with the roots organic green lite soil.

just be careful not to over water your small plants. I am pretty sure i was over watering for a short while. its easy to do with smaller plants in bigger pots. I know a lot of people say not to transplant autos but I have also heard people that swear by starting autos in smaller pots and then putting them in larger pots as a way to increase root mass in the center of the pots. I think that my next grow I will experiment with transplanting. I may start in 1- 1.5 gallon pots and then around week 2 or 3 switch over to the 5 gallon pots. I have lots of seeds and autos don't take long... so whats the harm in trying it out.

170+club said:

i reread your post and i think i am going to follow your lead with the roots organic green lite soil.

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there is a ton of perlite in it a well as coco. I am liking it a lot so far. It might be a little more perlite than is necessary. next time i might try mixing 1 bag of green lite with 1 bag of green fields. I also have some bags of the great lakes. I was going to mix a bag of the great lakes with a half bag of coco and maybe add some perlite for my next grow. I think there would be enough nutrients to get you over half way. I would then probably top dress around week 5 or 6 with about 10 tablespoons of dry organic fertilizers. Probably a 50/50 blend of all purpose and a flowering fertilizer mix just to make sure the plant has everything it needs. good luck to you!

i plan to get soil hydro meters to put in 2 of the plans full time. i plan to run autos. will i need nutes for them?

be prepared for pests. I would order some plant theropy spray. It is organic and doesn't leave any harmful residue on the plants surface. some sprays can leave a film on your leaves that when placed under high intensity light from say... a grow light, can actually burn your plants. Also you could buy a couple of packets of nematodes on amazon pretty cheap and have them in your refrigerator in case you get fungus gnats or thrips or something like that. it is a cheap backup plan in case of pests.

170+club said:

i plan to get soil hydro meters to put in 2 of the plans full time. i plan to run autos. will i need nutes for them?

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if you are using the super soil mix you shouldn't need nutes. if you run the great lakes soil as a "water only" soil as it is advertised... you might want to add some light bloom nutes in flower. I dont' know but i suspect the water only is high in veg nutes and light on flower nutes. the soil hydro meters are a great idea. From your planned setup i am guessing you have done your homework to educate yourself. I am sure you will do fine but life does throw curve balls at you.

thanks i appreciate it. my original plan was a 4x2 but was worried about room for dehumidifer/ ac or what not. what week should i start looking for pests? so the plant therapy spray is for the tops and nematodes for the soil.

170+club said:

thanks i appreciate it. my original plan was a 4x2 but was worried about room for dehumidifer/ ac or what not. what week should i start looking for pests? so the plant therapy spray is for the tops and nematodes for the soil.

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yes, i got my nematodes and plant therapy pest preventative idea from a guy on instagram. he is one of the guys you hear from on the Cheap Home Grow channel and Michigan Bros Grow Show on youtube. The bigger tent to accommodate a heater and humidifier is actually a great idea. I have a humidifier in my tent now but when the plants get bigger i'll probably have to run it outside the tent. heater is already outside the tent, but my tent is in a small room less than 100 square feet so its not to bad to run these outside the tent.

have you bought your lights yet?

you should be able to grow under one of those sp250s for the first 3-4 weeks anyway. then maybe week 4 spread them out a little and fire up the 2nd light. this may bump your daytime temps up so watch for that. if the ac infinity fan is programmable this may not be an issue for you. my fan is not programmable. if you opt for the 3rd light, i wouldn't bump it on until your plants are in full blown flower. maybe for the last 2 weeks run it but the 3rd light is not really needed. the 2 lights will work fine on their own.

mars hydro tsl 2000 is also a solid light option for you. 2 of them would work also. same price as the sp250.

not yet payday is the 27th. i am basically pmcs ing the process so i can plan ahead. i have a discount code for the ac infiniti. my plan was to run 1 light at half power until leaves start then turn the 2nd one on halfway and it should be on full by the time they start to flower

i never looked at them. i was going to go with a 4x2 and it was best in my eyes for it so i just added another. my original idea was 2x sf1000

also do you think the bottled water will be an issue?

bottled water shouldn't be an issue... you should get a ph pen though. people grow outside in soil all the time and you can't ph the rain... they say soil buffers the water for you, but you can use citric acid or vinegar to organically ph your water down if you need to. anywhere between 6.5 & 6.8 is pretty ideal for a soil grow, but you don't have to ph the water. it is super easy to do though. don't use chemicals to ph the water though. they will kill your microbiology in the soil.

you could go the whole grow with no pests... i have grown indoors for a few months at a time with no pests. this grow i got thrips about 18 days from planting the seeds. so just keep a close eye on you plants and look for anything strange on the leaves.