Getting started...

[Zero Hero]

Alright, so I'm getting three strains from the BC Bud Depot which are BC God Bud, Blue Buddah and a mostly Sativa called Love Lettuce.

I worked in Sensi Seeds in Amsterdam and was taught quite a bit and grew some Buddah's Sister from clones in my closet myself which turned out really well especially for my second personal grow other then what I was helping out with in Sensi.

My first grow was terrible, it was shwag and all full of seeds due to a bloody hermaphrodite that I caught too late. That particular grow was done from seed and I hope to make sure those mistakes I made do not happen again.

Sorry for the long winded intro I just want to give as much info as possible. Now, I'm going to do my Blue Buddah and BC God Bud and wait till I'm better to do the Love Lettuce as it's more particular than the two former plants. I plan on building a large box inside the room so I don't have to shut up the windows and not have problems with light leaks etc. I plan on having two 600Watt HPS and a seperate closet set up for my selected mothers.

What I plan on doing is the regular number all the plants and take a cutting early so I can flower them and find the males and the ones I like best. Here's the first question then.

I've never created mother plants at all so advice or maybe downright hand holding information on keeping them alive and in what medium etc. I want to do this so I do not have to keep growing from seed which is long and expensive and I do not know anyone to get cuttings from so I will have to self sustain.

Next, does my room inside a room idea sound good? What dimensions should I build it at and should I use foam insulation? How will I keep it from being too hot in there? As I'm down under I think I'll do my light cycle at night time but is there anything else I can do? I will also see about getting a CO2 system so that it can be a little warmer in there.

Power consumption, I will be taking some advice I read here and get as much efficient lights and appliances as I can. Will my power bill be suspect? I don't really feel like getting deported you see. I suspect that my closet grow was also responsible for the short circuit in the back of my house. How can I ensure that doesn't happen. I don't need a fire or for it to go down while I'm out stinking the place up.

Smell control, in Amsterdam I used a carbon filter, what else can I use as well as carbon filters.

Should I even build my "dark room" in case the landlord askes. ;) Or should I scrap that idea?

Of and I plan on growing in Coco's if available or rockwool as I have zero knowledge if organic. That will be a later experiment.

LCD's are they worth it and can I get them in Australia?

Lastly, does anyone know how much shit I can get in down in the state of Victoria Australia and more importantly will my girlfriend be in shit too? I plan on saying I forced her to let me grow as this is my project.

Thanks in advance and again sorry about the long winded post.

cheers

Edit/ What lighting should I use for the mother room?

[smokinbasser]

I use flouros exclusively in my veg room, I'm running 412 watts with 6 48" GE plant and aquarium tube and 4 43w compact flouros. My plants have barely any stretch between node sites which causes a small cloning issue with where to take a cutting.
I am curious to see if you actually receive anything from bcbud depot. I have heard some not so good things about their service, I hope your seeds come through, it might be a states issue rather than a bcbud depot problem.

[Zero Hero]

What medium do you use with the floresent lights? I'll be starting them in little rockwool cubes and then into pots with coco I think. Can I keep mothers in coco the whole time I have them? I've seen them in clay pelets but I'm curious if they started them in there. You know with the thermometre looking water guage in it? I have no clue how those work, nor do I know if I use only those clay pellets with something else mixed in?

I hope the seeds come though as I paid cash for them when I was in Amsterdam. I do know the guy who owns it a bit and my friends helped pick out seeds in the shop so I'll keep you posted, and my fingers crossed.

thanks for the reply

[smokinbasser]

I use a peat based soilless mix from germ to harvest. I have not tried the coco coir for growing. I did try some DWC with the plants in hydroton in mesh cups. I feel more confident in "dirt" than hydro plus I didn't have the $$ to purchase all the associated tools for hydro to keep the plants healthy. I too hope your seeds make it, I just haven't heard any good things from anybody but bcbuddepot. On one forum I think they would string them up if given half a chance, I'll keep my fingers crossed for good luck.

[Zero Hero]

Is dirt hard to grow in??

What is DWC?

[Lungus]

By dirt they mean soiless mix like Sunshine or Promix and DWC stands for Deep Water Culture. With DWC the plants roots are immersed in buckets or deep trays with lots of air being bubbled through the nutrient solution and is one of the simpler hydro methods. Growing in dirt is much more forgiving than hydro, if something goes wrong with hydro your plants can die in hours but with dirt it gives you more time to figure out what the problem is before the situation becomes critical.

[Zero Hero]

I've done hydro before but have never done soil. Any tips on mixes? Can I reuse the soil?

[smokinbasser]

For "soil" grows you need a plain potting soil with absolutely no ferts or time release nutes. most use peat as the base with perlite and vermiculite to aerate the soil and to improve the water retention capability ,worm castings are an excellent supplement. I should mention I grow organic with the exception of superthrive. there are bat guanos for both the veg phase and guanos for the flower phase, Organically grown ganja has unadulterated flavors thet chemical nutes can't duplicate. If your herb has a great flavor being grown in chems just imagine what it will taste like with natural nutrients.

[Green Supreme]

Hey Smokin, just wondering how you adjust pH if Superthrive is your only nonorganic ingredient. Peace GS

[c-ray]

for organics it can be
citric acid - ph down
potassium bicarbonate or potassium silicate - ph up