Reddit reviews General Hydroponics GH5100 General Organics Go Box GH,Black

Looks like a pretty good start there.

Pots: If just doing one plant I used something like this that filled my case perfectly and just wrapped it in aluminum tape

Soil: Fox Farms Ocean Forest is recommended alot around here and you can buy small bags

Nutrients: There is a plethora of nutrients you can use from GO Box to Botanicare to General Hydroponics and many many many many more. With almost as many methods.

Edit: Also case wise that mid tower is going to be too small, you will definately want to go for a full tower. Something like this

EditEdit: Here is something to power your fans with no DIY

Or Splice this onto you fans

Honestly, you can do much better for your money... There are kits in the Starter Shopping Lists to the right on the sidebar.

I was wondering the other day what exactly I would need for a turn-key grow setup, and put the following together. Mind you, this is not TOP of the line shit, but it will absolutely get you into the hobby!

600W Tube / Timer / MH & HPS Bulbs / Hangars / Ballast - $157.50

6 Inch Carbon Filter / 440CFM Fan - $149.75

25 Ft. 6 Inch Ducting - $19.10

48 x 48 x 78 Tent - $139.99

FFOF - $18.99

General Hydroponics Go Box Starter Kit - $35.95

CALIBER IV DIGITAL HYGROMETER - $19.23

Smart Pot Container - Pack of Five - $20.65

Micro-Tip Pruning Snip - $10.19

Light Duty Soft Wire Tie - $7.84

PH & Temperature Meter - $79.95

Water Quality TDS Tester - $15.59

LED Handheld Microscope - $16.81

Total just under 700$ and you are getting a LOT more for your money.

Don't blindly take that list, shop around, deal hunt, and do the research! There are many hidden costs associated with growing ><

For veg/clones you should be using 6500k lights or T5 lights, not 2700k. 2700k is for flowering.

That soil says "feeds up to 4 months". In general, you don't want soil with built-in fertilizer. Get the FF soil and some perlite. You're going to want 25-40% of the mix to be perlite.

Don't use Miracle Grow. Go with Fox Farms Trio or GH GO Box. If you really want to save money on nutes (you don't), grab some fish fertilizer ($8 at Home Depot) for veg and Morebloom ($6 at Home Depot) for flowering. If you go with the cheap nutrient options, it'll show, but it's better than nothing.


HID isn't complicated. You don't need to be smart to set it up. A system like this comes with everything you need. Any real light system (including LED) is going to require ventilation (inline fan and duct).

Good luck! Keep us updated.

Probably this,

Had some fun with LST the other day and can't wait to work on the plants some more. I really love how quickly the plants bounce back from the training. I included some more details in the pics regarding what I believe to be a calcium deficiency. Plants were fed with 1/4 strength nutes for the first time last watering. I also sprayed both plants with neem oil as a preventative measure last night.

INFO

Plants: (1) Feminized Barney's Farm Vanilla Kush & (1) Feminized DNA Genetics Tangilope.

Tent: 3'x3'x6' Apollo Tent

Light: iPower 600w closed hood currently running at 100% power 15" away.

Fan: 440CFM exhaust fan

Carbon Scrubber: 6"x16" phresh filter

Soil: 3/4 roots organics & 1/4 big & chunky perlite

Nutes: General Organics GO Box 1 feeding of 1/4 strength calmag and grow veg last watering

Pots: RR > solo cup > 2gal smart pot (currently) > 7gal smart pot

General Hydroponics General Organics Go Box https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PS4B08/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_Gpd5IZEMcBVdw

The problem with all-in-one fertilizers is that they are usually too high in nitrogen for late flowering. I would use, at a minimum, two nutrient types, one nutrient type for veg, then another for flower that is lower in nitrogen and higher in pk. It's useful to have multiple fertilizers to help pinpoint your plants exact needs as well. I've used the GH GO Box then switched to their Flora Series and also bought some diamond nectar as well (because the GO BOX nutes aren't all suitable for coco)


Humic acid does wonders for soil and soilless applications. The GO box comes with Diamond Black which is humic acid for soil.

I would recommend the GO Box for anyone wanting to use 'organic' fertilizers (disclaimer: might not be considered ''organic' by everyone's definition of 'organic'), which, according to GH, don't have to be PH adjusted. But I use the Flora series now and love it, but it is a chemical fert and needs to be PH adjusted before feeding.

Start small. It'll save you money, let you get your feet wet, and help you learn how to grow better, and then you can buy bigger.

My "starter package" is:

• A 2' x 2' x 3' grow tent - $55.
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SWGYYWO
  
  
• A grow light ($90). I prefer COB's as they're easier to fix than blurples.
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I4NY8KW
  
  
• A power strip zip-tied to a pole in the tent. Makes wiring prettier and easier. ($24) I chose a nice metal one, but you can use a cheaper one.
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F8ZQYHA
  
  
• Hangers to hold the light ($8)
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0098R0600
  
  
• A fan and filter ($70), and variac ($90) to filter smell and move air to keep things cool. This combo is overkill for this tent, but I ended up using it on later tents so it's a good long-term investment. You can cobble something cheaper together with some work, but this "just works" out of the box.
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q2ER5C/
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006NGI8VS
  
  
• 5 gallon Smart Pot ($7) for growing, FoxFarm Ocean Forest Soil ($16.50), Plant saucer ($7) for growing. You can save some money here by shopping around. In particular, Amazon's price for FFOF is about double what I pay at the (very expensive) local "indoor gardening" center.
  https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Pots-5-Gallon-Soft-Sided-Container/dp/B002JUOWB2
  https://www.amazon.com/FoxFarm-FX14053-12-Quart-Organic-Potting/dp/B001I49Q98
  https://www.lowes.com/pd/Garden-Treasures-15-31-in-Rust-Plastic-Plant-Saucer/50445000
  
  
• Go Box Plant Nutrients. This should last you several grows.
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PS4B08
  
  
• Seed of your choice (let's say $10).
  
  So for about $420 (heh), you can get your foot in the door and start growing. This is a nice setup too, you can probably save $100 by shopping around, buying used, or doing-it-yourself. I've left off a few odds and ends like dryer duct, Fiskers for trimming, weed fabric pins for low-stress training, pitcher for watering, Mason jars for storage, but you can likely find those or suitable replacements around the house without spending money.
  
  I also have a Raspberry Pi 3 ($43) with Sense Hat ($37) and metal case ($15) in each of my grow tents to log temperature/humidity and other things. I'm interested in eventually using the GPIO functionality to water my plants too. Not critical, but definitely a nice thing to have, especially if you're the hacker type. If you go this route, you might look at raspiviv.com too.
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C6FFNY4
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014HDG74S
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0722L338Q
  
  I'm glad I bought a good intro setup because I still use it now that I've upgraded. I now have a 3' x 3' GG Shorty tent with HLG 300 LED for flower, a 2' x 2.5' GG Shorty tent with two 400W Roleadro COB's for veg, and my "intro package" is now my germination/cloning tent (and drying tent too since several people suggested that too). Being able to have three tents (germination -> veg -> flower) working simultaneously is increasing my output quite sharply. I'm doing this to help a relative with cancer, so you may not need to go quite as crazy as I did.
  
  You mentioned using 35+ gs (~1.25 oz) a month. You probably aren't going to be able to grow that much given the constraints of tent size and light wattage (plus being a first-time grower! You'll learn a lot!). So once you get used to it, you'll probably want to buy more stuff. Marijuana isn't addictive, but growing marijuana absolutely is.
  
  Once you've got your hardware, the variable cost is seed (~$10), soil (~$5), nutrients (~$20), and electricity (~$30). From that, I'm going to estimate you can grow ~1.5 ozs (you can do more as you learn more though). So you're looking at ~$40/oz after you've made the initial hardware investment.
  
  Hope this helps. Depression, cancer, and everything else can just go suck it.

I started them in a 3 gallon SmartPot because I knew it would outgrow cells before I could get them outside. It transplanted easy along a fence. I fed them with an organic fertilizer (this one).

The soil was great. It was fresh soil in a spot that was never planted in before. Although a pine tree was near it. Could that have done it? It got sun around 12pm onward.

Honestly, you need to get on a forum such as rollitup and start reading the stickies at the top of each section until you have a better understanding. Read, Read, Read and read some more. Are you doing this for fun? Dropping a seed in soil to see if it sprouts? Or are you serious and really wanna grow some bud. If its the second option than lets be logical. How much bud do you think you could get off a plant that's growing in a small cup? I know some people start their seedlings in solo cups but from the pics it looks like your trying to do the entire grow in the solo cup. Man, there are just way too many bases to cover here but please do not give up. Keep growing the plants you have while you do more research from an informational dense place such as what I mentioned above. Just to touch on some bases you gotta get those plants out of those solo cups and into larger containers. You need A Lot more light (cfl's by the pic) and get them within 3 inches of the light or they will keep stretching the way they are. I wouldn't even expect much off those plants either. Just apply everything you learned from this grow and from your research to your next and hopefully it will be more successful. Here is a good complete line of nutrients for someone starting out and it should give you an idea of what your plant needs to thrive. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004PS4B08/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1419201497&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX200_QL40 Nutrients really don't matter if your plant isn't in a big enough container and is not getting enough light so take care of those two things first.

Nutrients for the beginner? GO Box: http://generalhydroponics.com/site/index.php/products/general_organics/go_box/ http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Box-Starter-Kit/dp/B004PS4B08

I have the grow box myself and it's done very well in my opinion. It gives the schedule all the way through the veg and flower. You can adjust the dosages to your liking as you begin to notice the habits of the plants you're growing. For instance I just set mine to flower and I'm feeding twice a week instead of once right now; white widow seems to love it.

I would also suggest getting a ph kit. You should be able to see one on the frequently purchased together listing thing on this Amazon page. Just a PH up and down bottle with small test kit dropper thing.

General Hydroponics General Organics Go Box https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PS4B08/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_ADdbvb050FMDY

I'm concerned I might actually be under-watering, I've been just splashing a bit of water in the container. Last night I went down and they were bone dry, so I gave them a good soaking, hoping that maybe I'm just under watering. We'll see on that front. Here's the rundown on what I've been doing.
- Growing Medium - Soil - Roots Organic

- Nutrients - Bio Thrive 5ml/gallon - General Organics Grow Box -

- LED light - VIPARSPECTRA ULTRA

I've got this PH Tester and have been keeping my PH between 6&7.

Also consider SMG bought General Hydroponics. I agree Miracle Grow is shit for MJ but everyone knows that.

Does General Hydroponics make good fertilizer/nutrients for MJ?

I think SMG's aim is to give your average MJ home grower a "one stop shop" experience at Home Depot or Lowe's. Or Amazon shoppers too.

[https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Organics-Go-Box/dp/B004PS4B08]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PS4B08/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Little bit of everything it looks like.

Here is the mobile version of your link

Thanks for the information! That is really helpful.

I'm currently using the GH Advanced Nutrient System - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017H73708/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was using the GH Go Box nutes, but I switched to the ANS recently. I still have the stuff on-hand, tho. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PS4B08/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also ordered some GH Floralicious for this grow, but I have not used it yet.

GO Box

It sounds like you should look into using the GO Box for nutes. I am coming up on the harvest of my first grow and I used the FF full line this time around with what looks to be great success. I got the hang of adjusting the pH pretty quickly, but the GO Box claims absolutely no pH adjusting is necessary. If you want something that is more or less just add nutes to water >>> shake well >>> water plants then I would check out the nutes I linked.

When I started I had nothing but disasters. Then I went to coco and general organics. Then I got some traction and started having success. Ive since moved on to more intensive stuff. I say Coco choir and get the general organics starter kit.

http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Box-Starter-Kit/dp/B004PS4B08/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422591266&sr=8-1&keywords=general+organics

http://www.amazon.com/Kempf-Compressed-Growing-Potting-11-Pound/dp/B003MOD2HY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422591247&sr=8-1&keywords=coco+coir

Just follow the instructions, its easy, its cheap, it works, and its pretty dang hard to kill your plants this way.

Edit: I did pull 1.25 pounds on 2 big plants in a scrog with a 600 watt HPS like this in about a 3.5x3.5 foot scrog. It was my second ever grow.

I'd recommend coco for sure, I mix in hydroton and perlite and use the GO box nutes in 5 gal smart pots.

I've done the Lucas formula with maxibloom before and I wouldn't recommend it. Definitely treat yourself to a good line of nutes and you'll see the difference right away. I'm really liking the organic stuff so far, I don't have to pH and my plants have gone crazy after I started adding zyme alive (thanks /u/Biloba414)

If you want something simple, fairly affordable (grow and flower nutes come with) mostly organic and complete (even calmag comes with) and to have nutes also for flower I'd sugest the gobox

https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Organics-Go-Box/dp/B004PS4B08/

Will last a few more grows too depending on how many plants

I used on my first grow 4 years ago, started using it again this year

no that was right Perlite and flush..... maybe more perlite next time? Ive heard of people usually sitting between 25%-40% I use roots organic Since its pre-mixed and nute content is a bit lax to reduce early burn... Pair that with general organics Box lets me have more control on the nutes for my plant instead of the soil over saturating.

You can just buy a Gobox on amazon. This will have everything you need to have a successful grow.

I use the General Organics GoBox at 1/2 strength and adjust if symptoms arise.

Hey,

Find a hydroponics store.
Find this http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Box-Starter-Kit/dp/B004PS4B08/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406524920&sr=8-1&keywords=go+box

I'd say get a few CFLs or buy a t5/LED if you got the extra money.

Get some foxfarm soil and a ph test kit. And you'll be good to go.

Yes, if you needed to cover a larger area/footprint, then 2 x 600ws would make more sense, but in a single tent it would be overly complex, crowded and expensive. The small gain in light and yield (if any) wouldn't really justify doubling the expense and hassle IMO. A 600w will make plenty potent product ;) Again, it's 90% in the genetics. So long as the plants gets sufficient light, food and water the genes will do the rest. The key is to not get in its way.

All lights, including HPS, have an ideal range from the plants at which they work best. Generally, it's within 18-24" of the tops. As a result, if you have a 4 foot tall plant the top will get good light, but bottom will suffer. For this reason, various training methods (SOG, SCROG, FIM, LST, etc...) have been used to even out the canopy and put all/many of the tops close to the light source in a single, uniform layer. As long as the bulk of your tops receive light within this ideal range they'll be fine. Any closer and they may get damaged by the intense light and heat and farther and they may loose density and take longer to ripen. Many fellow microgrowers actually use nothing but CFL/Fluorescent lights and get very good results.

There is no magic formula or way to guarantee yield. Never let anyone tell you differently. However, there are some rules of thumb. If you can get between 1/2 -1 gram of cured bud per 1 watt of HPS light that's good, but there's A LOT of variation in there, and much of it depends on matching just the right strain with just the right growing method in just the right environment. So, when they say a 1000w "can" make a "pound" (16 oz), that is an idealized figure. Sure, it "can" be done by the pros using various whiz-bang hydroponic set ups and lots of fancy fertilizers, etc...,but not always easily or very reliably due to all the many variables involved. They aren't "lying" per se, but there's always fine print. If you have the time, money and patience to invest into it, almost anything is "possible", if not probable.

In terms of harvesting, remember, plants are 70-80% water, just like us. As they dry and cure, they're going to shrink considerably and loose the vast majority of their weight, just like tobacco, dried herbs and mummified pharaohs. If you've ever cooked fresh spinach, you'll know what I mean. You can watch an entire bag of leaves wilt into a pile the size of your palm in just seconds as the moisture evaporates in the pan. Of course, we need this to happen so the buds can burn, but we also want it to happen to concentrate the aroma and flavor too (ie "cure"). For these reasons and more, you start to see why good weed costs as much as it does, especially considering it takes months per cycle and you have to grow at an almost 10:1 ratio! If you want a single dry, well trimmed and cured ounce you'll need to grow about 8-9 "wet" pre-trimmed, ounces (that includes the fan leaves, stems, other bits, etc....) :/ It's kind of depressing the first few times you harvest, but you learn to anticipate it eventually and plan accordingly. It's also why folks can't/don't stay "micro" for very long.

The good news is that if you're legal you can grow presumably grow outdoors in which case you can literally grow "trees" that will produce 10-15 POUNDS each and still only count a "1 plant" !!!! They would be 20 feet tall and would take almost a month to harvest, but it can and is done all the time (r/trees). Of course, outdoor come with its own challenges, but the rewards can be HUGE.

As for nutes, there are gozillions of brands, but they all do the same thing. The main difference is in hydroponic vs. organic systems. Hydroponics are like sci-fi steroids and the results can be AMAZING, but there's lots more equipment and noodling around involved and when things go bad, they go bad hard and fast. Soil/organic grows are generally easier and more forgiving, but usually don't yield as much. You'll have to decide which you prefer. The "benefits" nute manufactureres espouse are again, mostly marketing. While there are some very expensive nutes (ex: Advanced Nutrients) they're not really necessary and seem to work as well as any other. I run an organic set up, so for small set ups like ours, I use GeneralOrganics GoBox. It only costs about $40 and has everything you need for veg and flower. I can usually get 2-3 cycles (veg and flower) per box. Considering it lasts for +6 months, $40 is pretty cheap. Other companies make their own kits too, but the GoBox is probably the most common/popular. Just follow the directions on the side and you'll be good to go. It's basically all I use and I have no plans on changing.

http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Box-Starter-Kit/dp/B004PS4B08

I'm not sure about the mechanics of becoming "legit"in Oregon, but my state will hopefully be following suit soon too (hopefully), so let's hope we both figure it out. One key is finding a robust, fast growing, large producing strain and the growing method it prefers (hydro v. organic). Every grower has their favorites, so I would ask around in your area, but Blue Dream, Girl Scout Cookies and just about any Kush variety perform well indoors and seem to be very popular and readily available on the West coast.

Hope that helps.

Yup. Using the General Organics GO box - it has a bit of everything in it. I'm following the schedule on the back of the box but keeping everything at half strength. I'm watering every 3-4 days, with nutes every time.

General Hydroponics GH5100 General Organics Go Box https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B004PS4B08/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_m342AbH10EK67

Here is what I am currently using.

https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Organics-Go-Box/dp/B004PS4B08
I'm using this for my current soil grow, its directions state not to worry about PH, and so far that has been the case for me.

https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Organics-Go-Box/dp/B004PS4B08

Just get this. I had shit luck trying to get the GH nutes to not burn the shit out of my outdoor plants. After using the GO box last year, I wouldn't use anything else with outdoor soil.

If you insist on the GH, usually once per week (using the GH feeding schedule from a Google search) and at about quarter strength.

how about this