I am a newbie to this forum, living in South Africa & having come across Greg Greens book, decided to take the plunge. I have known the good herb for 31 years & believe solidly in it's merits.
We do not have professional outfits in our country who can supply seeds, so I have been in contact with one of the recommended outfits & am transferring the funds for a indica/sativa cross batch.
I have a great setup for my grow room. I have bricked up the window in a small room 8 ft by 8ft & have vented the room directly into the chimney from the barbeque outside.
I made my own ballast & ignitor & timer system & am using 2 by 250w hps lamps in my own constructed hood. The reason I went this route instead of a single 400w lamp even though it is more efficient in order that I can control the intensity & I have the redundancy of at least having half the light available if a lamp fails & there is no stock available. I do carry a spare lamp in stock however.
I decided to take the plunge directly with hydroponics & built my own bubbler which seems to work quite well. I did have some seeds from Swaziland (sativa) which I germinated in cotton wool & then carefully transplanted into small plastic pots. I could not source Rockwool so I am using a synthetic water absolbent product known locally as Oasis. I have experimented with purely making a hole in the oasis & popping the ungerminated seeds directly these holes, I have also transplanted some germinated seeds into the oasis in the same manner. I have also taken some oasis & cut a square hole & filled that with potting soil & have placed a germinated seed into that mixture. All receive the same amount of light but the one in the potting soil has just broken the husk & the cotyledons are growing out.
I also have found a water soluble fertiliser which is high in N & P, which they seem to like. The dose is very small, but the new plant is enjoying it. I am keeping the water ph to 6.9 approximately.
I will update as the plants grow. I am looking forward to my seeds arriving & I will post pics as the plants mature. There is probably a seperate forum for this.
In closing, I am an alcoholic & I remember the hell I went through after I gave it up after many years of abuse & the damage done to my body. Weed, not addictive, a lot more pleasant for relaxation, no hangover, no organ damage (except possibly lungs), give me weed any day, thank you

