Setting up a grow room in an Auckland garage
A garage makes a good growroom once you plan for Auckland's damp climate, a cold concrete slab and a building that was never meant to be sealed. Here is the order to do it in.
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Practical advice from the team - written for New Zealand growers.
How to size an extraction fan and carbon filter for your grow room
Work out the room volume, aim for one air change a minute, then add headroom for the filter and ducting. Worked examples for four common room sizes.
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Growing in coco coir: watering, feeding and run-off
Coco is hydroponics with something to hold onto, not soil. Feed every watering, keep pH between 5.5 and 6.3, and plan for calcium and magnesium from day one.
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A feeding schedule by growth stage, from cutting to finish
What a plant actually needs at each stage, which products belong where, and why a bloom booster run in week two does nothing but cost you money.
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PK boosters and bloom additives: what they do and when to use them
How to read the three numbers on the label, what phosphorus and potassium actually do, and why stacking two or three boosters usually makes things worse.
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What is in an HID grow light kit: ballast, lamp, holder and reflector
The four parts of an HID kit, what each one does, and the decision that changes your result most - whether a batwing or a deep bowl reflector suits your room.
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Taking cuttings with Clonex and Jiffy pellets: a step-by-step guide
Soak, cut below a node, dip, set and keep it humid. The full method, a week-by-week timeline, and the five reasons cuttings usually fail.
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What a light management unit does, and when you need one
Plug-in timers are not built for the inrush current several ballasts produce at start-up, and they usually fail on rather than off. When an LMU starts to earn its place.
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Carbon filters: how long they last and how to make them last longer
Most carbon filters last one to two years, and humidity is what ends them early. How adsorption works, what shortens it, and why you cannot recharge carbon at home.
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When to replace an HPS or metal halide grow lamp
Grow lamps dim long before they fail, and your eyes adapt to the change. Replace on hours rather than on looks - here is how to turn hours into a date you will remember.
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Five indoor growing mistakes we see most often
Undersized extraction, feeding too strong too early, a hot root zone, watering on a clock, and starting cuttings bare. None look dramatic on the day; all show up at harvest.
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pH and nutrient uptake: the range to aim for in coco, hydro and soil
You can run a good nutrient and still starve a plant. The working band for each medium, why a gentle drift beats a fixed number, and the order to mix in.
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Choosing your first grow tent: height, airflow and what else to budget for
Choose height before floor space - lights, a filter and a fan take 40 to 60cm off the top. What has to be bought at the same time, and when lining a room beats a tent.
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