Ok… I have done approximately 3 months of reading, picked my growing family, decided on indoors, and decided on AF till I work through newbie growing errors.
I would like to start a five plant AF grow in a tent. It will be in the attic of my garage(at wife’s request😄). I would like to keep it under $1000 to start. I am looking at buying other growers old equipment for cost savings. 2 things I won’t cheap out on is seeds and soil. ILGM AF seeds and Fox Farm soil. Am thinking LED.
Soooooo… suggestions for:
Tent size?
Light size/shape? Maybe side lights?
I have 2 oscillating stand fans is this enough?
Extractor?
Ph/temp./humidity testers?
Pots? Etc…
The photos are of my space. Pretty steady temp and humidity just gotta watch the red squirrels. I was going to germinate via wet paper but I also have soil pods that you place seed in and leave in until roots work their way out. I have about a month until I start. I want to be 100% prepared before I bring these ladies into my world. Please, I am open to any and all suggestions. Thanks family.
You’re highest priority and expense should be lights.
Welcome to the forum, great people around to help you! 
Thank you for your response. I am willing to use a “used” lighting system. That’s what I was inferring. Do you a 5 plant lighting suggestion?
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I just finished a first indoor grow/ harvest/ cure and confirm lighting and climate control as priorities. Especially if the tent or enclosure is located in an unconditioned ( climate controlled) space; i.e. Attic
Understand, just pointing it out.
Kelly is replying, he has experience with autos.
Welcome to the community! attic’s tend to be hot I think my first step would be getting me a thermometer hang it up there for about a week see what your temperature is averaging day and night. It can’t be done. But that way you’ll know what you’re up against. you definitely going to need an exhaust fan as @Zee mentioned lights will be your biggest expense . actually a fall or early winter grow in the attic may work out better for you because of the Heat. Lots of people here to help, and make it happen. Good luck
Our Attic reaches past 150 degrees during the hottest months of summer.
Welcome to the community.
As mentioned before you will need higher end lights. I went from getting no more than 3.32 oz dried, cured and no stems to getting 2 lbs dried, cured and no stems. 
I was planning a attic build out , and the first thing on my list is a portable AC/heater/dehumidifier unit (not cheap), and AC Infinity CLOUDLINE T8,. Go bigger with exhaust you can always turn them down.(I wish someone would have told me that) . This is just what I was looking at to give you idea what you are up against. Sorry I’m another person who is going to say ,Get Good Lights. Please read the thread below.
Hi @neofraud_811, Welcome to the forum.
Your profile says you are in Michigan.
Looking at average temps there it looks like you routinely get nighttime temps in the teens during the winter. Since that is when your upcoming grows will take place it begs the question about your attic space. Is the building heated/cooled or is it going to be whatever temp it is outside. Trying to get the tent to 75 degrees when the temp outside is 15 will be almost impossible. Air will have to be heated before it comes into the tent. Then it all will flip when its summer. Portable ac/heaters need air exchange as well and will struggle to keep the tent at a good temperature if it can do it at all. I grow inside the house in a spare room and temperature control is a full time job. Im always tweaking the setup to keep it in the zone and im only talking a 10 degree change.
Since you have not started yet I suggest you reconsider the attic and try to find a spot in the house. Odor control will cost you less money and time over the year than heat/cold.
Of course I do not know all your limitations, but I foresee you winding up inside eventually anyway.
Now if the garage is heated and cooled with the rest of the house this might be a non issue.
Wow, thanks a lot for the responses and the heads up. KoolHandLuke, thanks for the thread! Informative and hilarious😅. Ok so there is reasons that I cant grow inside. Obstacles I can only overcome with time. In a year or 2 I will be moving and will have a guest room for the ladies. In the meantime, I would like to try to make this work. I can inexpensively build a heavily insulated, airtight box instead of a tent.?. I had considered that route because of animals, bugs, temp, and humidity. Any suggestions for size? 4x6x7? Also, very close neighbors so I am definitely going carbon filter in the extractor but any suggestions for extra filtering and maybe extractor sizes? I know certain lights (HPS) produce heat and are better in flower stage so should I go that route instead of LED and heater? I appreciate the help guys like I said I won’t even buy seed until I’m 100% ready. Growing AF is short enough lifespan I don’t have to consider seasonal changes yet.
Hello @neofraud_811 and welcome to the community. I have an 8x4x6 loft tent, it’s a curse and a blessing altogether. If it’s going to be cold in the winter then hps lights will cure that as they operate around 150°C. Trouble with that is there will be no snow on the roof and that’s a giveaway. So give a bit of thought to insulation. During the summer months when it’s hot the heat in there will be intense so LEDs are a better choice as they run a lot cooler. I went for second hand HPS with new bulbs, then I insulated and I’m now in the process of switching to LEDs. Putting @ in front of a user name will let that user know that you’re looking for them 
I hope I’m reply to you @KoolHandLuke I’m new. I researched the T8 and I’m new to these also. So, they control the heating cooling and the humidity , as well as extracting air out through filters?
Not necessarily. Ive had 3 autoflowers go 16 weeks
@Davyg thanks a lot bud. If I build an insulated box I think it should contain it. If I need to I can insulate rafters a little. I see used 600w and 1000w Thunder systems for sale all around me. If I wanted to do 5 plants do you have any suggestions for box size and lighting? Maybe 2 of the 600s with HPS for veggie and MH for flower?
At one point I had three 600w HPS in my 8x4 tent. I went for air cooled hoods and controlled everything with my inkbird controller. The two main things I’ve learned about growing covertly are heat and smell. Heat in the winter means no snow or frost on the roof which brings its own attention and smell, which alerts delivery people and unsuspecting visitors that something isn’t quite right next door. So for me the first things on my list were insulation and decent carbon filters and just for the record I mucked both up. Smell in the back yard was dangerously awesome. As for plant numbers, I always mess up. I always end up with too many. If I can deal with my addiction to cloning and stop generating new plants then I’m going to try for one plant in each side of my 8x4, top and train her.
Attics suck for growing cannabis. Environmental control is never ideal and if keeping expenses down is a thing, the OP would be better off building an insulated shed.
@neofraud_811. AC Infinity CLOUDLINE T8 is 8’’ inline exhaust fan and you would need a matching carbon filter. If your grow room is going to be larger than a 4x4 I would get a 8". (I have a 4x4 grow tent and I wish I had the 8" now)
Welcome!
Off the top of my head, dont skimp on three things.
1- Buy good seeds.
2- Research and buy the best lights you can (pure, full spectrum light will make a world of difference on bud size, especially if you’re going organic).
3- Buy a good quality growing medium if you’re not going hydro.
Other than that, my only concern would be the temps you might have to deal with in that attic. Also, CO2 sinks and you need all the CO2 you can get if you’re not supplementing, so if the floor of your grow area wont hold cooler, heavier air/CO2, you might want to think about a cheap alternative.
Good luck and happy weeding!
Agreed but if the attic is all they have then there are no other options. Just need to make do and mend
Yall need to check out the damage in Beirut! Massive explosion… shock wave damaged buildings 5 km away! It was a fireworks storage warehouse! In the cities port? Who the hell allowed that much explosive material that close to the city? Holy shit! It was small nuke level damage!