Making my first indoor grow. Its on a dyi budget
So any helpful tips and advice is more than welcome. Need to make to room complete on a small budget. Can build and make just about anything. Need the help on what lights are the best value ? Are there any materials that shouldnt be use to enclose the plants? Thank you for your advice and help in this, excited to get this going seeds should be arriving by next week
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You’re gonna need a tds meter, ph meter, 5-7 gallon fabric pots. Nutrients and most your money will be spent on lighting. @dbrn32 can help with that if you plan on going LEDs. How big of a space do you plan to grow in?
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For my first run going with a 4ft x 8ft. The ceiling will be adjustable for growing. Like the led lights but for this time going to use hps lights. Unless i can find a led set for cheap. Just going to foil the sides to reflect the light.
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For a 4x8 You’re looking at least 3x 600w hps or
1x 1000w 1x 600w hps. Then you gotta deal with heat
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Yes the heat is a factor. With so many different kinds of led lights. I dont even know where to begin looking at them to know im getting the right one. The cost of the blubs is under 100. Ive read LEDs are better, dont know if there’s any in my budget
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Good led lights and tight budget don’t really go hand in hand. I would consider doing maybe 2 air cooled 600 watt hps rigs using large hoods.
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4’x8’ is a big space to light.
If you’re on a budget
Maybe start with 1/2 that size. You’ll need less light and make less costly mistakes for your first grows. You can always increase the space as you go, and add to your lighting.
Add some fans, oscillating and stationary. If smell is an issue you’ll really need to enclose the space and add an exhaust fan with a charcoal filter.
Don’t use aluminum foil.
Mylar is great. Panda film is great. White paint is cheap and works well. I like the Mylar backed rigid foam insulation boards.
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In my first soil grow I used the following;
1-5G bucket I drilled holes in ($5)
2- a tray to set it on ($1)
3-300w led light from Atwood’s ($15)
4-drop light fixture ($5)
5-4 tier 1x2 greenhouse in closet ($20)
6-bag seeds from code blue (free)
7- fish emulsion ($7)
8-miracle gro organic ($9)
I let them get 12" and bent them over after trimming and used the tier that came with the greenhouse as a treilis to hold down to distribute light. I’m in week 12 about to start flowering photoperiod today. Keep in mind I had 0 soil experience only nft experience. I also dabbled with different trim, topping and other methods because I spent so little money I used this one to Bill Nye the shit out of them lol
I am now also working on a tent DWC grow setup that I have moved onto once I saw how the different low stress trainings worked. So I spent $60+ and I can tell you it was worth it to experiment before I threw hundreds at my new hobby.
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Thank you all for your advice. Most informative and helpful.
My first grow as well. I am in a 4x8 and just section the end off at one end. I went with a LED as I knew it was one of the most important elements followed by PH, PPMs and so forth. I’m happy I went this route as it give me room to move adequate space for fans as well. Mine is only 80 inches tall so I have to worry about height so I scrog mine. Good luck with your grow and if you plan to continue to grow is suggest looking into a nice LED light.
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What would a decent set of led lites go for.
I have seen grow lite set ups with leds 1800w for a couple hundred.
To flower a full 4x8 tent? Probably in the $1500-$3000 range.
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Sounds like a steal…the buds would pay you back x5 at the end if you did it right
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I would consider using half that space for your first grow. How many plants are you trying to grow for this first run? You can stick a bunch in a 4x8 space. As your first grow that’s a lot to handle. I’d start with half that space and 3-4 plants. Lighting and everything will be cheaper.
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In my 4’x8’ tent I’m around $1500 for my current lighting. The scary part is that I’m constantly upgrading
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That’s mostly diy stuff too. You could spend twice that easily buying ready to hang.
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It’s all DIY
Nothing out of the box
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