Noob in need of wisdom!

Indoor Growing Grow Room
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So the basics, I am a total noob to growing. I have the desire, patience, and will to make this happen. What concerns me is that I may not have the budget lol. I will try to supply some info to get the best feedback.

What I want: Mainly, I want to have a successful grow. I want to get the hang of the basics and care from my end so that I can advance to better seeds and product. I am really only curious for maybe 1-3 plants to experiment with until I get the hang of things.

What I don’t want: I don’t want to buy some good seeds and destory and kill the plants at any stage lol. First, I don’t want to waste the money. Second, I don’t want to waste the seeds. Both ideas make me feel dirty! My idea is to start with some normal seeds and accept that the result may be subpar. I want to know what I’m doing when I get the good seeds.

My hurdles: I have several hurdles. First, I am in Southwest Texas. It is hot basically year round with a brief break in the winter. Second, my grow room needs to be in an outdoor shed/building. Third, did I mention South Texas heat! Fourth, my budget is slim. I can manage a few hundred for this project give or take, but I certainly don’t have a thousand bucks to put into it at this time. But, I also am not trying to win the gold medal with this grow, just get some experience.

I feel way out of my depth after reading some guides and things and am at a loss for what my first attempt should be. I certainly like the sound of faster grows and yields, but have to do what works best for my situation. I am fairly bright, good with my hands and enjoy being creative. I feel pretty confident I can make some sort of system if the cost doesn’t break me first.

Sooo, where to start. I was wanting to try some sort of hydroponic system, but that seems to possibly be more than I am ready for at this point. So I may be stuck doing an organic soil build. Several things I’ve read say it sounds harder than it is (the hydro system I mean), but I’m not sure if I can pull it off. My biggest concern is my building temp. I can definitely section an area off, but the building does not have an air conditioner in it. Without an AC unit in the building, I’m thinking this is not going to be viable to grow in? I have not actually tested this, but I am certain the building sits at a “cool” 90 degrees most days and maybe closer to 100 when the heat is bad. I’m not sure a regular fan with cool it off enough in there to make a grow possible, but I’m willing to try anything. I will hold back on overrunning you guys with noob questions as I am still reading here and trying to take in this vast amount of knowledge lol, but any tips or a general direction or idea is appreciated.

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Rookie here too. I have 2 bag seed plants growing, and am doing it with stuff from around the house. Reflective windshield screen or survival blanket to make a tent (think kids play fort and make it work :slight_smile: ) a usb desk fan plugged into an adapter, a closet I can keep shut for 12 hours, etc.

I just added everything up, and my main expenses were a 300w full spectrum LED light for flowering ($70), and a 10w full spectrum LED for sprouting and veg. ($30). Counting things like soil, fertilizer etc. that can be as cheap or expensive as you want you can figure it out.

So for about $150 total, and lights that will work for years, I can upgrade as needed. Hope this helps. Check out my “bonsai” grow pics and you’ll see the ghetto set-up.

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That is indeed good news! I am going to search your bonsai set up out immediately. If I can conquer my temperature issue, I think I can make this magic happen.

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Since mine is in a climate controlled apartment, I’ve had to shut the AC vents in the room the closet is in, and keep the door closed to let the temp build.

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I just read about the complete darkness thing, I kept peeking when I got bored :slight_smile:

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I was literally just sitting here thinking of how I could achieve total darkness indoors lol. My home doesn’t have closets! Technically it does, but they were sliding door types and the crappy wooden doors have long since been removed. Plus I have a kid situation to consider which is why I wanted to do it outside in the shed. I’m just not sure where to go from here. I could rig something up in the closet I think, but it would be challenging to achieve the total darkness period while maintaining stealth. I still think the building could work if I can find a way to manage the temperature a bit.

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I can see kid curiosity being an issue, but is the stealth from the family or from everyone else? Big difference!

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I would think a shed would be very difficult to control the heat in. If it is a “workshop” though, then you need to run electricity, get a window unit or heater, etc :slight_smile:

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I think you should opt for a small grow tent in the closet over the shed. I’ve seen my garage temp reach 120 on hot days, and I’m well north of Texas.

Something that may be a fun option, is to build yourself a stealth grow cabinet to keep indoors. I’ve seen everything from an armoire to a pc case converted to a grow cabinet. Dresser, mini fridge, under the kitchen sink, sky is pretty much the limit.

Maybe something like that would work for your application?

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I agree with the cabinet idea. That’s why it would depend on who he is hiding it from.

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Absolutely!

Something like the pc case or mini fridge isn’t exactly ideal, but the fact that a reasonable amount of noise could be expected to come from them makes it a very good option. Some of the refrigerators even come with built in locks.

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DUDE!!! A hollowed out freezer in the garage! Rip most of the back out for ventilation, normal to have a fan noise etc.

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Ok, so I thought on it some and I’m going to monitor the temp in the shed for a few days to test the average temp over a few days. I’m also considering a make shift tent closet. My main ignorance point is the height of a grow room. I’m going to do some research and once I solidify my plan, I’m going to begin a true noob journal for this experience and maybe it will either help or warn a future noob on some good or bad ideas lol.

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You’re looking for the temps not to exceed the mid 80’s. A little higher can be manageable, but you may be going beyond your scope to do so.

If height is your main reason for not wanting to be inside, I think it’s much easier to control plant height than it is temperature. Making sure you provide a lot of blue light in veg will keep a plant short. Various training methods, and being able to control light cycle can be a major advantage. Just some thoughts as you move forward.

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You really don’t even have to do that if going with a freezer or refrigerator. They already have a spot that houses a compressor. They can usually be removed for a small inline fan, and have some duct installed to pull air from the top. A little ingenuity can go a long way. And like you said, they’re well insulated and nobody would think twice about the slight hum of a fan.

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Check out space buckets. They can be made with several 5 gallon buckets from home depot and some common tools for under $100. It’s a good, cheap way to do an indoor grow. There is a web site woth plans. Just google them. Good luck with your grow!

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@Vance420 Growing in a 2x2x4 $40 tent, ViparSpectra 300W reflector series $89, 6" walmart fan $10, 4" walmart fan $6, Happy Frog soil $10 a bag, bag seeds given to me. My temps are similar to Texas so growing outside without a ac unit in that shed is gonna be rough. I grow inside and set my lights to be on dueing the day when I run the ac in the house and can open the tent. When my lights go off I wait a few minutes for the light to cool then I close my tent and if the temp drops enough I shut off ac if it doesn’t I leave it on. That’s just how I deal with my heat issue, This is only my 3rd grow and im by no means claiming to be Dr. Greenthumb!

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New myself :blush: But try googling “solar powered greenhouse fans”…I saw some when looking for a solar powered greenhouse heater. Hope this is helpful for you.

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Thank you all for the help and replies! I’m feeling much more confident again today after doing some research. I’m now almost decided a tent grow is what will be best for me. I researched some and this seems to basically nullify my temp concerns or at the least make them much more managable. My current concern is odor. Some odor is not an issue, I just don’t need it to be overpowering. My research says a charcoal filter may be my solution. Does anyone have any input on how well those mask scents?

@BudBuddy your set up looks exactly like what I’m envisioning mine to be like. It sounds like my stealth needs are higher than yours, but would you imagine your set up would still be viable for me if I can rig up a decent charcoal/carbon silter system in there? Also I’m assuming the two fans are used for a “breeze” and the other for intake? If so or if not, how are you utilizing those two fans?

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@Vance420 Being that I don’t have the means at the moment to buy inline fans or carbon filter. I have the 4" up top to blow around the heated air and I have the 6" fan in the middle of my tent blowing on my plants and I keep my light about 18"s above my plants tops. Im in California so stealth isn’t a issue but it was about affordability. I started with the tent and CFL’s bag seed and dynagro nutrients. I saved up for the rest and still saving. But here’s my suggestion if you can afford to do the filter and everything at once do so. With a tent this size which isn’t super small but you will have to learn how to do some LST at least or they will grow too big for the tent. Im still learning as I go and on this forum you will get great advice. If possible they do sell small swamp cooler type ac you can put in your tent or you can fill a ice chest with ice and run your inline duct to pull cool air from the ice chest. Several ways to do things. Just a FYI our outside temp right now is 104

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What do you mean by different lights for flowering, sprouting and veg? I just started too and mine are on my window seal right now they are like 3 inches tall lol. I haven’t bought anything for this project. All I started with was some pots, soil and I just been moving them around my house with the sun. I can’t put them outside I have nosy neighbors. What advice do you have? Or what should I buy next? I’m trying to be as inexpensive as possible.