So, I’ve been curious for some time, I finally gave in and dove in all about cannabis for the last few weeks. Got an empty 11.5’x8’x8.5’ closet downstairs I’m intending on turning into a growing room. 3 walls and the floor are concrete, 1 wall and ceiling is wood. I’m planning on putting a ventilation to take the smell of marijuana outside. I’m thinking on purchasing 6 1 gallon, 3 gallon, 5 gallon, 7 gallon and 10 gallon fabric pots, a fan or 2 & 4’x50’ Mylar film roll.
Question time…
I was thinking an agro HPS would be best, but a full spectrum LED would be safest. From ILGM’s “best lighting” article, talked a bit about the LED, but nothing about the wattages. Would you think something like this would be ideal for growing? Also, talks nothing about LED with the distance between the light & plant.
From a different article talking about cannabis’ lifetime cycle, they were including the relatively humidity, does this mean I should buy a humidifier?
Each square =1’ . The dotted boxes are 2x2 areas or the recommended area for a decent indoor plant to grow. The empty space around the outside will allow you access to each plant.
I would use 5 hlg 260 xl to light the middle of the space.
Rail hangers along the top of the ceiling.
Two pole fans, 2 inline fans, enough Hvac duct to pull fresh air in and exhaust out and a ton of reflective tape.
Happy to make a recommendation on light. We would definitely need to know how much is going to be dedicated to plant canopy.
Good led tech is going to be expensive for a large space, and inexpensive leds aren’t going to produce to capabilities of the space. But we can look at them. If you go hps, a 600 watt per 4x4 will usually do pretty good.
You’re going to want to set a budget for this. If it’s a hobby, then decide how much you can afford. If it’s about saving money, then tell us how much dried flower you need per month, and also how much you’re currently spending on flowers.
Maybe consider using half of the space to start out that large of a space is going to take a lot of your time honestly.
Need to try for quality bud and crummy lights won’t cut it.
Welcome and good luck. Plenty here to help.
Yeah that LED light sucks, not going to grow anything worthwhile with that. Sounds like you’re looking for the cheap option. Best bang for the buck is going to be a 600 watt HPS but will need air cooled hood and exhaust fan to keep temps decent. Could start with one and add more as needed. Stay away from cheap LED lights, they are cheap for a reason.
@HDD,
Lots to answering your question to your needs really. But the answer to my perspective I’ll tell you what I’d do Unk about anyone else’s thoughts. I’d buy two 1000 watt halide/sodium kit (with air hoods) comes with two bulbs each, one halide one sodium can get them right now for $189 a pc… Vent them out your room…
Reason why I’d buy the 1000 watters VS 600 watters the price isn’t that drastic between the two, maybe $50 difference. I run one blower per every two lights, the heat difference between the airs hoods and non air hoods is a big deal, I can put the back of my hand in my air hoods glass and I can leave it there (nice). Like i said above its unk all your variables on what you want to do and how much Jackson’s you want to lay down on stuff.
But those lights above you posted is what you sell to people you don’t like bruh
Wish you all the best my friend…
Yeah, i heard Agro HPS would be best, at least for “all in one” thing. I personally prefer LED because it’s safer, lasts longer and saves energy long term. I’d always be worried with a HPS from a fire or something, would hate to see an extra $50/m too. Here’s what I’m playing with.
If $50 extra per month in electricity is an issue, I strongly urge you to answer my previous questions.
$200 is not a realistic budget for anything other than a DIY micro grow like a space bucket.
If you’re just starting out, a 4’x4’x8’ tent can be reasonably equipped for less than $500, but that’s really bare-bones. A healthy budget would be closer to $1250.
Like the others said, you’ll need more than just bulbs. Each bulb would need ballast, reflector, and wiring.
Good led tech is expensive too. If I were buying light for a 4x4 tent the one I would buy currently goes for about $1250. The least expensive ready to run light i would recommend goes for about $850, a little cheaper with active coupon code. A lot of inexpensive lights will suggest they are adequate for a 4x4, but you probably won’t be happy with results.
Sorry @KeystoneCops , had limited time. It’s not really because of an extra $50/m increase, moreso because of the electric company noticing a huge increase and they start investigating, I may be a bit paranoid with my privacy. I live in Ohio in USA, they only allow medical marijuana here. I actually do qualify for it, I had a hemorrhagic stroke, but I really just want to learn the whole process myself and be happy being self-sufficient.
For the maximum budget, if that’s 1 time payment for the tent(s,) pots, lighting (minus the power being turned on,) etc, I’d say max $1,500.
As for the monthly dried flower, I’m afraid I don’t know the significance of that yet.
For how much I spend monthly on cannabis, don’t have any cannabis yet, buying the beginners seed pack tomorrow tho.
I was looking at tents, was considering on getting a tent like this, would be fine with just growing to 3 plants instead of 6.
Thanks for the visual, @PharmerBob ! Embarrassingly, I’m not sure the abbreviations tho. Definitely going to have much reflection and already have a pretty good size ventilation system to throw outside!
Thanks for telling me that, @Hellraiser , I wouldn’t have known that. Once I feel more comfortable with HPS’, I’d have no problem purchasing that. I was actually looking at that before too during the beginning of my cannabis education journey, but saying “hydroponics,” figured it’s only for that kind of light to be usable really. I’m fine with 1 strain each growing really, it’s mostly for just our personal usage (or if a friend or family would like to too)
Are all those lightnings LED based, @dbrn32 ? If they guarantee 100,000 hours of lighting, I’d be cool with that
Here is the deal with leds. The led manufacturers usually rate their leds for 50,000 hours. At that point they should have around 80% of their original flux. The light manufacturers that use the leds will rate and warranty their fixtures all over the place. Usually between 1-3 years. Something that is easily overlooked, is replacement policy. I can’t tell you the amount of times a member has reached out to manufacturer about an issue with a fixture and been expected to troubleshoot down to faulty component, then been offered a replacement part that would be shipped from China. Or told to ship their fixture back to China and it would be repaired. While some other companies will say they’re sorry and have a new part of fixture sent out the same or next day, and to either keep the old or return after they get their replacement product. Long story short, take life expectancy and warranty claims with a grain of salt. If you buy a quality light from a reputable manufacturer it should last several years with very little to no maintenance.
Reading through your other posts, I would maybe consider a 3x3 tent. Cost of getting setup with quality components will be well within your budget. And you can grow 4 plants in there pretty easily without spending a lot of veg time. Once you get your methods dialed in it will be plenty big enough to supply you for personal use. Probably a little extra too. If you decide to expand later it would also make for a good veg space to feed a larger tent.
I agree with @dbrn32 that you ought to start small. 3’x3’ is nice because you could light it really well for $370 (HLG 260 XL R-spec kit).
I agree with everything else he said, but I’d add that, for someone new to growing, a very compact cultivar like feminized photoperiod BlackBerry Kush would be a good starting point if you want to fit 4 plants into a 3’x3’ space. Most other plants could be trained to work, but I’d avoid autoflowering plants.
Also, electrical providers don’t raise an eyebrow over a $50/m increase. I know from experience that they make house calls when you have intermittent spikes of hundred of dollars per month.
