First, I’ll start by saying this can be stressful lol.
My goal to start is to simply grow some personal product and possibly expand from there. I’ve never really grown much other than our dig and plant flowers every year.
My budget is around $800 for everything to start. I’m looking at feminized seeds. Probably should have bought some to have already as I’m not sure how long shipping will be.
I am in a completely legal state - Medical and Recreational. I’m a med card holder with no caregiver. My father in law has grown for years and so has an uncle of mine. I’m trying to do this with just help from the internet.
My plan is to put a 2-in-1 tent in my basement pantry(60"x60"x35") but for now I’m looking at basically no more than a 4x4 grow(3-4 plants to start?). My pantry is under the stairs and in between windows so I’ll be venting out the left side and running the hose out a small block window. I planned on drawing air from the pantry.
I was planning on LEDs, to possibly end up building my own within the year if this goes well - my mind can be changed. I was looking at Viparspectra on Amazon.
I was also looking at Vivosun for a tent and possibly other miscellaneous accessories I’d need.
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. I’ve been tossing this idea around for a few years so I need to finally act on it. I would like to try and keep my grows going nonstop.
I’m open to which brand of nutes and would love recommendations. I’ve posted on a few different places over the last few months and never really get the responses. I’d rather not walk into a store and get robbed by the register.
I bought a handy dandy notebook I’m planning on keeping track of everything so this’ll end up there for reference too.
First welcome to the community sounds like you have put a lot of thought into this. One thing I would like to comment on would be the 35 in. height. That could be tough considering the height of the pot.The hanging of the light with the rigging. And maintaining a proper distance between the light an the plant will not leave you a lot of room to work with. There is a lot of good lights on the market today that will fit in your budget.
Fox farms nutrients are affordable, and I would recommend Horticulture Lighting Group for your lighting. AC Infinity fan is efficient and quiet. I have the 6” model with the controller.
Welcome to ILGM.
I started with 2 450w Viparspectra’s. As far as Amazon blurples go,it’s not the worst. I actually still use them for germination and early veg. My experience with them is they will grow decent flowers, but you may end up with light fluffy buds. If you want to maximize yields, and have nice dense buds you should consider HLG LEDS or Budgetled makes a decent light. Good luck and Welcome to ILGM FORUM.
I agree @Bulldognuts the viparspectra does a pretty darn good job for veg but not quite enough horsepower to get those dense buds. I have a 600 I use for seedlings and early veg.
I’m definitely open to light suggestions. I was already open to the idea of changing lights since I was expecting to be told it may not be strong enough.
I was assuming I’d be more in the 2 300w range rather than one single 600w, but I was looking at their lower wattage lamps for early veg.
I’m also wondering if the pantry being insulated will be the best for pulling air from? Right now it’s just slat walls and one block wall. Air will be vented out of that area, but my fresh air would be pulled from there. I could always vent out the right side to pull fresher air from the actual basement, possibly run a filter to make sure air stays particle(ish) free? That’s been my biggest dilemma. I want to make sure my ventilation is 100% before I start this.
Lots of people choose to grow in a basement personally I think it’s a good choice. You should be fine pulling your fresh air from the pantry or the basement area. As mentioned HLG Lighting group. Would be a good choice of lights.
When I started doing this I felt the same way. Believe me you’ll get comfortable fast. A lot of good people on here. I was encouraged to start a grow journal, I was hesitate at first. On my 3rd grow I started my first journal and really glad I did. You can post as much or as little as you want. But allows you to have a place to ask questions and get answers. A lot of people can follow along and give advice.
Just like these fellas, started with vipar450. Runs great for veg. But for flower I use HLG/Budget LED. Vipar is the best Amazon blurple. Which isn’t saying a lot, but still good.
Back to the drawing board but only for slight changes. I apparently mismeasured at the start. Maybe I was medicated and worked off of a bad measurement this whole time
So I’m going with a 3x3 and decided against a 2 in 1. Any suggestions for me to read a bit about? How many plants should a rookie plan on in this space?
Still thinking about 2 lights to get to my 600w range.
I’d do 2 or 3. Would you want 1 really big plant but veg longer, or a few smaller ones but short veg. You’re aiming at 40 to 50 watts per sq ft. So a 3x3 is…total wattage / 3x3= watts per/sq ft
