Ok so we all remember back when we were just starting to grow. We were looking for a fairly easy way to grow some plants for little money. I learned very quickly that if you don't invest a little money you aren't going to get anything in return. I have come to find out that there are endless amounts of new growers with this age of medical marijuana.
The things i always hear are, where can i get cheap lights, where can i get cheap soil, how can i do this as cheap as possible. Well the answer is that you need to not half ass everything or you will waste the measly 20 bux you put into you ghetto ass grow. It is important to remember that when it comes to horticulture more $ = better quality.
So as to put an end to this phenomenon i would like you all to save up 500$ before you even attempt to grow a plant. The first thing you will need is some stable genetics. This is easily procured by going to your local club and picking up some clones, they range from 5 dollars or if you go to the wrong place you may end up spending 20 per clone. You also have the option of purchasing some seeds online all though i do not think this is the best option because there is the possibility of customs taking your items ( if you live in the states ), also you never really know with breeders packs if you are getting what you pay for genetics wise. The other issue i have with this is that some of the strains have been stored in a less than optimal environment and half the seeds i have purchased have been unable to germinate due to no fault of my own.
The second thing you need is a space to grow your plant, if you are some 16 year old with the bright idea that you are going to grow a plant in a cardboard box, i have news for you, you are wasting your time. Your growing environment must be clean and have enough room to finnish the flowering process.
Third the thing i see most often is people not wanting to pay big bux for soil. If you are planning on hydro this paragraph isn't for you. If you want to go down to walmart and buy a 3 dollar bag of MG and burn you plants because its 20-25-20 be my guest. You need to buy yourself a quality soil such as fox farm or any other organic 20-10-10 soil like humboldt flower products. There is always the option and it is the best option to mix your own soil but unless you truly know what you are doing i do not think it is the best option for you.
The last subject i would like to touch on is lighting. If you are planning on just growing outdoors this paragraph does not pertain to you. There are so many different options for lighting these days it is often hard to make a solid decision. First i would like to say that cfl's WILL WORK butt it would be my last choice if you are serious about growing, so we aren't even going to discuss cfl's because im not a total looser. HID lighting is your best option you will get high yields with resinous buds. You can buy a post 2000 hps ballast and it will work with MH bulbs as well. If you are looking for a perpetual harvest i would buy one 1000w hps ballast reflector and bulb and use this for your flowering room to start you off. I would than use some t5's for my veg room. Now i would like to take a second to talk about led lighting , ITS CRAP if you want to pay 1000 dollars for a light that is only good for something that won't give you the results of a 250 1000w you can do so but you are an idiot. LED lighting wont be around for more than another 5 years because it is impractical and growers don't mind having to deal with cooling and electric bills because HID is cheap and produces the results we are looking for. LED fuck off and die.
So it has come to the end and i am not going to look back though to look for typos. I hope you enjoyed the read, but most importantly i hope this will put a stop to all the little walmart grows that people keep wasting time on. Have a great today and tomorrow, DNK
