Information overload

I put the spider farmer kit in my shopping cart , December 7 is the day it officially becomes legal here so I'll wait and see if any deals pop up in the next week or two .
That pretty much wipes out my budget for right now but barring any catastrophe happening I should be able to get seeds and such in plenty of time to start on day 1

If things come together maybe It'll be possible to add in a supplemental 100 watt light at flower .

Moistvonlipwig said:

Ok so I keep reading and reading ... it isn't helping .

Let me ask in a way I know I'll get an answer I understands.
Say I put three plants of northern lights in the tent and keep things simple with minimal training and beginner level nutrients

What could a person expect for a yield with 200 , 300 and 400 watt lights respectively , and how much does increasing the wattage add to the difficulty level

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A good realistic yield guideline is 0.5 - 1.0 grams per watt. 0.5 being decent, 1.0 being really good.

So with lights of those different wattages you roughly can expect these sorts of yields:

200W --> 100-200g
300W --> 150-300g
400W --> 200-400g

For a 2x4 flowering footprint, I'd want 300W at least.

Those are numbers I can live with , if I would have a mediocre crop and get 125 grams from a 200 watt light I'd be happy as a clam for a first grow .

honestly if you want a better quality light i suggest buying HLG they are made in USA! but if you want great canopy coverage from corner to corner i suggest buying 2 xs 1500 pro's from viparspectra
here is a par map of the xs1500 pro in a 2x2 grow tent 2 of these in a 2x4 would produce killer coverage from corner to corner.

I'll check those out , by the time I get to a second grow I should be able to afford to do some upgrades.

Moistvonlipwig said:

I put the spider farmer kit in my shopping cart

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Maybe you'll get a Black Friday coupon code, maybe not.

Moistvonlipwig said:

I'll check those out , by the time I get to a second grow I should be able to afford to do some upgrades.

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Amazon is running the xs1500pro (150w) at the moment for 99.00 and a 20.00 off coupon. Type justinpro in promo field at checkout for another 8 or 9 off. Total with tax in va was 75.81 each. Just ordered 2 for a friend but had to do 2 separate orders as Amazon limits the savings to 1 per order. Two of these would be ideal for a 2x4 and 2-4 plants. As already mentioned don't bother with less that a 6' tall tent. Surprising how fast grow headroom disappears when you account for pot height, lights/exhaust hanging, etc. Mars hydro eBay store is currently running a 2x4x6 for 90.00 but they have occasional promos if you can wait and watch. I'll probably get laughed off the forum but I'd suggest checking out a Delumee integrated exhaust fan/filter combo on Amazon for under 130.00. It's 200 CFM,variable speed, and filter is replaceable at a reasonable price. I have a 4" and a 6" and no complaints after over a year of 24/7 use. I just wish ac infinity would make a similar exhaust solution. The vivosun aerowave oscillating clip fan is currently under 35.00 and a 10% off at checkout for the white. Other colors are a few $ more for some reason. I have one and it does what it's supposed to. Deals come and go. I suggest saving where you can so you can spend where you should. From what I've seen, the complete kits are usually lacking here and there if not everywhere. For the same money, if not less, you can put together a solid setup with minimal need for future upgrades ($). Oh and don't cheap out on the ph pen. It's tempting but trust me they will lead you to ruin. Congratulations Ohio.

That's quite a deal on the xs1500 pro. But Delumee, cmon lol. Don't skimp out 50 or 60 bucks and not get aci or Vivosun with a controller! Consider yourself laughed off!! Everything else you recommend is solid. I want those white fans.

shnkrmn said:

That's quite a deal on the xs1500 pro. But Delumee, cmon lol. Don't skimp out 50 or 60 bucks and not get aci or Vivosun with a controller! Consider yourself laughed off!! Everything else you recommend is solid. I want those white fans.

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The Delumee has a controller. Variable throughout the range. Future upgrade to other brands possibly....but doubt he'll need to. Apply the savings to a good ph pen.

You guys sure like to make it hard to decide

It's all good , it helps . I had expected my starter set to be more or less a partially disposable commodity.
I won't lie I am still inclined to buy the spider farmer kit out of pure convenience , nothing is decided yet though .

I do appreciate everyone's help a whole lot , the picture is coming together .
Now to get started cleaning the closet out ....

Moistvonlipwig said:

You guys sure like to make it hard to decide

It's all good , it helps . I had expected my starter set to be more or less a partially disposable commodity.
I won't lie I am still inclined to buy the spider farmer kit out of pure convenience , nothing is decided yet though .

I do appreciate everyone's help a whole lot , the picture is coming together .
Now to get started cleaning the closet out ....

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that’s why I recommend starting with the kit. Everything else is info overload. A little better here or there is generally pretty meaningless also.

Moistvonlipwig said:

Ok so I keep reading and reading ... it isn't helping .

Let me ask in a way I know I'll get an answer I understands.
Say I put three plants of northern lights in the tent and keep things simple with minimal training and beginner level nutrients

What could a person expect for a yield with 200 , 300 and 400 watt lights respectively , and how much does increasing the wattage add to the difficulty level

Click to expand...

A 200w would be under lit, you could expect less dense buds and probably slightly more stretch.
A 300w is the goldilocks zone (imo) you'll get solid buds, genetics depending.
A 400w you might gain a bit more yield but not 33% more.

The increase in wattage only makes it difficult if your ventilation is not adequate and you're height limited.

At the end of the day, all factors being sufficient the space and the genetics will be the limiting factors.

You could pull a pound out of a 2x4, you should be very happy with half that on your first grow.

coreywebster said:

A 200w would be under lit, you could expect less dense buds and probably slightly more stretch.
A 300w is the goldilocks zone (imo) you'll get solid buds, genetics depending.
A 400w you might gain a bit more yield but not 33% more.

The increase in wattage only makes it difficult if your ventilation is not adequate and you're height limited.

At the end of the day, all factors being sufficient the space and the genetics will be the limiting factors.

You could pull a pound out of a 2x4, you should be very happy with half that on your first grow.

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Exactly this!

I use a 315w Hlg in that space and get about 10oz, I’ve had a pound from it with loads of training and high yielding strain but it’s certainly not the norm, for me anyways(over a decade of growing indoors)

one thing I’d encourage MOST newbies to do is living soil, with a tent that size you could put a big bed of soil in there and not worry too much about taking all the floor space up, more soil generally translates to an easier time with watering and nutrition, you can even do it cheap too you don’t need to spend fortunes on mixes and additives. I’ve set people up with a 100l bed of biobizz all mix, some castings and a tub of generic all purpose soil amendment and they’ve been successful.

Then as they learn more their soil matures and they can start to tinker with different amendments.

I use ecothrive life cycle as a base amendment in all my grows and add a few more choice bits, as I trim plants I just feed the green matter back to the soil which breaks down and replenishes nutrients. It’s hard to mess up, and provides a solid foundation for plant growth, plus you can re use it. I’m running 3 year old soil right now.

Buying “less light “ will only make any errors you make magnified
More light and more air movement can compensate for a lot of mistakes
I’m in the 300 watt club with the others

Ok so I'm not disagreeing that 200 watts is on the very bottom end of acceptable for 2x4 .
But I do have to start within my available budget , can't spend what you don't have .

With that out of the way , 200 watts should be ok for veg if I've understood a little of what I've read right ?
That would give me some time to fund a supplemental 100 watt light for flower .

Underneath it all I tend towards being an optimist who sets a low bar for success. So when things go less then 100% perfectly I'm not gonna whine , cry and give up . I'll just learn and try again

Moistvonlipwig said:

Ok so I'm not disagreeing that 200 watts is on the very bottom end of acceptable for 2x4 .
But I do have to start within my available budget , can't spend what you don't have .

With that out of the way , 200 watts should be ok for veg if I've understood a little of what I've read right ?
That would give me some time to fund a supplemental 100 watt light for flower .

Underneath it all I tend towards being an optimist who sets a low bar for success. So when things go less then 100% perfectly I'm not gonna whine , cry and give up . I'll just learn and try again

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200w will work absolutely fine mate, like said before maybe abit less dense bud and abit more stretch, forgive us we do tend to push optimal, it just makes it easier all round.

Blue brother said:

200w will work absolutely fine mate, like said before maybe abit less dense bud and abit more stretch, forgive us we do tend to push optimal, it just makes it easier all round.

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Totally agree. You will get flower to make yourself proud with 200w. I did not push near 100% on my most recent grow with a 300w light in a 3x3, also kept the light pretty far from the canopy. More is better to a degree, but getting starting within budget and in a timely and simple manner seems the key. There’s always something better.

Blue brother said:

less dense bud and abit more stretch

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BB is right and fluffy buds suck. If you can't afford the 300w today you should wait until you've squirreled away enough cheddar. There's not much more to say.

Eh , the optimistic side speaks strongly in me and says waiting is for suckers .
When you have no buds even fluffy buds look good .

Moistvonlipwig said:

Eh , the optimistic side speaks strongly in me and says waiting is for suckers .
When you have no buds even fluffy buds look good .

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Aw yeah just buy it mate, you’re not gonna benefit from that extra 100w until flower anyways, by then you might be able to buy another 200w and just dim them down abit.