First Indoor grow 1000w flower 400w veg/mother

What's hilarious is that looking at it...it's not a whole lot more than the 600 watts of CFLs would be, and I would still need to buy ventilation! lol
 

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
if I ever wanted to go up to a 1000w setup I could just change the bulb.
and ballast. 1000w ballasts usually run about $100 more than their 600w counterparts

Would you do an ac frame in and pull the air from inside the enclosure out for ventilation and cooling or would you just not get an AC and pull it from the lung room which will be ac'd?
I do both lol. My cab is in a closet and has a 5000btu a/c funneled directly into it. I also have a room with 2 tents in it, 4x4 veg tent and 5x10 flower tent. I have a 12000btu a/c cooling the room itself. This way lets you cool more than one cab/tent if you ever have it. Either way, use a window/wall/split unit. Not a portable.
 

fumble

Well-Known Member
Hey there Stormin. How's it coming along? I certainly know about budget restrictions. I like what you've done so far.
 
I'm finalizing what I think I'm going to be able to afford and keep secure and be in my skill level range. I'm modifying my box a little bit, but not too much; just enough to be able to fit it through a doorway(long story on why I didn't plan that before).

I've decided to go with a 600 watt HPS setup. I found some deals on craigslist for 150 bucks for a ballast, bulb, and hood. Looked at reviews for the items and they seem to be good products, but I thought I'd check with the pros before committing:

6" Hydrofarm AC Daystar reflector
hydrofarm Xtrasun 600 watt
600w hortilux bulb still packaged

I need to find a proper BTU ac for a good price, a good carbon filter, an inline fan with adjustable speed thing for noise, and I'm going to need to also buy a thermostat(preferably one that I can set to control the temps on it's own). Time to do more shopping/research.

Oh, I also need to decide what strain I want to grow.

Time to do more research through RIU browsing, shopping, and strain research! I'm falling in love with this, even more because of the setbacks, and I'm not even growing yet!

 

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
That seems like a chinese kit price. Ebay has tons of those, I've never used one but I don't trust them. An extra $100 gets you a reputable name with a warranty. Just my .02, I had a cheap used knockoff melt down in front of me so I definitely won't buy another cheap ballast. Quantum all the way, I have 5 of them now.

As far as an a/c goes, 5000 btu will be plenty for one 600w, I have a 5000 btu for 2x600. You may want to look into one thermostat to control both the fan and a/c too. Phresh and Can filters seem to be the most popular, I think 6" are around $70, could be wrong.
 
Yeah...I'm going to forget the craigslist deal than and get a good ballast. Just confirmed with a guy to get a 5000btu ac window unit for 30 bucks that I'm going to just frame into my box(the reason I built it sturdy with 2x4). Pretty good deal there.

I just quickly priced out nutrients, foxfarm organic soil, an oscillating fan, the ebay reflector you suggested, a quantum 600w ballast, a lumatek high par bulb, a duct fan speed adjuster, a 7 day digital timer, ducting, an active air 400cfm fan, a programable outlet thermostat, rope ratchet hangers, and a phresh 6" 400cfm carbon filter, 4 new 2x4's to make the enclosure a bit taller(extra wood to be used for other things like making the fan quieter and framing the ac, etc), and a piece of 19/32 plywood for a more sturdy door(OSB is going to warp too easily to have a sealed door) for 680 dollars including shipping and tax.

I will also need to buy good seeds(because why mess around with doing anything but the best?) and I'm estimating my electricity costs to be around 70-100 dollars a month just for the grow.

I'm trying to think if I'm missing anything in all of my excitement.

Totals so far: wood and misc supplies so far is at 120 bucks, 680 for the stuff listed above, 90ish for seeds?, and 300 dollars for electricity(I like to have my money ready and planned). All in all this 600 watt setup (including electricity for first grow)should be costing me 1200 bucks.

Thanks for all the help and advice Mike. I probably would have driven myself a little crazy worrying about what I was buying without it.
 

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
Hey man I was right where you are a few months ago. You'll do well to pick up a cheap pH test kit too, walmart has the liquid ones for like $8, should have no problem making it through a grow or 2. At least until you can fork up the +$100 for a good combo meter.

What FF soil are you gonna go with? I'm having much better luck with happy frog than ocean forest, and switching was only because my hydro shop had no ocean forest when I went.

$1200 seems about right, I was at around $1600 by the end, with 2x600w. I'm the same way with my money, so it definitely needs to be worth it(it is). Even with everything I fucked up and getting a horrible yield for what it's capable of, I only spent around $100 per ounce. And from now on it's all next to free!

Anything else, let me know. Glad to be able to help where I can. Building cabs seems to be the only thing I'm useful for....for now.
 
I was calculating costs and it's DEFINITELY worth it. Quality indoor bud at extremely low costs to help me treat my anxiety and bipolar(off prescribed meds for 6 months and happier than I've ever been without the horrible side effects of liver damage and heat sensitivity and feeling "zonked") is awesome. It's also nice because I can grow what I like and how I like it and do it right. Most the indoor bud I can find is either way overpriced or not grown properly.

My best friend is very good at the green thumb side of growing, so I'm lucky to have him here to give me advice.
 

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
Same reason alot of us get into growing. Starts with necessity or convenience and then immediately turns into a passion. Nothin like not having to deal with a shitty no-showing pot dealer or overpriced "top shelf" which are mids half the time
 
I've been looking around and Mango Haze seeds from Mr Nice are calling out to me, begging me to grow them.

I'm going to be doing a scrog. Mr. Nice's website says that if you go straight to flower(i'm assuming as soon as it sprouts?) you can still get a 1-1.5 meter plant. This is about how much space I have to work with. My cab will be about 6 feet tall, 4 feet wide, 26 inches deep(measured from the inside, not outside). I'm going to go for 8 plants so each has at least 1 sq foot of space.

How high should I set my scrog mesh above the soil? I read on the Scrog thread that Hazes should have 18-24 inches.

I want to try the Veganics that Matt Rize talks about but I don't want to get too overwhelmed with new things on my first indoor grow, so I'm just going to go with happy frog, as it's been recommended to me on more than one occasion.
 

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
Common thought on this forum is around 8-14". Some of mine are down to 5", I've recommended to numerous people to attach a 2' hose to a funnel so you can water through the screen instead of having to go under. Training and trimming require almost no space in my setup because I have 9 pots in a 3x8 cab so I go around my pots for everything instead of above. Having 8 in a 2x4 screen will mean you have to go above the pots for everything, not around. That's why I don't want to have 1 plant per square foot personally. It'll just mean you grow the plant taller before training instead of training outwards longer. So after my too-high-for-my-own-good rant, you'll probably feel most comfortable with ~12". 18-24 is way high, who wants to grow a plant 2 feet tall before it even reaches the screen?
 

sourskunkd

Member
Try a local hydro store. My sun supply Yieldmaster ii and 1000w ballast, bulb
, and timr, and 250ml of clonex for 225 out the door
 
Top