New grow tent purchase - advice needed please

Morning/afternoon/ night everyone,

i am looking at getting into indoor horticulture and need some advise please.

Firstly I will tell you what I am going to do, I will be a hobby grower, strictly for my own consumption. Small scale as a bit of fun and a way to save money.

i have seen this set up http://www.amazon.co.uk/PHAT-RVK-Ballast-Reflector-Thermometer/dp/B00BJJBLS6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372064537&sr=8-1&keywords=Grow+tent+kit

i only want 3 or 4 plants at any one time, probably a little selection of different strains - I would prefer autoflowering just because it seems easier, full time job and new baby means I can't really dedicate loads of time but if there isn't much difference then I would consider standard strains if the yields/quality will be much better.


I have a budget of approx £300 to start with, wanting to get a complete small kit and seeds with this.


Anway, thanks in advaadvance

Passin that?

Be careful when buying Tents, a ton of them are made (including the one from your link from the looks of the given pics) with plastic pieces to hold the corners, they break easily after a while under weight, and sometimes have seen them break during assembly. I spent the time and a little more money on my Tent, it has a completely metal design, and the corner pieces are all welded together and have "push pin" connectors. (I purchased an "Earth Worth" brand Tent)

If you do end up buying that one listed, please spend some time to at least reinforce all the corners! Don't need to come home to a collapsed tent and possible fire hazard with the HID lighting.

hi there ive seen compleat kits like this. there okay but its on the small side of what your wanting??? maybe! ive got two grow tent and one problem that i have with them is cooling. and the fan is a little noisy side. so if you could cool tube would be ideal thats what i think. hope this helps ya in some way.

Your in a difficult place with that budget mate. To keep cost down you will cut corners or comprimise on quality and I promise you that once you have the bug you will only want the best. Everything you buy cheap will be in your shed within 6 months. You have enough money to get of the ground but will you have more funds in a month or so? Essentially you can get your lights going (660w hps ballast, hood, extractor and ducting) for £200. Another £100 for beans, pots nutes medium etc. You then got about 4 - 8 weeks depending on what grow style your going for to get a tent and scrubber, another £200. That will get you 'middle of the road' equipment, ya still need osc fans, ph & ec pen blah blah but at least you will be up and running.

Thanks the replies fellas, there's a local hydroponics store a few miles down the road so I'm gonna pop down there later to have a look for myself.

I can spend more if I wait a couple of months but I'm itching to get growing!! You know how it is

Any thoughts on the autoflower? I've seen some good reviews on Nirvana seeds..... Any experience with this seed store?


Cheers

Passin that? said:

Thanks the replies fellas, there's a local hydroponics store a few miles down the road so I'm gonna pop down there later to have a look for myself.

I can spend more if I wait a couple of months but I'm itching to get growing!! You know how it is

Any thoughts on the autoflower? I've seen some good reviews on Nirvana seeds..... Any experience with this seed store?


Cheers

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Like I said, you have enough to get going with decent gear then add to it in a few months. Again, in 6 months you will be asking yourself why you went for auto's, no control and crap yield. It' s your choice at the end of the day. The only experience I have had with seeds were from Barnies, Tangerine dream and Pineapple chunk. Seeds were fine but didn't like the strains. Any mates to get clones?

I know of a couple o guys that grow but I've tried the product and I didn't think that much of it to be honest. I think with a bit of research and experimentation I can do a better job.

I think I'm just gonna get a good quality tent, light and carbon filter/extractor fan and then add to it on payday.

Like you say, no point buying in the cheap and then throwing it in the shed, I always say that you get what you pay for so will start looking.

Can you recommend any online suppliers?



Thanks

Well if it holds together it seems like a pretty good idea go get yourself some organic fertilizers and you got yourself a little grow op man

There are a few good ones on ebay, people moan that ebay aint safe for this sort of thing but I would rather ebay than get clocked going into a hydro-shop than followed home by police or crop thieves. Don't be tempted by the kits..... absolute pants. If your getting an air cooled hood, I would steer away from cool tubes, they are cheap but not very efficient, get the biggest hood you can for best light spread. Again, if you can, get a 1000w dimable ballast, you can run either 600 or 1000w bulbs. make sure your fan are controlable with CFM of 720 or more (same for your fikter), crank em high in the summer and low in the winter. One of the main attributes to a successful grow is control, being able to react quickly and resolve issues, dimmable ballast and fan controllers gives you this. Accoustic ducting is quiet, no smell leaks. No cheap timers, they burn out quickly and that can cost you dearly.

How are you going to grow??

Have fun

Right, back to square one, I have taken all your advice and decided to spend a little more in order to get a decent set up.

I have ordered a secret jardin grow tent, rhino carbon filter with extraction fan. Acoustic ducting, 50l of coco/pebble mix 60/40, 4 x 10l pots with some Dutch pro nutes.

My grow tent is 1.2m x 1.2m x 1.9m and I am planning on growing 4 decent plants in there from seed.

My only question is around lighting, I know mrmeangreen recommended a 1000w adjustable light but I'm only doing this for a bit of fun and a smoke so I don't need overkill... (Yet) hhahaa would this light be sufficient for veg and flowering? https://www.rotherhamhydroponicscentre.co.uk/grow-lights/600w-grow-lights/lumii-600w-euro-light-kit

i am thinking of putting a couple of 45w cfl's in there just to boost growth, is this needed?

As always your help and advice is appreciated.



Keep smokin

Don't get a Secret Jardin tent. Roommate has one and it's cheaply made to say the least. I purchased a Gorilla tent after hearing some really positive reviews and the thing is a beast. Thick mylar walls and the tent polls are holding up everything without even as much as a bend.

If you get the 1000w dimmable, given you dont kill ur plants from neglect, your almost guarenteed 24oz. When you dial ur setup in, you could potentially get over 32oz. Thats a lot for a smoker but you might just be satisfied because after your first grow you will really learn if you want to keep doing it or not...my only complaint about my first grow was watering an overgrown 5x5 tent. I couldnt get to the back of my tent! I had to manuveur my tent like a ninja the whole time I flowered. 1000w is always handy to have on deck just incase you want to go big, but you can always dim it to 600w, run 600w bulbs and that should be perfect for your needs, while still having the option of 1000w on hand rather then having to by a new ballast.

Good luck with the grow

Don't let people scare you into buying hyped out equipment brand names. The plant doesn't care about the brand name. Also go here for your lighting needs, the plant can never absorb more than 9000 lumens anyways. So when you see people putting up thousands of watts of lights and way too many lumens, they are only wasting electricity as the plant will never absorb it anyways. The sun has made all plants worldwide only absorb maximum of 9000 lumens. Here is a link to the chart http://www.google.com/imgres?sa=X&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=OszxBiDdqIBClM:&imgrefurl=http://www.420magazine.com/forums/cabinet-closet-grow-room-setup/99511-confined-closet-space-250w-hps-heat.html&docid=k5tpinpLEj-TZM&imgurl=http://www.420magazine.com/gallery/data/500/Foot-CandlesHPSDoneNow1.jpg&w=328&h=640&ei=qlrtUazCD-iOyAHa84GwCw&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:22,s:0,i:156&iact=rc&page=2&tbnh=167&tbnw=86&start=16&ndsp=20&tx=77&ty=80 .

The only worthwhile advice given to you here so far is get a tent with metal framing, it doesn't matter who makes it. They are all the same. Some have extras like pouches in them, but you aren't sleeping in this tent, so don't worry about those things.

thinn said:

If you get the 1000w dimmable, given you dont kill ur plants from neglect, your almost guarenteed 24oz. When you dial ur setup in, you could potentially get over 32oz. Thats a lot for a smoker but you might just be satisfied because after your first grow you will really learn if you want to keep doing it or not...my only complaint about my first grow was watering an overgrown 5x5 tent. I couldnt get to the back of my tent! I had to manuveur my tent like a ninja the whole time I flowered. 1000w is always handy to have on deck just incase you want to go big, but you can always dim it to 600w, run 600w bulbs and that should be perfect for your needs, while still having the option of 1000w on hand rather then having to by a new ballast.

Good luck with the grow

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24oz!!!!! Jesus! The mrs would go insane if I started growing that amount! It's taken me two months to persuade her to let me have a small tent for personal use! Haha

twistedwords said:

Don't let people scare you into buying hyped out equipment brand names. The plant doesn't care about the brand name. Also go here for your lighting needs, the plant can never absorb more than 9000 lumens anyways. So when you see people putting up thousands of watts of lights and way too many lumens, they are only wasting electricity as the plant will never absorb it anyways. The sun has made all plants worldwide only absorb maximum of 9000 lumens. Here is a link to the chart http://www.google.com/imgres?sa=X&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=OszxBiDdqIBClM:&imgrefurl=http://www.420magazine.com/forums/cabinet-closet-grow-room-setup/99511-confined-closet-space-250w-hps-heat.html&docid=k5tpinpLEj-TZM&imgurl=http://www.420magazine.com/gallery/data/500/Foot-CandlesHPSDoneNow1.jpg&w=328&h=640&ei=qlrtUazCD-iOyAHa84GwCw&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:22,s:0,i:156&iact=rc&page=2&tbnh=167&tbnw=86&start=16&ndsp=20&tx=77&ty=80 .

The only worthwhile advice given to you here so far is get a tent with metal framing, it doesn't matter who makes it. They are all the same. Some have extras like pouches in them, but you aren't sleeping in this tent, so don't worry about those things.

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thanks for your input mate, so if I get a 600w ballast with dual spectrum bulb will it be sufficient for the entire life cycle of my plants? Veg and flower?

cheers