On a budget

Hey guys, so, unlike the title might lead you to believe, I have a sizable budget that I will be putting into a grow room. I'm newly a caregiver of 4 in Michigan, leaving me the ability to grow 48 plants. I was only planning on 36, but a good friend wanted to be an additional patient. ANYWAYS-

I have $10,000 dollars to spend on this grow room. I've grown a few times before although not at this level. I have already purchased everything needed to get to the veg. state of growth. I also purchased 30 THC-Snow strain seeds, which has a lineage of white widow, AK-47, Big bud, THC-Bomb, and some orange strain. It also came with like 15 free seeds of assorted strains. I also have some 12 autoflowering seeds. I'm not a fan of the autoflower, but i think i might use those and the extra seeds from the seed bank to run a "trial grow" and test a few different methods out, including a ScrOG grow with half, and an average set up with half.

The plan is to build 2 rooms in the basement, One veg, one flower. Any thoughts about things i might want to stay away from on this list or change, anything i should definitely have on this list that isn't, any kind of feed back is welcomed! thanks!

At this moment these are the things that I have on my shopping list:

6 Lumatek 600 watt light kits (3 HPS, 3 MH)

1 Atmos D1 environmental controller (lights, ventilation, CO2, humidity

2 growbright 8" high velocity fans

1 grozone OSW (timed plug)

2 CO2 generators

30"x16" carbon filter

2 A/C units

Waterproof PH meter

Soil tester

Orca Paper

100 gallon/day RO water system

2 extra thermometer/hygrometers

2 special grow room glasses(you know the ones)

2 water reservoirs (55gal)

misc. electrical supplies

fox farm 50/50 mix of the Ocean kind and the happyfrog kind

dehumidifer

prunning scissors

iphone microscope

nute syringes

fox farm full line of nutes, cut down 0-50% on amounts depending on the plant's needs

you have 3,600 watts of light and a general rule of thumb is 50 watts/sq. ft. for optimal light. i like that you went with 600s, smart move imo. so you could do any size flower room you want, just try to shoot for around 50 watts/sq.ft. for instance, 8'x9' would be perfect. veg room is completely up to you and how much size you have left after building the flower room. you're growing a specific number of plants each run, so just make sure you have enough space to veg them in there. honestly, you could do both the veg and flower room the same size if you wanted to. wouldn't matter. i would also think about maybe adding some uvb lighting during a couple weeks of the flowering stage.

Thanks for the reply

since id have 1800watts in each room I might just do that exactly, and do both rooms at 36 sq. Ft. Wouldn't the co2 give the plants an extra need for light requiring more than 50w/sqft ?

I was thinking about running some high end boom made leds in the flower room what does ubv have going on?

Suit&high said:

Thanks for the reply

since id have 1800watts in each room I might just do that exactly, and do both rooms at 36 sq. Ft. Wouldn't the co2 give the plants an extra need for light requiring more than 50w/sqft ?

I was thinking about running some high end boom made leds in the flower room what does ubv have going on?

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since you're using co2, i recommend you use the full 3600 watts for your flower room. the more power you have in flower the better, especially when supplementing co2. http://www.greners.com/i/grow-light...un-blaze-t5-fixtures-4-foot-2-4-6-8-tube.html <--- use these for veg. the fixture comes with bulbs ideal for veg, but you'll also want to buy a pack of these http://www.greners.com/i/grow-light.../t5-ho/quantum-badboy-t5-grow-lamp-2900k.html

you want the spectrum to be: G G B G G B G G

G = The bulbs that came with the fixture
B = The red bulbs I linked above

growing with this light will not only provide a better spectrum for your plants but it will also allow you to keep the lights much closer thus producing shorter, bushier plants with much tighter node spacing. maintaining ideal temps will also be easier than if you were to use 1800 watts of metal halide. you will also achieve more efficient light coverage with the 8-bulb t5s. remember, plants don't use as much light during veg as they do in flower.

i also think you should cut down on the plant count. just because you can grow 48 plants doesn't mean you should. more plants doesn't always = bigger yields. more plants always = more work though. it'll be a lot easier to dial in your op with a lower plant count. and i highly recommend you grow one strain at a time. much easier to maximize yield when dealing with one strain. if i were you i'd do a scrog. plant count is up to you. for reference, my first scrog i did 2 plants in a 4'x4' screen, and it took around 3 months to fill. you'll probably want a quicker veg than that so more plants per sq. ft. would better fit your situation. finding the right number of plants for your setup is just part of dialing in the op. don't expect perfection on the first run.

uvb supplementation is believed to increase trichome production which substantially increases your bud's potency. i've never tried it, but if i had your budget i would definitely do some uvb side lighting. don't worry about the leds for now. the technology will only get better and cheaper...better you stick with the tried and true methods for now brother.

sorry for the long post. i can't grow anymore so i got carried away with this post....lol. hope you got something out of my rambling!

I would get a perpetual grow going. Get a small room to take clones and put a t5 in there, dont need much space at all, then rotate them to the veg room, then to the flower room once theyre ready. You could harvest a few plants every 2 weeks, being sure you never run out. Will take a bit of planning.