Penny pinching newb. My ghetto grow. Any suggestions?

Really?

Active Member
Hi everyone, as the title says I am a penny pinching newb. Allow me to introduce myself. I have started my first successful sprout. I am located in the NW of the US. I have no more than 30 dollars left out of 180 I started with. I am currently unemployed. I am starting a perpetual sog. I will be using a soil based medium and organic nutrients under cfl's the entire grow. The soil is a compost from a local worm farm. My fixtures are from the Goodwill, nutes off of Ebay, lights from 1000bulbs.com, and some odds and ends from Walmart, Lowes, and the Dollar Store.

Please chime in with any thoughts or suggestions you have along the way. Also if you know of cheaper places, products, or ways to grow, post it here for all to know!

Here is what I have planned so far. I will be using an old entertainment center for my grow box. It is roughly 3ft by 1.5ft by 2.5ft. It will be covered in an unused room I have, out of the wifes way. (I have kept her in the dark thus far) It will have two chambers seperated by reflective material I found laying around. (Flower and Bonsai) This is like a mylar coated blanket or something, not really sure what it is, but I know what it will be used for. It is not a emergency blanket. I plan on adding some sort of carbon scrubber that is cheap yet effective. I have a couple cpu fans to move air. I also have a seperate cloning chamber. It is 12 x 12 x14inches. I have lined the inside with a dog food bag that has been cleaned with soap and water followed by a bleach solution. It's mylar, remember i am unemployed. Fed my dogs and lined my crib. There is also a duplicate chamber like this I intend on using for a pollen chamber later.

My first attempt to start my garden was with 7, 7 year old bagseeds I found in a box I had from my old room at my parents house. It inspired me, but was not successful. I remember saving those seeds from various bags I had during my adolescent years. I still love the ganja, although now for more medical related reasons.

After my first attempt, I found a site and bought 6 single seeds. LA Woman and Super Lemon Haze ferminised. Also Red Dragon, Chocolate Chunk, Sensi Star, and Connie Chung regular. Hoping I get a couple females from the regulars but they all will be kept. SUCCESS! I have successfully sprouted the RD and have the SLH girl is in the process. To germ them, they were put into a shot glass with warm distilled water and a couple drops of an organic root inoculant, soaked until a light tap had sunk the floating seeds. Once they had sunk they were placed into a moist peat pellet, and placed in the mini greenhouse that was provided with pellets. This was placed on the top of my cable box in the dark. Temps there range from 74 to 78 degrees.

Next the RD will be going in cloning chamber until clones can be taken. The SLH will follow within the week. Aiming for 2 clones per week per mom. Now I will be adding one more strain to the mix in another week. This is up to all of the readers who made it this far! Please chime in, I look forward to all of the opinions. Last but not least, If you know of anything that can help us growers, new and experienced alike to save money. Post it here links are welcome.
 

mustang519

Well-Known Member
Well you have a challenge with only 2.5 feet high but it can be done. I would start lst and then go scrog when flowering.

good luck
mustang
 

[email protected]

Well-Known Member
honistly you would be wasting your time for the time/yeild.
trust me i penny pinched my first 2 grows, then me and my friend went side by side, me with total 1800wt clf. him with 1000wt hps eyehortilux.

well to say the least i got about 15 grams of the worst bud ive ever smoked, and we split his harvest total of about 8.5 oz this is what it looked like.


to sum it up dont waste your money get atleast a 400wt hps.
 

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DJ Crack420

New Member
i keep hearing that if you dont actually want to spend the money to buy higher quallity items (like hps lights or do all the stuff with nutrients) that ur pretty much wasting ur time...i have a 18x13x35 grow box with 1 26 watt cfl and 1 43 watt cfl, and im hopping to get another 43 soon. from what ive read, im not gonna be very pleased come harvest..its my first grow and im really just trying to get a feel for it..but i bought all my things from wally world and in a couple months, hopefully i can post my results and join the club with everyone saying how cfls r worthlesss...i guess ill just have to find out for myself if this is tru or not.
 

InDippers

Well-Known Member
Hey DJ and Really... no worries... if you don;t have the money or the will to spend all that money i'm 100% sure that you will be satisfied by your results... As i believe that growing is a learning experience and you have to start somewhere and hopefully you can always improve...
I'm doing my first grow and i'm using 6 CFL's and everything is looking up so far... my setup is all homemade, as i'm also unemployed!!! The way i view it... as this is not any kind of side business for me, some weed is better than no weed!!!! So hope to get the most you can and hope for the best.... if you can slowly improve on your setup do so and hopefully get better bud production....
All im saying is keep growing!!!!

here is a link to the DIY with some great ideas on setups that you can accomodate to your needs and usually there are a few options that vary in price!!!
Good luck

InD.
 

Really?

Active Member
Thanks everyone for the replies. I will expect nothing with hopes of an ounce or so every 2 weeks once I get everything locked in. I need to find my camera so I can post pics of everything as I go along. I have seen some great things done with the cfl's which have me intrigued. I have been reading up a lot on different methods and have seen it done, so I have decided to give it a go. So far so good. Any suggestions on what to sprout next?
 

Really?

Active Member
i keep hearing that if you dont actually want to spend the money to buy higher quallity items (like hps lights or do all the stuff with nutrients) that ur pretty much wasting ur time...i have a 18x13x35 grow box with 1 26 watt cfl and 1 43 watt cfl, and im hopping to get another 43 soon. from what ive read, im not gonna be very pleased come harvest..its my first grow and im really just trying to get a feel for it..but i bought all my things from wally world and in a couple months, hopefully i can post my results and join the club with everyone saying how cfls r worthlesss...i guess ill just have to find out for myself if this is tru or not.
CFL's are not worthless. Plenty of people get some good stuff out of em. Just not everyone. The same is true for the HPS and MH lights as well. Practice makes better. Good luck.:bigjoint:
 

Reeny

Well-Known Member
I am a newer grower and use CFLs. I understand that my yield would be more, my buds will be tighter and I will have better success with HPS but for now I must make do with CFLs.

My first grow was two plants(bagseed) and I harvested just under two ounces dry from them. One plant was 24grams and the other was 20 grams. My buds were abit on the fluffy side but the smoke was better tasting and smelling than the orginal product I got the seeds from.

I can not guarantee 2 ounces every two weeks but with time and practice you can get some good quality weed. I think your major obstacle will be the height limitation.

Good luck and happy growing.
 

Really?

Active Member
I hear you, i'm flat broke as well. I managed to spend only a little bit out of my paycheck each week by buying supplies in installments.

So far i've spent about $200 for my budget indoor grow. My grow log contains a cost breakdown for every single supply, as well as a chart measuring which needs of the plant require the most money.

https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/174937-first-grow-budget-grow-box.html
Crazy how close our materials list is. I got my clamp lights at the Goodwill for 2 bucks a piece, that saved me a nice chunk of change. I walked out with a big smile on my face. Bought all 6 of them for 12 bux.

Your grow is lookin good. Nice work.
 

Wastedagain

Well-Known Member
I live in a lax place for medical, but I can't smoke it? I pulled a retirement plan to get started. phillip morris is what I hope for in the future, i just learning. thanx though
 

Really?

Active Member
I live in a lax place for medical, but I can't smoke it? I pulled a retirement plan to get started. phillip morris is what I hope for in the future, i just learning. thanx though
Good luck, I hope all goes well.


On another note nobody has an opinion on what I should pop next? Common peeps, cast your votes. bongsmilie
 

HowardWCampbell

New Member
really, Sorry if I missed it, but what kind of lighting are you using?

Sounds like you are on the right track. I'm not real familiar with any of your strains, so no advice on what to pop next. Good luck with whatever you decide.
 

Bizzler

Well-Known Member
No worries man....You gotta start somewhere...

My first 2 grows were with 6 15W 18" Fluorescent tubes
check my signature....

It works.....And its a cheap way start....I spent maybe $80 on my first grow.

$$ MONEY $AVING TIP $$
I used old PC fans and old 12V adapters for my intake and exhaust.
Cost=FREE

Good Luck man!!!!!!!!
 

Really?

Active Member
Thanks Howard,

No worries. I will be using cfls, 26w veg 5000k. 2 over seedlings keeps temp around 80 - 85 degrees for now. 30w for flower 2700k. I plan on using 6 - 8 for flower. Forget the exact lumen numbers but, I should be ok.
 

Really?

Active Member
blueberries and white russian i'm doin next,try them out
I do not have blueberry or white russian. I have LA Woman, Sensi Star, Chocolate Chunk, and Connie Chung to choose from. I have already started my Red Dragon and Super Lemon Haze.:bigjoint:
 
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