(Part 2) Top products from r/microgrowery

VIVOSUN 48"x24"x60" Mylar Hydroponic Grow Tent with Observation Window and Floor Tray for Indoor Plant Growing 2'x4' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DXYMQ9M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dx13BbGGT8164

VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 300W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Veg and Flower https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B4GQ6MO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Hz13BbPVVN2TK

This light is good for 2 plants but you’ll eventually want to add a second for your tent. You definitely can’t fill the tent with just this light, but it’ll get you started.

iPower 2-Pack 1/8 Inch 8-Feet Long Adjustable Heavy Duty Rope Clip Hanger, Reinforced Metal Internal Gears,150lb Capacity https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018WIOEDA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_wA13Bb58ZJ5GD

Century 7 Day Heavy Duty Digital Programmable Timer - Dual Outlet (Indoor) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MVF16JG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_XA13Bb9NQJDG1

Comfort Zone CZ6C 6-Inch 2-Speed Clip-On Fan (White, 2 Fans) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JLUZSPC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.E13Bb05JK7B1

247Garden 5-Pack 3 Gallon Grow Bags/Aeration Fabric Pots w/Handles (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013JM3JAI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VG13Bb7MGJS2R

https://www.oregonsonly.com/samples/

These are great nutrients and basically foolproof. This free sample kit will get you through 4 plants full grows. I love these nutrients and even now use them in a reservoir (which people claim you can’t do but works great).

Dr.meter 0.1pH PH002 High Accuracy pH Meter/pH Pen Tester with ATC LCD 0-14 pH Measurement Range (PH002 pH Meter for Water) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PU0W35K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_fI13BbNRES1BK

That will get you started on your first grow or two. I recommend auto blue mystic from nirvana for your first run. They are very low smell while growing so you can get by without a carbon filter. They’re autos so you can leave the light on 24/7, and they finish fast. Also turns out a great finished product.

https://www.nirvanashop.com/marijuana-seeds/815-blue-mystic-autoflower.html

Less than $40 for 5 seeds and very discrete shipping.

When you have a bit more $ you can add on additional items. Eventually you’ll want to upgrade to PFD sun boards or quantum boards, but you’ll probably want to get a fan and filter first:

6" Inline Fan - 395 CFM Exhaust Duct Fan, Built-In Speed Controller, ETL Listed, Pre-Wired 6 FT Grounded Cord - Great Use In Grow Tent With Carbon Filters, Light Fixtures, Intake. Fits 6 Inch Ducts. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L0D0UEQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_TM13Bb5170NC1

Activated Charcoal Carbon Filter 6" x 16", Up to 400 CFM, Premium Grow Tent Odor Scrubber, 1.8" Extra Thick Layer of Top Grade Activated Australian Virgin Charcoal-Great for Hydroponics and Growing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0VN4I5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qN13BbEH9AG9W

Maybe you can upgrade to a 2x4 tray with reservoir so you can automate feeding.

If you don’t want autoflowers you can just do 12/12 from seed for faster harvest. https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-how-to-grow-cannabis-from-seed-under-12-12-lighting-n330

But I really recommend doing the auto blue mystic for your first round or two.

Hey, I JUST came off building a setup and it cost me $750 total. We have 3 plants in there right now. I have the entire list with amazon links or store suggestions.

Item| Price | Where To Buy
---|---|----
Tent| $95| We bought this one, I don't know if it's worth spending a lot on anything more expensive. For a smaller option I just got a second with good reviews but can't vouch for it yet.
Lights/Hood/Ballast| $140| I got the 600W set, but 400W would make cooling MUCH easier and still get a big yield. For LEDs at similar price, Viparspectra 300W x2 or a single 600W eliminates need for extra cooling potentially (not included here, we used fans from around the house)
ph Test+Control Kit | $25| GET THIS. The water must be pH'd properly for your babies' health.
Cloth Pots| $20 | These are better for aeration, water flow, training, etc. Cheap and reusable too.
Nutrients | $50 | I got the Fox Farms Trio, but there are many good options out there.
Fan + Filter | $150 | This is huge and might be overkill for you. Make sure whatever you get fits your tent vents (This one fits the Apollo tent above with 6" vents).
Ducting | $20 | Connect fan to filter, to tent, to wherever. Might want multiple sizes, check tent vent sizes.
Foil Tape, Metallic | $10 | Here. Metal Duct tape is best duct tape.
Fan Speed Controller | $20 | Useful for if you do get a fan that is slightly overkill!
Fox Farms Ocean Forest | $15 - $40 | You can buy it online and I did for my first 3 bags....then I found it in a local store for $15. There is some controversy with FF lately, it's not organic FYI. There are tutorials on making your own soil if you care, but I like this because I didn't have to use nutes for 3-4 weeks.
Humidifier | $30 | This is the exact one I have. We're in winter so I need it to keep humidity up, you may not.
Dehumidifier | $40 | There are plenty for this much. You may not need this either.
Cal-Mag | $20 | I haven't needed it yet but it's best to have on hand if you do!
Seeds | $75 | I bought from Attitude, chose stealth, and bought like 15 seeds?, so it was expensive. You can get seeds for less.
Jiffy Pellets | $10 | Used to start seeds. There are other options.
Total | $745 | If you buy all this stuff, you have potentially even more than you need to get started, with room for 3-4x more plants than these boxes, and with nutrients to last you for a long long time!

Hope this helps! I'd hate to see you drop so much on it when you don't need to at all.

You amurrica eh? This was on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005ECZQTY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_jCNGzbKHZ98YS
Let me try to help you figure this out. These will give off quite a bit of heat (which is great for winter northerners) but summer can get pretty hot. You will want to seal off the room somehow as well, like the other comments said, fuck bugs! This can be hung maximum 1.5 feet before you burn the plant so you might be ok with some training.

600 watt will cover about 4 x 4 foot area so squish each plant in that space roughly and bunch all the branches up like roses, this will give a good lollipop shape and save space but at the same time maximize the light of the main colas. I just hope you have enough headroom for flower stretch!

Hopefully you have some fans laying around to simulate a gentle breeze and help temp control. I try to be as crafty as possible before spending a ton of money, (the light was an exception). Use what you have around the house or go to dollar stores for like white paint sheets to create your own tent for cheap, until you can invest more.

Goodluck, hopefully this ramble is useful to you!

Second grow. 6 plants. Cherry OG. Emerald Triangle breeder. 4x4 tent active intake and exhaust. Two 440 CFM in-line fans with speed controllers.

600W six COB LED Vero29 3500k

Scrog vegged for 6 weeks. The net is 15” above start of stalk, which is higher than I normally have seen. More veg time and nutes used but I have so much room and it’s just physically easier for me

This is day 16 since 12/12 flip.

Elite garden nute line. Fox Farms Coco Loco in 5 gal fabric pots. Hand water and suck up runoff.

Mykos (added in grow medium and applied on top layer before watering every other time), Azos (added to grow medium and in feeding every other time), Mammoth P, Recharge (every other watering and will stop week 5 or 6), Bio Ag Liquid humic acid, dynagro protekt silica, dynagro mag pro, CalMag (0 ppm starting water)

They are needing water every 2 days now. RH is at ~50%

I added a box fan in the corner of my tent and it’s crazy good. I recommend. I have a 20” and on low setting it’s a gentle breeze AND it cools my light heat sinks. I have a 12” blizzard oscillating fan at pot level. Roots like oxygen.

Have been defoliating a lot. I’ll curve out on that as soon as I stop seeing them crowd. I really don’t want bud rot and want to promote good air flow to every top/bud.

And I like these

https://www.amazon.com/Gro-Pro-Level-Pot-Elevator/dp/B01J37FHF8

I did not pay that amount for mine, but if you can find them, it allows so much air to get under your fabric pots and great drainage. Same as bottom of a milk carton, but this is a good 2.5 inches off the flood tray

Anyone know how much UV-B I should add for more resin production? I read that having a UV-B light on for 4 hours in the middle of the 12 hour light is good but I don’t want to bleach my plants. Thanks!

So this morning when I left for work all I could see was still the white stem way down in the hole. I got home to my first set of cotyledons and also first of real leaves!

I also got a ph control kit today, and it looks like my ph is sitting right around 6, so I believe that is perfect.

I was planning on just giving this a shot with minimal effort to see how it goes. Growing a variety of herbs in the Aerogarden was super easy, and it was hard to keep all the growth under control.

After doing more reading(because when I start doing something I have to do it right) I realized that the LED panel on the Aerogarden isn't even close to the wattage that anyone else is using. The starter package on growweedeasy.com includes a 250w light. The one on the Aerogarden is 20w, but the directions say you can keep it just a couple inches above the plant, whereas all the other guides for higher wattage lights say they need to be kept much further away. I would guess that is just because they have so much more wattage?

I grow lots of normal plants as well and don't get too much actual sunlight, so I have a couple extra reflectors, CFLs, and another LED grow bulb sitting around. I have 1x LED! and 2x CFL! extra.

How does mixing LED and CFLs work? I'm thinking I will need to get this thing all the light I can. Should I get a light socket extender and splitter so that I can get both the CFLs into a reflector, and also use the extra LED?

I plan on low stress training it to keep it as short as possible as the Aerogarden light only extends 12inches. I am able to extend that a few more inches using that knife with a stick taped to it, but then the cable becomes the limiting factor.

I also don't plan on moving it out of the 1gal Aerogarden reservoir, so it will probably be limited in size by that as well. The aerogarden comes with these nutrients!(4-3-6) that I had been planning to follow their recommendations of use which is basically give it 2 capfuls(maybe a couple mL) every other week when you change out the reservoir water. In between feedings just keep the water level high. Should I actually buy legit nutes!, or will the Aerogarden ones do a pretty good job?

Sooo I guess my questions are:
Anyone grown with an Aerogarden before? How'd it work? Any tips?
Anyone mixed LED and CFL lights before? Is that fine to do?
I should definitely use all the lights currently available to me, and I should probably even get a couple more 42w soft white CFLs right?
My goal was to keep this cheap and easy, but I'm thinking I should also get another timer for all these extra lights I plan on using now. Using the Aerogarden timer for the 20w LED and then turning on the other lights manually probably won't be anywhere near as effective, and also takes away from the easy factor.
Can I use the aerogarden nutes to keep this easy and cheap, or should I get some legit nutes?

Thanks!!

yes there is tons of options for lights... i can help you a bit.

where are you from ? whats your main language? if its french i can help explain stuff in french too to make it easier.

​

option 1: if you want just to get by until next month... maybe T5 would be best option

my guess this would enough... t5 4ftgreat for veg not so great for flowering

option 2: is a 400w hps you can a vented hood if you plan on using in a tent eventually. Better suited for a full grow than T5 if you want to go at it inside. This kit even comes with a MH bulb thats perfect for Veg.

​

option 3: quantum board (from china or usa/canada $$$). Most expensive option but very efficient and effective. i guess a 240w would be enough.

210$ us shipped + duties from china (alibaba - meijiu) or check out HLG in usa or canada who sell probably slightly better product (pretty much same components) for twice the price. But you get faster shipping and easier communication.

QB 240w or from hlg canada - hlg usa)

​

First two you can get easily with amazon or your local hydro store... QB board from china is probably 1 or 2 weeks...

​

maybe a fourth option is a blurple led light... i wouldn't suggest that but its an option that will probably do the job ok and its the cheapest i guess for the 600w

not sure but i think you would need a 900... old technology. not the wattage advertised.

blurple

​

if you have more question feel free to ask

This is my first time growing, and I 100% couldn't have done it without the help of this subreddit. Please feel free to critique/rip into my setup, as I really appreciate all the help and knowledge so far!

 

Currently running:

 

2x alibaba 240w QB

 

Promix HP + 2inch layer of worm castings on the bottom

 

Strain is The Best from JAHseeds My seeds are not feminized however, so still unsure of sex.

 

Right now they are in 1 gallon pots and I'm planning on moving them into 7 gallon fabric pots when the time is right.

 

I kinda went ham one night and bought the entire GH nutrient lineup (including all the additives....) so I'm planning on sticking to their schedule (halved) throughout the grow. I know I could have done without a lot (most) of them, but yeah it was still cheaper than buying an Oz from the LP....Currently only feeding them water.

 

The tent is a GA 48x48x80, with a Vivosun 6 inch duct fan and carbon filter

 

Holmes Lil' Blizzard fan (this thing moves a lot of air)

 

I originally had a smaller tent so I started out germinating 3 seeds by dropping them in a glass of water for 36 hours. After they all popped, I planted them directly into coco pots. At that time I decided to change to a larger tent, so I dropped 2 more seeds into a glass of water to germinate. 36 hours later one of the seeds had popped, but not the other. I planted the one that popped, and left the other in the water for another 12 hours. At this time it still hadn't popped, so I just dropped it into a pot with the others. The one that never popped didnt end up coming through the soil until about 2 days ago (I was actually just about to give up on it). It's the tiny coco pot in the middle. Pretty sure it's gonna be a retard plant but whatever, I'll give it some love and care. Don't tell Justin. The nice healthy plant on the bottom right is the other seed that I germinated with it at the same time.


 

 

Close up shot 1

Close up shot 2

 

 

 

 

tl;dr i love you all

This post will get downvoted to oblivion, but sadly this is simply the wrong sub to ask this question, unfortunately. As usual when this question gets asked here, every answer is ignoring your query, dismissing your budget, and instead is insisting that you NEED to spend 2-3 times as much instead. This simply isn't true, and this elitist attitude creates an unnecessary obstacle to people wanting to get their feet wet in this hobby.

You can achieve perfectly acceptable results with a 600 watts LED like this one..

Similarly, this one is a good choice for getting started.

In point of fact, there is a ton of snobbery and bro-science in this hobby. Interestingly the latest research on this subject seems to indicate that tuned-spectrum grow-lights might even be a waste of money, and that bog-standard 5000k LED light bulbs might be perfectly adequate for maximizing indoor-growing yields, at the least.

The Impact of Light Intensity and Spectrum-Tuning on Cannabis Yields

>The results show that holding all else constant, cannabis yields are primarily driven by the intensity of the lighting, whereas there is little evidence that tuned-spectrum lights have a significant increase in yield versus general-purpose, broad-spectrum lights. Moreover, the positive, apparently linear relationship between intensity and yields continues at least to 1500 µmols/m2· s, which is over twice the level provided by an HPS fixture in a grow configuration, which is currently the industry standard. These results are important for two reasons: First, many horticulture LED lights are tuned-spectrum varieties that justify a significant price premium above commoditized broad-spectrum LEDs by arguing that their proprietary spectrum increases the value of a grower’s yields. It is possible that spectrum tuning may improve the cannabinoid profile substantially enough to justify a price premium, but our results provide no evidence that spectrum tuning increases yields. Rather, the more profitable strategy would be to buy commoditized, high-intensity, broad-spectrum LEDs (like flood lights), which are about one-third the cost per watt of horticulture LEDs. The second reason these results are important is that the vast majority of growers use HPS lights. Those who use LED lights are using lights that were designed to use less electricity while providing the same light intensity as an HPS. Our results suggest that both these strategies reduce the grower’s expected profits, since both provide less light than is optimal when trying to maximize yields.

Having read this, I purchased these LED bulbs, splitters, and hanging cords from Amazon, and am running two of those on a single plant in my north facing window as an experiment. So far, the plant is doing just fine, and it seems to be progressing as well as the plant I have under a 600 watt COB.

These are my suggestions - feel free to ask more questions if you need anything!

Read these guides (not by me) - I wish I had had something like this when I started: http://homegrow-pro.com/quantum-board-build-grow-tent/ And this one: http://homegrow-pro.com/the-3x3-grow-tent-setup/

The links and suggestions below are oriented for Canadians, so feel free to ask for alternatives.

Essentials

• Grow Tent: 3 ft x 3 ft x 6 ft is the size you'd probably want. This is the one I bought: https://www.amazon.ca/VIVOSUN-Hydroponic-Observation-Window-Growing/dp/B01DXYMKIO
  
• Light: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Pre-assemabled-Kingbrite-2019-newest-samsung_62123342418.html?spm=a2700.icbuShop.41413.14.161358f6VLfhlM This light is a fantastic LED quantum board that is very easy to assemble - I got the 3000K one with the epistar, but this one has the better CREE version
  
• Fabric Pots: Head to Amazon and grab yourself a 5-pack of 7 gallon fabric pots https://www.amazon.ca/VIVOSUN-Gallons-Thickened-Nonwoven-Handles/dp/B00TF9E9PY/
  
• Also get yourself a saucer (you can get this at any garden store) and a pot elevator for each pot (pot elevator example: http://amazon.ca/Gro-Pro-725675-Level-Elevator/dp/B01J37FHF8/)
  
• Soil: Get yourself a bail of Pro Mix HP with mycorrhizae (it's cheap, reliable, and hard to overwater) from Canadian Tire, Rona, any store really and get also a bag of earthworm castings. Cover the bottom of your fabric pot with the castings (2-3 inches deep) https://www.homehardware.ca/en/20l-organic-worm-castings/p/5025712
  
• Nutrients: Gaia Green Dry Amendments (All Purpose and Power Bloom) Mix the All Purpose in with your Pro-Mix HP and then top dress your "soil" every month, changing it to Power Bloom during flowering https://www.canadiangardensupply.com/gaia-green-all-purpose-4-4-4.html https://www.canadiangardensupply.com/gaia-green-power-bloom-2-8-4-power-bloom-2-8-4-2kg.html
  
• Ventilation: Get the AC Infinity Cloudline T4 - it's absolutely worth it. Then purchase a 4-inch carbon filter and 4 inch tubing from Amazon (branding doesn't matter for these two things) https://www.amazon.ca/AC-Infinity-CLOUDLINE-T4-Ventilation/dp/B06ZXWN3BG https://www.amazon.ca/AC-Infinity-Dual-Layer-Aluminium-Ventilation/dp/B071LHCFZ8 https://www.amazon.ca/VIVOSUN-Australia-Charcoal-Pre-filter-Included/dp/B01DXYMBU6
  
• Timer: You can go cheap on this, but also consider a smart timer (like a Wemo) https://www.amazon.ca/Insight-Switch-Enabled-Compatible-Amazon/dp/B00EOEDJ9W
  
• Seeds: Jahseeds.ca - Canadian breeder, amazing beans, amazing price! Go with feminized seeds for your first round. https://jahseeds.ca/shop?olsPage=t%2Ffeminized-seeds
  
  
  Extra accessories
  
  
• 2 fire extinguishers (one for just outside tent, one for outside the room, where the tent is located)
  
• Pruning shears (seperate ones for trimming live plants and ones for harvesting) https://www.amazon.ca/Pruning-Gardening-Straight-Stainless-Precision/dp/B076HL5JJM
  a lighter (for sanitizing)
  
• a set of tweezers, for planting your sprouted seed
  
• some garden gloves
  
• rope ratchets for your lights
  
• zips ties for protecting things
  
• binder clips (for low stress training)
  
• plant ties (soft rubber and wire kind)
  
• watering can
  
• two pairs of measuring spoons for dry amendments
  
• a clip on fan and rotating fan (for air circulation over and under the canopy)
  
• markers and a pack of tag plant markers for identifying plants
  
• soil moisture https://www.amazon.ca/Soil-Moisture-Sensor-Meter-Hydrometer/dp/B014MJ8J2U
  
• paper towels (for germination)
  
• Bucket Head Wet Dry Vacuum Powerhead Lid for 19 Litre (5 Gal.) Multi-Use Buckets great for gathering up the excess water and tipped soil) https://www.homedepot.ca/product/bucket-head-wet-dry-vacuum-powerhead-lid-for-19-litre-5-gal-multi-use-buckets/1000666690
  
• 3 five gallon buckets (1 for the buckethead vacuum and 2 for extra water reservoirs) and two lids
  
• 3 surge protector power bars
  
• Various AC power extension cables
  
• 1 trellis net (for ScrOG training)
  
• USB microscrope (used to check the trichomes at harvest - if you want you can also get an adapter so it plugs directly into your smartphone, as opposed to plugging it into a computer) https://www.amazon.ca/Jiusion-Magnification-Endoscope-Microscope-Compatible/dp/B06WD843ZM
  
• 62% Boveda packs for curing
  
• Mason jars for curing and storage
  
• hanging rack for drying (you can substitute this for a hanger and some plant ties)
  
• Duct tape
  It's a little more expensive at the start, but this setup will pay for itself within two harvests.
  
  
  With this setup you can expect to yield between 8 to 10 oz every run (even with autos), once you grow accustomed to the cycle.

I honestly would use panda film over the mylar stuff. Mylar is slightly more reflective but panda film is cheaper and diffuses light better. It's black on the backside for blacking out. It's also cheaper. Either one will work great tho.

>Now my questions are, do i need some kind of air inlet to let fresh air in, and if so, will a simple vent do, or does it require a fan as well, or is that overkill for what I'm doing?

A vent should be plenty. Make it bigger than your exhaust, like 2x bigger. Intake fans arent needed in such a smll space. Make sure it's a lifeproof vent. Like this

>Also, If I get a 150Watt LED, I think that would meet my needs, but if I added another 50w LED light and pointed it at the undergrowth, would that be a benifit or will the 1 lamp provide all I need? I'm on a budget, but thankfully the budget is large enough that if I can find a good bang for my buck addition that will provide a better harvest, I can do it.

Like /u/Cuicos said, get the quantum board 135w kit. It will be all you need in that space. It equals one of the "600w" blurple LED panels on amazon. Or about 4-5 of those 150w LEDs you're talking about (UFO im assuming).

You wont need any side lighting or anything using the kit.


>I know I'll need an air extractor and carbon air filter, as wel as a small fan inside the room to circulate the air.

Yep. If you want a cheap one, get this. It will be loud as hell though. If you want a quiet one, get this. DO NOT GET A FAN LIKE THIS ONE.


If you are serious about smell, do not get a shitty filter. Ipower, vivosun, etc. are all shitty. I had a brand new 4" ipower filter and it couldnt handle 1 plant. Get a phresh one, this one is perfect.

Imho they will be fine, I've finished plants with similar or colder weather and some overcast days but not constant maybe two and a half days per week, if yours are just cloudy then better. They may take a little longer to mature though. Yeah a 12/12 or similar to your sunset/rise time is ok too, I was just trying to make it clear with the question it wasn't mockery just letting you know haha.
Leds are often advertised with their equivalent wattage of those old bulbs, much like cfls, not what the bulb actually draws. Like this one is actually around 25w, this is about 130w, and this are about 255w. I would get this 600 last one over the other recommended viparspectra, more bang for your buck and less bulky.

For veg/clones you should be using 6500k lights or T5 lights, not 2700k. 2700k is for flowering.

That soil says "feeds up to 4 months". In general, you don't want soil with built-in fertilizer. Get the FF soil and some perlite. You're going to want 25-40% of the mix to be perlite.

Don't use Miracle Grow. Go with Fox Farms Trio or GH GO Box. If you really want to save money on nutes (you don't), grab some fish fertilizer ($8 at Home Depot) for veg and Morebloom ($6 at Home Depot) for flowering. If you go with the cheap nutrient options, it'll show, but it's better than nothing.


HID isn't complicated. You don't need to be smart to set it up. A system like this comes with everything you need. Any real light system (including LED) is going to require ventilation (inline fan and duct).

Good luck! Keep us updated.

very high quality, and I kinda thought about the price as well but then put it into perspective. A 600w grow kit cost less than the two 300w leds which are actually around 180 true watts. two of them in my 36x36x78 is wonderful, not great but sufficient. one 300w led in my tent would not be enough though, I need two so it makes sense they're not very expensive yet beautiful quality. I would only worry that the delivery service handles them with care. I was lucky and both arrived in perfect condition from UPS.

You aren't really supposed to run a 1400w circuit at full rating for extended periods of time. If you can I would try to put your 1000w light and maybe a fan on the 1400w circuit and put every other supplementary thing on another circuit. If you have washer/dryer I'd recommend the washer circuit but any way to split the loads is going to benefit you in the long run, and be safer too.

At first I thought the 100 kWh per month had to be off because when I am barely growing anything mine is still at 800 kWh per month. When things are all running It averages to 1600 kWh per month, and in hot summer months when the AC runs a lot too my bill gets up to 3000 kWh. Luckily I pay a quarter of what you're getting charged so it isn't a huge burden but I would expect if you plan on running 1000w light your utility bill will definitely go up.

You won't be running your 1000w 24 hours a day (it's advised to not run most ballasts/bulbs with 100% duty cycle like that) so just counting the light, since that's the bulk of your usage anyways, then let's say you run it 18 hours per day for 30 days in veg that's 18*1100*30 = 594kWh or at $0.20/kWh is $118 for that month just to run the light. Note I am using 1100 watts instead of 1000 watts to account for extra power consumed by the light and other inefficiencies.

Let's assume for flower you run it 12 hours a day for 60 days so that's 12*1100*60 = 792 kWh for two months or 396 kWh for each month of flower, coming out to $79.20 to run the light each month of flower.

If you want to do similar calculations with your supplementary equipment a good investment is a Kill-a-watt and they sell them at most franchise hardware stores too. You can plug your other equipment into this and run it for a day and after 24 hours cycle to the kWh display and use that in further electric usage/billing calculations.

currently using a 300W LED light from VIVOSUN and its been doing great for my 2 pepper plants 2 cannabis plants and a tomato/dill plant i have going,

but im looking into investing into another LED light, this time a 600W to add to my 4x4 tent.

Looking at a few options but im not sure if they're good or not.

vivosun 600w vivosun is reliable and great but its cost is 120$

This no name brand named wakyme is only 60$ and has a dual switch and comes with a few things, but i've never seen any on this subreddit and the reviews seem alright but im not sure.

and lastly this one, phlizon tons of reviews, seems like an older model but also comes with goodies and is only 80$ with a dual switch.


should i go with ol reliable and spend almost double without a dual switch and no goodies with it, or do some of you use these brands and know they are reliable and great to sustain my 4x4 tent with my already 300W led light which is doing great.

Hijacking here because you seem knowledgeable, and this is somewhat related. I'm building in a similar sized space as OP. I have Two of these hanging from the ceiling and on either wall I have 2, 2ft strip t5 lights. Right now I have 6500k bulbs in everything for veg, but the total lumen output for the bulbs I have to switch for bloom is just about 20000 lumen.

According to the lighting guide here in the microgrowery, 2000 lumen per square foot is minimum with medium in the 5k/sqft and optimum around 7k/sqft. For my space, I'm just around 2200 lumen/sqft. Do you feel this is adequate?

I'm still in veg, but when I switch to flower, I'm concerned if I'll have enough light. In such a tight space, adequate ventilation isn't easily achievable for a HPS(400W Ideally) lamp without raising the temperature too much (I think anyway) The room fluctuates between 71 and 76 now, so I worry that the HPS will push it into the mid 80s or possibly higher and hinder the plants' health.

OH and I there's 4 plants all of equal size each in 3 gallon containers if that helps.

I was considering getting one more of those bulbs I linked and hanging it vertically(with no reflector, I'll buy one of the hanging sockets) in the center of the 4 plants. So far I topped them twice, and I have 4 main khola nodes on top! They all look great, I'm so proud and happy. Like I said though, this is veg, and come flower it'll be lacking output.

TL;DR: 9sqft grow room, 20000 lumens at 2700k(about 4000 of the lumen are admittedly at the 3500k range) or around 2200 lumen/sqft. Is this adequate for a bloom I can be proud of?

P.S. Sorry for hijacking.

Don't forget a speed controller! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006NGI8VS/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

this one's highly recommended and people say it helps reduce the humming on the inline fan compaerd to cheaper speed controllers.

I'm sure the apollo tents are fine, I've heard slightly better reviews for the vivosun tents. This one's about $12 more than yours i think. https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Horticulture-Hydroponic-Obeservation-Growing/dp/B01DXYMQ9M/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1478889774&sr=1-2&keywords=vivosun+48

The Mars 300 is chill for the price, you probably want to want to get a second one if you're going to have multiple plants in that tent. People say 1 mars 300 per plant should get you good results, almost pushing it with two full plants under a single mars 300.

Also if and when possible, try to invest in a good pH meter. everyone recommends bluelabs! https://www.amazon.com/Bluelab-Ultimate-Solution-Measuring-Temperature/dp/B008R7OWJS/ref=sr_1_3?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1478889906&sr=1-3&keywords=bluelabs+ph+pen

I didn't PH at first and my plants were dying on me... turns out my tap PH was above 7.0 ph. the PH pen saved grow!

Yeah, too many first timers go with HPS or non-led options because those lights have tons of info everywhere. LED, while being well established, is still in the adoption phase of use. Especially when you consider all the locations that are just starting to legalize and new growers are starting their first attempts.

I've directed a few friends to this little guy for a small first time LED setup. I use this light for my mother in my 2x2 and she's been loving it for a long time. Bonus to LED adoption is saving a ton of money and reducing heat issues.

Another good place to look on Amazon is PandaGrow they're a reliable source for pre-made COB LEDs. Myself and a few friends have a few different designs and each has performed well.

I used to use fiskars religiously. I still do occasionally but I mostly use these now...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00P0FK7W6/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1526068853&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=trim+scissors&dpPl=1&dpID=51x9w7rkW%2BL&ref=plSrch


I was looking to get another pair of fiskars and came across these. There work better than fiskars IMO bc they fit in your hand better. Plus they are cheap and clean easily

Here's what I just bought to do about the same thing you're looking to do. I had to buy a bit of a smaller box due to height restrictions but this has been working great for me.

​

Timber Grow Lights 3VL - this thing is a beast and very well built - $450

Vivosun 2 x 4 x 5 Grow Tent - big enough for what I need without taking up the entire space I have - $75

​

That matches up pretty well with the cost of the 400w kit that you linked to, but I think you'd be getting a much more efficient light (that may also be a better light overall, but I can't really speak to it since I'm not familiar with what that kit company provides and I'm too lazy to dig into it).

​

Thanks! I thought the same thing when i saw those leaves develop!
The younger ones "wriggle" so much as they're growing in, it's awesome to look at.

I'm using 2 of these lights they were cheap but had pretty great reviews. so far so good.

Standard Fox Farm Nutes with Cal mag too.

Soil is just organic stuff from amazon

I went pretty cheap on the supplies, but so far so good.

edit: just adding quantity of lights.

you need to get a ph meter: https://www.amazon.com/Jellas-Household-Hydroponics-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B00YBUH4RC/ref=lp_393271011_1_3?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1511300438&sr=1-3 will suffice.

I would recommend a water/nutrient pH of 6.4 for promix as it is a peat based media that is acidic. Meaning your pH should be about 6.2, but if you add 6.2 and hits the acidic peat, it will not be that anymore. Some people argue lower pH for soiless, but let me assure you that at 6.4 in results in a 5.6ish out. I personally think you are safe with a pH 5.4-6.2 out. What I mean by out is run-off, you need to feed enough liquid so that ~20% just drains through. Placing the pot in a pail during feeding/watering helps. This will drain extra salts.

Also, you should add perlite (1/3 volume) with promix as it can cause drainage problems and water retention if you don't. Think about that before you transplant. You may need to also add dolomite lime in the future. Read up on that please, just thinking ahead for you, and letting you avoid mistakes I had made. It doesn't take a lot, but helps to stabilize your pH and provides cal/mag.

>Not sure what EC means

It means Electroconductivity and refers to the salinity of your water.
Do you know how hard your water is? If its too hard, you need to dilute it with RO water. Some people just use RO water only, but supplement it with CalMag solution. If you don't know what's in your tap water, call the water department and ask them. They most probably posted your water analysis online.

Yur just lucky I'm feeling nice ;)

EDIT: And ffs quit giving them miracle grow!

The more you spend, the better the light. The better the light, the better the plant. The better the plant, the more you yield. The more you yield, the more cost effective the operation is.

Cheapest option. Buy two:

https://www.amazon.com/ACKE-Germination-Seedling-Vegetative-Flowering/dp/B07GGX3R9T

Slightly better:

https://www.amazon.com/Lenofocus-Spectrum-Hydroponic-Vegetable-Flowering/dp/B07TV9GWPB

Best option within your price range:

https://www.amazon.com/Horticulture-Lighting-Group-High-Efficiency-Upgraded/dp/B076QDKVDZ

If your house has conditioned air, you might be able to draw off of that to cool your cabinet in the attic. A small cabinet can be cooled by a 4" line and a real exhaust fan. Install a bathroom fan style ceiling grate in an out of the way place (spare bedroom closet?) and no one will know what's up there. Just, uhh, don't pull from the bathroom... Not only would you suck bathroom smells into the tent, but if your bathroom fan is powerful enough and the door is shut, it could conceivably pull air from the tent into the bathroom 😬

Look for a fan that can do in the neighbourhood of 200cfm, preferably with a speed controller. I have this Vivosun one: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01DXYMGOM but if you're not on a budget, this one would be excellent: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B06ZXWN3BG

Avoid the super cheap "booster" fans, they're only useful as an add-on in the middle of a long run.

FF Happy Frog is the potting soil, right? It won't be "hot" (lots of slow-release nutes) as you are being warned about.

Are your seeds feminized? I'm going to assume so and say: Go with five 3-gallon smart pots. Build a simple ScrOG net, grow them up through it, training them sideways as they grow tall. When you have tops in 80% of squares flip to 12/12.

Are the FF nutrients the Fox Farm Trio? If so, start using them at 1/4 strength after week three or so. Along with some CalMg. Use the schedule on their site, not what the bottles say. I use FF's Trio, less is more!

Yeah your tent is the right size for flowering 4 medium-large plants or 9 smaller ones (like if you took clones of a photoperiod strain). Anyway, 3 autos have a good chance to not even fill up the whole space, which could be good for your first run not having to invest as much in lights all at once.

"Quantum board" specifically is a name brand by the company HLG that I mentioned in the previous post. They're really good and use the highest efficiency LM301B Samsung diodes but require a bit of assembly unless you want to pay a whole bunch extra. No soldering or anything though, just some screws and wire connectors This 260W kit for $350 would cover most of your tent at a full flowering brightness and spectrum. It would probably require that plus a second smaller light to completely cover the 3x3. Which could work out great if you started off with a small cheaper light during veg for the first few weeks and then add the bigger light later on.

My suggestion if you wanted to do that would either be to start with the small HLG boards you can get preassembled on amazon (two of the 65w $100 HLG65 or one of the 100W $150 HLG100) or one 150W $140 MarsHydro SP-150.
I would not suggest any of the other MarsHydro lights besides the SP-150 or SP-250. Those are their only ones with a proper heat sink and high efficiency diodes. They are not quite as efficient as the quantum boards but are fairly close and are much cheaper than any other preassembled light in this efficiency range with a decent build quality.


Another option with the same type of Samsung diodes as the HLG in another form factor are the chilled logic pucks I mentioned like this 400W 4 puck system for $600 which would absolutely completely cover the entire tent right off the bat and could even be dimmed down while plants are younger.

My Setup:

• Lumin Tekco Indoor Grow Tent, 36"x36"x72"
  
  
• Apollo Horticulture 6" 440 CFM Inline Fan with 6" Carbon Filter
  
  
• 2 Roleadro 2nd Generation 600W LED Plant Grow Light's.
  
  
• FFOF soil now and open to different brand for the transplant from 1 gal pot to 5 gal smart pots this weekend.
  
  
• Nutes: Just started 1/4 strength FF Grow Big and FF Big Bloom last watering (I have FF tiger set aside for flower)
  
  
• Supplements: Cal/Mag and Silica. (first time also this week)
  
  
• Temps: 76H/68L
  
  
• Humidity: 38%H/25%L
  
  *pH: Water going is phd to 6.5, runoff fluctuating between 5.8-6.4 recent waterings.
  
  If I missed something let me know.
  
  New Pic!

Imo you'd be better off getting a cob setup with cbx 3590 or vero 29 cobs this site has some good options to choose from. If you want to try out something different with good coverage and efficiency check out qb boards. If you want something affordable, yet powerful go with a 600/1000 mh/hps light. If you just want a basic cheap led light marshydro 300w(132w actual) is a good start.

Yes, I'm not familiar with that specific QB board (I have the 135 watt one, a QB288v2), but it seems like they're pretty clear about which specific drivers the other models use. You could order that part directly from an electronics supply company like Digikey, Mouser, etc.

While not strictly necessary, it may also be handy to pick up something like a Kill-A-Watt -- the Meanwell drivers I've seen just dim by turning trimpot screws, there isn't any built-in display for what wattage you've set it to.

I honestly don't know where I read every 7 days but it seemed to make sense, re-fresh the water at least once a week. Are you saying it should be changed more often or less often?

I bought a PPM meter, this one, 515 reviews and still 4 1/2 stars. Hopefully it works, I've had no luck in the past with digital PH meters and just use the chemical test kit from General Hydroponics.

After reading everyones comments I'm definitely gonna set up a PH adjusted plain water reservoir. However I grow different strains at the same time (different finish dates, some like more or less nutes than others) so I can't use one general reservoir, which is why I decided upon DWC instead of other hydro options in the first place.

Do the nutrient bottles tell you what the desired PPM is? What happens if you don't have a filtration system and your starting out at about 300 ppm from my regular well water.

DETAILS ON SET UP

Light: Roleadro 300W LED light

Fan and filter: ipower 4" inline fan with carbon filter (my roomates are worried about the smell

Tent: Millard 30" x 18" x 36" tent

Odds and ends: A digital timer to schedule lights

A fan speed controller

3-gallon smart pots

A humidity and temp sensor

Plus a small clip on fan.

GROW DETAILS

I have three different strains, Northern Lights, Pre-99 big bud, and pure power plant, and then an unknown seed(which I planted about two weeks ago as the previous unknown seed turned out male, see previous post [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/microgrowery/comments/5qo1yo/early_sign_of_balls_details_in_comments/0. One in each 3-gallon smart pot. For the first two weeks of growing I had an 18/6 light schedule, and then switched to 12/12. (I'm essentially doing 12/12 from as early as the plant could respond to the change in light schedule). Over the past 15 days I watered twice with tiger bloom nutes.

I definitely made the mistake of not listening to your advice when I originally posted and am trying to grow 3 plants in a 1.5X2.5X3 foot tent...It is getting crowded, I should've listened and stuck with one, maybe two plants. Other than that I haven't had any problem that I have noticed other then a few spots of damage on leaves occasionally but no pests or wilting. I'm sure there are things I could've done better though. Thank you for all your help, I can't wait to get to harvest.

Awesome, thanks! Would the liquid stuff be just as good or is that meant for hydro systems? I’m growing in soil.
I’m looking at this :

https://www.amazon.ca/General-Hydroponics-Florabloom-Floramicro-Fertilizer/dp/B017H73708/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=general+hydroponics&qid=1568638526&sprefix=general+hydro&sr=8-3

Would it be more wise to go with the full kit?

https://www.amazon.ca/General-Hydroponics-Flora-Performance-Pack/dp/B008UCCCII/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?keywords=general+hydroponics&qid=1568638598&sprefix=general+hydro&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyU1BPMVJBWTdEQTlZJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzI2MDk4MUI3QUpWQUFDRUY5OSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzYzNjM2MTdGNUpJSllIQlowVCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

No problem! Do you have the space for 72 inches of height vs 60? Also consider a 3x3 would give you 9 square feet vs 8 square feet of a 4x2. Tents should be similarly priced these dimensions.


For your light this would be an awesome choice https://m.alibaba.com/product/62323084952/detail.html?spm=a2706.wapshop.0.0

240watt quantum led board

AC Infinity CLOUDLINE T4, Quiet 4" Inline Duct Fan with Temperature Humidity Controller - Ventilation Exhaust Fan for Heating Cooling Booster, Grow Tents, Hydroponics https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B06ZXWN3BG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_JL1MDbQ099E88

This would be a top of the line exhaust fan and then you would want a 4 inch inline fan for bringing in fresh air. If looking at other brands of exhaust I would suggest sticking with 4 inch for your space.

A carbon filter if smell is an issue.

A fan for the bottom of your tent for circulation.

Something to elevate your planter off the ground.

A powerbar that's rated 50% more amps than you are plugging into it.

Something to measure your temperature/humidity and depending on the temperature/humidity maybe a humidifier or dehumidifier

Maybe a clip on fan for circulation above the canopy.

Ratchet cord for hanging stuff.

Maybe clippers for defoliating and eventual trimming.

Stuff to tie with for training your plant and maybe a scrog net if thata for you.

Happy growing :)

Edit: sorry, accidentally replied to main post instead of your reply!

Edit: apology 2, forgot that you were looking to do this all under $200. Will be tough. Might be cheapest to just start with a little nutes and start piecing your tent setup together over some time.

Giantex Indoor Grow Tent Room Reflective Mylar Hydroponic Non Toxic Clone Hut 6 Size (32''X32''X63'') https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PXK7ICK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_UhVuybY2C4CHS

Roleadro 2nd Generation 600W LED Plant Grow Light Upgraded Full Spectrum Indoor Growing Light with 120pcs 5W Chips https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IVQ96MW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_diVuybHJCV7XV

VIVOSUN 4 Inch 203 CFM Duct Inline Fan with Variable Speed Controller https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CTM0H6I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BiVuybSGHVZTE

Century 24 Hour Heavy Duty Plug-in Mechanical Timer Grounded https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MVFF59S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_nkVuybNGBW6PS

MacDoDo PH-02 Digital PH Meter Tester Best For Water Aquarium Pool Hot Tub Hydroponics Wine - Push Button Calibration Resolution 0.01 / High Accuracy +/- 0.05 - Large LCD Display - 100% Guaranteed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JOHTMEO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_MkVuybZ08V91M

VIVOSUN Pair of 1/8" Adjustable Grow Light Reflector Clip Hanger Rope Ratchet with Zinc Alloy Internal Gears 75lb Each https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P7TZNPQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_nlVuyb1Q8670K

This is my setup, my fan is coming in today and my seedlings sprouted this morning. I did quite a bit of research and The light is a little underpowered but I was on a pretty tight budget and can always add more light later.
I spent $40 on seeds and super soil mix from Mephisto genetics, going a more organic route and won't require nutes.
I also spent about $30 on peat moss, perlite, and compost. I already had some ducting and pots.

I am not really sure. I am in the US, but if I were going to get a fan and filter right now I guess i'd get something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D7M6692/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AXC6VLRHTOFD2

So yea $250 seems like a lot, but with the controller and what not I don't really know.

They actually have a good picture on that amazon page of how you can set up the filter/fan.

I found this, not Phresh, but it had good reviews compared to the Ventech I have seen recommended on here. I will def look into the Phresh though! Thanks! Edited to ask your opinion on the fan/filter combo or if you have experience with it at all. :)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D7M6692/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I was going to say the same thing. Those COBs look great but very expensive.

​

I put a 65w HLG in a 20"x20" and it's doing great. https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Board-Grow-Bloom-4000K/dp/B076QDKVDZ

​

100w HLG would be awesome too but Amazon seems to have lost it (or I just can't find it).

I have a similar tent and I just started my first grow about 3 weeks ago. I was having issues similar to you. I was above 80 degrees and low humidity. It burned my first plant right up. I fixed it with three things:

1. This exhaust fan - Just put it on the outside top of your tent so that it pulls all the hot air that has risen to the top out.
   
2. I put 7" ducting in the bottom vents to keep them open at 100% for intake. You could put one of these in the hole and it would really help the temp a lot. Put that fan you have in the tent directly in front of the intake hole at the bottom as to maximize the amount of fresh, cool air you pull in the tent.
   
3. A humidifier. I went to goodwill, found a 2.5 gallon for $15 and it works perfect. Before I was at like 15% RH in the tent, now Im above 50%
   
   EDIT: Now I get ~70-74 degrees F inside the tent.

Can I start off by saying that this well researched, well organized, informative post is a breath of fresh air compared to the "These balls mean its female, right?" and "Got clone, wat do guyz, lol" type posts, thank you for that.

I'd advise you skip the cheapo fan controllers and go with a Mercury 4 to maintain way tighter temp control. These controllers will raise and lower your fan speed to maintain a 10 degree swing. Or go full bore with the Arduino and control it with that.

A variac fan controller is also a good alternative to the cheap ones.

I'd also recommend a 6 inch setup as they're much more prevalent in home improvement stores. A six inch fan moving the same amount of air will also be quieter.

Consider Jack's hydro 321 if you're concerned you're paying a bit too much for Scott's brand bottled water... I mean GH nutes, sorry, I get confused sometimes.


I like these scissors.

https://smile.amazon.com/Sago-Brothers-Pruning-Scissors-Trimmer/dp/B00P0FK7W6/ref=pd_sim_86_23?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=M6MNMDEB9656STMBFWVM

A 40x loupe will be hard to get pics with. People seem to have good luck with those phone attachment macro lenses.

You may need a temp controller for the seedling mat, but I've read of people using pencils under their seedling tray for a little air gap.

Thank you for your advice! I have been looking at Mars Hydro LEDs on Amazon. I see a 300w for $90 or a 600w for $159. Do you think it's worth the jump in price to go with the 600w for a smaller scale grow? I was looking at HID kits as well, for nearly the same price as the 600w Mars Hydro you can go with this option as well http://amzn.com/B005ECZQTY

Thanks for your insight, it is greatly appreciated!

looks like this one https://www.amazon.com/Panel-Light-System-Spectrum-Replace/dp/B00RZ78ISM

1 bad review, one guy doesn't know that all lights have about half advertised wattage.

meh. it's a gamble on reliability. some people who know more about LEDs than i do, apparently, talk shit about these "blurple" lights, in favor of full-spectrum. basically the cree bulb with the highest model number is near the best you can get. i'm still digesting this stuff myself. efficiency, higher lumens per watt is what you get in the good ones.

I'm not an expert, but you're asking me, the lights i wish i got were two https://www.amazon.com/Roleadro-Greenhouse-Germinating-Flowering-Generation/dp/B01IVQ96WW key words being full spectrum cob. It comes with the Cree CXA3070 which is the chips hobbyists on /r/microgrowery used in their own builds a year ago. They've moved on to better cob chips, but a cutting edge light for 2015 can't be that bad.

I got one of these https://www.amazon.com/Roleadro-Plant-Light-Spectrum-Generation/dp/B01HI3AFYM along with a mars 600 and the roleadro isn't bad for a $70 light, it may not be worth the cob premium for all i know. Three of those may do you.

So there are only specific fans that will do that? Every fan I have looked at has pretty mixed up reviews but I haven't seen that mentioned. I'm probably over thinking all of this but this has been something I've been fixing to do for awhile too.

And now I'm looking at this light would this be the better move? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076QDKVDZ/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdo_t1_YRHhDbF4STW1M

I'm trying to get everything on Amazon because I have a lot of credit there

Can you get your hands on some Recharge? Or any equivalent 'super pack' of bacteria/fungi? pH and nutrient deficiencies are solved a lot easier with beneficial bacteria in your soil. You could skip the litmus strips, skip checking your N dosage, skip checking pH. I haven't pH'd my water in over a year.

https://www.amazon.com/Real-Growers-Recharge-8oz/dp/B00J1CAEIG

I'm trying to see what the actually pull on this thing is.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IVQ96MW/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

It says 124 but I think that's talking about their 300w because my Vipar 300 draws actual like 130 or something according to the manual.

So if the 600 draws 240-260, that's not bad for the price. $137. And the roleadro has the white/yellow light so it would compliment one of the disco ball lights well.

I just can't find for sure what the actual on it is.

The lights are one for 18 hours and off for 6. Mine come on at 4 PM and go off at 10 AM.

I'm just using a power strip with a built in timer. Like this. Half the outlets are on a timer, the other half are always on.

I used to keep my fans on the timer as well, but I recently swapped them out for quieter models that are less powerful/noisy. Now I just run the fans 24/7. My main fan has a thermostat in it and will slow down and speed up depending on the temperature in the tent. I find it convenient as I work from home and my tent is in my office. If I didn't sit in the same room as the tent all day, I'd probably just stick with a cheap duct fan like this. It's easy to overdo it with fans in a small tent. I originally bought a big 6" fan but it was overkill. My carbon filters died fast because I was pushing so much air through them and it made more noise than I could stand.

My setup is pretty simple and cheap, but it grows more than I can smoke and I don't have to spend much time worrying about it. I pretty much just did a little research, went on amazon found a grow tent, and bought all the 'people that buy this also buy...' stuff.

I used this and got fucking amazing results. 3 OZ from a room the same size. I was VERY impressed. I also used Flora ferts. I would highly recommend this light for your exact situation and at $160, you can't beat it.

Alright taking into consideration the 12 plant limit here, my previous setup was too big for so few plants. So with some downsizing hopefully saves even more!

Tent - GROWNEER 48"x36"x72" Lodge Propagation Tent

Lights - HLG65 lm301b and red 660nm hydroponic grow light 4000K x 2

Kingbrite 240W samsung lm301h 288v3 quantum board X1

Fan - AC Infinity CLOUDLINE S4, Quiet 4” Inline Duct Fan with Speed Controller

PH Meter - Wellcows Digital PH Meter

PPM Meter - HM Digital TDS-EZ Water Quality TDS Tester

Carbon Filter - VIVOSUN 4 Inch Air Carbon Filter

Ducting - VIVOSUN 2-PACK 4 Inch 8 Feet Non-Insulated Flex Air Aluminum Ducting

Nutrients - MEGA Crop (2500g)

Botanicare CAL-MAG Plus Plant Supplement 2-0-0 Formula, 1 Quart

PH Control - General Hydroponics pH Control Kit

Soil - PREMIER HORTICULTURE 20380RG PRO-Mix HP High Porosity Grower Mix

Pots - Gardzen 10-Pack 1 Gallon Grow Bags x 2

Cloning Machine - CLONE KING 25

Total - 880.62 (includes shipping)

So with this setup ill keep 1 or 2 mother plants and then run the rest in SoG in 1 gallon pots. Using the 2 4000k lights for the mother plant and the cloning station and the 240w for the SoG area of the tent. Its a small setup but I think it'll work. Any idea what kinds of yeilds this could achieve? Any further input would be greatly appreciated.

I was wondering what the catch was. I was trying to find the product history.

OP, it's a Chinese special with razor thin margins (they have a different ballast in the photo). You can see on their webpage that the ballast is even different than the one shown on the Amazon link.

I'd go with this more efficient reflector if you do decide on this brand. The cool tube is a relatively inefficient reflector.

Looks like the seller has inconsistent pricing. edit: the seller buys for half this price

Same ballast, different label. Typical of Chinese imports.

That shipping price makes it too good to be true.

Hello there, I recently started growing and purchased all new items. The fan you chose simply won't work. You will be very disappointed in the performance. I was going to use that fan as an inflow booster with a pre-filter. I quickly returned it because it just did not move enough air. The fan could not create positive pressure in the tent. I then tried this fan: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01M7S46YZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1495901534&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=4+inch+inline+fan&dpPl=1&dpID=41G0I96VBVL&ref=plSrch

I ended up returning that one as well because it was advertised as 200cfm and it was not moving anywhere near the same air amount as the first fan I bought. I then broke down and bought the same fan I originally purchased as my outflow fan and filter. I bought just the fan for 56.00 as an inflow fan and put a pre-filter on it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00D7M6692/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495901249&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=4+inch+inline+fan+carbon+filter+combo&dpPl=1&dpID=51REkA1uNbL&ref=plSrch

They don’t need them - they don’t get hot only “warm” and they are full spectrum which means you have a grow and bloom light. Very efficient at creating light and spread and cost effective :-)

Some reviews here:

https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Board-Grow-Bloom-4000K/dp/B076QDKVDZ

https://youtu.be/dM0ow-t6n64

Get something in either 3000K or 3500K range (spectrum output).

Let me know if you want to know more!

I am currently taking a class in college about renewable energy and how we can improve the efficiency of energy consumption, and as part of a big homework assignment, we have to evaluate our daily consumtion of energy.

To help us evaluate how much energy we use, they gave us "Kill-a-Watts" monitors which measure the voltage, the Amps, the Watts and also calculates the Kilowatts per hour.

We're supposed to use this with our computer, toaster, tv, but I thought auditing my grow op would be interesting.

Considering a good grower gets 1g/of LED real watt, you will not meet your expectations of 10-32 ounces with 600$, I am afraid. But have no fear. I am pretty good at budgets and enjoy a challenge so let's see what kind of setup we can generate.

Light - Your biggest and most important expenditure - 250$CADamazon.ca/VIPARSPECTRA-Reflector-Spectrum-Indoor-Function/dp/B01G8GDV32/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3G9VL9397BJLG&keywords=viparspectra&qid=1570768902&sprefix=vipars%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-5

I am an HPS grower that is actively is looking for an LED way out of the cooling I need to provide. I have read amazing things about viparspectra. This light has a real draw of 260W so you will be able to pull a half pound if you dial your environment right.

Pots - Fabric pots are the shit - 20$ CAD

https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=vivosun+5+gallon+fabric+pots&crid=2D5PJJD9PR0B3&sprefix=vivosun+5+gall%2Caps%2C172&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_14

I've grown in clay pots, nursery pots, dwc, rockwool cubes and I always go back to promix. And now I use Smart/Fabric pots. They are the tits of my life, ferreal. The handles help a lot.

Dehumidifier - You said you live in a bay area so i assume its humid af - 70$ CAD

https://www.amazon.ca/hOmeLabs-Small-Dehumidifier-Bathroom-Closet/dp/B072C3NMK1/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3RME7E0CJ86SV&keywords=dehumidifiers&qid=1570769281&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=dehu%2Clawngarden%2C173&sr=1-4

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Nutes - I've used these and have been successful. then again ive used 20-20-20 and been successul - 51$ CAD

https://www.amazon.ca/General-Hydroponics-Florabloom-Floramicro-Fertilizer/dp/B017H73708/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=veg+nutrients&qid=1570769329&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-3

PH adjusters - 30$CAD

amazon.ca/Standard-Hydroponics-Nutrients-Fertilizer-Gardening/dp/B07S1DFL3S/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ph+-&qid=1570769376&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-1

PH Tester - You fucking need this, hanna is a+ - 140$ CAD

https://www.amazon.ca/Hanna-Waterptroof-Pen-98127-pHep4/dp/B000CNKWNK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=13VXDFKB7DUMQ&keywords=hanna+ph+meter&qid=1570769430&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=hanna%2Clawngarden%2C170&sr=1-2

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We are at 561$ CAD so 425 USD

Buy cheap ass dirt or go dig some up. I've used garden dirt successfully indoors but you will have to spend extra money fighting bests. Get bagged dirt.

5 gallon bucket to run your sauce - like 5$CAD - go to a hardware store

Hooks and chain - Max 10$ at a harware store

You still havent answered my question about smell. A carbon filter and inline fan combo will run you up another 200$ CAD

so like 650$ USD.

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Sorry I'm Canadian.

Do you want to buy or is DIY an option?
DIY with Strips is fairly easy. But I don't know about canadian prices and availability of components.
An easy yet efficient solution would be 2 vegging QB.

Wow for the LED, I will definitively look into LEDs if I decide to upgrade my old 400W HPS.

As for the fan, if it's anything like this type of duct fan, it won't work with the filter.

This is the kind of fan you need

I dont see why you would need to water three times a day unless you are doing a hydro set up, but with a budget like that I would suggest you stick to soil. It will be cheaper and more forgiving if you mess up. If I were you I would go something along this route:

150 watt CFL-60$
Soil- 20$
Nutrients-40$
Fan-15$
pH test strips-13$
Total=150$

All you need after that is some pH up and pH down and an PPM meter and you will be good to go. Less than 200$.

I'm not sure what kind of analog hygrometer you got, but I've heard lots of people recommend these for use in the jars. That jar looks fine to me. I've always used regular mason jars, but any glass jar with an airtight seal should work well. You will want to have a place to hang dry the buds, but I imagine you could probably just do that in the space where you grew them. So yeah, the only thing I'm not sure about is your hygrometer.

Sorry, I didn't mean that brand wasn't important. I meant I'm not brand biased and open to any suggestions. But yes, I'll share with you the links to the lights I was considering.


SpaceTote2 Lights:

Philzon 600w LED Grow Light

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0752CL6KJ/ref=emc_b_5_i?th=1

VIPARSPECTRA Timer Control PAR600T 600W LED Grow Light
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RTG4H1J/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_taa_eagCDb5MWT707


5x5 Grow Tent:
-Was going to buy

Phlizon 1200w Grow Light

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07527N1F7/ref=emc_b_5_i

-Interested in buying now

Phlizon 1800w LED Grow Light

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SRR8ZD/ref=emc_b_5_i?th=1


VIPARSPECTRA 1350W LED Grow Light

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078B4VJ35/ref=twister_B07N66DGXN?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

VIPARSPECTRA Dimmable Series PAR1200 1200W LED Grow Light - 2 Dimmers
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7CEW5Q/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_taa_-9fCDbVAK62AB

King Plus 1500W Double Chips LED Grow Light
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZ8C34S/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_taa_9NfCDb5APW8K3

King Plus 2000W Double Chips LED Grow Light
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MY27Q9H/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_taa_aOfCDbCPXWYN8

I will have one 5x5 with either setup mentioned above and two space totes using a 600w led light each. I'm trying to use all of the same brand equipment to limit the amount of manufacturers to keep up with and monitor warranties with. Any suggestions, experiences and advice welcome.

It was a good harvest. I weighed them this time wet. Got 500 grams total wet weight off of 3 dwarf/stunted surprise autos.

I am very impressed now with Dewey. 200 grams wet weight and she was only 9 inches tall. I did lose one of her top buds to bud rot. Sad - other than the fact I grew a bud big and bad enough to rot - yeah me.

I tried some new trimmers this time. I have a set of the fiskars but I bought a pack of Sago Brothers Bonzai trimmers. (https://www.amazon.com/Sago-Brothers-Pruning-Scissors-Trimmer/dp/B00P0FK7W6).

I can't recommend them enough. Sharp and easy to use for small hands. And when I found the bud rot I just tossed the pair I was using to the side and grabbed a fresh pair. Upped my hygiene game immediately.

Kevin smells a bit grassy (not unpleasant) but Huey and Dewey smell like diesel.

4 more weeks and the Hash Plant should be done. Bubble Hash everywhere.

Sure they work but the Accuracy says +- 5%... Ymmv with these, make sure to calibrate with a bavedo pack or some other way so you at least know how far off it is.

These are a much better option and allow you to adjust +- 6 to calibrate once they arrive.

Caliber IV Digital Hygromter by Western Humidor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JXOKQVW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BpmJzbFA4MW01

Edit: I started with cheap ones at first and then noticed one was 10% off from one of the linked above. I then calibrated all my devices using a 62% bavedo pack and got them all set to the same range and tossed the ones that were off by more than 5% and not aadjustable. Rest I either adjusted or wrote the offset.

To calibrate put them jnto a sealed container with the bavedo pack and wait a day for it to normalize.

I know I don't have the most ideal conditions. I know my temps fluctuate too much, but this is the best I can do at the moment.

The bottle labeled "Plant Noms" is old. They're fed from three different containers, using Fox Farms' Liquid Nutrient Trio Soil Formula.

ETA: I use a 400W metal halide bulb for light, and they're in this tent.

Like you, I needed a pen but didn't want to pay a cnote for one. I'm already using drops because I feel it's more accurate, but wanted a pen to compare to.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00YBUH4RC/ref=pd_aw_lpo_469_lp_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=H7N0T6GZ8T1Q6HVCB7SJ

I went with Amazon because if it craps out or doesn't work properly, I have like 3 months to return it. I mean, theoretically you could do this with the bluelab one and return it before their window runs out, but that feels scummy. I figure if nothing else, I'm only out like 13 bucks.

I've used both fabric and plastic. In my experience, everything grows much easier in fabric. The pots you linked look fine. You can wash them in the washing machine and re-use them if your wife will let you, lol. I like these pot risers with these saucers. You can remove the run-off with a bucket head.

hey YOU, all this information is in the sidebar or can be easily googled and your shipost comes across particularly shitty.


but, just so this bleeding heart subreddit doesnt call me an asshole for telling you the truth, buy a couple of these lights , prob need like a 4x4 tent at least, you need an exhaust fan with a carbon filter like this

Gotta buy a calibrated hygrometer, cigar hygrometers seem to be the most accurate those cheap tiny ones aren’t very accurate and can have accuracy that is +/- 10% sometimes which isn’t acceptable for curing cannabis, but you can find a decent one for around 20 bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/Cigar-Oasis-Caliber-Digital-Hygromter/dp/B00JXOKQVW/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?keywords=hygrometers+for+humidors&qid=1574178978&sprefix=hygrometers&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzR1JGUk9TUlJGTDc0JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzk0MTMzM1BBMTJEVFFEQU9XUCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzQ4Mzg2MUlURkxUVjBQRFc5OCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

These are a good start, inkbird also makes one for 12 bucks ive heard decent feed back on, but these seem a little more accurate and tried and true by the humidor community.

I use these Sago Brothers Bonsai Pruner Pruning Scissors for Bud and Leaves Trimmer 5 PCS https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P0FK7W6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_w1xrzb280M4BH

Super cheap and sharp and work perfectly for trimming

Just depends really. I would get the 8" with [THIS](VenTech VT SPD-CTRL VTSPEED Variable Dial Router Fan Speed Controller for Duct and Inline Fans https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EVYGPJQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_T765ZEGFCE2F1) controller and then get THIS duct fan and connect it to your intake. Note the duct fan here is 6", I just copied it from my Amazon orders so you might need adapters depending on what size your intake duct is.

I'm not running HPS though so other variables come into play for you. You will have to experiment once you make some purchases.

Thanks, I'll definitely look into better lighting. Of course i will be getting a pH pen but i plan on using Fox Farm since I've heard very good things.
http://www.amazon.com/Fox-Farm-FX14049-Nutrient-Formula/dp/B00572026S/ref=sr_1_11?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1373392056&sr=1-11&keywords=400+watt+grow+light

Ontario here too, have you checked amazon? Vivosun has a good selection of tents for an excellent price! Here's the link to their tents, just select one of the 5 sizes -> https://www.amazon.ca/VIVOSUN-Horticulture-Hydroponic-Obeservation-Growing/dp/B01DXYMQ9M/ref=lp_11914446011_1_6?srs=11914446011&ie=UTF8&qid=1555178839&sr=8-6

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00P0FK7W6/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1527029595&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=bonsai+shears

These are by far my favorite for trimming sugar leaves. Super precise and razor sharp, makes it really easy to cut leaves precisely. Use any type of larger shears or scissors for stems and branches.

I see, thanks for explaining. Looking at inline kits, is this one you think would work? And does the space the inline lead too have to have fresh air? Since its a tent that will be in a closet.


https://www.amazon.com/iPower-Inline-Carbon-Ducting-Ventilation/dp/B00D7M6692/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1525534399&sr=8-3&


This is a full kit I found, do I need everything that's there?


Or can I get something like this with some Aluminum Ducting? Seems to be cheaper, is a filter 100% necessary? Smell for me isn't something that needs to be concealed.


https://www.amazon.com/iPower-Booster-Inline-Exhaust-Grounded/dp/B008N4QIZG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1525534299&sr=8-3&

Bluelab if you have the money for sure, but for a cheaper option I'd definitely recommend a Jellas Ph pen. I used it for ages before I upgraded. Just remember to calibrate once a week or so.

https://www.amazon.com/Jellas-Household-Hydroponics-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B00YBUH4RC

Tent size?

I have that $79 "yellow" "300W" roleadro and my plants grow happier under it than my mars 600, although it has a fan rattle from time to time.

I picked up this roleadro cob rig with CREE leds for my dad https://www.amazon.com/Roleadro-Greenhouse-Germinating-Flowering-Generation/dp/B01IVQ96WW it's about 70 lm/watt so not bad.

Of course there's plenty of information about building your own cob rigs on here which will save you money on parts and power.

Just looked up the recharge stuff, looks great. Thanks for posting!

https://www.amazon.com/Real-Growers-Recharge-8oz/dp/B00J1CAEIG/ref=pd_day0_86_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00J1CAEIG&pd_rd_r=XJSTX63DVQ68EJD7HBW2&pd_rd_w=VPJjj&pd_rd_wg=yJdAY&psc=1&refRID=XJSTX63DVQ68EJD7HBW2

> Or you could hop on Apollo Horticulture 600w air cooled digital MH/HPS ~200$ and get a higher yield than that

Yeah, price & yield are definitely factors.

On the Apollo, would you recommend the cool-tube model

• http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLK600CT24E-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B00521B894/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421257310&sr=8-3&keywords=Apollo+Horticulture+600w
  
  Or the standard air-cooled version:
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLK600LS24-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B005ECZQTY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421257559&sr=8-2&keywords=Apollo+Horticulture+600w
  
  Definitely worried about heat in the smaller tent.

Those quantum boards look easy and somewhat affordable. Would something like this work for vegging a 4x4? HLG 65 Quantum Board LED Grow Lamp Veg & Bloom 4000K https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076QDKVDZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_c-3-AbXGSCNSP from what I’m reading the actually power consumption is only 99 Watts? Thst doesn’t seem like enough to do anything

Ordered Via Amazon.

Overall, 3/5 stars. The hood weld seams, spot welds, are garbage and falling apart. Both inlets for the hood are bent and will need fixing. It will function and do it's job, but the package protection for shipping was underwhelming. Shipped by Psychedelic FrogFish Co in Walnut, CA.

I have a 4'x4' Aviditi tent, fan + filter combo, and some other stuff coming up for my next review. I will post pictures once it is all setup.

EDIT: Contacted the seller and he is shipping a new hood, free of charge, and didn't request the old hood back. He is legit.

calmag is pretty universal from my understanding so shouldn't be a big deal. You'll use so very little even if you feed everyday. It should last you a few grow cycles.


here is GH cal mag pretty cheap I'm also in canada https://www.amazon.ca/General-Hydroponics-GH1772-CALiMAGic-Quart/dp/B00GZRKI40/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1543512680&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=gh+calmag


​

​

2x https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KMTYFK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 : One on bottom for intake, one on top for exhaust.

2x https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00INM0750/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 : This MAY be a little too much. There have been a few times where I thought I was getting light burn symptoms, but I just kept moving the light closer to the top of the tent (an inch or two off the roof now)

Other than that its FoxFarms Ocean Forest soil and HyrdoOrganics nutrients. I got the whole line but don't necessarily follow their schedule, I just use things as deficiencies pop up.

I have gotten that red streak in most of the grows I have done. I think is high in phosphate? It's been a while since I have read much into it but I believe as long as the whole stem isn't red, things should be fine. I know the plant turning purple is genetic, but it also depends on temperatures. My tent gets a little cool at night so that may have something to do with it too?

I like these. Think they’re the greatest and will last a lifetime.

They come in different sizes, I use em for 7 gallon.

https://www.amazon.ca/Gro-Pro-725675-Level-Elevator/dp/B01J37FHF8/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=pot+elevator&qid=1563129869&s=gateway&sprefix=pot+elevator&sr=8-1

https://www.gemplers.com/product/ARS320/ARS-Grape-Scissors

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chikamasa-B-500sf-Stainless-Steel-Scissors-w-Fluorine-Coating-Resin-resistant/263795173535?epid=8016915205&hash=item3d6b6ae89f:g:IAQAAOSw7XNbPLH5

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P0FK7W6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_DeANBbJVTGJQ5

Heres what i grabbed except i got the curved and angled blade versions of the first two. Theres lots of other good ones though too im sure. I havent even tried these ones yet though so i cant really recommend them lol its just what i ordered after researching it.

First, you need the total watts your grow room uses. This includes lights (actual watts, not "equivalent"), fans, pumps, co2 controllers, anything that plugs in and is involved with the growing process.

Second you need to calculate how many watts that stuff uses per day, this depends on a lot of things, the biggest I think, being veg vs flower. Lights on longer in veg (given the same light) than in flower will use more power in a day. Changing lights from fluros in veg to big HIDs in flower, lights will be on for a shorter time, but use more power in that time.

Third, you need the cost of your electricity, which is measured in cents per kWh (kilowatt hours). For example, one 1000w (1kW) HID run for 1 hour, uses 1 kWh of energy. One 250w HID run for 4 hours, uses 1kWh.
Here are area/state averages for cost per kWh. The numbers listed are cents per kWh.

You need to take the total hours everything in your room is running in a month. (This is all simplified, pretty much to calculate just lights and fans, other intermittently on things are a little more tedious to calculate)

12 hours a day in flower X 30 days = 360 hours

Multiply that by how many watts your room uses (this gives you your watt/hours, not kWh. For simplicity, I'm going to calculate for a single 1000w HID, and nothing else, the 1000w number would be the total watts your grow room uses):

360 hours X 1000w = 360,000 watt/hours

Then divide that by 1,000 and you get the number of kWh your room uses.

360,000 wH / 1000 = 360 kWh

Now, you have the kWh your room uses in a month. You can take your states average (or your actual cost if you have the bill with you) cents per kWh, and multiply the two for the total cost of your room per month. We'll say its 13 cents per kWh.

360 kWh X $0.13 = *$46.80 per month** (for just the 1000w HID in flowering)

Now from there you can calculate the cost of the whole grow. Will it take four months total? Five? Multiply the months by the cost per month for the total cost of the grow from seed to harvest. It's a little more complex if you want to calculate an exact cost, lights and fans are simple for example, they are always running. Pumps and co2 regulators, other controllers, etc. are not constantly running, but run intermittently so it's harder to calculate how much power those use, so I suggest doing it separately, because frankly I'm too high to think about that haha. If you really want to be exact, buy a Kill-A-Watt or two and plug your stuff into them, they will measure the exact amount of power used.

Great, so I'm looking at this set for my ventilation needs if I do decide on a 3x3 tent. Still not sure about which LED light would be sufficient and of good quality though.

Make sure you feed her some calcium/magnesium if you're growing in coco. Have fun!

VIVOSUN 48"x24"x60" Mylar Hydroponic Grow Tent with Observation Window and Floor Tray for Indoor Plant Growing 2'x4' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DXYMQ9M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_BY0MDbKV74WB1

That's the max I was looking at for reference


Edit: thanks for your help btw!

I have a 2x4x6, I use this. It works great.

AC Infinity CLOUDLINE T4, Quiet 4" Inline Duct Fan with Temperature Humidity Controller - Ventilation Exhaust Fan for Heating Cooling Booster, Grow Tents, Hydroponics https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B06ZXWN3BG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_RGvKDbVQK4W9S

I'm not really sure what scale tbh, here is a link to the pen I got on Amazon if that helps at all. It might appear a lot lighter than it actually is due to my light in the tent being so bright white. Here are some pics with the tent light off and my phone flash on. I'm not sure if that's the right shade of green or not. I just watered them again after reading some info online with recommendations on Coco watering. I adjusted it to have some calmag in it and increased the Flora Grow and lowered the Flora Micro. Had a ppm of about 580 this time. Hoping it will make them happier.

the Bluelabs gear is nice if you have the money.

I bought a simple $15 PH600 on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Instruments-PH600AQ-Tester-Calibration/dp/B005H78ZI0/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1334068927&sr=1-1

and just as cheap a TDS meter

http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Tester-Purity/dp/B002C0A7ZY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334068952&sr=8-2

both work incredibly well

Thanks, good eyes. The one on the right is cree 3070 led.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IVQ96WW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And the one on the left

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I4NY8KW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here. It is by no means a "lab grade" device but gives great reference readings when analyzing how much your plant is eating (for my DWC setup anyways). I've never grown in soil but see people run a sort of "reference flush" to compare their previous runoff from the last time they watered to judge if their plants are consuming more nutes or more water so they can adjust their amendments accordingly. I do the same sort of thing on my hempy buckets but it is just so much easier since my medium is inert.

I have this light.

So I can just shove it in the corner of a dark room with some panda plastic and it will be fine for the veg stage? Is it crazy/stupid to be thinking about closing off the corners with some cardboard/plywood or something? So it's like a little square area, top open, that the light will hang over?

First timer here. I have 3 female autoflower Northern Lights seedlings at the moment. I am using a 600W amazon LED and 2 45W LED panels in a 4x2 tent. I wasn’t aware the actual wattage of the 600W Amazon light is closer to 150W when I bought it. What’s my best bet for having enough light for all 3 plants in a 4x2 tent? I’m trying to keep costs relatively low. Should I buy some CFLs and spread them around? How many?


My 600w
https://www.amazon.com/Phlizon-Thermometer-Humidity-Adjustable-Spectrum/dp/B0752CL6KJ

Cool, okay I think this may work - I need the whole QB kit and planning 4x2 tent for two plants (I’ve got 4 seeds hoping they aren’t all guys lol)

They are definitely T5. So in your opinion, would I be better off using 1 of the lights pictured for veg, or on or two of these CFL's for 2-3 plants in my 4x4 tent setup? I'll check into the T5 light and see if it's HO. It's designed to replace "high bay" HPS lighting in a warehouse setting with 30 ft. ceilings.

Those plants will be fine...don't sweat it. Also, this stuff is pretty great...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J1CAEIG/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_US1JAbJGM74V7

Might help bring some life back..

I use Floranova Grow/Bloom. Before that nothing really. I'm anxiously interested in trying Kushman's Veganics line...probably next year sometime, it looks like bank from what I've seen so far and I think it might be available only in gallons at this point.

My local hydro store matches or beats any price I can find, even online.

These are exactly the kind of answers I'm looking for! Anything to cut down on noise and heat is great, as for quantum boards, will something like this work or would I need to invest a bit more? And would leaving the flap on the tent open allow light to leak?

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00JXOKQVW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BpmJzbFA4MW01

---

Never forget to smile again | ^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

36" x 20" x 62"

https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Hydroponic-Observation-Window-Growing/dp/B0716BK1KD/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542084519&sr=8-4&keywords=vivosun+2x4+grow+tent

48" x 24" x 60"

https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Hydroponic-Observation-Window-Growing/dp/B01DXYMQ9M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542084519&sr=8-3&keywords=vivosun+2x4+grow+tent

I have a vivosun 4'x4' and love it. Do you have a light already?

Yeah I wasn't sure if one would be enough. I think they're only drawing 250 watts at the wall, so 500 total for the closet. Each panel is 120 5watt epiled LEDs which is how they can market it as "600w" but reality is the drivers are pretty weak. For the price point they seemed good enough at the time.

Personal experience here -- the iPower 4 inch filter / inline fan combo didn't work very well at all for me. My entire garage smelled like herb.


What I have now, although was a bit more pricey:


Phresh 701005 Carbon Air Filter, 6 by 16-Inch, 400 CFM


Vortex 347 CFM S Line S-600 Fan, 6"


iPower 6 Inch 25 Feet Non-Insulated Flex Air Aluminum Ducting Dryer Vent Hose for HVAC Ventilation, 2 Clamps included


CARTMAN 1" x 12' Lashing Straps up to 600lbs, 6pk in Carry Bag


 


Here's how it looks:


Grow Tent

So, as is surely obvious, I'm completely new. I just set up my tent, which is 2x4x5'

I purchased a mars 600w LED, a charcoal filter and two of these fans

VIVOSUN 6 Inch 440 CFM Duct Inline Fan with Variable Speed Controller

I just opened one of the fans and it is ridiculously huge. The reason I chose that one was it seemed to fit the holes n my tent. Which is

vivosun tent

Is this total overkill? Will it work? Ack. I don't want to have to mess with an exchange unless necessary.

not the same person, but I'm a new grower too and have been reading up a lot on how to care for my clones I've had for about 2 weeks now.

here are some links to often-mentioned nutrient systems:

general hydroponics: https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Flora-Bloom-Fertilizer/dp/B017H73708/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1479708442&sr=1-2&keywords=general+hydroponics

fox farms: https://www.amazon.com/FX14050-Fertilizer-Nutrient-Hydro-Formula-32-Ounce/dp/B000HY2IXQ

canna: https://www.amazon.com/Canna-CA1260-CA1270-Coco-Set/dp/B000G24ZIU/ref=sr_1_4?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1479708468&sr=1-4&keywords=canna

Something like this [Roleadro 2nd Generation 600W LED Plant Grow Light Upgraded Full Spectrum Indoor Growing Light with 120pcs 5W Chips https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IVQ96MW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ev.PAbNEHR0WD] should be more than enough light to veg and flower in the space you have available. Not the most efficient led light when compared to COB and QB lights, but it’s plenty bright.

Here is the cheapest all in one package on amazon. Fan is 190 cft and 48 decibels. https://www.amazon.com/iPower-GLFANXINL4FILT4MD8C-Exhausting-Pre-Filter-Reversible/dp/B00D7M6692/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497493628&sr=8-1&keywords=duct+fan+carbon+filter You would probably want a fan speed controller with this too.

Don’t forget to get Cal-Mag too! You’ll need this with coco. Here’s the nutrient schedule he was talking about. Good luck!

Id rather use hard water than soft water. Too much salt buildup kills plants.

Take a sample to your local fish store if possible (Or purchase a PPM/PH meter) to find out your PPM and PH.

Anything above 300ppm gets a little sketchy and you will want an RO system.

PH can be altered but anything over a PH of 9 you will be using a ton of PH down.

If your PH and PPM are both below what I stated above I would still recommend something like a Small Boy filter for Chlorine/Chloramine and undissolved particles.

Interesting. Do you mean something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLK600LS24-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B005ECZQTY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1494802924&sr=8-5&keywords=hps+600watt

Okay, help me here. I see this one. Are the actual watts 65? 800w/65w = 12.30 lights? I would need 12 of these for 16 square feet?

She sick, not sure what she needs.
Also, I don't have $ to buy shit to fix it so she probably going to die :'(
She was doing well up to the last two watering, the first one I saw a little discoloration and then I didn't gave her any nutrients and molasses and just PH'd water at 6.5 but she became worst... the discoloration worsened ..

If I buy those two or three products will she survive ?
Cal-mag but from another brand and some blooming nutrient ?
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00GZRKI40/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1XUOM4FC8JNBK&psc=1
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00BYG6TIG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1J77SE4LW6ZXQ&coliid=I6RRMFYCDMZMV&psc=1
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00BYG6P0I/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1J77SE4LW6ZXQ&coliid=I1AU019W83GWHZ&psc=1

If anyone feels generous : https://www.amazon.ca/gp/registry/wishlist/1J77SE4LW6ZXQ/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_2

• Strain : Northern Light
  
• Vegetation State : 80
  
• Flowering State : 14 Days
  
• Earth : Pro-Mix ORGANIC VEGETABLE & HERB MIX Mycoactive Compost + Cow Manure
  
• Light : Mars Hydro 300W LED Grow Light (135W±10% True Watt)
  
• Tent : Mars Hydro 27"x27"x63" Grow Tent
  
• Pot : 4 1/2 Gal with a over watering reservoir build in the bottom
  
• Nutrient : Miracle Grow + Molasses
  
• Timing : 18/6 Veg now in 12/12 Flowering
  
• Temp & Humidity : 30° to 34° & 15% to 20%
  
• Technique used : Lollipopping, LST, Topped, SCROG

Well those roots look healthy to me. Just try the flushing. Here is a TDS I use for $16. Even if you do not go for the calibration solution gotta have it if you want to grow the dro.

yes i am adding. Just been making AACT with local EWC for the bennies there, but also just ordered recharge from real grower to try and help me throguh this problem im having and for my outdoor garden https://www.amazon.com/Real-Growers-Recharge-8oz/dp/B00J1CAEIG

These are the models I went with, they've been working flawlessly so far:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YBUH4RC
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B007VK4YY0

Definitely worth every penny, even if they do end up breaking sooner.

got this

been using for seedlings and clones. works great!

Ok so I looked up the prices for Sensi A and B grow, and at this point getting started I can't justify spending that amount at this time.

If I bought this Fox Farm Trio would it be all the different kinds of nutrients for a complete grow cycle? Keeping in mind I have already purchased a Ph tester kit that will arrive from amazon on Saturday.

Edit: Also, I compared the germinated seed that had been soaking with the rest of the seeds, and it has definitely increased in size so I went ahead and placed it in the Fox Farm Soil. When should I switch on the lights? Now or when their is some visible sign of the plant poking through the soil? Probably a dumb a question I realize...

After you transplant leave your light off for 24 hours to help with the shock. Sometimes hydro shops have used bulbs they will sell for cheap, depending on your ballast your should be able to run a 250 watt bulb if that's all you can find and afford. If the plants aren't in cubes I suggest letting the roots stay in the small clump of soil around them. You could wash the roots off but it will stress them more and when exposing them to lights you risk killing the roots. After you transplant fill right up to the bottom of the leaves that are growing. If you don't have a ph meter I suggest something like this. http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B002C0A7ZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396007211&sr=8-1&keywords=ph+meter Its fairly inexpensive and very easy to use. If all you have is less than $30 to spend I suggest the meter over a mh bulb and pick up a thermometer. Also since the plants will be in shock once you transplant them foiler feed with water (spray down the tops and bottoms of the leaves with clean soft water)

I'd make a tea from the soil your not using. Its not going to be the best but will give you some nutes if you can't afford to pick up bottles.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00YBUH4RC/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481968489&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=ph+meter&dpPl=1&dpID=41w2JXOokIL&ref=plSrch
So something like that would work to test dirty runoff as well? Thanks

For Nutes I was going to try General Hydroponics, idk if you've tried but some people swear by it on this sub

https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Flora-Bloom-Fertilizer/dp/B017H73708/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=floragro&qid=1550940780&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1


So if I mix grow and bloom into outdoor soil it would give enough nutes to feed the plant? Do you think if I did take this route it would be wise to monitor pH?

Thanks for the information! That is really helpful.

I'm currently using the GH Advanced Nutrient System - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017H73708/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was using the GH Go Box nutes, but I switched to the ANS recently. I still have the stuff on-hand, tho. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PS4B08/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also ordered some GH Floralicious for this grow, but I have not used it yet.

I'm using the Fox Farms Trio, it works great so far. Easy to use and has everything you need. It's not tooo expensive either.

A lot of people use General Organics too.

Gotta add it in the soil.

Great White Mycorrhizae, 4 oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AU8JKR6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_FarWzb0F08WWH

Real Growers Recharge (8oz) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J1CAEIG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_8arWzbSGAZKV3

Great for getting your pots out of the puddles.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B01J37FHF8?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Board-Grow-Bloom-4000K/dp/B076QDKVDZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=hlg&qid=1557923278&s=gateway&sr=8-3

This is a great veg light

Honestly, you can do much better for your money... There are kits in the Starter Shopping Lists to the right on the sidebar.

I was wondering the other day what exactly I would need for a turn-key grow setup, and put the following together. Mind you, this is not TOP of the line shit, but it will absolutely get you into the hobby!

600W Tube / Timer / MH & HPS Bulbs / Hangars / Ballast - $157.50

6 Inch Carbon Filter / 440CFM Fan - $149.75

25 Ft. 6 Inch Ducting - $19.10

48 x 48 x 78 Tent - $139.99

FFOF - $18.99

General Hydroponics Go Box Starter Kit - $35.95

CALIBER IV DIGITAL HYGROMETER - $19.23

Smart Pot Container - Pack of Five - $20.65

Micro-Tip Pruning Snip - $10.19

Light Duty Soft Wire Tie - $7.84

PH & Temperature Meter - $79.95

Water Quality TDS Tester - $15.59

LED Handheld Microscope - $16.81

Total just under 700$ and you are getting a LOT more for your money.

Don't blindly take that list, shop around, deal hunt, and do the research! There are many hidden costs associated with growing ><

1. yes.
   
2. yes, its just a phillips head screw under that cap.
   
3. Get a kill-a-watt.

well right now I'm using two desk lamps that are 24w 8000 lumens cfl light bulbs. Also the leaves are clipped because those were the original stems that I cloned.

I'm upgrading to this growbox with this lighting fixture for my two plants:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YXDS9Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UV6P9I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

what do you think?

is this the recharge you speak of? beautiful greens you have there.

https://www.amazon.com/Real-Growers-Recharge-8oz/dp/B00J1CAEIG

My plants are loving this stuff.

Can’t believe anybody hasn’t mentioned feeding yet!! Proper nutrients are a key factor into making sure your plant develops to your standard. I’ll link a basic nutrient pack on amazon for you. This is a must! Click Me For Nutrients :)

Check these out as cheap (under $20) but much better alternatives:

https://smile.amazon.com/AC-Infinity-AXIAL-Muffin-Cooling/dp/B009OWRMZ6 (120mm, 110cfm)

https://smile.amazon.com/VenTech-VT-DF-6-DF6-Duct/dp/B005KMTYFK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1496838497&sr=8-3&keywords=6in+duct+fan (6in duct, 200cfm)

I have two tents the same size as yours. I bought them at different times or else I would have just bought a 4x4

But, I have 2 of these in each tent. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IVQ96MW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ShdMDb68H8TPV

I started with just one but, I found 2 produced better coverage.

So I'm getting ready for my harvest and thought I would compare my hygrometers to see if any needed calibration. Three have been in jars for a year and two are new. Temp +/- 1 degree, humidity +/- 1%. Can't beat that with a stick! I got them at Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Cigar-Oasis-Caliber-Digital-Hygromter/dp/B00JXOKQVW/

Is this the product you are talking about when you say "recharge"? I've been having some lockout issues as well, and if that's the solution, I'll order it right now.

I veg my plants under these Philips 5000k led bulbs.

Here is the current plant in veg waiting for the plants in the grow tent to finish. The grow tent has 2 of these blurples from Amazon.

Having read this, I am going to add a few of those Philips bulbs tp help fill in the sides and back.