How can I start growing my own weed indoors?

Learn exactly what you need to buy in order to start growing weed indoors. 

Choose your grow type...

• Basic CFL Grow "The Bedroom Secret"
  ~$250-$300
   
• Basic HID Starter Grow "The Kindergarten Cultivator"
  ~$390
   
• Mid Grade HID Grow "The Bud Tender"
  ~$400-$450
   
• High Grade HID Grow "The Bud Master"
  ~$550-$650
   
• High Grade HID Grow "The Bud Master Premium" (name brands) 
  ~$775
   
• LED Grow Setup "The Richie Rich"
  ~$1300
   

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A New Grower Buying and Upgrading Guide

by Justintime233

What do I need to grow 2 plants?

I've heard this question so many times here that I've decided to put together this "buyer's guide" of a few different common kits and the links to purchase them. Hopefully it will help eliminate some of the confusion when it comes to people trying to start their first grow the right way.

Below you will find a series of kits that I've put together with their shopping lists. I'm only going to list Amazon links mostly for the sake of consistency, you may be able to find slightly cheaper prices on ebay or another source in some cases so be sure to always check around for the best price on all these items before you make your purchase. Also check the reviews, I'm only listing the lowest price I can find on Amazon.

If you want to get name brand equipment you would need to purchase them separately. Just replace the ballast in the kits below with an equal wattage Lumatek ballast and then choose your hood style and get Hortilux bulbs. You can spend hundreds more on these kits by buying high quality name brand components.

Last but not least, these kits are in my opinion what is needed to grow high quality cannabis. Opinions may vary, use your best judgement on what's right for your situation.

These kits will only include the basic setup for a tent, lights and ventilation, you will need to figure out how much ducting you need depending on the setup.

Don't forget you also need pots, soil, nutrients, pH meter or test strips with pH up and down, TDS meter, trich microscope, fiskars, ties to LST your plants, and other extras of the sort.

Ok Lets get started!!

 

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Update: I added my personal setup as "Bud Master Premium". The difference is that it uses all name brand equipment and a hood sized to fit my 4x4 tent. All were purchased separately instead of in a premade kit. It raises the price but you get better quality and a more tailored fit. Pictures of it in action.

Update 2: Nutrients! If you need nutrients I found a place that sells small quantities of nutrients for small grows so you don't have to buy a years worth of nutes just for 1 grow. I worked it out so you also get 10% off on your first order if you email him on ebay and tell him Justintime233 sent you. I make no money from this, I just get the same discount on my first order which was Connoisseur A&B with 6 other AN additives for my waterfarm bucket project. The shipping was fast and nothing leaked. So here's his Ebay store, The Nute Hut just make your purchase and then email him on ebay and let him know I sent you and he'll refund 10%. This is for your first order only.

To figure out how much to buy for your grow just go to the nutrient companies website and look at their feeding schedule and add up how much you need for an entire grow for 1 plant. Then just multiply from there. If it's going to be for more than 4-5 plants you might just be better off buying full bottles.

 

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Disclaimer: Please use your head when choosing a kit. Consider the amount of heat it will put out for your space and make sure you buy all the accessories you need whether you need to order them or get them locally. This is just a basic guide to get you started, some additional research is required on your part to make sure the setup will work for your situation. I'm running 1600w and heating my house with it for the winter, in the summer I have to run my AC 24/7.

 

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Basic CFL Grow "The Bedroom Secret"

• 1 Lighthouse Hydro 2.5'x1.5'x3' Grow Tent

• 14 x 26w CFLs or 9 x 42 watt CFLs (~100w per sq/ft). You will need 2 sets of bulbs, 6500k for veg and 2700k for flower, check walmart and places like that for deals.

• You will need fixtures for all those lights, here are some ideas. Scroll down to the DIY section. Just make sure your fixtures have reflectors on them to maximize their efficiency

• 1 4" inline fan with carbon filter and speed controller

The Good

• Cheapest way to start growing 1-2 ounces or more every 3-4 months(depending on experience)

• CFLs are readily available

• Small footprint, easy to hide

• If you ever upgrade you can use it as a veg tent

The Bad

• CFLs will give you a lot less yield than HID lighting

• Small grow space, can only have 2-4 plants and they have to be around 2' tall

• People will laugh at you

Final Price: ~$250-$300

 

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Basic HID Starter Grow "The Kindergarten Cultivator"

• 1 Lighthouse Hydro 3'x1.7'x5' Grow Tent

• 1 250w HPS Kit(49w per sq/ft) or 400w MH/HPS Kit(78.4w per sq/ft) Cooltube

• 1 6" inline fan with carbon filter and speed controller

The Good

• HID lighting gives great yield and quality

• Enough room to grow 3 good size 3' plants

• Can produce several ounces every 3-4 months(depending on experience)

• Still fairly easy to conceal

The Bad

• Height, you have to keep your plants to around 3' of grow space

• Width, you're basically stuck with a Cool Tube as your only hood choice

• You'll want more space

Final Price: ~$390

 

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Mid Grade HID Grow "The Bud Tender"

• 1 Lighthouse Hydro 2.75'X2.75'X5' Grow Tent

• 1 400w MH/HPS Kit(53w per sq/ft) or 600w MH/HID Kit(80w per sq/ft) The Cool tube is a tight fit but will work, another option would be this style of hood for about $40 more.

• 1 6" inline fan with carbon filter and speed controller

The Good

• 600w is the most efficient HID in lumen per watt

• Can be hidden in a laundry room

• Easily fits 4-6 plants

• Able to produce a half pound or more every 3-4 months(depending on experience)

The Bad

• Height, you have to keep your plants to around 3' of grow space

• Fan noise if you have to turn it up due to heat issues

• You will have weed coming out of your ears, this is the point where you start to grow more than 1 person can consume without being wasteful

Final Price: ~$400-$450

 

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High Grade HID Grow "The Bud Master"

• 1 Lighthouse Hydro 4x4x7 Grow Tent

• 1 1000w MH/HPS Kit(62.5w per sq/ft) or 2 600w MH/HPS Kits(75w per sq/ft)

• 1 6" inline fan with carbon filter and speed controller

The Good

• Dual 600w gives you the best lumen per watt and the best tent coverage

• Can grow 6-8 plants or more

• Can grow full size 4'-5' plants easily

• Able to produce a pound or more every 3-4 months(depending on experience)

The Bad

• Hard to hide

• Noise from all the ventilation needed to cool everything

• Produces a fair amount of heat, you may also need to invest in an AC to keep temps down

Final Price: ~$550-$650

 

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High Grade HID Grow "The Bud Master Premium" 
(name brands)

• 4'x4'x7' Lighthouse Hydro Tent

• 1000 watt Lumatek Ballast 62.5w per sq/ft.

• 6" Horizon Super Nova 26"x37" Hood

• 1000w Genesis HPS Bulb - produces the highest amount of light (155,000 lumens) of any 1000W HPS bulb, plus it has an enhanced red spectrum to promote flowering

• 400 CFM 6" Hydrofarm Inline Fan and speed controller

• LED Wholesalers 6" Carbon Filter

The Good

• XXXL Hood gives even coverage of 1000w to the entire tent

• Lumatek ballasts have a "Super Lumens" feature giving up to 10% extra light; 

• Genesis HPS bulbs give up to 27% extra energy to the color spectrums your cannabis plant wants - the extra amount of red (compared to a normal HPS bulbs) can help plants bloom better.  This bulb can be used with any 1000W ballast.

• All items are of high quality and have good warranties

• Able to produce a pound or more every 3-4 months(depending on experience)

The Bad

• Hard to hide

• Noise from all the ventilation needed to cool everything

• Produces a fair amount of heat

Final Price: ~$775

 

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LED Grow Setup "The Richie Rich"

First off a bit about purchasing a LED. There is a lot of misinformation provided by manufacturers that you need to disregard. If the light uses 3w LEDs they are not powered at 3w, they're actually powered around 1.8w. So a light that claims to be 135w because it has 45 3w LEDs is actually only a 81 watt light. Only go by the true wattage when purchasing a LED light. A lot of manufacturers won't provide this information so you need to figure it out on your own using this formula:

Number of LEDs x 1.8 = True wattage

• 1 Lighthouse Hydro 2.75'X2.75'X5' Grow Tent

• 1 720w Blackstar Chrome LED grow light (Approx. 432 true watts, 57w per sq/ft.)

• 1 4" inline fan with carbon filter and speed controller

The Good

• Built in fans help keep the temperature down

• Works well for veg and flower

• Able to produce a half pound or more every 3-4 months(depending on experience)

• You'll be cool with your purple tent pictures

The Bad

• Expensive initial cost

• Rampant manufacturer misinformation making it hard to choose a good product for your space.

• Higher failure rate than HID ballasts

Final Price: ~$1300

 

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How much would these kits cost as far as your electric bill is concerned?

It all depends on the wattage of your lights, how long they run each day, and the cost of electricity where you live. Let me break it down for you.

 

Definitions

HOURS = how many hours a day you'll run your light x 31 days in the month (if you're running 18 hours a day, you would do 18 x 31 = 558, so put 558)

LIGHT - Wattage of your light x 0.001  (ex: 1000W = 1 or 600w = 0.6  or 250W = 0.25) 

KWH - your local price for each "killowatt hour." You may need to check with your electricity company or look at your last electricity bill to find this. Some growers get lower amounts, like $0.08 per kwh, but some people in espensive areas may pay $0.20/kwh or more)

To find your electricity price each month....

(HOURS) * (LIGHT) * KWH = Cost of electricity each month

For example, in flowering your light would be on for 12 hours a day. 12 x 31 = 372 HOURS.  Lets say you have a single 1000w light. That's 1 = LIGHT. Say the power is ~$.08 per kwh so it would cost me 372 x 1 x 0.08 = $29.76 per month for electricity to run the 1000W light in flowering.. 

Some people's power rates are as high as $.20 or more per kwh in some areas. In that case it would cost $74.40 a month to run a 1000W light in the flowering stage. 

I hope these examples help you figure out what the electricity costs would be like in your area.

 

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So that's it for now, I may update with more kits later. Of course there are more tent sizes and options out there, I just wanted to put some together to hopefully take the guesswork out of putting together your first real grow or upgrading your existing one.

Happy Growing!!

Read the original post by Justintime233 here: http://www.reddit.com/r/microgrowery/comments/10vk3x/new_grower_buying_and_upgrading_guide/

 

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