I dont really know a lot about brand quality of equipment. Id say I probably have a few less than desirable pieces lmao. I do appreciate all recommendations. I actually did look at the hlg led lights when buying a light. I ended up with a spider farmer panel that has the samsung diodes everyone recommended to me. I cant compare it to anything else since its my first grow light but ive been pretty happy with it.(thanks to everyone who told me what to look for.) The first lights I bought were 3 cheap china lights claiming to be 220w efficient at 70w of power consumptionā¦ I got my ass burnt on that purchase lmao but I am learning. I just grow as a hobby so I do for sure have a budget and hope to get more top of the line equipment down the road and I sure dont want to waste money on things that just arent effective. Thats why I appreciate all the recommendations so I wont be totally ignorant when I do make purchases and get burnt. I dont think those china lights I have would grow a clover.
My freind you will here all kinds of crazy stuff from lots of people that have never grew but act like they know.
Sometimes from people that grows with good results have corky, weird, or outright ridiculous things they sware byā¦
Itās just like anything else in life really 
But growing good product can really be very simple, the most important thing is stay clam, be patient, and fact check multiple sources whith anything.
Ice bath for roots is a waist of time, flushing may have some benefits but not at all as big a deal as some make it seem. I dont flush unless its to fix lock out, never before harvest. Definitely do not spend money of flushing products! But flushing before harvest wonāt hurt nor will the ice bath if done jyst before harvest.
But nether are necessary.
Growing good product can be super easy !
I dont claim to be a master but I grow nice product with very little effect and no crazy tricks or fancy products.
I dont have but a few journals on here but check them out from my profile and see how I grow.
Theres one with hard water soil and some with coco and a couple useing autopotsā¦
Iām not on alot but tag me anytime and uf i can help i will.
But there is alot of others here better then me, just got to learn who to lean on and before you know it, you will be correcting the ābro scienceā 
There is reason that the, (Letās say suppliers of lower end growing equipment), aim their advertising squarely at the new grower. They want to hook them in with the low price, and false advertising. Before they can build a knowledge base that knows better.
How do you like running that many 5 gallon buckets? Do you have them connected to a single reservoir?
Hlg makes great lights donāt get me wrong but all lights will grow plants!
Power consumption and output is most important then spectrum falls in right behind.
As someone new to lighting if you cant find a reputable youtube video of par test then donāt make the purchase is my advice.
But youtube is your best friend for lighting info my freind.
Hey Pappy, hope all has been well with you since last spring.
The wife and I spent a few weeks in Maggie Valley this past summer. But only crossed the Tennessee line a couple times to take her shopping.
Im doing well 
Glad summer is over and my work is slowing down.
We wanted to ride to Cherokee this year before it got cold but never made it
Thank you, I will for sure check out your grow journals. Im 3 plants into my growing experience and really enjoying it. Ive for sure made some mistakes and a few bad purchases. my 3 plants might be runts for all I know but as my first ones they are among giants in my eyes lol
Itās a bit of work after the the first few weeks. Especially around mid flower and the plants are heavy and hard to maneuver around to replace the water. Because my grow is on the second floor I havenāt attempted a main reservoir. Iām afraid of 50 gallons of water leaking. At one point I had 9 five gallon and 2 three gallon going.
I since dialed that back a bit to a max of 5 five gallon.
very beautiful crop
Iām not a master just been trying these Chinese lights out.
how can 2 billion people be wrong
Where are the New HLG UVA bars made?
And itās OK to slap a HLG label on them and pretend itās made in the good old USA.
So they are selling for $139 each at 30 watts. HYPHOTONFLUX has 2 @ $199 at 30 watts ea. both made in China.
Letās pay HLG $80 bucks for helping us out.
I was just gonna hang one of those poster black lights up so I for sure dont have any knowledge in the subject. Lol As a first time grower just getting set up I for sure want best bang for my buck. I did get burnt on some lights, but just about 200 dollars. I have discover that a simple google search can lead you to some pretty much rip off items if you are as ignorant on the subject as I am. A nice trusted list of equipment for every budget would be nice.
I work for IBM for 15 years. Ever heard of the ThinkPad laptop? Best selling high end laptop ever.
Made in China!
As a matter of fact IBM sold the whole desktop/laptop brand to Lenovo, a Chinese company, in 2005.
Although the desktop line lagged behind Dell and HP under IBM. Lenovo has become the No. 1 PC brand in the world.
im sure I have several chinese made equipment items. My spider farmer light may be chinese made for all I know and it for sure suits me for what I need. I aint down on chinese products. Nor do I have brand loyalty. I just want it to work. Lol some companies are just shady but certainly not all. Its same way with tattoo equipement some conpanies just make exaggerated claims that can very easily confuse someone without much knowledge. At the same time some chinese made equipment is very much comparable to anything on the market. If I can buy equal quality from a U.S. company within reason I will, but I also dont have unlimited resources and have a budget.
I have 2 Spider Farmer SF1000ās and 2 VIVOSUN VS1000. All four do a great job in my 4x4 tent.
Hereās 2 a couple years ago some buds they grew.
I been useing this 32 gal trash can i got for $25 for about a year now. Iāve got 3 more 12gal reservoirs but fir my flower tent this trash can is a must have 
i could not keep up with it and work.
I know leaks happen but thankfully this can has never leaked
I try to replace every 2-3 weeks depending on the stage. Using Hydroguard to keep my beneficial microbes strong and adjust tpms and pH everyday. Iāve been capturing enough rainwater to run 90% of the time. With some distilled water the other 10%. Each 5 gal. bucket has 2 air stones from separate air pumps. Try to keep water below 70degs.
So i used rain water alot for a long time and then one day i got some kinda slimy white something clearly alive that grew everywhere that the solution touched 
Im actually still trying to recover from it and I havenāt figured out my water sorce yet 
What do you collect into and store it or any advice fir me