All you need is a kit from The Green Sunshine company and dirt. Old dirt…new dirt whatever.
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Honesty goes a long way, i’m not disabled but definitely not a small guy either. Even being perfectly able I don’t ever want to have my “ass” in a grow tent. Not even a 5x5 lol. Going with a 4x4 and more than 2 plants is going to have you removing plants to get to the back. Once they get developed is not exactly an easy task. You also get kinda limited on what you can with them. As such, a 2x4 tent may be a better option for you and is plenty big enough to grow 2-3 plants. Worst case scenario you could always double up and get another tent later. It seems a little silly to spend a lot more on dead space that you may struggle to use. Matty puts 8 plants in 2x4 no problem, not everyone needs an acre to produce a good harvest.
These lights have a nice fit and finish, but you can get higher performing lights for close to same price. You can currently get a refurbished hlg-300 r-spec for $330 before any applicable discount codes, and it’s plenty big enough to flower 2x4 per light.
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Damn, now I am looking at 3 sizes 
But I do see your point on wasted space. Someone mentioned AC Infinity earlier, and I looked at their stuff. As an IT guy, that integrated controller for lights fans etc seems pretty cool. I was considering t on asking if their lights were any good,and maybe just going with their tent / vent / lights to get the integrated thing going on. I did add a 2x4 tent and that HLG light to my (growing) word doc of possible parts and supplies. I may post a list here soon, once I collapse some of the options. @dbrn32 I think you have convinced me that I don’t want to pay enough right now to light a 4x4 tent up to the light levels I would need to properly utilize that amount of floorspace. I will probably end up in the 2x4 model.
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Ok so I have some more more subjects to ask the group about.
1- Growing Medium - I see this " SoHum Living Soils-Cannabis Craves" soil. It sounds like the kind of easy-to-manage thing I want, and already ready to go, right out of the bag. Does anyone have experience with it, one way or the other? My other half (who will no doubt be helping with the day-to-day of the growing) is a bit chemical-shy, so doing a method like that with little or no mixing of potions will be very cool, I just don’t want to jump off into the dark.
2- Tools / Meters - if I am growing in that kind of “living soil” mode, will I need to be measuring things like water or soil PH, PPM’s or any other thing (other than Temp and RH, I know those are the “macro” measurements here.
3- Post-Processing - I was going to ask questions, but realized I need to do more reading on this… cutting drying curing trimming, etc… all still mostly a mystery, so asking would waste your time right now.
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Ac infinity fans are great. Although if i’m being completely honest, i don’t run mine in auto functions. The automation is what led me to purchase them but without their latest and greatest controller is pretty much useless as causes other issues. I run mine in manual and just tweak speed to where my environmentals are suitable. I maybe adjust a few times throughout grow, but plenty good enough. So you can save some money buying manually controlled models if so inclined. Their lights aren’t all that impressive in my opinion. I’ll leave at not the best, but not the worst either.
You can grow a lot of weed in a 2x4. Maybe won’t be on your first grow, but as you gain experience and learn how plants behave in comparison to your space it’s not that big of deal.
One thing i feel is missed by a lot of newbs is true cost of getting started. You can nicely setup a 2x4 or 3x3 for about the cost of what a decent light for 4x4 will cost. This is important because once your tent is built you’ll still need a good penny to buy testers, nutrients, pots, trimming shears, growing media, seeds, etc. A little research can go a long way. And disregard any articles that every model reviewed is sold on Amazon. Come to the forums and see what everyone is using or recommending. Then go visit their grow journals and check results. I typically direct most to hlg for lights because i know what you’ll be getting, but i build all of my lights. I could certainly point you to more or less expensive lights, but this is where i believe you’ll get the best value with industry leading customer service.
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I don’t use it, so will leave that to people that do. I will say that there are several “water only” marketed soils out there, and I find this is rarely/if ever the case. I would rather see you go with a quality base soil likes roots original and use product like grow dots or earth dust. Buy this is just my very biased opinion.
In a perfect world, no you wouldn’t need them. But i don’t think very many start growing in a perfect world. You will inevitably run into issues andcthe first thing we’ll all ask, what’s ph and ppm lol. Cheap ppm/tds tester is good but i would spend couple extra bucks on ph tester. Get calibration and storage fluid too.
Agree 100%. This stuff can make or break your experience, but you don’t need to worry about harvesting before you have plants growing. Focus on getting proper equipment now. Once you have that settled your concern should be germination and vegging plants. Once you have plants started you’ll have months to prepare for harvest.
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@Turanil the main thing is to have fun with it and learn as you grow develop your own method it just weed. All the answers you need are in these forums
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I haven’t used anything like that but agree with @dbrn32 that it is near impossible to claim water only as a blanket statement. Too many different phenotypes that have different tolerances and needs.
Gonna go with the mod again on this. PPM meter can be basic/cheap but spend a couple of bucks for the quality Ph meter. Blue Labs and Apera are both popular brands and get the job done.
You have months before that is an issue. There is tons of info available in past threads. Many ideas and suggestions.
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Grew last 3 or 4 harvests with only water. A foliar calmag on a couple plants. Thats it.
Using bag of purchased soil with no ammendments or teas?
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I do, but would rather ask than just say I know better. I believe it’s important for OP to understand what is typically required to be successful without mixing of nutrients.
Everyone has different views here and who does what is not a concern of mine. I just dont want a new unsuspecting grower to grab this bag of soil and assume he’ll be good to later find out otherwise.
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Its true about smell and taste. Maybe color too. Something about bugs eating minerals
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Totally understandable. I was following up pretty much on what had already been provided.
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I was reading about the Earth Dust, which is what I believe you mentioned above (or green sunshine co, but that’s the only thing in their Nutrition section). I think it sounds pretty cool. After the first grow with it do you just dump the soil back into a larger container to mix in the Earth Dust, clean the pots and then just scoop it back in, add water and plant the new girls and keep on growing? Have you compared weed you grew with it vs going with a liquid nutrition route? Do you think it impacted the size of your crop (up or down)?
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So I think I have made some “final-ish” decisions on basic equipment:
- Tent: AC Infinity 642 (4’x2’x60")
- Light: HLG 300Lv2 Rspec
- Ventilation: AC Infinity 4" Kit (Fan/Filter/controller/ducts)
- PH Meter: APERA INSTRUMENTS PH20 Kit
- TDS Meter: TBD (some random cheap Amazon one)
I have the first three in my cart at LedGrowLightsDepot for $657 right now. I’m still working on deciding on the rest of the things I will need, like soil and nutrients, seeds(!), and circulating fan(s).
Oh, that reminds me I meant to ask, I see people talking about dehumidifiers, is that also something I should have around on day 1? I am under the impression that adding humidity is a lot easier than taking it away?
I also found me an apron to wear while working with anything messy: 
Thanks everyone for the great input so far, I’m pretty excited.
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For the TDS meter you can get bluelab or apera as well. Both well known and trusted brands. I see you have the ac infinity t4 but what about smaller fans for the interior? Ac infinity always sells those (30-50 plus shipping)Not sure how many you’d need but my go to is 1 fan per corner for good airflow. If your getting a dehumidifier which you’ll likely need it before flower or maybe not at all with winter around the corner. But regardless you’ll probably want a lung room because running a dehumidifier in the same area heats it up quickly and will run you out of space. I have a 4 ft across x 1 ft wide section in my flower tent dedicated for portable ac and dehumidifier. I say you might need both eventually a humidifier and dehumidifier. I use my humidifier mainly for the veg tent and dehumidifier mainly for the flower tent. Some people like to use inkbird controllers to automate their dehumidifiers, humidifiers, heating, and cooling as it will keep it in a 3-4 degree or % of what you set it at. Example if you set it for 72 degrees it will maintain that ubtil it goes over 3-4 degrees then your ac will kick back on. If it dips below and you have heating hooked up it will keep things warm. Handy to have but takes a bit of trial and error to get a hang of using and dialing in
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Mars tent set up ts3000 2x4x6.5 all trimmings less than 600.00.
Welcome to the forum.
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Smaller yields. Not much. A little slower not much. More smell and taste . Easy.
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