Jeez, I have a friend who lives there. Thanks for the heads up
I have some in my garage loft and they are roasting with A.C. unit running non stop and utilities are sky high, perfect in winter thou for me, i run hlg leds and just warm enough to make it perfect in winter, but scorching now. I’ve been told to try the mini split ac units?
Other way around, mh for veg, HPS for flower.
You said you have been researching for 3 months and ready to pull the trigger. In your research you must have come across the temperature and humidity ranges for successful grows. If you can absolutely guarantee that the space you decide on and the equipment you choose will keep your plants within the necessary temp and humidity parameters, then go for it.
Now, some very practical considerations. Water - access? Can you imagine slugging gallons of water at a time to water and feed them every couple of days? Adequate conditioned space for you to work in. A lot of time is spent mixing nutrients, ph testing maintaining the plants, etc.
I was originally going to use a large garden / equipment storage shed as my grow space. I could have made it work but the hurdles to get over and the cost of doing it was not worth it. My wife suggested I use my workshop instead. It has heat, AC, water close by, plenty of power outlets, storage for all the supplies and believe me you end up with a lot. She had an ulterior motive though. I am recently retired and she wanted to make sure I was able to spend a LOT of time in my workshop.
Any space you can grab in the basement? Good luck with what ever route you take.
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I agree with @beardless you have to think about getting all your stuff up there and like he said when your plants get bigger they will take up a lot more water so you would have to carry a lot of water up there. If it’s your first time I would suggest if it’s possible to stay out the attic. There are to many factors of your grow going wrong. If your gonna be at a new location in a year then I would Do a closet grow to start out with. You just won’t be able to grow 5 plants. You sound like me I thought I had it all figured out until I popped that first seed then it’s a game changer. Happy growing!
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Gooooood morning I am new to this Marijuana growing, but I grow big gardens every year. How do I get started and what /where do I get my indoor tent from. Hell what do I need?
I will refer you to a thread about my first year of growing. You are miles ahead of where I was having found this forum. An Anniversary – My Rookie Year No endorsements. I simply used black dog as a resource in developing a parts list. It appeared very complete as compared to packages you find on other retailer sites.
My first decision was I knew I had to use a tent, and then where am I going to locate it and all of the equipment and supplies. What size of tent will fit in the selected space? From there, everything else is sized based on the tent. What do you want to grow in? Soil based, coco, water systems I know absolutely nothing about.
You can use the magnifying glass search feature for threads on grow setups. There are many. Tag me using the @ if you have a question and I will see If I can help. You can also start your own topic and ask the forum for help, suggestions and lists. Good luck
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@beardless, @Davyg, @kellydans , @KoolHandLuke thanks a lot for the encouraging advice. Unfortunately garage attic/upper level is only available space. I have materials to build a lightweight, well insulated 4x6x8 room. So it would be a 2x4x8 grow room/2x4x8 storage entryway in middle/2x4x8 grow room. I’m thinking one side for germination maybe cloning later and one for veggie and flower. The middle storage area would have access to both sides. Ok opinion time😁. I am thinking a Cloudline T4 for the actual grow side(adding a T4 to other side later on). For soil I’m thinking Fox Farm w/FF nutrients/root booster and adding DE powder (for moisture control and pest deterrent) in 5 gal. grow bags. Lights have me torn between LED and MH/HPS. Please see photos:
Feel free to laugh and tell me to stop being cheap!! I am very open to specific suggestions.
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Like @beardless said read,read,read posts ask a lot of questions.I thought i was ready when i started my first grow all autos.Poor light choice not understanding nutes,PH,PPM.First grow only about 8 grams so i read some more asked questions. My last grow (my 3rd grow) almost 4oz. There a lot of good people on here ready to help all you have to do is ask for help. Whether it is lights,nutrients or what ever ask the forum. “HAPPY GROWING”
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HID are king ,but they have a heat problem and they burn a ton of power. It’s your grow ,but I wouldn’t do a blurple. This is what I did and you can always upgrade the heat sink to a triple later
$185
$52
$6
total $243
Thanks for the tag ! don’t know your budget for lighting but the hlg 260 V2 R-Spec XL would be a great choice for your 2x4 space. Also if needed you can mount the driver for this light outside you’re insulated space to help with heat issue. Lights is the most important item for a inside grow. Shop around you’re looking at about three hundred and sixty bucks but you want need to buy another light.
I know nothing about MH/HPS. I actually have a king 600 I use for starting plants. Hlg are fantastic lights. People that have them rave about them. However they don’t fit into every one’s budget. There are a lot of quantum board knock offs. The build quality and diodes used may be of a slightly lower grade but 50% of the cost.
If I search “amazon quantum board led” this is one page that came up https://www.amazon.com/LM301B-Samsung-MeanWell-Commercial-Spectrum/dp/B081ZT6BMC
Alibaba is the primary source for china built lights. The site is terrible to navigate but once you get there 100’s of lights. I have only bought some screws through alibaba, figured can’t screw that up to badly.
The flower side of your space has to be 100% light proof. No light leaks.
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If you go HID you need to upgrade your kit, The heat coming off of HID are massive your hood needs to be air cooled
https://www.amazon.com/iPower-Digital-Dimmable-System-Reflector/dp/B07D8QF3M1/ref=sr_1_15?crid=2ZGDNTX2XJTV6&dchild=1&keywords=ipower+grow+light&qid=1596642691&sprefix=ipower+grow%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-15
You won’t get anyone laughing at you here buddy. I have that hood and light, they’re flimsy and burn hotter than Hades but they’re very good. Don’t hit the bulb with sprays of any kind as it will explode though. Led lighting is the way forward if you can stretch to a decent one, just don’t touch that blurple shite. When you sort your loft you will understand the curse of the loft tent, man I bang my head constantly. If it was me I would go for a veg flower split and find somewhere else to do your seedlings as they need very little care
After reading all this I would say definitely temperature control is going to be your biggest challenge so a box setup would be good insulating the cieling walls and floor of the box. Wouldn’t take more than a wall and plenty of insulation. Hps lights do produce heat that will help heat in the winter but a good exhaust over 400 cfm and probably a cool tube would be needed in the summer. I would go led personally.
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Thanks a lot @KoolHandLuke, @Davyg, @SKORPION, @kellydans. I can do seedlings inside and split room veg/buds. I was thinking the same about temp control on the HPS light so after searching all day at lights I’m going with your suggestion Kool. I’m getting the HLG qb288 V2 twin board. Correct me if I am wrong Kool but cant I wire a single heatsink/board right to the double or do I have to buy a new heat sink? The biggest difference beside $$ with 200-300w LEDs, Beardless, was the amount and disbursement of diodes which showed up on the PPFD map. $185 is an awesome price. I’m going to go with a 6" extraction unit instead of a 4 and I’m going to make my bloom room 4x4. I’m thinking FFOF with perlite and lime for final pot. Any suggestions for for seedlings? Also is a natural CO2 bag a good idea?
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The link I gave you was 2 QB 288 V2 R spec boards and a double heat sink (pre drilled and hardware included). you will need the driver I gave you the link to and a cord end
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Earlier post you spoke about 2 x 4 growing space, and I recommended one HLG 260 R-Spec XL so if space is now going to be 4 x 4 space you will need two of those lights to be efficient and grow solid dense buds. Don’t waste your money on CO2 bags. 6 inch exhaust fan will work great. Also if you go with the kit or pieces and parts Google and watch the videos on wiring HLG lights. Good luck
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