I’m a newbie to indoor growing, well, growing pot for that matter. I do have a green thumb and love gardening. My Question: Are the VivoSun grow tents that I see on Amazon a good start for a beginner? What LED light would you recommend with it? Is the vent fan necessary? I’ve bought two stand lights so far and I’m sure I wasted my money. Thank you!
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I personally have always liked my vivo sun tents they hold up well and aren’t that expensive compared to other companies and as far as lighting goes id return the lights you bought and it all depends on the size of the tent
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Welcome I don’t know about the tent your asking about, first I would ask how many plants are you planing to grow, and what size tent. I ask because I have a Jazzy 4x4 it was like 80$ and works great more me with autos. Maybe not the best for photo cause there is small holes and light comes in. But it works for me and was inexpensive compared to most. 1 Size of tent will help determine size of light
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I’m looking at either the 4x2 or 6x6.
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The best advice is to think about how many plants you plan to grow. How much space you can dedicate, and your budget.
I stated a few months ago, and have already gone past my initial budget.
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4-6 plants
Id personally start with the 4x2 its plenty of room for a new grower and 1 to 2 plants and as far as lighting is there a budget involved because there are multiple options out there
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This is what 7 plants looks like in a 5x5 and only in Veg.
The lights I am using are enough for veg but not enough for flower.
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Budget is somewhat open.
Piece it then. Don’t kit, the reason I say that I went with a kit. Which is fine it’s worked just fine so far, but I’ve had to add to it. If I just pieced together myself I could have easily saved some money. But I just kept expanding so everything is still getting use.
Initial budget $1000
Current cost $2,300 (not everything I am using do people need) but just a reference how easy it was to go over.
I have a 5x5 Veg tent and 2x4 Flower tent. This has been maintainable fairly well. But could have done a better setup for both.
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Besides genetics, lighting is the most important part of an indoor grow. Lot’s of crap on the market (especially Amazon). I use a cheap led light for my seedlings and clones.
I bought MarsHydro for my first setup. Something complete and cheap. I’ve upgraded the light since them and currently flower with a MarsHydro TSW2000. I want a further upgrade and am saving my money for something from HLG. I’m a little handy so probably one of their kits.
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Saw, hammers, drills, light construction - No problem. Any thing electric I am petrified. It has taken me two days to work up to changing one duplex outlet. But, I did manage to assemble three hlg 260 kits, did the driver remote and grounded all of them. So yes - I am sure you can assemble one of their kits.
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HLG is highly recommended in this fourm 2nd would probably be spider farmer then mars hydro all make great lights but hlg puts out nothing but quality and amazing customer service for a 4x2 you could run a HLG 350R or a HLG 260w diy kit also a 320w diy kit would all be great options for HLG for spider farmer the sf2000 and the SE3000 would be good options from spider farmer
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Eaglestar dot you know what has a ESM7600 on sale for $460 now I don’t know anything about them but the light definitely says it has more than enough balls to grow some weed, built with the best parts. I’m sure someone around here has more information on the company. If nothing else it’s worth checking into because 760w for 460 bucks ain’t something you see everyday… maybe @dbrn32 knows… I’m half tempted to card a couple just for the price
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Hi dhester,
I just bought everything for a second flower only tent. My old tent with the cheap lights will become the seeding/clone tent/early veg tent. I have also added a list of things I use frequently throughout the grow. Everything was bought through Amazon and just a few were picked up at Home Depot or Walmart.
My budget was $800 and I came in at just about $600. At $200 an ounce at the dispensary I make that back the first grow. I will also note my electric bill went up $50 a month.
Here is what I bought:
- 4x2x60” AC Infinity tent $99.00
- 6” Clip on fans $18.99 for 2
- Fan AC infinity $89.99
- Carbon filter exhaust AC Infinity $49.99
- Vent tubing: I had some left over from my first set-up so I don’t have a price.
- Light 260 XL QB Rspec LED kit (assembly required) $282.60 (with discount code DUDE). Don’t skip here! @dbrn32 provided me great guidance based on my grow goals. Looks like @MeEasy may have found a deal!
- Plant saucers: a couple of dollars a piece at home depot.
- Bags/pots. I use the vivosun 3 gallon fabric bags $17.99 for 5. I reuse my old soil and wash the bags in the washer on delicate and reuse them also.
- Timer for your light. $16.99 for two.
- Medium: Your choice - prices will vary.
- Nutrients: Your choice - prices will vary.
Other things you will/may need:
Pest control
- Mosquito bits $33.79 for 60 ounces.
- Yellow sticky traps $8.99 for 30.
- Captain Jacks dead bug. Ready to use $17.86 for 32 ounces.
Water treatment and testing - pH up and pH down (or there are suitable household products that are less expensive such as lemon juice, vinegar, citric acid to lower pH and baking soda to increase pH).
- Good pH pen. Apera 20 or better.
- TDS meter.
Other stuff for later on:
- Plant yo yos to hold up colas.
- Trimmers.
- Containers for curing and storage. Many members are using Grove Bags which I have not tried yet.
- Mini TRH meters $17.99 for 12.
- Moisture meter for testing buds.
- Isopropyl alcohol.
- Hydrogen peroxide.
- Zipper wax (it helps the zipper from sticking). ~3.00
- One gallon milk jugs or suitable containers for mixing nutrients.
- One gallon hand pump sprayer for watering.
Above all patience.
I am sure many of the more experienced growers have other items I have overlooked.
Best wishes to you!
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Damn you nailed it. About the only thing you missed was good seeds LOL.
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Be cautious on the Apera PC-60 or PC-60Z
I use the PC-60Z and less than 30 days the probe died from a seal leak on the meter. @MadamCalamity also had a probe go bad around the same time.
I haven’t looked at their other meters but what I found is that these models with the replacement probe are hand assembled. Due to this it’s best to check the meter and make sure all gaskets are sealed right before first use. $130-$180 sucks replacing. If you go through Apera you can get the extended warranty.
Good meter nonetheless when you know the probe is good.
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I have had luck so far with the Apera 20. It is about a year old and still working well. Bummer about yours. Is the one you used a multi-probe.
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Yep, you can get replacement probes for $80, when I took a look at mine though I could see moisture had reached the logic board so I knew it would be better to swap. Apera was understanding and sent out a replacement.
I ordered it through my rep at work though, so not sure if that changed my luck or not, but the replacement has been working perfectly. I added some Teflon to threads and conformal coated the board to prevent it from happening again.
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First I’ve heard of them too
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