I’m sure we can help you out. Just so we’re all on the same page, how much are we talking about needing to harvest on per month basis?
At this point, my only goal is to discover how well I can do with one light and minimal expense. My friends who grow are serious commercial growers with no idea how retired folks on fixed incomes can grow weed least expensively since they recoup expenses. Right now I’m simply trying to discover if there’s one light brand or type that would be best for easing into indoor growing inexpensively. I live near a retirement community of maybe 25 homes where half the folks who live there grow outdoors every summer but live on limited, fixed incomes where even a $100 power bill is too much. There’s thousands of aging 60’s tokers who are now good to grow IF they can do so and stick to their retirement budget. My goal here is to discover the least expensive way to have a worthwhile grow. There’s lots of seeds to be sown in the retirement community.
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Grow 1 plant in a spare room that is blacked out so no light can come in. $120 light $15 fan and about $10 a month in electricty maybe 3-4 oz off the plant?
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Fair enough. If going led, and you don’t mind a little labor, we can definitely help you out. You choose area, build cost, and efficiency that suits you the best. If you’d rather just buy something from amazon, we can help you too.
If you want to maximize yeild potential with smallest electric bill period, you just spend a little more up front on light. Are you growing in a tent, or dedicated room? How big of space?
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Thanks for your help! I have a 1200’ basement with a controlled temperature at 63 degrees with 55-60% humidity. The ceiling is about 7’. There are no concerns about the aroma. I can create a smaller room lined with or made from a reflective material in the basement for this 1 light experiment. I’m with you on the idea of buying a better light for getting started. Which light should I get for this sort of garden?
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Thanks for this info! $10 bucks sounds great! Which $120 light? I guess now that you put it in ounces per grow, I’d love to get 8 oz per grow. Does that help with recommending the best light?
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for 8 ounces we will have to step up the light price and the electricity. You get what you pay for. @dbrn32 what do you think about a 3590 4 cob kit over a 3 or 4 plant grow to get him to his 8 ounce goal? @buckparks this will probably be a 350$ light and about $15 a month just for the light in electricity.
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I like the cobs, but in that price range I feel like a 2 quantum board setup is going to provide a little better performance for about the same amount of money.
Thanks much for this info, @brn32! If I can get 8 oz per grow with one light consuming only $15 in power/month, 2 lights might follow. Can you suggest links to those lights?
The light I’m talking about is a kit that you would need to assemble, not a big deal though. As far as 8 oz, it’s possible if you have your sh!t together. Can’t link them, but I can tell you that horticulture lighting group is where you will find them. Should be available soon if not already. But be cautious as they will sell out quickly.
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Thanks for this suggestion! Is this a light that can be used full cycle? I’m just now starting to learn about growing indoors,
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Yep. Get the 3000k color temp. I should mention again that it’s a kit, and you will need to assemble it. As long as you’re ok wit that? Not really a big deal, there are tutorials you can watch to help. I just want to make sure you’re aware really
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Bummer. Looks as if the light you mention is sold out already.
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Thanks. I’m fine with assembly if the instructions make sense. I can do most anything with duct tape and a good attitude! 
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If you look down at bottom of screen the restock notice is still up for yesterday. They may not hav gone up. I would email them and ask. It could be soon
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Why not just work on getting your summer crop bigger? All that sun is FREE. I think the key is getting the plants out there as soon as frost danger is past so they have months to vegetate. Some people use 300 gallon cloth pots and grow trees! You get a lot of buds off a tree.
If you live in a six plant legal state like California, those six can be two foot tall autos or 12 foot high trees.
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Outdoor growing is great, where it’s legal and lack of environmental control doesn’t destroy your harvest.
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Well, he did say he has been growing outdoors for the last 10 years and lives near a little retirement community where half the folks grow outdoors, so I assume he can still grow outdoors during the natural photo plant season. If he could get two or three times as much weed during a summer grow, maybe there’s no reason to grow indoors. Or maybe he would want to start vegetating very early in the winter so by spring the plants would be pretty big. They would vegetate for a total of 5 months inside and out before the days shortening signalled it’s time to flower. So he would need less intense light and a smaller area because the plants would go outside before they got too big.
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amen to that brother Maybe. In that particular case I would guess that environmental control or some other reason to motivate indoor growing. I didn’t really start the thread to tell people how to grow lol, just to help with the lights. Which is all I intended to do.
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