Marijuana grow, light recommendations

A question from a fellow grower:

I am planning to grow one or two plants at the same time. But I am concerned about the lighting issue. Can you suggest me a light that does not effect the electric bill as much as the others do but still provides a good yield?

Another thing that bothers my head is that is a growing tent really necessary or does it really capture all the smell? Because I have lots of neighbours. If there are any extra suggestions you can make for people like me who have low budget, I would be very happy.

I believe people use grow tents cause those have reflective material inside and protect indoor carpets or floors, not to mask odor. You buy exhaust fans with filters for masking odors, I opted for a 4" ducted style filter and exhaust fan cause my grow is a small medical grow for myself only, but I don’t want my neighbors smelling anything and word getting around and my legal grow later stolen by thieves or kids in my outbuilding. I don’t want some of my neighbors to know I have taken drastic measures for pain relief, one of them gets high on three strong narcotics for his pain and would probably make remark that I was a druggy, not him!
I opted to get me a 2’x4’ small tent for seedlings, cuttings, and young plants, and I plan on building two small grow areas in the end of my large shed/outbuilding with panda plastic I was advised, white reflective with black backing, not expensive at all, found it cheapest on ebay like grow lights and equipment, didn’t see much variety on amazon.com or cheaper prices on amazon neither. But if health slows me down perfecting my grow area soon enough, I’ll probably have to buy a 4’x4’ or 5’x5’ tent for vegging in the middle of the shed till I work out the grow areas of the end of the shed. I’d just about, due to either laziness or my problems just buy two more tents for grow rooms of veg and flower, but that seems like a unnecessary expense, $200 to $250 depending on four foot or five foot square.

Anyway, I am still a total beginner myself. if a person grew in the home, tents of decent size would be the fastest way to go. There is a lot to this whole thing, and I am still working out my method of venting, etc. I’m worried about having an overbuilt system for a mere medical marijuana personal grow.

I have never found that the electric bill was an issue. When you can grow 300-400 an OZ weed…Who cares! :wink:

“I have never found that the electric bill was an issue. When you can grow 300-400 an OZ weed…I have never found that the electric bill was an issue. When you can grow 300-400 an OZ weed…”…

Wow, are we talking dollars? Or are we talking about hard to get weed depending on location in the world? I mean, that sounds like a lot of money, of course, I figure medical dispensary marijuana might be somewhat affordable, or I am hoping I can achieve my own grow for sure in the next several months or more if weed costs too much at medical dispensaries, that is for sure.

You might research prices local to you. Medical marijuana has a whole different price structure than recreational. Some states add up to 75% in taxes. 300 to 400 is common for high THC recreational weed. Less for lower THC medical weed. Everything is in constant flux though and you might find prices lower or even higher depending on what else is available. The plants I’ve grown from seeds I got here I could easily sell for $300 a whole oz or break it up and get $450 for it piecemeal. I prefer to hoard it against the zombie apocalypse though.

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If you buy high quality genetics, and put together a plan and a functional growspace, then you can Medical grade weed. Bubba Kush goes for 20 a gram here. 110 a 1/4

Make a 4x4 space minimum get a 400 watt switchable digital lamp. I use many, but have an Ipower System I bought off ebay for 120 bucks. Amazing deal for an entire light system, MH, and HPS,

You are worried about smell; You need a 4" vortex style fan, and a carbon scrubber to eliminate the odor,. Good weed smells awesome. The only problem is…Everyone can smell it if you do not build an exhaust system with an activate charcoal filter.

Hope this helps :slight_smile:

Yeah, I took those links on ebay I think latewood posted and have been buying Ipower items, though I bought from the same people a 8 light t5 for vegging, and a high pressure sodium setup for flowering(hopefully someday). Then I bought a seedling/cloning single bulb t5 frame/fixture I am still using for my young plants for bout another week or less. I bought a small grow tent 2’x4’ from them, maybe ipower brand, unsure, and a ipower 4" carbon filter/exhaust fan for when I am getting everything in order, I even bought a four pack of booster fans 4" cause they were four for $70 and now more expensive, in case I needed them later. I’m thinking bout ordering a vegging tent, cause I am having trouble getting around to making my grow rooms area, have panda plastic but now my truck is down and can’t go get two by fours to make common framing, in some sort of configuration I haven’t decided. It is so difficult at first, I hope once I get it all setup for my legal medical marijuana license personal grow that the setup will be a distant painful memory. I feel stupid that I may buy a vegging tent when if I had all setup, I’d save money. Man, if there was a booklet of “buy these items, use them this way, for two 4’x4’ or two 5’x5’ rooms” man, that would be cool, but there aint. I probably need more 4" ducting, I bought a bunch of fans for blowing on plants, booster and plant care from this sight, ha, I have blown a lot of money and aint even there yet, but I am sure I will be someday, and will feel sorry for all the folks who are going broke buying medical marijuana. I mean I had some savings to use, unfortunately I might have to ebay some of my other possessions to put the money back, errr, or for more grow rooms supplies.

But yeah, if medical weed in Oregon is too high a price, and I’ll know hopefully soon when my card arrives cause I don’t know how to even score any street weed, I won’t be able to afford high costs, just that simple, I aint a retired doctor or lawyer or like well off. Some years ago I got to growing commercial sized artichokes, they got to be almost three dollars each in recent years in the supermarkets, so I grew my own, and I had to grow them on a coastal area, against a light colored shed shielded from high coastal winds coming in, where nobody else could do it locally, the key was a shed reflecting light, and the heat it soaked up and radiated at night to keep them warmer. With my prior knowledge of plants, I expect this year to have problems of having too much harvested bud in the home, not too little, and I expect to be virtually pain and insomnia free.

Hello there Bud…I to buy from ipower…two 400 watt setup’s for veg and two 1000 watt for flower. I Have 3 tents one 79x79x79 one 36x36x79 and another one that’s 36x36x60 plus fans 4 other 300 watt light setup for cloning a whole lot of money tied up. But I lov the grow. Just harvested 20 ladies and got 9 oz. in the beginning I had trouble with heat and that accounted for the low out come. But as they say live and learn…lol

Will p.s got 15 seedlings and 13 clones going will post picks later

That’s interesting William Will, I am taking from that you have two 400 watt hps or mh in one 3’x3’x6.5’ tent, two 1000 watt hps in the 6.5’x6.5’x6.5’ tent. Wow, that is a lot, but I do know that it is all about having enough light, I worry I might later find out initially I didn’t get enough light. I’m thinking about getting a veg tent till I get it all going in my shed, but a 4’x4’, and one 8 bulb t5 light. I’m so pent up about maybe not having enough electricity or it getting too hot out there, that I have considered doing vegging or complete growing in the home and ducting the exhaust out my bathroom fan hole, I suppose I’d have to empty out my bedroom or my den room. Or doing vegging in the home and flowering out in the shed, but I wouldn’t want my neighbors seeing me carrying plants out there later for flowering, errrr, to given em a gripe or want to come over all the time begging for free weed gifts and suddenly my best friends right up till someone rips me off. These tents, I wonder how long they last or if there are problems with them on light leakage. I have a lot of panda plastic right now, I need to use, getting low on spendable cash, I’d love to just order me vegging tent of proper size, that would give me months to figure out my total layout and completion, but I even worried about what size of vegging tent to get me by, maybe I should have bought one and not bought the seedling tent that is 2’x4’x5.5’, maybe I could have done seedlings in a large enough vegging tent for now, saved $75.

I know what you are going through already been there done that. With friends and so on. Keep to my self. Any way one tent should get u up and running.
How many plants are you starting with? I do all my seedling in both small tents then move then to the big tent for veg @ 400 Watt and flower @ 1000 Watt right now I have 15 seedlings and 13 clones in the same tent. By the way, did you say you were in OG. I lived in Seattle for over 30 yr’s I am now in Tenn. of all places…lol
But ya…can get pricie if any time you need help just ask…I have so much info. that I study and have done so much research I wouldn’t mind sharing with you a fellow grower.

I am no Lakewood or Stoner but can offer at times and I have great places to buy things cheap but effective.

Will

I’m in Oregon, Will, we just voted in recreational, I finally decided to go medical due to some extreme pain issues and stomach issues associated with taking too many pills, and my medical marijuana license should be here any day, which means I am legal right now, I can have on that 6 mature plants and 18 seedlings under a foot tall. I originally wanted to start a bout ten and keep four under a foot tall by maybe cloning, but I made some rookie mistakes and killed six seeds, a seventh unsure about since it didn’t even open. I have five plants about three weeks old, and a sixth is coming up freshly started the other day, and even on he new one coming up I just now had to add water cause the peat pellet was drying out and glad I caught that before I got some bedrest, and I am watching it like a hawk, likely due to the fan I added the other day. Then I am water germinating another, one at a time you see, to be safe.
I spend a lot of time reading about growing and cooking, on my well time, I plan on making edibles. And I’m not ashamed to say that I wouldn’t mind just basically getting stoned, away from my problems, every so often with a high thc strain, like super skunk or such. I really do believe my health situation will take a turn for the better once I am using this herbal medicine, from my research. I may even be able to lift weights again someday.

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Hey Bud thought you were, any way all my girls are all White Widow…the clones are from flowering mothers. Through my research I found out they call taking from a flowering mother is " Monster Cropping " i’ll find out with 15 of them…lol
I just harvested 20 WW for 9 oz like I said it was due to too much heat… live and learn.
This here will be my 5th grow first 3 failed but the 4th was the charm and on to the 5th grow.
Like I said, if you need any help just ask.

Will