Hello all and thanks for letting me be part of the community. I’ve spent hours and hours reading grow journals and posts before I joined and ordered my seeds from ILGM. I have a list of items I will be purchasing shortly and would just like to make sure I’m on the right path.
Basics: Two auto flowering plants only, soil grow. When one set is completed I will have the second set of seeds going to place after harvest.
Seeds: Girl Scout Cookie Extreme Auto, Jack Herer Auto and White Widow Auto. Plan to do Girl Scout and Jack Herer set first unless others have opinion for first grow.
Equipment Online:
Gorilla Grow Tent 3’x3’x7’11"
260W XL QB V2 Rspec LED Kit (24" heatsink)
AC Inifinity Cloudline T6 6" Inline Exhaust
VIVOSUN 6" Carbon Filter 6"x18"
AC Infinity 6" Heavy Duty Aluminum Ducting (25ft)
Holmes 8" Lil Blizzard Oscillating Fan
VIVOSUN 5 pack 5 Gallon Fabric Grow Bags
Fox Farm Ocean Forest Potting Soil
Fox Farm Nutrient Package: Big Bloom, Grow Big, Tiger Bloom, Sesame, etc (6 total)
General Hydroponics pH Control Kit (Up/Down)
General Hydroponics Rapid Rooter Plugs (50 ct)
VIVOSUN 6 pairs 1/8" Rope Ratchet Hangers
Bluelab PENGTB Growers Toolbox PH and PPM Pens
ThermoPro TP65 Digital Wireless Hygrometer/Temp
Bloom City Cal-MAG
Items found locally:
Water Catch Pan
5 Gallon Water Bucket
Plant bag stand (build)
ScrOG Fencing 15" above bags
I have just one major question after equipment. Since my plants are different grow heights (standard and compact) would it be better to buy two HLG 135W QB V2 Rspec kits to ensure height from each plant can be adjusted or am I ok going with the 260W QB V2 Rspec kit and letting them grow to the one light?
Nice setup! Very obvious uve done ur homework. @dbrn32 is the light man. But i think 2 lights at sep heights is more… economical. Better to be able to adjust.
Thanks PurpNGold74, I know I’ll have questions but I try to search the forum as much as possible first. Your replies to other threads have helped me put this list together.
Hopefully this list will help others out in the future. It’s not a budget build but I prescribe to the old buy once, cry once ideology and you usually get what you pay for.
Correct. Someone will stumble onto this thread one day n u have the gotos id recommend. (Except that baller ph/ppm blue labs. Is a beast just outta my range )
Afternoon, greetings! Looks like your coming out of the gate like a thoroughbred#! Like a moth to the flame, if you talk lights, they will come… Stay Tooned
I would say that two 135 kits would give you more flexibility to adjust for sure. If you do go with a 260 kit, you would want the XW kit, that’s the one with square heatsink. Or that standard kit, I believe that’s what you meant by 24" heatsink. The XL kit is too long for 3x3.
You could always build your own too if you would like. Otherwise I think you’re off to a pretty good start.
Looks pretty good to me. I commend you just for going with the QBs on your first attempt and not having already ordered some crappy blurple or nock off LED light. Get the right size and kit straightened out and everything else looks golden. I did a Diy build for my 2x4 for 275$ and it has more than exceeded my expectations.
Yup…get the right lights now. I’ve spent $450 on my two lights and finding out there is better. So I ordered my 2 260xl Rspec lights today for a total of $799. So I’ve spent a total of $1249 on lights.
I remember when I was new here trying to convince people of this. When compared to what you get in commercially built fixtures for same amount of money, performance levels aren’t even close. Even a $1500 light from fluence. That price looks ridiculous, but if you can keep plants alive you’re going to grow more than $1500 worth of weed on every harvest. With an 8-10 year service life it seems like good investment to me. When you can build nearly identical light for half the cost, that’s even better.
Thanks all for the welcome, sounds like I’m on the right track. After reading grow journals start to finish it became absolutely clear that lighting makes a huge difference between an ok grow and a great grow. I saw so many people buy lights twice and I just don’t want to do that.
@dbrn32 Thanks for the heads up on the lights. As a mechanical engineer with an aluminum blade on my saw I actually thought about buying the 260W and sawing the heat sink in half while extending the wires between them to adjust to different heights while running off one transformer. Then I figured probably not the best thing to do possibly exposing wires to UV and voltage drop on longer wires.
I’m torn on building my own, I know I can do it, it’s just finding and ordering all the parts. I’ll read through your DIY build thread again tonight before I order lights. I have a ton of 80/20 extruded aluminum to use for framing and even some plate aluminum for heatsinks.
Thanks @MrPeat I actually was just reading a thread about the three other ones and wondering if they were worth getting. Updated my list and I already downloaded and printed the chart for these that someone posted.
@Milk For me…it’s worth it. This is a personal choice. My last crop I netted 6.57oz dry. And this is with a wrong growing technique that is now going to be fixed.
It also helped my GSC plant be over 57.5 inches tall rather than 30 inches. Again wrong growing technique. I have high hopes for her and if my last grow was grown with not even close the lighting I need and changing these lights out will make it better.
I love this pack of nutrients and again, it’s a personal choice.
I’ll use whatever it takes to get the best yield out of these autos.
On a side note, I’m doing this for my own personal pain management. Multiple heart and stomach surgeries has put my body in poor shape. Unfortunately I’m not in a medical state and have no access to any currently. I tried some in the last month with a friend while I was traveling (my first ever) and looking forward to having a constant supply. I just don’t run with the right crowd to find it locally. A long 3 month wait for me…
I explained to my wife and she was fine with it. When I came out with my notebook full of items and tips all typed up she said “Jesus, I’m married to Walter White now”
@Milk I understand all to well. My entire spine from my neck to my tail bone is toast. My injuries in the Army literally gave me every spinal disease possible. Including to waking up paralyzed from the waist down.
I do this for pain management, insomnia and PTSD. I had to head to Colorado 3 times till I managed to get a decent crop.
)
