First, let me explain that I’m prob older than your granma and I don’t feel at all savvy about the internet. But resources for growing weed are limited so I’m hoping some of you can offer advice. We are outdoor growers, have been for a long time. I put pix on before with another question and left them out in the wide open for their photo shoot, but they are normally hidden in the bushes along the deer trails where they are easily accessible. Possession and use of marijuana is legal in our state, but growing is still not. We are concerned now not so much about the planes and helicopters but too many people moving in to our area. The plants stink at a certain point and we are insecure about their safety. We have to grow in pots since our season is short and very rainy near the end of it’s flowering. For all of these reasons we move the pots in and out of the garage on a daily basis to keep them secure and to avoid bud-rot. It would be so much easier to just grow indoors and be done with it. Where do you purchase lights etc? This topic was addressed in 2015 but surely supplies have changed by now. Even 5 year old information is OLD. Let me hear from growers on a budget, please. We will be using our garage, which is heated by a furnace in winter. We have fans that run when when the plants are inside. Otherwise, we are starting from scratch. Thank you!
Welcome to the community I think you have a good plan. What size space are you planning to light ? Also keep in mind light being the most important piece of equipment for indoor grow. Lot of indoor growers here can help you to choose a Quality light that fits your budget.
Good luck 
So here’s the deal. Lighting and environment are 75% of being successful, with soil and nutrients being the other 25%. You need to decide if you’re going to grow in a tent, or just in the open. Don’t cheap out on the light. Figure out how many plants you want to do at once, and match the light to the square feet you’re going to use. I highly recommend hlg lights. You can get refurbished ones, and use code DUDE for a little discount. If you don’t get a powerful enough light, you’re wasting your time and money. They’re expensive no doubt, but all real led lights are. Don’t fall for a blurple light that advertise 1200 watts, or something like that. It’s all about the actual watts they pull from the wall. There’s a lot of false advertising out there. You can’t miss with hlg lighting. I’m harvesting my first grow with an hlg 350r today. It did a hell of a job. You get the most out of a light using a tent with an in-line fan exhausting out. I recommend a 6” fan. Hope this helps. It will probably cost you $1,000 to $1500 to get set up right.
hello kellydans,
thanks for the reply, the garage is a two car garage but we store our classic '67 chevy in there, so it’s actually a two car garage half full already!
I’ve had my share of the old 60’s classic muscle car chevys. I recommend set up a 4 ×4 grow tent Inside garage.
Thanks Dexterado for the info. I do have the old lights that i confiscated from my sons “closet grow room” when he was in high school, one for veg and one for flowering, if i had to. but i agree that the investment will be worth the money in the long run. we plan to use autoflower since they are so much smaller than the old fashioned kind we will grow four or five plants and before we run out of that grow four or five more. we just need the bud for our old age aches and pains, with the occasional sharing a small bit with a friend in need.
sounds like a plan! thanks
As far as lights go HLG are great lights another is Green-beams(dot)com, @Graysin and @Fiz both use them and their prices are not to bad. Like @kellydans @Dexterado said lights are the most important part of a successful grow.
BTW y’all, we have been buying seeds from this website for years, and highly recommend their product. Once, there was a snafu, and the team at ILGM was great and supportive in getting us our order. We love this website, and will continue to get our seeds here, even tho we can now legally buy them at a local “dispensary”. We know we can rely on ILGM products.
i forgot to put the hyphen in there and got a lumber company website. i’ll try again later. time for my nap. thank you for your reply
Your welcome,I’m sure the other 2 growers will be along with there input on the lights.
I wish MY grandma grew kind bud. 
Welcome to the friendliest grow forum on the interweb. You’ve already met some of the growers and you will certainly meet more. We promote a friendly environment with no political discourse, no swearing, no outside sales of products in order to keep it that way.
Lighting is going to be your biggest investment and cannot stress enough just how much disinformation is present when shopping for lights. THE top of the line is HLG and you can’t really go wrong. It’s a ‘one and done’ purchase and the operating costs will be far lower than pretty much all other lights due to their efficiency. You can also go d.i.y. like I did and there are resources here that can help you should you go that route.
I might suggest: 4 X 4 (or larger depending on your needs), HLG lighting (figure around 30 watts per square foot), coco and Jack’s nutrients. A PH and TDS meter, decent water source in fabric pots and you’ll be rocking your grow space.
Prices are a steal from Green Beams.
One thing I always have to emphasize is that GB lights were designed to rival the HLG Rspec of yore - the QB288 light boards that go on the 300L Rspec, or the QB260/320 diy fixtures. In that respect, GB is king. More watts for fewer dollars.
If you want best in class, the HLG Scorpion Diablo or any other Diablo boards will outperform their QB288s (and consequently also the green beams).
If you want good for the money, GB is my bet.
@SynysterChris uses one as well- I believe @Twelve1 has them on his agenda soon too if I recall correctly.
I like to follow @Graysin around and second the endorsement of the Green-beams lights. They are perfect for someone growing for themselves - realistic prices (seriously, 240w is $179 + $17 shipping, double the light price for the 480w), fast delivery, and the unit is built like a brick outhouse!
I give the light upgrade all the credit for helping me turn in a 21 oz grow (5 plants, but one was 8 oz! All autos.) - well, except for the credit due to the growers here who kept me from losing my mind half the time.
BTW, I’m a grandma too!
I’ll chime in and say I purchased an HLG light (upgraded from my Spider Farmer), and I’m supremely happy with the purchase
Correct, I’m just waiting for my current light to break or something. 
I do have a question for you and @Fiz about the Green Beam light. The description says that it has a dimmer, I forget what kind of dimmer they call it, BUT does it have a knob for easy dimmer adjustment? I use the dimmer function a lot, so fiddling with a screwdriver or whatnot might make me go 
BTW, happy International Cat Day! 
It’s a knob. It’s on its own cord so I have them outside the tent. Don’t even have to open the tent if I don’t need to, though yanno, that hasn’t happened yet.
Welcome to the greatest forum in the world everybody on here has great advice and support and I totally agree with them. I’m no expert by any means but what I have learned with indoor growing is no matter where or what your growing space is, lighting and ventilation are number one (if there environment is garbage so will be the crop) and second is the water quality with or without nutrients everything else isn’t as important now I’m not saying it’s not important but nothing else will roller coaster like poor lighting, ventilation, and water quality with or without nutrients in ones grow. Everyday I’m on here learning as much as I can and feeling more confident for future grows. I really hope the best for you and your future growing and best of luck 