From a fellow grower:
I am brand new to the craft and having trouble deciding exactly what equipment to purchase on a limited budget, for each phase of the process. The lights and soil is of great interest immediately.
Use top soil and peat moss (50-50 mix) and then get some 100 watt cflâs make sure one is 5000K (daylight) fro growing and one 2400 (soft light) for flower . Here is the marijuana grow cycle:
Germination stage - 1-7 days
Seedling stage - 1-2 weeks
Vegation Stage 1-2moâs
Pre-flower stage 1-2 weeks
Flower Stage - 1-4 moâs ( 2 moâs is generally the average)
HARVEST
Only adivce - âKEEP IT SIMPLEââ
Grow a kush strain (hybrid) they are easy to grow
Ask for advice at all times
Happy Cultivation - Cost of what mentioned less that $100.00 (all so consider 5 gallon containers if possible)
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First, your grow area, this will change throughout the Grow, but youâll could start with Qt. Size pots for seedlings, soil⌠potting soil for seedlings âŚlights dependâs on how many plants you start with by one CFL , t5 or t 17 just to start with.
Second, choose your seeds, what strain cost will be determined on what and where you buy total up to you
But figure $100.00
I figure a Good $250.00 bucks just to get started cause thereâs other things as wellâŚPH tester, temperature, timers and so on.
And we havenât got to vegging stage and nutrients, flower stage and venting air flow and light chang.
You can plan on no less than a $1000. 00 for startup cost. Not trying to scare you off but itâs going to cost youâŚbut you can spread it out over time while growing
Hope this helps
Will
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I agree with Garrigan it is not cheap to start up things to consider space and goals what do you have already since these are free. Seeds are 50-100 lights can be made using a vanity fixture and combos of cfl bulbs daylight and warm white usually have right spectrum if mixed costs around 80-100 depending how many bulbs. t5âs are a better option but a little more costly.
Honestly you need to make a list of everything then figure out the order you need it in if you want to stretch the bills out over time. plants need soil light water and air. Things not to cheap out on your soil/media sunshine mix#4 or promix hp both air light airy mixes with perilite for good drainage and airflow aswell as retention and are fairly close to right ph. Seeds you get what you pay for a good strain pays for itself and saves tons of frustration as well some are classed as easy some expert so as a new grower donât just look at thc/cbds look a size ease of growth time in flower.
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I think that is a pretty good estimate for basic startup but expect to
spend more over the next 4 months as things change. I originally set
my cost at 500.00 (start-up) but the actually cost has gone over 2000
spread out over 5 months. I do now have enough supplies for another
4 grows, Soil, Nutrients, Bulbs, Meters ext.⌠So now only the added
electrical cost 130.00 total cost (4 months Total use - 505W of LEDâs
8 WEEKS @ 18/6 for Veg and 600W HPS 6 WEEKS @ 12/12 &
2 WEEKS @ 10/14 for flower)
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Iâll tell ya what âŚI have so much research material saved as far as âŚwell pretty much everything you could come up with including prices and I know Donald does⌠if you need anything donât hesitate to ask cause we and many others will point you in the right direction.
We canât do it all for ya but we can put one hell of a dent in it for yaâŚhelp you to.get a good price that wonât break ya.
B Safe will
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If you want to go hydro for cheapâŚi havenât begun but this is something like what im looking at for a startâŚ
$50 will get you one of these
or you could build your own
lights will cost a bit but depending on how much your looking to start with but 50 watts for every square meter I think⌠check out these lamps
2 or 3 should be a good start
As far as the room im looking to spend a bit on a tent, foil and building my own carbon filters like such
ID ALSO LIKE TO GET ANY ADVISE 
Yeah, I wouldnât buy the $50 DWC kit, you should be able to build a much better one cheaper. The kit doesnât look like it has a big enough air stone or powerful enough air pump, especially if you canât keep your reservoir water temps below 72*F. If you canât keep temps below this, you need to go extremely overboard with bubbling air, almost so many bubbles that is is almost like an aeroponics system to be able to get enough air to the roots.
As for the lights, actually it is about 500 watts per square meter, or 50 watts per square foot. Actual watts, not âequivalent wattsâ that is often labeled on fluorescent lights, nor the theoretical maximum watts like often labeled on LEDs, but actual watts consumed by the light. You can make do with a little less if using T5 or CFL florescent lights or high quality high output LEDs, but not by much if you really want your buds big and dense and to match what you might get growing outdoors.
happy growing,
MacG
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this is actually the one I was looking at gettingâŚand how would I keep the temp of the water down?
start with white paint black absorbs lots of heat also you can keep your res outside of grow room in cooler area
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Unless you put something like an aquarium chiller inline, the only way to keep reservoir temps below 72F is to keep air temps down. Usually your reservoir temp should stay at least about a degree or two below the air temp. And so youâd need to keep the air temps at probably about no higher than 74-75F.
Covering the buckets with insulation and making it white or reflective (think insulating Mylar, like many car window shades) is a good idea.
Some people that grow in basements, or maybe elsewhere indoors can put their buckets right on the concrete slab, this can help keep the âbucketâ cool. And as most people keep their indoor air temps not much higher than about 75F, youâd probably be ok. However in some cases the concrete slab might keep things too cold. This is the main concern in DWC, as reservoir temps need to be no higher than about 72 F and no lower than about 62*F, above this max temp and dissolved oxygen levels become to low, and much below the minimum and biological cellular activity slows enough the roots canât uptake nutrients properly.
~MacG
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I was going to try my hand at DWC and after research ing and reading these posts⌠it seems to be a FULL TIME JOBâŚlol
Will
I didnât always use an aquarium chiller and was fine indoors in the air conditioned house, but then I also use LEDs only in the tent, so heat isnât that big of a problem.
~MacG
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