Advice regarding the strain: minimum couch lock, autoflower yes/no? Absolute beginner!

[Nerdlicht]

Hello everyone,

I need your help! Since April 1st, by law, we have to grow our own marijuana in Germany. The requirement is 3 plants per person and a maximum yield of 50g. For this purpose, I have now purchased a complete set consisting of:

• Homebox Ambient Q60+ including dimmer, suspension, and power cable
• SANlight Evo 3-60 200W
• Prima Klima 2-Speed AC Fan 125mm 220-400m3/h (PK125-2)
• Prima Klima Industry Line Activated Carbon Filter K1602
• GHP Clip Fan
• Opti Thermo-/Hygrometer
• Timer
• 4x Air-Pot pots (9L)
• Hose clamp
• Connection sleeve
• Power connection cable for fan

I hope everything is in order and I have done everything correctly. If you already see any mistakes I have made or have suggestions for improvement, please let me know!

Now to my actual concern: Advice regarding the strain

I am an absolute beginner. A friend, who actually has experience, recommended Gorilla Glue #4 to me. I have done some research and feel that this may not be what I need.

I want a high that doesn’t bring me down, doesn’t make me tired, but rather is alert and euphoric. I want a minimum of couch lock and a maximum of laughter fits! A high THC content would also be okay. I have been consuming for 20 years and handle it well. So, a strain with the highest possible Sativa content would be the right choice, right? And a strain that is as robust as possible, so it is suitable for beginners. Money is no object when purchasing the seeds, as I will save an incredible amount by growing at home anyway.

Additionally, I am not sure if Autoflower is good or bad for my situation. My friend says Autoflower is better for outdoor. It would yield much smaller plants and less yield, which for me with 3 plants/person and a maximum of 50g might actually be perfect, right? So, I would rather have smaller yields at shorter intervals than have to destroy (throw away) the majority of a yield after a longer growing phase. Of course, I could dispose of the excess in 50g packages on my neighbor's compost heap, but that is not something I have planned :D

As you can see, there are still some puzzles for me to solve before I can get started. I hope you have some good tips!

 

[Gmix]

Firstly automatics are not the best choice for new growers
One mistake and you yeild will suffer whereas photoperiods are a lot more forgiving.

I highly recommend you start with photoperiods.
Alou there are a few exceptions
couchlock highs will come indica dominant strains and head and day time highs will come from sativa doms

Find a strain you like the sound of you can check what folks say here

Cannabis Strains

With thousands of cannabis strains available, THCFarmer makes it easy to find the perfect strain for you.

www.thcfarmer.com

Just click on the photo for better info

Also heres a good place when checking out seed strains

SeedFinder - Extended Cannabis Strain Search

Search and find cannabis strains with our detailed search options. Select by flowering times, breeder, commercial availibility, price-rages, lineage and much more.

en.seedfinder.eu

Tips keep the room clean , don’t overwater or have the light to close and use the dimmer switch ,never have it above 75/80%.
99% of the problems we normally see are from light burn/stress as leds are very intense & bad watering

 

[ChuckFinnl3y]

Hello everyone,

I need your help! Since April 1st, by law, we have to grow our own marijuana in Germany. The requirement is 3 plants per person and a maximum yield of 50g. For this purpose, I have now purchased a complete set consisting of:

• Homebox Ambient Q60+ including dimmer, suspension, and power cable
• SANlight Evo 3-60 200W
• Prima Klima 2-Speed AC Fan 125mm 220-400m3/h (PK125-2)
• Prima Klima Industry Line Activated Carbon Filter K1602
• GHP Clip Fan
• Opti Thermo-/Hygrometer
• Timer
• 4x Air-Pot pots (9L)
• Hose clamp
• Connection sleeve
• Power connection cable for fan

I hope everything is in order and I have done everything correctly. If you already see any mistakes I have made or have suggestions for improvement, please let me know!

Now to my actual concern: Advice regarding the strain

I am an absolute beginner. A friend, who actually has experience, recommended Gorilla Glue #4 to me. I have done some research and feel that this may not be what I need.

I want a high that doesn’t bring me down, doesn’t make me tired, but rather is alert and euphoric. I want a minimum of couch lock and a maximum of laughter fits! A high THC content would also be okay. I have been consuming for 20 years and handle it well. So, a strain with the highest possible Sativa content would be the right choice, right? And a strain that is as robust as possible, so it is suitable for beginners. Money is no object when purchasing the seeds, as I will save an incredible amount by growing at home anyway.

Additionally, I am not sure if Autoflower is good or bad for my situation. My friend says Autoflower is better for outdoor. It would yield much smaller plants and less yield, which for me with 3 plants/person and a maximum of 50g might actually be perfect, right? So, I would rather have smaller yields at shorter intervals than have to destroy (throw away) the majority of a yield after a longer growing phase. Of course, I could dispose of the excess in 50g packages on my neighbor's compost heap, but that is not something I have planned :D

As you can see, there are still some puzzles for me to solve before I can get started. I hope you have some good tips!

Welcome to Farm

did you purchase the whole set already ?

 

[cannafarmer420]

Hello everyone,

I need your help! Since April 1st, by law, we have to grow our own marijuana in Germany. The requirement is 3 plants per person and a maximum yield of 50g. For this purpose, I have now purchased a complete set consisting of:

• Homebox Ambient Q60+ including dimmer, suspension, and power cable
• SANlight Evo 3-60 200W
• Prima Klima 2-Speed AC Fan 125mm 220-400m3/h (PK125-2)
• Prima Klima Industry Line Activated Carbon Filter K1602
• GHP Clip Fan
• Opti Thermo-/Hygrometer
• Timer
• 4x Air-Pot pots (9L)
• Hose clamp
• Connection sleeve
• Power connection cable for fan

I hope everything is in order and I have done everything correctly. If you already see any mistakes I have made or have suggestions for improvement, please let me know!

Now to my actual concern: Advice regarding the strain

I am an absolute beginner. A friend, who actually has experience, recommended Gorilla Glue #4 to me. I have done some research and feel that this may not be what I need.

I want a high that doesn’t bring me down, doesn’t make me tired, but rather is alert and euphoric. I want a minimum of couch lock and a maximum of laughter fits! A high THC content would also be okay. I have been consuming for 20 years and handle it well. So, a strain with the highest possible Sativa content would be the right choice, right? And a strain that is as robust as possible, so it is suitable for beginners. Money is no object when purchasing the seeds, as I will save an incredible amount by growing at home anyway.

Additionally, I am not sure if Autoflower is good or bad for my situation. My friend says Autoflower is better for outdoor. It would yield much smaller plants and less yield, which for me with 3 plants/person and a maximum of 50g might actually be perfect, right? So, I would rather have smaller yields at shorter intervals than have to destroy (throw away) the majority of a yield after a longer growing phase. Of course, I could dispose of the excess in 50g packages on my neighbor's compost heap, but that is not something I have planned :D

As you can see, there are still some puzzles for me to solve before I can get started. I hope you have some good tips!

Autos suck for begginers, just start popping some photo periods and observe/experiment

 

[GNick55]

your gonna want sativa landraces,..

 

[Nerdlicht]

Firstly automatics are not the best choice for new growers
One mistake and you yeild will suffer whereas photoperiods are a lot more forgiving.

I highly recommend you start with photoperiods.
Alou there are a few exceptions
couchlock highs will come indica dominant strains and head and day time highs will come from sativa doms

Find a strain you like the sound of you can check what folks say here

Cannabis Strains

With thousands of cannabis strains available, THCFarmer makes it easy to find the perfect strain for you.

www.thcfarmer.com

Tips keep the room clean , don’t overwater or have the light to close and use the dimmer switch ,never have it above 75/80%.
99% of the problems we normally see are from light burn/stress as leds are very intense & bad watering

Ah, thank you for the tips! Especially the strain database here on THCFarmer is really well suited to get an idea of the characteristics of each strain. I even used the corresponding filters to look at a few hundred strains, viewed almost all of them, compared them, and read reviews from various sites.

In the end, I couldn't decide between two strains and am now taking both: Green Crack and Blue Dream.

Welcome to Farm

did you purchase the whole set already ?

Yes, it was somewhat laborious because almost all the shops that deliver to Germany are currently overloaded, and they only activate orders a few times for a short window each day. But with a small browser extension that notifies me when there's a change on the site, I was able to place the order.

Autos suck for begginers, just start popping some photo periods and observe/experiment

Okay, thank you for that. Accordingly, I've ordered regular seeds and will come back here with any questions regarding my observations/experiments ;)

your gonna want sativa landraces,..

Ah, you mean something like Thai, Acapulco Gold, and Durban Poison? Why specifically "landraces"? Are these more robust compared to specialized breeds and therefore better suited for beginners?

 

[ChuckFinnl3y]

Ah, thank you for the tips! Especially the strain database here on THCFarmer is really well suited to get an idea of the characteristics of each strain. I even used the corresponding filters to look at a few hundred strains, viewed almost all of them, compared them, and read reviews from various sites.

In the end, I couldn't decide between two strains and am now taking both: Green Crack and Blue Dream.



Yes, it was somewhat laborious because almost all the shops that deliver to Germany are currently overloaded, and they only activate orders a few times for a short window each day. But with a small browser extension that notifies me when there's a change on the site, I was able to place the order.



Okay, thank you for that. Accordingly, I've ordered regular seeds and will come back here with any questions regarding my observations/experiments ;)



Ah, you mean something like Thai, Acapulco Gold, and Durban Poison? Why specifically "landraces"? Are these more robust compared to specialized breeds and therefore better suited for beginners?

I feel you, noticed that aswell bought my Stuff 1-2 Months prior, that where it already began.
I just asked cause there might be some sweet deals on the 20th so if your missing something may wait until then ;)
Might also worth considering to use the 14 Days return policy if you find something super/dirt cheap.

For Strains i would suggest saving Seedfinders Page to compare strains in addition to the one on Farmer that was already mentioned.

Basic setup seems good so far, dunno if it may be included in your pack but might wanna consider adding some Aluminium Tape to completly seal off the Inline fan/Carbon filter connections. Dunno if you already ordered some Ducting Hoses, if not might check some with Noise reducing abilities.

Some other small bits and bobs i would get once you need them, or wait untill some bigger Chains have them on sale, Lidl has a few decent gardening tools in spring every now and then.

You already have a place in mind for the Setup/Tent ?

 

[Nerdlicht]

I feel you, noticed that aswell bought my Stuff 1-2 Months prior, that where it already began.
I just asked cause there might be some sweet deals on the 20th so if your missing something may wait until then ;)
Might also worth considering to use the 14 Days return policy if you find something super/dirt cheap.

For Strains i would suggest saving Seedfinders Page to compare strains in addition to the one on Farmer that was already mentioned.

Basic setup seems good so far, dunno if it may be included in your pack but might wanna consider adding some Aluminium Tape to completly seal off the Inline fan/Carbon filter connections. Dunno if you already ordered some Ducting Hoses, if not might check some with Noise reducing abilities.

Some other small bits and bobs i would get once you need them, or wait untill some bigger Chains have them on sale, Lidl has a few decent gardening tools in spring every now and then.

You already have a place in mind for the Setup/Tent ?

I actually cancelled the order for the complete grow tent kit yesterday. The more I read into the subject, the more demanding my requirements for my grow setup become. No idea where this will lead :D

Since I work in IT and home automation is one of my biggest hobbies, I also want a high degree of automation of all components and processes in cannabis cultivation. I have therefore looked for complete sets that include a controller for all components. So far, AC Infinity is the most attractive manufacturer in this context, as their controller even has a Home Assistant integration (the heart of my home automation): https://github.com/dalinicus/homeassistant-acinfinity

Now, I have been learning a bit about LEDs and keep reading that simple full-spectrum LEDs are not necessarily optimal for the flowering phase, and you might need additional UV/IR LEDs, or adjust the ratios of different light spectra between phases.

My question would be: which would be the best grow LED light, where I can have separate UV/IR in addition to the "full spectrum," and control it via the AC Infinity controller?

So far, I've found something like the Kind LED X-Series, which, however, does not seem to ship to Germany unless I am willing to spend 150€ just for shipping.

 

[Newbgrower1]

I actually cancelled the order for the complete grow tent kit yesterday. The more I read into the subject, the more demanding my requirements for my grow setup become. No idea where this will lead :D

Since I work in IT and home automation is one of my biggest hobbies, I also want a high degree of automation of all components and processes in cannabis cultivation. I have therefore looked for complete sets that include a controller for all components. So far, AC Infinity is the most attractive manufacturer in this context, as their controller even has a Home Assistant integration (the heart of my home automation): https://github.com/dalinicus/homeassistant-acinfinity

Now, I have been learning a bit about LEDs and keep reading that simple full-spectrum LEDs are not necessarily optimal for the flowering phase, and you might need additional UV/IR LEDs, or adjust the ratios of different light spectra between phases.

My question would be: which would be the best grow LED light, where I can have separate UV/IR in addition to the "full spectrum," and control it via the AC Infinity controller?

So far, I've found something like the Kind LED X-Series, which, however, does not seem to ship to Germany unless I am willing to spend 150€ just for shipping.

Ac infinity makes outlets that will connect to the controller. I use one for my heater and one for my humidifier. I’m pretty sure you can use any light if you get the outlet. As for lights I found a bestva 300w on Amazon that has a veg switch and a flower switch. The veg switch activates blue and the flower switch activates red. You can have them on individually or together. Only issue is no dimmer so you need some height in your grow space. My only question with that light is when is it a 300w light, with one switch on or both. Idk lol I will say I love my acinfinity tent/controller. I can adjust it from anywhere I have cell service. I screwed up and got the 4 port controller. I would suggest getting the 8 port one if your running humidifier and heater. I have my light plugged into a separate timer cuz it won’t fit in the controller. I got my 3x3 tent all set up for about 750-800 dollars. I bought everything separately cuz I didn’t like the light they had for the 3x3 I wanted something a little bigger. Good luck setting up. Look for critical orange punch by Dutch passion it gets me super stoned and gives me energy. Win win lol happy growing.

 

[Nerdlicht]

I'm not sure if a grow LED light without a dimmer matches what I have in mind. I was thinking of something like one or more additional PAR sensors that can either be read directly by the AC Infinity controller or by Home Assistant, which would then adjust the light intensity accordingly.

Thank you for the advice regarding the controller, or the number of ports. I also thought that 4 might be a bit few. I will probably order everything separately. In the complete set, there is only the 4-port controller, and I would replace the light with an IONFRAME EVO3.

They say that the IONFRAME EVO3 includes (8) 395 nm UV diodes, (88) 660 nm OSRAM red diodes, and (8) 730 nm OSRAM red diodes. I wonder if these are also automatically controlled for sunrise/sunset.

 

[cannafarmer420]

Hello everyone,

I need your help! Since April 1st, by law, we have to grow our own marijuana in Germany. The requirement is 3 plants per person and a maximum yield of 50g. For this purpose, I have now purchased a complete set consisting of:

• Homebox Ambient Q60+ including dimmer, suspension, and power cable
• SANlight Evo 3-60 200W
• Prima Klima 2-Speed AC Fan 125mm 220-400m3/h (PK125-2)
• Prima Klima Industry Line Activated Carbon Filter K1602
• GHP Clip Fan
• Opti Thermo-/Hygrometer
• Timer
• 4x Air-Pot pots (9L)
• Hose clamp
• Connection sleeve
• Power connection cable for fan

I hope everything is in order and I have done everything correctly. If you already see any mistakes I have made or have suggestions for improvement, please let me know!

Now to my actual concern: Advice regarding the strain

I am an absolute beginner. A friend, who actually has experience, recommended Gorilla Glue #4 to me. I have done some research and feel that this may not be what I need.

I want a high that doesn’t bring me down, doesn’t make me tired, but rather is alert and euphoric. I want a minimum of couch lock and a maximum of laughter fits! A high THC content would also be okay. I have been consuming for 20 years and handle it well. So, a strain with the highest possible Sativa content would be the right choice, right? And a strain that is as robust as possible, so it is suitable for beginners. Money is no object when purchasing the seeds, as I will save an incredible amount by growing at home anyway.

Additionally, I am not sure if Autoflower is good or bad for my situation. My friend says Autoflower is better for outdoor. It would yield much smaller plants and less yield, which for me with 3 plants/person and a maximum of 50g might actually be perfect, right? So, I would rather have smaller yields at shorter intervals than have to destroy (throw away) the majority of a yield after a longer growing phase. Of course, I could dispose of the excess in 50g packages on my neighbor's compost heap, but that is not something I have planned :D

As you can see, there are still some puzzles for me to solve before I can get started. I hope you have some good tips!

Good old Europeon laws

 

[PooToe]

Sunrise/Sunset lighting has no effect on plants. If you want a spectrum tunable light look at California Light Works. There are a few others that have tunable lights but CLW was the first to incorporate it into their lights. I've never used AC Infinities lights so I can't comment but I haven't heard anything negative about them so they are probably ok. Most of the lights from the major manufacturers will be comparable in performance so don't get too caught up in which diodes they're using. Samsung diodes are the industry standard but there is no real difference between an LM301b and LM301h.

You don't really need lights that will automatically adjust their light intensity because you want to monitor that as the plants grow. They'll have different light needs at different stages of growth. Each plant will grow differently.

Before anything, where will you be placing your grow tent? Knowing this will inform your purchase. If you have the room I would look at a 3 x 3/1m x 1m tent. 2 x 2/60cm x 60cm is ok but you'll run out of room quickly. Placing it in a bedroom or office is a good choice as long as you can control the environment in that room as the air in that room will be supplying your tent with air.

I will second the recommendation in regard to AC Infinity gear. I would go with their 3 x 3 kit with the Controller 69/WiFi and T6 fan. Depending on how humid or dry the environment that tent will be living in is, it would be a good idea to also purchase their automated humidifiers. For a 3 x 3 I would go with their T3 or T5. I have the T3 and love it.

 

[ChuckFinnl3y]

Since I work in IT and home automation is one of my biggest hobbies, I also want a high degree of automation of all components and processes in cannabis cultivation. I have therefore looked for complete sets that include a controller for all components. So far, AC Infinity is the most attractive manufacturer in this context, as their controller even has a Home Assistant integration (the heart of my home automation):

I wouldnt go with commercial available Sets if your into Automation, only seen one that would provide me with the full potential for Data logging and setting up Triggers but thats overpriced af.

Ac Controller will work for regular Use no problem but if your into Home Automation from what ive heard you prob. would be dissapointed once you got your first few Grows going and want to "over engineer" a bit and have fun with it while dialing it in.

Been looking for something similar aswell, so far i prob would go with Shelly sensors/Controller etc. and combine it with an Arduino and or Raspberry. just have to make sure youll get Devices that keep themselves on if you cut power and turn it back on. But still not finally decided and checking if there are better alternatives. (If you get a decent Dehumidifer which i would suggest, it has an inbuild microcontroller and i prob wouldnt bother to incoporate it into HA)

Then your way more "free" in what you wanna do, and can use something like InfluxDB and Grafana to build your own Dashboard towards your needs if you wanna go the extra Mile.
Adding new Sensors was also something i wanted to be able to do and learned that some can only be accessed via Bluetooth while digging around the web.
Also can grab your data locally then and dont have to "share" it with Manufactures aswell as dont have to worry for outages or if for whatever reason the Manuf. stops it server, has problem on its own or goes Bankrupt.

If there are some Issues im not seeing lemme know looking for something similar but more into Gadgets/Microcontrollers etc and not Home Automation.

 

[PooToe]

I wouldnt go with commercial available Sets if your into Automation, only seen one that would provide me with the full potential for Data logging and setting up Triggers but thats overpriced af.

Ac Controller will work for regular Use no problem but if your into Home Automation from what ive heard you prob. would be dissapointed once you got your first few Grows going and want to "over engineer" a bit and have fun with it while dialing it in.

Been looking for something similar aswell, so far i prob would go with Shelly sensors/Controller etc. and combine it with an Arduino and or Raspberry. just have to make sure youll get Devices that keep themselves on if you cut power and turn it back on. But still not finally decided and checking if there are better alternatives. (If you get a decent Dehumidifer which i would suggest, it has an inbuild microcontroller and i prob wouldnt bother to incoporate it into HA)

Then your way more "free" in what you wanna do, and can use something like InfluxDB and Grafana to build your own Dashboard towards your needs if you wanna go the extra Mile.
Adding new Sensors was also something i wanted to be able to do and learned that some can only be accessed via Bluetooth while digging around the web.
Also can grab your data locally then and dont have to "share" it with Manufactures aswell as dont have to worry for outages or if for whatever reason the Manuf. stops it server, has problem on its own or goes Bankrupt.

If there are some Issues im not seeing lemme know looking for something similar but more into Gadgets/Microcontrollers etc and not Home Automation.

As cool as that all sounds right now a basic setup is what he needs to learn how to actually grow a plant. Once he's done a run or two he'll have a much better idea of what he needs if he wants to automate it.

 

[ChuckFinnl3y]

I actually cancelled the order for the complete grow tent kit yesterday. The more I read into the subject, the more demanding my requirements for my grow setup become. No idea where this will lead :D


Now, I have been learning a bit about LEDs and keep reading that simple full-spectrum LEDs are not necessarily optimal for the flowering phase, and you might need additional UV/IR LEDs, or adjust the ratios of different light spectra between phases.

My question would be: which would be the best grow LED light, where I can have separate UV/IR in addition to the "full spectrum," and control it via the AC Infinity controller?

So far, I've found something like the Kind LED X-Series, which, however, does not seem to ship to Germany unless I am willing to spend 150€ just for shipping.

Opinions are mixed whether UV/IR will really give that much of a effect. And i dont think ive seen scientific papers from Trustworthy researches that came to a conclusion in regards to growth/terpeneses or thc concentration.

For you i would properly suggest to go for a regular Full Spectrum Light thats dimmable, if your worried about heat a bar light with a detachable driver is nice.
You'll learn better with less variables available you can mess around with, and spec. the Led market can be somewhat shady. Get a decent brand thats well known so they dont screw you with false advertisment/ Watt/Lux/Ppfd Amounts and have a customer Service in case of issues.

Once you have a Grow under your belt or two most people wanna extend their Setupt with another Tent, at that point i may would consider Lights you can play around with that have Spectrum Controls etc. but honestly youll only make use of it in nieche cases and is more to satisfy our needs for Gadgets and Geeking around. Atleast thats my understanding after taking almost 2 months until i decided on a light.

I'm not sure if a grow LED light without a dimmer matches what I have in mind. I was thinking of something like one or more additional PAR sensors that can either be read directly by the AC Infinity controller or by Home Assistant, which would then adjust the light intensity accordingly.

Thank you for the advice regarding the controller, or the number of ports. I also thought that 4 might be a bit few. I will probably order everything separately. In the complete set, there is only the 4-port controller, and I would replace the light with an IONFRAME EVO3.

They say that the IONFRAME EVO3 includes (8) 395 nm UV diodes, (88) 660 nm OSRAM red diodes, and (8) 730 nm OSRAM red diodes. I wonder if these are also automatically controlled for sunrise/sunset.

Yeah get it seperatly, sets always have some parts that are undersized and ultimatly not something i would suggest unless your on a real tight budget or dont have the time to search for them.

As mentioned above, dont try to automate your Lights, just set the Light cycle with a Timer or smart outlet and read your plants.

Remember to check deals on 4/20

On a side note consider getting bigger Power Consumers with EC Motors for your electric bill and more precise control aswell.

 

[ChuckFinnl3y]

As cool as that all sounds right now a basic setup is what he needs to learn how to actually grow a plant. Once he's done a run or two he'll have a much better idea of what he needs if he wants to automate it.

Totally agree, wouldnt go too far with it yet but since he already got Home Automations as one of his Hobbies he prob would get dissapointed with the Ac Controller, atleast i would and im not into Home automation.

And to replicate what the AC controller does you dont need much, i bet he already using those parts in his house somewhere else.

But all up to you Nordlicht, if you just want a quick setup to get going Ac will do just fine.

 

[PooToe]

Totally agree, wouldnt go too far with it yet but since he already got Home Automations as one of his Hobbies he prob would get dissapointed with the Ac Controller, atleast i would and im not into Home automation.

And to replicate what the AC controller does you dont need much, i bet he already using those parts in his house somewhere else.

But all up to you Nordlicht, if you just want a quick setup to get going Ac will do just fine.

Agree although trying to work out all the bugs of a "from scratch" automation system is probably not the best thing when you're trying to keep your plant alive!

There's a member on another site I frequent that has done what you mentioned and he's been having to monitor and tweak his system throughout the grow. I think he's using Pi Raspberry as his control module. He's been trying to perfect it for 2 grows now. What I love about his system is it has lots of measurable parameters but having that much control also means more sensors that can go bad.

 

[ChuckFinnl3y]

Agree although trying to work out all the bugs of a "from scratch" automation system is probably not the best thing when you're trying to keep your plant alive!

There's a member on another site I frequent that has done what you mentioned and he's been having to monitor and tweak his system throughout the grow. I think he's using Pi Raspberry as his control module. He's been trying to perfect it for 2 grows now. What I love about his system is it has lots of measurable parameters but having that much control also means more sensors that can go bad.

Dont wanna derail it to much untill he we got some more Infos on what hes planning with it but for those that may read this later and are in a similar situation heres a quick one:

The shelly modules integrate directly in Home Assist, and should work as normal devices that are HA compatible. (Also has its API documented)

The Arduino/ESP325 is, for the most part, only "needed" if you have to grab Bluetooth signals and want it a bit more organized.

The Raspberry depends on use case and equipment available. If you wanna DIY Temp/Humidity/Pressure Sensors dont go for the DHT's ones. Otherwise its used to parse the received data and visualize them on an External Monitor and/or have them send to your dedicated HA.
But people that are into Automation prob. already have HA ready Temp/Humid Sensors or Devices they tested and trust so i would use those. (Also good to have one seperate as redundancy / controll unit if you diy it dont have to be digital/smart as long as you can trust it)
Add additional Sensors later on, if you find somthing you want to monitor or controll.

But all in all, you dont really want nor can you automate everything. I'm mostly after the data logging ability, to backtrack and have the ability to check what might have caused some problems in the Grow. The rest is just convenience and made/planned for the Fun of it.
Nothing gonna outclass us taking proper care of the plants and building experience for future grows.

 

[Nerdlicht]

Before anything, where will you be placing your grow tent? Knowing this will inform your purchase. If you have the room I would look at a 3 x 3/1m x 1m tent. 2 x 2/60cm x 60cm is ok but you'll run out of room quickly. Placing it in a bedroom or office is a good choice as long as you can control the environment in that room as the air in that room will be supplying your tent with air.

So far, the idea has been to put the tent in the kitchen. It's the only room where I would have enough space. It might not sound like the best place because the humidity, among other things, varies a lot when cooking. But it will probably be some time before I have all the components, as all the shops that deliver to Germany are currently completely overloaded and keep pushing back their delivery dates. And right now, the situation is changing every day.. it looks like there's a much bigger grower community in my small village than expected, and it looks like we're going to start a social club through which we can rent space and then grow on a larger scale. There's still a lot of bureaucracy in the way, but the motivation is high! ;)

I wouldnt go with commercial available Sets if your into Automation, only seen one that would provide me with the full potential for Data logging and setting up Triggers but thats overpriced af.

Ac Controller will work for regular Use no problem but if your into Home Automation from what ive heard you prob. would be dissapointed once you got your first few Grows going and want to "over engineer" a bit and have fun with it while dialing it in.

Been looking for something similar aswell, so far i prob would go with Shelly sensors/Controller etc. and combine it with an Arduino and or Raspberry. just have to make sure youll get Devices that keep themselves on if you cut power and turn it back on. But still not finally decided and checking if there are better alternatives. (If you get a decent Dehumidifer which i would suggest, it has an inbuild microcontroller and i prob wouldnt bother to incoporate it into HA)

Then your way more "free" in what you wanna do, and can use something like InfluxDB and Grafana to build your own Dashboard towards your needs if you wanna go the extra Mile.
Adding new Sensors was also something i wanted to be able to do and learned that some can only be accessed via Bluetooth while digging around the web.
Also can grab your data locally then and dont have to "share" it with Manufactures aswell as dont have to worry for outages or if for whatever reason the Manuf. stops it server, has problem on its own or goes Bankrupt.

If there are some Issues im not seeing lemme know looking for something similar but more into Gadgets/Microcontrollers etc and not Home Automation.

Yes, I understand what you mean, and I would do it exactly as you say. However, for the time being, I will probably have to forego putting together an open on-premise automation solution, since my job and family life leave me with virtually no time for such projects. Since the new legislation here makes growing completely legal, I don’t need to hide it. Should AC Infinity ever actually shut down their servers, I hope someone reverse engineers their controller so something like the Home Assistant AddOn can access it directly without going through the cloud. If not, I'll just have to come up with something else! :)

Yeah get it seperatly, sets always have some parts that are undersized and ultimatly not something i would suggest unless your on a real tight budget or dont have the time to search for them.

As mentioned above, dont try to automate your Lights, just set the Light cycle with a Timer or smart outlet and read your plants.

Yes, I will order everything separately. I'm currently waiting for the components to become available:

• Refillable Carbon Filter Kit, with Charcoal Refill, 6-Inch
• CLOUDLINE PRO S6, Quiet Inline Duct Fan System, 6-Inch
• CONTROLLER 69 PRO+, 8 Ports
• CLOUDLAB 642 Tent, 4x2 (120x60cm)
• Grow Tent Mounting Bars, High Airflow CFM Kit, 2x4'
• 2x CLOUDRAY S6, GEN 2
• CLOUDFORGE T3, GEN 2
• Flexible Four-Layer Ducting, 8-Ft Long, 6-Inch
• Grow Tent Trellis Netting, Flexible Elastic Cords, 2x4’

For the lights, I've chosen the Greenception GCx PWR series (thanks to ChuckFinnl3y for the tip). These lamps have a full spectrum expanded with UV and Far-red (365 - 780 nm), where you can mix the optimal light spectrum for both vegetative and flowering phases using two separate dimmers. I wrote back and forth with Jöran from Greenception for a long time to find out which combination of lamps is best for a 120x60 tent. One 60x60 would not be the best light distribution in a 120x60 tent; two of the smaller 40x40 would have optimal light distribution but only 320W, whereas according to Jöran, 350W would be optimal. Then there's the GCx 5solo, which is 100cm long... two of those would have good light distribution and together make 400W, but unfortunately have the wrong light spectrum for the vegetative phase.

I have now decided on 2x GCx-4 PWR. If I then notice that 30W too little is a problem, I will order a third one. In series, they would make 120cm, be 90W above the optimum, thus providing a lot of buffer, optimal light distribution for 120x60, and the individual light spectra for vegetative/flowering. And this keeps my option open to later switch to 2 or 4 small tents.

The next topic for me will now be substrate, fertilizer, and irrigation. I have been doing a lot of research on "flo"/Living Soil by Florganics, an organic-mineral solid fertilizer with living microorganisms that turns the substrate into a probiotic medium and should optimally supply the plants with nutrients in all life stages. Combined with a Blumat drip system, this sounds like the ultimate low maintenance bio solution :D
Has anyone here had experience with this?

Here's a video about it, unfortunately in German, but there are surely reviews from the English-speaking community: