Grow Setup For First Timer

[Blood Raw]

Whats good ladies N gents. I am a new growing looking to setup my first large indoor grow. I wanted suggestions on complete systems and/or DIY projects that would yield 10-15 pounds a harvest. I need as many details as possible, grow room dimensions, cooling, lighting, co2, nutrients, ect. Ive done my research and a few small grows indoors. All info is appreciated. I have a budget of about 4k.

 

[ronvmpc]

Go look around the site. The diy section will be good start. There are tons of people on this site doing what you wanna do. All their threads will tell you everything you need to know.

P.s. Unless someone who knows what there doing is helping you, pulling those numbers will be extremely difficult if not out of the question.

Edit: Didn't see that you had a few runs under your belt. In that case you prolly have more knowledge then my post implies.

 

[Smokey503ski]

Kinda like the saying for cars. Horsepower costs money, how fast do you want to go? Same apply's here. Going big cost's money, how big do you want to go? Basically how much cash do you have to drop at once?
You will need at least 10-15 1k lights, Lots of fans, A/C (unless your climate is good) plus many of other things I really do not want to think about and write about.
So you got about $30-50 grand to lose just in case it does not work out for ya?

 

[smokestack23]

If you've already done some successful smaller grows as you say...just expand on your system.

A lot of people don't like to use gpw as an indicator but ...you say you want about 6kilos. That's 6000 grams.
Again...gpw is hard to go by since different wattage bulbs have different lumen outputs(smaller lights give less lumens per watt usually)...should you consider total room consumption in gpw estimates??like consumption from AC units, chillers...Those are things to think about..
But...if you're buying lighting, I'd buy one watt worth of 600s or 1Ks per gram that you're hoping to get. One gpw won't be REAL easy but it is reasonable to expect when everything's dialed in. You may get more, you'll probably get less.
Of course..you also have many other factors to take into consideration like room size (you could just use a w/sq' calculation), temps, strains...


Anyway..you should easily be able to figure out what you need by knowing what your successful grows produced in the past. Just multiply that cost by a factor of how much more you want to grow and start buying and building.

 

[pirronea45]

i agree with these guys. you should simply just expand ur room. the more u put in the more u get out

 

[Smokey503ski]

Another thing is you cannot believe the numbers some of the pre made hydro systems claim to put out.
I think the person who started this thread had another one asking about a pre made hydro setup that claimed to harvest 15-20 pounds per cycle. That system only used 1200 watts. Complete BS!!! No way in hell you are going to get 15# on one harvest using 1200 watts.
Look on here for some of the bigger grows. The guy's running 15-30 lights are pulling it off but it cost's some serious cash/knowledge to get a room that size running properly.

This is another problem for newbs getting into the medical scene. Reading on here and other sites on how much you can harvest. Open up a disp or caregiver and put all there eggs into one basket and have no clue what to do.

If you have to ask what all you need to go big, you do not need to be asking that without the knowledge in the first place. What I mean is, by not knowing what it takes to get 15# is putting yourself at financial risk. That is why I asked if you had about $50k to lose in case it fails.

 

[Blood Raw]

Thanks my friends appreciate the advise will be putting up new post with proposed room dimensions, equipemment, and starins soon thank you!

 

[Unit541]

Since a 15 pound harvest is going to require more than your budget in lights alone, any plan that involves harvesting 15 pounds, with a $4k budget is an outdoor plan.

 

[Blood Raw]

Decided to start smaller and expand. 2X ebb n grow 36 site system each with 55 gal resevior, 2X 1000w HPS, 2X 600w MH , inside 10x10 tent in Air conditioned room. Im still wondering if i might need to use water cooling for the lights or if the ac and duct venting with fans will be suffecient. Any ideas? N the budget has increased to 5k.

 

[Smokey503ski]

If you are talking budget and water cooling lights, look elsewhere for cooling. Very expensive to set up water cooled lights.
I would listen to Garden of Dreams. He builds rooms very well.
Spend your money on the things most needed. Stay away from Electronic Ballasts unless you enjoy spending money on burnt out bulbs. Get magnetic ballasts, they cost less and last longer.
If you plan on going bigger in the near future I would spend a good chunk of $$$ on your A/C. Do not buy air cooled hoods at the moment if your A/C can handle it. Buy the air cooled hoods after a few harvest when you decide to make a bigger room.
Look on Craigslist for deals on lights, you can get 1000 watters for $100-$150 if you look hard. Might even find a deal on a complete ballast/air cooled hood and bulb.
72 plants is alot for that space. You really need to know for sure of the strains you are going to go with do not stretch very much in flower.
Sometimes having less plants in a space can get you more of a yeild, or better quality. Packing too many plants in a room cuts down on light penetration. Unless you plan on running a SOG without any veg at all. That I can see.
If you are running 2 of the same hydro systems, how would you feel about splitting up the harvest. You could have a little more working room if you put one of the hydro systems in and 30 day's later put the other one in so you can harvest every 30 day's.
Not sure if you have your strains picked out or whatnot, but I would try to go with mostly Indica dominant strains. Find one that does not stretch that much in flower. Some strains can double or triple there size in flower. That is why you gotta be careful about packing too many plants in a room. You do not want to end up with a few good size colas and a bunch of fluffy buds on the bottom or sides.
With any system you go with, I hope it work's out for you. Try to keep things simple in your grow. Get a journal and write in it when you do anything to your grow. This way you can alway's look back and see what did what. Or what not do again.

 

[Blood Raw]

@ Smokey, Thanks for the info. I think my a/c unit will be more than capable of handling the cooling for the lamps as i plan to run it directly through the ducting and fans. I really appreciate the suggestion of ebay for lighting and i was always told digitals were the best for lumens output. I am leaning toward Skywalker, Purple Erkel, and Grape Desiel. I am not sure if they are indicas or sativas will do some research. I have trainwreck and blue cheese in my smaller grows. They dont seem to have enough space for the wreck but the cheese thrives.

 

[Smokey503ski]

The Urkel will be the smallest of the strains you have. You can pack a bunch of them in that space and be fine. Probably be ok running the Grape Diesel also.
The Trainwreck and Blue Cheese stretch like a mofo. I would not run those in a tight space with large plant count. If you really want them, do just a few each.
The Urkel would be your best bet to run in a SOG, barely any stretch.
I still recomend going with the Magnetic Coil Ballasts. The problem with Digital Ballasts is there Hertz rating is really high compared to Magnetic Ballasts. Unless you get specific digital style bulbs there will be a good chance of them going out on you early. Most bulbs are made for around 50-60 Hertz and that is why they will last forever in a Magnetic Ballast.
I would look on Craigslist instead of Ebay, this way you can pick up local. Basically it is up to you on how or what equipment you want to buy. I am just offering suggestions off my experience with Digital Ballasts and Magnetic Coil Ballasts.