Indoor set up for less than $ € £ 50

[Bluberry]

Ok guys here is my plan for an affordable (not working at the moment), usable, starter setup for personal use. I know this is not going to be the best plan for huge, kushy buds – and to start with I am not so worried as long as I do not waste lots of money buying junk. I want to start very small just too learn but I appreciate any advice or guidance, especially if I am making a mistake, no matter how small.

I plan on setting up in the loft, right next to the chimney. This inline fan will run to a hole in the chimney…



The walls will be painted brilliant white and I plan to sheet the roof with white plastic sheeting or tarp. Space will be left to allow fresh/cooler air intake through the roof tiles. I thought of using a similar halide lamp as this one, for all cycles…



And a oscillating fan similar to this…or maybe 2



Will this get me started?

Should I get a weaker light for seedlings like a fluorescent?

How can I easily increase the C02?

Should I get a heating mat for the seeds?

How can I keep the temperature around 78 degrees for the seeds?

Have I missed anything really important?

I am getting so excited about all this, I have never grown anything and just the thought of taking it from seed to plant is amazing. Thanks for any and all advice.

 

[Bluberry]

Any thoughts guys?

 

[Toes]

Hey Blu,

Looks alright to me. You will learn so much during your first grow. hopefully you have a garden shop close by for those MAD dash moments when you realize you've forgot something or how to do something else better.

Do you have your containers ready? Are you using potting soil or hydro? That Metal Halide light looks like it would be a good ballast but you might want to replace the light. I've heard they can wear down and loose their lumen after a year or so. What do you plan on feeding your plants?

Those heating pads that you put on a sore neck or shoulder muscles work great for seedlings, I just wrap it in a plastic garbage bag for moisture resistance.

make sure you get a pH testing kit. On the cheap, your aquarium supply store will have the freshwater testing kits. This attached chart helps me out a lot,


I think the hydro side is only if your running a pure hydro system. The 5.8 pH recommendation is to control the nasties like pythium building up in your reservoir. Unless your running a strait hydro setup I would stick to the soil side, that's what I do and I don't have no problems. .

You most certainly can put your seedlings under CFLs, I use two 23w 6500K with 1650 lumen each until I get 2-3 nodes. Then I add my 85w 5000K 5700 lumen cfl in there for the rest of veg growth. 9000 lumens in my .5 meter x .5 meter veg box. works great for me. I use the Sun for flowering but, from what I've read (forums and grow bibles) most people like to use something in the 3000K to 2700K temperature range for buds.

I've never tried it, but I've read ( same sources) you can use baking soda and peroxide to add Co2. you know the bubbling mess you get when you mix the two together. Also, yeast combined with a sugar source will release Co2 into your area.

the is a wealth of knowledge. Has really gotten me through some challenges. It's all in there you just gotta find it :)

I hope you have the time of your life.

 

[Bluberry]

Hey Toes, thanks for the info! I will get stuck into reading about the info posted - I still do not know what a lot of it means, but I will get there in the end ! I just want to get started as soon as possible, but am also aware that I may just waste time in money doing something stupid so I appreciate your help!

 

[Bluberry]

Toes, what would happen if you just stuck with a load of CFL lamps - easy to install, cheap on the juice and easy to regulate. Lets say you want to have 6x6 growing at any time, what would you need for a decent result - I am still reading the info on here but there is lots of it!

 

[smokestack23]

I think you're right on track. If you can win those auctions for those prices you'll be doing very well.
I think you might be able to get a cheaper exhaust fan though? Like maybe a bathroom ceiling exhaust fan? Either way..that one will work.

You WILL want a timer..at least for when you start flowering (12hours on- 12 hours off). And..you'll want to have some quid left for some proper nutrients.

You might not need a heatsource. Normally you only would for rooting clones. Seedlings are a bit more robust and the 400 will give you a fair bit of heat...oh and the 400 will be fine for seedlings/cuttings..just don't have it too close at first.

Cfls are ok for rooting clones and stuff...also maybe for supplemental lighting in dark corners and the like but you will get MUCH better/faster growth with the 400.

You're doing well though and on the right track and you're staying WELL within your budget.

Now...just so people don't freak-out...these are just my OPINIONS!! Others might have different opinions. There might be better ways to go about this but this is what I would do.

Oh and also IN MY OPINION...strain is VERY important. With the equipment you're looking at you'd have much better results with a good strain (something with known good results and genetics) than you would with some seeds out of a bag of Thaiweed or Mexican.

YMMV, IMHO, FWIW and all the other qualifiers...or disqualifiers.

 

[smokestack23]

Oops...and yes...a ph tester. CHEAP from the pet section.
And...READ READ READ...that's free.

 

[Toes]

Toes, what would happen if you just stuck with a load of CFL lamps - easy to install, cheap on the juice and easy to regulate. Lets say you want to have 6x6 growing at any time, what would you need for a decent result - I am still reading the info on here but there is lots of it!

6x6 ft or meters... I forget if your talking metric or standard... you've spent time in the states, so... assuming 6x6 is 36 square feet You would need A LOT of little cheap cfl's to finish. Everything I've read says 10,000 lumens a square foot ( or 10,000 lux, lux = lumens per square foot ) is the power of the sun. a 23w cfl kicks off approx. 1500 lumens so you'd need 6 +/- a square foot. That's 216 light bulbs, fixtures, and the sort.... maybe if you painted your walls white or have reflective mylar or something you could get away with less, not much less, and , if we're talking meters... Damn.... times it by three.

That's just for 6x6 feet of fully developed, mature plants to finish their life cycle. Not trying to scare you or anything, I promise. One mature plant is going to cover a good 1'x1' space.

I'm not an indoor expert by any means. My lights just give me enough to make it through the short days, even then, I wish I had more lumens.

I don't think a 400w hid is recommended for anything over 2'x2'. You might be able to get away with it. but your plants will suffer.

I would deffo. keep your set up, just lower the square feet, with less plants, you'd still be able to yield some quality personal meds with your 400w MH

6500k and 2700k....

Metal Halides usually run in the 5000, 6500K range, even bluer... the blue part of the rainbow.

Plants exposed to blue light grow short, making for real stocky plants the bluer you get... a lot of growers ( me too! ) like to veg their plants with blue light....

This reason...

( 2700K strech0

please ignore the tomatoes...

What? well since you asked ~;^)
those are my Hawaiian Pineapple Heirlooms.

along side... Chocolate Stripes, Black Crimson, Arkansas Marvel and some Yellow Brimmers... thanks, i think they look great too. :)


any hoo.. My poor sstreched out gunja seedlings.... the G.E. Reveal is not so much in the blue color spectrum.... I think the stretchy effects, on the plant, are more desirable later in her life...

When those side branches whant to shoot out like that and make some 2700 bud sites.

anyhting else I can help you with please ask.

 

[smokestack23]

DAMN!!! that's a LOT of lightbulbs!! lol

Yup...I agree with everything that guy said 100%.

 

[Bluberry]

Jees Toes - thats a lot of light. I read and re read your posts, and many others on the forum. I have now bought my first light, a blue 200 W CFL - 6400K. Should be about 13,000 lumens, but for me power use is important, so it should be the best compromise.

I will add a red light in a few weeks.

I also ordered a Barn Reflector and will add a couple of smaller CFL's

I have a small kids wardrobe that I have decided to convert, it has roughly 3ft x 1.2 ft by 5.5ft internal space.

So far that's all I definitely have, but I will be going shopping later for more gear :-)