recommendations for small one user grow system?

[sog1313]

soil is indeed a good way to go for beginners. changes are slower so you have more time to react to any problems that arise. perlite is a form of expanded rock that you mix into the soil to improve drainage and water retention. i used to buy it in Miracle (it) Gros bags from homie depot or wally world garden section for about 5 bucks, enough for lots of pots. coarse vermiculite is a similar soil additive. Coco is used as a "soil-less" medium. not really hydro or soil it kinda acts like both. It is also pretty easy to run from what i hear but it requires a few extra considerations and special nutes and supplements, and you probably won't get it at a big box store. As for your plants, im not sure what the law of your land is but if they allow you to grow then dispensaries should also have seeds and cuts available i would think. at least they should be able to direct you to people that do. anybody from michigan wanna chime in here? and there is always the THCBay here on this site for seeds. I would be wary of using random seeds you find in buds, who knows what kind of party grab bag of genetics those things got or whether it will even be a lady. If you can get a clone thats the way to go since its already growing and you know its female. plug and chug.

 

[newmmmpcardguy]

thx donny, i will even consider LED now, compare prices, and wait for more input here.. these responses are exactly what i was hoping for.. i was afraid it was gonna be a "dead" forum for newcomers.. boy was i wrong!

so yeah, i dont know if you read all of my original post, but my needs are so small.. im now completely legal to grow, apparently up to 12 plants, but im only supporting my own medicinal needs. and my consumption is only 2 or 3 drags off a vaporizer per night, so a little goes a looong way for me, lol.

i just don't want to patronize my local ripoff dispensary racket.. everything is $20 per g!! as i said, quality stuff can be obtained from my old guy "down the street" for half that! which is also apparently legal, as per doctor.. i can buy my small amounts from anyone, regardless of their legal status. not to mention that even though i say "local", the well known dispensaries are actually 30 minutes away from me in ann arbor, so thats nearly $15 in gas right there every time i have to make the trip.

but yeah, i'd rather just support myself, it's a plant for cryin out loud, lol!

what ive gathered in summation so far.. for the person like me with my small needs, not much has apparently changed in the past couple decades, other than maybe new nutes for sale and lighting technology. otherwise, still a pot with dirt, a seed or clone, some nutes, a fan to cool and make the leaves wiggle, a reflective box, and a light source.

methodology has obviously improved though, and i'll be using all the tips i find from this site regarding the cultivation, drying, and curing. but again, im taking this one step at a time.. ill be entering the cultivation threads soon i hope!

im so grateful for all of you.. :)

 

[newmmmpcardguy]

well i'll surely ask them for a clone, or where i can get one next time im there sog.. i just never imagined i could, why would they want to lose my business? but maybe im giving them too hard a time.. i just assumed, with the prices they charge, that they were milking all they could from medical legalization. i read somewhere that a dispensary in oakland, ca is making 20 million per year!! :O

 

[ShutUpDonny]

Hahahaha yeah you need to be careful when asking good questions around here (especially opinion-based ones ; D ) because so many of these great folks really know their stuff. They may not always agree with each other, but they will give you plenty to think about at the very least.

I'm doing what you're talking about for similar reasons, but on behalf of my girlfriend. I started it as a favor to her, but what I quickly found out is that it's really a lot of fun, and I'll continue for that reason alone. I bet you'll have the same response.

Oh yeah, and I didn't even talk about the fact that I grow in soil. You can click on the link in my signature to see what I've been up to, but realize that the organic, tea-based fertilizer method I've been using is messier than soil needs to be. Like other people have said, soil is forgiving, and you can just use a few things from your local nursery and it'll work fine. It seems to me that much of growing can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it.

 

[sog1313]

If your dispensary TRULY cares about helping patient find meds that fit their needs then they shouldnt have any problem sourcing some clones for you. That being said they may in fact be dicks about it because they do only care about taking your money. If they don't help then check out the Michigan MMJ subforum, someone there may be able to hook you up. And SUDonny is totally right after I started my first grow I had so much fun that I never stopped and I have even grown meds for others to use.

 

[sk2004]

My biggest motivation for going with hydro is less messy than dragging soil around.

 

[killerkane37]

Idk if still up for debate I'd say go hydro. Bubble bucket if you want specific system. Its clean easy to maintain compared to other Dro systems and very easy to build you and pretty efficient if you of course dont lose your crop. You want have to veg near as long as soil which gives you a crop faster and IMHO higher quality and yield. You will have to check the ph and ppms pretty regularly but it comes with territory. Hope I was helpful. Post some pics and maybe even a grow journal as it goes that way others can help during the grow. Good luck on your future grow!

 

[manitoid.]

I just started running bubble buckets for my first grow and they are super easy! It's really 5 gallon bucket, air pump and airstone, and netpot. If you don't have time to put together this (20 minutes tops per bucket...), I'd get a Waterfarm by GH.

 

[sog1313]

Bubble Bucket/DWC/WaterFarm is a good way to go if you do ALL YOUR HOMEWORK before you start growing. There is a lot that can go wrong with water culture setups and you need to be prepared because changes can happen very quickly. I started learning how to do hydro as i was running soil so that gave me a good 4-6 months to prepare. Now don't let that scare you off from hydro. I am fairly successfully running DWC now but I attribute a lot of my success to getting to know the plant's behaviour in soil first, reading TONS of guides here and on other sites, and then getting all the right equipment needed for a good grow. I consider soil to be a "plug and chug" method because that's how nature does it and all you have to do is get quality soil and make sure it gets watered. no mind-blowing paradigm shifts about water types, hydro setups, and, if you're like me, no constant worrying about whether an algae bloom is going to pop up overnight and destroy my roots. of course this is all highly a matter of opinion, everybody has their favorite methods and every method has its pros and cons. Whichever way you pick, just follow the KISS rule and you should be fine.

 

[newmmmpcardguy]

thanks again guys.. yes killer, any input is helpful! :) i still feel convinced on starting with the more forgiving soil, as the ph maintenance may screw me since i can get so overly busy some days. i could easily see myself missing more than one day in a row of ph testing.. i often put off adding water to my fishtank until it evaporates so much that it gets near the loss of gravity point and gets loud as hell, lol.. then im like "doh!".. :P

and yeah donny and sog, i can already see how it could become quite fun.. its just that the way i am, i get into too many different interesting things and have less time for each of them as i add new projects!

sk2004.. i dont mind the mess if its for a good cause.. :) and i like cleaning in general, i think of it as a project in itself, and im "mr. project" lol. i doubt ill have to be dragging all that much soil.. or at least not that often with just one plant. i cant stress enough how light my needs are and how long a little meds last me, especially using a vaporizer.

the KISS rule is what i strive for in everything these days sog.. :) for example, in my fish tank, i have a couple koi, some water plants, a couple chinese algae eaters and a small emerald catfish to all sustain each other for food, oxygen, and waste clean up. i just have an air bubbler and simply add water as it evaporates (removing some water every once in a while, but more often forget to), rinse the filter media occasionally, and of course sprinkle koi food pellets every other day or so, and this has sustained itself for years without anything dying so far! :D

i will definitely look for a caring dispensary that will give me a clone.. there are MANY dispensaries in the ann arbor area to choose from, so alot of competition. it may not affect the prices, but it may at least affect the customer service and compassion level.

once again, thank you all for your continued input!

 

[sk2004]

That's how it starts is one in the closet. Then figure out how to improve things...nice thing about getting going is being self sufficient.

Wonder if algae eaters will live in a dwc bucket.

 

[newmmmpcardguy]

ha ha, probably will! they seem very hardy and never seem to try to eat any plant material, they just suck off the glass and the little rocks.. not sure what the nutes will do to them though.. :P

 

[sk2004]

Just have to tell them algae eaters to get in the dwc and suck on the airstone. Maybe turn the nft resovoir into a koi/duck pond

 

[ShutUpDonny]

Yup. Built in fish guano dispenser, too. It could get to the point where people are encouraging algae growth in the rez! You guys better patent this idea quickly.

 

[ShutUpDonny]

Aw maaaaaaaaaaan, China beat ya to it (apparently a few millenia ago)! But like they say in the video, at least "baldhead is very happy."

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2z-IdnIGLE&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

Chase dem crazy...

 

[newmmmpcardguy]

omg, that vid is hilarious! baldhead! the only thing that coulda topped it woulda been if they were literally raising pot plants, and had some huge sativas growing in the shot at the end under the rainbow.. i may have shed a tear..

 

[Tank333]

Wow, that is awesome!! I wonder how self-sustaining that system actually is... I'll have to do some research into that when I'm at a computer and not on my phone.

 

[Jebus]

Sweet thread I'm currently tryin to get my 1st grow on, has really made reconsider coco vs soil as my option. Can't wait to see your grow come together. Cheers!!

 

[convex]

Wow, that is awesome!! I wonder how self-sustaining that system actually is... I'll have to do some research into that when I'm at a computer and not on my phone.

Check this one out:

 

[newmmmpcardguy]

yeah jebus, i just wanna try simple first, and as some as mentioned, it may be best to start that way anyway for a better learning experience..

ill definitely post pics, but i havent even started to purchase any supplies as of yet, i need to first get a good line on a clone!