Another I've got a grand what do I do thread...

[DarkLotus215]

So I blew all my money on finding the perfect grow house... now I only have a k to get started with. I've got to spend a bill on my dr's rec. I have a large space to work with and the house has 200 amps but the basement has no outlets so I need to have an electrical pannel built (I think) and I know I need a carbon scrubber. Should I keep it simple and do one K watt and soil? I need to build some type of a 'room' since my area has lots of light leaks...
I hope to come across a couple of K this September but need to start out and veg on a tight budget...
Okay I'm rambling and super excited this chaotic plan of mine is finally starting to take shape

 

[Hammerhead]

you dont need to rush things get the equipment then start your grow. at min you need a 600,fans,scrubber,medium,pots,Nutrients just to sart with....

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Bare bulb 1k dropped down into a ring of plants.

Simple, effective and cheap.

Make a room with black/white poly..

Ballast/Bulb/Cordset
Fan/Scrubber
Coco/Grow Bags
MaxiBloom 1tsp/gal (or 7g per gal)

^not sure if results come much cheaper then that. Not much electrical is required. You can run the above on the GFI that should be on the main panel itself.

Crop and get your cash flowing.. then duplicate the same gear to expand. You can get a Master Lighting Controller (MLC-4) or similar (Sentinel HPH-4) and your rocking 4000w off of a 30a dryer plug or hardwire to panel w/ 30a 240v romex (10/2).

Check my sig.. about as easy peezy budget as you can get. I've got friends doing the same w/o the blumats and just handwatering. They were successful from the get go.

 

[DarkLotus215]

Thanks guys! I kind of feel like I've bit off more than chew with a 1200 sqft basement and all... I guess I don't have to use all of it at first, lol.
I'll take baby steps and start by building a mylar room. I think I'm going to start with the section right by the steps since that will be the 'deepest' into the house away from any doors and such. Any suggestions for blocking out the 'vents' in the basement? I don't want it to look obvious that I am blocking them so I'm thinking cinder blocks on the outside and a board on the inside... I think home de pot is on the shopping list for next week... any good tutorials on how to build a 'room' other than cervates videos?
thanks

 

[guest8905]

yes advice is to read all the threads on this site

and dont waste your last g on a grow imho

 

[grow_right]

buy a kickin led lamp.

 

[DarkLotus215]

I've been lurking here for a while and won't be waisting my last g on a grow. The one and only reason i rented this particular house is for its potential. It just took me a little longer to find than planned. I still have a limited montly income to pay rent with, even if I don't find a job, and the only other things I could spend this money on would be stupid stuff like a tv or a new computer and couch, etc...

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

As a general rule of the I figure a buck a watt when setting up. That doesn't include building a room and/or tables out of OSB and 2x4.
Mylar sucks...listen to the guy who told you to go with black and white poly.
What exactly do you mean by blocking your vents?
Spend a little time explaining what your basic game plan is going to be.

 

[DarkLotus215]

As a general rule of the I figure a buck a watt when setting up. That doesn't include building a room and/or tables out of OSB and 2x4.
Mylar sucks...listen to the guy who told you to go with black and white poly.
What exactly do you mean by blocking your vents?
Spend a little time explaining what your basic game plan is going to be.

Thanks for the reply bro! By blocking the vents I mean there are these 6 inch by 18 inch holes at the top of the basement along the walls that are covered by nothing but chicken wire. I'm pretty sure I should cover them up so no one can look in and the lizards that live in the basement will stop crawling in. Do lizards even eat herbs or would they be good to keep around for pest control?
Okay I think I was thinking of black and white poly instead of Mylar... it's thicker and can handle an idiot with a nail gun right?
My long term goal which I hope to accomplish in about a year is to have four 10x6 rooms with 2K's in each of them (or would that be overkill) and have two rooms running in the daytime and two rooms running at night. Plus an extra 'room' to maintain a couple of moms and an aerotray or two. I eventually want to use DWC or drip irrigation buckets but for now I'm going with soiless sunshine mix and gro bags since there cheap like me. I will probably recycle the sunshine mix or use it to start a garden in my ginormous back yard.
So for right now I hope to set up a 10x6 room with only 1K in it to veg (will add a second once my kids are in daycare and I get a paycheck from a dayjob which will hopefully be before I switch to flower). I need to have an ac, carbon scrubber and ro filter (I'm convinced I need an R/O filter but might see how it goes and get one later) a dehumidifer might not be necessary this time of the year. I plan to vent ducting up into my bathroom since there is a hole that goes from the wall next to the toilet down to the basement that I can see through.
Also I think I want to go big and keep my numbers low for the first couple of runs till I know I have security at 100%. So I will have 10-12 girls in 20gal bags. I anticipate starting with 10gal pots (or bags) and low stressing them till there nice and bushy. Although I only eat organic food, I'm not to caught up on only growing organic because of my budget so I do have some avid on the way from out of state and I plan to find a used sulfur burner. I've never seen a room without one but I've never lived in such a dry arid area before so I'm not sure if it is necessary.
My biggest challange is getting electric set up since the house is wired for 200amps and the breaker is in the basement but there are no outlets! There is a single plug outlet at the base of a light socket. I'm kind of scared to hook anything up to that tho.
Well there you go darling! Bet you're glad you didn't ask me how my days going

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

So just out of curiosity...you've grown some plants before this right?? It's odd that your basement doesn't have a 30 amp dryer outlet. 600w lights are more efficient because you can get them closer to your plants and they create less heat. Telling me you bought Avid makes me want to forget about helping you. Organic is the way to go...I don't understand why you think it will cost more. You need to make your rooms light tight so it sounds like those vents need to be covered. It really sounds like a grand isn't gonna get you that far. I just moved into a new place myself and the 10k under my bed is almost gone.

 

[DarkLotus215]

Technically no I've never grown on my own, I've just always kicked it with guys that do so I've picked up a few ideas and a little knowledge over time. The basement does not have washer and dryer hook ups. I got some avid because the orntamental campanulaceae type flowers around the exterior of the house are severly infested with spidermites and I want to take care of that before introducing anything I want to grow so they don't get contaminaited. I plan to spray once or twice until I'm convinced they are gone then get some clones from a club. I guess I still have time to be convinced to go organic with ferts and future pest problems but for now I want to eliminate the borg before I give them new homes.
I thought 600's were only better if you were running two lights in one room so the light would overlap. I guess I need to read a little more on if using one 600 for my first gro would be better.
Also, I realize a grand won't get me far but I gave you my long term plan not what I'm hoping to accomplish with this run or the next one

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

That sounds like a good use for the avid. Check out the organic soil forum. I always had problems using a pH meter. Simply mixing up a proper soil mix avoids this. I run 3600k and I've spent less than 100 bucks on nutrients. You can recycle your soil. If you want to understand the difference between the 600w and 1000w read about the inverse square law, don't just go by lumen output. Basically you have to hang the 1000w so much higher than the 600w that by the time the light hits the plants the lumens are equal. Believe it or not but a tablespoon of lavender in a quart of water works very well for killing spider mites. The new clones that you get from the club will likely be infested with some sort of bug. If you can grab some cuts from a friend. Mix 2tbs of bleach with 1 gal of water, put your cuts in a ziploc bag and fill with bleach water wait half hour to two hours, rinse well with plain water...you are now starting bug free.

 

[DarkLotus215]

That sounds like a good use for the avid. Check out the organic soil forum. I always had problems using a pH meter. Simply mixing up a proper soil mix avoids this. I run 3600k and I've spent less than 100 bucks on nutrients. You can recycle your soil. If you want to understand the difference between the 600w and 1000w read about the inverse square law, don't just go by lumen output. Basically you have to hang the 1000w so much higher than the 600w that by the time the light hits the plants the lumens are equal. Believe it or not but a tablespoon of lavender in a quart of water works very well for killing spider mites. The new clones that you get from the club will likely be infested with some sort of bug. If you can grab some cuts from a friend. Mix 2tbs of bleach with 1 gal of water, put your cuts in a ziploc bag and fill with bleach water wait half hour to two hours, rinse well with plain water...you are now starting bug free.

Yeah I didn't bother to check out the 'lanscaping' when I looked at the rental but it must be dealt with, lol. I've been reading the recycling soil thread on the organics forum and am thinking I'd like to try it for a few rounds. However in the long run, like in a year or two, I would like to be able to leave my fortress for festivals so Hydro is my goal!
I'm almost convinced on 600's but have not had any luck finding any cheap used ones. I'm looking at a couple of storage shed clean outs and they only have 1ks.
I did not know about the lavender oil working on spider mites but I did drench my dreads in lavender right after I moved here, lol. I have not lived in CA for about six years and have lost contact with my friends who would have clones so I will be getting stuff from a club or two till I meet some local growers.
I'm wondering if there is one location that is better than others to get healthy clones at? I'm down to go basically anywhere in NorCal but the lost coast since in the past I've lost too many cars to the 'highways' there...

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

You've got to get this "cheap" thing out of your head. Cheap out on a carbon filter and the cops are at your door...or you get robbed. Cheap out on ballasts, lights, controllers, etc. and you are asking for a fire or at the very least reduced yields. Go cheap on your exhaust fans or a/c and your plants will be too hot and you won't grow shit. Hydro weed that is sprayed with pesticides is nasty. You can grow organically and run a drip system to your plants with just plain water. A little topdress before you leave and you're good to go. I used dried lavender from the Co-Op not the oil for mites. I'm in Montana can't help you on clones. Spray the fuck out of them every day after you acquire them...that's if youre using lavender, neem, Dr.Bronners, or Safer's soap. I don't spray or feed my plants anything that isn't organic.

 

[DarkLotus215]

You've got to get this "cheap" thing out of your head. Cheap out on a carbon filter and the cops are at your door...or you get robbed. Cheap out on ballasts, lights, controllers, etc. and you are asking for a fire or at the very least reduced yields. Go cheap on your exhaust fans or a/c and your plants will be too hot and you won't grow shit. Hydro weed that is sprayed with pesticides is nasty. You can grow organically and run a drip system to your plants with just plain water. A little topdress before you leave and you're good to go. I used dried lavender from the Co-Op not the oil for mites. I'm in Montana can't help you on clones. Spray the fuck out of them every day after you acquire them...that's if youre using lavender, neem, Dr.Bronners, or Safer's soap. I don't spray or feed my plants anything that isn't organic.

Sorry but I can't get rid of being frugal, I have a specific budget to stick to for right now Although I have my script and am compliant I will be using a carbon filter for the robbers, and I am thinking of turning my chain link fence into an electric fence.... So far what I've picked up has been at a storage shed that was abandoned, it took a bit of looking around and a bit of driving but I think it was a good investment
I've got a ton of neem oil and powder laying around, it's what my dog uses for fleas and ticks. However I am determined to eradicate the mites from around the house before brining in some new foliage.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

you dont need to rush things get the equipment then start your grow. at min you need a 600,fans,scrubber,medium,pots,Nutrients just to sart with....

^we have a winner^

You might tweak a small setup a few times before finding your preferences. Good luck.

EDIT: I see quite a few winners, right on up to the bigger how to's.

 

[DarkLotus215]

^we have a winner^

You might tweak a small setup a few times before finding your preferences. Good luck.

EDIT: I see quite a few winners, right on up to the bigger how to's.

Thanks, I plan on hitting edit, rewind, repeat every three months till I get what I want out of this house I'm still waiting on a few things to actually get 'started' but have got ahold of a scrubber and some ducting, a reflector a bunch of little lights I've never seen before (there not t5s) and a breaker panel (I won't use this without an electrician I'm too chicken) I am planning on getting poly and wood tomorrow and build a 8x10x6 room to start filling out as the next few weeks pass. I've almost given up on trying to find any used 600's ballasts and see soo many used K's I might just get stuck with one of those for a while.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Sounds like a plan. Unless you have a hip electrician, you might consider getting the wiring done before everything says "grow room" (unless you're legal, of course.)

I got an electrician to run a sub-panel when I changed out the central H/AC unit. Somebody had jerry rigged the original. I'd estimated the materials at ~$150.00 The guy charged about $300.00 total. Anybody else might have been closer to $450. The 220 dryer outlet another poster mentioned might get you by until the big charges fall.

 

[Greenheart]

Were I starting from scratch in a large basement with a grand.

$380 H.F. Powerhouse 1k HPS Kit.
$300 10" inline fan & ducting.
$80 Moonshine mix & large kiddie pool
$130 Reflectix
$60 Pondliner
$25 Plant pots 1gal and 3gal
$10 Watering can
$15 An 8-pack of my fav brew

This doesn't include the card fees but thats where I would spend my money.

 

[DarkLotus215]

Sounds like a plan. Unless you have a hip electrician, you might consider getting the wiring done before everything says "grow room" (unless you're legal, of course.)

I got an electrician to run a sub-panel when I changed out the central H/AC unit. Somebody had jerry rigged the original. I'd estimated the materials at ~$150.00 The guy charged about $300.00 total. Anybody else might have been closer to $450. The 220 dryer outlet another poster mentioned might get you by until the big charges fall.

Thanks DB! I'm legal and there are actually some electricians a bit south of here that advertise that they specialize in 215 rooms... I also plan on having my first 'room' sealed and saving some extra poly to block off the accessories that are out side of the room.
The dryer outlet is on the main floor of the house right by the kitchen entry way, but it does have a ten foot ceiling. I've never thought about growing 'in' the house part of the house but since I am legal it might not be too big of a risk...