Gimme your mac guyver cheap grow ops

[Sebastion deluX]

this thread is being created to see what some of the best cheap gro op ideas are. you can make them a one sentence idea like "you should grow outside! in the sun! its cheap!" to "Mikes Cheap Grow Guide... Table of conten..."

so, lets see it. NOW!

 

[Sebastion deluX]

and of course, I get to be the first post! hehe. i know, why didn't i just write this post into my last one...

but anyways.

so what we have here:

ingredients:

cheap container at walmart ($6.77)
6x (or 4) 2-liter bottles (.30c cents at the bottle return)
air pump and bubbler stone for it (maybe $10)
perlite/vermiculite/soil or whatever medium you choose ($20 most, $4 at wal mart for just soil and some rocks for the bottom)
timer ($2)
250w HO HPS w/ ballast and hood ($120 at https://www.htgsupply.com/productdetail.asp?productID=206)

setup is nothing new. setup cabinet, cut out and install the intake/exhaust fans, and attach any carbon scrubbers or light cooling now, attach the light, light proof the door ways and the intake/exhaust if needed. then just put your tub in the cabinet, set your light timers and get teh babies in there. pretty much feed it like a soil plant and let it leach its own stuff from below as it sees. and another thing with a setup this small, you could probably skip the scrubber and just have your exhaust fan blow out over towards an ozone plugin next to the wall, and odor-b-gone.



BADDA BING BABY, thats a $234 soil/hydro hybrid setup, i would definatly recommend throwing a scrog in there as close to the 2 liters as you can (maybe 7-8") and topping them early too (maybe 5-6 nodes). you should be able to achieve pretty good results with this setup, not too mention it will be low heat, low power consumption, and since its soil it will be MUCHO AUTOMATICO!!! MUHAHAHAHAHa. yes, i smoked again. g'night all, im off to play some cs.

(and gimme a rating guys, is this like 7/10? u likay?)

 

[CarpeNoctem]

Hey good try man. Heres some things that aren't to good.
1. You don't include a cabinet in the price, or talk much about it.
2. you don't include the intake/exaust fans in the cost.
3. You don't include the carbon scrubber/ionizer in the cost.


Those add a lot to the cost of a grow could more then double the cost very easily, if not cost more.

PS:
CS is the shit.

 

[AbbieDoobie]

Yep, your ideas are sound, but where are you going to run it? If in a private house, basement, etc. where the temps are already controlled and you have stealth issues taken care of, then you are a-ok. But, yes, a cabinet will probably be needed along with air flow via centrifugal fan, maybe an a/c, a heater, etc. Things that you end up needing just seem to pile up as you begin to grow. Best of luck to you...

 

[Verite]

How about MacGuyvers ebb and flow toilet grow?

 

[igotpron]

you might have something there verite, but i would use the tank as a dwc just add airstone and get like 6 strawberry baskets zip tie em together then fill em with lava rock and walla, shove this in the top part of the tank water changes would never have been so easy.

 

[I.M. Boggled]

An organic soil grow bag (or bucket)...

...growing into a Soma style organic blooming bed, scrogged.

Quoting our IC friend Soma here:

I don’t use pots to grow my buds, I use flowering beds.
These beds are made of wood put together with metal braces and screws.
They are on wheels that rotate 360 degrees.
They are 1.25 meters wide by 1.25 meters long and 35 centimeters high, (about 50" x 50" x 9"; sorry, but after being in Europe so long, I think in centimeters).
They are lined with waterproof plastic.

For the bottom 5 cm I put a layer of clay pebbles called Hydrocorals.
I then take plastic-coated chickenwire and place it on top of the hydrocorals. On top of that I put a layer of felt root cloth, the kind most nurseries use under their potted plants.
The roots of the marijuana plant love air, so I mix a lot of perlite in with my organic soil mix before filling the beds up.

In each corner of the bed, I have a PVC tube 70 millimeters wide and 35 cm long.
It goes down into the hydrocorals, through the root cloth, and up through the 25 cm of soil, leaving 5 cm above the soil's surface.
These four tubes in each bed help the roots to have a constant airflow, and the hydrocorals underneath make it almost impossible to overwater your garden.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=5871

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Recycled buckets:
Recirculating drip bucket setups are quite cheap to "con-boob-ulate"/ configure, especially when using free recycled buckets recovered from a large buffet style restaurant. I have found that they tend to have an accumalated abundance many times, particulary if one asks politely for the restaurant to save them for you for a couple, few days.

I would suggest not ripping up the neighbors trees drip irrigation system for the tubing and drippers as that is technically not "recycling."

 

[raysputin]

How about MacGuyvers ebb and flow toilet grow?

I think that is a brilliant Idea =)

 

[Truth]

The easiest hydroponic method by far is the Bubble bucket method. Cut a hole in the lid of a *clean* utility bucket (like one paint comes in, 3-5gal) for your net pot, add an air pump with air stones into the bucket, fill with water/nutrients of choice, drop a plant and some hydroton into that netpot, drop the netpot into the hole in the lid...and voila...you have your very own hydroponics system.

total cost: 5-30$ depending on which supplies you might already have around the house.. a bucket can go for say 5$, pump 20$, netpot 2$, air stones 2$, air line 1$. so that is basically 30$ if you buy everything. you could also go for a single, but strong air pump, and run multiple buckets from one air pump, which can lower the total cost for multiple buckets.


It is so easy and cheap it doesnt have to be macgyver'd

 

[Truth]

An organic soil grow bag (or bucket)...

...growing into a Soma style organic blooming bed, scrogged.

Quoting our IC friend Soma here:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Recycled buckets:
Recirculating drip bucket setups are quite cheap to "con-boob-ulate"/ configure, especially when using free recycled buckets recovered from a large buffet style restaurant. I have found that they tend to have an accumalated abundance many times, particulary if one asks politely for the restaurant to save them for you for a couple, few days.

I would suggest not ripping up the neighbors trees drip irrigation system for the tubing and drippers as that is technically not "recycling."

you forget you need a pump and timer... and the knowledge to time it properly...otherwise...HELLO ROOT ROT! also you would need piping attached to that pump, and individual drip heads for EACH netpot. Also your method shows 2 buckets...that isn't really necessary... you can circulate all you need in one bucket, and with less water. PLUS...the more buckets you add, the less flow you will get since pumps can only process a certain amount of gallons per hour.. if this drops too low, you will have big problems for sure... ESPECIALLY if your system clogs up over time...you could end up allowing your roots and entire medium to dry out. I've had drip systems clog on only a few of the drippers, but..those plants dried out before I could catch it. And I've had them clog only slightly, still able to save them, but since it was only pushing out smaller amounts of water than required...most of the root systems become damaged/destroyed. If the pump goes out, then you have no flow at all..and if the roots havent reached the res yet, within an hour your roots will be destroyed. there is just too much room for random error.

 

[Gantz]

for veg 4 23W cfls


for flower 4 23W cfls + 1 150W hps




cheap enough for ya?

 

[Truth]

for veg 4 23W cfls


for flower 4 23W cfls + 1 150W hps




cheap enough for ya?

yes, too cheap lol..I would cheap out on everything else...EXCEPT the light.