SuperSativa
Member
What do you all think your local grow shop "must have" for soils, nutes and equipment???
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Hydro/Indoor Grow Shops - Must Haves
- Thread starter SuperSativa
- Start date
Can of Bliss
Member
Knowledge is number one. I come here for that, but not everyone does, and there is a lot of BS on the web.
Most stuff is obvious. Nutes; most people have their favorite line so you should carry a bunch (sucks for start up cost) and be quick to order what people ask for.
Bulbs, cheap ones, hortilux, all wattage in stock. At least they have unlimited shelf life
Everything you could need for setting up a grow, wall covering/ tents (only need a few as samples if you can special order), hose, pumps, timers, light hangers, hoods, wires, ballasts of various price points, if I bought everything online but forgot some little stupid thing, I want you to have it (and if I have a good experience in your shop I'll come back)
Media and pots. My shop sells their own soil mix, I use coco, but I think that's cool.
Tools: high end trimmers and cheap ones, pH and ec pens cheap and high-end. Scales, measuring beakers, scalpels, grow room glasses, lots of things I'm not thinking of.
Some books would be cool.
To some degree you'll end up ordering what people ask. And there is always trial and error.
Best of luck, it's a bit of a drive, but I'll definitely check out your shop at some point
Most stuff is obvious. Nutes; most people have their favorite line so you should carry a bunch (sucks for start up cost) and be quick to order what people ask for.
Bulbs, cheap ones, hortilux, all wattage in stock. At least they have unlimited shelf life
Everything you could need for setting up a grow, wall covering/ tents (only need a few as samples if you can special order), hose, pumps, timers, light hangers, hoods, wires, ballasts of various price points, if I bought everything online but forgot some little stupid thing, I want you to have it (and if I have a good experience in your shop I'll come back)
Media and pots. My shop sells their own soil mix, I use coco, but I think that's cool.
Tools: high end trimmers and cheap ones, pH and ec pens cheap and high-end. Scales, measuring beakers, scalpels, grow room glasses, lots of things I'm not thinking of.
Some books would be cool.
To some degree you'll end up ordering what people ask. And there is always trial and error.
Best of luck, it's a bit of a drive, but I'll definitely check out your shop at some point
Bubble bags , drying racks, knowledge. There is a new corporate shop near me. No knowledge, no discount, no customer service.they never offer to order anything
N
noyd666
couple of states away but he go's out of his way to get anything you want , local or o/seas. no rubbish. has a lot of good gear on site.
SuperSativa
Member
Wow - Thanks!!!!
Wow - Thanks!!!!
I didn't expect to get these great replies (or any for that matter) so quickly.... I'm grateful for your help guys!!!!
Can of Bliss - Thank you so much for your detailed response!!!
I want to be careful and follow the forum's rules so I won't say too much about store specifics yet. I've been working hard to get this up and running and I hope to be going by mid February. You're right about the startup costs. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to start with a large variety of nutes. The costs are too high but I will be able to special order. I had to beg and borrow just to raise a small amount for initial stock. My plan/goal is to be a more service oriented store that caters to my customer's needs and carries specific products upon customer request.
Nutes have been my biggest dilemma. If you were going to start with only 3 lines, what would they be? I'm thinking I may start with GH, Botanicare and CYCO.
Thanks again guys!!!
Wow - Thanks!!!!
I didn't expect to get these great replies (or any for that matter) so quickly.... I'm grateful for your help guys!!!!
Can of Bliss - Thank you so much for your detailed response!!!
I want to be careful and follow the forum's rules so I won't say too much about store specifics yet. I've been working hard to get this up and running and I hope to be going by mid February. You're right about the startup costs. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to start with a large variety of nutes. The costs are too high but I will be able to special order. I had to beg and borrow just to raise a small amount for initial stock. My plan/goal is to be a more service oriented store that caters to my customer's needs and carries specific products upon customer request.
Nutes have been my biggest dilemma. If you were going to start with only 3 lines, what would they be? I'm thinking I may start with GH, Botanicare and CYCO.
Thanks again guys!!!
Can of Bliss
Member
I don't really like GH, but people seem to use it, and I don't have any real reason not to like it. Seems like a good one to have.
I like dyna grow for a basic chem nute, Botanicare seems to be basically the same thing, so great. Jack's seems like a good simple chem line too, probably geared more at the pro grower than the hobby grower.
I don't know Cyco, but I Googled, seems cool. NPK's Raw line is probably the high end chem line I'd go for, but I don't know if that would sell at all. My local shop doesn't seem to move much.
Foxfarm is another "household name" like GH that it might be worth having a few bottles of.
You should probably have a semi organic and full organic option too.
I forgot who makes it, but there is a line made for coco that I've heard a lot of people here mention they use.
Another angle to think about is availability. If someone wants GH or Foxfarm they are available at Aubuchon's. Might be better to hold to the hard to find ones.
So to answer your question about which 3 I'd choose. I have no freaking idea.
I like dyna grow for a basic chem nute, Botanicare seems to be basically the same thing, so great. Jack's seems like a good simple chem line too, probably geared more at the pro grower than the hobby grower.
I don't know Cyco, but I Googled, seems cool. NPK's Raw line is probably the high end chem line I'd go for, but I don't know if that would sell at all. My local shop doesn't seem to move much.
Foxfarm is another "household name" like GH that it might be worth having a few bottles of.
You should probably have a semi organic and full organic option too.
I forgot who makes it, but there is a line made for coco that I've heard a lot of people here mention they use.
Another angle to think about is availability. If someone wants GH or Foxfarm they are available at Aubuchon's. Might be better to hold to the hard to find ones.
So to answer your question about which 3 I'd choose. I have no freaking idea.
Douglas.Curtis
Autistic Diplomat in Training
The internet has always (the last 15 years for me anyway) contained better information, as well as at least a smattering of honest/decent suppliers to order from.
Edit: Oh! You mean what *SHOULD* they carry? Completely different question, my apologies.
Along with the standards mentioned there are always the little things which you end up needing right away.
Net pots
peat pucks
pH drops kits (Work in a pinch when the meter needs testing/replacing and you don't have time for a delivery)
timers
lamps both cheap and high end
At least one fan of each size
ez-clone/clone-king collars
rooting gels/powders (everyone has their favorites but there are a few standards almost any grower will use in a pinch)
Find a good loss leader, something you can sell at cost which will bring people in often. CO2 gas fillups are a good one, if it's a service growers want in your area. You want people to come in regularly, because it builds familiarity and future sales. It becomes convenient for them to order, they're in there all the time anyway.
Edit: Oh! You mean what *SHOULD* they carry? Completely different question, my apologies.
Along with the standards mentioned there are always the little things which you end up needing right away.
Net pots
peat pucks
pH drops kits (Work in a pinch when the meter needs testing/replacing and you don't have time for a delivery)
timers
lamps both cheap and high end
At least one fan of each size
ez-clone/clone-king collars
rooting gels/powders (everyone has their favorites but there are a few standards almost any grower will use in a pinch)
Find a good loss leader, something you can sell at cost which will bring people in often. CO2 gas fillups are a good one, if it's a service growers want in your area. You want people to come in regularly, because it builds familiarity and future sales. It becomes convenient for them to order, they're in there all the time anyway.
Last edited:
Lethal
Active member
Well I will add the missing name for coco line from Can of Bliss post and that would be Canna Coco (they also make coco substrate - the cleanest one apparently as I read through a lot of threads here in coco section).
Besides this what makes a difference is the service you can provide to customers. That will be the thing which will make people return.
Good luck with your endeavour.
Lethal
Besides this what makes a difference is the service you can provide to customers. That will be the thing which will make people return.
Good luck with your endeavour.
Lethal
I think canna does authorized dealers only one shop in my area carries it. The other shop says that they can't sell it because the other shop has the rights to distribute in the area. May be hard to get a deal if you have established competition locally. If you can carry canna I would. Also house and gardens is a money maker for shops
