Hi fellas I recently joined here to soak up as much knowledge as possible from all of you. I am a complete beginner when it comes to growing. I am looking to start my first grow, 2-4 plants in an extra closet at home. My question to all of you is what you would recommend I buy as far as a setup goes? I would greatly appreciate ideas on how you would spend $500 for a 2-4 plant setup {with potential for a few more plants in the future}. Also how would you spend $1000 on a little bit bigger setup and how many plants would it be able to grow? I will probably just end up buying what one of you recommend, as I know a lot of you are great farmers {as I have browsed some of the grow journals on here and have been extremely impressed}. I know this sounds stupid but I don’t know where else to start. I am in great need of your expertise and ideas. Please help a total newbie in this crucial time of needle. I look forward to being a student in this forum and learning as much knowledge from all of you as possible. Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and hopefully respond.
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virgin grower, need extreme help
- Thread starter d luv
- Start date
RoomRaider
Member
Depends on what and how you want to grow. I'd recommend a 400w to start with, ~$180.
Put a fresh coat of flat white paint in your closet. Also get a couple 4ft shoplights to start seeds with. IMO 4ft fluros are the best to start seeds with.
Also get a fan that can move a good amount of air, you can have that blowing on the light.
How big is your closet? I've ran 400's in closets without any kind real ventilation, just a fan blowing at the bulb to cool it down.
Put a fresh coat of flat white paint in your closet. Also get a couple 4ft shoplights to start seeds with. IMO 4ft fluros are the best to start seeds with.
Also get a fan that can move a good amount of air, you can have that blowing on the light.
How big is your closet? I've ran 400's in closets without any kind real ventilation, just a fan blowing at the bulb to cool it down.
Quazi
Member
Square footage.
Shoot for ~ 50W per square foot. While there are arguments that you could use more: it's a great starting point because 50W per square foot is not only enough to grow, it's easier to cool than say, 75-80W per square foot. Since you're new to the hobby, you should try to shoot for the 50W per sq. ft.
I wouldn't ever advise anyone to stick a couple of 400W lamps in their closet (or even one for that matter) and blow fans at them -- it won't cut it.
You need to set something up to remove heat from the area.
I would recommend "browsing" around and actually reading a bit more so you don't have to ask questions like: "What would you buy with $500 and a closet to use?" By the way: browsing and reading aren't the same thing.
If you don't understand the basics of air-flow, proper design, and at least have a small understanding of growing cannabis: you're just going to stress out you, your plants and your wallet.
Here's what you should spend your money on:
Lights
Grow medium
Fan
Filter
Nutrients
Now it's your job to try and figure out which ones to get. I'd recommend some good herb, some good music and a couple of hours with good ol' ICMag. There are so many great examples detailing exactly what kind of equipment you should be considering.
Once you've got the basics down, come back and ask some more specific questions and I'm sure you'll have more than enough knowledge and experience around here to get you started.
Good luck in your travels!
-Q
Shoot for ~ 50W per square foot. While there are arguments that you could use more: it's a great starting point because 50W per square foot is not only enough to grow, it's easier to cool than say, 75-80W per square foot. Since you're new to the hobby, you should try to shoot for the 50W per sq. ft.
I wouldn't ever advise anyone to stick a couple of 400W lamps in their closet (or even one for that matter) and blow fans at them -- it won't cut it.
You need to set something up to remove heat from the area.
I would recommend "browsing" around and actually reading a bit more so you don't have to ask questions like: "What would you buy with $500 and a closet to use?" By the way: browsing and reading aren't the same thing.
If you don't understand the basics of air-flow, proper design, and at least have a small understanding of growing cannabis: you're just going to stress out you, your plants and your wallet.
Here's what you should spend your money on:
Lights
Grow medium
Fan
Filter
Nutrients
Now it's your job to try and figure out which ones to get. I'd recommend some good herb, some good music and a couple of hours with good ol' ICMag. There are so many great examples detailing exactly what kind of equipment you should be considering.
Once you've got the basics down, come back and ask some more specific questions and I'm sure you'll have more than enough knowledge and experience around here to get you started.
Good luck in your travels!
-Q
RoomRaider
Member
Im not recommending to put 2 400's in a single closet... also you don't know the size of the closet, which is why I asked, to be sure. And if the fan can move enough air it can cut it, I've done it many times..
I can attest to first hand experience running 400's in closets without any real ventilation going on, although I did forget to add that room must have an a/c running, you want cold air blowing on the bulb.
I've even ran a 1kw in 5x5x5 box, no venting, just an open box with a/c blowing in a stanley fan angled to blow on the bulb. There was no fire hazard, as there was no excessive heat on the walls of the box, or the plants, thermometer maxed out at 90, averages 84-86.
But as I said, need to know more about the closet... Pictures would be nice also
And before any flaming goes on, I've spent alot of time screwing around with alternative cooling/venting methods. You don't HAVE to extract air out the conventional way. There are other ways, just have to make sure you got the space to do it. And a reliable way to monitor temps until everything is dialed in.
I can attest to first hand experience running 400's in closets without any real ventilation going on, although I did forget to add that room must have an a/c running, you want cold air blowing on the bulb.
I've even ran a 1kw in 5x5x5 box, no venting, just an open box with a/c blowing in a stanley fan angled to blow on the bulb. There was no fire hazard, as there was no excessive heat on the walls of the box, or the plants, thermometer maxed out at 90, averages 84-86.
But as I said, need to know more about the closet... Pictures would be nice also
And before any flaming goes on, I've spent alot of time screwing around with alternative cooling/venting methods. You don't HAVE to extract air out the conventional way. There are other ways, just have to make sure you got the space to do it. And a reliable way to monitor temps until everything is dialed in.
Quazi
Member
I see. Well, recommending someone stick a lamp in a closet and blow air on it, and recommending someone have air conditioning hooked up to bring the ambient temp low enough to allow for that condition are two different things.
Gotta be careful giving advice to people who are so new, especially when price is a consideration. Air conditioning is expensive
Also, your method doesn't give any chance for proper odor control which is usually a pretty necessary consideration...
-Q
Gotta be careful giving advice to people who are so new, especially when price is a consideration. Air conditioning is expensive
Also, your method doesn't give any chance for proper odor control which is usually a pretty necessary consideration...
-Q
RoomRaider
Member
Well, he is new, I know he is going to verify and re-verify everything.
Plus I know for a fact the community will proof-read and get on my ass for anything, like you just did. (which is good)
Yes, it can get expensive running the a/c, but as I should have said yet again, you are suppose to sleep in that room. I always sleep in the growroom, its a nice excuse to run the a/c, and the cost of power is not nearly as much as the retail value of weed you will get in the end.
And yes, smell can be a problem, I don't have to worry about that... but when I did, those wall socket airfreshener things did do a good job, but it is a bit ghetto. And will not work for the stronger smelling strains.
Yeah, i'm going to log off now, def screwing info up and leaving stuff out... probally going to kick myself in the morning when I read this refreshed...
Plus I know for a fact the community will proof-read and get on my ass for anything, like you just did. (which is good)
Yes, it can get expensive running the a/c, but as I should have said yet again, you are suppose to sleep in that room. I always sleep in the growroom, its a nice excuse to run the a/c, and the cost of power is not nearly as much as the retail value of weed you will get in the end.
And yes, smell can be a problem, I don't have to worry about that... but when I did, those wall socket airfreshener things did do a good job, but it is a bit ghetto. And will not work for the stronger smelling strains.
Yeah, i'm going to log off now, def screwing info up and leaving stuff out... probally going to kick myself in the morning when I read this refreshed...
Most grows start with an arbitrary decision (room, needs, lamp) and from there it's dominos falling down. Once I chose to start with a freezer, that meant my grow could only be so big because double steel wall construction said so. Size of space determined size of lamp determined size of fan ...
Look at The AMAZING NGB Cab. Do you need more weed than this? My 250 has me buried alive. Sure I get jealous when I see the big buds a 400 grows but a 400 would force me into some form of distribution or tossing weed in the trash by the bushel.
Look through the Library of Links Resources (right at the top) Pay special attention to the "clubs": CFL, 150, 250, 400, Mill's Pride, DrBud. Check out SOG, ScrOG and LST. Eventually ... something ... will grab your attention; There's your method. Steal it! Rip it off!! The OP will be flattered.
Look at The AMAZING NGB Cab. Do you need more weed than this? My 250 has me buried alive. Sure I get jealous when I see the big buds a 400 grows but a 400 would force me into some form of distribution or tossing weed in the trash by the bushel.
Look through the Library of Links Resources (right at the top) Pay special attention to the "clubs": CFL, 150, 250, 400, Mill's Pride, DrBud. Check out SOG, ScrOG and LST. Eventually ... something ... will grab your attention; There's your method. Steal it! Rip it off!! The OP will be flattered.
