Okay, so I live in Ireland. In this peice of shit country weed is so expensive it is almost a crime. You can get an oz of some good shit for 500euro, which is not within my budget and would involve dealing with people I really dont want to get involved with. An even sadder fact is that for 50 euro you are more likely these days to get only 2 grams (pathetic). So I decided to see if I could grow three plants indoors for under 50 euro. I returned to college last september so money is a big issue. This meant buying only the bare minimum to get buy. So while my setup is plenty flawed, there is not much can be done to improve it for now. I currently have 3 20w 2700k + 1 30w 2700k cfl installed with 3 more 30w 6500k cfl's in the post. This comes to a total of 27 euro so far. The two fan thingys are 2 euro shop laptop fans, ok for now to get a bit of circulation but will be replaced as plants develop. As for nutrients, I am taking the risk of relying soley on transplantation to recover nutrients until flowering. As I mentioned above, all criticism will be noted but due to money constraints will probably not be acted upon. I am doing this mainly to see if it can be done, and of course hopefully have a little sometin sometin to show for it. As for the strains, its all up in the air. The seeds were chosen from a pool of 18 at random. These 18 seeds were of three different strains brought back from Canada a few months back, so you will probably know what they are before I do. Could all be males, but I am feeling lucky. These Pictures are of two plants put in the ground last monday and a third I planted just 2 days ago.
cool. I am planning on doing something similar. My understanding is the 6500 cfls would be good for veg and the 2700s for flower. I was wondering myself if I should try to stick to just 6500s on veg but I suppose it all depends on the amount of spots you or I have to put light. Obviously more light is better and light placement is going to be important. My understanding is the plant shoudl never be uprooted and my understanding is the nutrients in the soil will eventually be gone towards flowering time? The plants will use up the nutrients and thats why other stuff is added later. Dunno if there is a way around that or not..
do you have anything around the lught and fan that is able to reflect the light well? I heard white walls are good and there are soem reflective materials that can work as well?
Sounds like Ireland needs more than a couple of cfl's if oz go for $500e. At that price, I'd think there would be illegal grows all over the place. What's the cost of getting caught with weight or growing in Ireland?
Well if I was caught with these three plants I might get away with a few hundred euro fine at the most. The biggest issue for me though is not just the money but the fact that there is so much contaminated weed going around Ireland that even if you can get a cheap bag you will be lucky if it is clean. I am sure a lot of people are growing their own but its best to keep that quite so I don't really here of many people doing it. As for the 6500k bulbs, they are better for vegging at least that is what I have heard as well. They should arrive in the next few days, I don't think one week of just 2700k will have any adverse effects considering the low tech nature of my setup. I figured I would transplant it once before flowering in order to avoid leaching the soil of all nutrients. And during flowering maybe add a few essential nutrients. I am mainly doing this journal because I was curious what the minimum amount of effort could achieve for a small indoor closet grow.
I know it's tough to dish out the loot at first but it's an investment well made If your growing with the floros you'll be able to grow like an oz or two every three months. If you bought a four hundred hps , 100 us dollars, you could produce like a half pound every three months. Then you'll always have smoke and a little extra money in your pocket. For me a big part of this is that me and a few choice friends will never get ripped the fuck off buying three grams for sixty dollars. Highway robbery. There's nothing like the look on a good friends face when you hand them a bud as long as their arm.
I second the HPS recommendation.....if you are planning to grow long term as a hobby, youll end up buying one eventually. Totally worth the investment, and will more than pay for itself with one successful crop, especially at those ridiculous weed prices! I spent 3 weeks in Ireland a while back and couldnt find any smoke to save my life....sounds like demand far exceeds the supply there
I went with hps myself for my first grow as i dont have the time to be growing year round......this way the yield from one crop will last me the better part of a year. Gotta love being self-sustaining!
I would really like to go that direction with it, but I am seriously restricted money wise. I am barely able to work enough hours to pay all of my bills so the cfl route is much more stress free considering that they screw into lamps I already own and they are relatively cheap in comparison. Plus I already had 4 cfls at hand. I have costed the entire grow cycle (1800+ hours of lighting) at a maximum of 40 euro in electricity which is a bit tight fisted but in my case warrented. There is no possibility of me selling any of this stuff (not worth the risk, no desire to anyway), so I can not make money back that way either. CFLs last for so long also and very easy to arrange in different positions. When I get my own house I will most likely invest some proper money into my grows, but for now I share a house with a friend. He is fully aware of what is going on but is worried about the quantity of plants growing at any one time as once you get into the double digits range your are going down hard if busted.
I understand the money restrictions, and this definitely isnt a cheap hobby. You are bang on about selling, its a big no-no and a good way to get busted. As far as plant #'s, that is another reason to go HPS if you can scrape up the cash.....you can run a single plant under an hps lamp and yield exponentially more than a bunch of small plants under cfls.
Yeah I think it used to be anyone growing was doing it to sell it. Nowadays I think most of us do it to be self sufficient. I totally didn't mean to be pro dealing, I have never sold any of mine. I've given away pounds at this point but never sold any. I just figured hey if your best friend is about to buy a oz for five hundred euros you could for him on for three or whatever as you'd both make out.
I have spent about 50 dollars on my three plants. They are 11 weeks old now and look just fine, plus I got at least two girls. So yes I think you can grow for that amount, just try and find as much material around your house or other places so that you don't have to purchase what you don't need to. That's what I did, I only paid for two CFL's, and two bags of soil. I already had pots, light fixtures, thermometer and a spot for it.
Why thank you! I love the picture too even though I don't have one - yet. I am waiting for the day I make it big so I can buy a high quality little boy and train him in obedience, attack, and drug sniffing. He will be a bad ass haha
Mine was rescue, ive had her for 9 years now, shes an old girl. The most amazing, loving, intelligent, loyal dogs ever
[quote name='"SnowCappedHills"']I have spent about 50 dollars on my three plants. They are 11 weeks old now and look just fine, plus I got at least two girls. So yes I think you can grow for that amount, just try and find as much material around your house or other places so that you don't have to purchase what you don't need to. That's what I did, I only paid for two CFL's, and two bags of soil. I already had pots, light fixtures, thermometer and a spot for it.[/quote] I'm growing my first plant. So far I'm 12 days into 12/12. She's about 9 weeks old and I haven't spent a dime. No timer. Just some free MG soil and water so far. I'm about to spend $50 on a timer and a few larger lights. Even if I only get an eighth out of her I'm happy. I'm learning so much. Its the most addictive hobby. I've never been able to sit down and read for hours and hours untilled I joined GC
Nice, for sure dude! What have you been using for lights? I wouldn't spend so much money on a timer unless your going for a full operation though. I just plug and unplug the lights each and every day since march, but its not all bad cause just like you I love this hobby. Before as a kid in middle and high school I was always looking for some sort of hobby and besides smoking weed this is just such a fantastic one and I am so glad to be in it, even if it gets hard or sketchy at times. Grass City is a wonderful place to discuss and learn about weed, I learned the most here about weed than any other place.