Help Me Cut Costs on My New 700 Grow Room Build

http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/121335-lets-build-bubble-bucket-step-step.html

Rumple has a damn nice DIY bubble bucket

 

 
I went back and forth on this question and settled on the 5 gallon buckets with 5 gallon control. And this is with way more light than you're planning. 5 gallon buckets are easier to move around and deal with (and cheaper).
 
I think your yield limiting factor will be the 400 watt HPS, not the bucket size IMHO.

 

I think it sounds good. 8-12 oz from a single 400 in a closet off two plants would be nice!! But not sure how close to that amount you would realistically get with this setup.
\nYou asked for opinions, here are mine. My recommendation, though I'm not a big time grower, is start small and work your way in, the plants will give you time to get what you need as long as you start with the basics.
\nFor room construction: To start you will be vegging your plants, so they will need to be light tight only to the extent where they will need to be shielded from view, not like flowering where it's critical you want so much darkness, etc. so keep that in mind as you start out. You might consider if a tent might be more economical - they have the added benefit of already being reflective, have ports for ducts and wiring and give you a place outside the grow, to keep your ballast and anything else plus they're portable.
\nDoes your water setup $$ include RO water or what will you be using for the actual water? If not, I would buy a cheap meter that has temp compensation and spend that meter $ on a RO system to supply you with your water. If you are asking how you can save money on this setup, buy the cheap meter. Once your numbers are dialed in and you're up and running you're not going to be staring at the numbers nearly as much and a regular meter would do just fine. (I end up staring at the plants a lot more than I probably should lol)
\nLooks like you'd be using a lot of air pumps in your setup, others may chime in and say differently but I would size for need, and have a backup for redundancy. Like a dedicated pump that has the output you want and a stone for each site/res, plus a pump that runs one stone in all of them for backup. The fewer you have the quieter and cooler. They have to be set out so they don't touch other stuff or they are even noisier.
\nAs for air, you will veg first so you need circulation air that will keep the air circulated around the plants, so a fan inside the closet, plus you will need a fan to cycle the air in and out for ventilation and heat. You can pick up a 6 inch inline fan (not a duct fan!!) for ventilation blowing out, that you could also use to run a cool tube or hood later on, if you find the heat is too much in there. It will also run a carbon scrubber when you get one. Don't waste money on intake fans. Just make your openings so the air comes from where you want it. Make up air will find its way in naturally through your intakes and the negative pressure will keep the smells inside as long as the fan is running. 
\nYou won't really need the carbon filter until you flower, I don't think two plants will smell much in veg, even big ones. They do smell when you snip and rustle the leaves etc but not to the point you need a carbon filter yet. DIY is fine if you're into that but I bought a 8x24 maverick sun carbon filter for about $80 bucks, you just have to look around. Already has all the stuff, the flange is already made and it hooks right up to standard ducting, plus included the pre-fit prefilter that slides on around the outside. Most pre-made srubbers can swap flanges to the other end to use up both ends of charcoal later on and some can be recharged with new charcoal as well.
\nLights: The hotter the lamp the farther it has to be from the plants. So you might rethink the lighting budget to include at least a cooltube setup, it would go hand in hand with an inline fan of the same duct size. Lower light = tighter nodes but higher heat. 400 is the right light for that width of closet. IMO a 400 won't have enough spread from one end to the other. I would scratch the T5s and run two 400s in cool tubes (start out with one for now) to give a good penetration of 2x2 for each with overlap in the middle and turn the plants every day. 400 is good for up to about 3x3. Side note, if you do build a separate veg setup I'd use a magnetic ballast as they more consistently fire the 6500k (good) veg bulbs, which digital ballasts often have trouble with - and that is why you will sometimes see 4200k bulbs marketed as veg bulbs. 
\nTools and supplies: I only use two spray bottles: one spray bottle from home depot for water, which I only use on babies and the humdity dome, and one that has Safer End All insect killer. I run my scissors through the dishwasher all the time and always use a clean pair so I don't need shears. As for the small supplies like bucket tops (and buckets) and media all that stuff, dont be afraid to go in your local shop, they usually have better prices (at least around here) than I can find online, esp with small stuff. Don't forget about getting a couple humidity domes and trays - those are cheaper in store here for sure. Make sure you get the tall lid. You will also want a loupe or microscope so you can look up close at the plants and soil. One other thing to think about is some kind of insecticide for just in case - my first crop got spider mites and I wasn't prepared so they took over before I had a chance ($) to do anything. Now I keep a gallon of safer end all that has neem and pyrethrin and can be sprayed at the first sign of trouble up until the day of harvest and has about a 3 day residual.
\nNutes: I like the GH brand, I am currently running their GO line in FFOF soil and it is also good. (I know you're running hydro but just saying). I did do the recommended doses *cut in 1/4* at first and worked in higher and the plants loved it. Ask at your hydro shop, they might have the posters to hand out free also. IDK why but I like that kind of stuff. Lol

Rooting Hormone: This will be one of those things to each his own but I would use the money elsewhere. I had 3 sets of clones I took. One in rooting hormone in root riot plugs. One in root riot plugs no hormone. One in a folgers coffee can cloner. Guess which ones rooted?? The plain root riot plugs (which won't work in hydro), and the coffee can cloner. Used one small air stone in the center of a folgers plastic coffee can lid, cut 5 circles in the lid that fit the little cloner plugs from the hydro shop, fill with room temp plain RO water, no nutes, keep it full and bubbling and change the water every 5 days. I keep it on a plate as it does leak around the lid a little but not so much to overflow a plate. Once they have a little root ball you can transplant into soil or hydro, no nutes or hormone needed.
\nHappy growing, keep us posted as you setup your build.

 

 Areas I would cut costs: the whole $260 water deal.
 
Areas I would upgrade: Name brand ballast, vented hood, name brand filter.
 
I'm not a whore for brand names, it's just that out of the 3 generic no-name ballasts I've owned ALL of them failed, from brand new to 2 years old. That nice multimeter won't do much good when your light fails halfway through flower and your filter is letting odor through. I say that having used (and ditched) generic shit, as my nice-ass name brand combo meter is 5 years old and gets absolutely no use. Sits on a shelf with 100% battery, still change the solution a couple times a year though.
 
I'm not knocking hydro, I'm saying that if your budget is limited, then cutting costs on absolutely everything else just so that you can run it is not a smart move IMO. I'd get better equipment and do a soil run or two, then upgrade to a nice hydro setup.
 
Here's one of my failed ballasts:

 
My generic filter only lasted 2 grows, while my CAN filter ran for 2 years straight and has now been retired to my drying box, where it rarely gets used but still works 100%. Got my money's worth x100.
 
The only thing I'd recommend going generic is your bulb, fan, and enclosure. That's how I would prioritize a limited budget.

 

CFL's work just fine for a veg area, home depot has 4-packs of bulbs for $12, bare sockets and related hardware is only a few bucks. If you want the bigger yields then stick with HPS in your flowering area. You can pull 12oz harvests pretty easily with a 400w, to get the same with cfl you'd have to use a lot more wattage. 600w is better than 400w but only if you have the means to cool it properly, too much heat in your flower chamber can ruin your crop.
 
Amazon is the place man, you a prime member? That's the first place I check when shopping for equipment, can't beat their prices and free shipping is the cherry on top. Discrete shipping, nobody knows what's in your package. I avoid e-bay altogether, too many scams, prices are too good to be true. $70 for a complete 400w light kit is ... suspect to say the least. Probably refurbished, I wouldn't trust it.
 
Other places I shop: https://www.hydroponics.net/items/ <- good prices, unfortunately they don't carry Hydrofarm products anymore, a brand that I really like for their price/quality http://www.htgsupply.com/default <- excellent customer service, stand behind what they sell. My local nursery (commercial greenhouse) actually carries hydro equipment, nutrients, and small HID light kits, huge bags of perlite and hydroton, and pretty much anything else I need for gardening. Their prices are a bit high but it's convenient. The only thing I really buy from the local hydro shop are fabric pots, it's actually cheaper than ordering them online and they carry every size from 1 gal to a hundred gal.
 
Brinks digital is the best timer you'll find for under $20, find em at lowes/depot. I've gone through enough cheap mechanical timers to fill a milk crate, and it's no fun finding out your veg light has been off for a day, or your flowering light is suddenly 4 hours behind due to a power failure, or that one of the pins is loose and has been shutting off your light for 30 minutes in the middle of your light cycle for god knows how long. One of those things where trying to save $3-$4 can end up ruining a 2 thousand dollar crop. It's a real kick in the ass.
 
One more thing that I cannot go without is spring-loaded clippers for harvest time. It's a minor detail but it makes the job so much easier when you have to spend the entire day trimming. Not really something that you have to worry about until the time comes, just food for thought.

 

I like amazon for most of my online stuff. You can buy from amazon on there but also other stores that use the site. But, NOT everything ships discrete. Watch for "Item ships in original packaging" for some stuff if the contents are an issue, many things you can have gift wrapped if shipped from an amazon fulfillment center, and most hydro stores online ship discretely. My tent showed up in a large flat box with GROW LAB on the box (the brand) plus the information sticker and such, with shipping labels on the box. Same thing with my filter. SKUNK Carbon Filter right on the box. Both of those were giant boxes of course. Most of their stuff is shipped discrete though.
 
One of my local pet stores also has a nursery and sells limited hydro supplies. They also have a good amount of nutes, pots, lights and stuff like that. I was surprised to find Fred Meyer also had 400 watt ballasts, 29.99 hid wing reflectors and xtrasun 400w MH bulbs for 17.99 around christmas time. Home depot has HID bulbs that will work but are not grow bulbs, could be handy in a pinch though. So might be good just to look around and see whats around you. Are there any nurseries nearby? As for a one stop shop I'm in a legal state with plenty of shops to buy from, and still don't use just one.
 
I have a cfl rig I built from a couple of vanity lights that I use for clones and seedlings only until they are ready to sit low under the MH in the veg area. I also have a jumpstart 4 ft single t5 and a mat for seeds that I use but not much. I get mine going for the min time necessary under cfls then straight to the MH until flowering. Some people do their entire veg under cfls or t5 - just a preference thing and finding what works best for you.
 

 

Someone else may have already said it but....spend the extra cash and get a quality filter. I have bought cheapo inline fan/filter combos in the past. The fans worked great...the filters...no so much.
I bought a Phresh filter and damn the thing is awesome. No smells..period.
You def get what you pay for with filters.

 

Hmm sorry to hear that CM. I had the complete opposite happen. Ventech combo as well. The filter was just garbage imo. Loosely packed and couldnt filter a cig out of a man cave to save its life.
The fan on the other hand is still going strong 2 years later and hooked to a speed controller.
You are talking an inline right? Not just one of those cheapo duct boosters....