Best indoor grow set up for 3 fem northern lights?

It's not about the number of plants, per se, it's how much space you want to (or are restricted to) grow in. One large plant can produce the same amount of flower as many small plants if you veg it out long enough.

I suggest you start out with describing your parameters.

1. Dimensions of space you have to work with.
2. Budget.
3. Goals.

It's really not hard to source the individual materials to grow, it just looks a little daunting at first.

 

Ok so 5oz, $500, stealth, and no limits on space.

For starters, growing stealth is going to add to your cost for a quality air scrubber (carbon filter). You'll be glad you bought reasonably good stuff right off the bat.

Here's a shopping list for some low end basics that would work for a good bit over 5oz:

4x4 tent (you'll be glad to have the extra space so you can grow more later if you want. $105
600w HID light $160.
Air scrubber to control smell $130.
7 gallon fabric pots (5 pack) $12

Soil, you'd do well enough with Fox Farms Ocean Forest in your big pots but start them off with something milder. Soil is a whole separate discussion and I gotta take off for a while. It's worth it, in my opinion, to make a quality blend so that you don't have to give it NKP steroids.

Some sort of oscillating fan(s) in the tent to keep the plants moving.

Other factors are additional cooling if your garage gets hot in the summer or heating if it gets cold in the winter but here's a start.

 

Listen to that guy. He’s got a nice recipe for success

He could also look into LEDs if he’s trying to keep heat and electricity down

 

I think with your budget your setting yourself up to buy equipment that most seasoned growers wouldn't buy.
Why do you need a tent in your garage ?

The more room the better and its a big plus to be able to have 4 or 5 feet distance from the top of your plants to certain kinds of lighting.
If its illegal where you live then I fully understand.
For security reason I can also understand because grow tents are almost light tight .
Full spectrum lighting at night is a dead give away that your growing MJ

Personally I would never go back to growing in compost or dirt.
If I was you look into using bubbler buckets or make your own DWC (deep water culture system ) .
I can design and source out all the parts needed that you can make yourself a DWC system.

Start off going Hydroponic .. your plants grow at least 1/3 faster and straight up its cheaper the buying soil less grow mediums......

I have about 2k into my 4x8 grow tent and all the contents.
I also converted my walk in closet into a pre stage clone and vegetation grow room .
I have about 3 K total into grow stuff not including the vacation I took gathering the strains I wished to grow .

Good luck .

 

I think you could get away with one 300W during veg but it would probably be in yield/quality best interest to get a second 300W when you get into flowering stage. Either way you can make one unit work or take the extra cash and put it towards two fixtures.

 

Hps will be be much cheaper per sq foot. Than led for comparable results but.

For 3 plants you can grow in 2-4 but as reccommended i would go for the 4-4 as cost an extra space are a no brainer, since you have the room.

600hps is a good match for the tent, but if you want to go led, the system can grow with your needs.
For my 4-4 tent i have 650 wall watt draw but this services the whole area. For 3 plants i could use half the light and be comfortable. 325 wall watts, most 300w led i have seen draw about 135.
1 of my lights is the unbranded 1500w cobb it draws about 250w and i think would be great for 3 plants and leaves room to grow.



Clear as mud?
In this picture on,y the 2@ 1500w cobbs are on in my 4-4 tent

 

You're going to find that folks will usually recommend what they use. Hydro guys will say "go with hydro", soil guys will say "soil all the way". Same goes with lighting and everything else. There is also a ton of bad information in these forums. I came here as a completely unexperienced soon to be grower, just like you. I was baffled by all the conflicting "information" and stoner science. Four years later, growing both inside and out, I can say that it can be hard to find good information on forums so take what you read with a grain of salt...remember what rings true...and confirm everything with other sources.

A lot of people aren't stunted by their gear, they just have never taken care of a plant so they screw up basic things like watering. I suggest you start simple, get a few grows under your belt, then adjust your set up to head in a different direction based on your experiences (if you feel your gear is lacking). Usually it's the person that's lacking, not the gear. First learn to grow, then tweak your gear.

Shopping for LED lights can be complicated, no doubt. Definitely read into it quite a lot before buying. Too many people are posting on these forums where they've bought something that "sounds" good but it's really crap. There's a lot to learn and a lot of junk. That's why I suggest starting with HID (MH/HPS). There really is no appreciable energy savings with LED, that's a bunch of left over BS that gets perpetuated on forums. You will spend a lot more to get into LED lighting than you would with HID.

You can grow great with any of these methods, think about what you want your routine to be like. Forget about stuff like "grow 30% faster with ...". People turn growing into science projects where they don't need to. Maybe you want a science project or maybe you just want to water a plant.

 

Well put. It is a weed we are trying to grow its not science. No need to overthink it.

 

If you are talking about 300w LED lights ?
Sorry to say but LED lights are mostly inflated wattage, it all depends on the capacitor.
My 300W LED lights only draw 135W to 150W or even less.

I use six to eight some times ten 300w LED lights In my 4x8 grow tent.

Some of the other members are giving you good advice.

Once you get growing, it seems like you get hooked up with other growers .
I have a friend who grows the same amount of plants as I do. (12) his monthly power bill was 100.00 $
After turning on his HPS lights his bill went to 300.00 plus .
My monthly bill was 40.00 $, after turning on ten LED lights and two UVB supplement lights my power bill normally is 100.00 to 110.00 per month.

All continuous tungsten lighting creates massive amounts of heat.. that's the reason photographers and motion pictures makers don't use tungsten lighting anymore .
It can be fire hazard if you don't have the right ventilation .
You need x amount of feet that your plants need to be away from HPS lights or the plants will burn.

HPS lights require there own ventilation, They have a better color spectrum but 90% of the energy is lost because the light makes so much heat ....


My UV-B light has to be 3 feet away from my plants ,,, that sure makes it hard to grow tall plants in a tent that is 7.5 ft tall.
My DWC system stands 12 inches tall, that leaves me with 3.5 ft tall plants max.
That's why I said do you really need to grow in a tent ????????
The only reason I have a tent is because I grow inside my house as in my dinning room and I don't want to see the bright lights ..

I keep my home indoor temp between 65 to 72 degrees all the time .
In your garage you might to have to put in a swamp cooler or a A/C system to maintain 65 to 75 degrees F.

Straight up Hydroponic the plants grow much faster ......IMO you have better control of the plants.

Everyone grows different, I have a friend who is a consultant for several large legal grow warehouses in my state.
He took me under his wing and has been advising me how to grow.
Now several of my friends have switched to DWC systems because of seeing how fast the plants grow and because of my THC levels and the fact my weed has legs as in you stay stoned .
all the friends who switched to DWC systems have been very happy they switch .

The most important priority is that you get growing and you harvest.......
Regardless of what system you use.
Most new growers fail first try ....They might be able to grow a nice plant but when it come to harvesting dense highly stony weed it normally don't happen .
You need to get hooked up with a local grower that is willing take you under there wing and help you get through your first season.

 

I think science is fun and cool and that's great if someone enjoys whatever method of growing. I just think it's important for new growers to know that you can do great without PHing, PPMing, and everything else that people do to grow cannabis. I totally remember diving in here when I was new. I'm an adult and I've been growing veggies and other plants for many years. After reading up on everything that many people went through to get a quality flower I had to step back and unlearn so much of that bullshit that people were spouting on here. Turns out that most folks here are kids who've never grown any kinds of plants so they treat cannabis like an alien being that's different from all other plants, which it's not. Too many people just regurgitation what other people write but they don't understand themselves or have context for what it is they are saying.

I'll admit that I'm a lazy grower, but I like it that way. I love not having temperamental hobbies and I still grow plenty delicious bud, more than I ever need. Some folks might love measuring the milliliters of this and that and having their plants completely dependent on them for everything.

 

Actually weed is a member of the grass family.

 

I stand corrected. So grass, something we we cut with a lawnmower and still don't kill it.

 

MJ being part of the grass family.
I believe MJ is part of the grass family because of the nod on the stem . just like on the stem of lawn grass.
Just as the same as bamboo.

 

Weed is a qualitative description for a plant, there are no weeds per se. People call plants "weeds" when those plants volunteer themselves and that are unwanted.

Cannabis is not part of the grass family either.

You guys are confusing colloquial terms for cannabis to mean that they are those things. Just like cannabis isn't related to pots, it isn't those nicknames that people have given it over the years.

Cannabis is part of the Cannabaceae family.

Cannabaceae | plant family
Cannabaceae - Wikipedia