You don't need to buy everything at once, so you could sort of do a "pay as you go" plan. Start off with a soil grow - its easier than any form of hydroponics, If there's any problems with the grow it will be easier to narrow down and fix, where as hydro can have multiple things go wrong at once and will mean a very steep learning curve. You also wont have to worry about nutrients as much. The larger the container the better, and dont forget the water needs to drain off, so elevate the pot and have a container to collect runoff below it. if the plant isnt drained properly it becomes waterlogged and sick. Use a Tent - You can get very small tents, a 3x2x5 foot tent could be placed in the corner of a room and not take up very much space, and is perfect for learning how to grow 1 plant. You can get them for as cheap as 70 dollars, and they have good resale value Start off with a CFL - Compact fluorescent lights are fine for a young clone, and you could "Veg" it for a quite a while under 50 watts of CFL with out any problems. You can buy 50 to 100w CFLs at hardware stores, make sure its a "day" bulb and not a "warm" bulb (A 5000-6000k bulb, not a 2000-3000k bulb). If the shop assistant asks you what its for, tell him its for your garage, or shed etc. It should only cost you 20-30 dollars, make sure its got the right type of connector to plug into a standard light socket. PH Balance - Is important, but you don't need to go crazy on expensive equipment, a simple liquid tester kit will allow you to do hundreds of tests. They cost $5 from hydro stores, and do not require calibration liquid, replacement probes etc. PH up and PH down liquids are quite cheap from hydro stores too, $5-10 each. Soil grows are less prone to PH problems than Hydro grows. HID Lights - If you want to get a few ounces off your plant your going to need to invest in the best lighting possible. For a small tent with one plant a 150 watt HPS light (high pressure sodium) will be awsome. These aren't too expensive, and you don't need one until your plant is ready for Flowering, so you have plenty of time to save for the investment. I would recommend a Sun System 150w kit, they cost around $80 on ebay, and have good resale value. Odor control - in an apartment block a sticky "medical strain" is really going to start smelling once it starts flowering. It won't make too much smell during the Vegging stage, so you have a while (1-2 months) to sort out a solution. IMHO the best solution for a small tent grow in limited space is an ONA bucket. Homemade carbon filters are nothing more than a placebo, and a proper carbon filter/fan/silencer setup is not only expensive, but quite noisy in an apartment (yes, even with the silencer) Stage 1 - Setup Grow tent - $70 (Ebay tent) Soil - $10-20 CFL bulb - $20 Timer - $10 Stage 2 - grow phase Ph Liquid tester – $5 PH Adjusters - $20 Stage 3 - flowering phase, 1-2 months later. HPS light - $80 (Sun System 150w) Odor control – $30-50 (Ona guide) I haven't covered nutrients, because it's a personal choice thing. Some people like to go organic, make teas etc, some people like to go the Artificial Nutrient and Additives route, it's up to you. Really though if you've invested in awesome soil, you won't need to worry about this at all. This setup isn't fully automated, only the light is, you will either need to ask a friend to water it if you go on holidays, or setup a reservoir tank with 7-Day timer and water pump.
I mean, you could make room in a closet. Just one plant, a couple of CFLs, and a fan. Just close the door when it's time for it's dark period. You could do it that way, but I wouldn't expect a great harvest off of her! If you are using clones one is fine. The reason for 2-3 for the seeds is the possibility of males. Unless they are feminized. Soil is cheaper than hydro due to the lower expense of equipment to buy. A pot and soil. It is also very forgiving due to the slower uptake of nutrients. Giving the beginner more time to resolve issues with the plant. Since you are in CA in the Bay area, Craigslist would be very helpful to you for cheap equipment. I look in the S.F. section all the time for grow equipment. There are tons of it for sale.
I always say it takes money to make money. I feel if you spend about 300 dollars, overall (lights, fans, plants, ect.) you tend to grow about and ounce or more. if and O goes from (200-300) you will break even on your first grow, Then the 2 or 3 grow, you already have everything, except maybe more ferts and more clones so the whole thing gets cheaper and cheaper. its like moving into a new house, There is always a huge upfront cost, then it levels off. Growing is more or less the same way. Evil
thank you guys! That's good to know that I don't need to put it all out up front... so with the lights - you said it was automated? So are they on timers or what? I'm not quite sure how that works. But I could use closets and save on the cost of the tent, right? Chances are I'll go for the tent anyway so I don't have to clear out a closet.. but was just curious
During the vegging stage a plant can either be left in full light nonstop, or you can place it on a timing schedule of 18hrs on, 6hrs off. Cannabis plants dont actually need a dark cycle so theoretically you dont need a timer at all, untill the flowering stage (and then you'll need a timer to regulate 12hrs on, 12hrs off) yah, you can use a closet (the grow linked in my bio is a closet grow), the tents are better at containing smells, and preventing "lightleaks", that can stress out plants and cause them to become hermie (female flowers, male flowers, seeds and lower potency). The grow area is going to become Humid aswell, so some closets could develope mold depending on how theyre built, and if your ventillation is adiquate.
Hmmm this sounds familliar. I just finished cloning my first plants in my 1 bedroom apartment, under 400 square feet of space in the entire place....which I share with my girlfriend. No space for the stuff we already have, let alone plants. Buuuutt...I utilize the wierd spaces. A little bit of extra space in a kitchen cabinet? bam, it's now doubling as a veg room for seedlings. Room for a kitchen plate to sit on a shelf in the closet? not anymore...now it is where my (hopefully) rooting clones are hiding. For my main plants I constructed a false back out of plywood (for about 8$ including the screws to mount it), and put it inside a closet in the living room. My girlfriend uses the front half of the closet for all of her shit...and I use the few square feet in the back to grow some plants. A tent or something along those lines would have been nice, but I am broke. I was able to get everything set up for really cheap by just using some cfls, and by making things fit in wierd places. You don't have to have everything all together in 1 simple spot, although it's nice. Just start shoving shit where it fits...clones, veg box, and flower box are all scattered around my apartment...but it was cheap and it works. Id also point out that a tent is hard to hide, and if you don't own your living situation it could be scary to have your landlord come in and find a grow tent sitting in the living room. My landlord just showed up at my door the other day unexpectedly...but all I had to do was turn off some lights and close the closet door...all my girlfriends shit is piled in the front anyway.
I'm a medical patient, so I am legally allowed to grow a certain amount - so the only thing about being a rent that I have to be concerned about is not damaging the place while doing it That sounds pretty rad though.... I'm sure once I keep watching and reading more info I can probably construct something myself....
You could very easily build something like this for less money. Automated Hydroponic Stealth Garden. But, that is a very good price.
Some landlords aren't OK with it even though MMJ is legal at the State level there. Don't listen to people telling you that you need to spend tons of money on expensive crap. For what you want to accomplish you can do it cheaply. We've already traded PM's but I wanted to subscribe to your thread. Help will be coming
There's nothing in my lease stating that I can't grow anything, so I imagine my lease would have to state something specific for it to be something that would hold up in court... so as far as I see it, I'm totally fine. I've been in this apartment since last August and have never had the landlady show up unnanounced or anything like that - if she ever needed anything, she leaves a note on my door. So I should be ok. And thank you again OSG and everyone else
Unfortunately not being in the lease is a gray area. The courts have upheld employers disqualifying candidates because they tested positive even though they were vaild patients, and upheld the rights of landlords to forbid it even if it's not in the lease. Remember, it's still illegal at a Federal level. That being said in Cali I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as it's discrete.
Yeah it would be discrete... nobody can see into my apartment anywhere.. i'm on the 2nd floor.. my blinds are usually drawn but even so there is no way anyone could see in here.. I should be totally fine with just a few plants. Not to mention I have a stoner neighbor across the hall I can blame any weed smell on if need be.... because ever since he moved in, I can smell it in the hall and I know its not my stash!
Haha! It's always nice to have a scapegoat. If you really wanted to do one plant you could always use an Aerogarden. Not the best , but it could be done.
Heres a thought, is there any vacancy where you live? you could call and pretend youre a prospect looking for a place to rent and tell them youre a MMJ patient and wanted to see where they stood on it. What could it hurt? I think you could do it cheaply but the very basics would be light,soil,nutes and some way to check the ph. Anyhow, I'm sure you'll get the information you need with all the helpful blades here at GC. IF you find yourself needing a hand you know where to find me.
Not sure how many pics I have of the actual set up...but I have a half-assed grow log with a few lonely updates, and some random plant pics. I set my entire operation up for about $350 not including genetics: 600 watt metal halide/HPS with digital ballast - $230 with free shipping from Ebay handful of CFL's- $30 6 x 10 inch pots- 10$ at the dollar store Piece of cheap plywood- around 7$ at home depot, and they even cut it for free Rooting hormone - 5$ Nutes- 30-10-10 for veg - 5$ inline duct fan- 25$ Coast of main organic garden soil, worm castings, pearlite (enough of all 3 to fill all pots) - 60$ Fresh water Ph test kit, with PH up and down - $10 at petco Everything else is just random crap I have laying around (clear serving bowl turned into a humidity dome for clones, type of thing) I didn't have to buy everything at once either, this is a running total of everything I needed to get me through 4.5 weeks of veg. It's better to start the seedlings with some CFL's anyway...so you could probably get things started up with nothing more than genetics, soil and some cfl's...and worry about intense light and nutes a bit down the road.
yeah i basically told her the same thing. A clamp reflector and a package of daylight bulbs from walmart with your clones would get her going until she can put a little more into as she goes. I started off with 1 t12 (shop light) fixture.
I'm still setting up my first grow, but even if I was legally allowed to grow here, I'm not sure I could have saved much money. The big problems with growing weed all stem from light. The plants require certain light cycles to grow, and certain types of light. In order to achieve the light cycles, while growing indoors, you have to have the plants secluded in a space where they can be in absolute darkness when the lights are off. And I do mean absolute darkness. So then you're looking at growing in an already darkened space, such as a closet, or creating a space for them, such as a cabinet, wardrobe, etc. Or a grow tent, arguably the cheapest solution. A grow tent even for one plant would cost you about $70-100. Just do a search on "mylar grow tent" on ebay. You might be able to pick up a wardrobe or something at a yard sale for a few bucks if you are really lucky. The lights themselves also cost money, but that varies greatly depending on what lights you use. CFLs (those twisty flourescent lights) are cheap, but don't work well when flowering. Then, because the plants are in an enclosed space with electric lights, heat becomes an issue. You need to ventilate that heat out, and maintain a temperature between 70-85 degrees F. So now you need to spend money on fans, possibly ducting, etc., not to mention a way to hook that up without creating light leaks. You WILL also need a way to eliminate the odor the plants produce when growing. No matter if it's a legal grow or not, the plants will reek badly enough that you won't even want them in your own apartment, never mind the neighbors. You'll need a carbon filter, either home-made or store bought. Finally, you need to think about the health of your plants, and get plant nutrients, pots, dirt, etc. These can also be somewhat expensive. My total cost came in under $500, for a four plant grow, and I'm pretty happy with that. I think you could do it for $300 mimimum, if you either had a grow space already (like a closet) or were able to find something super cheap (like at a yard sale) because my grow cabinet cost me like $200 to build. Keep in mind I'm a noob, so I may just be doing it wrong.
The only thing you should have to worry about in the long run is your electricity bill -- but keep in mind this is only a theory of mine, as I haven't grown myself.