Looking for some advice on a small setup. Been trolling the forums but wondered what some of you experienced growers thought about a few specifics. First DWC, My wife found this in my Amazon cart, thought I wanted it and ordered it for my birthday. It's a Stealth Hydro 4-plant DWC, it was $65 bucks, honestly I was playing around with putting small systems in my cart and checking what the overall cost was going to be, pretty sure I would have gone bubbleponics with a pump. However it didn't come from Prime, so shipping it back will cost me enough I'm not sure it's worth it, plus the forums here most people say the difference is negligible. I do need to grow in a relatively small space 3.5x3.5x8. Would you mess with sending it back and building your own or just go with it. Second lights, (the main reason I have never pulled the trigger on self-sufficiency). I was looking at LED lights but they're pricey, and they get mixed reviews, I need to pull this off for not (much) over $500 including genetics. After reading more I starting looking at 400 and 600 watt MH/HPS setups, there are 2 that are cheap enough from Amazon one is from Apollo Horticulture the other is iPower they both offer a 400w and 600w MH/HPS for under $200. I have been leaning toward the iPower at a slightly higher cost, more people seem to be using it. However with only a maximum four plant system, is the 600 watt worth the extra energy and heat? Third genetics, want something easy to grow, strong, with a good yield. I blaze about a z a month, wouldn't mind if this didn't need to be a 24x7x365 operation. Forums seem to point to Herbies being a good spot for seeds, after some preliminary research I have been thinking about THC Bomb, as it seems to fit the criteria. Considering the limited number of plants would you spend the dough on feminized seeds? Last question, can I vent both the light and the room through the same fan that will be connected to a carbon can filter, I was thinking of using a cool tube (necessary?) running a vent line from outside the room to the cool tube, connecting to a Y, one connected to the light, the other for the room, then connected to the can-fan exhausting outside of the room, thinking one fan, mostly for noise and slightly lower cost. Other than that plan on using flat white paint, GH flora nutes, TDS tester, few small circulation fans. Thanks for any advice or shared experiences.
Save your money you can get a much bigger tote with larger net pots and a bigger air-stone for half the price. I thought about getting that same system. Built 2 better systems for $70. HID lights are great producers however they produce a lot of heat, suck up a lot of power, and have to be replaced often because of how fast the filament degrades. The extra cost of the led more than pays fore itself if its a 2-3w diode set and there is a year long warranty. The thing that goes down first in an led is the power supply and it will usually fail in the first 6 months if its prone to failing. Black Stars are awesome from light house. I would get a few 90 to 200w UFOs or a 250w panel. I'm using CFLs to veg want to move to T5s. Then 1 90w blackstar UFO, 1 135w TaoTronics and a 240w panel through flower. Average 1 1/2 oz per plant from 8 plants in 5x6 wrapped in mylar. It was about $50 to $60 more a month with a 4 inch inline fan and 2 small fans running the whole time. I've been running the black star and panel for 6 grows a little over a year and a half and I'm very happy with the results but I have seen those same reviews. I would say as long as the strain you want doesn't mention being difficult to grow you should be alright as long as you take it easy on your nutes till you get the hang of using them and seeing how the plant progresses through its life cycle and maintain your PH well. GH's flora series is good for beginners. Venting: Yes you need to move that heat out of the room. Especially if you going with HID lighting. That extra heat will raise the temperature of the rez and promote bacteria and algae growth. The roots nute uptake is highest when rez temps are around 60-65. You can use a inline carbon filter or a enclosed hood but they are more pricey than the cooling tubes.
PS put a tsp of hydrogen peroxide in with the solution to help protect against nasty root problems. When your comfortable look into running beneficial bacteria. You would need to stop using the hydro perox if you went that way. Best to start of sterile first though.