It has probably been hashed out and re-hashed (tee-hee) As to what is the best method to start growing with: Build a box Closet Buy a Box I dunno, I'm a first time personal grower (tired of smokin garbage sold in my city, tired of buying off a pimped out white kids, trying to be 50 cent etc...) Anyhow, I have the space and ability to grow in the box or in the closet. I just need a hand to pick what's right. I'm a disabled person who smokes weed to take down the amount of pain pills per day I have to take, and weed has more than helped in that area. That's even with smokin that garbage...So it's very important to me to know the real deal, and reading your posts, it seems this place has people willing to help. Since I am disabled I also do not have pockets over filling with green (cash that is) Hopefully when I'm done it will be full of the other green though. If someone could take a bit of time and help a beginner out that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
buy a grow sytem off google... they are worth the money, IMO. start collecting bagseed or find quality seeds elsewhere
depends on how stealth you need it, you can do everything you need to do for pretty cheap. also depeding on how big you want your plants.
The important thing is adequate lighting. The grow box / area isn't as important if you don't have good lighting to begin with. Honestly, I'd say clear out a closet, or half a closet, and hang a decent HPS light. They're about $100 online. Then get some pots, some inert soil, ferts, and seeds, and you're all set. Shouldn't cost you more than $200. From that simple setup you can make it as complex as you want. Some people have seperate chambers for the vegetative state and flowering stages. Some have seperate cloning areas. It's really up to you. But anyway, don't skimp on lighting. And make sure wherever you're growing is fairly light-sealed. Actually there are a lot of specifics like proper ventilation but there are grow guides out there to help you with that. It may seem complex at first but it's quite simple. Also, don't forget that stoners are generally a supersticious bunch, so you'll find plenty of grow guides that say you *have* to do it a certain way, then you'll find others with the opposite opinion. Just be flexible and don't take any document as gospel. My setup includes a homemade grow box for vegging, and a closet for flowering, just to give you an idea. The veg box is a bird cage wrapped in foil (that's to keep light out, not keep it in, I'm well aware of foils' poor reflective properties), and my closet is just a closet with lights hanging.
Hello again, First off I would like to thank all the people who responded to my first post and will defintely be looking into all those options. It's very difficult jumping into this market kinda half assed. You read and read, and people have so many different ideas on what is right and what is wrong. And often enough they are usually so confusing that a layperson in the field of cultivation, can't make heads or tales out of it. So I thank you again for your replies Powerz
Ok astro, Thanks for the post back, your ideas seem interesting to me. Like you've syphoned through a lot of the stuff out there. It sounds like you got a good setup, I was wondering tho how do you work a half closet? That kinda makes no sense to me. What about smell and such, some more info would be great if you don't mind. As for the grow box, what's the dimensions of your grow box, and how many plants should I be looking on growing on my first try. Some people say start with all 10 of your seeds, others are like 1 at a time. Then there is the staggering effect...I dunno...I get confused. Thanks again
Hakennase, Some stealth is required as in like not right out in your face kinda thing. But not like invisable. Just low key, but traffic is no problem, and the room is fairly large and out of the way. There is also direct access to the attic door in the ceiling, so maybe if I use a box and some vent tubes I can get rid of smell I dunno....
Well, you probably wouldn't want to hang clothes on the non-weed side of the closet. I just have big tubs with random crap on the half side that's not being used for growing so odor and contamination isn't a problem. My veg box is about 3' tall, by 3' wide, by about 2' deep. It can hold a couple mother plants (plants that I take clones off of) and various # of clones depending on their size. As far as # of plants, it's really limited by how much space you have. Remember, statistically about half of them are going to become males (one time I had *one* female out of 10 seeds, that cheezed my doodle) and you'll have to kill the males off. So 10 seeds may end up giving you only 3 or 4 females (also, it seems to me that there's usually one or two plants that either don't germinate or don't sprout). MJ is really versitile and can grow in about any space, from a PC case to however big. Overgrow.com has some decent information on growing as well. I did filter a lot of stuff down, but that's because there's a lot of info and different ways of doing things. People literally write entire books on growing and they still don't include everything. Luckily, you don't really need to know a volume of information to grow. There are some basics like light cycles and when to harvest, but after that you can just learn at your leasure. Some good things to know are methods of getting more bud (by topping, or tying plants down), how to identify males, etc.
Hey astro, thanks for the site, and your time in chatting with me. Much appreciated. I was wondering what kind of lighting you use...HPS or daylight bulbs or what. Just trying to gage everything out before I stick my foot into the green nation. thanks again
crazipowerz: HI, just wanted to add that HPS (HIDs) are really the best all around light to use. BTW... everything you need for a successful great and golorious grow is here at the city...try checking out everything in the grow section of the CITY. The City has it all if not every answer you need....btw if you can't find the answer...post it and the will try their best to figure it out with a good explanation and factorial statements! * ( I found everything I needed here and I feel like the city is coaching me throughout the whole grow and many more!)
No prob. For my veg box, because of it's size, I use a combination of flouro tubes and compact flourescent bulbs. The flower area has a 250W HPS.
Thanks for the post RealDealz I appreciate that, and yes this board is amazing. It's the first time people have actually paid any attention to my questions. As for checking here, I didn't know that, I will definitely check it all out though now that I do.
Jeez HPS is super expensive..Well for me on my pitiance of a disability check, although I understand the neccesity of having one for proper growth and what have you. My big question is, did you start with all the bells and whistles or did you just start with whatever you had. I'm super stuck here, since most of what I read (not here) I barely understand, it's like I need to be a herbologist just to wax with the people writing it. Well anyways...I'm just bitching and I apologize, you have been extremely helpful. Sorry
HPS are super expensive, but think about it this way...you only need to worry about paying that money once, and youll have a good amount of time to grow a bunch of herb, and then you only need to buy a replacement bulb(that is if your light is good, and the ballast doesnt die on you or something going wrong with it)
$100 is not super expensive. If you can't swing $100 then you can't afford to smoke pot, period. [edit; unless you grow, or have a great hookup ]
HI, yeah i am going to disagree on HPS systems are expensive....insidesun.com sells complete ready to use 110 outlet 3amp 250 watt hps systems for 100 bucks shipped...save up some money it will be a great investment!
100 bucks is pretty expensive when ya only get about 500 a month, then tack on the cost of living like rent and groceries and it builds up. As for not smoking well that's kind of a shitty thing to say. I guess I'm surprised but hey, to each their own. Have a good day
Around here, $100 gets you a quarter zip. All I'm saying is that I read about people here all the time who are trying to grow cheap, complain about not having enough money for growing, etc etc, yet week after week they throw down $50 or $100 on bud. Maybe that's not you, I don't know. I'm saying growing is an investment, and it may mean you're going to have to not smoke for a few weeks to save up the money, that's all.
Yo crazy, check this out: http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showthread.php?t=710026 And out of all honesty, light is going to be a major issue. It is infact what the plants need to survive. Anyway, read that thread I posted. That's a pretty cheap deal there. But all in all, youll be throwing down some cash for lighting. Tatll probably be your biggest expenditure. And if youre going to go to all that trouble of a grow, i wouldnt recommend just growing some schwag shit. too much time/effort for crappy bud. you can order good seeds off the internet for fairly cheap amounts, and if you look at the big picture, you are saving a lot. good luck.
100 bones here gets you about and 1/2 o even. Sometimes 80 or if you know the grower maybe a bit cheaper. But now that you've explained it I understand, sorry for jumping to conclusions. I do really appreciate your replies all of you who have very cool. I'm beginning to understand the lighting issue the more I read. I guess this is a growing experience, in more ways than one. Feels a bit like nailing shit to a wall sometimes (unfullfilling) but that's the trial and error, and I gotta learn I guess.