First Budget Grow Plans (Autoflowering only)

[EssentialEvil]

Hello! I am glad to finally make a post here, I love this forum! I have a bunch of questions as I have never grown anything before, but I have done some research. I just want to thank those who read and reply, seriously! Thank you for any input, advice, and criticism

My goal is to grow autoflowering feminized strains for personal use only. The law here states that I can have up to 6 plants with no more than 3 maturing and I want to stay under 4oz dried bud at any time, if I go over I can just gift it to family/friends.

I plan to build my own tent out of pvc pipe, panda wrap(or something like it), duct tape and velcro(for the door). I don't plan on using any Co2 since this will be in my bedroom, but I will add air intake near the bottom and an exhaust near the top and will make sure to use filters on both to prevent pests, although I'm not sure how well velcro will act as a seal lol.

I want to grow no more than 3 plants at a time, hopefully just two max on a harvest cycle of every 30-45ish days, using LED lighting, planting in 2x2-4x4 rockwool cubes in a coco/perlite mix with layers of sand near the top and bottom of the 1-5 gallon buckets to help prevent pests on an 18/6 light schedule and hand watered daily. I only want to use calmag plus, flora nova grow and bloom, and maybe a little monster bloom.


What dimensions should I have for my grow area for just 2(3max) plants and one led light and one oscillating fan with each plant yielding 2-3oz dry harvest?

What size gallon buckets/pots should I use?

What's the best way to collect/deal with run off? Should I have my run off return to my water tank?

Should I still install a carbon filter/odor control system since I'm growing in my bedroom, even though it's legal and plan on using a velcro door system?

What LED Light should I use? (I would like to spend less than 100$, but can go up to 250-300$ and I only want to use one light start to finish)

What PH should my run off be at growing in coco/perlite? 6 - 6.5?

Will I need to use sugar? If so, will brown sugar be okay and when do I use it, how much?

 

[justataylor]

I'll just leave this here. I can't help you with your other questions because I'm a beginner myself, but I'm sure other people will. Good luck!

 

[$bkbbudz$]

First of all...

Welcome to RIU, and the wonderful world of cultivating the world's most misunderstood and feared medicines!!!

The only 'advice' I can give you or anyone is to read and learn and then apply what you have read and learned to your garden and you cannot fail. Anyways, remember the search tool is your friend...Lots of folks here willing to help a new farmer get up and growing. But at the end of the day your grow will be only as good as the knowledge and work you put into it.

It is always great to ask questions but do not take anyone's advice or opinions and follow blindly. Do your own research, you will be much happier knowing you have done it for yourself and by yourself. The first buzz you get from your own budz...is by far the BEST high you will ever have!

Ok, you have not purchased any of this stuff yet let alone popped a seed. You can get a 36"W x 20"D x 60" tent form about $55 to $65 on ebay all day long...LED lighting for anything decent is going to cost well in excess of $100, you are 'planning' a soilless grow and have a small budget. You are doing autos and want 2-3 oz per plant dry weight. There are a few downfalls to your planning.

Now, you posted this thread because you are VERY excited and anxious. I get that...been there and got the hemp t-shirt! You my friend are not only putting the cart before the horse...you are putting a small pony in front of a 500 pound wagon! LOL!!!

My humble suggestion is to grow in soil for at least your first attempt. Soil is much more forgiving and easier to detect and correct issues in a timely manner before killing your babies. Also, if you are dead set on LED...your best bet is to read and research here on RIU in the LED forum. The popular opinion there is to do DIY LED COB lighting...commercial lights are over hyped and over priced.

Most importantly is to keep reading, studying, learning, and then grow! Personally, I researched for about 2 months before popping my first bean. Does that mean you have to in order to be successful NO. But to get the kind of harvest you are wanting out of 2 autos on your first attempt and with homemade equipment in a non-newbie friendly medium with an LED that costs under $100...my friend you would have a better chance IMHO of Jessica Alba showing up at your door nude with a $10,000,000 check for you in her hand. LOL!!!

The plant in my avatar is my 1st ever grow...I yielded about 1 and 1/2 ounces dry weight under 250w HID in soil using a simple nutrient recipe.

Now as for myself, I would be delighted to help you or any new grower that is willing to do their own research before asking someone to hold their hand and walk them through a grow. So remember, the search tool is your friend and knowledge is the most important tool in your grow kit. The best thing about cultivation knowledge is that it is free and will not effect your small budget.

Good Luck and Great Growz!!!

 

[tharoomman]

Bk you gave very good advice.

OP, at least you aren't like me...lol, I wanted a pound out of my 1st real grow. Yeah Right!

But a 2-3 oz harvest is fairly easy to obtain I think.Still, it's probably best to forget any yield goals AND harvest-every-soandso- goals and just 'go with it'.

* don't know anything about those nutes but I doubt anyone here would argue the fact that Fox Farm Trio is a great beginner nute set to use. Very forgiving.

* Fox Farm Ocean Forrest soil FTW

It's easy to read about how other people grow and think that the only way to get a good yeild and good quality bud is to go all technical with your grow. It's just not the case.

This Grizzly purple Kush(below) has been vegging with NO nutes at all. Just FFoF soil and water from a brita water pitcher. Look how big a beautiful she is, albeit she isn't perfect.

 

[$bkbbudz$]

Bk you gave very good advice.

OP, at least you aren't like me...lol, I wanted a pound out of my 1st real grow. Yeah Right!

But a 2-3 oz harvest is fairly easy to obtain I think.Still, it's probably best to forget any yield goals AND harvest-every-soandso- goals and just 'go with it'.

* don't know anything about those nutes but I doubt anyone here would argue the fact that Fox Farm Trio is a great beginner nute set to use. Very forgiving.

* Fox Farm Ocean Forrest soil FTW

It's easy to read about how other people grow and think that the only way to get a good yeild and good quality bud is to go all technical with your grow. It's just not the case.

This Grizzly purple Kush(below) has been vegging with NO nutes at all. Just FFoF soil and water from a brita water pitcher. Look how big a beautiful she is, albeit she isn't perfect.

^^^AWESOME response! I agree with 98% of it!!!

The only things I would do differently would be to A) use FF happy Frog with 30% perlite...been using the same mix for years. IHMO FFOF can be pretty hot for seedlings and a tad less forgiving than the FFHF. The second thing I would do differently is I would NOT set a goal of almost 1/4 pound dry weight for 1 auto to produce, especially for a new grower who is going to have a learning curve like we all did. Personally, I don't know for sure that much yield is even possible for an auto...could be wrong though. I have never done an auto and plan to in the near future. So, by then I will have researched the shit out of it and may locate a strain that is able to produce that much bud. But, even still a grow is limited to the way it was grown and the knowledge the grower possesses.

 

[EssentialEvil]

Thank you all for your feedback! I decided to accept the advice and I plan to use soil perlite, now with 3 plants maximum in 3 gallon pots each how big should I make my tent? would something like 2.5 x 2.5 x 7 work?

 

[schnooby]

i think approaches to growing, like alot of things, are heaveily influenced by your personality and style. For me, i prefer to just dive into the deep end and hope i can swim. This is not an approach many are comfortable with and there is probly a much higher failure rate....however considering my budget was quite small like my expectations i decided to just start with the most basic setup. I bought 60 euro in seeds and planted them in peat pellets and used cfl lights i could get at any store. My grow is not great, but so far its not a failure either and im learning along the way and what to do better next time. You can spend as little as i did to get started around 100 usd, or you can spend thousands or somehwere in between.


Good luck with whatever path you choose

 

[cindysid]

I purchased (2) 4 x 4 grow tents off ebay. One is a lighthouse hydro. I paid $70.00 for it used, and the other is a cheap Yescom I bought for around $70.00 new. I had thought about building my own, but I doubt I could have done it much cheaper, and these are pretty much "plug and play" for me. Easy to set up and they already have the exhaust and intake holes and nice zip up doors. The only thing missing is side doors on the Yescom tent and I'm installing zippers on the sides this week to allow for them. I realize that you are doing much smaller scale, but I would definitely consider buying a factory made tent. I would also get 400 w HID lighting instead of the LED. I know that a lot of the guys on here have built some great LED lights, but the cheap factory built (Chinese) that are within your price range are crappy. I know...I have a stack of them!

 

[BiGrEd1011]

First of all...

Welcome to RIU, and the wonderful world of cultivating the world's most misunderstood and feared medicines!!!

The only 'advice' I can give you or anyone is to read and learn and then apply what you have read and learned to your garden and you cannot fail. Anyways, remember the search tool is your friend...Lots of folks here willing to help a new farmer get up and growing. But at the end of the day your grow will be only as good as the knowledge and work you put into it.

It is always great to ask questions but do not take anyone's advice or opinions and follow blindly. Do your own research, you will be much happier knowing you have done it for yourself and by yourself. The first buzz you get from your own budz...is by far the BEST high you will ever have!

Ok, you have not purchased any of this stuff yet let alone popped a seed. You can get a 36"W x 20"D x 60" tent form about $55 to $65 on ebay all day long...LED lighting for anything decent is going to cost well in excess of $100, you are 'planning' a soilless grow and have a small budget. You are doing autos and want 2-3 oz per plant dry weight. There are a few downfalls to your planning.

Now, you posted this thread because you are VERY excited and anxious. I get that...been there and got the hemp t-shirt! You my friend are not only putting the cart before the horse...you are putting a small pony in front of a 500 pound wagon! LOL!!!

My humble suggestion is to grow in soil for at least your first attempt. Soil is much more forgiving and easier to detect and correct issues in a timely manner before killing your babies. Also, if you are dead set on LED...your best bet is to read and research here on RIU in the LED forum. The popular opinion there is to do DIY LED COB lighting...commercial lights are over hyped and over priced.

Most importantly is to keep reading, studying, learning, and then grow! Personally, I researched for about 2 months before popping my first bean. Does that mean you have to in order to be successful NO. But to get the kind of harvest you are wanting out of 2 autos on your first attempt and with homemade equipment in a non-newbie friendly medium with an LED that costs under $100...my friend you would have a better chance IMHO of Jessica Alba showing up at your door nude with a $10,000,000 check for you in her hand. LOL!!!

The plant in my avatar is my 1st ever grow...I yielded about 1 and 1/2 ounces dry weight under 250w HID in soil using a simple nutrient recipe.

Now as for myself, I would be delighted to help you or any new grower that is willing to do their own research before asking someone to hold their hand and walk them through a grow. So remember, the search tool is your friend and knowledge is the most important tool in your grow kit. The best thing about cultivation knowledge is that it is free and will not effect your small budget.

Good Luck and Great Growz!!!

Why you hating on my grow light? Lmfao. I'm running a galaxyhydro 300watt LED I got for $115 shipped. Mars makes them for like $69 I think

 

[$bkbbudz$]

Why you hating on my grow light? Lmfao. I'm running a galaxyhydro 300watt LED I got for $115 shipped. Mars makes them for like $69 I think

HMMM..ever hear the term...You get what you pay for? Let's add...unless you build it yourself.

I am not hating on anything! But don't take my word for it! Go to the LED growing forum here and ask for opinions on your light VS DIY COB. The overwhelming response will certainly be to do the DIY. More cost effective, better spectrum, bigger footprint etc.

Sure a Mc D's hamburger tastes great. But, wouldn't you rather bbq your own hunk of T-bone? Just sayin'