If you only had $150 for a single plant grow light what would you do?

MJCanada

MJCanada

Well-Known Member
I'm starting my first grow. The supply in my area of good quality weed is horrible... so I figured I'd grow myself.
That being said, the wifey doesn't want me spending oodles to get it done so I'm on a tight budget for my first grow.

If I can prove it's worth it, she may let me upgrade on my next grow :P

I'm handy, so I can build whatever from parts.

My first grow will be a white widow. I figured I'd pick a strain that most think is easy to grow, and packs a punch if grown right. I wanna make sure she feels the difference between the shit we can buy, and home grown :P

I've got a closet that I'm just finishing up the seal on. It is currently 2x3x8 ft. One wall of the 3ft span is open, so I can tighten the closet up to a 2x2 or whatever. I can also cap the height to whatever I want. Right now, I'm thinking of leaving it, but bending some scrap sheet metal to create a reflector surface above whatever lighting I get.

I can scrog to maximize the light, and a have a few cheap LED CoBs already wired up to heatsinks for another electronics project I was playing around with. This can only be supplemental light though(it's a few 50w LEDs 4k range)

Anyway, I need some help on settling on something.

My eye was on the CXB3590 MAU5 single cob kit from Cutter, but shipping brings it over $200 CAD.

I've been looking at Veros, but can't seem to find something the wife won't kill me if I buy :P

I'm looking at LED because I don't believe I'll be able to add duct/venting to external, so I'm just going to let some computer fans regulate air in/out of the grow space and control temperature by drawing in my house's air(I have central a/c)... which if I'm not venting the heat out to external from an HPS, my electric bill for A/C is probably gonna skyrocket. Wife may kick my ass for that too :P

So, what would you do with $150, and you needed a grow light for a single plant grow?

Or am I smokin' something real good already, if I think I can get a proper light for $150?
 
PCXV

PCXV

Well-Known Member
Ive seen some good looking plants from the Viperspectra LEDs on this forum. A couple 450 or 600 might serve you well. Maybe start with one on your budget and expand just in time for bloom.
 
OrganicGorilla

OrganicGorilla

Well-Known Member
killa4lyfe said:
i would throw the plant outside lol
Click to expand...
I second this. It'll cost you a little bit for nutes but you'd need that regardless. Grow one outside and save up your money for a unit by Par-Horta. They are in Canada so it'll be cheaper then converting cad to usd. The V-2 Series, 150 watt would be perfect for 1 plant. It's $350. Par-Horta.com
 
kratos015

kratos015

Well-Known Member
killa4lyfe said:
i would throw the plant outside lol
Click to expand...
This is probably your best option considering your budget. The light by itself can end up costing $150 easy, a tent is another $80. This doesn't include ducting, fans, pots, soil, and possibly an A/C and humidifier. A single tent is capable of yielding anywhere between 1-2.5lbs depending on a variety of factors. With $150 you're pretty much limiting yourself to a single plant SCROG under a bunch of CFLs, it's possible to pull around a QP if everything is done properly and you veg for a little while longer than normal.

All that considered, if you're able to go outside this is easily your best bet. Just take that $150, make a good soil mix, and put as many pots/seeds outside as you can and have at it. Even a first time grower should have no difficulty pulling a minimum of an ounce from each plant outdoors. My outdoor Blue Dreams would yield nearly 2lb in 30 gallon pots, and that was when I was a complete novice.. however I also started outdoors in April and not June so you'd be missing a couple months of veg which will hurt your yield.

Take that $150 and throw as many plants as you can outdoors, while they're growing, make sure you do a ton of research and take notes from both your research and your outdoor grow. Depending on the amount of plants you're able to have you should be able to pull at least a pound after all is said and done.

Doing indoor is a complete waste of time if you aren't able to put the money into it to make sure it's done 100% correctly. With how expensive the equipment and electric bills cost, you need to be sure that you're on top of your game. My first indoor grows were so terrible that I was barely breaking even, struggling to pull 1lb per 1000w.

Definitely go outdoors with it if you can, if that's not an option then we can go from there and see what's best for your situation.
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
MJCanada said:
I'm starting my first grow. The supply in my area of good quality weed is horrible... so I figured I'd grow myself.
That being said, the wifey doesn't want me spending oodles to get it done so I'm on a tight budget for my first grow.

If I can prove it's worth it, she may let me upgrade on my next grow :P

I'm handy, so I can build whatever from parts.

My first grow will be a white widow. I figured I'd pick a strain that most think is easy to grow, and packs a punch if grown right. I wanna make sure she feels the difference between the shit we can buy, and home grown :P

I've got a closet that I'm just finishing up the seal on. It is currently 2x3x8 ft. One wall of the 3ft span is open, so I can tighten the closet up to a 2x2 or whatever. I can also cap the height to whatever I want. Right now, I'm thinking of leaving it, but bending some scrap sheet metal to create a reflector surface above whatever lighting I get.

I can scrog to maximize the light, and a have a few cheap LED CoBs already wired up to heatsinks for another electronics project I was playing around with. This can only be supplemental light though(it's a few 50w LEDs 4k range)

Anyway, I need some help on settling on something.

My eye was on the CXB3590 MAU5 single cob kit from Cutter, but shipping brings it over $200 CAD.

I've been looking at Veros, but can't seem to find something the wife won't kill me if I buy :P

I'm looking at LED because I don't believe I'll be able to add duct/venting to external, so I'm just going to let some computer fans regulate air in/out of the grow space and control temperature by drawing in my house's air(I have central a/c)... which if I'm not venting the heat out to external from an HPS, my electric bill for A/C is probably gonna skyrocket. Wife may kick my ass for that too :P

So, what would you do with $150, and you needed a grow light for a single plant grow?

Or am I smokin' something real good already, if I think I can get a proper light for $150?
Click to expand...
make your space 2x2 and buy a 250 mh/hps combo with an air cooled reflector. 62 watts/sq ft is a good number.
 
MJCanada

MJCanada

Well-Known Member
I appreciate all the feedback.

I am budgeting everything out. I have taken into account all the bits I need to be successful with an indoor grow (noots scrubbing. Light seal. Grow material. Etc)

I have $150 For lighting. Led preferred or I have to rethink my ventilation.

That being said I realize $150 doesn't go far in the LED world so I appreciate the hps mh alternatives for me to think about.

As for growing outside. I am in Canada and north enough that we don't get 12 full hours of sun except for mid summer for a few weeks... not to mention I have no where stealth to do it outdoors.

Outdoor grow is just not possible.

Thanks for the input everyone. Keep it coming.
MJ
 
Serva

Serva

Well-Known Member
Go with LED strips. There is a thread here. Search for: Bridgelux EB series

It's pretty cheap, easy to mount and install, and you have some awesome coverage! Guess you will pay something like 150$ (with screws, and stuff like that) for a 100W Panel ;)
 
gr865

gr865

Well-Known Member
I got both of mine for 200 for one, and 260 for the other. First was used at my hydro shop for about two weeks, so I got it cheap. Second was on Amazon, I got prime so no shipping.
Check my sig for my post site, the info is at the beginning.
 
Thai_Lights

Thai_Lights

Well-Known Member
Take that 150 invest in some crypto currency make some profit and buy a decent light. Growing good cannabis costs a bit to start but it's fun.
 
Lightgreen2k

Lightgreen2k

Well-Known Member
MJCanada said:
I'm starting my first grow. The supply in my area of good quality weed is horrible... so I figured I'd grow myself.
That being said, the wifey doesn't want me spending oodles to get it done so I'm on a tight budget for my first grow.

If I can prove it's worth it, she may let me upgrade on my next grow :P

I'm handy, so I can build whatever from parts.

My first grow will be a white widow. I figured I'd pick a strain that most think is easy to grow, and packs a punch if grown right. I wanna make sure she feels the difference between the shit we can buy, and home grown :P

I've got a closet that I'm just finishing up the seal on. It is currently 2x3x8 ft. One wall of the 3ft span is open, so I can tighten the closet up to a 2x2 or whatever. I can also cap the height to whatever I want. Right now, I'm thinking of leaving it, but bending some scrap sheet metal to create a reflector surface above whatever lighting I get.

I can scrog to maximize the light, and a have a few cheap LED CoBs already wired up to heatsinks for another electronics project I was playing around with. This can only be supplemental light though(it's a few 50w LEDs 4k range)

Anyway, I need some help on settling on something.

My eye was on the CXB3590 MAU5 single cob kit from Cutter, but shipping brings it over $200 CAD.

I've been looking at Veros, but can't seem to find something the wife won't kill me if I buy :P

I'm looking at LED because I don't believe I'll be able to add duct/venting to external, so I'm just going to let some computer fans regulate air in/out of the grow space and control temperature by drawing in my house's air(I have central a/c)... which if I'm not venting the heat out to external from an HPS, my electric bill for A/C is probably gonna skyrocket. Wife may kick my ass for that too :P

So, what would you do with $150, and you needed a grow light for a single plant grow?

Or am I smokin' something real good already, if I think I can get a proper light for $150?
Click to expand...
what makes you think white widow will be so good and easy to grow?
 
MJCanada

MJCanada

Well-Known Member
Lightgreen2k said:
what makes you think white widow will be so good and easy to grow?
Click to expand...
That information came from the seed sites in their newbie sections or their blogs.

They could be full of shit but I had to start somewhere. I like what they say about the high too.

The whole point of me doing this grow is because the supply in my little hick town is complete shit.

So long as I follow the info on here I would think a few grows under my belt and I will be able to produce something decent.

I never read anything about those strips... researching those now :)
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
For a 2x2 using led on 150$ budget: you can try 1 highpowered cob (150-200w) like a vero 29 C version or Citizen clu058 1825 or 3618. But you would have to hang it high or diffuse it to manage the hot spot. Or 2 luminous cxm22 at 75watts each for less of a gotspot
Try digikey or Jerry Kingbrite (in china :l...) for vero or @CobKits for Citizen or luminous (in the us)
Cobby is very nice for cust service, real helpfull, knowledgeable and advertiser here on riu.

Also you need some ventilation for fresh air and co2 even if you can manage temps.
 
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