Firstly I just want to say... great forum. Lots of information. A lot a lot 
Perhaps too much for the layman to digest quickly. I'm still reading about topping, training, FIM technique, the different spectrums of light that grow a plant (I've never tended a plant in my life). The basics, nutrients, water, eeverythingg.
I need some general advice and direction, if not specific advice! I welcome either. I've never grown marijuana before but I'm closing in on doing it for medical purposes, where I live that means up to 6 plants. I figure I'd grow up to 24 plants eventually if I turn out to be any good at all in doing it. I been reading a few forums and guides for the past few days or so and I can tell it's still going to be awhile before I narrow down how exactly I plan on doing this.
As a sidenote. I'm amazed. I would have thought that by now there would be one or two sure-fire methods that are really the go-to techniques but there are tons?! I take comfort in seeing 400watt metal halide and 1000watt HPS bulb being mentioned with regularity if only because so much of the other information is so variable. We're still using water right?
Here's my environment I'd want to put to use. Unfinished basement in a house, 12x9 room with about 7'7" from floor to ceiling. The room doesn't get used and can be totally dedicated. It does not yet have power (extension cord ftw), has two basement windows. Walls are stucco. There's a drain already built into the floor, I would assume it goes straight to sewer. I look at that room and say, "Pot grows here, or we film the next Hostel movie in this pit" one or the other.
My concerns are (in no order):
I need a good guide if I'm going to make something (ex. I saw a guide to make a DWC setup out of plastic bins, laying out everything to buy from Walmart etc). I live in the suburbs and people shouldn't smell it. People shouldn't hear it. I don't want to have to micromanage the operation (any software or appliances?). I don't want to burn the house down
and if it can be avoided (with the latest technology?) I'd like to use LED lightning or other energy efficient methods if they're tried and proven. I figure using LEDs would put a lockdown on the room heating up, save on the electrical bill over time (I'm 27, I'll be here awhile), and possibly grow faster or better? I get the impression from some pics that LEDs are impractical for large/sprawling setups. I wouldn't call 6 plants sprawling, but 24 could be. Then again I saw this http://www.homehydroponics.info/growlights/hydroponics-grow-lights/1500-watt-cannabis-led-grow-light-medical-marijuana-perpetual-harvest-mpg and it just looks... nutty.
Soil or coco sounds nice and forgiving, but if things like hydro/dwc/bubble/aeroponics are simply better, I'd rather cut directly to the chase. Sounds like some people are spending a ton of time tending to their plants and I'd like to avoid that if possible. I work 12-13 hours a day, most days, and have hobbies when I'm not I'm not above visiting the plants once a day? Every day for a short period, before I can leave them alone for a few/several days and they can do their thing.
If some kind of LED option is going to either put a plant through a vegetative or flowering phase as fast or faster than the traditional options, tell me If there is specific bulbs that do it better than others, wanna know. If I can do something with 200 watts that knocks 1000-2000 watts out of the picture, lets do it.
If anybody has ideas for what would work for a 6 plant setup and can be expanded onto a 24 plant setup.... I'm all ears. I'm drawn to the DWC thing because it seems like one could simply go out and buy a bigger bin, drill holes in it, and call it. Seems easy. Adding lights seems easy, but I know LEDS typically have a very narrow field/arc that they shine on.
Methods to raise/lower lights that're awesome. Chains work in a pinch right?
Methods to cool a room cheaply/efficiently? This one really gets me because, if I do have two 400 watt halides going, a 1000 watt HPS bulb blazing... probably gets pretty hot. How hot I wouldn't know. I saw mention in a previous post about funneling heat into a sewer (or smell? I forget).
I'm all about easy when possible but I'm also about doing it right. If there's an elaborate setup that rocks socks, may as well tell me, I may do it. If somebody tells me I'm overworking or thinking a situation they get back, "I just want to do it right, once, it's really all about being lazy if you think about it"
By automation/software I suppose I'm talking about devices that might monitor PH levels, water, nutrients? And maybe dispense them? Timers for lights being on/off? Moving lights and/or maximising the light to hit the plant at many angles?
Thanks for any and all responses.
Perhaps too much for the layman to digest quickly. I'm still reading about topping, training, FIM technique, the different spectrums of light that grow a plant (I've never tended a plant in my life). The basics, nutrients, water, eeverythingg.I need some general advice and direction, if not specific advice! I welcome either. I've never grown marijuana before but I'm closing in on doing it for medical purposes, where I live that means up to 6 plants. I figure I'd grow up to 24 plants eventually if I turn out to be any good at all in doing it. I been reading a few forums and guides for the past few days or so and I can tell it's still going to be awhile before I narrow down how exactly I plan on doing this.
As a sidenote. I'm amazed. I would have thought that by now there would be one or two sure-fire methods that are really the go-to techniques but there are tons?! I take comfort in seeing 400watt metal halide and 1000watt HPS bulb being mentioned with regularity if only because so much of the other information is so variable. We're still using water right?
Here's my environment I'd want to put to use. Unfinished basement in a house, 12x9 room with about 7'7" from floor to ceiling. The room doesn't get used and can be totally dedicated. It does not yet have power (extension cord ftw), has two basement windows. Walls are stucco. There's a drain already built into the floor, I would assume it goes straight to sewer. I look at that room and say, "Pot grows here, or we film the next Hostel movie in this pit" one or the other.
My concerns are (in no order):
I need a good guide if I'm going to make something (ex. I saw a guide to make a DWC setup out of plastic bins, laying out everything to buy from Walmart etc). I live in the suburbs and people shouldn't smell it. People shouldn't hear it. I don't want to have to micromanage the operation (any software or appliances?). I don't want to burn the house down
and if it can be avoided (with the latest technology?) I'd like to use LED lightning or other energy efficient methods if they're tried and proven. I figure using LEDs would put a lockdown on the room heating up, save on the electrical bill over time (I'm 27, I'll be here awhile), and possibly grow faster or better? I get the impression from some pics that LEDs are impractical for large/sprawling setups. I wouldn't call 6 plants sprawling, but 24 could be. Then again I saw this http://www.homehydroponics.info/growlights/hydroponics-grow-lights/1500-watt-cannabis-led-grow-light-medical-marijuana-perpetual-harvest-mpg and it just looks... nutty.Soil or coco sounds nice and forgiving, but if things like hydro/dwc/bubble/aeroponics are simply better, I'd rather cut directly to the chase. Sounds like some people are spending a ton of time tending to their plants and I'd like to avoid that if possible. I work 12-13 hours a day, most days, and have hobbies when I'm not
I'm not above visiting the plants once a day? Every day for a short period, before I can leave them alone for a few/several days and they can do their thing.If some kind of LED option is going to either put a plant through a vegetative or flowering phase as fast or faster than the traditional options, tell me
If there is specific bulbs that do it better than others, wanna know. If I can do something with 200 watts that knocks 1000-2000 watts out of the picture, lets do it.If anybody has ideas for what would work for a 6 plant setup and can be expanded onto a 24 plant setup.... I'm all ears. I'm drawn to the DWC thing because it seems like one could simply go out and buy a bigger bin, drill holes in it, and call it. Seems easy. Adding lights seems easy, but I know LEDS typically have a very narrow field/arc that they shine on.
Methods to raise/lower lights that're awesome. Chains work in a pinch right?
Methods to cool a room cheaply/efficiently? This one really gets me because, if I do have two 400 watt halides going, a 1000 watt HPS bulb blazing... probably gets pretty hot. How hot I wouldn't know. I saw mention in a previous post about funneling heat into a sewer (or smell? I forget).
I'm all about easy when possible but I'm also about doing it right. If there's an elaborate setup that rocks socks, may as well tell me, I may do it. If somebody tells me I'm overworking or thinking a situation they get back, "I just want to do it right, once, it's really all about being lazy if you think about it"
By automation/software I suppose I'm talking about devices that might monitor PH levels, water, nutrients? And maybe dispense them? Timers for lights being on/off? Moving lights and/or maximising the light to hit the plant at many angles?
Thanks for any and all responses.
