Low cost SoG setup?

Hi guys, very new. In fact this is the first time I've ventured outside of the newbie corner.

Ok, so basically I have a really frackin tiny closet (Got some vent going on) and I made a mistake buying shitty lights and soil. I smoke like an ounce every week or so, so I need a higher yield process. That SoG diagram looked sexy as hell but I only have one room. =S

Is there a way I can do SoG in one room on a budget of about 100 bucks?

It should be noted, I can't afford HID or HPS lights for a long time, maybe in the future if things come together, but for now, not so much. I'm on my first grow and it's miracle grow with terrible lighting, so I might not even get anything. Lesson learned.

I can't afford another 150 bucks on my bill either, so I'm looking for something that I can produce a pound every months with a relatively low start-up cost.

I think I'll work on my soil, but with my spare cash start working up a hydro setup. Is there a thread about detailing the different types of hydro systems and how to assemble them?

Thanks. I'll see what ebay has to say on the matter.

if you want to go Dirt find a hydrostore and get sunshine #4 or foxfarm. NO SUBSTITUTIONS. do it right or dont bother. along with that find a clean source of water that means under 150tds is ideal and no chlorine. if you have to go R/O you will need calmag or magpro.

I highly recommend unless you plan on going the organic route. you hunt down dyna-gro be it online or in a store. buy the grow bloom and Pro-tekt silica supplement.
You will need a Tds meter(ebay it cheap one works fine)

If you go HID dont try below 400watts. Otherwise 10- 23watt CFLs will do a great job. You will need temps below 80 and humidity above 40% while vegging. Y- Splitters(1.50$) and a vanity bar(i found it at a thrift store 5$) like in your bathroom work great 6-12 sockets. With CFLs Lowes used to be the cheapest get 6500k Daylight for veg and 27k warmlight for flower

if you want to go ultra simple hydro check out homebrewers threads. simple and effective
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/358562-dyna-gro-vs-general-hydroponics.html

I didn't understand most of that. I don't even know the difference between hydro systems, I have an elementary grasp of how they even work, to be honest. I'm learning as much as I can right now.

i suggest that you smoke less for some time, this way you can save a load of money for getting light and fans, to get 1 oz per week you would need to get a 600w light and do it right, usually newbs don't get it right fromthe first time. BTW 1oz of very good weed would last me 3-4 months these days lol in the days when i smoked much more, it would be gone in a week

the cost of hydro seems to be a little greater except in small cases. Ebb and flow is the simplest method. think of hydro as balancing a healthy and productive fish tank you must keep it clean stable and fed

sunshine#4 and foxfarm are brands of soil that are really beginner friendly. dyna-gro is the brand of nutrients i use and frankly is also beginner friendly. the rest such as color spectrums for grow light bulbs(27k vs 65k) is so ur plants are not full of stems

clean water has to do with total dissolved solids (tds) and being able to choose what you feed your plants.

it really depends if your going to spend the time required to grow in hydro. or the simplicity of growing in dirt. either way do all the research before you start anything otherwise your first grow will fail

I'm working soil right now, the only problem being that I have 75w output (17 actual watt) lights. They're cheap and shitty and I didn't know better and they're in miracle grow. First grow is gonna fail hard.

I want to go hydro though for effective use of my limited space. So I will definitely be learning about both while I wait to see what happens with this grow.

Thanks a ton. I'll be buying my HPS' next week. =D Then the rest will fall in order shortly.

So, I'll be using the SoG method that Al-B-Fuct outlines in his "harvest every two weeks thread' Will two 150w HPS lights be enough for the budding plants?

I plan to use two cool flourescents of about 100W on both the Mother and the clones section.

I was actually looking at different sizes. A lot of people seem to be recommending 600watt.

If I do go with 400w and the SoG method, how many 400w HPS lights would I need over my budding babies?

That being said, how much can I expect my utilities to go up?

I need some help actually putting together the system, as in detailed diagrams and the like, can you direct me to some sort of resource on the matter?

Kail Johnson said:

Not really but if you give me your closets dimensions i'd be happy to fill in the gaps for you

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Indeed, what are you dealing with space wise here? Harvesting an ounce a week will need quite a bit of thought and work.

Well, I can't really say as I don't have any means of measurement but if I had to say it'd be 4x4X8, In case I flubbed, four feet across, four feet deep and 8 feet tall.
My bill doesn't say the KWH charge but the national average is .1099

Got a bill that says usage as 400(No indicator of what) and next to that line it says like 25 bucks. So, .06?

So I need to get six 30 gallon tubs, some 1/2 PVC tubing, a pump for each and every tub, a bunch of neuts and I have no idea where to begin and lighting is still in the air. Is that right? Why go DWC over regular hydro?

weednublet said:

Well, I can't really say as I don't have any means of measurement but if I had to say it'd be 4x4X8, In case I flubbed, four feet across, four feet deep and 8 feet tall.
My bill doesn't say the KWH charge but the national average is .1099

Got a bill that says usage as 400(No indicator of what) and next to that line it says like 25 bucks. So, .06?

So I need to get six 30 gallon tubs, some 1/2 PVC tubing, a pump for each and every tub, a bunch of neuts and I have no idea where to begin and lighting is still in the air. Is that right? Why go DWC over regular hydro?

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I know you wanna get going and get to a point where you're saving money by growing your own. I totally get that. You've obviously read some the forums and posts regarding this undertaking as well, so, to this I ask... why do you want to do so much on your first go?

Keep it simple silly (or stupid)!!

You don't have a ton of cash to spend on inital setup. I get that too.

So, why not do this in bite sized pieces?

- Lighting. Your biggest expense with the biggest payoff. If you skimp on this you will suffer throughout your grows. I agree with the recommendation of 400W HID as a minimum... no question. My experience with CFL lighting as been underwhelming with lots of fiddling and frustrating results.

- Method: DWC, once understood and a routine established is easy and highly performing. It's cheap to setup, cheap to operate, easy to run and produces next to no waste. Other hydro techniques you'll be replacing rockwool blocks or recycling medium... pros and cons to any situation.

My suggestion to you, until you can get a routine established and fully understand what you're doing is to start small.

1 Plant, in a black 5 gallon pail, net-potted in hydroton, airstone, air-pump and nutes. This provides a great full-grow container, you can go from seed to flower in this setup and re-use the whole thing on subsequent grows.

-Scaling up is easy, buy more buckets.
-Once you're "big-time" you can lash these all together in a RDWC system and test out your plumbing skills.

In the near future you will also have a moment of realization. This epiphany will contain a vision of 2 grow areas. One for vegging, the other for flowering.... Build it, and they will grow.

Can you explain how I set up and operate a DWC setup? I don't understand all that I need for any sort of hydro. I keep hearing stuff about netting and mediums and I'm really at a loss. I really am a total noob at this. That was absolutely amazing advice though. I'm gonna take that to heart. I already have buckets I just don't have any of that other stuff nor do I know where to get it.

Can you detail how to set up that single bucket DWC operation, including explanations of each product and how it functions in the DWC methods?

Kail Johnson said:

hydrohomer has it right but I disagree with using individual buckets as you then need to worry about flow between them if connected or individual levels if not e.t.c. I would suggest 1-2 Fish Buckets or a kiddie pool all in one makes for easier management.

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I wasn't suggesting that the individual buckets be connected in this case. Checking levels is pretty trivial, IMO. Either way, I think the point of small-scale needs to be reinforced here with the fewest variables to ensure success. I just hate people getting all pissed off at this because they get overwhelmed with complications to the craft

That was amazingly informative. So, they sell those little baskets that the grow medium (And plant) sit down in. I could find the air pump and airstone at a pet food store?

I don't quite get how to do the recirculating part. I don't know how to find a lot of these pieces then I'd need to know what neuts to add. I'm still not sure how to even use them. I apologize for being so useless despite your best efforts. I'm learning a lot though =D.

So what are the advantages to this single bucket DWC as opposed to a large tub and SoG methods?

Kail Johnson said:

No offense was meant, just my 2c.

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None taken whatsoever...

weednublet said:

So what are the advantages to this single bucket DWC as opposed to a large tub and SoG methods?

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The advantage of the buckets in this case is to you, starting small, assuming one or two plants initially, you will learn alot without getting bogged down with learning curve failures. Once you learn what the plant is all about (you already know what the end-game is about... don't we all ?!?), you can then progress into something a bit more advanced like SoG or whatever. It's like crawling before walking, walking before running and not getting too far out of your comfort zone.

I don't think anyone wants to dissuade you from a SoG... on the contrary, I think everyone wants to see you succeed, but you can only do so much with the cash you have and building on successes is way more fun than growing yellow sticks that have drowned in tears.