My potential indoor set-up

Recently I've been toying with the idea of growing bud for personal purposes, like making hash, weed butter, honey oil, and just having some good bud. It seems like a rewarding hobby that will end up saving me money in the long run, because lately I've been smoking a lot of weed. Looking around I've found multiple techniques and set-ups for growing. For matters of time, space, and ease of use, I've opted for the HTG Out of This World Grow Kit with the optional 7 Band 240 watt LED Grow Light, as opposed to the 3 Band 90 watt LED. From what I gather, I can use this for both vegation and flowering. I plan to grow 3 to 4 feminized auto-flowering plants. Again, for time, space, and ease. For soil, I was going to pick up the Fox Farm brand. As for nutrients I'm split between the cheaper Fox Farm or the supposedly vastly superior Iguana Juice for much more. This is my purposed set-up.

As for techniques to get the most out of my plants, I've seen a lot and have a lot of questions. Loli-Popping I think I have a good understanding of, but is it true that it should only be done during the veg cycle? I watched a video were a guy said chopping of branches that didn't quite grow to the potential of the others should be removed, as they would only produce "popcorn" buds. Super Cropping is another technique that I am interested in, but seems to hold the most potential for a fuck up. If there is a resource that could fully explain the process of super cropping, I'd be appreciative. Topping is a buzz word that I've been hearing, but have yet to get a definition of. Unless it's the technique of cutting the fan leaves from the canopy so the plant receives more light, and less is wasted on non-crucial areas of the plant.

This is all for personal use. I just want some fat, dank ass buds that I can smoke on till the next crop comes in. I feel if I can utilize my equipment effectively and learn the techniques properly, I will get exactly that which I am striving for. If you have any answers to the questions I asked, suggestions for improvement, or just general advice I'll consider you my best friend for life and I will send you one of my future off-spring in the mail.

I would personally go a different way all together, if you want personal only id get a 3x3 tent and a 400watt ducted mh/hps digital light, they dont cost much and you are going to need a fan/filter anyways so cooling the tent will be a breeze. Led is great if you want to do a lot of training and have an extended veg time, hid cant be beaten yet for ease of use and penetration. Order a 5 pack of indica dom fem seeds, veg em til 12" and flip to 12-12, should finish around 30" and fill the tent. Im not a fan of autos or led at this time, in 5 years led will be much better and more affordable but as of today I have yet to see a led perform even close to a hid given the same veg times. I also dont like dirt for beginners, problems in dirt can be a pain to fix, perlite hempys have faster growth, fewer problems, and are cheaper than buying ffof and nutes. Perlite hempy with lucas formula is great for beginners. Just my thoughts

Thank you for the thorough response!

So would this 2x4 Grow Kit do the trick? It seems like it comes with everything I'll need besides the seeds.

TheDonk64 said:

Thank you for the thorough response!

So would this 2x4 Grow Kit do the trick? It seems like it comes with everything I'll need besides the seeds.

Click to expand...

Most ready to go kits like that suck. I wouldnt suggest it. Magnetic ballast are good but I like digitals because you can switch between a MH bulb(for veg) and a hps buld(for flower), a 3x3 tent would have more even light coverage than a 2x4, booster fans are about worthless, id get a 4" inline fan/carbon filter combo(research the filter because some of them suck and odor is not good), bubble buckets are nice but I wouldnt suggest learning on them and they are 1 diy project that is far cheaper to do yourself than to buy and its simple to do if you decided to go that route. Id suggest googling "lucas hempy bucket grow", simplest thing ever that produces well and quick, start with that, then id hit ebay and find a 3x3x6-7' tent, read reviews and ask questions because you dont need the cheepest nor the most expensive, then find a digital 400 watt air cooled hood with both mh & hps bulbs, once again read reviews and ask questions, some have issues, and lastly id get a good 4" filter/fan combo, dont get cheap on that one, odor will get you robbed or thrown in jail and both will fuck your week up. Seeds are the same way, most breeders have a lot of the same names on their seeds so ask around about who has the best strain for what your looking for and you will get several answers, if the same breeder keeps coming up you probably found a winner. You should be able to put a tent package together in individual orders on ebay for about the same price as the one you asked about but with better equipment. Find free shipping, its out there

You are likely to get as many different answers as you have responders. As someone who just finished his first grow, I can tell you that no matter which way you choose to grow, you will make mistakes and learn more than you ever thought possible. Jbone's suggestions are great advice. I agree that HID can't be beat, but it all depends on how much space and resources you have. I use a spare bedroom for flowering, but I only have a spare closet for veg. T5-HO fluorescents are amazing for veg until the plants get too large, then you really need HID to get enough light penetration. LED's are still relatively new technology. They may be very effective, but you will find far fewer experts to respond to the inevitable problems you will encounter than if you stick with a more common method. The suggested 3x3 setup would be a great start, but I would use a 600W digital instead of a 400W.

For my first grow, I kept it simple. I used T5-HO fixtures for veg, maintaining a distance of no more than 2 inches from the bulbs with constant air circulation. This setup works perfectly until the plants reach a height of around 16", then you need something more powerful. For flowering, I used a 600W HPS, but the plants grew much larger than I was expecting, and I had to add some T5 fixtures as side lighting in order to provide enough light. I got lucky and managed more than 13 oz of dried bud from three plants, starting with random bag seed, but it required daily attention and frequent posts on this forum. Do a lot of research, ask a lot of questions, and it will pay off. Good luck and have fun.

I love my 600's, only problem I had is once I got one, I couldnt help but buy a second tent and run 2.lol

I believe dirt is just fine for a beginner. Its more forgiving and fairly easy to maintain. I have nothing against other mediums ( coir etc) or hydro or aero I just think dirt is the best place to start, then move on to other mediums. I am a bit biased though as a dirt grower who will probably never change. I did a hempy bucket once and it needed much closer attention to detail when it came to nutrients.

FNG is correct, you will get many different ideas. Read the sticky threads, decide WHICH way you want to grow & stick to it. Keep it SIMPLE.

I recently replaced my old ballasts for a Solis-Tek digital that is a 400w & 600w in one for about $235. I use Lucas grow light tubes that do both veg & flower.
All I have to do to go from 400w to 600w, is change the 400 bulb for the 600 & flick a switch.[ If you go this way, make sure you buy a 600w rated lamp fitting/reflector.] To start growing you'll only need the 400w light. If & when you want to step up to a 600w, you'll only have to buy a 600w light tube, you'll already have the ballast.

The digital ballasts are much more efficient & not dangerous like the old heavy pieces of crap. I was contemplating LED & CFL & ended up buying a 130w [2700k] veg lamp for my mother & clones & a flower lamp if needed- $140 for both including fitting & reflector.

I like the idea of LED but as FNG points out, tech is in it's infancy & still developing & expensive. My prediction is that within 5 years LED will be much cheaper with bigger output. Until then, it's not an option for me.

I grow in mainly coco with 20% vermiculite & it works for me. If you decide to go that way, don't get the cheap coir blocks, which is inferior to mj specific Dutch coco, & usually full of salt & other undesirable crap. Buy the good stuff in a bag at the hydro store for $25.

And don't forget, keep it simple.

Good luck.

Jbone77 said:

I love my 600's, only problem I had is once I got one, I couldnt help but buy a second tent and run 2.lol

Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. Since the store screwed up and mailed me a dimmable 1000W ballast instead of the 600W that I ordered, I'm going to upgrade to the 1000W bulb and add a second one so I can stage two different harvest times.