Point me in the right direction?

Hey guys, completely new to this..bare with me.

Names Brendan, 19yo from Canada!

So here's my story: I'm starting to take a hit financially with my smoking habits. Usually pick up 1-2 oz a week. 1oz = $200-$220 for decent bud. So Basically I am looking to save money by growing. Entirely for personal use though, so just a small setup. I live in an apartment on my own, so a little bit of smell isn't the end of the world. But needs to be masked a bit bc of neighbours. Looking to have 4+ oz every month, so basically what I am asking is what do I need to do to make this happen, how much will it cost, how long will it take, etc. Let me know what would be the best route for my situation.

Also, please include what to expect as far as electricity bill (for a small setup) and cost of supplies..also where to get the supplies and seeds.


Any help is greatly appreciated, we all start somewhere!
Thanks in advance guys and gals..and of course, happy toking! ~~

Well for starters you need to read, ALLOT. Average veg cycle varies by grower, 8 weeks is a normal flowering period - some strains take longer (Hazes). If you want 4oz a month you want to look into a perpetual grow. In other words, you will want plants ready to flower and some ready to for harvest at all times. So your looking at 2 rooms, or two boxes, or what have you. Smell is controlled with carbon filters, you can build your own on the cheap, but it's normally better to buy a pre-made one for larger grows.

You could pull this off with just 4 plants, at least in my head you can.

Cloning will be the key to all this. It's not hard to do and will save you on buying seeds.

Another option is auto flowering seeds/plants.

There are the stickies on this forum - up top that are very helpful, and I always direct new growers here: http://www.growweedeasy.com/

I've invested a lil bit of money mostly in lights and nutrients, I run fully organic but got half of my line because I wrote a nutrient company and asked for samples(always free to e-mail and ask right). I probabily invested around 1500 dollars into it and that was about 4 months ago, I'm just now about to have my first harvest( in about 3-4 weeks). Mostly my money went into L.e.d lights approx 1000$ the other 500 or so went into buckets and soil fans mylar film paint, and other various needed items. I also bought medical grade seeds to ensure my genetics are at their best so my product is too. On top of all of that I still have a decent electricity bill. While my lights are L.e.d. my circulation and intake and exhaust fans take a bit more power than a led so cost's are still a little up granted i dont need to run my exhaust fan as much as i did with hid but still. SOOOO on top of all of that I'm a legal grower not trying to get in trouble so the I can grow in My state is 12 plants, which is seemingly just barely enough. I run/am trying to run a perpetual grow so every 1-3 weeks I'm harvesting a plant, and let me tell you following nutrient schedule for 5-6 different stage blooming MJ plants without screwing it up can't be a little tricky sometimes. I also am growing for myself specifically as a patient but also to have some overages to break even on my monthly cost's. Unfortunately I haven't sat down to do any real calculations to tell you how close I'm getting to breaking even since I've been growing from almost 4 months.Luckily I haven't experienced any real problems yet (knock on wood) but still no harvest either you definitely must be patient. While some say its just as simple a putting a seed in the ground, I have found that it takes allot more than just watering to have a crop that you want to brag to your friends about, which brings me to my final point If... IF you do have a crop you'd want to brag about to your friends, it only takes 1 person besides yourself, 1 friend to see some piece of weed leaf stuck to your sock to know what you do, and to steal everything thats precious and dear to you.
That being said good luck and may the force be with you

I'd cop a 4x2 tent off of amazon for like $100
a 150 HPS for another $60
a gigantic bag of perlite
a 4x12 or mayber 6x18" Phresh or Can or Rhino filter for $75-125 and prolly a decent fan for another $75
screw all the bullshit snake oil additives, cop maxibloom or like 1qt to 1 gal each GH bloom & micro....
cop a cheapo TDS AND a cheapo pH pen from Amazon (both will set you back about $25) and when you can back those up with some decent ones for another $100

read up on hempy, or read up on H3ad goes coco
...skip all the friggin boosters, chemicals and snake oils...
..don't trip on all the assorted crap and lies and remember its a weed (and tap water won't even kill it)
K.I.S.S

BTW I totally abandoned hydro...no more rot, no more pH monitoring, no more bullsh&t...friggin coco man....friggin coco

You could start your first grow with autos, but reguerdlessof whatever you do, you need seed money to get this venture up in the air then the place then the light

www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-Dimmable-Detachable-Reflector/dp/B00547I5I8/ref=pd_sbs_lg_6

http://www.amazon.com/Aviditi-PTU-66-Reflective-Hydroponic-48-Inch/dp/B004U6XSRC/ref=pd_sim_lg_2/186-1433666-7723462

the a visit to http://www.herbiesheadshop.com/

good luck "V"

^^^ actually I have the above stuff: exactly .... its a larger scale deal tho/////
(had to + rep ma'man)
...disclaimer: the MH bulb is a lil weak and the HPS bulb ain't exactly a Hortilux

Gordo here, I am a new grower. Bagseed is a good way to start. Get some practice with your growing before moving on to the high priced seeds. Experience is the best teacher. It is a plant, trying to grow. A growing medium, light, water, and fresh air are what's required. Go light on the nutes, I use half the recommended amount. Don't overwater, less is better. I use a 150W mini sunburst in the flower room and a mix of cfls in the veg room. I grow in soil. In a tote bin from the hardware store, I mix a bag of the composted manure, a bag of topsoil, and a bag of perlite/ peat moss mix. The seeds are started in a pint container, then moved to a one gallon fabric grow bag, then to a three gallon grow bag. I water every three days. Just harvested my second plant, still rough, needs curing. Good Luck.

If you're trying to grow on the cheap, and need to grow enough weed to keep your 2 ounces per week going, you'll need to harvest a 1/2 lb a month. You should expect an ounce per plant in the beginning unless you manage to skip all the new-grower mistakes, so you may be buying weed for awhile even after your first harvest.

I got almost all my grow equipment on Craigslist. I got a 600w HPS with light, ballast, and fixture for $50, a 400w MH for $50, grow cabinets for a total of $69. Be diligent and you'll find good deals.

Once you get a grow or two under your belt, you can expect 2-3 ounces per plant....and when you get good 4-6 ounces.

The advice to do a ton of reading is good, you can also visit youtube and search for growing videos.

Bear in mind, that no small grow eill be sufficient if you plan to replace a two ounce a week chop-bowl.

Even producing one ounce a week well, it's obviously 50+ ozs a year, that's a full bedroom sized grow space right there, and you have to think of everything you plant as an investment: like a trust fund, it won't give you dick for a few months at least, then, when you get to payday you'll be neck deep in buds. And of course, when you have a buttload of anything, you consume more - since there's so much right?

Before you know it you're down to your last half ounce, and man is that a depressing realization

Anyhoo, you can start by figuring out how much you could expect from whatever strain you grow, and times that by how many plants you'll need to get the return you require on your 'investment'.

Personally, I have never had the space to supply myself with a constant supply, year round, as I'm sure alot of people haven't (not that anyone will admit to being anything less than a by-the-tonne drug-baron round here, course), but, if I could get a full bedroom somewhere in the future, or even better, a national Forest or similar out back of a property, then I'm more than sure I could produce ounces a week.

Anyhow, you'll probably still have to subsidise your home grown with dealer-bought, so don't throw their numbers out too soon

Soory I didn't even get to the main point I was trying to make: plan how much soil/perlite/whatever you need, pots, tubs, pumps, lights, decide from the start, every essential item and get it quickly so you don't end up with more plants than light for thrm, or a room full of flowering plants the neighbours can smell when they walk past, cos you hadn't gotten that carbon filter you needed.

As a few sbove have said, the first grow really shoulh be considered a tria-run, because it's impossible to speculatg or many aspects of growing until you've seen it in action. One grow will be enough for you to spot any holes in your plan, tht grow #2 and onwards it'll be no nasty surprises

Godamn iPad keypad typoes /spit@apple

wow, 1-2 oz a week! ...apparently I skimmed over the op's post and didn't catch that...
disregard my post, the scale is insufficient...
anyway
hey, I won't "judge" but that amount is definitely out of my experience zone....


then again WTF do I know; most of us are more "product testers" than commercial type growers or heavy smokers

Two ounces a week thats ridiculous cut back bro unless your gunna grow in a room with a thousand watt and a complete setup and run a propetual. To do that u need some experience!

Well... @ zips per week schwag weed .... you smoke...
Once you grow... you'll smoke much less and be more stoned...
-------------
First off... Can you clone?
You will need to clone 3-6 plants per week....
You will need to have two rooms...
It will take you 6 months to a year, but you can slowly improve your skills while smoking some great sheiot...
You need to grow a 49 day [7 week photo period plant-good luck]
8 weeks in Veg...
7 weeks in Bud...
So every week.... after the 5th or 6th week, when your plant is ready to clone... you clone 3-6 plants...
Every week you take 3 or 4 eight week veg plants and put them in your bud room...
8 weeks after you put your first three plants into bud you can smoke it....
---------
Read up... Be detailed oriented .... color code your plants with dates....
If nobody has ever commented on how organized you are, or how much detail you use...
Then maybe it will be too hard for you....
-------------
Personally, it is doable... because I do it... every week personal use only... Well for me my woman, and my pot bank....
I harvest 3-6 small plants weekly... I am never without...
And, I always smoke perfect cured, and dried mj...
It's a dream come true...
Total space required Veg Rm-7' x 4'
Bud Rm-5' x 5'....
------------
It's a lofty goal... you will have set backs...
[I had an AC go out, and I lost a few weeks of crop, but because of how I grow, the whole crop was not lost, just a few weeks that were overly baked...]
Good Luck...

Thought I had subscribed so I would receive emails but I guess I forgot!


Will do my best to reply to everyone...




@JesterDev:
I learned that I would need to read a lot reaaaaaaal quick.


I will have to do research on cloning and auto flowering seeds, thanks for the advice!


@tkowitha123:
Those numbers are way too high for me bro x_x


@vostok:
I checked out the seeds on the site you linked, and now I have another question.


Could I grow some white widow and northern lights in my apartment easily?


@lilroach:
Yeah it's beginning to sound like my 2 ounces a week goal isn't going to be reached. at least not any time soon.


how about a half zip a week guys?


@Dribbles:
And you have confirmed it, my 2 ounces a week will not be acheived haha.


As for your comment on 'the more you have, the more you'll consume' type deal, I don't think that would be entirely true in my situation becauseI still have o go to work and sleep and accomplish certain day to day things..so over 2 ounces a week sounds almost impossile unless i quit my job lmao


@JohnnySocko & @mr sunshine:
Most stoners I know that can afford to smoke around an ounce a week, sometimes closer to two in the winter months as it gets reaaaaaal cold here (it gets to -48C sometimes!!) and we can't go out and do anything so might as well toke it up
I could probably cut back to a half zip most weeks, with the occaisional full?


@Sand4x105:
I don't smoke schwag, I just don't generally smoke some of the really potent strains that are probably more common down in the states