The ultimate self-sufficient grow!

Hello fellow tokers!

So the time has come... I'm sick of spending $80 a week on a quarter of the same low-quality no-name herb so I've finally decided to start growing my own. No need for security/stealth with this grow. The goals for my system are:

- Produce at least an oz per month, 2 oz preferred so I can share with close friends and family
- Perpetual grow with a maximum time between harvests of 1 month.
- Each harvest is a different strain
- Quality over everything else, within reason (i.e. not grown in million dollar lab)
- Unobtrusive, since it will be located in my bedroom (quiet, no light emission, no smell)

Space: I have an absolute maximum of 120cm (4ft) depth, by 150cm (5ft) width, by 250cm (8ft) height. My bedroom would be pretty crowded with this so smaller is preferred. I plan to locate it in front of a sliding glass door. I also plan to use high-quality grow tents. I was considering use 3ft of the width for flowering, and stack the clone and veg systems in the remaining 2ft.

System: I plan to go aeroponics using Stinkbud's system. My current thinking is that I could comfortably fit about 3 plants in a 3x4ft area without sacrificing on quality (not sure if more crowded plants are lower quality than a few well-spaced plants but that's what I'm basing my assumption on). So that I can choose the best plants to move from clones to veg to flower, I was thinking about having a 6-plant cloning station where I select the best 3 clones to be put into veg. Once veg is done, I then select the best plant of the 3 and put into one of the 3 available nets in the flower system. Every 3 weeks I harvest 1 plant, move another from veg to flower, move best clones to veg, start new clones and leave the other 2 plants to flower for 3-6 more weeks until its their turn for a harvest. If each plant produces an ounce (which I'm lead to believe is about the average), then I should expect to harvest an ounce every 3 weeks. I am unsure about whether or not to go ScrOG at the moment.

Lights: I was thinking a 600w for flowering, but is that the best I can do? Would 2x400w work better? Should I go 2x600w? Should I get a 1000w? How about running some fluorescents vertically or horizontally below the canopy with whatever other lights I get? I haven't put much thought into cloning and veg yet, so I'll just leave them aside for now.

I will also need to consider Co2, ventilation, cool tubes, temp control etc but I just want to see what you green thumbs think so far? Anything you would change to improve quality? Is 3 plants too little, too much or just right for highest quality grow in that space? How about lights?

I will be keeping track of my entire progress and will compile it into a document/website when done for anyone else looking to be self-sufficient on a variety of the highest quality bud possible.

HAVE YOU EVER GROWN ANYTHING BEFORRE?? i would start in soil if i were you, and to answer, yes a 400, 600 or 1000 will be ok.. its still unclear..an oz a month? maybe two..?? you would probably smoke more if you had it.. but a 400 watter will definitely produce that for ya if not more LOTS more..

How much are you looking to spend? Your 2 zip a month goal is attainable with a 600watter over a ~3x3 space. If you ran a perpetual grow and harvested 2 plants every two weeks (for a total of 8 plants in flowering for 8 week strains) you could be getting closer to 3 ounces per two weeks. Lighting is your biggest concern and if you wanna keep it to a minimum a single 600 is most efficient for lumen output. Organic soil grows are the easiest with little fuss and can produce some of the most quality buds you'll ever see.... perpetual hydro has some setup behind it. Veg room will be somewhat important, just some t5's over clones and seedlings awaiting their spot in the flowering room.

your coplicating it... i just sat back an read (alot of people here don do that).. in a 4x5x8 for everything.. you got it thought out pretty well..3x3 tent for flower with a small veg setup.. but you can fit 10 plants easily in that 3x3 area.. im tellin you it will fit just dont try to grow a monster tall ass plant cause you wont get deep penetration with the 600, like 30 inches, and build your own tent with 2x2 's/ a staple gun/ and some black plastic

good answer waxy nug's, obviously you are a faster typer...lol


and its going to be really hard to start runnning a perpetual cycle on new strains.. its like juggling tryig to keep it all in the air with your prize on the eyeballs... with strains you know and love..=) it sounds easy on paper, but theres always variables, and lets face it some of us are not very observant of detail.. soil is DANK hydro is only aa tadd faster, IN MY(biased) OPINION, as a soil grower =)

lol just bored getting baked, I always seem to chime in on the low posters, hope we're helping

yup, me too.. burnin some larry og, and recon .

with what i read it is imo better to get 3-6 clones and gro them all at once. not your 1-2 oz a mounth but you will have it for the 3 mounths its going to take you to grow it. and as for smell any good quality is going to stink. so a good fan will be needed. fans arnt quiet. no light? you will need a nice tent. and tents are hard to seal for proper Co2 use and with a fan running Co2 will belost. yes what you say can work but not sure on price. And at basic cheep price (not the high price stuff your asking for) it will take aroun 6-9 mounths to cover the cost of what you spend now. Dont get me wrong I'm not trying to talk you out of it. just trying to tell you the truth of growing. pulling 1-2 zip mounth with drying and cureing. i think you are asking alot from the space you want to do it in. Good luck and keep us upto date.

for the amount desired go with t5 for seed and veg then get a 400w HPS for flower. <--- This will more than meet your goal.

With that light you can grow your target plus more for your friends and neighbors.

later if you think you need more upgrade to a 600w HPS for flower and the 400w to MH.

If you go higher in watt then you also increase cost of energy consumption.

The maximum I want to spend on my start-up costs is ~$3k, but I'm hoping to continually improve the setup over time. I don't smoke too much anymore, and I know an ounce per month would be more than enough for just myself. However it would be nice to have a bit extra to supply to family and sell to friends to recoup some costs. I would much prefer to downsize the setup than have more than 2oz per month.

No, I haven't grown before but I'm the sort of person that really gets into my hobbies. I'm a quick learner and Stinkbud growers all seem to say that it is a simple system to use. I would prefer to start with aero and face the tougher learning curve, it's just the sort of person I am. I also much prefer hydro/aero over soil, although I have never smoked high-quality soil. Maybe I'll start with soil for a bit and then make the switch if it isn't up to hydro level, I'm not 100% sure on anything yet!!

So 3 plants is a little on the low side? I kind of expected that but I thought that the extra space between the plants would allow for greater light penetration and therefore higher quality buds all over the plants (not just the heads)? I'm looking for quality as number one over everything else since I only require a small yield. I might go with 6 instead then, which means if I can get an oz a plant then I'll be harvesting 2oz every 3 weeks.

I haven't looked at the DIY tents yet but they do seem pretty simple to construct. I'll probably go with that. One question though: I was considering cabinets instead of tents because they seem better insulated. I'm a little worried that if, down the track, I decided to get some sort of temperature control (a/c or something), then the tent might not be able to hold the desired temp very well. Is this a legit problem or am I just overly concerning myself?

I want to go perpetual because I like to smoke a variety of strains. I don't want to do a single grow and then spend the next ~3 months waiting for something different. I know I'l be keeping OG Kush, blueberry haze and sour diesel in regular rotation, but I would like to have something different every now and then. Maybe I'll stick to a few strains I know I like and then every 3-4 harvests I'll try something different.

As for lights, most of you seem to say 400w will work. But like I said, I'm going for quality. If I can manage it, will 600w produce higher quality or just higher yield?

Thanks for all the help guys. I love how friendly the stoner community is!

This has always been my dream (to grow the highest quality weed in the world) so I'm prepared to take my time with this.

if u plan to use high quality tents then u might as well get the Secret Jardin Dark Room II Twin DRT 120
its a 4x4x7ft tall and it is split into two seperate sealed chambers upper and lower.
its perfect for a 8 tube 4ft T5 setup for clones and vegging up top and u could easily run a 600w wit a cool tube
and good ventilation.

actually i better just clarify: i'm looking for the highest-quality POTENTIAL, not highest-quality. I understand that I am new and my first few grows will probably suck, but I want my setup to be decent enough that as I improve, I don't have to worry about limitations in the system

yeah I was looking at the Dark Room Twin, but like others have said it appears that I could get almost the same quality by building it myself for a fraction of the price

snakes420 said:

The maximum I want to spend on my start-up costs is ~$3k,

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BS! you aint planning a 2oz a month with that. and if you are then your plants will be more than willing to do your bidding.

Why's that unbelievable? I pay $80 a quarter, so I will be saving $80 per week and also selling $80 per week (if I get 2oz per month). In 6 months after my first harvest I should have recouped the entire $3k, paid electricity and still have a little money left over. Also I will have much higher quality bud than what everyone else in this entire country gets (Australia has HORRIBLE weed), won't have to worry about dealers, and I will be involved in a hobby I thoroughly enjoy. Sounds like a good deal to me!

I THINK YOU CAN HAVE IT FOR LESS THAN 3K.. i bought 2 used 600 digital ballasts hoods and bulbs yesterday for 500 dollas U.S. ill replace the bulbs cuz they arent new and keep the oldies as spares. if you sift thru my posts i hve lots of pictures up, its off a 1k light

with a 3k limit why not get something manufactured so u kno there arent any issues with it.
i would run a 600w light in tht tent without co2 unless u wanna buy a portable a/c too
and im sure tht u will hit ur goal with a run or two under ur belt

thats what loki was saying.. for 3k u can blowup the bedroom..=)

you can grow quality weed with out throwing cash at it. yes gardening has start-up cost.
base your cost on your projected harvest. you only want quality 2 OZ a month then you can do it for less.
Its your money dude. I thought the idea was to save money.

$3k is my MAXIMUM. If I can reduce costs without reducing quality then I'm all for it! I said $3k because .. well I could afford it if need be and I want to illustrate that I want QUALITY, QUALITY AND MORE QUALITY!! No skimping to save costs unless there is only a small difference in quality but huge difference in price. I would prefer to spend a lot less to start and add components as I begin to learn more (don't want to be overwhelmed). What is the best manufactured system on the market at the moment for my size requirements? Stinkbud system has got some excellent reviews, as I'm sure you all know, so I'm not sure why I would go with some overpriced manufactured system??