sadface
Active Member
I researched a total of about 10 - 15 hours before purchasing my set-up, seeds, etc. I thought I researched quite a lot... It was not enough. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet and I also didn't think things through enough, which in the end cost me more money and i didn't yield what I could of from my first grow. I thought i would post my experience and what I learned.
This really is to try to get people to think rationally before they make decisions and hopefully by doing so wont make some of the same mistakes I made.
To start, I suggest looking at your grow restrictions, your goal of growing, and setting 2 budgets:
a. grow restrictions - do you need to be stealth?, limited space?, etc.
b. capital budget - how much will the initial set up cost be, things like seeds, lighting, tents, fans, etc.
c. monthly budget - how much do you want to spend each month/grow. This is mainly energy but could also be water, nutes, soil, etc.
Your grow restrictions and goals will help set your budget. When you know what you can spend and where you will be putting your set up you can start looking at the best equipment that can suit your needs.
For my 1st grow I had a 8x8 room in my basement with a 6 foot ceiling, while my grow was legal I had to worry about smell due to my townhouse bylaws. I also did not have a high monthly budget so wanted to minimize energy costs, but my initial budget was decent. I knew I needed lights, odor control, and ventilation. I only needed to grow enough to support my self so was thinking 2 plants at a time.
I purchased a 2.6x2.6x5ft tent, 150 CFM fan, carbon scrubber, and planned on going CFL with DIY reflector to "save money". I will explain my mistakes I felt i made, both mistakes because I did not think things through enough or do enough research.
1. Buying the tent - tents are great and work for a most situations, but I didn't need one I had a perfect room already. I could have easily sectioned off the room with a few pieces of wood and reflective mylar. Saving money which I would have dumped into a larger and better fan for better atmosphere control. I also could exhaust out to my garage, which would have been easier with no tent. The point is not that tents are bad (they are not) its that you need to think out of the box sometimes. Most people need tents due to circumstance, so I automatically thought I did. Then I saw closet grows and other basement grows and kicked my self, $90 wasted cause I didn't think...
2. High wattage CFLs - I researched lighting and really thought going CFL was the right way for me. Didnt need a lot of light for 2 plants, low energy, and supposed to be low temps. So I made a 322watt CFL lighting set up with DIY reflector, I bought shit ton of 23w bulbs as I wanted perfect spectrum for both veg and flowers. All in all it cost me $130. For a same to little more money there was 2 better lighting options for my situation. 2 ft T5 would have fit perfect in the tent would have been CHEAPER, or dimmable 400w hps set to 200watts with cooltube for $30 more but cheaper energy costs. Also I had to take CFLs out due to temps dropping wattage to 230w.
There is a break point to when CFLs are no longer worth fiscally and temperature wise and i surpassed it. I ended up going LED 75% through the grow. Again CFLs work and are very good in micro grow situations, CFLs are not bad but for my budget and goals they were not the right choice. Again not enough research or though thinking on my part...
Lastly, The amount of shit you need that you dont think of until you hit a certain part of the grow also usually isnt calculated in the intial budget. So again think ahead did you think about these stages of growing and what may be required? I didn't so there was some unexpected costs, no real biggy. But some people are strapped for cash so an extra $20 can hurt. Not all of the below are necessary either but are things people use.
1. growing - seriously, I really just thought of set up. I didnt research about nute deficiency, flushing, or other things in depth prior. Map out your grow and think of everything you will need.
a.)Didn't know I needed dolomite lime to help buffer my soil
b.)Purchased solution based ph kit AND soil ph kit (cheapo one) to then only buy a real ph meter cause the solution one sucks and soil one read 7 non stop
c.) magnifying loupe to look at trichromes
d.) plant tie down clips (LST)
e.) water containers - seriously flushing I needed 6 gallons of water and only had 2x 1 gallon jugs. I could not set enough water out over night to de-chlorinate, so had to buy spring water. Another thing to think about!!!
2. Harvesting - Had no idea it could smell so much, I did in my tent. But I read it can smell up your neighborhood. Tent was horrible place to dry, so I ended up making a drying box with make shift carbon scrubber. Another cost had no idea about, did you think about:
a.) proper scissors?
b.) gloves?
c.) odor control?
d.) string (I used a phone cord lol!)
3.) Curing - I never knew weed cured, before researching. WTF IT AGES LIKE WINE AWESOME!! Some more costs that you may want to think about
a.) mason jars
b.) RH meters
There is a lot of useful info on this site, I seriously suggest going through every single sticky even in the sections you haven't visited, I kinda wish I went coco for my first grow but I didn't know about it...
I have made other mistakes during my grow, but I don't feel they cost me money (just yield, so guess you could if you equate grams per watt used). But these were the ones that erked me the most because it was sheer stupidity in my opinion.
TL
R
Do a shit ton of research, and when you think you have done enough go back and do at least 3 times as much. Then plan out your grow from start to finish. This way there will be a lot less surprises and it may save you some money.
- Face
PS. You know what the above doesn't piss me off???? Knowing that will make back ALL the cost incurred in growing when I harvest my 2nd plant by not having to buy weed from someone else!
This really is to try to get people to think rationally before they make decisions and hopefully by doing so wont make some of the same mistakes I made.
To start, I suggest looking at your grow restrictions, your goal of growing, and setting 2 budgets:
a. grow restrictions - do you need to be stealth?, limited space?, etc.
b. capital budget - how much will the initial set up cost be, things like seeds, lighting, tents, fans, etc.
c. monthly budget - how much do you want to spend each month/grow. This is mainly energy but could also be water, nutes, soil, etc.
Your grow restrictions and goals will help set your budget. When you know what you can spend and where you will be putting your set up you can start looking at the best equipment that can suit your needs.
For my 1st grow I had a 8x8 room in my basement with a 6 foot ceiling, while my grow was legal I had to worry about smell due to my townhouse bylaws. I also did not have a high monthly budget so wanted to minimize energy costs, but my initial budget was decent. I knew I needed lights, odor control, and ventilation. I only needed to grow enough to support my self so was thinking 2 plants at a time.
I purchased a 2.6x2.6x5ft tent, 150 CFM fan, carbon scrubber, and planned on going CFL with DIY reflector to "save money". I will explain my mistakes I felt i made, both mistakes because I did not think things through enough or do enough research.
1. Buying the tent - tents are great and work for a most situations, but I didn't need one I had a perfect room already. I could have easily sectioned off the room with a few pieces of wood and reflective mylar. Saving money which I would have dumped into a larger and better fan for better atmosphere control. I also could exhaust out to my garage, which would have been easier with no tent. The point is not that tents are bad (they are not) its that you need to think out of the box sometimes. Most people need tents due to circumstance, so I automatically thought I did. Then I saw closet grows and other basement grows and kicked my self, $90 wasted cause I didn't think...
2. High wattage CFLs - I researched lighting and really thought going CFL was the right way for me. Didnt need a lot of light for 2 plants, low energy, and supposed to be low temps. So I made a 322watt CFL lighting set up with DIY reflector, I bought shit ton of 23w bulbs as I wanted perfect spectrum for both veg and flowers. All in all it cost me $130. For a same to little more money there was 2 better lighting options for my situation. 2 ft T5 would have fit perfect in the tent would have been CHEAPER, or dimmable 400w hps set to 200watts with cooltube for $30 more but cheaper energy costs. Also I had to take CFLs out due to temps dropping wattage to 230w.
There is a break point to when CFLs are no longer worth fiscally and temperature wise and i surpassed it. I ended up going LED 75% through the grow. Again CFLs work and are very good in micro grow situations, CFLs are not bad but for my budget and goals they were not the right choice. Again not enough research or though thinking on my part...
Lastly, The amount of shit you need that you dont think of until you hit a certain part of the grow also usually isnt calculated in the intial budget. So again think ahead did you think about these stages of growing and what may be required? I didn't so there was some unexpected costs, no real biggy. But some people are strapped for cash so an extra $20 can hurt. Not all of the below are necessary either but are things people use.
1. growing - seriously, I really just thought of set up. I didnt research about nute deficiency, flushing, or other things in depth prior. Map out your grow and think of everything you will need.
a.)Didn't know I needed dolomite lime to help buffer my soil
b.)Purchased solution based ph kit AND soil ph kit (cheapo one) to then only buy a real ph meter cause the solution one sucks and soil one read 7 non stop
c.) magnifying loupe to look at trichromes
d.) plant tie down clips (LST)
e.) water containers - seriously flushing I needed 6 gallons of water and only had 2x 1 gallon jugs. I could not set enough water out over night to de-chlorinate, so had to buy spring water. Another thing to think about!!!
2. Harvesting - Had no idea it could smell so much, I did in my tent. But I read it can smell up your neighborhood. Tent was horrible place to dry, so I ended up making a drying box with make shift carbon scrubber. Another cost had no idea about, did you think about:
a.) proper scissors?
b.) gloves?
c.) odor control?
d.) string (I used a phone cord lol!)
3.) Curing - I never knew weed cured, before researching. WTF IT AGES LIKE WINE AWESOME!! Some more costs that you may want to think about
a.) mason jars
b.) RH meters
There is a lot of useful info on this site, I seriously suggest going through every single sticky even in the sections you haven't visited, I kinda wish I went coco for my first grow but I didn't know about it...
I have made other mistakes during my grow, but I don't feel they cost me money (just yield, so guess you could if you equate grams per watt used). But these were the ones that erked me the most because it was sheer stupidity in my opinion.
TL
R Do a shit ton of research, and when you think you have done enough go back and do at least 3 times as much. Then plan out your grow from start to finish. This way there will be a lot less surprises and it may save you some money.
- Face
PS. You know what the above doesn't piss me off???? Knowing that will make back ALL the cost incurred in growing when I harvest my 2nd plant by not having to buy weed from someone else!
