Growing on a budget

[featherdusta]

Cheap doesnt necessarily mean crap.Just this week i decided to make a prop box it was easier than i thought it wood b tough.To start i went supacheap auto ( australia ) .I noticed they had shelving on special.I found some 5 tierrgalvinised shelves for 25bucks,so i got two.Shelve dimensions 710x305x1370mmI then went to bunnings hardware and bought double batten fluro for $50.I went home put shelves together with only 3 tiers and then bolted them together.The top shelf i put on upside down so i had flat even surface to mount fluros.Whilst i was putting together i realized (dont ask me how ) that the size of openings were roughly same size as car windscreen so i went to wifes car and stole her windscreen sunshade.U wouldnt read about it is a perfect fit so ilined rest of it.Due to holes on shelves it allowed me to fix 2 bolts atop of opening thus i can roll up to top of shelves and get easy access.I only used 3 tiers as they ar all evenly spaced so if i feel the need i can still fit 2 more lights and have 3 levels so it can be 6 different sections by enclosing gap in middle or where to 2 shelve units are joined together.All up cost me $ 100 with just a desk fan and heat pad to go in so for roughly $150 u can have kickass prop box. Dont have to worry bout rust its galvinised and shelves together it almost looks medical.I reckon it is easy to keep clean( hygene important ) if u are using dwc i think options are limitless could have resovoir below above it up to u .Also shelves are rated at 50kgs plus safety bracing comes with shelves.If u cant get sunshades theres nothing stopping u pinching mums or wives aluminium foil and duct tape will get u underway.Any questions feel free to ask

 

[featherdusta]

Ps i put sunshade on with the edge that sits next to the pillar on bottom then ran it up over top of box and it finished exactly on bottom of other side needing only a couple of bits of velcro on corners to make sure no light escapes.

 

[featherdusta]

I was thinking of pinching a few of wives shopping bags and sewing them together if u do it right u can have handles too.Ireckon they wood work fine they appear to have holes all ova them same as grow bag.Could almost get away wiv using 1 bag.

 

[Smokyjoe]

I am the king of cheap!

It's that hillbilly thinking. It's the reason I still use jelly jars for drinking glasses.

I got a good idea off your journal. Plastic knives for plant labels is good thinking. I have a few store-bought labels, and I've cut a few out of plastic containers, but the knives look like the way to go.

 

[Smokyjoe]

I was thinking of pinching a few of wives shopping bags and sewing them together...

You mean those reusable bags? I'm going to try some of them in the regular garden this year. They're $1 a piece at the local grocery, so even if they only last one season, it's not a bad price. I also got a roll of burlap. Sewed one container out of that so far, but It's awfully slow by hand. I think there's a sewing machine around here somewhere that might speed up the process.

 

[featherdusta]

Yeah i dont c y not got handles too bonus

 

[Lazarus13]

I've been grabbing them up too. May have to double some up cuz they're a bit thin. Gonna try em out in the flower garden this year to get a feel for them. Like the idea of cheap and effective a lot.

 

[TheFertilizer]

My first grow was really cheap. I spent 20 bucks for 3 cfls, my buddy gave me panda film, another gave me buckets. Anyway it was about 300 watts and only part of my floor was even covered and the space was 5x5. Then on top of that all I had to ventilate was a box fan, temps were never under 85 and frequently past 95. Had fungus gnats keeping the water so wet, mite problems, power issues, so on and so forth. But where there is a will there is a way... Thanks to good nutrition, good genes and great friends I got 21 grams of dried dank off them. Pretty dismal yield but it felt good smoking my own that I grew.

I do think most of my luck with potency came down to my choice of nutrients and I didn't break the bank there but was lucky to have very generous friends. I fed mainly GH Flora Nova, but I also used Crystal Burst during flower as well as a silica supplment all through the plants life. I used black gold natural and organic, which might seem to not make sense given I bottle fed, but it had a 0-0-0 NPK rating and so it was easy to avoid nutrient burn. Because I used a silica supplement and my tap was already so alkaline, I had to do a lot of PH downing. Only ever saw slight sign of nutrient lockout, I think the low light caused most of it because it was always yellowing.

I actually started them out as clones on the side of the tub using desk lamps.

 

[featherdusta]

I think the fan off an old pc wood work fine in a small grow or prop box

 

[featherdusta]

Happy daze growin own bud priceless