New Grower

[Frank White]

Hi, I got some seeds off a mate, they're sativa seeds that grow up to 6ft+. It's almost Spring and I still have no equipment so my question is, what should I buy exactly, from the type of light to the type of soil. Any help I can get on this will be great.

I'm not too oblivious with this subject, I've done my research but I'd still like to see some opinions from people who do this regularly. I can't afford too much equipment, about $200 is all I can spend and since I will be growing them indoors, I'd like to know exactly what I will need for my beauties to grow.

I've seen some lights on the internet (I'll add some pics of the light I'm talking about.

would that work for 5-6 plants? If not, what would you recommend? Feel free to post a link or screenshot to anything that might be useful.

Thank you for your help.

 

[rookiept]

No will not. I have one of thoes and she work whit two plants but its not enough. Good its at least one for each one. On flowring you will miss more light trust me.

 

[TorturedSoul]

From the reference to it being "almost Spring," along with your cell phone provider being Telstra, I assume you are in Australia?

Will 200 AUD purchase a 400-watt HPS (or at least a 250-watt one) down there? I'd expect either of those to outperform a generic 140-watt LED panel, especially one that only includes LEDs in three discrete portions of the spectrum. I suppose lots of people are growing (or trying to) with them, but... I'd consider it to be incomplete (and low-powered).

Are you at all worried about odor? If so, you'll either need to save up some more money, or spend a good bit of that $200 on a carbon filtration setup.

If you are dead set on cheap low-powered LED, take a look at one or more of our sponsors' product lines. Mars-Hydro sells some, and has been a sponsor long enough that there is a wealth of feedback here. There is the giant M-H thread, I have seen their forum representative occasionally posting in other threads, and you should be able to find plenty of journal threads (both ongoing and completed) where their products were used. Plus, it is always good when members can support the sponsors that help pay the server/etc. bills - that keep this forum operating so that we can use it for free. You should be able to get a more realistic idea of what their products are capable of that way than from looking at a random advertisement.

 

[rookiept]

Do what ever you want bro just saying. Let more some one coment

 

[Why Doe]

Hate to break it to you man but you won't be able to do a very good grow with only $200 bucks.. I'm on my
First grow and my setup cost me around a grand. My 450w light which is honestly the absolute lowest I would go for 1 plant and it was $140 bucks alone. Are you going to grow in a tent? Do you care about smell? You have to factor in heat and humidity, Nutrients are expensive soil can be expensive. Ect ect

 

[rookiept]

Hate to break it to you man but you won't be able to do a very good grow with only $200 bucks.. I'm on my
First grow and my setup cost me around a grand. My 450w light which is honestly the absolute lowest I would go for 1 plant and it was $140 bucks alone. Are you going to grow in a tent? Do you care about smell? You have to factor in heat and humidity, Nutrients are expensive soil can be expensive. Ect ect

100% right. You to grow like 6 plants you have to spend e litle bit of money. But at the end you will love it

 

[Why Doe]

I'm only growing 2 plants at a time and it cost me that much

 

[Planter420]

For the price u have hps is really your best option but you will without a doubt need ventilation for the heat unless you grow in a garage in winter lol either way u need ventilation. Did you mean 200 just for the light or total? If you're gonna buy Chinese anything go with Mars

 

[Why Doe]

I have 2 of these. They are great but still could use more. VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 450W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Veg and Flower

 

[Frank White]

Thank you for all of your input, I appreciate it. I'm aware $200 isn't much of a budget but it's all I can afford and I don't want to wait until next spring so start growing. I have a Friend who manages to grow 20+ plants without any lights or anything. Would one of the lights I mentioned work for the seedlings just as they're starting off?

 

[Frank White]

For the price u have hps is really your best option but you will without a doubt need ventilation for the heat unless you grow in a garage in winter lol either way u need ventilation. Did you mean 200 just for the light or total? If you're gonna buy Chinese anything go with Mars

Unfortunately, $200-$250 in total. Most of that will go towards the basics. Pots and soil.

 

[Frank White]

Hate to break it to you man but you won't be able to do a very good grow with only $200 bucks.. I'm on my
First grow and my setup cost me around a grand. My 450w light which is honestly the absolute lowest I would go for 1 plant and it was $140 bucks alone. Are you going to grow in a tent? Do you care about smell? You have to factor in heat and humidity, Nutrients are expensive soil can be expensive. Ect ect

I agree, $200 is close to nothing when it comes to this. I'm going to be growing in my garage which is quite large. I'm kinda free balling it through this season until I have enough money to properly grow in a greenhouse with humidifiers, light, fans and all that. Also it's going to be $150 for all the pots and soil so I really only have $50-$100 to work with

 

[Frank White]

From the reference to it being "almost Spring," along with your cell phone provider being Telstra, I assume you are in Australia?

Will 200 AUD purchase a 400-watt HPS (or at least a 250-watt one) down there? I'd expect either of those to outperform a generic 140-watt LED panel, especially one that only includes LEDs in three discrete portions of the spectrum. I suppose lots of people are growing (or trying to) with them, but... I'd consider it to be incomplete (and low-powered).

Are you at all worried about odor? If so, you'll either need to save up some more money, or spend a good bit of that $200 on a carbon filtration setup.

If you are dead set on cheap low-powered LED, take a look at one or more of our sponsors' product lines. Mars-Hydro sells some, and has been a sponsor long enough that there is a wealth of feedback here. There is the giant M-H thread, I have seen their forum representative occasionally posting in other threads, and you should be able to find plenty of journal threads (both ongoing and completed) where their products were used. Plus, it is always good when members can support the sponsors that help pay the server/etc. bills - that keep this forum operating so that we can use it for free. You should be able to get a more realistic idea of what their products are capable of that way than from looking at a random advertisement.

Yeah I do live in Australia, there's this 400-watt light that could be put in the light fixture in the garage, would this work?

and nah I'm to concerned about the odour, I live in a very rural area. This may be useful information, in summer it can get into the high 40's (Celsius), would that be bad for the plants in a non ventilated, brick room? If not I can put a fan in (which I'll most likely do anyways because I read cannabis needs airflow for a good grow). Thank you for your reply.

 

[Planter420]

It won't work with a normal cfl fixture, no. It may screw in but you need a ballast. And a hood, really. If you're using a tent and are just growing openly in the garage a fan will do fine for circulation but in an enclosed space it's necessary. I don't know what 40 is in farenheight off the top of my Willy but it sounds quite warm. Anything over 80f is iffy and at 85f you'll be in trouble especially if in DWC without a chiller but sounds like you'll be in soil so not worried bout reservoir temps. Got a small portable ac u can use JIC?

 

[Frank White]

It won't work with a normal cfl fixture, no. It may screw in but you need a ballast. And a hood, really. If you're using a tent and are just growing openly in the garage a fan will do fine for circulation but in an enclosed space it's necessary. I don't know what 40 is in farenheight off the top of my Willy but it sounds quite warm. Anything over 80f is iffy and at 85f you'll be in trouble especially if in DWC without a chiller but sounds like you'll be in soil so not worried bout reservoir temps. Got a small portable ac u can use JIC?

104 Fahrenheit. And nah we don't have any AC, just a few fans. And I'm 100% willing to give up my comfort of a fan in summer for a good grow. I have about 3 fans I could use. Two are old but they should still work. Also what's a ballast?

Thanks for your help

 

[Planter420]

Nope at 104 you're plants will already be dead lol. May I suggest growing in the fall lmao.
Ok so a ballast. An hps bulb has all kinds of vapors in them and in order to start the lamp you need pulses of high voltage to make the jump, or arc to start it up. Basically your lamp won't just start getting 120 from the wall, or 240, idk what ya got there. The ballast runs the lamp and is a necessity. Without it you just have a place to hold your lamp lol. Hps is cheap to buy but expensive to run whereas led is usually expensive to buy (for a really good one) but much cheaper to run with less heat.

If u wanna grow in 104 degree heat try a cactus lol. Cannabis won't grow over 85f

 

[Frank White]

Nope at 104 you're plants will already be dead lol. May I suggest growing in the fall lmao.
Ok so a ballast. An hps bulb has all kinds of vapors in them and in order to start the lamp you need pulses of high voltage to make the jump, or arc to start it up. Basically your lamp won't just start getting 120 from the wall, or 240, idk what ya got there. The ballast runs the lamp and is a necessity. Without it you just have a place to hold your lamp lol. Hps is cheap to buy but expensive to run whereas led is usually expensive to buy (for a really good one) but much cheaper to run with less heat.

If u wanna grow in 104 degree heat try a cactus lol. Cannabis won't grow over 85f

yeah I don't think I'll be getting a ballast any time soon.
And yes, we use 240 here. I could start growing tomorrow seeing as I have some seedling soil and because it's still winter they won't overheat but they'd get too cold... well at that age I could have them inside without the creating an odour, right? Spring isn't too bad with heat, maximum is usually 35 C which is 95 F and that's usually only one day in spring that gets that hot. Also I know this is such an amateur question but how long would it take for a plant like that to grow from seedling to harvest?

 

[Planter420]

I keep forgetting that the water swirls backwards in y'all toilets down undah lol oh yeah and your seasons are opposite ours. 240 uses less power than 120 so that's a plus. You really can't find anything cheaper? Dont u Aussies have craigslist?

 

[Why Doe]

A fan will not do anything with the temps it will just circulate air. If your garage gets over 85 degrees and you can't do anything about it save yourself the time and money and don't even bother growing. As for the light you can't just screw it into a socket and it will work. You need a good and ballast to handle that many watts and those are really expensive. LED is the cheapest method. A ballast is like the lights power source controller to control the amount of power that comes from the wall. I believe. I do know you need one tho

 

[Why Doe]

It won't start to smell until it flowers and starts producing buds. Is it an autoflower strain or photoperiod? You probably looking at 3 months