Small Time Lazy Seed Starter - Beating A Dead Horse To Death

[WickedWench]

So....I've TRIED to be good and read all the forum posts in order to make an intelligent decision on my own. Confusion & failure. There are SO many different kind of lights out there and SO much technical information out there. COB, LED, HID, watts, etc., etc. Making me crazy.

Please hold my hand and give me some simple suggestions for lighting. Here's my story. I'm going to start 2 or 3 plants indoors around mid-March. Approximately mid-May, they're getting put out on our sunny deck to finish doing their thing. I'm not a serious grower and want biggest bang for my limited buck. That said, I don't want spindly, leggy sad plants to contend with - had enough of that with my tomato and other seed starting ventures under standard fluorescent. I don't use a tent - they'll be grown on a table in our "dining" room.

Price limit is $400 or less. Don't want to build anything.

My apologies for beating this particular horse - but this lighting research is starting to make me foam at the mouth.

Thank you!

 

[PurpleGunRack]

250 MH (Metal Halide) bulb with a 250w ballast and a reflector, you can find these as a kit in most online grow shops /ebay/amazon etc. for less than $100.

 

[HayStack]

^^^ What he said ^^^
Since you will only be growing indoors for a short period of time, it doesn't make sense to spend a lot of money on indoor lighting. I'm not sure where you live. But if you live in the west coast, mid May is a perfect time to put your plants outdoors.

I usually buy some clones at that time and grow them all outdoors. I have grown some pretty big monsters outdoors. Nothing beats the lighting that good old mother nature gives. The pot size that you choose can make a big difference on how big your grow gets. But if you use pots that are at least 10 gallons, you can expect to get at least one pound of good bud per plant. You can get even more with a lot of TLC.

 

[WickedWench]

Thanks very much PurpleGunRack. I will check them out! I appreciate the concise info.

 

[WickedWench]

Thanks HayStack! I grew our solo plant last year on the deck. Received the plant as a gift somewhere around mid-April and grew it under a chicken brooder light for about a month until it went outside. Since I'm starting this year's from seed and have had DISMAL results with veggie seed starts, etc., I figure that while not going nutty, I should upgrade the lighting.

 

[HayStack]

Thanks HayStack! I grew our solo plant last year on the deck. Received the plant as a gift somewhere around mid-April and grew it under a chicken brooder light for about a month until it went outside. Since I'm starting this year's from seed and have had DISMAL results with veggie seed starts, etc., I figure that while not going nutty, I should upgrade the lighting.

That's great. I hope it works for you.

The mother plant for my summer grow is in my cloning/veg tent now. I'm going to take some clones in April and let them grow a bit in the tent before putting them outside. Your thread here inspired me to try something new this year.