Growing on a budget

[lexort420]

I grow on a very tight budget and I thought I would share how I do it. First off let me say in no way is this the ideal way to grow however this is just to show it can be done. For starters my medium is a Jiffy seedling starter soil less mix, this is great stuff and anybody reading this is probably thinking to themselves "but it's a seedling starter". well before you spaz out let me explain why I use the seedling starter. First and foremost it has no nutes in it and in my area its hard to find any without, secondly it's a soil less mix so it's pretty much hand watered hydro which for me is so much better when all you have is crappy nutes because I have better control on what goes into it, and lastly I get such insanely fast growth in this medium. Obviously since I am on a budget I'm using cfl's which don't suck as bad as many ppl think. I use mainly 26w cfls that are 2700k. Now I know that 6500k is better for veg however I like the results I get from the 2700k cfls because it keeps the growth tight and compact. For pots I use 2-liter pop bottles that are cut about a inch above the label. Before you say anything about how I need a bigger container because my plants will get rootbound I have to say I've had no problem with that thus far. The key is keep veg time short also it is my opinion that my soil less mix makes root space less important, just a theory though. For nutes I use the dreaded miracle grow yes I said it, and I know it is hated on alot and rightfully so. Even I will say if it wasn't for such a tight budget and lack of anything better around I wouldn't even use it myself. In my experience the key to using miracle grow is to first off get the liquid stuff such as the African violet plant food which has a npk ratio of 7-7-7 and use the liquid cactus plant food with a npk ratio of 2-7-7. Now I can't stress this next part enough so listen up USE IT SPARINGLY AND DON'T GO CRAZY THINKING YOUR PLANT NEEDS A HIGH DOSE. I rarely see nute burn and if I do it's because I go ocd when I inspect my plants so I notice the very light nute burn and know to back off on the nutes. I flower my plants in a Rubbermaid tote grow box that I made, I lined the inside with a emergency blanket and have reflector clamp lights with y-splitters hanging inside and a roughly 8inch fan installed in the bottom tote so it can push the air out the top tote. I made my veg/cloning chamber out of the frame of a crib lined once again with a emergency blanket fan for circulation and more reflector dish clamp lights and a lights of America grow light fluro. Growing this way I managed to get enough off 3 plants to smoke every day all day for 2 months and I smoke alot lol. Don't have actual weights yet due to the fact that I don't have a scale yet. All in all I've spent little in comparison to what I would spend to smoke every day all day for 2 months and its still just as good quality if not better then what I can get in my area so I would call it a success. As stated in the beginning this is NOT I repeat NOT the ideal way to grow but if your on a tight budget it is possible. Thank you for taking the time to read this and happy growing

 

[Mtn Dew]

Thanks for sharing....

 

[Sea Horse]

Not a bad setup for a newbie... I remember when I first started growing, all I had was a 4' shop light and some plastic pails. The seedlings did fine as long as I kept the fluorescent bulbs close to them and when they got larger I hung some incandescent bulbs alongside of them to give them a little more light. I used aluminum foil taped to cardboard for reflectors and that was about it. If I remember correctly, I was using Miracle Gro fertilizer at the time. I didn't get a record-setting crop, but since the seeds were of an unknown strain and simply picked from a bag of weed, neither did I have much invested. My technique was crude and my knowledge of harvesting and curing was lacking. However, I did end up with something that I could smoke and enjoy and that made me feel pretty darn good.
After that first crop I began reading how to "do it right" and I was astounded at the complexity of the information. After re-reading pages of information I began to assimilate the information and gradually upgraded both my equipment and my technique. I don't think any crop I have ever grown has given me as much satisfaction as that first simple grow, and I feel sure you will enjoy your harvest. Good luck and thanks for posting... it brings back memories.

 

[lexort420]

Thank you for stopping by mtn dew and thank you sea horse for sharing. I am using bag seed sadly however as I said it turned out as good if not better then the stuff around my area so I can't really complain. If I knew how to put some pictures on here I would but haven't figured it out yet as I'm new to this site.

 

[MicroRoy]

In the old days I flowered under incandesent grow lights. With soil I dug from the garden.

I use the CFL's now. With mirical grow nutes. Its what is avalible.

I do get bricks of coco from the pet store and bags of pearlite from the box store.

The seeds always turn out as good or better than the bag it came from.

 

[lexort420]

Agreed. I've been attempting a reveg on a bagseed plant that I liked but only had the one seed. The goal is to reveg then clone. It will be my first time cloning but this strain is worth it to me to save.

 

[lexort420]

 

[TinkerFarms]

I also am a first time grower and i am using a box that i made out of a huge rubber made bin, as for lighting haha i am using i old lamp that i broke and kept the socket, another 2 i use 2 broken light fixtures that i spliced all equally adding up to almost 5000 lumans, as a reflector i am using a painted white board. For circulation i am using an old i mean old desk fan that i also had to splice.. i know its crazy but it only cost me a lil bit of imagination and effort!?

 

[lexort420]

It's amazing to see the ingenuity of stoners at work. I wish you luck on your grow it sounds like a good start, I only say that because you might want more lights come flowering time.

 

[TinkerFarms]

I am planning on getting more lights in the future I am just trying to save on the electric bill. I have a off the topic question.. When you are germinating your seeds how long do you allow the tape root to get before planting? I am trying to shorten the time it takes to go from seed to a visible seedling? If I let it grow between the plates for a few days is that better? I am worried that it might get water logged?

 

[Weaselcracker]

I like to plant it when it's 1/4" long or so. I've waited till the root was longer- like up to 2"- bit I think it's wasting energy doing that. If it was planted it would be fully underway and growing - instead it's curling and twisting around in different directions- accomplishing nothing. Also the root is very vulnerable in that situation- to being broken, drying out, rotting, etc.

 

[uptheholler2]

Man do I love this topic. I am constantly amazed at what people pay to grow weed. I grow 10's of thousand of vegetable plants for market every year. If I used "Special" weed nutrients or growing mixes to grow them I would have been bankrupt 30 years ago. I always ask people what they are trying to accomplish. Just grow great weed for themselves to enjoy or make somebody elses truck payment. I am harvesting my 38th outdoor grow this year. Tm me it's about having enough good weed to see me through a year than anything else and it is why I always encourage folks to grow some plants with just water period. you may be surprised what you end up with! Best of luck in all you grow!

 

[lexort420]

Ya I'm just growing for personal use so as long I like the end product what does it matter whether or not I have top dollar equipment lol. I like to keep things simple and I'm content enough with that.

 

[TinkerFarms]

Man do I love this topic. I am constantly amazed at what people pay to grow weed. I grow 10's of thousand of vegetable plants for market every year. If I used "Special" weed nutrients or growing mixes to grow them I would have been bankrupt 30 years ago. I always ask people what they are trying to accomplish. Just grow great weed for themselves to enjoy or make somebody elses truck payment. I am harvesting my 38th outdoor grow this year. Tm me it's about having enough good weed to see me through a year than anything else and it is why I always encourage folks to grow some plants with just water period. you may be surprised what you end up with! Best of luck in all you grow!

I am trying the soil and water method also cause I am growing to save me money not to spend the same amount and all this time and effort so yeah this is what I choose.
I also planted my babies in soil that I did buy for a $1 a bag from General Dollar. But what I did was took a clean tupper wear dish sprinkled just a little soil in the bottom then put like 5 or 6 bag seeds in then sprinkled a lil more over top and bam 2 days later I flipped the container over gently shifted the dirt and bam there were 4 seeds germed and root about 1/4 th inch long so I planted them in individual containers, watered with tablespoon now this is what I have...

2 out of the 4 have got their first real leaves.

 

[lexort420]

Nice! Good luck on your grow im sending good happy vibes your way! Grow on!

 

[Lazarus13]

I'm in the budget catagory too. My first grow was on some stainless steel storage racks with white cardboard wrapped around them, a handful of cfls that i wired up, a 6 inch desk fan, some cheapo potting soil i had laying around and fish emulsion and bloom food i found at home depot. Then i built two boxes that ended up showing me all the things wrong with my grow thinking. Thankfully for my upcoming grow ive managed to put some money together for a tent and decent fan and real nutes, ph up down kit and a few other things. Its not about the money you can spend, its all about the feeling you get when you take that first drag of your own hard work that is the best.

 

[lexort420]

Ya i will say that its good to upgrade eventually but to start out there are plenty of ways to grow cheap and efficient. I have since upgraded my grow bit by bit since i last posted on this thread lol. I firmly believe that anyone can grow with minimum supplies but it is good to upgrade little by little if your strapped for cash lol.

 

[GreenLiv]

Hello. I'm new here and definitely on a budget too. I will follow here if I can.

 

[Lazarus13]

Hello. I'm new here and definitely on a budget too. I will follow here if I can.

You are definitely in the right place. I've been all over different forums and so many have trolls and incorrect info and guesswork instead of facts. At i have found the most welcoming and well informed group of people. I have learned so much and come here everyday to learn more and more.

 

[GreenLiv]

I just joined but have learned a huge amount already