Prepping for first grow! :)

[HomieDaGrower]

Thanks all for your words of amazing wisdom!

Situation I'm dealing with now, is I wanted to purchase these items in my state... but no place will even come close to the price I'm getting, and I'm being told "buy cheap from the internet and you'll be sorry" .. but the products I'm cross referencing here are spoken decently highly of. So obviously they are just trying to blow smoke up my ***.

I just didn't want to deal with deliveries and also .. IF I absolutely had to, I wanted everything to come all at once (hence why I liked that complete package deal so much)

So amazing that these stores don't want to come down a little on their prices to make an $850 sale.

One thing you need to consider. A local store, has a much higher operating cost, than an online seller. While I understand the need to save money, by purchasing the big stuff online, I do buy a few things from the local, just to help them stay in business. When there is an emergency, bulb blows, etc. It is nice to not have to wait for a delivery, when you can just pop into the shop, for a replacement.
That said, I do buy most of my stuff online, and use the local for nutes, bulbs, smart pots, and soil.

HomieHogleg

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

I'll be using local nutes, bulbs, pots and soil myself.. it's the most sensible thing to buy locally for sure!

I imagine I can have stuff shipped to a UPS store and have them call my cell and I can pick it up there? Hope so.

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Good news! My item on eBay is going to sell for more than I expected. So it looks like I'll get about $900-$950 from that item, and should be able to chip in another $100 or so beyond that from wife.. so $1050 is looking more like my limit for seed to curing jars and everything in between. soil, tent, light, fan, duct nutes everything.

Maybe I can get a deal now at the local place

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Oh and did I mention how darn excited I am?!

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

This is what I got for a quote from the store:

1- Grow Lab-120 4x4x6'7" =$270
1- SunSystem Harvest Pro Elite 600watt Ballast =$178
1- Sun System Yield MasterII Supreme 6" Reflector =$120
1- Ultra Sun 600 watt HPS Lamp =$60
1-Active Air 4" HO Inline Fan 165 CFM =$105
1-Phat Filter 4"x20" Carbon Filter =$110
1-6"-4" Duct Reducer =$11
1-Active air 6"x20' Ducting with Clamps =$20
1-Active Air Hydrometer/Thermometer =$20
25- 2 Gallon Grow Bags =$8
1-Titan Control Apollo 8 =$13
1- Pair Progrips Light Hanger =$15
1- Flora Grow Q =$12.5
1-Flora Bloom Q =$12.5
1-Flora Micro Q =$16
1-FloraWing 125watt CFL for Veg =$65
Subtotal $1,036.00
Minus 10% cash Discount -$103.60
Grand Total =$932

I need help with this. What do you think first and second, what do you suggest? I want to buy and pick it up, not get delivered if I can help it.

Also, how many bags of Fox Farm do I grab? Anything else I should get immediately?

Quick thoughts would be great! Any?

 

[ShOrTbUs]

This is what I got from the store:

1- Grow Lab-120 4x4x6'7" =$270
1- SunSystem Harvest Pro Elite 600watt Ballast =$178
1- Sun System Yield MasterII Supreme 6" Reflector =$120
1- Ultra Sun 600 watt HPS Lamp =$60
1-Active Air 4" HO Inline Fan 165 CFM =$105
1-Phat Filter 4"x20" Carbon Filter =$110
1-6"-4" Duct Reducer =$11
1-Active air 6"x20' Ducting with Clamps =$20
1-Active Air Hydrometer/Thermometer =$20
25- 2 Gallon Grow Bags =$8
1-Titan Control Apollo 8 =$13
1- Pair Progrips Light Hanger =$15
1- Flora Grow Q =$12.5
1-Flora Bloom Q =$12.5
1-Flora Micro Q =$16
1-FloraWing 125watt CFL for Veg =$65
Subtotal $1,036.00
Minus 10% cash Discount -$103.60
Grand Total =$932

I need help with this. What do you think first and second, what do you suggest? I want to buy and pick it up, not get delivered if I can help it.

Also, how many bags of Fox Farm do I grab? Anything else I should get immediately?

Quick thoughts would be great! Any?

your going to need a second 6"-4" reducer since you have a 4" fan and carbon filter, but have 6" hood. you still need a ph pen and ppm meter

 

[WrEkkED]

Why don't you want to stick with a 6" inline fan? The cost is negligible and gets twice a much air flow.

 

[HomieDaGrower]

This is what I got from the store:

1- Grow Lab-120 4x4x6'7" =$270
1- SunSystem Harvest Pro Elite 600watt Ballast =$178
1- Sun System Yield MasterII Supreme 6" Reflector =$120
1- Ultra Sun 600 watt HPS Lamp =$60
1-Active Air 4" HO Inline Fan 165 CFM =$105
1-Phat Filter 4"x20" Carbon Filter =$110
1-6"-4" Duct Reducer =$11
1-Active air 6"x20' Ducting with Clamps =$20
1-Active Air Hydrometer/Thermometer =$20
25- 2 Gallon Grow Bags =$8
1-Titan Control Apollo 8 =$13
1- Pair Progrips Light Hanger =$15
1- Flora Grow Q =$12.5
1-Flora Bloom Q =$12.5
1-Flora Micro Q =$16
1-FloraWing 125watt CFL for Veg =$65
Subtotal $1,036.00
Minus 10% cash Discount -$103.60
Grand Total =$932

I need help with this. What do you think first and second, what do you suggest? I want to buy and pick it up, not get delivered if I can help it.

Also, how many bags of Fox Farm do I grab? Anything else I should get immediately?

Quick thoughts would be great! Any?

Looks like a pretty good list, though I would have gone with T5 for veg light. A 2ft 4 bulb T5 would give you slightly more lumen s for less electricity usage. A 125 watt CFL only has 8500 lumens, while a 2' 4 tube T5HO gives you, if I remember correctly around 9500 lumens at 96 watts of power.
But other than that, looks like a pretty good beginning. I would upgrade to the 6" fan and filter though.

Have fun, and Green Mojo

HomieHogleg

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Cost is a little bit more.. he offered me this too:

I have a Goblin 6" Carbon filter for $102 and a 6" active air inline fan cost $129 If you went that route it would be close to the 4" price

Could do that? :shrug:

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Alright, upgrade to 6" is definite. Will do that.. thanks for the advice there guys. I was curious about that.

Also:

I would have gone with T5 for veg light. A 2ft 4 bulb T5 would give you slightly more lumen s for less electricity usage

He said the T5 fixture is $50 more... I'm still in need of soil as it is.
What I could do is get right of CFL and T5 for the first month - month and half, and just do MH veg in the tent for the first grow. That'll free up some funds too.

 

[WrEkkED]

I bought my setup online, In Canada, Which is more expensive than USA, and other than the tent and nutes I got everything you did for just under 600$ shipped. My tent is only 2x3x5 and cost 110$ so You should be around 700$. The online stuff (ebay) is awesome stuff. I have bought everything from dirtbikes to home improvement to grow materials and have never had an issue.

50$ for that T5 fixture is an awesome deal. My local wants 30$ for a single tube 3' fixture.

Running 24/7 under fluros works really nice for keeping the plants short and bushy. I am in the same situation as you right now wondering should I run mh or get the T5 fluro (my originals were T8 4' fixtures that I didn't have in a tent). Hopefully someone with better knowledge chimes in, but from what I've been reading the mh will be way too hot to keep close to the seedlings until about week 2 and will thus cause them to stretch.

 

[WrEkkED]

I will tell you this man, I learned the hard way. Buy EVERYTHING you need. Trying to cheap out really costs you in the end. I've spent more money trying to correct a ph problem in time for it not to affect growth than it would have cost me to get good soil and organic ferts.

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Yeah I'm getting FFOF and Flora nutes. Quality Grow Lab and Sun Systems light + ballast. I'm happy to spend a little extra and get this locally and quality.

I was looking at some stuff on ebay a lot cheaper, and it's just not worth it for the chance for me. I messaged one about the tent and he told me exactly as it was. A China made knock off that "had no brand name and was a generic high quality remake of popular models you'd see"

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

I carry ffof but i suggest sunshine mix rain forest.its higher quality and the bag is 33% larger than ffof

What do you think of this?

 

[ShOrTbUs]

ok i just looked up the rain forest mix. they are = soils when it comes to your growing situation. they are both high end organic potting soils. they are both packed with organic nutrients. FFOF feeds your plants for about 4 weeks. i have no experience with sunshine rainforest, so i can't say with any certainty how long it will last before you have to feed the plants. with that being said. by the time your plants begin to bud, it wont matter anymore. you are feeding with synthetic nutrients so you are going to kill off all of the beneficial microbes within your soil. so even if there is organic food left in the soil by that time, it wont be utilized anyway. what i say to you is, go with the one that gives you the most soil per dollar. you still need a ph meter and a ppm meter. dont put these off too long. they are very important tools when it comes to synthetic growing

pick up some perlite too. look for a bag of perlite that consists mostly of the small pellets of perlite in it. i use 1 bag FFOF and mix it with a 1/2 bag of mg perlite.

 

[HighBrixMMJ]

dont be afraid to order online just be careful if youre not legal have em shipped to somewhere youre not growing! the safest bet is to purchase local if you can afford to spend the dollars, dont go without the ph and ppm meter! shortbus is right theyre super important to getting a good harvest!

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

what i say to you is, go with the one that gives you the most soil per dollar. you still need a ph meter and a ppm meter. dont put these off too long. they are very important tools when it comes to synthetic growing

pick up some perlite too. look for a bag of perlite that consists mostly of the small pellets of perlite in it. i use 1 bag FFOF and mix it with a 1/2 bag of mg perlite.

He said the bags have 33% more for the price and are extremely comparable. He also says, that everyone that has suggest FFOF to me works for them. (LOL!)

Ok, so glad to know that stuff would work, I just hate trying a product nobody else has tried As for the perlite, yeah I got that sorted with him too. The PH meter I'll be most likely picking up online. Hanna meter, $32.99 at ehydroponics. Also, I thought the PPM meter was only relevant (mostly) with water based growths.. DWC etc. ??

dont be afraid to order online just be careful if youre not legal have em shipped to somewhere youre not growing! the safest bet is to purchase local if you can afford to spend the dollars, dont go without the ph and ppm meter! shortbus is right theyre super important to getting a good harvest!

Not afraid per say but yes, going to go local for many reasons.

and yea, I fully intend on a good PH meter.


Thank you 2 so much for chiming in!

 

[puffnpaint]

dude, here`s an idea for ya. if you`re using organic soil, why not ditch the synthetic nuts for an organic line up? i went from hydro with the flora to dirt with ff on the last grow and this grow i used the grow box from general organics. i wound up breaking a branch so i tried out some bud a month early and it is already better than the finished mother my buddy grew.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Don't be afraid to use the Sunshine mix, its good stuff. I know several who use and like it. Puffnpaint has a point that if you are starting out organic you can stay organic. Many people like the taste of organic better than synthetic, BUT there are many who like the taste of synthetic over organic(at least that I deal with). The only problem that I find with organic is that you really have to know and be able to read your plants as they have different needs. It is easier(in my opinion) to get deficiencies in organics if you don't know organics well, than it is with synthetic nutes. Most here who run organics all the way ammend their soil so that they avoid the deficiencies. But if you don't how and what to mix, you can get into trouble very quick, whereas with synthetic nutes you just follow a regamin and make sure the PH is on target each time you water/feed.

I highly recommend getting a ppm meter for any time that synthetic nutes are used. More often than not, those who start feeding with synthetic and don't use a ppm meter end up burning their plants. That is because the nute feeding schedule is a general guidline for general plant use, and every plant strain has its own feeding requirements. Following a ppm scale is safer until you learn the plants' needs.

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Thanks guys!

Yeah I'm trying to stay as "easy" and efficient as possible on my first grow, hence this method for nutes.

Glad to know the Sunshine mix is good! There's 33% more and he (store owner) says it's better anyways. I just thought he was blowing smoke up my ***, and I would buy something that would be stupid to do on the first grow!

PPM.. check. Will do!


It's getting close! Once I get these funds into paypal then transferred to my bank account, I'll be good to take a drive and pick this all up!