I know I know...Lighting....

[babyhonbri]

So I'm new at growing and I've done my research on it but the lighting still tricks me a bit. So I'm a closet grower but I'm also a budget grower. I need help knowing what lighting I should get for a decent price (by decent I mean as humanly cheap as possible considering college students are broke as hell) that would fit into a space roughly 3 ft wide and 7 ft tall. Please and thank you.

 

[Shayden]

Your best bet would be growing bag seed with CFLs and expect minimal results (14g-20g a plant) on a college student budget.

Go big or go home!

 

[SquishMitten]

CFL's CFL's CFL's... like 10 bucks for a four pack.

 

[Snow Crash]

I'll be straight up with you dude.

Save your money.

Put $50 in a jar whenever you can. And in 6 months or so you'll be able to get started. You need more than just lighting. You need ventilation, media, planters, pH equipment, scent removal, etc, etc.

Anticipate a good $300 up front. Another $200 a month after that. And probably another $100 to $200 before it is all said and done. If you break it up though, $20 here, $20 there, in time you'll have it worked out. Starting young means you can build a system over time, so spend your money wisely, do your homework, and just try to have a game plan for the next 2 years and where you'd like to be by then.

Maybe you get a couple $100 for Xmas/Hanukkah (not to discriminate) or you pick up an easy side job for some quick cash. Get yourself $800 to $1000 and then we can talk about EXACTLY what you need to do to be harvesting enough for the personal needs of say... 3 to 4 moderate to heavy users.

Otherwise...
Get yourself some 27w Daylight twisty CFL bulbs and some clamp light reflectors and a desk fan and hope you don't waste what little time, money, and energy you have.

 

[Nocturn3]

CFLs are the cheapest, as far as setup costs go, but HPS will give you more weed per watt, so work out better on running costs.

I should mention that hps lights can be gotten for fairly cheap. You don't even have to buy proper "grow" lights. I have a 250 that started it's life as a flood light. It's an easy task to remove the ballast and mount it elsewhere (in a suitable enclosure). I got it for next to nothing on ebay, and it did the job admirably.

That being said, my first couple of grows were with cfls and pc fans, on a shoestring budget, and the money I saved funded my HPS setup (mainly my extraction and filter, since my light was so cheap).

 

[babyhonbri]

I am saving. I have around 300 bucks dedicated to my baby but this is my first grow and I want to just make this not really a practice round but see what I can get away with as a cheap result. So CFL's is the way to go huh...any idea how many lights I should have on my plant at a time?

 

[Brick Top]

I'll be straight up with you dude.

Save your money.

Put $50 in a jar whenever you can. And in 6 months or so you'll be able to get started. You need more than just lighting. You need ventilation, media, planters, pH equipment, scent removal, etc, etc.

Anticipate a good $300 up front. Another $200 a month after that. And probably another $100 to $200 before it is all said and done. If you break it up though, $20 here, $20 there, in time you'll have it worked out. Starting young means you can build a system over time, so spend your money wisely, do your homework, and just try to have a game plan for the next 2 years and where you'd like to be by then.

Maybe you get a couple $100 for Xmas/Hanukkah (not to discriminate) or you pick up an easy side job for some quick cash. Get yourself $800 to $1000 and then we can talk about EXACTLY what you need to do to be harvesting enough for the personal needs of say... 3 to 4 moderate to heavy users.

Otherwise...
Get yourself some 27w Daylight twisty CFL bulbs and some clamp light reflectors and a desk fan and hope you don't waste what little time, money, and energy you have.

I would agree, other than not being a CFL fan, but for the rest I have to say it is sound advice. It is always best to have everything you need before you begin, or at least have all the funds needed before you begin. Too many people out the cart before the horse.

Oh .... there was this too ... "Maybe you get a couple $100 for Xmas/Hanukkah (not to discriminate)" You did leave out Quanza, now didn't you?

 

[frmrboi]

a minimum of 75 reall watts per square foot for flowering and triple that if you don't make reflectors for your bulbs.
There's a whole group just for CFL growers here: https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/

 

[Snow Crash]

Oh .... there was this too ... "Maybe you get a couple $100 for Xmas/Hanukkah (not to discriminate)" You did leave out Quanza, now didn't you?

There's always someone.
HAHA! I just kidding now!

Godless Pagans...

 

[pilgram]

when i started i drove down the highway picking up free 200watt hps street lights after wrecks only prob is youll have to buy bulbs $20 bulbs i worked up to 800 watts until i got my first (real) 600 watt

 

[babyhonbri]

thanks for the advice you all. alright im on my way to pick up some cfls and i'll keep you all posted with a journal hopefully all goes well

 

[marti221]

Honestly man, HPS isnt really that expensive. And when you compare the final product of your bud, HPS is undoubtably better. If your looking for something other than low quality, airy buds with decreased potency, then CFLs arent really any cheaper. In order to produce enough photons for the plant to produce thick dense buds, your going to have to buy quite a few high wattage CFLs (AT LEAST 42w and at this size you will need ALOT). these are about $10 each. However for only $20, yes thats right, $20! You can get a 150w hps diy ballast kit. Go on youtube or look right here on RIU, and you will find tutorials on how to put it together. Its really easy, nothing more than hooking up a few wires, really. And the bulb can be bought for under $10. I would go with a couple of these in a room that size (or even start off with one and add when you get some more $, thats what I did). You can also add a few blue spectrum CFLs, and with good ventalation heat isnt much of an issue. Anyway, heres that site with the ballast http://www.lightbulbsurplus.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=18&cPath=153. And heres another site with diy 400w hps ballast kits for only $55 and about $10 for the bulb http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=45693 (and from what I hear, they are VERY trustworthy and stand by their products)

 

[Bonzing]

yo, get a 300 watt cmh light bulb and your good for vegetative state and flowering, no messing with changing light bulbs ect.

other then that , get a small ghetto fan , get pro-mix potting & seeding , some 20-20-20 fertilizer for when its in vegetative state , then some 3-7-8 fertilizer

other then that, up to you

 

[sandee]

there are several different sellers on ebay that have the whole set up -reflectors-yoyos(to hang the reflector)-switchable ballast and bulbs=$125 to $200 bucks any one from a 250 watt to a 600watt and those are buy now not bid ons, i'd do that!

 

[babyhonbri]

yo, get a 300 watt cmh light bulb and your good for vegetative state and flowering, no messing with changing light bulbs ect.

other then that , get a small ghetto fan , get pro-mix potting & seeding , some 20-20-20 fertilizer for when its in vegetative state , then some 3-7-8 fertilizer

other then that, up to you

I'm loving the way you think here...

 

[jawbrodt]

I know your area is 7' tall, by 3' in one direction, but was wondering if your closet was 3' square, or maybe longer, along the other wall? If so, T5s are another option, and in most cases, work better than CFLs. Much easier to set up too. Even if you don't have 4' to work with, they make them in 2' x 2' sizes, as well. If you can't go with HPS, skip the CFLs, go with T5s, keep the canopy nice and even, and you'll have a decent harvest. It'd work really well with a mini-SCROG setup. 1 plant would fill that area, nicely, and keep watering/feeding to a minimum.

CFLs can work well too. I'm just throwing that in there, as another option.