I started with one l2' light to help the germination and development of seedlings. Since starting outdoors was disastrous and birds and other pests were destroying things before they could sprout. I live in the freaking woods, and natural direct sunlight indoors lasts only a few minutes each day. I got some seeds to sprout and grow stable seedlings after purchasing the first light. Once I felt confident that the danger of seeds being eaten had passed i placed the young plants outside in the sun. This proved to also be a grave miscalculation. The following morning they were gone. Something ate the lot. I then realized that I would need to propagate them longer in the safety of the house, so, I moved everything to the basement and purchased an additional light. At this point we're coming to the end of June. I started the last of my bag seeds. I had about a 1/4 germination rate which produced 13 sprouts. Kept them healthy and vigorous for about two weeks, and then, mice! Now it's mid July, my outdoor season is almost completely unviable, and I've lost 5 seedlings. So I purchased a couple more lights and started researching the current indoor situation. i realized right away that my equipment wasn't necessarily ideal but i was already invested and didn't have more expensive equipment in the budget. I have been buying a light or two from time to time as plant growth made them necessary.and that is where all of my bar lights came from. I solved my pest problem, and finally got some plants ready to flower. I started the cycle to sex the plants and send them back to veg replicating my old sequence from the last time I grew the stuff outside in 1995. I had all female plants and no seeds left to start the next crop so I posted in a local Facebook group to find someone to barter with. A couple of people reached out and helped me out with their own breeds and one of these people was extremely generous and gifted me two high wattage fan cooled led boards. At this time I came across new research about ultraviolet light and its effects on cannabinoid production. This more than piqued my interest so I followed sound science and picked up a couple of black lights that completed my current setup. I figure I'm pushing somewhere between 600 and 800 watts total input wattage in my flowering room. I have a little over 200$ invested over time in my lights. There hasn't been any point where I could have purchased an expensive high power light.
Cool.
I said I wouldn’t post in this thread anymore but am going to anyway. You’ve gotten many more answers and suggestions than you wanted with this thread. You do seem to have a plan and a method of sorts which is a better start at least than many new growers who come on looking for advice.
Background helps sometimes for others to get what you’re doing and how you got there. People will still weigh in with unsolicited advice no matter what, but that post explains how you ended up with those specific lights. Don’t feel the need to respond to everyone either. I ignore a lot of people on here, either because they are full of crap or I just don’t like their advice.
You are just not going to get that many helpful suggestions growing with blurples plus the unique combination of additional fixtures you are running here on RIU. It’s a good forum for learning but sometimes picking your spots carefully works better.
You’re also throwing up a lot of obstacles to the success of your hobby - not buying seeds is one example - but that’s your business and you do you.
You might want to consider starting a grow journal of your own in the grow journals forum. It will allow you to document your progress and experiments with your lighting setup without nearly as many responses from the peanut gallery. Most people respect the rules to not post in others journals unless asked, which may work better for you.
I am actually using several Walmart hyper-tough led 4’ shop light fixtures in my seed starting area. They aren’t grow specific fixtures, but do the job of giving me a head start on my spring garden. I caught them on sale too, so they ended up being cost effective vs buying new fluoro tubes that I previously used for the same thing.
I know they are cheap and not perfect spectrum, but I’m not trying to flower with them. Much happier with them than fluoros after a spring of using them.
If you are determined you can grow very decent weed with scavenged equipment and stuff from big box stores.
good luck and enjoy your gardening hobby.
