Information Overload

Finally, my state went medical. I can grow 6 in vegs 6 in flower. Im disabled vet with PTSD and get frustrated very easily. Im on fixed income and I just cant afford the dispensaries. I have covered so much information these past weeks that says one thing and then another that contradicts it all. My brain is about to explode!!! I have a limited fund of $500 for my start up and its going fast ...lol. My lighting budget being a measly $250 total. Im am not using tents but have racks and a roll of mylar. soil and a 3 part beginner nutrients with chart, a ph meter and a couple of timers and a dozen 5 gallon fabric planers.

Now it comes time to purchase lighting. My questions are since I will be purchasing cheap Amazon 1000 watt LEDs (brand undecided) Will I be able to grow 3 plants under one 1000 watt LED? or better to but 2 cheaper 600 watts for same? What is better the purple or the sunlight colored ones (im such a noob) I plan on growing from seed and can also purchase vegetation lighting either off amazon or local fluorescent in the correct spectrum from big box retailer.

If someone could just make a couple of recommendations on the lighting Cheaper purple stuff, spider farmer (I dont understand the wattage thing) Mars lighting or any others.

I know these are nooby nuisance questions to accomplished growers but a few minutes of your time would be greatly appreciated.

Those 1000w are NOT 1000w

Real watts are measured as Draw from the wall

Usually one of those $75 lights grow one plant, kinda

Light is the most important item you will buy

Mars has some good cheap lights
Ts1000, 2000

How big of a tent u gunna get. Be sure and get as tall as you can, 6' minimum

To this day. I have absolutely no clue to the wattage of my lights. I never measured it. The only two things I have measured is the volts coming off the driver(That's how I set my light level). And LUX.

On the light level. With my light at maximum. I get 75,000lux about a foot and a half from the face of the leds(cobs).

You need a light that can produce 24k-27k lux in veg. 35k to 50k in flower.

How much "watts" does that take? I couldn't tell you. I really don't care. I'm all about the LUX.

So the only way to know if the light is powerful enough. You have to measure it. LUX is the easiest.

How sold on LED are you? For $250 you can buy enough HID to cover 20 plants.

Being frugal as I am. I suggest scouring auction listings until you find a steal. Still prefer HID. Room, utilities and extra cooling and ventilation keep me from it now.
I had great success with lumitek cree cobs in white with IR. And getting really cheap now days. Over looked gem. Get what you can afford that will pull a decent yeild. Put your dispensary savings away towards your future upgrades. It is a path of progression for most us.

Best wishes. K.I.S.S..

hotrodharley said:

How sold on LED are you? For $250 you can buy enough HID to cover 20 plants.

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Electricity cost and ease of use - plug and play are my immediate concerns. HID is something I would like to explore as I learn more
Thank you very much for that advice! I will explore that option more.

Not too hard to fab up a corner / wall grow .
Panda / mylar sheeting / white paint . Oscillation fans for air flow / maybe some odor control.

Lights you have some good inexpensive options ..
No blurple / pink lights .... stay away from those.
Entry boards like Spider Farmer SF1000 or SF2000
Led boards are great starter lights that are superior to cheap no name disco lights. Plus they are expandable for future upgrading ( daisy chain more lights ). For a few hundred bucks.

I have 2 grows before. One to make seeds and one to harvest. My good buddy and I (he had cancer and has since passed and he was the brains of the operation and had the shed...lol) I got a 10 regular (Durrty Dragon) auto seeds years ago from a friend I met on a autoflower forum. I picked the most purple male and purple female phenos to make the seeds and planted about 120 or so of them. We disposed of the males and these were what was left. I think it was around 63-64 females. We used CFLs and one 300 watt cheap LED in a 10 x 14 wood building. This was about 8 years ago and before this state went Med legal. He thought he could beat cancer with this unfortunately he passed from less than a year after we completed this. No nutrients, just top soil. Very disorganized but we were proud. We got a few nice buds but the total take was only about 2 pounds (to our disappointment) when it was all said and done.

I just want to do a few plants for myself to save money and have a nice hobby legally now that I can. I want to do it better and I really didnt learn a whole lot from this. Apparently, anyone can stick some seeds in soil and grow (we did) but I want to do it better with better quality with what little I have. I will continue to read read read and learn and learn all I can from the posts and advice on this forum. But here is the you tube video I made.

medicaloutlaw said:

My lighting budget being a measly $250 total.

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If that's the case, on that budget I'd go with regular LED light bulbs with the plastic globe covers removed. I've bought a bunch of bath bars before that hold 8 bulbs for $18 Canadian on Wayfair. Or you could use something like these: https://www.amazon.com/Splitter-Adapter-Converter-Extender-Lighting/dp/B089CZ28LJ/

For $250 USD you could easily light up a 4X8 area or tent.

Budzbuddha said:

Not too hard to fab up a corner / wall grow .
Panda / mylar sheeting / white paint . Oscillation fans for air flow / maybe some odor control.

Lights you have some good inexpensive options ..
No blurple / pink lights .... stay away from those.
Entry boards like Spider Farmer SF1000 or SF2000
Led boards are great starter lights that are superior to cheap no name disco lights. Plus they are expandable for future upgrading ( daisy chain more lights ). For a few hundred bucks.

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SF1000 thats what I was looking at. the Two racks I want to have are 24" by 60" and 6ft tall I picked up a roll of mylaw at a garage sale that must be 50 ft long and 36" wide to srap with.. I was hoping I could do 3 plants to a rack with one light but from the advice here that may not be enough light. Thank you again for the reply!

I'd go with an HPS light, a 600 watt HPS (true 600 watts, unlike those LED fixtures on Amazon that say one thing and draw another from the wall) is about $129, a 1000 watt is around $200. You will grow so much better buds with those than with a cheap led.

I just want to say thank you very much for helping me get straightened out. God bless! And please feel free to share more

Rurumo said:

I'd go with an HPS light, a 600 watt HPS (true 600 watts, unlike those LED fixtures on Amazon that say one thing and draw another from the wall) is about $129, a 1000 watt is around $200. You will grow so much better buds with those than with a cheap led.

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Would this work on one of my racks and handle 3 plants?

I still want to utilize LED but with the suggestion of HPS above I read a article about the benefits of hybrid lighting I think Im going to mix a 600 watt HPS with a 1000 watt cheapo amazon LED once I find one with the proper spectrums and still stay within my lighting budget. With two 6ft tall by 2ft wide wire adjustable shelving racks that I have collecting dust. I can add a 6' x 4' plywood sheet across the bottom to increase the footprint size to 6x6. The top and the sides will be left open to combat the heat. I do have a roll of mylar but dont think it will be necessary. A large oscillating fan on a stand should ventilate the entire thing. I ordered seeds (Seed City) and got a enough freebies that I actually got to choose I have enough for two or three grows. But looks like a MONTH before they arrive - Ouch I may have to go buy a couple clones from the dispensary just because I cant wait for the seeds. Im ready to start popping seeds today! With the help and ideas from here at least I can start on my getting my items ordered and over the next few weeks to construct my build. Thank you guys that commented so much for the help.

medicaloutlaw said:

I still want to utilize LED but with the suggestion of HPS above I read a article about the benefits of hybrid lighting I think Im going to mix a 600 watt HPS with a 1000 watt cheapo amazon LED once I find one with the proper spectrums and still stay within my lighting budget.

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I'm sure you'll grow some great medicine! That means you're now obligated to start a grow journal here, starting with setting things up. Lol

I would love to. I havent posted much on forums over the years seems like someone always hates on you but it just doesnt seem that way here. I will take you up on you suggestion and start one in the appropriate place. "The Five Hundred Dollar Build"

medicaloutlaw said:

I would love to. I havent posted much on forums over the years seems like someone always hates on you but it just doesnt seem that way here. I will take you up on you suggestion and start one in the appropriate place. "The Five Hundred Dollar Build"

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I think part of the problem is that weed is such a resilient and adaptable plant, it can literally be grown in 100's of different ways to realize its genetic potential. Of course everyone thinks their growing method is the best for one reason or the other, and we forget that the goal is grow amazing bud that you can't buy at a local dispensary or street corner. Perhaps we're getting spoiled. lol

medicaloutlaw said:

I still want to utilize LED but with the suggestion of HPS above I read a article about the benefits of hybrid lighting I think Im going to mix a 600 watt HPS with a 1000 watt cheapo amazon LED once I find one with the proper spectrums and still stay within my lighting budget. With two 6ft tall by 2ft wide wire adjustable shelving racks that I have collecting dust. I can add a 6' x 4' plywood sheet across the bottom to increase the footprint size to 6x6. The top and the sides will be left open to combat the heat. I do have a roll of mylar but dont think it will be necessary. A large oscillating fan on a stand should ventilate the entire thing. I ordered seeds (Seed City) and got a enough freebies that I actually got to choose I have enough for two or three grows. But looks like a MONTH before they arrive - Ouch I may have to go buy a couple clones from the dispensary just because I cant wait for the seeds. Im ready to start popping seeds today! With the help and ideas from here at least I can start on my getting my items ordered and over the next few weeks to construct my build. Thank you guys that commented so much for the help.

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I'd rec CMH over both hps and led in your situation: it's a light that is easy to grow with, not too hot and plants underneath CMH seems a bit more heat tolerant than hps.
Led needs fairly good climate controls, both humidity and temps, which you'll end up finding a bit beyond your 500 budget.

If money is tight, do the maths on the HIDs including bulbs and electricity. Within one year LED works out cheaper every time even though you spend more up front.

Definitely don't buy a cheapo no brand Chinese LED light for any reason, you'll look back on it as wasted money. If you want to run HID and dabble in LED, get a low powered light from a proper manufacturer like HLG. It'll actually hit the wattage it says it will for a start, unlike most cheep units. I don't just mean 1000w = 250w actual, more like they claim "1000w equivalent, 250w actual" but only hit 150w when measured at the wall...

ptrzm said:

Definitely don't buy a cheapo no brand Chinese LED light for any reason

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I went with cheapo Chinese LED lights. They're supposed to be 240W, but my wattmeter shows them using around 259W when cranked up all the way. Is that due to inefficiencies of the driver? I'm still getting used to them, but they seem to work okay so far. The price was definitely right because 4 of them cost me a total of just over $800 Canadian delivered to my door. If I spent more, it would cause friction with the wife