I'm looking for a 3x3ish grow tent and a light. I've been looking at kits online and the reviews are all so mixed, I think it would be better to put one together myself. Problem is, I'm on a bit of a budget to start this project. I intend to round out the kit as needed, but I don't want to sink a ton of money into a project that may not work out for different reasons.
Can someone suggest me an LED light, exhaust fan and tent?
Hey, here's some things that I wish I knew, from someone who jumped into it without doing nearly as much research as I should have (and normally do).
Growing cannabis is expensive. Not nearly as expensive as buying it, but you will take a pretty solid hit to get things started. My costs:
Grow tent (vivosun) $100, LED Lighting $180, coco coir (any brand w/o added fertilizers will do, or you can order soil from fox farms) $30, ferts (fox farms) $60, ventilation fan/carbon filter (vivosun) $100, seeds x10 (ILGM.com) $100, buffers (pH Up/Down) and pH meter $60, timed power strip $30, for a total of about $700, plus I'm sure there are things I missed. I already had a dehumidifier in my basement and some humidifiers to keep the tent under control when necessary. The good news is that I'll get WAY more than $700 of cannabis from my first grow alone, and a lot of those costs are one and done unless something breaks.
You will need all of those things. Don't try to grow without a pH meter, ferts, sufficient lighting, etc. You'll kill your plants and have wasted a ton of time and some very expensive seeds. Don't skip the carbon filter because your house will reek well before your plants even start flowering. The degree to which the plants smell just vibing in my basement took me by surprise.
Don't try to build a tent, it will be more expensive, too much work, and less effective than a cheap vivosun one. A 3x3 grow tent is sufficient for one plant. I picked a small-ish indicia strain (granddaddy purple), my tent is 5x2.7x6.7' length-width-height and two plants are pretty cramped in there, halfway through flower. Get a tall tent, you will have to factor in the height of the container (likely about a foot), the lights being suspended below the ventilation (another 10-12 inches), and distance from the lights to the plant (12+ inches). I can push my plants to about 4 feet tall with this setup, closer to 5 feet if I squish the ventilation around the lighting.
My advice if you are on a tight budget is to start with small autoflower plants and smaller gear. You can definitely do it for less than $400. The only problem with this is if you want to expand in the future and are stuck with a too-small tent or lights.
Thanks! That's a good rundown. I'd rather start buying the equipment in parts and get the right stuff. I'm not really in a hurry.