The cheapest grow ever?

zoic

zoic

Well-Known Member
Where to start? Right confession.

Dear Growers, it has been about 35-40 years since my last grow. Whew, got that out of the way.

I am broke, so for now this first grow is more or less to learn more and get the kinks out. Once I start receiving CPP in March I will be able to step it up. I want to work out the best growing situation that is affordable before I order special seeds like Kazar for example.

Thanks to the awesome knowledge from this group I am convinced that I have to grow my own to ensure there are no pesticides or contaminants. So not doubt I will need some assistance from time to time and on that note I want to be clear that for the short term I have little to no money to invest in it. But that will change.

I am posting some pics below that show my progress so far. I started by germinating 8 seeds in wet paper towels on Thursday, Jan 19. there were 4 seeds from Girl Scout Cookies and 4 from unknown. I do have a good idea of which strains all the seeds that I have or from, but somewhere over the last year they got mixed up or I failed to identify the ones I separated into different tiny baggies. Nonetheless I only kept seeds from stuff that was really good, like Afghani, Chocoloupe and Krypto to name a few. So 7 seeds germinated, missed one of the GSC but one looked questionable anyway.

I started them in red plastic cups (aka beer cups) about 2/3 full when I planted the germinated seeds in the cups. I remembered how they are tall and stringy at first and as expected I have to add some soil on Wednesday. I spotted the sticky on this very topic and today I transferred 3 to slightly taller container because the were too stringy. On transplanting I discovered some had a length of 6" from root to leaves. I realize my light was maybe a bit to far away, but I have no CFL's to use. I will cover that in the next post, it is still a work in progress.
 

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Morth

Morth

Well-Known Member
Stringy because the lamp isn't putting out the light they need so they are stretching to it. You can get a little two bulb T5 seedling light from HomeDepot or Lowes for under $20 and that will solve your problem. If they stretch to the T5 just raise them closer to it or lower the light. Light should be by the seed starter kits in outdoor gardening. Good luck!
 
tharoomman

tharoomman

Well-Known Member
Morth said:
Stringy because the lamp isn't putting out the light they need so they are stretching to it. You can get a little two bulb T5 seedling light from HomeDepot or Lowes for under $20 and that will solve your problem. If they stretch to the T5 just raise them closer to it or lower the light. Light should be by the seed starter kits in outdoor gardening. Good luck!
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I'm not sure you'll get t5 for the price but I could be wrong.

I've used this before :
https://www.walmart.com/ip/19759624?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222228015434273&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=66579514832&wl4=aud-273067695102:pla-130448847632&wl5=9010019&wl6=&wl7=9010013&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=19759624&wl13=&veh=sem

Had ok results from it but I only vegged and did first few weeks of flower. About 20$ with bulbs. Ran very cool. Plants were able to touch light without burning.
 
Morth

Morth

Well-Known Member
It's just a small fixture for starting seeds with two 1' T5 bulbs not sure on the spectrum but seems to work great for my seedlings. Fits perfectly around a starter tray as that's what it's for
 
zoic

zoic

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info folks. I will put the T5 on my list to pick up when money is available. I want to put the light closer but was worried that the heat from a regular bulb might burn them. So today I put together a better setup in a closet upstairs in the spare room. The light fixture and shelving unit were leftovers from my workshop when I was running my computer business. One bulb is a Wide Spectrum fluorescent (40W) left over from my last indoor grow about 35 years ago. The other bulb is just a standard cool white bulb (34W). So aside from leftovers the only money I have spent so far is $2.50 for a bag of potting soil.
 

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Morth

Morth

Well-Known Member
It's probably not light distance but light output if that's the case putting it closer wont help :/ could get a new bulb that may work would stroll threw the gardening section at your local hardware store might find something in your budget even if it's just a few dollars.
 
zoic

zoic

Well-Known Member
tharoomman said:
I'm not sure you'll get t5 for the price but I could be wrong.

I've used this before :
https://www.walmart.com/ip/19759624?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222228015434273&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=66579514832&wl4=aud-273067695102:pla-130448847632&wl5=9010019&wl6=&wl7=9010013&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=19759624&wl13=&veh=sem

Had ok results from it but I only vegged and did first few weeks of flower. About 20$ with bulbs. Ran very cool. Plants were able to touch light without burning.
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Thanks, that is almost identical to the one I have, and it was about $20 as well. I re-potted them and now they are all about an inch or two from the fluorescent light. A few have a new set of leaves starting already, only day 9.
 
zoic

zoic

Well-Known Member
Morth said:
It's probably not light distance but light output if that's the case putting it closer wont help :/ could get a new bulb that may work would stroll threw the gardening section at your local hardware store might find something in your budget even if it's just a few dollars.
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So is 34w and 40w not enough? If not what wattage do you recommend. I cannot see anything online higher that 40W for the T12 bulbs.
 
Morth

Morth

Well-Known Member
Not the wattage old bulb or maybe just the bulb itself http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ferry-Morse-Grow-Light-KLight-9H/206310904 is the light i was talking about it's a 24w T5 maybe lowes had it on sale thought it was like $20 when I got it. Use a LED light bar now wish you lived close in LA would give you the T5 as i no longer use it

You should be able to get a new CFL for cheap though I cant make any recommendations though as I have never used CFL to grow. Some bulbs just don't put out to much light hopefully someone that uses CFL can give a recommendation
 
zoic

zoic

Well-Known Member
Morth said:
Not the wattage old bulb or maybe just the bulb itself http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ferry-Morse-Grow-Light-KLight-9H/206310904 is the light i was talking about it's a 24w T5 maybe lowes had it on sale thought it was like $20 when I got it. Use a LED light bar now wish you lived close in LA would give you the T5 as i no longer use it

You should be able to get a new CFL for cheap though I cant make any recommendations though as I have never used CFL to grow. Some bulbs just don't put out to much light hopefully someone that uses CFL can give a recommendation
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Thanks, I will check that out. I still have 2 more of the T12 light fixtures that I can use. The one you linked may work well for a lower level 2nd grow in my closet.
 
nfhiggs

nfhiggs

Well-Known Member
zoic said:
So is 34w and 40w not enough? If not what wattage do you recommend. I cannot see anything online higher that 40W for the T12 bulbs.
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Its not really that the wattages aren't enough, I think those tubes just might be a bit long in the tooth. The one pic shows the first inch of the tube is purplish and dim - that's a sign the lights not going to last too much longer. Its probably 50% of its original intensity. I would just look for new tubes for it. If there is a ReStore in your town you may be able to find usable stuff for cheap. I saw some HPS/MH bulbs (250W) in our ReStore for 2 dollars.
 
zoic

zoic

Well-Known Member
nfhiggs said:
I think those tubes just might be a bit long in the tooth. The one pic shows the first inch of the tube is purplish and dim
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Thank you!. I have to out myself and say that my initial reaction was that you were throwing info at me that you would be hard pressed to backup. The purplish part originally extended the full length of the bulb, which was how my Mom's Gro and Sho bulbs always looked. Bit I am a critical thinker, and seeing the pic made me realize the purple part was shortening. So I went to have a look this morning and guess what, no purple at all anymore. Also the second bulb was no longer lit at all. I still have 8-10 new bulbs left since I bought a 24 pack a few years back. Today I shall put new bulbs in. Most of the plant have a new set of leaves, and since I have the light much close they are not stringing out on me anymore.
 
ISK

ISK

Well-Known Member
Lightgreen2k said:
One thing I would recommend to you is a PH pen. Some people may say "I don't ph" (Good for them), but being in the right zone will save you time and effort.
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pH drops will get you in the right zone for a lot less money and efforts...beside even less important to be accurate when growing in soil than hydro grows
 

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Lightgreen2k

Lightgreen2k

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ISK said:
pH drops will get you in the right zone for a lot less money and efforts...beside even less important to be accurate when growing in soil than hydro grows
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I was in soil / promix and a few other mediums and thinking the soil will buffer and correct the ph. That was not the case with me. In soil one has to buffer it with lime.

The pens are readily available on amazon for about $15-$20.
 
zoic

zoic

Well-Known Member
Lightgreen2k said:
One thing I would recommend to you is a PH pen. Some people may say "I don't ph" (Good for them), but being in the right zone will save you time and effort.
Click to expand...
Is this pen to test the level only or does it provide drops as well to change the ph level?
 
zoic

zoic

Well-Known Member
Lightgreen2k said:
I was in soil / promix and a few other mediums and thinking the soil will buffer and correct the ph. That was not the case with me. In soil one has to buffer it with lime.
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I have seen this mentioned numerous times now so it is on my list of things to figure out.
 
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