MINI BUDGET GROW CHALLENGE

[Waffledick420]

Highly doubt anyone will actually join in, but I have a challenge. It's simple. Complete a grow seed to harvest, while spending as little as possible. PLEASE USE ORGANIC NUTRIENTS, AS THEY ARE EASY AND CHEAP TO GET FOR BEGINNERS IF THEY DECIDE TO JOIN IN!
My cheapo setup is a small black tote with a cheap $20 led grow light, 2 pc fans, and CBD Kush for the strain. I challenge people to spend under $30 on a light, $20 on a box, and spend as little as possible on anything else. I spent $40 in total for my grow setup. $20 light, $15 for regular seeds (on eBay cuz why not?), And $5 for a timer. Everything else I had laying in boxes around the garage. My seeds are germinating now, and I hope someone joins me. If not, I'll just do this for fun to see what I can get out of the cheapest grow setup I could think of. I'm using creek water (no idea what pH is, but it's from a creek near a farm), and for smell control, I will probably rig up a super cheap air filter with dryer sheets or something

 

[Waffledick420]

Pics of my unfinished setup. Going to get something to use as reflectors for sides, but rn I'm not worried about it. I have a random bagseed in it that I will be putting outside later. My CBD Kush will be planted within a few days. My light was $18 on eBay, and it's an e27 led grow bulb. I have two more different lights that I might find a way to throw in as well, but I'm not sure. It's about a 1.5'x1.5'x3' box, so it is definitely mini. Can't wait to see what I can get out of it. Also my first grow, so if I get anything I will be happy. Using Jobe's organics all purpose and Espoma organic tomato tone for nutrients.

 

[blake9999]

My light was $18 on eBay,

You got ripped off......

 

[IvcusLongDankus]

18$ for a e27 yeeeesh. Would pay no more than 5$. Good luck with your grow & welcome to RIU

 

[Waffledick420]

18$ for a e27 yeeeesh. Would pay no more than 5$. Good luck with your grow & welcome to RIU

I agree it's more than I wanted to spend, but it was either that or like $50 for a crappy 40w led panel. I can't find my light any cheaper on eBay or wish. I can find small 10w versions for like $3 but I only have one socket and It would've cost the same to get a socket and multiple smaller lights anyway. And I didn't wanna go with cfl cuz I'm clumsy and I'd break it. If the box wasn't black, this little light is way brighter than I thought. Ive grown 2 CBD Kush plants under it before and got them to almost a foot and a half tall, but my sister took my plants and threw them into the street because she's an asshole

 

[SODreamsB]

I'm up for giving this a go as it seems like an interesting challenge that I have some ideas for, I would probably use some things that I already had though like my soil mix but no nutrients of any kind just water, fan ($26 4") and a timer and even seeds I got for free.

I found a decent looking bulb I'd give a shot for $22 mainly just going by the number of chips (since Watts is kinda unreliable) it has for red and blue light but also that it includes some white, IR and UV chips and a hanging light cord for $12 (all in $CAD of course).

I think I could build a decent little grow box out of a few bits of extra wood ripped down, so maybe worth 8 bucks and some extra white poly I have maybe 10 bucks worth and my other idea was to get a cheap pack of charcoal filters $9 for a composting bucket and use them for any odor as they are round and 6".

 

[Waffledick420]

SODreamsB
Great to see another person trying to grow with the bare minimums. Do you know what strain you're growing?

And update: i have 5 CBD Kush seeds germinating in paper towels. But I think they might all die. It got pretty cool in my house overnight so I took the seeds into the living room, but the heater made the living room very hot. So if the seeds don't germinate, I'll be stuck with the random eBay seed I managed to get growing (probably going to be a male with my luck) if anyone would like to to donate a few seeds so I can have a better chance of at least getting a female, id be very grateful (I should mention that I would buy seeds if I had any form of income. Currently my family and I can barely keep the lights on. That's why I'm starting a grow. So we don't have to pay as much for our medicine. I'm hoping I can find a few jobs during the summer to get some extra money to help out) And when the plant gets bigger, I'll probably try to go to the store and get some cfls, sockets, and a few splitters to add more light. If our situation gets better

 

[BostonBuds]

SODreamsB
Great to see another person trying to grow with the bare minimums. Do you know what strain you're growing?

And update: i have 5 CBD Kush seeds germinating in paper towels. But I think they might all die. It got pretty cool in my house overnight so I took the seeds into the living room, but the heater made the living room very hot. So if the seeds don't germinate, I'll be stuck with the random eBay seed I managed to get growing (probably going to be a male with my luck) if anyone would like to to donate a few seeds so I can have a better chance of at least getting a female, id be very grateful (I should mention that I would buy seeds if I had any form of income. Currently my family and I can barely keep the lights on. That's why I'm starting a grow. So we don't have to pay as much for our medicine. I'm hoping I can find a few jobs during the summer to get some extra money to help out) And when the plant gets bigger, I'll probably try to go to the store and get some cfls, sockets, and a few splitters to add more light. If our situation gets better

Are you in the US, let me know if those seeds dont germinate. I have a Lemon Auto seed I can mail you, will probably do good in a set-up like yours since its supposed to grow quick and small.

 

[SODreamsB]

SODreamsB
Great to see another person trying to grow with the bare minimums. Do you know what strain you're growing?

Yea I got about 100 free seeds from this thing up here called overgrow canada they call the strain freedom dream which is supposed to be average 8-12% CBD but little to no THC, from what I recall, it seems perfect for this test. Depending on what I get out of it I might try doing a cross to make my own CBD hybrid as a little side experiment. So I ordered the few pieces I needed, not including what I already have sitting around its a cost of $43, I'm debating if I want to use a temp/moisture meter I have or get one thats $5 that has a reader on the back and screen on front so you can stick it through material and have the screen on the outside (no opening to read required).

I looked at the same thing with the socket splitters and adding more lights, so the hanging light cable I got is rated for 360 watts and I saved a socket splitter to maybe get later that goes from 1 to 4 all in a straight row in case I want to try that later as well it was only about $17.

I've done several different methods to germinate but I find that at the end of the day its just as good putting them straight into soil, just make sure its not packed the soil in too hard so its still nice and loose and don't put the seed more than a half inch deep, then just water a tiny bit around the seed by dripping water onto it keeping it moist until it sprouts and for a while after, then gradually water a bigger part of the soil as it gets bigger but just not soaking it all until it has enough root structure to soak it all up and letting it dry out occasionally. I know everyone does what works for them just thought I would share my opinion, since despite being super careful sometimes the seedling taproots don't handle being moved from paper towel/water to soil/medium too well.

Plus if you start them off in soil you get a bit of a buffer from high or low temps since the soil acts as a bit of an insulator.

 

[Covetsculitvars]

Don't listen to the trolls dude! You do you! Who gives a Fk what some miserable K U N T thinks eh!? Good idea with the thread! I'm sure more grows are lower end of the spectrum of finances than higher end! I'm using screw in LEDs , period! One CFL for 3000k then the rest 5000k daylight white 100 watt replacement bulbs 17.5 watts. They work good enough, and my eLec bill was 35.00 with a 18/6 cycle! Dude the money I'm saving is awe inspiring!

 

[Waffledick420]

Are you in the US, let me know if those seeds dont germinate. I have a Lemon Auto seed I can mail you, will probably do good in a set-up like yours since its supposed to grow quick and small.

Yes I'm in the US. if you're willing to ship me the seed, I would be extremely thankful. If you have snapchat, my name is uselessmoron (AmericanDumbass) if you have Instagram, I'm I_Dont_Care_2022 and my profile picture is a koala that looks high as a kite. Message me on one of those platforms with proof that you are actually you, and I'll give you my address. I would just give you my phone number, but Im a little paranoid and I don't want people calling and texting me trying to get my location or something

 

[BostonBuds]

Yes I'm in the US. if you're willing to ship me the seed, I would be extremely thankful. If you have snapchat, my name is uselessmoron (AmericanDumbass) if you have Instagram, I'm I_Dont_Care_2022 and my profile picture is a koala that looks high as a kite. Message me on one of those platforms with proof that you are actually you, and I'll give you my address. I would just give you my phone number, but Im a little paranoid and I don't want people calling and texting me trying to get my location or something

Message me on here with your address, i'll mail it out tomorrow.

 

[Budda189]

Hey guys I'm new here and also a first time grower. I love a good Diy low budget thread! Lol Heres my logic for those who say it's not viable or possible. Most ppl are modest users and just want to either cut out the middle man or just want better quality than available in their area if they can even get it. Not everyone needs huge tints,expensive lights, fancy nute system etc.. take me for example I am a medical patient here in the states but prices are ridiculously high! Naturally my next step was to start my own grow. I dont need pounds of weed honestly. Just a nice selection every so often will do fine.I think alottttt of ppl miss that point. But anyways.. So cost of my setup and min. light bill addition(just got first bill on 12/12 from seed hardly noticeable!) Is just under $40(US). Almost everything was found around house including actual box except lights, nutes(tomato feed)and fans(ordered years ago) The seeds are bagseed at the moment as I cant really spare the EXTRA money for seed(s)plus shipping cost smh. Take a look at my post. Like I said I'm not a pro and Ive been lucky enough to have a great member here guide me in my process. Good luck! I'll be watching your grow!



https://www.rollitup.org/t/first-time-stealth-diy-build-and-grow.985383/

 

[Budda189]

Message me on here with your address, i'll mail it out tomorrow.

Hey if you have any more spare id be beyond grateful! I've always been scared to ask other members for some strange reason lol if anyone else can help me here in the states that would be great!!! I'd love to try my hand at a few stable genetics in my setup and see what works best for me.

 

[BostonBuds]

I do not have spare seeds, I read his story and wanted to help. I will be trying to make feminized seeds so hopefully I will have plenty of seeds soon.

With a little effort and patience it's possible to do a great diy budget grow, i'm always shopping for sales and clearance items. Before I went ahead and got a real 400 hid grow light I was looking at this website at there clearance priced lights.



And .49 cent bulbs....

 

[Budda189]

Those .49cent cfl are a great deal even if you werent using them to grow lol

 

[SODreamsB]

I do not have spare seeds, I read his story and wanted to help. I will be trying to make feminized seeds so hopefully I will have plenty of seeds soon.

With a little effort and patience it's possible to do a great diy budget grow, i'm always shopping for sales and clearance items. Before I went ahead and got a real 400 hid grow light I was looking at this website at there clearance priced lights.

View attachment 4305253

And .49 cent bulbs....
View attachment 4305255

I'm not sure why you would want to buy those bulbs though except maybe the 49 cent one? but at 2700k spectrum I don't think it'd be terribly useful, usually for CFL its 3000k-3500k flower or 6400k full/veg. Especially when you can get LED lights for same cost or less, that will use less power, put out less heat and also have integrated UV which will help kill off any potential mold/bugs. I've also read some interesting stuff about how the minor cell damage from UV also encourages more plant growth due to the constant repair required, same theory I guess as how light pruning can speed things up as well. There's also some info out there about UV being required for full/proper terpene development. I know a lot of people have been reluctant to go for LEDs but there's really no comparison to the performance vs efficiency of them.

The bulb I found was on amazon for $22 CAD and its Morsen 50W(Wattage means little for LED) led grow light equipped with 78pcs high efficiency LED chips, 42Red+18Blue+6White+6IR+6UV <--- pretty good spectrum coverage

I was buying a few different low cost lights before, so I got a PAR meter to actually try to quantify them as well, but just seeing how plants react and grow is a pretty good indicator too.

I got all my pieces cut out of some old 6 ft 2x4's so just waiting for the light to come then I'm building a small 3' tall x 3' wide x 1.5' deep box to put everything in, pictures will be up soon!

 

[Waffledick420]

I do not have spare seeds, I read his story and wanted to help. I will be trying to make feminized seeds so hopefullyI will have plenty of seeds soon.

I hope making feminized seeds works out. I've been researching how to make them and I really wanna try it off to the side on a small clone or something. Are you gonna be using colloidal silver to force the plants to Hermie? Or is there a different spray that caught your attention? Also, just had a friend offer me a light too! It's a vivosun 600w led light. Hopefully i'll get a decent yield off of it. And I found some things white board that I will try to combine with some scrap metal to build a box. I'm gonna try to keep it a micro grow too, so it'll probably only be 4 feet high so I can tuck it against the wall under a window. This community is so amazing and I'm very happy I joined. My mom will be very excited to see a nice big medicine stash in the near future.

 

[Waffledick420]

I'm not sure why you would want to buy those bulbs though except maybe the 49 cent one? but at 2700k spectrum I don't think it'd be terribly useful, usually for CFL its 3000k-3500k flower or 6400k full/veg. Especially when you can get LED lights for same cost or less, that will use less power, put out less heat and also have integrated UV which will help kill off any potential mold/bugs. I've also read some interesting stuff about how the minor cell damage from UV also encourages more plant growth due to the constant repair required, same theory I guess as how light pruning can speed things up as well. There's also some info out there about UV being required for full/proper terpene development. I know a lot of people have been reluctant to go for LEDs but there's really no comparison to the performance vs efficiency of them.

The bulb I found was on amazon for $22 CAD and its Morsen 50W(Wattage means little for LED) led grow light equipped with 78pcs high efficiency LED chips, 42Red+18Blue+6White+6IR+6UV <--- pretty good spectrum coverage

I was buying a few different low cost lights before, so I got a PAR meter to actually try to quantify them as well, but just seeing how plants react and grow is a pretty good indicator too.

I got all my pieces cut out of some old 6 ft 2x4's so just waiting for the light to come then I'm building a small 3' tall x 3' wide x 1.5' deep box to put everything in, pictures will be up soon!

Definitely looking forward to seeing you what you came up with! I hope you get a nice harvest out of it. Cheap LEDs can be way better than you might think.

 

[Waffledick420]

Update: added foil to walls of box, it's better than nothing. Added heat mat on floor because it's been cold lately. Also threw in some tomato seeds in there so I can start them outside when it warms up. CBD Kush still hasn't germinated, so I guess they didn't make it. Last time I tried to grow this strain, they popped out of the soil in a a day and a half. I'll leave them in and pray they decide to pop out.