I ordered a 400w hps with heavy duty mechanical timer and some other smaller stuff with it. I think the total was like $195 after shipping. Unfortunately, this year I only got about $370 back from the IRS and thats all I had to spend. I spent most of it on this combined with a 10 pack of feminized Barney's Farm Blue Cheese. Most of what was left after that got spend at home depot and wal-mart on supplies for a perpetual grow. Bought some cfl's, socket adapters, extension cords, nutrients, a clear plastic bin to keep clones in as they root, electronic ph meter, and rooting hormone.
My plan is to take 6 cuttings from vegging plants every 3 weeks, move those plants into flowering room under 400w hps, root clones for 2 weeks in cabinet under 4 cfls (800 lumens each), veg for 1 week, then take more clones from cuttings and move the best 3 into the flowering room.
With this setup I'll have 9 plants under the 400w at any given time. 3 will be about 1ft tall, 3 mid-sized (maybe 2 ft), and 3 will be around 3ft and in the latter stages of flowering. If I can make it work, I can produce anywhere from 4-6 ounces every 3 weeks. Maybe even a little more as I become more experienced.
Sound workable? Of course, the whole plan is reliant on this 400w system lol! I've known alot of people that said that while htg's stuff is not really ideal, it's often workable and workable is all I need right now. Growing pot under tubes has proven to be a real waste of electricity and my harvests aren't lasting so I'm ending up without for a few weeks in between harvests. I'm still nervous about this whole thing though without any first hand experience with htg I'm really not sure what to expect. I just know that there is at least a %75 chance I'll be alright. All in all, the mess-ups prob total at under %25 of their customers. Maybe even less than %10. So while those odds aren't ideal, they're still favorable.
