Hey good people...okay, so here's my 4 cents worth: I agree with everyone who has said that these systems are incredibly over-priced. That part is a no-brainer. But..... About 7 years ago, I decided to take up growing. The vast stores of knowledge and info available to a beginner from RIU and many other sites soon become very overwhelming to a person who doesn't know the difference between pH and PK...lights? ballasts? nutrients? medium? Even reading and re-reading threads for noobs and beginners becomes overwhelming.
Anyway, what I did back then was buy a cabinet set-up from some group called Sun Systems or some-such, which promised step by step by step instructions, included a video, all the nutes, hydroton, pumps, fans, lights, etc. etc. for something like $1500. It sits in my basement right now because I can't even give it away... Okay, so here's my point...
By entering the grow field with one of these units, I was able to slowly get to understand all the little nuances and requirements for succesfully growing our favorite vegetable without getting confused and overwhelmed. For that training alone, I feel that it wasn't wasted money. And, over the years, I've become more and more knowledgeable with each and every grow...starting with pulling the cabinet system apart and installing all the components in a larger space with better and bigger results, learning how to build my own bigger and even better system, bigger lights, bigger tubs, etc., etc. And from there I've become fairly adept at growing for my needs. But for my learning curve I needed all that stuff in a nice neat little package designed for idiots to make it all make sense for me. So...there's my long, rambling reasoning for someone to buy such a system. Even though I can't IMAGINE anyone spending so much and getting so little!
BTW: I've saved enough over the years to pay for that thing 0ver and over. I haven't bought greenery since starting 6 years ago. I'll shut up now.... Peace to y'all!
