Cheapest grow light
- Thread starter JamaicanC
- Start date
bunnyface
Well-Known Member
yeah, go into your local hardware shop, perferably not a wallmart. Homebase, make a list and do it ureslf, with a standard lamp fitting. Rule of thumb one light per plant on that scale.
Take it easy.
Dezracer
Well-Known Member
Exactly. This is what I did and the only reason my setup cost me around $150 was because I had to build a cabinet and buy a couple fans and other stuff. You can get clamp lights from a hardware store for between $5-10 and a pack of CFLs @ 4 for $10-12. They're 26watt and 6500K color temp I think which is something like a 100watt equivalent. When you're ready to flower just go back to the hardware store and get a pack of the same bulbs but in a warm color temp (2700-300K range) for another $10-15.
If you don't want to use the clamp lights you can get individual sockets and wire them together yourself for a more customized setup. It's actually even cheaper that way since you can just use a regular extension cord that you just cut, strip and connect to the sockets.
Don't know if they have Target stores wherever it is that you live but if they do, they always have the 4 packs of those bulbs for cheap. Just try to set yourself up with 50-100watts per plant or 1 square foot and you'll be set.
Bonzi Lighthouse
Well-Known Member
No that is a 55w
Dezracer
Well-Known Member
JamaicanC:
Her's a few pics of the CFL stuff I ran to give you some ideas and a picture of the buds I got from a White Widow plant that was grown under CFL. It started as a clone and was only vegged 8 days. Got 30grams from it and 32grams from the Hindu Skunk that was grown along with it. The White widow was awesome too, small dense nugs that were potent.
I did use two of the 68watt 2700K bulbs in the fixture you can see in one of the pics during flower along with 6 of the 23 and 26 watt bulbs. The 68watt bulbs are availab;e at Home Depot and lowes for $16 each I think.
Her's a few pics of the CFL stuff I ran to give you some ideas and a picture of the buds I got from a White Widow plant that was grown under CFL. It started as a clone and was only vegged 8 days. Got 30grams from it and 32grams from the Hindu Skunk that was grown along with it. The White widow was awesome too, small dense nugs that were potent.
I did use two of the 68watt 2700K bulbs in the fixture you can see in one of the pics during flower along with 6 of the 23 and 26 watt bulbs. The 68watt bulbs are availab;e at Home Depot and lowes for $16 each I think.
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Snickelfrits
Active Member
u cant argue with that third pic of the hangin budz yummy!
AbsoluteChron
Member
Nothing comes close to CFLs in terms of lowest initial cost. LED technology is still in the early adoption phase, so to try to compare it to a government subsidized option is completely ridiculous.
Brick Top
New Member
Not to sound uber-rude but you would be best to wait a while and squirrel away enough money so you can then purchase a lighting setup that is at least decent, if not actually good, than to try to grow using things that either will not work or that will at best work poorly.
If someone cannot afford even the most basic minimal lighting that will work, not work great, but will work, it is a certainty they will not be able to afford others things that will be needed to grow something that is worth smoking.
If someone gets lucky and manages to be able to harvest something there won't be much of it and it will lack quality. And for that they will be taking the same risks and facing the same penalties if caught as someone who has a good setup. It doesn't make much sense too me to go through the effort and take the risks to, at best, end up with a small amount of Roadside Red.
goodolboy
Active Member
Amen Brotha, Amen!
sk'mo
Active Member
I'll second that. I'd save your money and do it properly. Spend what you have now on a grow bible.
Dezracer
Well-Known Member
This is solid advice for sure BUT he wasn't asking for opinions on what he should do. He has obviously already made up his mind to give growing a shot so, why not be supportive?
If he gives it a try on a small scale and can't make it happen, he's not out too much money. If he has some sort of success, meaning he can get a plant or two from seed or clone to make it through harvest and learn along the way, then he can decide if he wants to pony up for a nice setup.
sk'mo
Active Member
I am being supportive. It's "Step 0 - Learn yer shit." With a bit of reading a person learns that incandescent bulbs are useless and wouldn't ask about using them (Not trying to be harsh, but it's true.). I think JamaicanC would find more success by investing some money into the grow after learning more of the basics. I just don't want to see someone fail at their first crop and get frustrated trying to figure out what went wrong or worse, get discouraged from trying a second run.
With the proper environment, even if the first run is a failure, you don't lose, because you'll have what you need to succeed in your second. You can focus on the plant and not everything around it. Not saying a person needs to go out and blow a bunch of money, looking around here, you can certainly build a setup that doesn't cost much, but you still need to create the proper climate. If you spend money on the wrong equipment though, you will be out some money when you need to fix whatever is wrong.
Jamaican, you're on the right track... Asking questions. I'd look more at CFLs for inexpensive lights. likely your best option.
Here's an idea: What's your budget? A shiny nickel says folks around here can give you some good ideas on a full setup that is within your means.
With the proper environment, even if the first run is a failure, you don't lose, because you'll have what you need to succeed in your second. You can focus on the plant and not everything around it. Not saying a person needs to go out and blow a bunch of money, looking around here, you can certainly build a setup that doesn't cost much, but you still need to create the proper climate. If you spend money on the wrong equipment though, you will be out some money when you need to fix whatever is wrong.
Jamaican, you're on the right track... Asking questions. I'd look more at CFLs for inexpensive lights. likely your best option.
Here's an idea: What's your budget? A shiny nickel says folks around here can give you some good ideas on a full setup that is within your means.
AbsoluteChron
Member
I'd counter that a grow bible is a complete waste of money because all of the information is online for free. I'd rather use the rollitup database alone rather than any single book, not to mention the entire rest of the internet. There's a ton more info on this site than I think most people realize.
Anyways, saying that growing is completely about the equipment and the quality of the bud is severely missing the point. Not only is it a skill and a knowledge base that needs to be developed with practice and time, but you leave out the intangible happiness and pride you get from smoking your own bud. If you actually think about it, given that you are inside of the legal limits in your area and actually appreciate marijuana then the opportunity costs of not growing are probably almost larger than growing in any capacity.
Also, the rationale on saving up and "doing it right" doesn't hold up given the fact that everything else for the grow would be exactly the same aside from the major cost (HIDs) that he is purposely waiting on (plus the savings in ventilation). CFLs may actually be sufficient for quite a lot of people, obviously not everyone is smoking (or even has access to) top shelf in the first place.
sk'mo
Active Member
The problem with getting all your info online is that there is a lot of conjecture and misinformation. Having a good book on growing gives you info you can rely on, plus some things you might not have thought to look up.
I agree that practical experience is the most important thing to have, but at the same time, the more you know, the more you'll learn from that experience.
Dezracer
Well-Known Member
This is definitely correct. You can get all the info that's in the books online but you won't know if it's been relayed or interpreted accurately and could end up being more confused than before you started.
AbsoluteChron
Member
Differentiating between sources is important anywhere you get your information. The thread is about the cheapest route for grow lights so I'm curious how spending money on something other than grow lights accomplishes this. If the info exists in a grow bible, then it exists online, but the opposite is not always true. Information on pricing also tends to be dated quickly so it's often left out of books. Telling someone just to go buy a book is kind of useless when they are ALREADY using a tool that could satisfy all of their needs.
mrgrowered
New Member
You can check out goblinlights.com for a huge selection of different spectrum grow bulbs
Johnny Lawrence
Well-Known Member
Those lights are all garbage.