Creating a set up for 2-4oz each from 2 plants each grow

I am trying to figure out a good set up that could yield me 2oz-4oz per each plant of 2 different strains every time I do a grow.

I've been researching for almost a month, and it seems like people suggest a 2x4 grow tent, and a mars hydro led light or spider light that costs around $270-$300.

The total set up cost is looking like it will be $600 or more. I was hoping not to spend more than $300-$400 max, and was wondering since I'm only growing for myself, is there a less expensive set up that would work for the amount of oz's I am hoping to grow each time?

I would just try growing in my back yard, but there are many issues with that, not the least of which that even if I move the plants every couple hours, at best I'd be getting about 6-8 hours of sun due to shadows in my yard from other buildings. I completely failed growing tomatoes out there due to that and spider mites and other bugs that seem to be destroying everything in my yard.

Thats a problem with small setup leds, cost is still quite heavy. Why not grab one unit to start then add another when bigger giving more time to save.

Theres also t5's and big 250w cfls for cheap whilst you decide, could make a sepearate veg tent at later time.

I was thinking about CFLs, but I'm wondering how much money I'd really save, and if they would yield 4 or more ozs between 2 plants each cycle?

My light cost $200. Tent cost $80. Oscillating fan, humidifier/dehumidifier, another $100. There’s your $400 right there, and I haven’t even mentioned your Nutes, ph pen, calibration solution, soil, pots, etc. I typically yield 5-6oz per plant, even lower if I grow autos. And it’s summer time, so expect your electric bill to be high to keep up with cooling your tent, even more expensive if you use a window unit or portable AC. The upfront cost associated with growing can be expensive, but you should look at it not only as an investment, but a 1 time fee given you take care of your stuff. Way cheaper in the long run vs purchasing from a shop.

itslegalhereinla said:

I was thinking about CFLs, but I'm wondering how much money I'd really save, and if they would yield 4 or more ozs between 2 plants each cycle?

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The lowest option but electricity is pretty cheap for most its an easy start.

You seem to want leds, one cfl to get you a few weeks into veg then you can get leds and usw the cfl in another tent to start your next crop.

Go leds, easy to see what people yeild just a cheap cfl gets you started and allows you to spread the cost and research more.

Just ideas dont take seriously but many lights will get you started.

Find out your kilowatt per hour price you pay on electricity, mines 17p so a 1000w cost 17p to run for one hour, your going to be running a lot less so.pretty cheap.

Thanks,

What size tent are you using? I was told I should get a very tall 2x4, and taller ones of those seem to be at least $150. A 2x4 Viv(something or another brand) are under $100 on amzon, but are only 5 feet high.

Also I was assuming I need a humidifier, and a 4 or 6 inch fan and carbon filter for the grow tent and that looks like about another $150 or so.

I definitely get that it will save me money in the long run. I'm just worried that I won't be good at it, and I'll quit if it doesn't work out and loose all the money I put into it.

Dontjudgeme said:

My light cost $200. Tent cost $80. Oscillating fan, humidifier/dehumidifier, another $100. There’s your $400 right there, and I haven’t even mentioned your Nutes, ph pen, calibration solution, soil, pots, etc. I typically yield 5-6oz per plant, even lower if I grow autos. And it’s summer time, so expect your electric bill to be high to keep up with cooling your tent, even more expensive if you use a window unit or portable AC. The upfront cost associated with growing can be expensive, but you should look at it not only as an investment, but a 1 time fee given you take care of your stuff. Way cheaper in the long run vs purchasing from a shop.

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my advice. get a 2x2 tent and 120-135w of quantum boards or strips. learn to take care of 1 plant in a smaller space. once you get that dialed in then save up for the 2x4 and keep the 2x2 for a veg tent.

dont worry about yield for now. just get yourself going and get a feel for it. the rest will come in time. keeping things smaller and simpler will cost less for now, and make the whole experience more manageable. the more lights and plants you add the exponentially more complicated it gets.

blessings and hope to see you post some killer buds soon!

itslegalhereinla said:

Thanks,

What size tent are you using? I was told I should get a very tall 2x4, and taller ones of those seem to be at least $150. A 2x4 Viv(something or another brand) are under $100 on amzon, but are only 5 feet high.

Also I was assuming I need a humidifier, and a 4 or 6 inch fan and carbon filter for the grow tent and that looks like about another $150 or so.

I definitely get that it will save me money in the long run. I'm just worried that I won't be good at it, and I'll quit if it doesn't work out and loose all the money I put into it.

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I unfortunately bought the mars tsw2000 for a 32x32x84...are you able to use a 600w hps ? As I see that being a better option considering the weight you are looking for.. they are so cheap now.. just wondering

My 2x4 is only 1.5m tall cost about 70$ on Amazon, just picked the best of the cheap ones but you will.probably want a 1.8m version.

Forget humidity you just need a carbon filter and fan kit and a fan sleed control or variac - 200$ at a guess for all that. A small clip on fan 10$ and timer $25.

Look at some kits and setups, many cheaper ruck ram fans at 4" size will work well and a cheap carbon filter of the better makes like rhino hobby or idk but any non shit one will do dosent have to be the best.

Takes time to get it all right, make mistakes and crap, do research, fans have cfm m3 ratings so do carbon filters, oversize carbon filter cfm to fan cfm.

Some kits sell all but lights cheaper easier, 2x4 not so popular size for kits.

itslegalhereinla said:

Thanks,

What size tent are you using? I was told I should get a very tall 2x4, and taller ones of those seem to be at least $150. A 2x4 Viv(something or another brand) are under $100 on amzon, but are only 5 feet high.

Also I was assuming I need a humidifier, and a 4 or 6 inch fan and carbon filter for the grow tent and that looks like about another $150 or so.

I definitely get that it will save me money in the long run. I'm just worried that I won't be good at it, and I'll quit if it doesn't work out and loose all the money I put into it.

Click to expand...

itslegalhereinla said:

Thanks,

What size tent are you using? I was told I should get a very tall 2x4, and taller ones of those seem to be at least $150. A 2x4 Viv(something or another brand) are under $100 on amzon, but are only 5 feet high.

Also I was assuming I need a humidifier, and a 4 or 6 inch fan and carbon filter for the grow tent and that looks like about another $150 or so.

I definitely get that it will save me money in the long run. I'm just worried that I won't be good at it, and I'll quit if it doesn't work out and loose all the money I put into it.

Click to expand...

If you are only wanting to grow 2 plants a time, you dont need anything that big. Only issue with smaller tents is the vertical limitation. 5ft of height is doable with the right training, but as a new grower, I wouldn't recommend it. You will have issues during your grows, theres no doubt there, but that shouldn't discourse you from growing. We've all been there, and the only way to get better is from learning from your mistakes. Cannabis is a hardy plant, it takes a lot to kill one.

tkufoS said:

I unfortunately bought the mars tsw2000 for a 32x32x84...are you able to use a 600w hps ? As I see that being a better option considering the weight you are looking for.. they are so cheap now.. just wondering

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Thanks for the advice everyone. I don't think HPS is a good idea due to the added electricity costs, as well as the heat. I live in Southern California, and it will be in the 90's - 115 degrees with very low humidity. So I think LED's probably are the way to go, and I probably will need a humidifier.

I've put in well over 100 hours of research. Watched countless hours of videos on youtube, read tons of articles, and forum posts. I'm still quite confused due to all the people who have different opinions.

While I don't want to drop a lot of money on the first grow, I also don't want to knowingly go into it buying stuff that will only be used for the first grow when I discover it isn't good enough. I am starting with autos that don't get very tall, and LST looks pretty strait forward, and if I eventually go with non-autos, it looks like I can top them as well as LST and SCROG to keep the height down. But, if I am definitely going to need a tent taller than 60in, I'd probably be better off dropping that extra $100 or so on it now since I don't have space for 2 tents.

I've been thinking about making a "space bucket" if I just grow one at a time, but I'm not sure if that is a great way to go.

Sounds good but you still dont need a humidifier as plants are highly developed at growing in most humidities and do so just outside in the wild. A hot day might kill plants but even a very low humiduty day does nothing which is easily seen in the wild.

2Hearts said:

Sounds good but you still dont need a humidifier as plants are highly developed at growing in most humidities and do so just outside in the wild. A hot day might kill plants but even a very low humiduty day does nothing which is easily seen in the wild.

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No need for a humidifier? I’m curious as to how your plants look without one. Might make me reconsider using mine.

Dontjudgeme said:

No need for a humidifier? I’m curious as to how your plants look without one. Might make me reconsider using mine.

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I've never used a humidifier in decades of growing cannabis. I have used a dehumidifier in the flower tent though.

xtsho said:

I've never used a humidifier in decades of growing cannabis. I have used a dehumidifier in the flower tent though.

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What sort of relative humidity do you usually get where you live? I live in desert like humidity, and many people said that I will need to raise it to get the most out of the plant. But since I don't need huge yields, maybe I don't need to worry about it. It will save me about $50 and a lot of time refilling it every day if I don't need one, but I would hate for one of the lesser expenses on this to be cut out if it would have made a big difference.

I’ve never not used one, so I can’t say what the effect of not having one would be. But I haven’t had any issues up to this point, so I think I will continue until it becomes a problem.

itslegalhereinla said:

What sort of relative humidity do you usually get where you live? I live in desert like humidity, and many people said that I will need to raise it to get the most out of the plant. But since I don't need huge yields, maybe I don't need to worry about it. It will save me about $50 and a lot of time refilling it every day if I don't need one, but I would hate for one of the lesser expenses on this to be cut out if it would have made a big difference.

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I didn't think about different climates. You're climate is different than mine. I'm in the Pacific Northwest.

itslegalhereinla said:

What sort of relative humidity do you usually get where you live? I live in desert like humidity, and many people said that I will need to raise it to get the most out of the plant. But since I don't need huge yields, maybe I don't need to worry about it. It will save me about $50 and a lot of time refilling it every day if I don't need one, but I would hate for one of the lesser expenses on this to be cut out if it would have made a big difference.

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The girls like higher humidity when they are young and produce tons of moisture in later stages of growth. If you're looking to MAXIMIZE yield, then you need to optimize everything, starting with your environment. What you would need to do is to get the right VDP for each stage of growth. To get VDP dialled in, you will need a heater, air conditioner, humidifier, dehumidifier AND a $500-$700 environmental controller. Since you only hope to get 2-4oz, I don't think it's worth the trouble. You can get 2-4oz per plant growing out of solo cups. Keep it as simple as possible for your first couple of grows. Each grow will teach you more and you can decide at that point which additional equipment you want to invest in.

Basics:
LIGHTS!!!
Don't get cheap on the lights. They ARE the most important part of your grow. You don't have to buy 1000w worth of lights, you can start small and add as you go and grow, BUT all things being equal, lights will have the biggest impact on your grow.

Tent
I don't know your situation, if you're stealth growing, have a closet or extra room or what. If you're in CA, then you're legal and a stealth grow is not important (unless you're trying to hide it from your parents!). Buy the biggest tent you can afford. You cannot expand the tent, so your tent is what will limit you the most (aside from your wallet). If you have a closet you can use, there you go, you just saved $100.

Fans
You need air circulation and maybe a carbon filter to hide the smell. If you aren't stealth growing, you can go minimum on the filter. It only really smells a lot later in flower and when drying.

Nutes
Well, you could fill 10 forums with pros and cons for each brand of nutes, additives, supplements, etc... Truth is, for your first grow, keep it simple. Learn what your girls like and dial it in.

Medium
You have not mentioned which medium you plan to use. Soil would be cheapest and easiest for first grow. Any form of hydro need pumps, sprayers, tanks, water chillers, etc..., so soil would probably be your best bet.

There is my 2 cents worth. I seem to have gotten extremely great value for a mere 2 cents. But it is only worth 2 cents if someone deems it to have a value of 2 cents, so we will wait to see if it is actually 2 cents or total b.s. Either way, you've come to a great forum to glean advice from. There are many great growers here (myself NOT included in that group) from whom you can learn from.

Good luck and happy growing

Currently on my first grow aswell, I ended up buying a 2x4 tent, 1000watt LED, fans, Nutes and soil etc from amazon and spent 200 dollars (CAD) I didn’t bother with filters as I’m not too worried about the smell.

Obviously stuff from amazon is cheap Chinese junk, but some products can have decent reviews, so far I can’t complain!

As for humidifier, I use an ice cream tub full of water lol, my humidity sits around 30-40% and I plan on removing my poor mans humidifier come end of flowering/harvest.

Like I said I’m new to growing and higher quality equipment will for sure last longer, I just wanted the cheap route and so far so good lol

I've learned the cheaper your setup, the more clever you'll become to make it work. As your experience and techniques progress, so will your equipment. Growing is meant to be fun, challenging, obstacle ridden and rewarding. Perception of reward will vary as will peoples opinion on what you have to have vs. what you need to get going. The part you can't purchase is experience and it doesn't take much $$ to start learning.