DIY or Pre-Fab Box?

Had to switch up my lifestyle a little bit now that I have a wife and a couple of young kids. Went from being a ski/trout bum and living mostly outside to having pretty demanding obligations both professionally and at home. Both the ol' ball and chain and I are heavy smokers and even at medical prices can spend as much as $800 a month on ganj so seemed like growing would be a fun hobby that we could both get into while being at home and hopefully will end up making financial sense as well. I am pretty torn at the moment, I have scrounged up enough cash for a setup from a prefab growbox maker called BCNorthernLights but am not sure I want to pull the trigger. Fully understanding that they are just about the spendiest route to accomplish what I want to do I'm leaning that way for the following reasons and would love some feedback/advice:

• We are renting the home we will be in meaning we may be there for as little as 1 yr and it is obviously not kosher to be growing on the property as per our lease so stealth is really important.
• Like I said, I have little kids who are very curious so the idea of being able to lock everything appeals to both of us but especially my wife
• I am not super handy and don't really have many tools on hand so I feel like the boxes will have paid themselves off by the time I got an equivalent DIY setup figured out
• My wife is doing the mommy thing full time right now so she will be around most of the time but neither of us has a lot of free time to sink into this project

If somebody could tell me why to go another route and maybe offer some re-assurance that as long as I'm not an idiot I could figure it out I am open to whatever. What we have available to us space wise is a pretty big 2 car garage. Any feedback about BCNorthernLights specifically would also be really appreciated. Sorry for the long post, really looking forward to getting up and running and being involved in what seems like a very cool community both on and offline. Thanks!!!

Tent sounds ideal.

I'm currently facing the same dilemma. I have a spare room,with closet. The pre made cabinets look very good, and clean. compared to the tents.

Just can't see a cabinet being able to supply enough for the two of you but could be wrong. I struggle with 8x8 area lol.

Tents can break down in mins

Budley Doright said:

Just can't see a cabinet being able to supply enough for the two of you but could be wrong. I struggle with 8x8 area lol.

Click to expand...

Get a 10x10 and a 4x8 and put it in the garage.

Put a rented 7' x 7' x 8' POD in your garage and put a 4 x 4 tent in it. Kids be none the wiser and its month to month.

I have a pre-fab. Love it!

Wow! Thanks fellas, badass feedback to what I would assume could be construed as a stupid question. Here's a link to a vid about the pre-fab setup I was thinking about:

Looks like a cool setup but the cost is pretty prohibitive to the tune of $6250 and my understanding from doing some research is the dryer is not the way to go because you can't hang dry. Stoked about the tent idea which I would assume I could produce a heck of a lot more tree for way less $.

If I was was going to go the tent route could anyone recommend a good resource for components and literature about how to get started or should do something like buy the Jorge Cervantes book and ask around at the local hydro store? Thanks again for helping a newbie out!

DIY all you can- you'll spend a fortune on a pre fab cabinet. All you need to get started is an area like a basement that stays cool. I have little ones too & the basement starts locked 24/7 so they never see weed in the house. Start with a small grow tent or section off an area & use panda film to make a lightproof area to grow in. Check out secret Jardin dr90 tents they are good quality & a good size to start with. Optimally you'll have a bloom tent and veg tent but you can start with a single & build from there. You'll need grow lights: I suggest starting with a 400w or a decent quality led. Flourescents are a good option too but they won't yield like hids or LEDs...good for early veg & clones & seedlings but you'll want better lighting for bloom phase. You'll also need air filtration with an exhaust fan. Don't buy a ton of nutrients all at once either; all you need is some good quality organic soil formulated for mj- don't go to lowes or HD- get it from a grow store or online. Pm me if ya need help- good luck happy growing

You can build a room with 2x4, OSB and white paint for pretty cheap... Just saying. fuking cheap tarp on floor too.

Aight, the verdict: based on the feedback/my research I am going to start with a couple of tents and a cocoa setup. Been talking to a really awesome shop here in the Portland area and they are making me feel good about the support I could get from them as a first time grower getting set up. They made a pretty compelling argument for doing a couple of rips to learn some things hands on before I try a straight hydro setup. Seems like any troubles I need to work through will be valuable experience for the future since eventually I want to do a permanent room or basement setup once I buy a house here. I also really like the idea of dealing with somebody not only in the USA but a local small business.

Really stoked to have this place as a resource. I have had some lame experiences with forums in the past of people beings dicks about starting out a hobby or whatever and this has been the exact opposite. Probably should have assumed that a bunch of heads would be cool folks.

hondagrower420 said:

Tents can break down in mins


Get a 10x10 and a 4x8 and put it in the garage.

Click to expand...

I keep everything separate from the house due to legalities here so I built a garden shed .