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Is small scale home indoor growing more money-efficient than legal recreational?

Sitting here pondering what kind of a grow room I'd have installed if I won the lottery and could buy a nice house =D

Shit's expensive. I'd probably go with LEDs for lifetime and lack of needing separate bulbs or setups for different stages. To cover 10 plants the LED panels alone can easily cost $3500+. Damn!
 
I have a Hardin DS90 tent. Can anyone point me in the direction of a manual. Its used. No instruction
 
Artificial Emotion said:
Compared to a 600W HPS they are not more efficient.

I never said they're worthless - but they don't just don't outperform a gold standard of a 600W HPS.

LEDs, watt for watt, produce just as much heat but since their wattage is often low, the amount of heat is correspondingly less. Put your hand under a 600W LED and compare it to a 600W HPS and you'll see the LEDs produce plenty of heat.

I'm looking for a study that demonstrates all of this but I'm having trouble finding it. Here's one ref to an article:

"Existing LEDs are no more efficient at converting electricity to light than the latest sodium lights" Le Page, M. 2015. Sun-free farming: Indoor crop

I do agree that 315W CMH setups are promising and seem to have the edge over 600W HPS lights.
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Yeah, but the argument is that they produce a higher PAR rating so you need a lower wattage, thus less heat and energy consumption. I've seen this demonstrated with PAR meters. Not all lights are created equal. Spectrum should be considered rather than lumens, as plants can't use all spectrums of light. Wattage and lumens are not useful in determining how effective a light will be.

https://fluence.science/science/how-to-compare-grow-lights/

There are also a lot of sources that claim that LEDs are actually more efficient in concerting power into lumens, so again, I think it remains debatable.
 
You could always start out with a bare bones 600w HPS setup and a simple deep water culture bubbler and see if growing suits you. If you have poor luck you won't be out more than 2-3 hundo , if you stick with it then upgrade to bigger and better equipment. The new lamps are very promising and will only continue to get better but most are best suited for vegetative growth while the HPS lamps are still the gold standard for flowering. I would stick with a decent bulb like an Eye Hortilux though as discount bulbs can be trouble.

General Hydroponics sells a DWC setup which is just a shorter square bucket inside of a taller one and uses an air pump for aquariums to aerate and lift water to the top of the grow medium. No fancy timers, pumps or separate reservoirs to deal with. Straightforward and simple to get going and can be used with organic teas if the synthetic grow- bloom- micro nutrients aren't what you're looking for. My initial investment was about 4 hundo and I got 22ozs of very good mid grade (6-7/10) out of it the first harvest. I spent 20 mins a night and an hour every Sunday after the initial setup, quite relaxing actually. The seed genetics play a huge role as well so don't skimp on those

 
If you really want to save money look into trying out a hempy bucket. All you need is a bucket with a hole in the bottom and some substrate like perlite/vermiculite or my favorite, fytocell. It's called passive hydroponics.
 
/\ Does passive hydroponic require aeration of the nutrient mix?

I am a big fan of hydroponics myself, but soil can be more forgiving and requires less upkeep which may be beneficial for beginners. If you can afford to make a few mistakes and don't mind spending the time to do the research hydro is the way to go. I would suggest finding someone who has things dialed in and has their schedule figured out and replicating that until you learn the ropes.

A lot of people recommend the growers bible. I forget the name, but I found a book that has pictures and explanations of different nutrient deficiencies and plant disease really helped a lot. Nutrient mix is all about balance, too much or too little will cause deficiencies. Learning to recognize the signs of nute deficiencies, pest infestations and diseases can really save you a lot of headache, but will take a lot of time and practice to get it right.
 
With the DWC setups the more air the better.

VydzUL3.jpg
 
Mafioso said:
/\ Does passive hydroponic require aeration of the nutrient mix?
Click to expand...

With hempy buckets it is not needed. People have tried running an airstone into the reservoir at the bottom of the bucket but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference and can cause more problems than it's worth.
 
Seems these DWC's systems are everywhere now. I still prefer using a Home depot 5g bucket and net lid then picking up an air pump with air stone and that's it. The tube on the side to show water level is a pain and can leak so I go without them. The link at the bottom explains everything you'd need to know about DWC and the basic nutrients you'll need. Good Luck with whatever you decide to use...

This is the bare bones stuff that myself and a couple other people I know used successfully and learned quite a bit.

s-l300.jpg
Flora-Series-Nutrient-Trio.jpg
db9f5cfa83026aa69e196bd1b1d29a1f.jpg

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https://www.420magazine.com/gallery/data/500/Picture_75.png

http://homehydrosystems.com/system_...-DWC-system/Five Gallon Bucket DWC System.pdf
 
/\ yeah DWC can be made from home pretty easily. The biggest thing is making sure no light can leak into the container. I forget the name, but you can buy a gasket/connector that allows you to run a clear tube into the bottom of the container and up the side so you can see the level of the water without having to open the top.

Those are good diagrams to start with. Finding a source that goes into further detail about nute def, pests and disease will help tremendously. Many factors should be considered when attempting to make a diagnosis. Some nute defs are very common while others are very rare and usually only occur in specific circumstances.
 
Jekyl Anhydride said:
General Hydroponics sells a DWC setup which is just a shorter square bucket inside of a taller one and uses an air pump for aquariums to aerate and lift water to the top of the grow medium. No fancy timers, pumps or separate reservoirs to deal with. Straightforward and simple to get going and can be used with organic teas if the synthetic grow- bloom- micro nutrients aren't what you're looking for. My initial investment was about 4 hundo and I got 22ozs of very good mid grade (6-7/10) out of it the first harvest. I spent 20 mins a night and an hour every Sunday after the initial setup, quite relaxing actually. The seed genetics play a huge role as well so don't skimp on those

Click to expand...

That's not DWC.
 
I start my plants indoors in small peat pots using ordinary fluorescent lights. Usually in late February or early March. I transplant outdoors in late April or early May (I live in Tennessee). Seven or eight plants (6 to 7 ft tall) will generally last me until the next year's harvest. Minor investment, great return!

I've had very few insect problems; just lucky, I guess. One year I did lose an entire crop to deer.

Gardening of any kind can be very fulfilling. I also grow tomatoes, peppers, and beans. Try it!

Peace&Love,
jasper
 
Mafioso said:
it looks to have everything that would be considered DWC to me? just with the addition of what appears to be a top feed?
Click to expand...

It's a drip system rather than DWC. A DWC makes use of airstones to aerate a nutrient solution rather than using top irrigation.

I believe the system shown is a waterfarm.
 
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