Chris Jay Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 A mate phoned me a couple days ago about setting up an indoor grow at his new home for his own harvest and a couple mates. They are big stoners and used to fair amounts of bush twak outside. He has moved into a small town and has eyes all around him now, so would rather be more discreet. He asked me what it would cost to setup a continuous indoor garden. I thumb sucked 10K for a basic tent setup with flowering, vegging and cloning chamber. Not to sure if that was a right costing, but a figure I think is not far off the mark. Worked out he smokes about 30 - 40 grams a month. He is an experienced horticulturist, landscaper, but only ever grown outdoor bush twak. Any advice from seasoned indoorers welcome? Are the off the shelf grow setups you can buy for one person, any suggestions? My final thought for him was to buy auto/fem seeds and grow in pots around his garden discreetly as is needs are two-fold. He is tired of buying, is not currently growing and he needs his zol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyCLown Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 R10k for a start up indoor grow is a bit on the tight side but possible, provided the grow is on the smaller side. 40g a month, call it 6 months to harvest for shits and giggles, works out to 240g. This can easily be achieved in a single 1.2m x 0.6m tent Thumbsuck pricing on some items: Tent: R2 400 LED Light: R4 250 Carbon Filter: R1 500 Extraction Fan: R1 450 Oscillating or Box fan: R300 Total: R9 900 There are still some items he will need to purchase, soil or coco, pots, nutes, ph pen, timer, ducting, seeds comes to mind. However the largest equipment purchases will fit in with his R10k budget. I reckon he should be able to pull at least 300g dry from that tent with a good grow. Also doubt it will be 6 months from seed to smoke, most likely quicker. Autos for outdoors work well, especially now that it is summer and we have longer hours of sunshine. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkunkPharm Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 I rate you can get away with less of you DIY. But you can definately spend more depending. Buy a tent. You can DIY a veg area. If a grow takes 12 weeks and you can get 100+ grams off 2 plants it is viable. But pricing above is about what it costs. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrow Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 (edited) If you DIY your lights and exhaust fan setup (for a smaller tent a 12V 120mm high airflow server fan (around 150CFM) is a much cheaper option and is sufficient) and for a single plant DIY light you can get away for around R1500 all in (depending on what components you use), so you can still shave off quite a bit if you do a smaller (say 70x70x160) setup and DIY a few things. Edited November 27, 2020 by GoodGrow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyCLown Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 8 minutes ago, GoodGrow said: If you DIY your lights and exhaust fan setup (for a smaller tent a 12V 120mm high airflow server fan (around 150CFM) is a much cheaper option and is sufficient) and for a single plant DIY light you can get away for around R1500 all in (depending on what components you use), so you can still shave off quite a bit if you do a smaller (say 70x70x160) setup and DIY a few things. 70 x 70 may not reach the required amount of bud, although if its in combination with some plants outdoor then it could work. The server fan wont work with a carbon filter, which will be required he if needs to be discreet. Although growing outside will draw attention... So really depends on how discreet he needs to be. If there is no need for a carbon filter then a PC / server fan will work for sure, I basically did that when I first started growing as I was not using a tent and it worked really well actually. I have also used a PC fan in a drying tent with good success to avoid the RH spiking too high. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jay Posted November 27, 2020 Author Share Posted November 27, 2020 (edited) Thank you for the feedback and advice. Quote If there is no need for a carbon filter Probably not, enough wind and far enough from neighbours noses, but not their eyes. Quote Tent: R2 400 LED Light: R4 250 Carbon Filter: R1 500 Extraction Fan: R1 450 Oscillating or Box fan: R300 Total: R9 900 So when you include seeds, good medium, pots, pans, nutrients, you probably looking at R15000. Yeah we kinda agreed that the budget was a little to high for some personal smoke, and will be waiting on him for a budget on some auto's. Its still not out the questions as I might be able to organise some good quality lights from a grow that is closing down. Again thanks for the advice. Edited November 27, 2020 by Chris Jay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrow Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, PsyCLown said: 70 x 70 may not reach the required amount of bud, although if its in combination with some plants outdoor then it could work. The server fan wont work with a carbon filter, which will be required he if needs to be discreet. Although growing outside will draw attention... So really depends on how discreet he needs to be. If there is no need for a carbon filter then a PC / server fan will work for sure, I basically did that when I first started growing as I was not using a tent and it worked really well actually. I have also used a PC fan in a drying tent with good success to avoid the RH spiking too high. You are correct! I forgot to factor in the required yield - from autos (experienced grower, good breeder/genetics, and heavy yielding strain), you'd need two medium plants to produce the 140+g to keep you going while your next crop is growing, but if you have enough juice light wise, you could probably push 200g out of a topped, lst/scrog'd regular/photo period plant in a 70x70x160, but then again, if grown from seed you add around a month onto your grow cycle (auto vs photo), so he might run out before next crop is done, you also have to factor in 7 to 10 days of drying and 45+ days of curing (minimum I cure before I start smoking my buds). That's the one thing about growing cannabis, one grower can achieve 200g from the same clones as the guy next door, who only achieves 60g, so many factors that come into play, so it makes it a bit hard to guestimate yields, but working off of my experience, a very cheap setup and beginner grower can get at least 50g of decent quality bud from a grow, barring any major incidents along the way (pests, deficiencies, toxicity, etc). Then lastly, a bit of research always makes a huge difference... in my opinion it's very beneficial to understand the stages of the plant, effects of light intensity and spectrum, understanding how plants update nutrients and how growing in different grow mediums have an effect on the buds in certain aspects (sweetness & taste, etc), such an amazing herb. Anyhow, all the best and happy growing! Edited November 27, 2020 by GoodGrow 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyCLown Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 7 minutes ago, Chris Jay said: Thank you for the feedback and advice. Probably not, enough wind and far enough from neighbours noses, but not their eyes. So when you include seeds, good medium, pots, pans, nutrients, you probably looking at R15000. Yeah we kinda agreed that the budget was a little to high for some personal smoke, and will be waiting on him for a budget on some auto's. Its still not out the questions as I might be able to organise some good quality lights from a grow that is closing down. Again thanks for the advice. If there is no need for a carbon filter, then allocate those funds for pots and medium and possibly even seeds. If you can get cheaper lights, then you have even more budget for various odds and end, or to pocket and save for just incase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jay Posted November 27, 2020 Author Share Posted November 27, 2020 7 minutes ago, GoodGrow said: Then lastly, a bit of research always makes a huge difference. That is what I told him to, its kind of like a fulltime job, especially as he would be new to indoor growing, not plants. Its a different sport and takes a lot of time. I think he was just looking for a quick fix for current lack of green and bleak future of potential harvest. I think he will just do the auto's outside in pots. Quote If you can get cheaper lights, I would never suggest going cheaper, it generally always costs in the long run. Damn never realised how costly indoors has got. I mean my first indoor CFL box cost a few hundred to setup. 4 x 45 watt lights, 2 pc fans and a small ac/dc convertor. A bit of elbow grease, slapped some white paint on the inside and used it for years to grow a wide variety of plants and dry biltong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyCLown Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 36 minutes ago, Chris Jay said: I would never suggest going cheaper, it generally always costs in the long run. Damn never realised how costly indoors has got. I mean my first indoor CFL box cost a few hundred to setup. 4 x 45 watt lights, 2 pc fans and a small ac/dc convertor. A bit of elbow grease, slapped some white paint on the inside and used it for years to grow a wide variety of plants and dry biltong. Well you mentioned you may be able to get lights for cheaper as some grow is shutting down? These Quantum Board LEDs vs CFLs, you cannot even compare. These newer LEDs blow CFL way out of the water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jay Posted November 27, 2020 Author Share Posted November 27, 2020 yeah some digital 600watts from grow guru up for grabs. You certainly cant. The CFL's i mentioned was basically all that was on the market when I set them up, i think they were fairly new tech. However they have done a great job for too long and when I am not growing in them I converted it to a biltong dryer. Recently we tried using the old box as a chicken incubator, but luckily mother hens sorted themselves out. Have a lekker weekend guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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