Need Advise , 1st Grow

I have read alot of threads and tried to do the research. I have lots of space, I thinking about flood & drain Hydro for flowering, & drip hydro for veg. Want to use G. H. nutes. CFL's for seed/clone. T5 for veg. Flower light??? Lots of opinions, I would like to use LED, (less heat & power). If I go hps, it would be 400w. I have seen grow journals on forums that show they are pretty egual, LED yeilds were a little higher. I saw these on 420 Magizine site. I want to set the flower area up to initially do a 3 x 3 grow, & expand it to a 3 x 6 - 8 using a light mover.

Any opinions or suggestions?? Recommendations on equipment/manufacturer??
Would like to keep initial cost to $ 700 - $ 1,000
Thinking about Barneys Farm Tangerine Dream & BF LSD or BF Red Diesel
All info appreciated

i love my cool tube 400w with digital ballast. and it was waaaaay cheaper than $700. you could buy alot of extra toys with the difference (like a second 400w cooltube setup lol)

strain is totally different subject, no opinion (but i would like to try tangerine dream)

and I havent had the best luck with gh products. personally I have had better luck with fox farms 3 part

LEDs will cost you more up front but should eventually pay for themselves through power savings, however I haven't seen too many grows that have been as or more successful than HIDs. I am researching building my own LED panel because I don't want to pay the insane prices and I want to fine tune the spectrum and it won't be cheap to buy a LED that would equal the same output as a 400W HID. Most material I've read says you'd need about a 200W LED system to equal a 400W HID. Problem is that LED system will run you about $700. I'm all about experimenting with new tech but my main grow is staying powered with HIDs until I get several side grows that equal the yield and quality with LEDs.

Like BiteSizeFreak said LED's are expensive. If you were to only use LED's, you would surely go over your budget. Im sure you've seen pretty cheap LED's out there but there cheap crap. Make sure their legit. I use Kessil's (LED) and couldn't be happier. IMO I would use the 400 watt HPS, and if you want more get some LED supplementary lighting. Check out the Magneta's, they'd be perfect to balance the spectrum. I also use the GH nutes & Im very satisfied with the results. When it comes to nutes, you'll have to do the experimenting yourself to find the optimal results. Do alot of research on here so you'll have an idea what your looking for. Good luck

Based on your funds I would buy a 4bulb 4foot High Output T5 fixture for like 120$ for the Veg room and a 400w HPS setup for the Flower Room. Check around you can get a 80$ HPS bulb, 250$ digital ballast and 100$ hood. Maybe cheaper if you get bundle deal or know some people. Thats quality lighting for small veg and flowering room for like 550$ which is not bad. Just dont forget about the 60-100$ fan for cooling the light and 2 fans for room circulation in each room. That and the cost of a cheap Panda Film room I think your setup is very possible for around 1000$. But there is much more to go, ph testers, ppm tester, grow medium, pots, containers, scissors, duct tape etc. Its the little stuff that slowly get ya lol.

P.S. I prefer COOLTUBES best hood imo awesome cooling and light spread for less than most hoods.

Best of Luck
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/384835-swiftgrow-journal.html
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/384835-swiftgrow-journal.html

no need for that many oscilating fans, just a small one to give a breeze. invest in dehumidifier for late flowering

Thanks to all for the info. I have dehumidifer, will the 400 w hps give off alot of heat? IF so can I vent the heat with a canfilter to controll smell at the same time? What type of hood/reflecror do you recommend, with or without glass?

Drellvis said:

Thanks to all for the info. I have dehumidifer, will the 400 w hps give off alot of heat? IF so can I vent the heat with a canfilter to controll smell at the same time? What type of hood/reflecror do you recommend, with or without glass?

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If you can afford it, definitely go with a sealed reflector. Really helps with the flexibility of your equipment/setup later on down the road.

400w gives off a little heat but at least in my case its very managable just venting it to one fan out the top. and its not a vortex either, just a 6in booster fan and I can keep my tent around 80F during the summer w no A/C on