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GhettoGrow - Beginners Journey to Harvest for less than $1500

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
Ok , Hi Everyone , Im Boyd Crowder, how are you , damn your eyes...(johnny cash)
This is my first grow,I sincerely hope you will grab a bucket of (bubbles) popcorn and join the show.

Ill get to poppin them nugs..

Background:

I quit cigs nye 1999. Im a lifelong pothead, started at 13 and im pushing 45. 30 odd years ...

I found out I like vaping by accident. My close friend turned me onto some wax n a stik and kinda fell into the whole scene. I bought a wax stik and some vape sticks and reacquired the habit of smoking nicotine again.

A weird thing happened: I bought some vape kit (ALOT over time TBH) and found some flavors I liked with nico (natch). My weed intake fell off ~80% as a result. Unexpected on my part. I still love to get a buzz, but Ive found I get alot more shit accomplished in life if I dont smoke 7-10 blunts a day.

So... I decided to make the thc vapeables and discovered youtube and SkunkPharm had a wealth of info. I made some. It was ... underwhelming.

I must say , I have a REALLY high tolerance for thc at this point in life. The beta testers loved my ejuice , but I felt there was more to be had from my perspective. I couldnt afford high grade source to slop in a pot on the stovetop and infuse just so I could take a pull in the meat isle of the local supermarket.

So I decided against my better judgement to put matters into my own hands.If I want to make kickass ejuice and wax, Id better control the entire chain.

Which leads me here. I too, did the whole "I watched a zillion videos and forum posts and now im growing" thing. Thing is, none of that research prepares you for actually breaking the law and creating a grow environment for MMJ. Actually doing it is what is teaching me more than a thousand hours on youtube ever could.

I decided my budget and started acquiring gear in january.

I had a budget of $1000.

I didnt worry about seeds or cuts, I assumed it would come in the the gathering faze. I was correct. Not everyone will have that result but I live in a large city and craigslist came through as I suspected.

So , in gathering, I met a IC member who LISTENED to me. I told him, "I wanna make medicine, topicals , vapeables and orals, for my wife who has rheumatoid arthritis, My mom who's early alzheimers , my immediate family and myself who has fair skin (freckles) and need treatment for skin cancers and dry spots". He gave me some Herijuana IBL and some Star Kush F2 seeds and said, "heres what you need".

I didnt pay much attention at the time , cause he also had some kit he was liquidating and I was all high on the deal.

Turns out , he knew exactly what he gifted me. The harrys are a very high thc breed (~28%), somewhat rare and sought after. The star kush , while 5% lower in thc, are another medicinal breed right there in my sweet zone.

So here I am, expanding the budget, cause I think I want another light and want to go full on rdwc.
Will you walk with me on this 1500$ beginners journey for some medicinal harvests ?

My goals:
Make some new friends
Keep it under 1500$
Get .5-1 gpw
Recoup the 1500$ investment.
create a fully operational def star (rdwc).
Grow some high quality source medicine.
Acquire experts knowledge on our dark arts.
Make some kickass vapes and wax.
Gather info for future grows.
keep anal data.
take some great pics.
Get down to the nth degree on the entire grow.

So yeah , if you wanna see some seedlings pics , can i get a hellzyeah?

***EDIT-9/2017 Update!!***
Id like to say after growing for 36 months now, dont do what i did;
dont spend 1500$ on hydro gear, especially dwc stuff
Save your money and go organic - spend those savings on quality gear - either elite clones or highend seeds
 

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
So i gotta hellzyeah and a how many watts!

Heress to the hellzyeah
picture.php
picture.php
picture.php


I have some germ trays that aint showing up in my album but whatevs - these'll do

Watts: = ~450 mars 2 900
thats the reason Im budgeting 1500 instead of 1k
I think ima get a second unit. 2x900 (450 real) mars led.

I have a leo nearby, dont wanna hid in my house cause they spit bad noise. GhettoGrow ftw
 

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
So yeah, onto teh growzers...

I set up a 7 bucket dwc sytem for the beans that made it.

two air pumps atm. Looking to score a ecoplus 7 for a good price this week. that way i can use the other two for a bubble cloner...
I plan to build the def star once I know the sex of this brood

moar pics
picture.php
picture.php
 

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
SOooo...

I took the plunge on January 12th and purchased a T5 Badboy 8 light 4' and some misc gear from craigslist. $250 Also got some beans $0
I picked up a Mars 2 900W Led off ebay $251
A HM TDS on Ebay $27
A Milwaukee PH 600 from ebay $21
The next day , I got some super thrive and plumbing supplies Lowes $40
Petco Airstones $23
On the 15th I bought an air pump and a 10 pack airstones Ebay $28 & $46 respectively
and a jiffy germinator kit $12
Grand total at that time $698
I soaked them beans over night and 8 out of 15 popped up.
Next evening i put them all into the jiffygermy
by the 19th , I had eight babies. 5 Star Kush' and 3 herijuanas - I was on my way.
op0e94.jpg

IMG_5025.jpg
 

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
so yeah , i got some buckets and shit , and used some 8" netpots to transplant. Maybe too big really for where im at but whatevs. roots is showing and the jiffy cubes in hydroton dont seem to be an issue. Using the snype method - lucas x chlorine x super thrive.
moar picks of week 2 coming soon
 

catalyte

Active member
Veteran
nice to meet ya Boyd.

"Whole world's a tree Raylan. I'm just a squirrel trying to get a nut."

i think you can definitely achieve your goal with some IC help.

I think I'll stick around for the show if ya don't mind Mr.Crowder :yes:
 

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
Nice to meet you there Tan G
" You want to make a living in this business you need to know your ABC's. Always Be Cool" Boyd Crowder
 

catalyte

Active member
Veteran
^right on.

one suggestion i have based on your settup from my experience... if you can get a hold of some Advanced Nutrients Sensi-Bloom A&B for nutrients, get 'em. They are pH perfect engineered and will save you lots of time/stress because you won't have to set/re-set your pH when making nutrient solutions and in DWC that would be very valuable. The shit is like a nutrient insurance policy. If you leave em too long with this nutrient in the buckets it will keep the pH in the sweet spot no matter what kind of water you use, although RO water is always recommended.

Just my 0.02cents.
 

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
Thanks Tan G!

Im using the GH for this grow in the lucas formulas. KISS is the word. I dont have ph swings. since I started tracking my data , these kids all prefer 6.0 , I can either lower the ph to 5.8 daily or let them ride where they want to be. SInce starting my tracking sheets, ive had to adjust ph in 3 buckets once or twice in two weeks. My room is n the sixties atm , since I dont have my fan controller yet , its pulling in 3 times the room volume of air each minute. This has my rh down low as well but , the rez temps are all in the low 60's which is good.

I modified snypes tracking data to work with my dwc's heres a link to the post if you are into that.
Sykrocket Your Grow Progress with this New Technique
Heres a pic of it too.


Im kinda skipping around in the time frame so , I want to get this thread back on track with the next post and pix...
 

HarvestMoon303

Active member
You might consider adding a humidifier from Target or whatever. They are about $30 and if your RH is really low, it would help. I went from needed a humidifier when the girls were small to needing a dehumidifier when they were big. It's a fun game (not really). Also, fan controller is pretty clutch, but get a good one.

Also, if you want a HID, just get a magnetic ballast instead of digital and you're set WRT interference. I take it that you're not in a friendly state (I'm in CO, and I see my friends power bills for $1000, $2000, and nobody cares).

I also use GH, just a modified version of Lucas (I do use a little gro in veg).

Plants look great, healthy, happy! Nice start!
 

HarvestMoon303

Active member
Also, I think that you did well, just waiting for the seeds/clones to come to you. Too many people start the grow with seeds that they paid $10-15 each for, and kill half right away, then go "Chasing the Dragon" for the "Best seeds ever" and what they really needed were some cheap bag seeds and a few nice clones. It's more fun to spend the time gardening than paying crazy $ for seeds and shipping. :)

That being said, I also am not a big believer in THC numbers or the current state of "testing" . I had some afghani last night that tested at something like 16%, and I don't remember most of the night. I've personally seen test results that approach 26%, and I don't remember it being a particular good smoke. I've NEVER seen results at 28%, but the methodology is so screwed that I believe other people have seen higher #'s.
 

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
You might consider adding a humidifier from Target or whatever. They are about $30 and if your RH is really low, it would help. I went from needed a humidifier when the girls were small to needing a dehumidifier when they were big. It's a fun game (not really). Also, fan controller is pretty clutch, but get a good one.

Also, if you want a HID, just get a magnetic ballast instead of digital and you're set WRT interference. I take it that you're not in a friendly state (I'm in CO, and I see my friends power bills for $1000, $2000, and nobody cares).

I also use GH, just a modified version of Lucas (I do use a little gro in veg).

Plants look great, healthy, happy! Nice start!
I picked up a couple humidifiers at the thrifts stores ~$10
Im gonna borrow/buy/thief a buddies 600w to get my temps up till the fan controller arrives, shiet! Im getting ahead of myself... hope yall dont mind.
 

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
Also, I think that you did well, just waiting for the seeds/clones to come to you. Too many people start the grow with seeds that they paid $10-15 each for, and kill half right away, then go "Chasing the Dragon" for the "Best seeds ever" and what they really needed were some cheap bag seeds and a few nice clones. It's more fun to spend the time gardening than paying crazy $ for seeds and shipping. :)

Im not gonna chase anything while Im learning to grow. I have one guy I can get some gear from. Ive met others but Im not asking them for anything until I get my rooms dialed in. and I have something interesting to trade. Way I see it , Ima need a year to learn the seasons and these two strains will be enough to teach me the basics. Id love to get some GSC, GG#4, Banner#3, Sour Diesel and Chemdog DD in my stable but I gotta work with whats in front of me first. Hopefully, Ill be getting some GG#4 in the next six weeks, but thats not guaranteed. Im not even sure what the hottest strains in my market are , I suppose I should ask my network whats popular ATM?
 

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
ok so where was I?
I was at the part were I decided to go with a DWC system and the snype method. right

1/22 - 1/26
built a shelf on the bathtub in a spare bathroom, rinsed the hydroton and transplanted my 8 babies jiffy cubes and all. I did ask for advice about that decision , was advised against it , but did it anyways. I wasnt thrilled with the idea of rinsing jiffy shit off newborns.
I lost one of the harry's when my dog got curious....
so I put these kids under 2 bulbs of the badboy.
I hooked up the pump and and airstones , and phd the buckets. 5.8-6.0 plain water and turned on a honeywell fan.
Hooked up the timer 18/6 and wrote my notes which say the room was 77-82F and 49-52RH.



1/30 Picked up some GH Flora nutes. Mixed em up like they said on the side of the box, for seedlings. The pots them got numbered and the ppms ranged from 250-592 cause my measuring stuff was kitchen ware spoon type shit. Then I PHd to 5.7 each bucket.

WRONG!

Next day ,My babies are browning along the edges!
I watched these for a few days , it didnt get much worse , but it didnt get any better.
2/4
On advice of snype, I dumped out those rez and started with a mild 1 Micro/1.5 Bloom around 300-450 ppm. and the PH at 5.8, That promptly settled these kids down and they proceded to enjoy their 4 bulbs of badboy. Roots were a showing too ! Not much but these are 8" netpots so my guess is they are pretty dense in that hydroton. 46RH and temps at 75F , I wanted the rez to be around 68-70F but they were roome temp so , I kinda opened a window to drop temps to 68F.
 

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
Anywho, time for an update.
Ive decided to adapt med-mans rule of 4 method into my grow after stumbling across it here on the forums. I discovered it at PRECISELY the right time in my current grow. You only get ONE first grow and it seems its ok to do a grow journal for such in the new growers section. anywho , Ill update this thread tomorrow in the proper sequence of this journal.Moar Pix coming!
in the meantime , who has opinions on RH and temp ranges for flowering and veg ?
 

catalyte

Active member
Veteran
temps for veg should be 72-80F, RH 50%-70%

temps for flower should be 68-76F, RH 40%-60%

thats what i have seen work really well..
 
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