Welcome to my humble grow, Urbanachiever!
For those who don't want to read from the beginning, this is a summary of my equipment. You can also follow my DIY evolution by browsing my gallery.
I grow DIY and cheap, since I don't make any money off my indoor garden. In the beginning it was all desk fans, tarp-covered wire shelving, and a couple dozen 23W CFLs, both daylight and soft white for wavelength variety. Since then I have added 4 Mars 300 panels, which greatly improved the light penetration. Each panel eliminated 6 CFLs and a LOT of electric cords!
I still use only passive ventilation and grow low-odor strains so the whole neighborhood isn't bothered by some dank odor emanating out of my windows. LOL!
Even tho we are legal here in Alaska, I still attempt to hide as much LED light as possible (old habit), but I think blackout curtains on the one window would be a lot easier to deal with, instead of draping blankets around my units.
I have been tempted to purchase real grow tents, but I don't need the extras, as I leave the tops of the shelving open to vent heat, and have two fans on each shelving unit, plus one to bring air into the room, and one to exhaust out the window (yes, even in winter).
The other downer is that shipping on grow tents is more than the tent itself, and the local shops sell them with the shipping added... way too expensive, too fancy to grow a few weeds. Several hundred dollars to a grand for a tent vs $40 for each 72" tall shelving unit/coat rack, and I have 3 units. The shelves are easier to assemble and sturdier, too. For my 36" x 36" unit, I wired two coat racks together for the depth (the kind with a wire shelf on the top and the bottom).
I wrap a white polytarp around the sides, leaving the top open, and the "door" is a shower curtain liner on a curtain rod with those shower hooks, so it slides open with ease. ("reflective" cover cost: less than $20 per unit) The white polytarp makes for a very bright interior without hot spots.
This is an early version, before I started using curtain liners/hooks/rods for the flap. It is always evolving.
Oh, and I now grow in 3 gallon tall kitchen trash bins (around $3.88 each at Wallys.) The plants, esp the Autos, like that extra root depth (14") and the bins take up a lot less floor space.
Do the math. With what I save on name-brand equipment, I spend on good soil, good additives, and good seeds.
I'll try to get a couple pics up today, before I start changing things around again.
But that is just me, and how I prefer to grow. I don't know how long I will continue this hobby. it depends on if my family gets their grows going and how much meds I need. My grows will get smaller, for sure, and I'll actually be able to stay under the limit.
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) and am just about out again. I want the 24-ounce ones, but haven't seen them locally for a year and I'm not going to order <BLEEP> disposable plastic cups :icon_roll . So I'll probably have to get more of the 18-ounce ones. I guess maybe the youngins aren't chugging cheap watered down domestic beer around here like they used to? Ordinarily I'd consider that a good thing, but I want bigger cups.
