Need some help with attic grow

[Tony Urban]

Yeah it’s definitely not the same, a cheap light versus a good one, however it doesn’t mean you cant be successful. Starting out with a cost effective set up is a good thing. Lots of things to learn. As it pays for itself and you save money, and gain experience, you can always upgrade later. Really can’t beat the prices of some of those, especially if you are just getting into it.

You get what you pay for with lights (figuratively), meaning all are not created equal. I use LED, not cheap but not the higher end either. I get decent bud, not big yields, but also don’t get the weaker plant growth in flower that some Chinese LEDs give. I get great veg growth and mediocre flower growth.

Reviews on amazon shouldn’t really be considered a source of information. Many of these reviews are not actual customers giving their opinion. Or giving an opinion after ordering or using them for a week. There is a huge source of discussion on these lights in this forum. Test grows, par readings, lux readings, and on and on.

You will still successfully grow cannabs with the cheap Chinese LEDs, but make no mistake, they are no replacement for quality lights. I am going to try a CMH myself this next grow because my Fusion Pro 400, and Perfect Sun Dwarf Star aren’t giving me the yield I expect for 4 plants. Even then; it is not necessary. We grow for personal use.

 

[Greencheezit]

I have a 440cfm inline fan filter combo that I will install aswell for the humidity I'm not sure yet because i dont know if i will need it or have to get rid of it yet ya know

 

[Greencheezit]

I understand that there will be a long punch list of things I will need to correct and or upgrade to achieve optimum results and I have come to accept this just keep thinking of Richard Simmons and saying "YES I CAN " "YES I CAN"

 

[Greencheezit]

I plan to start with what I believe I can control and go from there this is definitely not a commercial set up strictly personal use and knowledge growing I would like to grow good quality pot and not have to pay 2 to 300oz for good smoke it's really depressing thi king about how much money in a year I spend on it

 

[Tony Urban]

I had a teacher tell me once:

“You can study for an hour and get 80% on the test, or you can study for two days and get 95%, it’s up to you if that 15% extra is worth it.”

My answer was nope. Not worth it lol.

I have averaged about 6-8 ounces from 4 plants the last 4 grows using variations of my living organic soil and LEDs. I gave away easily 50% or more and still have plenty to last to the next harvest. So it’s all relative. Many folks who aim for perfection are trying to grow medicine or yield for concentrates. Average folks, myself, are content with a happy medium.

Grown under a 235w, from the wall, perfect sun dwarf star. Probably considered well behind current lights like the HLG quantum boards or mars hydro SP250’s

Jordan of the Islands Kush

• Tony Urban
• Aug 3, 2019
• 1

JOTI Genetics, end of week 6

 

[HugePeckerhead]

I have one of those. I use it to start and veg peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, basic, etc for my outdoor garden. It does alright for that purpose, but the light requirements are significantly less. I would not trust it to go full through flower on cannabis though. Maybe for a 2x2 space, but I would still be leery that it would be enough for a good harvest. It might get it there, but quality and quantity would be subpar to what it could be with a better light.

Also, FWIW, those lights are not "full spectrum" lights. They are what you may have seen referred to as a "blurple" light, meaning it's spectrum is significantly blue and red parts of the spectrum. This results in a purpleish color of visible light.


For the attic, I'm not 100% sure it's going to work without a decent financial commitment. Believe me, if you want to set it up right, and so it actually works instead of you fighting it all the time, it will cost more than you think to get it going. In the summer, that attic will be hot AF. Keeping the temps down will be difficult. What type of grow system would you use? Getting water up there will also be a challenge.

If you use soil or coco, be prepared for bugs. Most likely of the gnat sized variety. Those little bastards show up out of nowhere. Do you really want pest control substances being fed back into your HVAC system?

What happens if you have a water leak? How do you plan to handle that? You don't want it trashing your ceiling below.

What are your plans for odor control?

How about humidity control?

What about stealth and security?


Many, many things to think over and consider before just throwing up some boards and plywood in your attic.

the water part.....man I had no idea how much water id be using on a just a couple plants.

 

[HugePeckerhead]

I understand that there will be a long punch list of things I will need to correct and or upgrade to achieve optimum results and I have come to accept this just keep thinking of Richard Simmons and saying "YES I CAN " "YES I CAN"

a lot will be learning by making mistakes. When I started a couple months ago I made a list of things needed by importance and went from there. I didn't know anything about growing. I'm coming up on my first harvest and will be upgrading from there.

 

[Greencheezit]

Also I am growing in soil just not the right conditions to hydro grow soil is most practical for me and what I have to work with

 

[Greencheezit]

I'm so glad I joined the forum site I've already learned more from reading grow journals and conversations than I have from watching YouTube videos

 

[Greencheezit]

I was sceptical mostly because it is still illegal for some fucked up reason to grow pot in indiana never know who's looking at what

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

Welcome.to the bent backed quasimodo style of attic growing. I would suggest in the strongest possible fashion to create a box within the space using insulating bubble wrap. Totally enclosed to deflect the heat from sun on the house roof one side and with the layer of bubbles between the wrap , a cooler temp is maintained within the bix. I am halfway through doing this but had to get this run done before i complete it. Lofts get stupidly hot with the warmer weather and the air can get trapped and heat up a lot. The wrap is not expensive but imho is vital to keeping the temps managable. I also use the same stuff around my dwc buckets to keep heat out by deflection.

 

[Greencheezit]

I have already built the room and your correct it does get very hot up there . . . . However I have come to realize that if you have an equal amount of cool air exchange it makes a huge difference I ran a vent line to my master bathroom vent and put a vent booster fan on it to equal out the pull from the fan/filter combo