Growing ganja can be expensive and my SS check only comes once a month so cost control is important to me. I grow indoors, in soil with separate areas for veg and flower. My startup costs included lights, tents, air conditioning, pots and tools. Recuring costs include soil, fertilizer, pest control, electricity, seeds and other micelaneous expendibles. My veg tent is located in the same room as I flower and I normally have 4-6 plants in flower at a time. The flowering plants are not tented. Being able to both veg and flower plants at the same time is a huge bennefit giving you a crop every couple of months.
Lighting is the bigest startup cost for a home grower and will be a major contributor to your electric bill. I have changed my lighting 5 times over the years, as better options became available. I tried HPS originally, but dealing with the heat they generate was a big issue. I now use all LEDs, they have come a long way since I first started. When buying, be sure to take into account the light’s efficiency. Efficiency is expressed by a low “Usable PPF/Watt” number. That is the amount of PAR light reaching the plant canopy. New lights are coming out all the time and they are getting better and better.
I use a low tech growing media approach. I start`with good soil (Foxfarm Ocean Forest) so I get all the trace nutrients I will need. I don’t use the fancy fertlizers that are available, instead I stick with the fairly inexpensive MiricleGrow LiquaFeed. It has a decent NPK (12-4-8) and contains a little manganese and zinc. I do feed at higher than the recomended rate.
