The weed upcharge

Indoor Growing Hydroponics
#1

I was really impressed with the build it your damn self LED thread. The price comparisons between doing it yourself and buying a ready made light are night and day and has always been kind of a sour spot for me when it comes to growing. It seems that as soon as something is marketed towards growing cannabis there is an unreasonable upcharge for no damn reason. For example; I was breaking down individual components to a 12 bucket ebb and flow system. It was regularly priced at $999! It took me a minute but I finally found the 60 gallon collapsible reservoir sold individually. When it’s a Reservoir, it’s $120 but when it’s a Collapsible rain barrel, it’s only $43.

I kind of wanted to use this thread as a jump off point for people to be able to share identical or similar products that don’t have the weed upcharge attached to them.

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#2

I built a bubble cloner for like $8 not including the pump

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#3

My home made RDWC is the same as 2 of these and costed me about $500 to make…

I’d almost argue mines better lol. I used bigger piping and have 0 issues with root clogs.

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#4

That’s what I’m talkin about @Neb do you want to show some pictures of the set up and maybe a material list for others to follow along with?

You too, @Foreigner. I’d like to check out your cloner if you can provide some pictures and materials.

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#5

There are people out there who buy them for that much without even blinking an eye. I would guess that’s why they are for sale for that much. .
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#6

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It’s just a small tote with netpots and hydroton. Not pictured are the pump and air stone. Easy as pie

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#7

Well this isnt fully complete and alot of the stuff i left out would be kind of specific to your setup anyways but it will give you a good idea.

heres most of the parts i used.

You likely can shop around and find better deals than these links also just keep that in mind. This air pump is also overkill for my setup.

I went with 2" bulk heads

I probably spent closer to $700 CAD :sweat_smile: including the PVC but this was during covid when prices on alot of that stuff went through the rough im sure it can be done for cheaper :money_mouth_face:

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:sunglasses:
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#8

“Indoor growing tent” = 100-500$
"3D printer, vented tent = 40-100$.

Yup.

@Neb , we all know from your grow logs that your set-up is hot wet garbage and doesn’t create a sea of plants that will grow so big it requires defoliation before their nodes hit the lights. Nope. Your system doesn’t do this at all.

(:laughing: )

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#9

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@Pigeonman its a jungle now that’s for sure lol

I’m struggling with the seedling-early veg phase but once roots hit the water its off to the races with this setup.

I suspect ditching the hydroton like @JoeCrowe would produce even better results.

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#10

My most recent addition to the system costed about as much as the whole thing together did. PROBABLY was not needed but Ive stopped using hydroguard since adding this water chiller which is a big savings in Canada.

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^^
this is a prime example of something I could of done myself if i was more confident DIY style and save a ton.

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#11

That’s an awesome set up.

Bronson reacts only
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@Pigeonman that’s exactly what I’m talking about. I didn’t even know 3D printing used tents.

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#12

I made a similar setup to @Neb. Only 6 sites. I’m looking into making my own chiller right now. $700 just seems crazy. Heaters are super cheap though.

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#13

I notice this all the time, it’s ridiculous.

Here’s a link to a free book that teaches you how to DIY many growing items that cost SO much money! Page 99 is where it teaches you how to build your own equipment.

Great thread!

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#14

Yeah I still need to buy a chiller for my RDWC as well. The price point is WHY i’m not gonna run RDWC this winter (unless i score a chiller for cheap!).

For my veg stage, I use a turkey baster and top-feed the clones 1x in the am and 1x in the pm until the roots hit water and as you put it so well go: “off to the races”.

Edit: @NorthNorthNugs , that book is awesome! Do you know how to get it into PDF form?

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#15

You can try a quick google search but just be careful with some of the sites that come up. I didn’t trust any of them and I can’t find it on my go to book site (pdfdrive.com) so this is the best version I was able to find.

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#16

do you think going with smaller net pots would have gave you a better lay out ? what i would have done is put a 4 inch top left (back of tent) and bottom right front of tent on all and kind of have a staggering layout for more space ? or am i just over thinking ?

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#17

I originally was designing it to just be a 4 site and do 4 big plants. Afterwards I applied and got approved for 25 plants legally so things changed a bit.

10" netpots are overkill 100%. As for the staggering I dont think smaller net pots would really make a difference they don’t control the size/shape of the plant just provide support.

I understand what you mean by putting them in the corners but the plants grow huge and fill the space above them anyways.

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#18

ya i figure and love the set up always wanted to run dwc in a 12 foot ceiling room under some gavitas lol 2 lb plants indoors! id love to see you run that think sog style some day 24 plants all single cola with satalite branches haha

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#19

I’m thinking about running some flood tables to try out a sog style grow! Run all the strains that og members gifted me. I’ve got about 20 different packs in the fridge now lol not including the stuff ive purchased myself.

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#20

oh man that can be tricky sog with multi strains haha tried it once many years ago and wont again i save my sogs for mono crop one strain like my current gg4 table and even then some get taller than others lol

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