Alright, I got a few ideas going, just gonna post them here for now.
I want to give living organic soil a go. I've done soil before, but always around 3-5 gallon pots. I want to do 15 gallon pots, try my hand at top dressing, re planting in the same pot, etc... Been trying to do the math between mixing up some coots kit soil vs just buying build a soil light recipe locally.
Coots med kit makes 15 cu ft - $100
3cu Peat moss - $ 20
3 cu ft pumice - $141
2 cu ft rice hulls - $ 63
2 Oly Compost - $ 90
3 Wiggle Worm - $ 90
Total w/ tax - $540
Trying to find pumice locally but not having much luck. Don't wanna go with perlite... Threw in a couple bags of the Oly Mountain compost from build a soil instead of going with all wiggle worm... Can't seem to find local worm castings, and build a soil/cowoco breaks the bank at over twice/triple the price per volume.
I can take a short(ish) trip to pick up a car load of Build a Soil Light recipe. Ingredients look similar, pumice, rice hulls, peat, but BaS worm castings instead of wiggle worm and oly.
BaS Light x 15 w/ tax - $535
Either option makes enough for 8-9 x 15 true gallon pots with a little room for top dressing/cover. For top dressing/cover I was gonna splurge on a bag of CoWoCo, grab a bit of craft blend, and go with some simple straw mulch. Enough to last a few cycles. ($141 w/ tax).
Bringing my initial soil cost to
$676-681. If I can stick with it, yearly costs should be under $100.
Additionally, if you've seen some of my older grows, I love wick beds/systems for watering. I'm extremely lazy/forgetfully/manic/depressive, so having some kind of automatic watering system is a must for me.
I was looking at the 4 packs of AC infinity self watering XL bases. $215 gets enough for 8 15 gallon pots, but they're a bit too large(22" wide) to cram 8 in a 57"x57" tent... So I was looking at making my own.
The 15 gallon pots I found are just a bit short of 18" wide. I searched the internet up and down and found 18" wide at the top, 16 inch at the bottom by 2.6" deep saucers. Should hold right around 2 gallons of water each. The fun part was trying to find a 2.5-3" high by 16" wide plant riser to fit inside it. I managed to find these lovely things:
It makes your life more convenient, rustic charcoal style, add rustic decor to your house. 【360°Lockable Wheels】 - Plant dolly with 360 °rotate & brakes,4 degree rotating heavy duty casters wheels, 2 wheels that can be locked to prevent, which also will make flower/plant pots stand stably,no...
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The ability to roll inside the saucer would allow you to scoot it over just enough to refill the saucer, then scoot it back to cover it again. All that was left to add is a bit of 1/4" plant wick. Total cost of 8 custom wick self watering bases:
$190 post tax
All that's left is the main grow equipment.
My space is a little shy of 5', right at 57" and I happened to find the perfect 57"x57" tent for a steal currently, $89. Need a fan filter to go in it, Vivosun 8" fan/filter kit - $175, air circulation inside, pole fans x2 - $ 50, whoops, forgot about the pots, 15g pots x 10 - $ 60.
And most importantly, the light. This is what I'm eying now:
HLG 750 Diablo ES offers a broader spectral curve that promotes healthier plant structure and improved light absorption—especially in dense canopies. The result is optimized growth efficiency and higher quality yields, making the HLG 750 ES a powerful choice for serious commercial cultivators...
horticulturelightinggroup.com
$1150 for the main grow equipment.
For a grand total of
$2016
For the record, I planned originally a budget of
$1000, I'm not sure how I got here.
