DIY Cheap Bulb Experiment - Mega Budget Grow

[DummyGrower]

Wattup lovely boys and girls of AFN, hope yous are good and healthy.

Please remember that I am a beginner and I am still learning, so everything that I post here could probably be bettered in your hands. With each grow I learn new tricks, so if the plant is tiny, it might not only be because of the bulbs but also because of me. However I am making progress and things are more stable nowadays.

So after reading this brillian thread:

https://www.autoflower.org/threads/a-beginners-guide-to-leds.70041/

I decided to start a few experiments with cheap ol' household LED bulbs and see what I can get out of them if carefully selected... So the point of this thread is to prove that with a bit of attention, one can grow some good buds with the cheapest setup ever. The first grows might be weak, but with time I learn and apply my new knowledge to all my grows including these ones. Thanks again AFN, the most serious growing forum I ever come abouts.

So the basic setup is:
-4 bulbs at 1.5 euros each (2x3000K at 5w and 2x4000K at 7w) -> 6 euros
-15 feet of electric wiring, plug and 4 bulb holders -> 5 euros
-3 electric dominos -> 2 euros
-square of carton
-clothe rack -> 10 euros
-Biobiz Light mix and root pouch

with a few extras for the pot soil nutrient and seed would probably get to a total of 50 euros. (and a fiva a month for the electric) RQS Northern Lights Auto

I already grew a couple plants that way, and the second one is already better. I really think now that with 9 10W bulbs, the result would be better.
Here are a few pics of the device and the first plant, which was at a time I was really extremelly sh..te

Tiny buds (my bad) but loads of trics

Let me introduce you to Eugênia, the first to have been grown under em lights

I'll keep on posting results of these grows, with the second one I called Michtoli, which I will soon harvest. Pics coming soon, bless

 

[Bob's Auto's]

Hey buddy,

I love all sorts of DIY and this is a great example how you can grow herb with very little investment.
Are those led bulbs made out of glass or plastic? If they are plastic you can carefully remove them and they will shine brighter.


Also you might have a look at these COB lights. They also work on 220V, but give you so much more output then the bulbs. Mind you, that they do need active cooling, but I think a tinkerer like you can figure something out with a cooling block from an old CPU (ask around your local PC shop)

Regards,

Bob


p.s. And to AFN

 

[DummyGrower]

Hey buddy,

I love all sorts of DIY and this is a great example how you can grow herb with very little investment.
Are those led bulbs made out of glass or plastic? If they are plastic you can carefully remove them and they will shine brighter.


Also you might have a look at these COB lights. They also work on 220V, but give you so much more output then the bulbs. Mind you, that they do need active cooling, but I think a tinkerer like you can figure something out with a cooling block from an old CPU (ask around your local PC shop)

Regards,

Bob


p.s. And to AFN

Again, thanks @Bob's Auto's . Brilliant thing that is, never thought of removing the outer bulb. Defo something I will try soon on this little side project of mine. I'll also have a look at them COB lights don't know nothing about that. Love AFN for these little tricks I learn everyday.

 

[Bob's Auto's]

Again, thanks @Bob's Auto's . Brilliant thing that is, never thought of removing the outer bulb. Defo something I will try soon on this little side project of mine. I'll also have a look at them COB lights don't know nothing about that. Love AFN for these little tricks I learn everyday.

You're welcome.
If you have questions just tag me dude

 

[Drownomatic]

You can salvage LED panels from discarded LCD monitors

Salvage LED Panels

 

[Don't Fear the Reefer]

Interesting setup, wish you all the best.

 

[DummyGrower]

Interesting setup, wish you all the best.

Thanks dude!

 

[St. Tom]

@DummyGrower im very keen to see what you can do with these lights and I wish you tons of luck but we all have to start somewhere right

 

[DummyGrower]

Thanks @St. Tom, appreciate these kind words.

I have to say I still mistreat a lot of my plants still.. haha, I used this first experiment to also practice my training skills, and actually snapped the main branch doing some LST. So it also took time to recover. I also noticed a lot of disformed leaves.

I will also need to determine the correct amount of food needed with this kind of light.

In the end Eugênia gave me a bit less than 5g ready to smoke. Sweet but no very stoned haha

Thanks for the interest shown btw.. I will keep on updating this thread everytime I grow a new plant with this, and everytime I'll change something in the setup.

Hopefully, there will be a moment where I'm satisfied with the investment/yield&quality ratio. I will then post the definite setup and the full and detailed price list.

 

[parsing_trees]

Again, thanks @Bob's Auto's . Brilliant thing that is, never thought of removing the outer bulb. Defo something I will try soon on this little side project of mine. I'll also have a look at them COB lights don't know nothing about that. Love AFN for these little tricks I learn everyday.

Before removing the plastic LED domes and running ungrounded LEDs in a high-moisture environment, you should read this very strongly worded warning.

Removing the plastic translucent dome from an LED light bulb is a way to get more light on your plants. This is just factual. What you are also doing is exposing potential lethal voltages that are not isolated from ground.

Or just don't do it.