Anyone grow hydroponics?

[Kaneman]

No, not weed. My Grandma got me an Aerogarden for a wedding present and we grew a shitload of Basil and Parsley, which was pretty cool to have handy and not have to pay $3 everything I wanted it in my dinner.

I have a spare room that never gets used so I was thinking about trying to grow some tomatoes or cucumbers or something. I would much rather do it outside, but our house is completely shaded. I've got a buddy with a 600W light up in his attic he said I can have. (He got busted, but not growing tomatoes, lol)

I wonder what it would cost to run a 600w light for 18 hours a day? Anyone have any experience with this?

[Trip]

I wonder what it would cost to run a 600w light for 18 hours a day? Anyone have any experience with this?

Find out your $ - kW/hr cost on your electrical bill.

[Rider]

No, not weed. My Grandma got me an Aerogarden for a wedding present and we grew a shitload of Basil and Parsley, which was pretty cool to have handy and not have to pay $3 everything I wanted it in my dinner.

I have a spare room that never gets used so I was thinking about trying to grow some tomatoes or cucumbers or something. I would much rather do it outside, but our house is completely shaded. I've got a buddy with a 600W light up in his attic he said I can have. (He got busted, but not growing tomatoes, lol)

I wonder what it would cost to run a 600w light for 18 hours a day? Anyone have any experience with this?

Your pulling 5 amps on that bulb alone. You better not have anything else on that breaker when you turn it on assuming it's just a 10 amp breaker. The inrush current would pop the breaker if you have anything else on there drawing power.

[Trip]

just a guess for Texas based on the info I could find is about 9-13 cents a kilowatt hour. Don't know how accurate that is though.

Say you were at 10 cents pulling a 600W bulb, that would be $1.08 a day if you ran it 18 hours a day. That's dependent on your electrical rates being fixed at 10 cents though.

[Particle Man]

Find out your $ - kW/hr cost on your electrical bill.

Or run an extension cord from your neighbord :D

[Kaneman]

$.116 per hour they tell me. It took me an 8 minute phone call just to find that out. Assholes.

Anyway, so $30 a month? Not sure if that seems worth it or not.

Rider, my buddy just had it plugged into a regular ol' socket. Had some fans and other "closet accessories" too, never had any trouble. But I know shitall about electricity.

[Trip]

Yeah, price wise it's not usually worth it. It's more worth it to control the freshness of ingredients and what you put into it.

[LeeNetworX]

My grandfather used to grow hydroponic tomatoes in 5-gallon buckets full of sawdust. Those things would get HUGE. Those got all of the sun they needed, however - I'm not sure how much minimum sunlight they would require.

[Kaneman]

My grandfather used to grow hydroponic tomatoes in 5-gallon buckets full of sawdust. Those things would get HUGE. Those got all of the sun they needed, however - I'm not sure how much minimum sunlight they would require.

Sunlight would be awesome, I'd love to not be completely shaded here.

[OneSickPsycho]

I'd say a 600w setup might be a bit overkill for growing a couple tomato plants.

[t-homo]

Let down.

[stermp66]

Just curiosity going here but I believe there flourescent bulbs that are for plants? They would not use anywhere near 600watts correct?

[HokieDNA01]

I have an aerogarden for the herbs. Thing grows insane amounts. I can't use it fast enough. I'm about to set it up for its second round now that I'm trying to cook more.

[Trip]

Just curiosity going here but I believe there flourescent bulbs that are for plants? They would not use anywhere near 600watts correct?

depends on the the bulb and size of them. Sounds like that guys setup was for a big cash crop of illegal substances.

[Kaneman]

depends on the the bulb and size of them. Sounds like that guys setup was for a big cash crop of illegal substances.

Nah, it wasn't for cash, strictly for personal use. Police broke down the door to his apt because they had a report that he was dead, lol. Long story. But anyway, his loss could be my gain.

[t-homo]

Nah, it wasn't for cash, strictly for personal use. Police broke down the door to his apt because they had a report that he was dead, lol. Long story. But anyway, his loss could be my gain.

lmao. that is some crazy shit.

[Kaneman]

lmao. that is some crazy shit.

Short version. His dentist needed to reschedule an appt so they called him. They had his old cell #, and apparently some crazy bitch now owned that #. She screamed at the receptionist and then hung up. The receptionist thought she dialed wrong so she called again. This time the crazy bitch said "I told you he wasn't here, I threw his bitch ass off the balcony and he dead!"

So the recep called the police...and the rest is judicial history, lol.

[marko138]

Short version. His dentist needed to reschedule an appt so they called him. They had his old cell #, and apparently some crazy bitch now owned that #. She screamed at the receptionist and then hung up. The receptionist thought she dialed wrong so she called again. This time the crazy bitch said "I told you he wasn't here, I threw his bitch ass off the balcony and he dead!"

So the recep called the police...and the rest is judicial history, lol.
:lol Wow. Thats wild.

[t-homo]

Short version. His dentist needed to reschedule an appt so they called him. They had his old cell #, and apparently some crazy bitch now owned that #. She screamed at the receptionist and then hung up. The receptionist thought she dialed wrong so she called again. This time the crazy bitch said "I told you he wasn't here, I threw his bitch ass off the balcony and he dead!"

So the recep called the police...and the rest is judicial history, lol.

Wait, did they arrest him for growing when they went in to see if he was alive? If so, he should be able to get out of it.

[t-homo]

depends on the the bulb and size of them. Sounds like that guys setup was for a big cash crop of illegal substances.

Nah, it wasn't for cash, strictly for personal use. Police broke down the door to his apt because they had a report that he was dead, lol. Long story. But anyway, his loss could be my gain.

It was probably 2-3 plants tops. Could have been selling a little bit to friends, but using a lot on his own.

[marko138]

Wait, did they arrest him for growing when they went in to see if he was alive? If so, he should be able to get out of it.
Does that some how make it legal?

[Kaneman]

Wait, did they arrest him for growing when they went in to see if he was alive? If so, he should be able to get out of it.

No, that's the thing. He was at work, so they had the apt mgr open the door and conducted a search, including the closet. This was years ago man, its all said and done now. They got his new cell# and called him, told him they needed to talk to him down at the station, so he got a lawyer. He never served a minute of jail time, luckily.

It was probably 2-3 plants tops. Could have been selling a little bit to friends, but using a lot on his own.

It was 6 plants, but they were tiny. He bought all this shit, got everything planted, and got busted 2 weeks later.

Does that some how make it legal?

Umm, yes?

[OneSickPsycho]

Just curiosity going here but I believe there flourescent bulbs that are for plants? They would not use anywhere near 600watts correct?

Yes, there are all sorts of fluorescent and incandescent grow bulbs... Wattage isn't the issue, what you're actually looking for in a grow light is lumens (amount of light) and the light spectrum (colors) produced.

If I had to make a bet, I'd say the dude was using a 600W high pressure sodium bulb... Sorta a yellowish light... could also be using a metal halide, which is more of a blue light. In general, HPS produces more light (lumens) per watt than the MH. Fluorescents, even more.

At least that's what I can remember from back in the day..

[Kaneman]

Its a 600W Super HPS light which covers a spectrum that will work for vegetative growth but is focused for flowering. From looking into what I would really need its not worth it to me. I can see if you were growing bud for $$, but just to grow some veggies? Nah

[t-homo]

Yeah the bluish is supposed to promote foliage growth. The infareds promote stem growth, and therefore, shitty.

[Tsunami]

Can you borrow gardening space from a nearby friend?

[BobTheBiker]

with a 600w bulb, the significant increase in power usage will probably draw attention from the power company, who may notify police, meaning you risk an unexpected visit and search of your home to find out WTF you're doing. at least here they'll do that.

that said, I'd look around and find something smaller that suits your needs the same.

[Kaneman]

with a 600w bulb, the significant increase in power usage will probably draw attention from the power company, who may notify police, meaning you risk an unexpected visit and search of your home to find out WTF you're doing. at least here they'll do that.

that said, I'd look around and find something smaller that suits your needs the same.

lol, I seriously doubt the energy company cares or even notices a $30 a month spike in electricity. Especially in my neighborhood of houses built in the 40's with horrible insulation. I would doubt even more that a judge would grant a search warrant based on said spike.

But if they did maybe I could sue eh?

[marko138]

lol, I seriously doubt the energy company cares or even notices a $30 a month spike in electricity. Especially in my neighborhood of houses built in the 40's with horrible insulation. I would doubt even more that a judge would grant a search warrant based on said spike.

But if they did maybe I could sue eh?
I doubt you could sue if a warrant is issued. But, I'm with you, probly isn't gonna draw any attention.

[Kaneman]

I doubt you could sue if a warrant is issued. But, I'm with you, probly isn't gonna draw any attention.

Well if it really is possible to have a search warrant for your house issued if you have a $30 a month spike on your bills then...well I wouldn't even know what to say about something like that other than sickening.

What does everyone else think about this. My plants would be in a room with no curtains, so the cops could look in and see what I'm growing...but still, I can't afford to have gangsta policemen barge into my house, trash it, shoot my dogs and tase my son.

[marko138]

I really doubt ANY judge in America would issue a warrant for a 30/month energy spike.

[Kaneman]

I agree, I also don't think an energy company or police dept would even notice. I don't think twice as much energy usage would be a big deal.

I imagine to get attention you have to be running at least 4000 watts and dissipating a lot of heat over your house.

[t-homo]

There wont be a search warrant issued. A lot of times cops will pay employees at the electrical company to report any spikes like that then they will come by and knock on the door and talk to you. They will most likely talk their way inside of your house, but you are no more obligated to let a cop in your house than a crackhead.

[MILK]

Just curiosity going here but I believe there flourescent bulbs that are for plants? They would not use anywhere near 600watts correct?

You do not need special bulbs. Regular flourescents work just fine. I have grown my entire garden - tomatoes, peppers, annuals, perennials, etc from seed. Never used hydroponics but the plants won't care about the bulbs that way vs dirt.