Turn Key systems? any good?

Here's the deal....I am inept when it comes to building stuff.
I know that there's enough info on this board to build almost anything but if you can not take me by the hand and walk me thru it I will fuck it up and piss away both time and money.

So I am looking at ready to go kits.

I would like to grow (120% novice) and Hydro intrigues me.
I have seen a few kits on the market that seem almost dummy-proof and I am looking for any feedback from those who have any experience with these set ups.

Any insights on the following systems?

http://www.gssdist.com/tubesys.htm
GSS has an interesting tube system. Looks like a complete set up (less lights) at a reasonable price

http://www.homegrown-hydroponics.com/sujustgrcaw1.html
Homegrown Hydroponics
Another complete set up (w/lights). Stealth. A bit pricey.

Are there any others that you have used with success?

Thanks all.

bought the mni stealth from homegrown hydroponics. what a nightmare. Its not that bad of a unit I guess I have a 3 week old crop going. I stared with 6 plants and am down to 4 with the hope of having one or 2 females in this tiny chamber. The unit was shipped and came to me damaged so i refused shipment and called HGH. They told me they would repair it but it would have been easier for me to have the replacement parts shipped to me. After a week I called the shipper and HGH had not arranged for return, so I drove to the shipper and picked it up myself, now I was worried I had a broken unit and would get no help from HGH. I spoke with HGH again and finally had replacement parts shipped and basically had to replace the entire cabinet. I did file a claim from the shipper and was able to get back 275.00
All in all the unit is way over represented. I had asked for a 6 plant system (they shipped the 16 plant system) They never did replace the broken latch and I had to purchase one. I had it customized to #2 200 watt HPS bulbs (it came with #2 150 watt HPS bulbs). The "aeroponics" is a $25.00 novelty mister. I bought a 3 dollar sterilite container and cut the holes myself to make it a 6 plant system.
After all that hassle I guess its a pretty good unit and one of my six plants is doing well at 3 weeks, the other 3 are kind of straggly.
If I were doing it again I would consider building it myself, I havent figured out the total cost but the cabinet is a 89.00 stanley cabinet from wall mart
could probably recreate the whole unit for 500

I know exactly where you are coming from about not having the skills or time to put one together

If you cannot look at a turn key unit and build your own for the fraction of the price... stay away from hydro it is much less forgiving..but buy the unit i asume you mean a locking cab with lights and an exhaust fan and grow in soil for awhile, before switching over to hydro. they look great but damn i have yet to see a full 6-8' cab with a 400wt light or higher with ventalation and mylar for under 1500$ that is an awful lot of money for assembly.....and if you buy it who is going to maintain it and fix it when it breaks..

danlboy

Thanks for the insight.

I am sure that you are right that most anyone could recreate an HGH
system, but what a pain in the ass (for me). I dont need stealth. I need something self contained, as close to set-it-and-forget-it as you can get.

Most of these outfits look like the get all their parts from Home Depot and you're paying for the assembly.

I'd be curious if you can let me know how your first attempt goes.

GSS looks fairly simple, but I need to do some digging cause i couldnt find any posts about them here.

It will take me a while but I want to get to a Sea of Green set up.

-Hewhispers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by danlboy

I know exactly where you are coming from about not having the skills or time to put one together

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Nah I dont need the stealth. It can be open.
What about Self-Watering Pots?
I can get those for $8 each.
Any issues with them that you are aware of?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by the yeag

If you cannot look at a turn key unit and build your own for the fraction of the price... stay away from hydro it is much less forgiving..but buy the unit i asume you mean a locking cab with lights and an exhaust fan and grow in soil for awhile, before switching over to hydro. they look great but damn i have yet to see a full 6-8' cab with a 400wt light or higher with ventalation and mylar for under 1500$ that is an awful lot of money for assembly.....and if you buy it who is going to maintain it and fix it when it breaks..

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All you truly need besides a light and water is:

5 gallon bucket (black)
netpot lid for bucket
hydroton for netpot
airpump
air hose
air stone
nutrients
seed :pimp:

If you ask my imaginary friend Chet, he says that any ebb & flow system is practically turn key.

Try the Baby Bloomer kit, great for beginners says Chet. But ditch their nutes and get FloraNova grow and bloom. They're the easiest nutes out there.

anyone have any feed back on The Caddy?

I don't see why HGH would sell a $5k-$8k system without HID lights. That sucks.

I think that the DIY rout is the best at this point for different reasons, unless you can go down to a store and really get to handle the box or see it in action. Still I have done a fare amount of research and besides the BC Producer which I think everyone and their mother have seen at one time or another I would probably have to think about some of these cabs if I went that rout http://www.supercloset.com/proddetai...supercloset005
Adieu

Thanks all...
The more I think about it..the more that I think I can throw up my own system.

It allows me more control at less cost.
I think I want to make a go with the HydoHut Mini and T5 lights.
I am not sure (at this point) what watering system but I like

the autopots http://www.futuregarden.com/cgi-bin/shop/50-3006.html

or the Waterfarm http://www.genhydro.com/genhydro_US/waterfarm.html

or the 6 Cell Living System™ w/ Assembled Heart http://www.gchydro.com/detail.asp?product_id=LS6CELLWAH

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

I would stay away from the auto pots. They are a passive hydro system and the idea behind them is to constently keep a layer of water in the bottom of the pot and MJ does not like sitting in water that is stagnit and they will develop root rot. The T5 lights are OK, but you will need to grow about 8 to 10 small plants to really make it worth and you will have to adjust lights quite often. I would think about a 400W. They are cheeper than the T5's as well.
Adieu

wow my plants are really kicking in to high gear in my mini-stealth! IMpressive growth in the last week

BlueBear - Thanks for your input. I am looking to go soil-less so I am thinking that the water wont lay there on the bottom....it drains out. (unless you know someone who has used them.) I also like that you wont have root issues if you need to yank a male. There's no clogging. You can move each plant pretty easy if need be. It also eliminates the need for a pump. I wonder if you know anyone who went with autopots?

Check out the girl who does the the auto pots web demo! Yummy http://www.futuregarden.com/video/autopot.wmv

Is the T5 a poorer light source? It doesnt run hot, it is super quiet, and eats less juice...all pretty important to me.

Danlboy- you should start a log. Would like to see your progress.

I have a rainforest 66, 6, 6 in pots using a vortex sprayer. Kicks ASS! I also have a 2x4 ebb/flow system which is great! I use a waterfarm for my mother, and since I usually have a few spare clones around, I throw them in soil to fill in the voids in my room. I have 5 soil and the 66 in flower right now with the ebb system vegn. =) I just use flourecents for veg and a 1000hps for the bloom. I've seen the t5's and they are nice, but they end up using the same amount of wattage as the 400mh. I would only get a t-5 if I had a small space or can't handle the heat of the 400.

It's all damn fun anyway you go.

good luck my friend.

What kind of yields do you see int the 2x4 and the Rain forest?
Those auto pots can't work like that. The water is triggered to come into the pot when the soil or coco is dry threw a special vowlb that they have pattened and if you don't have a growing medium such as soil or coco/promix/sunshine then the water would just continually try to fill the pot until full and then your plants would just sit in a pool of water which is not O2 saturated.
Adieu

Duke420
- any clogging with your system?
- how much water per day do you run through? How big is the res.?
- scale of 1-10, how loud is it?
- hows clean up?

BlueBear
I cant believe that water would drain back down into the base but I will go see the unit in action tomorrow.

[quote=hewhispers]Duke420
- any clogging with your system?
- how much water per day do you run through? How big is the res.?
- scale of 1-10, how loud is it?
- hows clean up?

never had a clog issue
during veg, it uses about a gal every other day. flower, im adding gal perday
very quiet, quieter than my 16 inch fan. sometimes i have to put my hand on the vortex to make sure its still working. :thumbsup:

cleans easily, after first grow, it was a mess and was worried, but it cleaned up just like when i received it. :D

and Bear.
i have 8 baskets in my ebb system 2x4 vs. the 6 in my rainforest. they both grow the same size plants, 2 footers mostly. the ebb takes 20 gallons while the rainforest uses 15. I also have a 18 rainforest i use for veg (couple of weeks)

I'm partial to the forest for is ease and being compact. I can put 2 rainforest 66's next to eachother in the same size the 2x4 uses.

buy the hydrofarm system with drip ring, for 55 bucks...it comes with nutrients and everything you need , but the seeds. and lights.

If I knew what I knew now; when I 1st started...I would have just bought a hydrofarm...Peace

danlboy, i don't think they make 200w hps lamps. I got a mini with the 600w and plants are doing great. On my second harvest with the mini. No problems so far. Plants seem to luv it... Works just as good as the BCNL bloombox I paid over $3000 for.