THREE GREAT STARTER KITS

Hydroponics for Dummies has been researching and testing hydroponic starter kits for several years now.  We've found most kits are not complete and you end up running around buying those missing accessories before you are ready to grow.  Not so with Hydroponic Starter Kits from Hydroponics for Dummies: ours have everything you need to start growing from day one.

This includes a 48" x 23" x 60"h grow tent which provides the foundation for all of our starter kits.  Most other starter kits do not include a grow tent which we find surprising.  For indoor gardening, you need an enclosed, light tight environment convenient to electricity and the outdoors (for drainage).  A grow tent is the easiest way we've found to provided this growing environment.

We've noticed other starter kits out there that are trying to be stealthy and disguise themselves as a computer case or athletic locker or some such.  If you've got your medical marijuana license then you really want to think in terms of convenience and practicality over stealth.  Our grow tents provide almost 40 cubic feet of growing area and are simple to setup and take down.

CFL STARTER KIT   ^$475 

This is a great entry level kit.  It's also the simplest to put together, use and maintain.  No moving parts.  I still use a variation of this for my own grows.  It features:

• Deluxe Grow Tent (48" x 23" x 60'h)
• Three 85W CFL Lamps
• Three light sockets with cords plus extension cord
• Digital Timer
  
• Sic HydroPots (soil pots with hydroponics reservoirs)
• Six Months of Nutrients
• Free Shipping
  

METAL HALIDE STARTER KIT    ^$795  

This is a great value starter kit.  It combines a metal halide cool tube (the grow lamp choice of professionals). with a  nine spot professional drip irrigation system for multiple trouble-free grows.  It features:

• Deluxe Grow Tent (48" x 23" x 60"h)
• 400W Metal Halide Cool Tube w/ Inline Exhaust Fan
• Intake Fan
• Ballast, Ducting and flanges
• Digital Timer
• Air pump, airstone and tubing
• Nine grow area professional drip irrigation reservoir
• Water pump
  
• Nine mesh pots with grow medium
• Six Months of Nutrients

LED STARTER KIT    ^$995   

This is the deluxe startet kit packages.  It combines a LED grow light for maximum longevity and minimal electric  usage with true hydroponics in a four pot hydrotub.  It includes:

• Deluxe Grow Tent (48" x 23" x 60"h)
• 300W LED Grow Light with six inline exhaust fans
• Intake Fan
• Digital Timer
• Air pump, airstones and tubing
• Five gallon HydroTub reservoir w/ constant feed irrigation
• Water pump and tubing
• Four mesh pots with grow medium
• Six Months of Nutrients

HOW TO DECIDE WHICH STARTER KIT IS RIGHT FOR YOU

We offer three distinct, pre-packaged Hydroponic Starter Kits: CFL, Metal Halide, and LED.  All three starter kits include everything you need to grow great crops from day one.  They are competitively priced and offer great value.  Most of all, they are designed to allow even the blackest thumb gardener enjoy bountiful harvests.

PRICE
Based on purchase price alone, the CFL kit is the cheapest, then comes the Metal Halide with the LED starter kit being the most expensive in terms of initial investment.  Over the course of several grows, these costs somewhat even out.  LED Bulbs last almost forever so your one time initial outlay for the higher priced LED kit gets amorized somewhat.  CFL bulbs also are long life bulbs and cost $20 to $35 each to replace.  The Metal Halide bulb, being incandescent has the shortest bulb life with replacement bulbs running $30 to $50.

GROWING AREA
All three starter kits use the same grow tent which provides for almost 40 cubic feet of growing area.  They differ in how many plants they are designed to grow.  The CFL kit has four soil filled hydropots for four plants.  The LED kit also provides for four plants in a five gallon hydroponics tub.  The Metal Halide is designed to handle up to nine plants with its drip irrigation growing area. 

NOISE
All hydroponic systems generate some noise.  The air pumps are not silent, nor are they all that noisy, but you can hear them.  Water pumps are less noisy, but still contribute to the ambient sound.  It is the lights themselves, and their cooling devices that are the loudest.  CFL lights are quite, with no noise emissions.  Both the LED and the Metal Halide lighting systems generate noise--about half as much noise as an air conditioner.  The LED has six small inline exhaust fans constantly whirring away, and you hear them.  The Metal Halide has one six inch inline exhaust fan that is vented out of the top of the tent.  Noise from the fan is vented in the same place.

CONVENIENCE
The CFL Starter Kit uses hydro pots and soil for the grow medium.  Hydro pots (soil) means if your parents are coming over you can easily pick up the plants and hide them in the closet until they're gone.  (Try that with a hydroponic tub with five gallons of water in it.)  NOTE: If you do use soil, get soil without built in fertilizers.

But, with soil, if you are going away for a week, or even three or four days on business, you can run into trouble because you didn't water your plants.  There are water "bulbs" available at your local nursery to get you through these times.'

True Hydroponics, is flat our more maintenance than soil,but if you are the forgetful type, or travel frequently, hydro systems have the benefit of being automatic (set and forget) as long as you change the water every two weeks.

YOU HAVE CHOICES
If you want to mix and match accessories and create your own starter kit, we're here to help you with our BUILD YOUR OWN STARTER KIT PACKAGE:

• Start with our Grow Tent (48" x 23" x 60"h)
• Add your choice of lighting
  
• CFL
• LED
• Metal  Halide)
• Add your choice of growing areas
  
• 4 HydroPots-soil grow
  
• 5 Gallon 4 Spot HydroTub
  
• 9 spot Drip Irrigation Reservoir
• Select Your Accessories
• Odor Control
• Intake Fan
• Additional Nutrients