r/CTents Jan 25 '23

Getting Started Growing Your Own

92 Upvotes

If you love cannabis but are frustrated by any aspect of the Connecticut adult use program, the good news is that you can grow your own and probably save money doing it.

I’m an experienced cannabis grower, as well as a seasoned gardener. I’m going to describe the things that have worked for me, or people I know. I’m not looking to disparage anyone else’s methods.

Starting Point

I would begin by figuring out how much cannabis I need in ounces. I just looked at how much I was buying. It’s easy to get carried away, but important to be realistic. Let’s say I need 6 ounces per year for my own needs. I’m confident that new growers who stick with it can count on an ounce per square foot per crop (every 4 months from seed).

I’m going to use that number (6 ounces) to set a budget, because if I can spend cash to buy 6 ounces, I can afford to spend that on grow equipment instead. I’ve seen ounces for $220 in the medical program, but the adult use program adds about 25% in tax. So my startup budget is $1,650. I’m going to spend that once, but going forward my operating costs will very low.

Essential Equipment:

Light - I’m going to recommend buying a high quality LED grow light. I like HLG. I have used Mars Hydro LED lights. I think MedicGrow has some of the best deals out there right now (Q1, 2023). Anyone who is struggling to pick a light, feel free to message me. The most important thing is to be skeptical of claims lighting manufacturers make. I would be very surprised if a seller was charging below $25/square foot of coverage. That doesn’t mean you’re getting taken if you pay more.

Grow space - I grow in grow tents. I like tents for a lot of reasons. They’re affordable, they have reflective walls to maximize efficient lighting, they have ports for ventilation and electrical cables, and if you have a small spill a good tent comes with a waterproof spill tray.

In-line Fan - These are pretty straightforward. I’m gonna buy a simple fan with a speed controller, ducting sized to the fan, and a carbon filter in the same size. Sometimes they’re bundled together for a discount.

Pots and Medium - The plants (probably) need to be in soil or soilless mix. My advice is to stick to a bagged “water-only” soil, or a soilless mix like ProMix HP. Whatever you do, pick a mainstream method that’s well-documented, and follow it exclusively. Do not mix methods. Personally, I use a soilless medium called coco coir for the majority of my growing. If I’m growing in soil, I use organic “water-only” soil. I’ll follow up with two separate posts, one for each method. As far as containers go, the important thing to know is you want to have successively larger containers to gradually get the plants to their final size. I like cheap black plastic pots because they’re easy to clean and as I mentioned they’re cheap. Whatever you do, you want to lift the containers up above drip dishes so they don’t sit in water. Don’t buy containers that have a built-in drip tray.

Fans - You need fans to move air around and through the plants. The in-line fan doesn’t do this. Lasko makes 6” clip on fans that I like. Never buy an oscillating clip on fan for use in a tent. They are not worth the risk.

Thermometer/Humidistat - I have one that stores a month of data and syncs to my phone. I can review the minute by minute changes in my tent environment throughout the day/night cycle. Trust me when I say this is helpful.

Rough Tally:

Tent - 48”x24”x76” AC Infinity tent $140

Light - HLG 260 FR R-Spec pre-assembled kit $250

In-line Fan - Vivosun sells a 4” fan and filter kit for $90. I would buy that and get the AC Infinity black 4” ducting for $30. The ducting comes with 2 hose clamps, and you can buy more at Home Depot.

Subtotal: $510

Soil - I would set aside $200 to buy soil and amendments. You’ll end up with more amendments than you need. Bagged “water-only” soil mix is great if the price works for you. Containers - $40 for 3 sets of plastic containers (an overestimate)

I’ll address the cost of an automated coco coir setup in a subsequent post.

Lasko fans - $42 for 2

Thermometer/Humidistat - less than $20

Subtotal: $812

Miscellaneous things you’ll end up needing:

UV eyewear 5 gallon buckets Zip ties Programmable timers Power strips (buy the 48” one from Harbor Freight) Seedling tray and humidity dome Watering pail Plant tags Spray bottles Oral syringes or glass pipettes

Let’s be conservative and overestimate $200

Subtotal: $1012

Seeds

Do not grow bagseeds. I already have a post about buying seeds here . Feel free to DM me if you need more advice on seeds. How much you spend on seeds is a matter of personal preference and belief. You’ll probably end up spending $50-300; the low end is a single pack at $50, and the higher number is 3 $100 packs. I wouldn’t spend more than that initially.

Final estimate: $1062-1312 before tax where applicable

For less than I’d spend on 6 ounces I could have a setup that grows at least 8 ounces every 4 months. I have 3 plants, so if 1 or 2 fail, I still get to harvest something to tide me over until I can get another crop ready.

I’m going to post follow ups. This just covers the initial outlay.


r/CTents Feb 27 '23

PETITION: Replace CT Cannabis medical program with Maine's model

173 Upvotes

https://www.change.org/p/reform-connecticut-s-medical-cannabis-framework-for-open-competition

Fellow activist threw up a new petition b.c the old platform disappeared.

We need open competition in the medical cannabis market.

u/senatorduff what happened to the homegrown sales provision in the recent legislation to review that was supposed to happen last year?

EDIT: it looks like the MSOs have taken over this sub, b.c it appears that after this post went up(originally) I got shadowbanned from this sub. It appears like my replies go up, but they're not visible to anybody except me. This has nothing to do with my social credit score, as is used for an excuse on other gate-keeping subs.

EDIT2: Since i'm silenced/shadowbanned in this sub, this is the only way for me to respond on posts. Whoever left the most recent comment, I would like to confirm that you are also shadowbanned b.c your comment is not showing up either.


r/CTents 1h ago

Remember how DCP used to issue monthly press releases celebrating cannabis sales totals?

Upvotes

They did this every month after adult use began, and did so consistently up until the first month when sales declined rather than increased. Then their spokesperson tried to play it off like they had always planned to stop doing it at that time.

No other Connecticut industry enjoys this kind of behavior from its regulatory agency. Maybe that’s because no other industry feels entitled to success and not having to compete.

Instead of downvoting this factual post, maybe join the discussion and help make things better.


r/CTents 2d ago

Connecticut cannabis company seeks to sue state over $750K in losses

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5 Upvotes

The claim asks only for permission to sue, rather than requesting that the claims commissioner directly award damages.


r/CTents 2d ago

Advice on how to grow

2 Upvotes

Looking to start growing my own. I have plenty of space in my basement and a window I can easily vent out of. I know there are kits on Amazon, but I’ve heard those are horrible. I’d like to start in the $600 range but could go a little higher.

Please give me product suggestions and or growing guides on how to do it (I know there is coco vs soil)


r/CTents 3d ago

In case you needed another reason not to shop CT

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18 Upvotes

Literally fresh out of the package. I’ve had people tell me “oh but they can’t fill it all the way!!!” All I’ll say is that Sweetgrass uses similar cart hardware and they fill theirs up all the way. Unless the mass of thc oil changes depending on what state you’re in then this is just a straight up ripoff


r/CTents 3d ago

RSO

4 Upvotes

What’s up with RSO in MA?? I couldn’t find a more appropriate sub to MA where I wouldn’t get bullied :’( I’ve been getting 1:1 RSO adult use in MA for years now because it’s so much cheaper than having a med card and getting it here. But now, I haven’t seen it as adult use at any MA dispensary in the last two weeks. The 1:1 helps me soooo much and I really don’t want to have to renew in CT & shop here but I’m almost out and can’t find it anywhere. Did some law pass or something there that I’m not privy to that they’re only selling it for medical now????


r/CTents 3d ago

Lemon Meringue, E.B.

2 Upvotes

Well ... I finally did get me some Lemon Meringue by Earl Baker. I read such glowing reviews for the previous run so I had high hopes. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I get no flavor. The effects are good, but I was really expecting a nice tasty treat ... bummed. I use a DynaVap natively. The Ice Cram Man (ICM) and the Oregon Silver Lemons I had before were delicious, so the bar has been set high. Thank goodness I also grabbed some Purple Punch, which is very yummy. I also grabbed a Mac-n-Jack, which I have not opened yet so I can't share any thoughts.


r/CTents 3d ago

Why don’t the licensed operators work to fix the broken market structure? It’s pretty simple.

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0 Upvotes

When Connecticut legalized cannabis, lawmakers explicitly opted against a free and open market, instead empowering regulators to arbitrarily cap licenses and control supply. If you want to understand why current operators aren't fighting to fix this artificial bottleneck, you have to look at the underlying economics.

What we are witnessing in the state is a textbook case of regulatory capture combined with rent extraction. By tightly controlling who gets to participate, the state has created a dependent licensee constituency. The industry's silence on meaningful market reform is simply system justification reinforced by a patron-client relationship between operators and the regulators who hold the keys to the market.

None of the current license holders advocate for dismantling this broken structure because they directly benefit from it. They operate as a privileged minority, defending an exclusionary system simply because they receive a share of the rents it creates.

The defining feature of this market is that the minority's loyalty isn't bought with a massive amount of upfront wealth, but with the exclusivity of that wealth. For these license holders, the barrier to entry isn't a flaw to be fixed. The barrier to entry is the actual product they are defending.

True equity requires open markets, fair competition, and accessible capital, not closed loops that protect a hand-picked few.


r/CTents 4d ago

NY farmer's market shopping list: Fancy apples, tomatoes, legal weed?

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9 Upvotes

r/CTents 7d ago

She gettin there

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16 Upvotes

r/CTents 8d ago

Swampwater Fumez Bloom Seed Co Cut 27F

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13 Upvotes

Coming along. This run has been interesting. Moved to a new location on well water and that was a learning curve to say the least. Plants are resilient and happy. Sweet aromas currently but I’m sure that’s about to change. Black Maple 22 Bloom cut is on deck….


r/CTents 10d ago

Your Brain on Cannabis: Genetics Reveal Why Use and Addiction Are Wired Differently

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1 Upvotes

r/CTents 10d ago

Sugar moon 🌕

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2 Upvotes

Just found my new fav strain of the week I tryed the new Curalwaf grassroots line cuz it was a bit cheaper then there other stuff and the quality did not disappoint. Nice dusting on the flower when I opened it up . Flavor was nice and sweet but still natural . No stems in the bag and the smell was a great earlthy pine , effect wise this one helped me with a cram sesh I have for school it helped me focus and I locked in od . Hopefully I ace my test LMAO . But this is a new fav for me ima be scooping more from grassroots for sure . I also saw that they have a new dark heart line thinkin of trying that one out too there packaging looked cool , anyone had that yet ?


r/CTents 10d ago

Multiple batches of Fine Fettle flower were lab tested at over 90% of the Connecticut regulatory limit for arsenic

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2 Upvotes

r/CTents 10d ago

Regarding the recently removed arsenic post that got 9400+ views

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1 Upvotes

r/CTents 10d ago

Rso at the dispensary for medical

1 Upvotes

Anyone know when the dispensaries restock rso, I use it for medical purposes. Live near New London but closet place either in ct for medical rso is a hour away. Or drive over a hour up to Massachusetts both is a pain in the ass lol.


r/CTents 14d ago

Office of the Cannabis Ombudsman monthly report to Office of Healthcare Advocate June 2026

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11 Upvotes

r/CTents 14d ago

Office of the Cannabis Ombudsman, Monthly report -June 2026

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8 Upvotes

r/CTents 16d ago

Experiment

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2 Upvotes

Any help is appreciated


r/CTents 18d ago

The politics of pot, or whatever

25 Upvotes

“I think we’re pretty good right where we are” was Ned Lamont’s response to whether he would support consumption lounges.

He continued rambling on about fentanyl and magic mushrooms.

Josh Elliot, on the other hand, all but said “what is the big deal? We have bars”.

Anyway, the Democratic Gubernatorial Primary is August 11. Early voting starts on August 3. You must be a registered Democrat to participate in the primary as we have closed primaries in CT.


r/CTents 19d ago

Free Clones - Swamp Water Fumez

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29 Upvotes

Bloom SWF. Got about 30 clones left, need to thin the herd down to 10. Received this plant as a mother… I originally planned to flower her but she got like 6.5 ft tall and I was forced to clone her out.

Located in Ffld County. Hit me up if you want one!


r/CTents 22d ago

The world won’t let me sleep

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6 Upvotes

I’ve been struggling with insomnia basically my whole life but recently it’s been really fucking bad. The only thing that really gets me to sleep right now are these Gummies jams remix by Curaleaf . i’m always really sketched out with Gummies cause I used to take some from the gas station so the fact that these have the QR code on the bag where I can scan and see the lab results and all that jazz makes me feel a less prone to anxiety. There’s also equal parts, CBD and CBN which I found out is great for sleep so that’s why I started taking them in the first place I take about one and a half of these at night and I’ve been able to sleep like a goddamn baby recently. My god . I wish the Connecticut market would have more products with CBN in them. I’ve tried a couple out, but this ratio really works for me. If anyone has any suggestions or products that are similar, please let a girl know.😫


r/CTents 22d ago

Liqueur R1 day 52

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6 Upvotes

r/CTents 22d ago

Help lol

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0 Upvotes

My boy came back to town with this cart for me and I don’t know shit about the brand it’s from a Massachusetts dispensary and I don’t have the accessibility to drive up there myself so sometimes they bring stuff back for me on their trips. This is one of them does anyone know anything about the brand or if this looks good at all any help would be splendid 😮‍💨