Hi Everyone,
I’m new to the boards and just purchased a unit about 2 weeks ago and was wondering if there is any extra equipment pieces people would recommend that I purchase to help me get up to speed ? Or if there is anything you wish you would have had when you first started but didn’t know about. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
I’m not sure you’re ready for the answer 
Maybe we can start with beginner extras and I can work my way as I go 
No but seriously, put the box in a cool dry space. Basement, air conditioned room etc. make sure she is a foot or two from any walls. If that isn’t an option, then here we go: 1. First and foremost you need a hygrometer for both inside and outside the box. You might need a humidifier if the room needs it. And you might need a dehumidifier as well at some point. You may need a heater! You will def need a good ph pen and a good ppm/ec pen (I recommend blue labs). Fan, ro water filtration system unless you want to go to a store with those ro water dispensing machines, which will cost you waaaay more in the end. A 5 stage home ro water filtration system is about $100. Remember you have to get ro water every week for the grobo and if you are doing soil as well like a few of us are it’s more like three four times a week. If your res water gets into the 70 degree F range you’ll need a water chiller. Hydroguard to fight off root rot. A spare air pump and air stone just in case yours shit the bed. That’s about it for now. I’m serious though! Look at my posts and you will agree…maybe 
I like you already
Thanks for taking the time! I have a few of these things already and will start shopping online for the rest. I will definitely take your advice about the water as I don’t think I want to run back and forth from the store a few times a week as I already do that for coffee too much already 
. For roughly $100 investment it seems most people would never go back. Question: I am being sent an extra grow kit as part of a promotion but is there anything that tends to run out quicker than you might expect that I might want to have extra in case ?
I can’t really answer that question as I ph and feed manually. I don’t use grobo nutes at all! Ever! But that’s just me…well and a couple others
Well hopefully I’ll be there eventually thanks again for the tips!
I have most of the things on the list minus the water chiller. But my Grobo is in the basement and its cool all the time. Also for the Grobo nutes i’m pretty sure the grobo team is working on getting larger volume containers of nutes so we the users can simply refill the small bottles. That would be one of my few complaints I have with the unit is that it does get expensive buying those small bottles of nutes all the time.
Welcome aboard. I am a relatively new user here on my first grow day 14 (early veg cycle). Hopefully this helps
Here is a list of some of the items I picked up for the grobo. Most are Basic items essential to a first time indoor grower. This was just my experience there are many cheaper options and you may not require most or any of these.
Ph and EC meter ($162 bluelabs - very important to get accurate readings)
Hydrometer (temps and humidity - $20 - I bought 3 different models and kept the one that has the closest to accurate readings for inside the grobo at all times, but even that was off 2-5 degrees temp and within 10% rH)
A more accurate temp/rH/co2 meter ($130 - the device I purchased records data and allows me to transfer to a pc to better keep track of data long term)
Scissors (for a set $20 designed for plants)
ScrOG/Trellis - making my own in addition to LST (free)
Jewelers loop ($10 - opted to go cheap)
Medical gloves (free for me - not a fan of touching the plant or anything inside the grobo with bare hands - personal preference)
Water chiller, pump and tubing - ($350 - some are getting away without, but imo it’s required for any DWC and has been purchased by many of us to secure our grow environments/minimize failed grows. Even with AC running 24/7 and pre-chilling my water temps were upwards of 76 degrees after a day in the grobo)
Once my grobo nutes are depleted I intend to utilize other nutes and cocopods. Grobo nutes are expensive for the size/amount received. Should be no issues utilizing your own nutes such as fox or Advanced Nutes at a fraction of the cost and significantly better value.
Portable battery operated fans (20$ - just in case, small enough to easily fit in the grobo)
2 sets of magnetic metal hooks (10$ each)
A Dehumidifier that can be set in increments of 5 degrees eg 70%,60%,50%,35% ($200 - different stages of growth call for different rH values)
Cheap small humidifier (likely won’t ever use it, but just in case - 20$)
Seeds - undisclosed amount (you get what you pay for)
Also this is not required, but bought as a just in case - An air purifier (120$ - I have a little one and a flow of friends of family coming by. If smell becomes an issue I can combat it)
The biggest surprise for me in terms of grobo ownership was the lack of water cooling tech included in the unit in which many of us struggle with due to location/climate. My unit is in an AC controlled spare bedroom on marble tile. I added an osolationg fan to promote better air flow in this room. One doesn’t need to look back very far in user posts to see the negative effect of high water temps on roots.
My only complaints so far are the lack of functionality in the app. No error messages in regards to the unit, zero notifications that the unit itself is no longer connected to the internet and the blanket support answer to most of my issues so far “the grobo lost connection to the net” which in my case is not the problem with a dedicated network connection for the Grobo and a fail over in place (two separate ISP’s in my home). Even setup a third party application (SolarWinds) to send me notifications in the event network is down or the grobo stops communicating because the unit and app does not do this. The second connection is meaningless to the grobo as it requires hands on the unit to reconnect w/ zero options for multiple connections. Hopefully future models include a power button so power does not need to be pulled which is relatively inexpensive fix and an option to have a hard wired network port.
I can admit that much of the first ten day stress associated with the grobo was mostly my own over analysis and since taking a step back after securing my environment to meet the needs of the grobo all seems to be well. Since installing the water chiller my unit and plant are thriving and I’m a relatively happy grobo owner. Would I buy the unit again knowing the above? Yes. Due to my space constraints I would. Growing outdoors in Illinois has a short window of operation. The grobo team is responsive to inquires and support concerns (M-F). The users in the forum are a valuable resource and are very much appreciated by this user.
Regards,
-James
Lots of great tips thank you! I will most definitely be looking into a water cooler and be grabbing some blue labs testers and this seems to be the most things new growers struggle with if the machine isn’t reading properly. Honestly I can’t wait to get started I’m hoping my unit arrives within the next 2 weeks! 