Uncategories

How to Set Up an Indoor Weed Garden: A Step-by-Step Guide

The 2018 National Gardening Survey found 15% of US households would grow marijuana at home if it were legal. Fortunately, the cannabis legalization wave is here, paving the way for individuals and families in the US to grow their marijuana. 

Several American states have enacted laws allowing citizens to grow a few cannabis plants. For instance, Massachusetts adults over 21 years can grow a maximum of six marijuana plants at home. This law places a ceiling of 12 plants per household and requires the plants to grow in a locked area away from public view. 

So, do you want to venture into indoor cannabis growing? If you do, this post gives you complete know-how for setting up an indoor weed garden. Keep reading to get the details.

The Benefits of Indoor Cannabis Cultivation

Let’s examine some benefits of growing your cannabis indoors instead of outdoors.

  • Greater adaptability. Indoor cultivation gives you greater adaptability and control over your plants because they don’t depend on external seasons and weather elements to grow. 
  • Enjoy multiple harvests. Indoor growing lets you grow your plants at any time of the year and get more harvests. 
  • It’s private and secure. Growing your cannabis indoors secures and keeps it private. You won’t worry about snoopy thieves who may salivate and want to harvest where they didn’t sow. 
  • Get high-quality cannabis. Cannabis grown in indoor settings produces more yields than those cultivated outdoors. 

a close-up of a medical equipment

The Setup Process

Now, let’s focus on setting up an indoor grow garden. 

Necessary Items 

You need the necessary growing items to start your indoor garden. These tools control internal conditions to mimic natural environments. Some of these items include: 

  • A special grow tent. It’s black outside to stop light from coming in and has a refractive material inside to get the most out of your lights.
  • Lights (typically LED or HID bulbs that will guarantee plenty of light for your plants during the vegetative and flowering stages).
  • A platform to hold your plant pots.
  • Plant pots of different sizes.
  • An extractor fan to extract hot air from your grow area’s top.
  • An intake fan to pump new air into your grow room.
  • Carbon filters attached to your extractor fan to minimize marijuana odor.
  • A thermometer to ensure your plants are at a temperature of 79 to 83 degrees Fahrenheit or 26 and 28 degrees Celsius.
  • A hygrometer monitoring the grow room’s humidity level. 
  • A timer to switch the lights on and off when you’re away. 

Space Selection

Your space choice is critical to your indoor garden. You can have it anywhere in the home. Below are some favorite spots to locate your garden.

  • The attic. You can use an attic during spring and fall when temperatures aren’t extremely hot or cold during summer and winter.
  • Basement. A basement is ideal for growing year-round if you set proper temperature and humidity controls. 
  • Closet. You can grow your cannabis in a closet and avoid the cost of buying a grow tent if you have the necessary DIY skills to accommodate air extraction. 
  • Garage. The garage is another ideal option if winter temperatures don’t drop too low. 
  • Grow tent. Grow tents have varying sizes to accommodate your needs. 
  • Self-built grow tent. Lastly, if your DIY skills are at their peak, you can create your grow tent. 

Grow Medium Selection

You should also consider your grow medium before setting up an indoor garden. You can choose the mediums like soil and hydroponic trays. Soil or a soil-coco coir mix is generally recommended for beginners. If you have the cash, you can opt for costlier mediums like hydroponics or aquaponics. However, these two methods are also harder to maintain and require keen learning to master managing them. 

Choose the Best Seeds 

More importantly, select the best cannabis seeds suited for indoor cultivation. You can get more information on various indoor seeds at https://askgrowers.com/seeds/indoor. This choice is so critical that you will still fail even if you get it 100% right with all the other elements. Nothing can remedy poor-quality seeds and stop them from reproducing after their kind! Therefore, we recommend buying seeds from legal online or offline sources, such as an authorized retailer in your province or territory.

Light Proofing

You must install and proof proper lighting because light leakage can adversely affect your plant performance. After flipping the 12-12 day and night cycle to start flowering, light leakage can confuse your plants, reducing yield levels and causing hermaphroditism.

After setting up your garden, inspect it by turning on the lights to detect leaks. Any cracks that let out light will definitely let it in. If you discover any leak, patch the holes with light-proof tape. 

Air Matters

You should also pay attention to the airflow inside your grow garden. Here, take care of the following elements, as discussed below. 

Tightness

Your weed starts budding and producing a cannabis smell. You may love it, but if you live with people in your home or have neighbors nearby, please don’t ignore them. Some may not love the cannabis smell or even be allergic to it. Thus, seal your grow room to avoid disturbing your family or neighbors with cannabis aroma. 

Moreover, sealing your grow room tightly eases climate control and management. Maintaining a stable environment is essential for optimal plant performance. Adequate sealing protects plants from bugs, vermin, and other air-borne pathogens. You only need one rat a night to enter the grow room to cause irreparable damage to your plants. 

Movement 

Air movement is another element to pay attention to in your garden. You need at least one oscillating fan to maintain constant air circulation. Enough moving air benefits your plants in many ways. For instance, it ruffles a plant’s leaves to ensure its leaf stomata get enough fresh air to promote efficient gas exchange. 

Moving air also strengthens plants by thickening their stalks and stems, making them more robust and facilitating higher yields. Adequate aeration also saves your plants from pathogens, such as molds, which moisture buildup causes during transpiration.

Lastly, adequate air circulation helps with the wet-dry cycle of the growing medium by supporting evaporation. Otherwise, your plants’ growth will be inhibited, stems weaken, leaves will droop, and general performance will drop.

Exchange

Air exchange is another critical point to pay attention to when setting up your indoor weed garden. You can introduce an air exchange system to stimulate better growth if you have sufficient funds. This system requires a fresh air inlet and outlet exhaust system to reduce odor. Air inlets come in different forms, although you should position them in your grow room’s lower part, either on the floor if it’s raised or in the wall. 

A good exhaust system removes depleted air and heat from the grow room and draws fresh air in. The system should draw the air outdoors when possible to prevent heat buildup in closed spaces. Removing the air outdoors can also recirculate the same air back into the system. We also recommend scaling up to ensure sufficient air exchange and accommodate any possible increase in your grow’s scale.

Climate Control

Your cannabis likes a controlled climate regarding temperature and humidity to attain optimal bloom. You can control humidity using a dehumidifier. This tool is available as a double-action unit and adds or removes humidity as necessary. During vegetation, a warm and humid environment increases growth rate, while lower humidity and temperature boost bud development. 

Safety and Fire Prevention

Most growers enjoy bountiful harvests without any accidents. However, some home growers don’t prioritize or care for their indoor grow room’s safety and encounter mishaps. You must address all safety issues regarding electrical equipment because any electrical gadget can cause a fire risk. The reason is that water is a leading risk in a grow room using electronics because it can interrupt an electrical current, causing electrocution or fires. Therefore, do everything possible to elevate all electronics above the ground to avoid contact with water if water leaks. 

When they arise, you can prevent electrical accidents using a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). This kit detects when electricity flows where it shouldn’t, for instance, in a human body or water pool, and breaks the circuit. 

Closing Remarks

You are up to date with what you need to know about setting up an indoor cannabis garden. We hope you will use these details to give your plants optimal growing conditions and reap high yields. 

The article is a product of Lana Braslavskaia’s creative boost. Lana is an experienced cannabis researcher and PR manager with a keen interest in promoting growing weed at home. She always shares exciting how-to’s with consumers to help them enjoy a hassle-free use and cultivation experience. 

Hussnain Ali

www.whatsmagazine.com is emerging as a stellar platform covering the facts around the globe. Our first and foremost objective is to provide our readers with authentic and fruitful information happening in the world

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button