Cannabis Grow Equipment | How To Grow Marijuana?
Growing marijuana is a rewarding hobby and can offer a great business opportunity as well. By the time you're done with this guide, you'll know how to grow cannabis indoors like a professional, allowing you to get better and bigger yields than you've ever imagined at surprisingly low cost.
Benefits of growing weed indoors
High-quality weed: Although it’s more resource-intensive than growing outdoors, you can control every aspect of your environment and what you put in your plant, so growing indoors will allow you to dial in your setup to grow some primo weed.
Adaptability: Live in an apartment or a small house? You can grow weed practically anywhere, even folks who don’t have a backyard or a lot of extra space.
Multiple harvests: Unlike outdoor growing, you aren’t tied to the sun and the seasons. You can let your plants get as big as you want, flip them into flower, harvest, and then start another batch right away. You can grow whenever you want, even straight through winter.
Privacy and security: Even in legal states, you may want to conceal your crop from judgmental neighbors and definitely from potential thieves. Growing indoors allows you to grow discreetly behind a locked door.
Your marijuana plant needs these 6 resources:
The right lighting (effect on yield size)
Fresh Air (Fresh air is a must) ECO Farm Carbon Filter is best recommended.
The Grow Medium (Few options here)
Perfect Temperature (20 degrees – 26 degrees)
Plant Nutrients (Less is more in the beginning)
Water (soil likes pH 6 – 7 & hydro likes pH 5.5 – 6.5)
Giving your cannabis plants a combination of these six resources will ensure you grow healthy marijuana plants. Regardless of whether you are growing indoors or outdoors. Growing your plants with these six resources is necessary if you want to grow huge colas.
Other Equipment
Depending on your environment, you may or may not need the equipment in this section.
Heater - Tower heater that oscillates. You can also program the thermostat to a specific temperature so the heater will automatically turn on and off.
Air Conditioner - This 5,000 BTU AC is quiet and will quickly cool a room up to 150 sq. ft.
Humidifier - LED display and you can control the amount of mist. You can also set the humidity level so the unit turns off and on automatically.
Dehumidifier - This one is quiet and you can set the humidity level.
Reverse Osmosis System - Feed your plants CLEAN water! Install this system on a sink and filter the pollutants from your tap water. Your plants will be much happier. What's more, ECO Farm marijuana grow kit can be your great choice.
Nutrients, Growing Medium, and Grow Pots
These things will impact how big and healthy your plants will be.
Nutrients - This 3 pack of 16oz bottles will feed about 4 plants for their entire grow.
CalMag - If you're giving your plants RO water or are using LED lights, you'll need this additive of Calcium and Magnesium.
pH Up & pH Down - Monitoring the pH of your growing medium is one of the most important steps of gardening. This kit will allow you to control the pH to ensure proper feeding and healthy plants!
Soil - Soil that is pre-charged with nutrients. 1.5-cubic feet bag will fill three 5-gallon grow pots.
Coco Coir - A growing medium that is fiber from the husks of coconuts. Coco coir provides good drainage, aeration and water retention.
Perlite- Mix perlite with coco coir to help with drainage and aeration.
Grow Pots - Fabric pots in a 5-pack. Fabric grow pots are better than plastic grow pots because they provide aeration, prevents circling roots, and air-prunes the plant's root structure.
Pot Saucers - Cheaper to buy at your local garden store. Plastic ones are just fine. Just make sure the diameter is a few inches bigger than the pot size diameter. For example, a 5-gallon pot with a diameter of 12" should be paired with a 14" saucer.
Tools for Harvest
Things you'll need for harvesting, drying, and curing your plant.
Microscope - Carson - Use this pocket microscope to see your plant's trichomes. You'll be able to see if they are clear, cloudy, or amber so you can harvest your plant at the perfect time.
Hand Pruners - Perfect for trimming your buds. They are spring-loaded so they reduce strain on your hands. Much better than using regular scissors!
Mason Jars - 32oz wide-mouth jars fit about an ounce in them. These sealed glass jars are the best to store your stash in to keep it fresh.
Humidity Packs - These packs keep your buds at the perfect humidity for smoking - 62% humidity.
Hygrometer - Put this in your jar to monitor the humidity of your buds.
How much light do marijuana plants need indoors?
When growing marijuana indoors you will need a decent full spectrum LED grow light to cater for the plants light needs. People who grow indoors always use a timer that they connect their grow light too. This ensures your plants are on a strict light cycle that simulates the sun outdoors. Using a timer automates the process for you.
When looking for indoor grow lights there are many options to choose from. You could use ordinary CFL lights found in your home. The more serious home grower will invest a bit more in specialised grow light for maximum yields. Generally speaking, the more light, the more bud you will produce.
There is a grow light option that can fit nearly any budget. You can always expand your grow area over time. If you are on a small budget, then start small and buy more equipment as time goes on.
Vegetative & Flowering
When growing cannabis your plant will go through two main phases. The vegetative stage and the flowing stage. You can keep your weed plants in the vegetative stage for as long as you like. They will continue to grow bigger until you switch the light cycle to longer nights. This is the 12/12 cycle.
Below is the life cycle of a marijuana plant:
Seeds planted sprout in spring time
Marijuana grows right through the summer
When days get shorter it produces flowers or pollen
Pollination occurs
Females produce seeds
The marijuana plant dies off in winter
The cycle repeats
In as little as one year the plants reach their full cycle and die. Their life cycle is very specific and is something every grower should understand very well. When you understand the basics of growing marijuana at home, it get a lot easier.
How to grow cannabis indoors
If you have decided to do an indoor cannabis grow, one of the first things you should consider is the heat inside your grow area. Remember that when you add your grow room lighting to the area the temperature inside will increase. You will need to find a way to cool it down inside.
Marijuana plants in the early stages, tend to grow faster when the temperature is slightly warmer. You should always try and keep your plants in a comfortable temperature range. This temp range is usually between 20°C – 30°C (70-85°F).
Controlling the temperature in your indoor grow area
This is a very important part of growing marijuana. Young plants prefer slightly warmer and humid conditions whereas older cannabis plants that are in the flowering or budding phase prefer cooler and less humid conditions.
For the weed flowering stage its best to keep the plants at 18°C -26°C (around 65-80°F). Keeping your cannabis plants in the flowering stage at these temperatures will ensure that your buds are the right colour and taste good too.
It also helps the production of trichomes and gives it a more potent smell. If you are only growing a few cannabis plants them you might be able to get away with air intake and extraction for cooling down your indoor grow tent. It also depends on your climate and which season you are in.
Final Thoughts on Growing Cannabis Indoors
Harvesting hemp and cannabis is a lovely experience. It is one we recommend to any weed lover who has a passion for all aspects of the plant. You learn so much about cannabis and botany/biology in general. Most growers believe they learn something new with every harvest.
There’s no doubt a bit of a learning curve involved. You’ll make your fair share of mistakes. However, trust us when we say it’s all worth it in the end.
Enjoy, and more than anything else; remember to HAVE FUN!