Well, you may find it hard and challenging as a beginner who has got a strong zeal in growing cannabis. It’s true considering that you might have heard some terrifying stories about people who grow marijuana. In this article, you’re covered in all aspects. Starting from scratch to achieving greater heights in growing marijuana indoors. Like other plants and herbs, weed requires some kind of attention and strategies from the grower for it to be able to produce good results. So, the information in this article is strictly a beginner’s guide on how to grow weed indoors. Note: this information is not intended to entice anyone to start growing weed since most of the states in the US have not legalized marijuana.
Designate a room or space in your house
As said earlier, this is indoor growing and you’re most likely to grow it in your house. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a whole room nut the point here is that the place should be secured and you will be only one who can access that particular space to monitor your weed.
Start as a beginner
Since you are starting, you should start with a small space where you will grow some countable marijuana plants. Depending on your financial stability, you can choose to start growing in large volumes. The benefits of starting with a small portion are;
> You won’t incur many expenses. It’s cheap.
> You will have an easier time monitoring the few marijuana plants.
> In case the plants are destructed, you won’t incur big losses.
Besides, the mistakes that you will make with the few plants, wouldn’t recur to the next level when you are investing big
Go to the next level
You have now gained some experience since you’re not much green in growing weed. Now create even more space that would accommodate additional weed plants than the ones you started with. However, you don’t grow cannabis in a bare room and expect a lot. Some things need to be done to that room. For example, you will be required to fix some lights, fans, ducting and other equipment. You will learn more about this later on.
Ensure cleanliness is not an exception
Don’t compare weed itself with some users that you find on the streets. The environment where you grow weed, considering it’s indoor, should be kept neat all the time.
Ensure the room is light-sealed
The room in which you are growing your dear marijuana should be sealed and that no lights from the surrounding reach your plants. Light is essential in the growth of this plant but it should be controlled by the grower, not every time having light seeping into the room.
Choose and use marijuana growing lights
The type of lights you choose will determine much on the yields you will get from the Cannabis plants. To notify you earlier, choosing the wrong lights is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in growing Cannabis indoors. In a nutshell, below are the most popular and of course effective lights that are used in Marijuana growing.
LED grow lights
Light-emitting diodes are the most effective indoor lights that are used in the growing of weed and other indoor plants. This is because these lights produce little heat as they operate. Besides, they have more wavelengths across the light spectrum and this can play a bigger role in determining the quality of your weed plants. However, LED lights are expensive and they can make you land on other lights as alternatives.
Induction grow lights
These lights are cost-effective and they can play a magic role in inducing greater yields. They also produce heat just LED lights and that makes them a great option more so when you are financially unstable.
HID grow lights
High-intensity discharge is the next option for the lights that are effective in indoor Cannabis growing. These lights are effective in everything starting from price to the positive impact they have on Marijuana.
Fluorescent grow lights
These are the cheapest and easy-to-use lights compare to the aforementioned ones. Besides, they produce very little heat and this won’t require the grower to hook them up to any type of an external ventilation system.
To conclude on lights, you should be at a position of knowing some of the pros and cons of each light before you make them part of your investment.
Ensure there is fresh air
Fresh air is very important and you cannot deprive your Cannabis plants a fresh air if at all you want them to be productive. This is indoor growing and you will require to have some fans that will play the role of providing the fresh air. Depending on the space you created for your plants but a portable fan can still work. All you need is a portable fan sitting on the floor and an exhaust fan on the ceiling. This cheap indoor grow setup works this way;
The exhaust fan sucks out all the warm air in the room since it rises. The fan on the floor provides a cooler CO2 which is very essential to the growing pot.
Ensure you have full control and monitor the growing marijuana
Congratulations! You have done a greater achievement so far. Well, you now have to set a good system that will enable you to monitor everything even in your absence. In this case, you will require an adjustable thermostat and a 24-hour timer. You will have to set the adjustable thermostat in a way that it will automatically turn on the exhaust fan once temperatures exceed a certain level.
The 24-hour timer will ensure that you have good control of the light in the room. For example, when the growing marijuana is still in the vegetative growth stage, it requires about 16-20 hours of light per day which would later change to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness once the Cannabis attains maturity stage. Therefore, the 24-hour timer will offer great help in making sure such a process is achieved with ease. You can also get some pH meter that you will be used to check the quality of the soil and water though not much important.
These requirements are mostly meant for the growers who want a smooth process or those who engage in different activities which makes it hard to have full control of the indoor growing weed.
Pick a growing medium
Growing weed indoors allows you to choose different media of your choice. You can grow weed in pots or on a slab. Every medium that you choose to work with comes with benefits and drawbacks. In the next section, a discussion of the different media follows.
Soil
This is the traditional and the most common medium used in growing weed indoors. Since you are not working on a large scale, you can choose to put the soil in pots then, grow your cannabis. For beginners, a pre-fertilized soil is ideal. This type of soil (also called super soil) can be used to grow cannabis from the beginning to the harvesting stage and it doesn’t have any added nutrients. You can get this kind of soil through a do-it-yourself process where a combination of worm castings and bat guano plus other components is required. Thereafter, you allow it to stay for some weeks before you start growing cannabis. Alternatively, you can buy such types of soil from retailers where it comes ready-made.
Soilless
It is also called hydroponics. Currently, most indoor growers are turning to this type of medium. In this medium, some science is involved. Cannabis is let to grow in water that is rich in mineral salts and different nutrients. The plants take these nutrients through the process of osmosis. If well done, you will be surprised because this medium can make plants produce more than what you expect in a very short span. If you do not follow the rules and do the wrong thing then, you will blame yourself – so the productivity of cannabis through hydroponics depends largely on the grower.
You will have to provide nutrients to your cannabis
If you want to get high-quality flowers from your weed then, you will be required to provide different nutrients. The following are the different types of nutrients, also called macronutrients, which are required by marijuana. Phosphorus, potassium, and Nitrogen. Other nutrients called micronutrients are also required. They include; Iron, Copper, Magnesium, and Calcium. Since these nutrients are in fertilizers, you will have to buy the fertilizer and seek the right application from the right people. Please don’t apply the fertilizer by yourself if you are not conversant with how it is applied including the right amounts.
Marijuana requires water
Just like other plants, marijuana also requires water for survival, production, and blooming. Don’t just provide any type of water for your cannabis. Ensure it is pure water. If it contains some dissolved minerals, you can easily harm that plant since the dissolved minerals may built-up in the roots and interfere with the process of water and mineral uptake by the growing cannabis. Besides, using dirty water can result in a built-up of fungi on the roots. Once that happens, the roots can easily rot and you can guess what will happen to the plant.
Harvesting weed
You have now done almost everything. Like an ordinary farmer, after putting all efforts in sowing, watering, applying fertilizers and other things you now expect to harvest. Great. Harvesting also requires a lot of attention just like you did before. Besides, timing is the key to harvesting mature marijuana. Talking of timing, if you harvest too early you are going to miss the good harvest, on the other hand, if you harvest too late you are also going to miss the good harvest. As a beginner, you may not be in a position to tell whether your plants are ready to be harvested. Don’t worry. That’s normal and here, you are covered. Below are the practical signs that tell your buds have reached the harvest period.
> Small crystals appear on the flowers.
> The flowers change into heavy kolas.
> Ovaries of the plants start swelling up.
> Some leaves will turn yellow – mostly the large leaves.
> Pistils curl.
> The flowers become sticky when touched.
> The smell becomes much intense.
There may be other signs but those are the common once and they are enough to let you know everything is in place waiting to be reaped. You can check out this site for a detailed process of harvesting marijuana https://www.greenbudguru.com/how-to-harvest-weed-step-by-step/.
Common mistakes made by new weed growers
As a newbie, you may be attempted to make these mistakes. If you have already made one, please don’t repeat it.
Bragging or confiding information about growing weed
This is the number one error you can ever make as a new weed grower. Don’t dare tell anyone that you are growing cannabis irrespective of the relationship that exists between the two parties.
Failing to prepare
Before you start the whole process, you should get yourself prepared in everything to avoid any issues that may result later due to inadequate preparation.
Using poor seeds
Don’t taste the waters with poor seeds. It is important to look for good money that will enable you to buy high-quality seeds instead of going for the low-quality ones.
Too many nutrients
Earlier, we talked about the application of fertilizers is required to have good yields. Please consult or read the instructions carefully to avoid applying the wrong amount. Too many nutrients will probably spoil your plants.
Applying too much water
Marijuana is not a hydrophyte. It doesn’t require much water to produce well. This is much poisonous if you overwater your marijuana that you potted.
Final Thoughts
You have reached the end of this article. However, growing marijuana indoors involves a lot of things that may be missing here. You may even be required to watch some videos to get more information on a certain aspect. Therefore, you can do additional research that will enable you to get the most out of weed. GOODLUCK!
