What Material do I Need to Start Growing Indoor Weed? 2021 Updated
If you’re thinking about setting up your very own indoor cannabis set up but you don’t have much experience, you probably have a lot of questions. What are the materials needed to grow cannabis indoors? How much will it cost? These are two of the most frequently asked questions regarding growing cannabis indoors.
We’ve decided to write a full post on the exact materials needed to grow cannabis efficiently and affordably for all of the beginners out there that are a bit overwhelmed.
Growing Indoors: 10 Essential Marijuana Growing Supplies
Any marijuana plant needs 4 essential elements to grow:
- Light
- Water
- Nutrients
- Air
What this means is that the growing supplies which provide these 4 elements are absolutely essential. But to grow marijuana properly indoors, you’ll need a few more extras that support these 4 elements. Without further due…here’s what you’ll need for a proper indoor growing setup:
- Marijuana Seeds.
- Grow Lights.
- Medium to Grow (Soil, Hydroton, etc.).
- Nutrients and Supplements.
- Pots or Buckets.
- Ventilation.
- Thermometer.
- pH and PPM Testing Tools.
- Carbon Filter.
- A Grow Tent.
SEEDS
The first step to growing great weed is to start with the right genetics. Cannabis plants can vary a lot, and you’ll need to take the time to research strains and find something to suit your grow room, budget, and skills as a grower.
Below are three strains for beginner, intermediate, and advanced growers:
• White Widow Automatic: White Widow is a world-renowned, classic Dutch strain. For this autoflowering variety, we crossed a potent, profit-yielding White Widow phenotype with a sturdy strain of _Cannabis ruderalis_. The result is a potent autoflower that goes from seed to harvest in just 8–9 weeks and produces great results regardless of your skill as a grower.
• Royal Cookies: If you want to grow top-shelf US genetics at home, this is the perfect option. Royal Cookies was bred by crossing two unique Forum 1 phenotypes to create a super potent Cookies strain with up to 23% THC, capable of producing massive yields to suit. With a flowering time of just 8–9 weeks, this is a great intermediate strain that will produce some top-shelf bud every time.
• Shining Silver Haze: If you’re an experienced grower looking for a killer sativa hybrid to add to your garden, look no further. Shining Silver Haze is our own version of the iconic Haze varieties that revolutionised cannabis around the world. With 21% THC, a 9–11 week flowering cycle, and an uplifting high like no other, this is easily one of our most beloved strains.
Grow Lights
Prices have come down so much that you can get quality LED fixtures for far less than you would pay for the equivalent HID system.
If you are thinking about fluorescent lights, they may make sense for a very small grow of a plant or two. Anything larger than that and you would need too many bulbs.
Even for just one plant, I’d go with LED if possible. You’ll get far better results and it is much easier to set up and use an LED fixture than fluorescent bulbs. These days, you can get a 300w LED fixture for less than the equivalent fluorescent.
Growing mediums
Another important item in your checklist you need to start growing Cannabis is the growing medium.
The main functions and requirements of a growth medium are: providing physical support to the plant, allowing root respiration, and holding available water and nutrients for the plant.
As long as the roots have space, the right amount of water, good aeration, and available nutrients, your plant will grow steady and healthy. If one of these factors is missing, the plant is going to experience growing issues.
A Grow medium, also known as the substrate, is the material or mix where your plant’s roots grow and thrive, for example, soil, coco coir, water, etc.
Growing Cannabis in soil mix
Soil mix is an excellent medium to start growing weed, provided that it has the right balance between solids (organic and inorganic matter) and empty spaces, where air and water will flow.
Aeration is a key factor in order to keep roots healthy. To avoid soil compaction, you need to add materials such as perlite, vermiculite or coco coir so roots can develop in pore spaces between the solid particles. Organic matter such as compost and worm castings provide some nutrients for your plants to start growing.
Soil mixes with peat moss work great too, but they need a little dolomite for balancing pH and do not have the nutrients your plant needs, so you’ll need to supply them.
Nutrients
With lighting, AC, and other environmental controls in place, indoor cannabis plants will require large amounts of fertilizer or nutrients throughout their lifespans. Hydroponic systems lack the base nutrients that occur within soil; that leaves it up to you, the grower, to feed their plants with nutrient concentrations — the exact formula of which depends upon plant variety and phase of cultivation. With hydroponics, salt-based nutrients typically come in the form of a concentrated liquid or dry soluble powder that can be mixed with water.
As a cannabis plant develops, its nutrient needs change. That's why different nutrient lines are available for different growth phases. Most nutrient lines come with recommended feeding charts. If you're just starting out, be sure to get to know your nutrients and their ratios.
Ventilation
Plants need fresh air to thrive, and carbon dioxide (CO2) is essential to the process of photosynthesis. This means you will need a steady stream of air flowing through your grow room, easily achieved by means of an exhaust fan placed near the top of the room to remove the warmer air, and a filtered air inlet on the opposite side near the floor.
You’ll need to ensure that temperatures remain within a comfortable range for your plants, between 70-85°F when lights are on and between 58-70°F when they are off. Some varieties of cannabis (generally indica strains) prefer the colder side of the range, while others are more tolerant of higher temperatures.
The size of your exhaust fan will depend on the size of your grow space and amount of heat generated by your lighting system. HID systems put out a ton of heat, especially if they aren’t mounted in air-cooled hoods. People who live in warmer regions will often run their lights at night in an effort to keep temperatures in their grow down.
Grow tents/Reflective sheeting
In order to grow cannabis indoors, your plants need absolutely no light during their “night time” which is why it’s incredibly important to use a grow tent or set up a wardrobe so that no light can get it, or even better, a whole room – but this can be a daunting task.
If you’re planning on using an indoor grow tent, there’s no need to worry as they’re fully sealed so that no light can get in. If you’re growing in a wardrobe or in a room, you will need to cover every inch of the walls in reflective sheeting for grow rooms, making sure that absolutely no light can get in.
For wardrobes: you will have to cover all of the walls (not the floor or ceiling) of your wardrobe. You’ll also need to make two holes – one for each side of the extraction. It can be a good idea to compare different grow tents by size when choosing the right one.
For rooms: it honestly may be too expensive to fully cover a room with reflective sheeting. We recommend starting at the bottom until the height you expect your plants to grow to, which is usually around 1.2-1.5m. You’ll have to make absolutely sure that no light is getting in from the door or the window.
Choosing a Complete Grow Kit
2x4ft Soil-Based Grow Kits — Best for Beginners
2x4ft complete soil indoor grow kits with HID grow lights and LED grow lights. If you're new to growing, soil is arguably the best way to go. This is because soil is forgiving, easy to work with, and nutrient rich. In addition, a smaller 2x4ft kit will allow you to grow a few plants so you're not overwhelmed. Here recommended the ECO Farm Grow Tent kit.
Pros:
Enough room to grow 3 to 4 plants that are about 3ft tall.
Fairly portable and easy to position in most rooms.
Great for personal and hobby growing.
Cons:
Height can be an issue — you'll have to keep your plants around 3ft tall, which means you'll need to train them if they get too tall. This also means growing taller plants will most likely be out of the question.
You need adequate space between your lights and your plants. As such, taller plants can get burned or bleached if they're too close to your grow lights.
That's it!
By following these simple steps, you'll be well on your way to growing your favorite fruits and veggies in no time. And yes, while growing your own food and plants does require a bit of effort, research, and hard work on your part, it's also one of the best things you can do for yourself.
Growing indoors is convenient, therapeutic, and eco-friendly. And now you're ready to do it, too. Happy growing!
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