Welcome to 2018 the year you start to grow your own cannabis at home! That’s right, you’ve thought about it for years and the law has started to lax; you know you want to do it. It’s just time.
Most people who think about growing cannabis get stuck right away with where to grow cannabis. Generally, people don’t have access to an open field or a greenhouse so the main requirement for starting a grow is an indoor space. How much space? Well that really depends on your situation. Do you have an empty closet or a room that doesn’t see a lot of company? That’s good enough.
An important note about home growing: Don’t talk about your grow to anyone, even if it’s legal in your area. The best cannabis grow is the grow nobody knows about.
I can’t stress that enough. You don’t want issues with police or robbers looking to score your cannabis. So, remember don’t talk about your grow, not even to your friends and family.
Grow Tents
The good news is that since grow spaces are always an issue; companies have stepped up and solved the issue with grow tents. Grow tents are light sealed areas where you can grow your plants. Grow tents really shine because they allow you to completely control the environment of your plants. I grow tent can be setup anywhere from your basement to a closet. They come in many sizes from about 2×3 up to 10×10.
Use LED Lights
If you are growing in a tent or other tight space LED grow
lights will be the best option for providing energy to your plants. HPS lights are large and generate huge amounts of heat and use larges amounts of electricity making them not a great option for the small grower.
Modern LED grow lights use about 40% less electricity and
produce about 50% less heat than HPS systems of the same power. On top of that LED grow lights can be placed just 18 inches above your plants which gives you much more head room for growing. Since the led grow lights produce so much less
heat a simple exhaust system with a charcoal filter will work perfectly and move plenty of air out of the grow space.
You can now invest in LED grow light technology for under
$150.00 and get a unit that will be more than capable of growing some beautiful cannabis plants.
Micro Growing
Micro growing is just what it sounds like. Simply its
growing cannabis in small amounts in small spaces. Micro growing is perfect for the beginner who has little experience or for the person with seriously limited grow space. All of the same knowledge and techniques used in large grows apply to micro growing. All you need to do is provide the right amount of light, water and nutrients.
Since you are working in a small space you may need to manipulate your plants to force them to grow short and bushy rather then tall. If your grow tent is over 72 inches tall you don’t need to worry about this but if your grow space is under 60 inches, you’ll need to pay attention to the next section of this article.
SCROG
What the heck is a SCROG ? Well it’s an acronym for “screen
of green”. If you have limited height for growing, you’ll need to research this topic closely. Using the SCROG method will allow you to control your plants vertical growth as well as prevent your branches from growing wild and crowding each other for light.
By using SCROG you can use a small space to grow more
cannabis. If you manage your grow with SCROG you can also “top” your plants to encourage them to grow more colas. Look for upcoming articles on SCROG as well as “topping” in the near future.
Can Your Plants Breath?
It doesn’t mater if you are growing in a larger or smaller
space, air turnover is critical to healthy growing plants. Ventilations does more than provide your plants with a fresh supply of carbon dioxide it ventilates heat and humidity out of your grow space so that you can maintain healthy levels. When your plants get too hot or wet that’s when you’ll begin to have issues with pests.
Keep the relative humidity in your grow area down below 45%
and the heat below 85F and you will cut out 90% of the possible issues you could have.
Ventilation should include a carbon filter to help remove
smells from the exhaust air.
Choose the Right Container for Your Grows Orientation.
The container that you plant your cannabis in can greatly
affect the future growth of that plant. If you have a taller grow space you can go with a taller thin container, for shorter grow areas you’ll want to use shorter wider containers. Makes sense, right?
Grow Indicas or Low Flyer Strains
Limited space means you need to grow smaller plants that won’t
grow wild and take over your whole grow area. Indica’s are a great option as they are shorter bushier plants. You can also buy Fem Auto Low Flyers which are bread to be small plants but don’t require any light changes or training.
Growing in small spaces should never stop you from growing
your own cannabis. With just a few adjustments that any grower can follow you can have beautiful buds in less than 4 months.
