How to Prepare Your First Grow Room

first cannabis grow room setup

When Google Trends recently started spiking for "how to grow weed" and "how to ship marijuana", we decided to set up some short educational pieces on the basics of indoor marijuana growing and now, how to set up your first cannabis grow room.

For anyone who is engaging in indoor marijuana growing for the first time, it is usually a very good experience as this choice allows you to have control over almost every aspect of your plant’s growth. From the environment to the type of plant you want to grow and their safety, everything is in your hands which means that you determine every little detail. Before you start your planting, creating the right environment for your plant is paramount which is why you have to put in some effort and preparation to ensure your grow room has everything in place for your plant’s utmost wellbeing. To ensure this experience is easy and fun for you, we have a few tips to help you navigate the process:

Outlining what you want

Before buying or getting anything to build your grow room, you need to first take a seat and outline what or how exactly you need your grow room to be. This means you should ask yourself some salient questions such as:

· Available time

· Number of plants

· Your proficiency level with tools

· Your estimated budget

Size and Location of Your Grow Room

In addition to the above, you also need to know where exactly you wish to set up your grow room. For most people, the obvious choices are usually basements, attics, cellars, garages, and sometimes cupboards. Also, you should ensure that you are the only one who has access to the plant to prevent contamination and ensure discretion. If none of the above-listed spaces is available, you might consider getting a grow tent or box which you can place anywhere you choose.

Clean Out Your Grow Room

You should get rid of any dirt and unwanted junk such as carpets, cartons, and rugs from your grow area to prevent possible infections or the presence of dust, mold, or pests. After this, you should then thoroughly sweep, mop, and sterilize your grow room to eliminate any leftover bacteria that could affect your plants.

Select Your Grow Medium

Selecting your grow medium is one of the more important choices to make regarding your plant. There are two major options available to you:

· Soil - It is a really popular method of growing plants as it has been used by many for a very long time. This grow medium is usually very nutrient-rich thus allowing you some level of freedom regarding this when tending to your plants. However, it is also sensitive to watering which means one should be extremely careful about this most especially at the earliest stages of the plant's life.

· Soil-less/ Hydroponic - These are grow mediums that make use of other sources apart from soil such as expanded clay, coco-coir, or rock wool. They allow the plant to breathe well as they are lighter and do not hold nutrients which means you have to regularly feed your plants with nutrients by adding them to water. Although this medium offers you better quality plants, they are quite expensive and not easy to manage so it might not be what you can handle for your first grow operation.

Making your grow room Light-proof

For anyone growing indoors, the light needed by your plants is artificially produced because the plants need to stick to the stipulated light cycles. This is why you should light-proof your grow room as any light leaks might affect their growth.

Light Reflectivity

To ensure that all available light is distributed to your plants, covering the entire grow area with reflective material is a safe bet. There are few of these available in the market and the grow tents also come outfitted with them.

Eliminate Smells

You need to figure out a way of getting rid of the smell your plants might produce to ensure discretion. This can be done by either using deodorizer gels or adding a carbon filter to your exhaust to ensure that the smell does not leave the room.

Ventilation

Ensuring the continual flow of fresh air into and out of your grow room, you need to get fans and air vents to be strategically placed within your grow room to ensure the right temperature and humidity levels are achieved.

Humidity

To ensure your plants can take in and properly metabolize nutrients to get good yields, you should try to control the humidity levels in your grow room. Getting an air humidifier will go a long way in assisting with this.

Temperature

Getting the right temperature for your grow room is quite tricky, but with the right equipment and constant monitoring, it is achievable. All you need to do is to counter the sources of heat by getting cooling units and monitoring the temperature with the use of a thermometer.

Timers and central control system

To help you navigate the tricky situation of getting things right with your plants, you need to get a few electrical devices such as lighting, cooling thermostat, temperature control, etc. that will aid you in controlling and monitoring everything at specific times. To do this effectively, you should install a central timing system that allows you to put everything on one system.