How to Successfully Grow Weed Indoors – A Guide For Beginners

The cannabis industry expands to include more legalization in US states and countries including Canada and across the pond. As a result, the concept of growing weed is more accepting socially and a greater number of home growers are cropping up.

For some cannabis users, this is to control the end product and ensure certain strains and chemicals are used or omitted for health purposes. Others want to grow cannabis like they do other vegetables and flowering plants. Whatever the intent when growing this particular crop, here is a basic guideline for indoor weed growing for beginners.

Purchasing Cannabis Seeds or Plants

Here are top companies available on green affiliates for helping you purchase seeds. If you are not ready to invest in seeds, you can also purchase seedlings or clones that have already established root systems.

You also have to account for the feminization of the seeds. When you purchase seeds you need feminized seeds to ensure they give rise to female plants. A female seed leads to a female plant, which will grow the highly desired colas or buds that you can smoke.

Male plants do not produce the same quality of cannabis, but will often be mixed in with other seeds. Additionally, you will need to do your research to be able to identify if your plant is female or male based on the leaf structure. Therefore, it can be a lot easier to just purchase some clone plants that are labeled.

How to Set Up Hydroponic Grow Sites

In a hydroponics system, you are focused on using water and porous materials to manage your growth. Please note that a hydroponic system is not required to be indoors. However, it is a viable horticultural method for anyone growing cannabis. Here you want to avoid using soil as a growing medium. Instead, the cannabis plants will obtain its nutrients and water through the roots using a water-based solution. This grants you the opportunity to easily feed and monitor the growing solution that your plants are living in.

Hydroponic kits and chemical solutions are easily available at many of the companies. You can purchase testing supplies, as well, so to carefully monitor the amount of vitamins and minerals your plants need to thrive. Whether you are going organic or traditional with the use of pesticides, and based on your growing environment, you may also need to supplement with insecticides and fungicides. A hydroponic grow site utilizes these treatments just like a soil-based or outdoor grow site.

For growers, the biggest reason for choosing hydroponics is eliminating the unknown variables found in soil or other growing mediums. Water-based hydro grow sites are also considered more sustainable because the grower is controlling the flow of water. In addition, hydroponic systems are designed to recycle water back into the plants, therefore saving you money on nutrients, water and energy over maintaining the site.

Speaking of maintenance, this is one of the more hands-on grow sites you will find. You need to be ready to provide nutrients and to feed the plants by hand since they are not getting what they need from the soil. If you want to have greater control over the finished product though, you may very well choose to start a hydroponic grow site.

Setting Up an Indoor Grow Site

If you have seeds to plant, you need to have a safe growing medium that is free of germs or mildew. Rockwool, coco coir and hydroponic setups are all typical options for success in growing cannabis indoors. Regular potting soil will work once you have a seedling ready to plant.

If you want to go hydroponic, as a beginner, you should start with a kit that includes directions and major components. Otherwise, it is much easier and more affordable to use soil for indoor weed planting.

Once you have started your seeds or you have sourced your seedlings, the time has come to bring them home. Their new home is actually going to be a tent-like structure within your home or greenhouse. This is also referred to as a marijuana grow box.

Look for a structure that is at least eight-foot tall in order to best accommodate plant growth. The tent should be dark so as to block out natural light and allow you to control lighting using lamps. Consider this an indoor greenhouse for a night owl.

Along with lighting, you also want to mimic the great outdoors in terms of wind and climate. Using basic fans with your indoor climate control will do the trick. You also need to make sure you can water and examine your plants throughout the growing season. Therefore, maintain ample walking room and head space around each of your plants. Be ready to move them in their containers as needed throughout the growing season.

Managing a Weed Grow Indoors

Here is a common misconception about an indoor grow site. You would think that by having your cannabis plant indoors away from nature you would be free of garbage and pests. In reality, even if you have a plant growing indoors, that plant will attract predatory insects that want to eat that plant or use it for a home. And just like with any other plant, this can be detrimental to the growth and development of a weed plant.

Whenever you spot flying or crawling insects, or if you see silver or black discoloration on the leaves, stop whatever you are doing and identify the culprit. If you are interested in going organic, you can easily manage this with an indoor grow site. There are pesticides and insecticides made without using harsh or toxic chemicals that allow cannabis growers to eliminate bugs and mildew organically.

As for fertilizer, it pays to use a soil testing kit to measure the chemical levels in the dirt where you are planting your cannabis seedlings. Then you can supplement with nitrogen, phosphorus or other nutrients as needed without burning up the roots of the plants. To maintain control of pests and molds, you will want to do your research for each occurrence.

However, for most growers, the secret is to identify the most commonly found pests and molds within a certain grow space. Then you are always one step ahead with preventative measures rather than trying to knock these things out once they start eating your cannabis leaves.

Soon enough you will have a harvest of heady and hearty colas ready to pick. At this stage, you are ready to cure the cannabis, which simply means you are drying out the plant material to stop the growing process so the cannabinoids are available to smoke or otherwise ingest.