MD: There are many reasons why cannabis users prefer growing marijuana indoors. For instance, it might be because of bad weather in your area or reduced green space in your garden. But how do you start? Our guide will provide everything you need to know.

Cannabis Seeds and Lighting: A Beginner’s Guide to Indoor Growing

If you’ve decided to begin growing Cannabis, growing indoors might be a great idea. While outdoor growing has certain benefits, indoor plants give you more control, making it perfect for novice growers. Most growing tips apply to outdoor and indoor growing, but you need to remember certain things if you want your growing Cannabis indoors endeavor to succeed.

Marijuana indoor growing involves crucial steps and tips, including selecting the right cannabis seeds, understanding your plant’s temperature and lighting needs, and regularly maintaining your indoor equipment. We’ve discussed each phase in detail below:

Choose the Right Marijuana Seeds for Beginners

The first stage of growing Cannabis indoors is choosing the weed seeds you will plant. How do you know a seed is good? For beginners, you’ll want hard, dry, and dark-colored – seeds bought from a reputable seed bank.

When purchasing your seeds, you have the choice to buy either non-feminized or feminized seeds. Mostly feminized seeds are the most preferred types because they will produce female plants that produce buds you can harvest. Non-feminized ones are excellent for breeding reasons. Going for hybrid seeds might be a great idea. Most of the seeds that experts, such as https://askgrowers.com/seeds/for-beginners recommend to novice growers are hybrid seeds. One of the bases for this is that they are more resistant to mildew, mold, pests, and diseases. In addition, they grow fast and produce higher yields than non-hybrid seeds.

Germinate Your Seeds Properly

To allow your cannabis seeds to germinate, soak them in water or a wet towel until their taproot emerges. The process can take several days. After germination:

1. Transfer the seeds into a growing medium (a fabric pot filled with soil).
2. Plant the seeds approximately 10mm deep in the ground.
3. Maintain medium dampness without overwatering.

As a first-timer, you can purchase ready-made soil from a local shop or online. These pre-mixed soils, especially those from a reliable supplier, come with a great mixture of nutrition and aeration, which might be good in these early stages. Alternatively, you can blend your soil using worm castings, bat guano, and more ingredients. But these can wait until you’ve gained some experience and confidence. Keeping things simple as a novice is always preferred.

Setting Up Your Indoor Grow Room

Your marijuana plants need sufficient space to thrive. A garage, spare room, or basement make the best spaces for indoor marijuana growing. You can use a cupboard but ensure its well-sealed to prevent light from getting in. Remember, marijuana needs periods of darkness. If natural light enters the grow room during this period, it can stress the marijuana out, leading to hermaphroditism that causes self-pollination.

Experts suggest you begin with a small, manageable space of approximately 3ft by 3ft, accommodating 4-9 plants. You need only one light to maintain a grow room of this size. Always start small to gain experience before beginning a more significant project.

Choosing the Right Lights

You should purchase affordable LED lights such as Photo-Bio MX. You might need a bulb or two if you opt for High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps or traditional heaters. However, modern lights allow you to make specific changes, making them excellent. For instance, during the vegetative phase, you can use Metal Halides or High-Pressure Sodium bulbs during the flowering stage. Note that you need a bulb that keeps temperatures below 85 degrees even when lights are on. If your bulb exceeds that, you might need a cooler. Alternatively, you can use open your tent or use fans for cooling. You can always use a thermometer to test the temperature.

Crucial Items You Need

You might require more tools for indoor growing compared to outdoor growing. But these tools allow you to control your plant and its growing environment. For instance, it’s impossible to control the weather when growing Cannabis outdoors. With indoor growing, you can adjust the airflow, lighting, temperature, and humidity. Here are essential items you will need when starting your growing cannabis indoor journey:

1. Grow tent – you need a unique tent that’s opaque outside so that light can’t get in. One with a refractive color inside lets your plant get the most out of the lights;
2. Proper lights;
3. Pots of varying sizes and a grow space to place the plant pots;
4. You might need an intake fan to fill the grow room with new air and an extractor fan to blow out hot air. When purchasing your extractor fan, ensure it comes with carbon filters to minimize the cannabis smell;
5. A thermometer to help you control temperatures;
6. A hygrometer to measure humidity;
7. Timer – It allows you to switch lights off and on when you’re not around.

What Are the Upsides of Growing Cannabis Indoors

While indoor cannabis growing can be costly because of the tools needed, growers have more control. You can decide the exact light, water, and nutrients your plants receive, and you’ll deal with fewer pests. Moreover, the weather and seasons don’t limit you. You can start a grow during summer or winter as long as you have the tools required to regulate your grow room’s temperature, light, and humidity. You can grow weed continuously and have multiple harvests every year.

Indoor growing also means you’ll have more privacy. Even if growing Cannabis is restricted in your area, you can avoid potential thieves and prying eyes.

Moving Your Plants into The Vegetative Stage

After the germination and seedling phase, the next stage is to allow your cannabis plants to enter the vegetative phase. In this stage, you need to maintain temperatures of 70-85 degrees and 18-24 hours of light per day. Additionally, you must water your plants regularly and add vital nutrients. If you didn’t plant pure feminized seeds, it’s time to get rid of male plants.

Enjoying the Flowering Stage

During this stage, your female plants will develop heavy-scented, thick buds since they use all their energy on bud development. Their buds, resin glands, hairs, and trichomes continue to build, which makes the plant grow more prominent. In the flowering stage, you provide 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. If you were training your plants, this is the time to stop. Additionally, it would help if you stopped adding nutrients. The only thing remaining at this stage is watering your plant.

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Depending on your marijuana strain, your plant will flower within 6-14 weeks. Checking your plant’s trichomes can help determine when its terpenes and cannabinoids are fully developed. Mainly, trichomes will start with a clear color, then turn cloudy to amber. Most growers harvest ween when trichomes are a combination of cloudy & amber. Some believe that gathering during the cloudy phase leads to a more uncomfortable taste while harvesting when some trichomes are amber will enhance the experience and make it more relaxed.

Harvesting and Curing Your Plants

This is the time when you enjoy your hard work. You harvest by cutting the main stem and hanging your plants to dry using a solid cord. Ensure that you’re hanging them in a dry and dark area. It shouldn’t be too hot or humid. Dividing your harvests into smaller branches helps speed up the drying process. Your plant will be dry after one to two weeks.

Summing Up

Growing marijuana indoors can be costly initially, but over a certain period, it’ll save you a lot of money since you will not need to purchase heavily-taxed weed products from a cannabis dispensary. Additionally, you have the freedom to grow strains that you can’t find in your local dispensary. Moreover, it’s safer to grow marijuana indoors since you’re sure that no harsh chemicals are used to grow your weed.

Tia Moskalenko wrote this article. Tina is an expert in the Marijuana industry. She has many years of experience creating Cannabis content for AskGrowers.com. Tina also specializes in creating unique guides for beginners interested in growing and using medicinal Cannabis.