Beginner's Guide to Growing: How to Start Your Personal Indoor Grow

Growing weed for the first time can be intimidating, but we're here to help. There's a lot to know about marijuana and plenty of specific knowledge you should brush up on before you get started on your personal indoor grow. Some of what you need to succeed will come from experience and giving it an honest try. There are some things, however, that we can help you with right now.

Growing Weed for Beginners: Indoors vs. Outdoors

Cannabis grew outdoors naturally long before recorded history and human cultivation, and many people swear by outdoor growing. The sun, soil, and open space can produce massive yields of quality cannabis, but this is only true if you know where to grow weed. When growing outdoors, you give up a lot of control, and not every climate is well equipped for it. Indoor growing, on the other hand, offers complete control of the environment. Cannabis has specific ideal growth factors - temperature, humidity, light, circulation, nutrients, etc. - all of which you can control when growing indoors. Additionally, most states only allow for home grow to be conducted indoors. Unless you're a licensed cultivator, indoor growing is the safest, most accurate way to start growing weed at home.

Growing Weed 101: Essential Tools

Now that we've established why an indoor grow is likely the best place to start if you're looking to grow weed for the first time, you're probably asking yourself, "what essentials do I need to grow weed?" It would be best to put a few items on your list for growing weed easily and efficiently.

Grow Tent

One of the best ways to ensure you have the most control over your indoor cannabis plants is to get a grow tent, where you can better manage things like temperature, humidity, light, and ventilation. Grow tents are available in all sorts of sizes, so you should have a lot of options depending on how large of a space you have and how much you're growing.

Soil and Nutrients

Like all plants, you'll need soil to grow cannabis. Cannabis prefers slightly acidic soil that's somewhere between 6 and 6.8pH. Additionally, cannabis requires a wide range of nutrients to grow properly and be as healthy as possible. Some primary nutrients it requires are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium. We recommend getting soil, like other potted plants, that is mixed with the nutrients your cannabis needs.

Pots

Again, like all indoor plants, you'll need pots to grow your cannabis. There are different types of pots you can use, depending on the set-up you prefer. You want plenty of space for your cannabis plants to grow, so get pots with plenty of room for your cannabis to expand. Anything from large buckets to standard flower pots will work.

Humidifier and Dehumidifier

Humidity is critical for the health of your cannabis plants. Over the lifespan of your plants, they will need different humidity levels (ranging from 40% to 70%), so you need to be able to control your grow room's humidity accurately. A humidifier and dehumidifier are essential, and we highly recommend humidifiers that allow you to read the exact humidity of the room and set the humidity levels.

Thermometer

Along with humidity, temperature is something you need to have close control over while growing your cannabis. You'll need an accurate reading of the temperature in your grow space since cannabis generally grows best between 68 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fans

Without proper air circulation, your plants are at a higher risk for developing mold, and unwanted insects are more likely to find a home amongst your growing bud. The cheapest and most efficient way to tackle this is to have several fans at the ready. You don't need industrial fans - just something that can keep the air circulating in your grow room.

LED Lights

Air circulation, humidity, temperature, nutrients, etc., all come together to support a healthy cannabis plant. Still, lighting is arguably the most important factor in your plant's health and will directly determine the quality and size of your final product. There are many lights you can choose from but LED lights that offer at least 300W of power with a 12-band light spectrum range are ideal. There are also lights specifically made for indoor growing if you're willing to invest in your home grow set-up.

Seeds

Of course, none of these essentials will work if you don't have seeds to grow in the first place. An essential piece of the puzzle is deciding what type of strain you want to grow. Are you looking for an Indica, Sativa, or hybrid? Do you have a favorite strain? We highly recommend doing some research into the best seeds to start with based on your personal preferences.

Where to Buy Cannabis Seeds

Like most things, you'll likely need to pay a steeper price if you want quality seeds. Healthy seeds with quality genetics that will most easily grow into a budding cannabis plant can be found in many different places for a wide range of prices. Some places you can buy seeds include local dispensaries, which you can look for via online seed banks. Please note that purchasing marijuana seeds varies in legality depending on where you live, so make sure to do your research before you purchase anything and accidentally buy seeds illegally.

Get Your Weed Growing

Once you have your seeds, you need to germinate them before you can adequately grow them into cannabis plants. An easy way to do this is to put your seeds on a paper towel in a small container, spray them with lukewarm water, and leave them covered in a dark space. Every few hours, open the container and spray your seeds with more water (enough to keep the paper towel moist but not soaking wet). Your seeds should germinate (open and show a tap root at the end) within a couple of days, at which point you can plant in your soil and begin the real work.

Have you grown cannabis indoors before? Let us know your favorite tips and tricks to start growing weed successfully. Comment below!