On most occasions, beginners and first-time marijuana growers aren’t willing to spend large sums of money on their first setup. That’s why they are looking for a cheap indoor grow setup that is more than enough for beginners. Luckily, this is quite achievable if you have the appropriate tools and areas to work with.
Growing marijuana indoors is the best way to keep your cultivars from the sensitive eyes of the people. Also, there are many cheap and cost-effective ways for how to cultivate marijuana indoors properly. If you want to learn more about cheap indoor grow setup best for beginners, then you’ll have to stay for a while.
Cheap Indoor Grow Setup Requirements
Growing marijuana indoors is a relatively cheap and cost-effective way to enjoy your product compared to constant trips from your local dispensary. However, building a cheap indoor grow room doesn’t come without a cost. Even the simplest grow room setups need some expenditure. The essential thing is not to waste money on a failed cultivation.
Why Should you Grow Cannabis Indoors?
Growing cannabis indoors is good because you get to control all the environmental factors in which your plants will thrive from the ventilation, light, soil, nutrients, and many more. When growing outdoors, you get to encounter harsh weather such as heavy rainfall, floods, typhoons, and extreme temperatures.
Things to Consider When Trying to Grow Weed Indoors
Light – plants need a substantial amount of time under light exposure. It helps them to photosynthesize. But for a photoperiod plant such as cannabis, light and dark are equally crucial for their survival. During the cannabis plant’s vegetative stage, they will need 18 hours of light and 6 hours of dark exposure.
When plants enter flowering stages, it may be adjusted to 12 hours light and 12 hours darkness. However, if the plant is exposed to a specific amount of light during its dark cycle, it may revert to its vegetative phase. That’s why your to grow room must be as lightproof as possible.
Removing the odor – almost all cannabis plants produces a very pungent smell that your family members, neighbors, and housemates may get annoyed. To keep the pungent smell away, your grow room may need to have a carbon filter. Carbon filters are quite expensive, so you might want to opt for other alternatives such as air-purifiers or Cannabolish.
Extracting the air – in keeping the grow room’s temperature at an optimal level, you may need air cooling extraction, but this is only ideal for lamps that produce excessive heat. This is because lights that produce extreme heat may bleach/burn the plant; that’s why it is essential to control the temperature. A properly placed ventilator or a decent fan should do the trick.
Fresh air – carbon dioxide is needed by the plants to photosynthesize. Most rooms have plenty of carbon dioxide. However, in a closed setup, carbon dioxide levels may quickly deplete, slowing down the plant’s growth. To address this, keeping an inward flow onto the area should provide plenty of carbon dioxide in the process.
Heater – during the hours that the light is on, the heat coming from the light should keep the plants warm. However, this is not always the same scenario at night. You may need a piece of equipment that is a source of heat during these dark hours.
Plenty of Air for Everyone – keeping an inward and outside flow of air from the outside isn’t enough. You must ensure that the air is properly distributed inside the grow room. In this case, your fans are the best way of addressing this issue. This will keep the temperature consistent while the air movement helps it strengthen the plant’s limbs.
Mirror – not a lot of your cannabis plants get the same equal exposure to light. Instead of buying a few more lamps or lights, this can be quickly addressed through a mirror. This will efficiently spread the light across the area without producing too much heat and energy consumption. Most grow talents already have these, but installing tin-foil across the cupboard or cabinet will also have the same effect.
Budget-Friendly Grow Indoor Equipment
Now that you know your growing setup needs, you can now look at some of the materials and equipment necessary for the job. You don’t necessarily need all those equipment above, but each item adds to your growth overall success rate.
Grow light – more exposure to Light means you get to enjoy compact buds and larger yields. The best and cheapest option you have are the CFLs and LED lights; they are efficient in providing light and are durable enough to last for years.
Reflectors – to properly distribute light in places where light is scarce, the reflector is needed. Adding reflectors will spread the light and is a welcome addition to any indoor setup—a cheap but cost-effective way.
Timer Switch – cannabis plants are photoperiod plants. They follow a strict light schedule depending on what stage they are in. Controlling the lights at these critical stages is very important, or else it will stunt their growth.
Air extractor Fan – they extract heat in the grow room. Be sure that the fan has a carbon filter attached to it when pungent goes through to eliminate or minimize the smell.
Rotating fan – these are a cheap and cost-effective way to distribute the air inside the setup correctly. Stagnant air means it has a higher chance of forming molds, which are harmful to your growth. The rotating fan should be installed between the grow lights and the plants to mix cold and hot air.
Air Intake – providing enough fresh air to every cannabis plant is essential for their health, such as carbon dioxide. Although this is not a budget-friendly approach, you may not opt for this.
As mentioned earlier, carbon filters help minimize or even eradicate intense, pungent aromas produced by the plants. It should be paired with the extraction fan so that the purification system can suck them down.
Water – even tap water is good enough for growing cannabis plants. As long as you drink it, then it should be suitable for your growing cannabis plants.
pH meter – keeping pH level at an optimum rate is essential for the plants. If the level is outside the levels, then your plants may have a hard time absorbing nutrients. Thankfully, pH metes are dirt cheap these days.
Thermometer – just like pH levels, the growing area’s temperature should be at an optimal level. It is one of the main factors for the growth of your cannabis plants. An indoor setup’s ideal temperature shouldn’t exceed 85°F or fall below 65°F. Keeping a close eye on the temperature also plays an important role. Even though you are planning for a cheap indoor grow setup, a thermometer is a must
Conclusion
If you want to grow marijuana indoors, you should know the essential needs of a cannabis plant to understand better the critical parts for a cheap indoor grow setup. In this way, you can maximize the things you need at a minimum rate. However, do note that this equipment and materials will add to your growth’s overall success rate.
Be sure always to monitor and have a watchful eye until they are ready for harvest. Always remember that starting your cannabis growing journey is never easy, but some of the listed things above, it should give you a better idea of how these things do in your favor.