What preparations do you need to make for the first time grow cannabis indoor?

Start with a good strain

You need good genetics to produce good weed. The strain is therefore extremely important. Do you want THC overload, or maybe a bit more CBD? Do you want a fast-growing plant or bigger yields? Sativa or Indica? Regular, photoperiod or feminized?

There's a lot to consider when getting seeds. If you are unsure, go for variety! I made the mistake of planting 4 of the same strain the first time. You get tired of smoking the same stuff after a while. Now I never plant more than 1 seed of a specific strain.

Feminized seeds and autoflower seeds

Most people grow cannabis indoors with feminized seeds or autoflower seeds.

Feminized seeds grow vegetively for the first few weeks under 18 or 24 hours of daily light. They only start to bloom when daily light is reduced to 12 hours, and generally take around 8-12 weeks to bloom. Some varieties/phenotypes can be quicker and ready after as little as 7 weeks of bloom. Fast blooming varieties are probably very Indica dominant, such as Bubba Island Kush. Some Sativa dominant plants/phenotypes can take up to 15 weeks to fully finish blooming.

Autoflower seeds grow from seed to harvest in around 75 days under 20 hours of daily light. Many people find them the easiest, fastest and most convenient way to grow cannabis indoors. Less experienced growers often find that autoflower seeds are one of the easiest and most straightforward ways to start growing cannabis. Autoflower seeds grow under any light schedule indoors or outdoors. They tend to reach around a metre tall for most indoor growers and produce heavy harvests of strong cannabis.

In general, cannabis seeds with indica genetics tend to produce shorter plants, and sativa varieties tend to be slightly taller and can stretch more during bloom. Sativa dominant varieties also have a longer life cycle than Indica dominant strains, both for photoperiod and autoflowering plants.

CBD rich cannabis seeds Produce cannabis that contains 4% CBD (or more) in the dry buds. These are popular with medical growers, the high may not be quite as intense as a typical THC rich variety. You can get CBD rich cannabis seeds as both autoflowering and feminized photoperiod options.

Regular Seeds. These give rise to female and male plants in roughly equal quantities. They are often used by old-school growers or those looking to select parent plants for subsequent crossing. New growers tend to avoid using regular seeds. For less experienced growers, feminized seeds are a more convenient and simpler option.

Soil is extremely important

My first month of growing was a total waste of time because I used the wrong soil. After 30 days, my plants were only a few cms tall. It was because I used normal potting soil. I figured if I asked the local nursery for their “best potting soil”, I’d be fine. That is not the case. You need very specific soil for growing marijuana. A soil with good drainage and good water retention is important. If you can also get the initial nutrient requirements in there from the start, it will certainly help too!

I now use a Premium Classic from Freedom Farms which contains: Coco Coir, Worm Castings, Compost, Perlite, Vermiculite, Volcanic Rock Dust, Bone Meal, Gypsum, Dolomite Lime, Kelp Meal, Organic Nutrients. A mix that is half Perlite and half Coco Coir could also do the trick, but I will always use these pre-mixed bags because I know it is exactly what the plants needs for the first month. .

FIND A GROW SPACE

Grow tents are perfect for those that tend to grow in their garage or colder areas of the house, as the tent holds the warmth within itself, helping plants get bigger as soon as possible.

If you plan on growing marijuana in a closet, or a similar closed space that doesn’t let too much heat out, I would suggest that you approach it with caution.

Either way, the most important thing is to keep the temperature at a constant 25°C (77℉).

In case you do go with a tent, you will have to extract the air from the tent, which is removed using a fan that sucks the air out through tubes.

Most modern tents have a carbon filter which prevents the smell of weed leaving the tent, so keep that in mind when shopping for one.

If you still think you can make do without a tent, then get ready to spend some money on fans and/or ventilation systems.

Most modern air extractor fans include temperature and moisture controllers, which will come very handy when calculating your VPD (we’ll get to that later), so I strongly suggest you get one of those.

Grow lights for indoor cannabis growing

A grow light is the center of an indoor grow operation. After all, cannabis plants need plenty of light to grow and produce delicious buds.

Grow lights should be installed so as to cover as much of your plants as possible. You’ll probably want to experiment with the positioning of your plants to ensure all of them get good light coverage.

Remember that grow lights can get hot and should be kept away from any possibly flammable material.

There are hundreds of grow lights available to you. Choosing the right one really depends on the size of your grow room, your experience with cannabis, and your budget.

Here are some of the most popular lighting options used to grow weed indoors:

• Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs): These are probably the most popular lighting option among beginner growers. They are fairly inexpensive, but lack the power of professional grow lights like those mentioned below.
• Fluorescent Lighting (T5 / T8): T5 and T8 flourescent lights are typically designed to be used with plants that require lower light intensities than cannabis. Hence, they usually need to be installed very close to the plant tops to be efficient. Nonetheless, some growers still get good results using these lamps.
• LED grow lights: LED lighting is much more expensive than the fluorescent options we mentioned above. However, they are also much more powerful and can provide your plants with a lot of light as long as you use them properly. If you decide to go down the LED route, remember to research your specific light model to make sure you install it properly.
• Metal Halide (MH) and High Pressure Sodium (HPS): These are the best grow lights for cannabis. They are very powerful, relatively cheap, and especially easy to set up. Most indoor growers opt for either Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium lights.

Cannabis loves light and the successful indoor grower tries to deliver as much light as possible. Consider 250 watts/m² only as an absolute minimum starting point and realistically aim for 2-3 times that level. More light will mean bigger, denser buds and superior yields. As well as delivering high light levels the successful indoor grower keeps the plants close to the light to maximise the light intensity reaching the leaves and buds. It is important to be careful, put the plants too close and your plants will get light burn. This can appear as white tips on the flowers/buds – or weird looking leaves during veg. Often the personal medical or recreational indoor cannabis grower will have a growing tent of about 1.2 m² with a 400W or 600W HPS lamp or an LED light using around 300-600W.

The indoor cannabis grower has to be careful that the plant doesn’t grow too near to the hot light and damage itself. If the light feels cool to the back of the hand it will be cool for the plant also. For a 400W lamp, growers may not want to allow plants to grow within 40-50cm of the bulb. Cannabis plants can be bent over and tied if they get too tall, some indoor growers deliberately train their plants this way to get as much of the plant as possible close (but not too close) to the high intensity light.f

Light Distance is Important

I burnt my plants in the first month because I kept the lights too close. Once burnt, that part that is burnt is essentially dead. It won't recover. You need to avoid this at all costs.

Knowing how far away to keep your lights can be tricky. Different lights have different distances. The best is to ask the manufacturer for their recommended distance for Marijuana plants. If you are still in doubt, keep it at least 30 cms away from your plants, but rather start even higher and slowly move the lights closer over time. The moment you see any sign of light stress, immediately move the lights further away!