6 Tips to Build Inexpensive Indoor Grow Setup
Image by JR Byron from Pixabay
More and more people are looking into the subject of growing cannabis indoors as it becomes legalized in more countries but always check state laws to determine if it legal in your state. Growing indoors is a technically difficult process that not only requires time but also needs a lot of equipment to be properly performed. The prices for the professional equipment are exceptionally high, which repels most people from this idea. We have prepared a brief guide on making a cheap indoor growing setup to resolve the issue.
Start with the Light
For the approach we discuss, you won’t need much money, but it requires some effort. It does not mean you won’t need any equipment at all, however. We won’t be recommending any specific items in this guide, instead, we suggest visiting 420 Grow Radar: their experts have prepared equipment compilation articles.
The first thing you need to start growing cannabis is to set up the room itself. We recommend starting with making the room lightproof, as it is essential in the high-quality growing process. There are lots of approaches to make a room lightproof, but the cheapest one is to use duct tape or black cloth for the light leaking spots.
The next thing to do is to work with the walls. As we are chasing the cheapest approach here, we need maximum efficiency. The light produced by your lamps is far more efficient if the walls of the growing room are reflective. You can just set up a room with white walls as they provide some reflection, or you can cover the walls with foil-like reflectors for maximum efficiency.
Apart from the mentioned gear, you will need a few more things. A ballast is needed to control the power of your lights and it is a must-have purchase. A time switch is not that necessary, but it saves your time on manually controlling the light and makes the growing process more accurate thanks to the stable light cycles.
Some Airbending
Experienced growers know that you also need to control the air in order not to have troubles with the neighbors and yourself. The problem is that the strong smell of your plants will most probably not be appreciated by everyone. The solution is a carbon filter that would be the only way for the air to escape the growing room. Purchasing an air extractor might also be a great idea. It might not be as cheap as a carbon filter, but it will resolve the issue of heat produced by the lamps.
Once the issue of outgoing air is resolved, there occurs the problem of incoming air. The plants need dioxide, so it is necessary to get some fresh air to the room. For the most cases, an air intake device with half-power of the air outtake device will do the trick. Once it is done, the air has to be distributed around the growing room for all plants to get enough dioxide. Unfortunately, this may not be fixed by hands and you will have to purchase a fan.
Save on Water
Sometimes in order to make the setup cheaper in the long-term, it is a good idea to invest at the beginning. One of such investments is to make a waterproof floor. The water will definitely be spilling from the pots, especially if you are creating a more or less large room. Spending thousands of dollars on replacing the floor later will be less smart than making the floor waterproof beforehand.
Some Heat
As you could already notice, cannabis is a demanding plant. During the day, you need to deal with the heat produced by lamps and at night you need to keep the plants warm. This means that you will also need to purchase a configurable heater for the growing room.
Other Essentials
Despite we have already covered all the tricks behind making a successful growing room, there are some purchases left to make before you are ready to start. Those are quite obvious:
- soil for the plants to grow in;
- cannabis seeds;
- pots for the plants;
- lamps;
- watering can.
Additional Purchases
If you are looking to make your small setup professional and of high quality, there are several additional things you need. In case you are looking for an exclusively cheap setup with no regard for high quality, you can skip those items. Most of them are various measuring tools that allow you to accurately control every aspect of growing: thermometer and hygrometer to monitor and control the temperature and the humidity. There are also EC and pH meters for the water.
Fit the Budget
As you could notice through the article, we have also been mentioning the expensive equipment to give a better understanding of the growing process. As you know, the quality of the final product directly depends on the quality of equipment and the accuracy of the grower. Nevertheless, it is possible to set up a growing room for less than $200 if you just do most of the work with your hands. In such a case you will only need to buy seeds, pots, a light, a fan, a filter, and a container.