Materials needed to grow cannabis indoors

If you’re thinking about setting up your very own indoor cannabis setup but you don’t have much experience, you probably have a lot of questions. What are the materials needed to grow cannabis indoors? So, to grow high-quality cannabis indoors in an affordable way, we’ve decided to write this complete article.

Materials needed to grow cannabis indoors

Before starting setting up your indoor cannabis setup, it is important to figure out all the materials needed. Among the necessary tools, you’ll need:

Grow tents / Reflective sheeting

In order to grow cannabis indoors, your plants need absolutely no light during their night time. That’s why it’s incredibly important to use a grow tent or set up a wardrobe, or even better, a whole room using reflective sheeting for grow rooms.

If you’re growing in a wardrobe or in a room, you will need to cover every inch of the walls in reflective sheeting, making sure that absolutely no light can get in.

• For wardrobes: You will have to cover all of the walls, except for the floor or ceiling. In addition, you’ll need to make two holes, one for each side of the extraction to allow for air renewal.
• For rooms: We recommend starting at the bottom until the height you expect your plants to grow to, which is usually around 4-5 ft (1.2-1.5 m). You’ll have to make absolutely sure that no light is getting in from the door or the window.

Grow lamp / Lighting kit

When growing cannabis indoors, it is necessary to use a lighting system designed to promote photosynthesis in your plants, allowing them to grow and flower without problems. Thus, you can find different alternatives in regards to the type of lighting (HPS, LED, LEC) and its potency.

Your choice in lighting kit also depends on the available space and the amount of cannabis that you want to grow, as well as how potent you’d like it to be. These are the different powers of the lamps often used to grow marijuana, and the space that each of them can cover.

Type of lamp, strength, average yield and space covered

HPS lighting:

• 250w: 150 g, covers 80×80 cm at 25-30 cm from your plants.
• 400w: 300 g, covers 100×100 cm at 40-50 cm from your plants.
• 600w: 450 g, covers 120×120 cm at 60-70 cm from your plants.

LED lighting:

• 100w: 80 g, covers 80×80 cm at 40-50 cm from your plants.
• 200w: 150 g, covers 3.3×3.3 ft 100×100 cm at 40-50 cm from your plants.
• 400w: 350 g, covers 120×120 cm at 40-50 cm from your plants.

LEC lighting:

• 150w: 150 g, covers 80×80 cm at 20-30 cm from your plants.
• 315w: 315 g, covers 100×100 cm at 30-40 cm from your plants.
• 630w: 630 g, covers 150×150 cm at 40-50 cm from your plants.

The yields mentioned above are the average numbers obtained under normal growing conditions and they vary according to the experience and growing conditions.

Extraction system

Indoor extraction fans are essential for two reasons:

• They allow for air renewal for your indoor crop.
• They prevent heat from building up in your grow room or area.

When buying an extraction system, you’ll need to take into account how large your grow room is in cubic meters and how strong your grow lamps are. Although it is also really important to know that there are other influencing factors such as the growing season. Some estimations to figure out the extractor you need are:

Growing area

If you’re going to grow cannabis in a 1.2×1.2×2 m grow tent, you’ll need to use this equation:

• 1.2×1.2×2 = 2.88 m² x 60 = 172.8m³ is the strength that your extraction fan will have to reach to be as effective as possible.

Lamp strength:

This calculation is done by taking into account the temperature outside your grow room and your lamp strength. In this example, the temperature is 68ºF (20ºC) and the lighting system is 600w:

• 600/1.28 = 468 m³/h is the extraction speed that you need due heat difference indoors and outdoors.

This calculation allows you to keep the temperature in your grow room at a 7ºF (4ºC) difference compared to the outdoor temperature. If you’re taking in 68ºF (20ºC) air, your grow room will stay at 75ºF (24CºC).

Inline fans

Inline fans are just as important as extraction fans, although if your extractor is strong enough it can create negative pressure which can cause air to come into your grow room without any sort of extra inline fans. Although if you’re using a room or grow tent you’ll need to sort out air in-take yourself.

In order to calculate the inline fan strength you’ll need to calculate a fourth of your extraction strength in m³. So, if you have a 1.2×1.2x2m grow tent and a 600w lamp, you’ll need a 468m³/h extractor. So, for your inline fan you’ll need to calculate 468/4 which is 117m³/h.

Odor filter

In order to know what type of filter you’ll need, you’ll first need to know what inline fan and air filtration system you need. Now, all you have to do is find a carbon filter with the same sized opening and slightly stronger.

In case the filter strength is less than the actual extraction itself, it may be fatal for the extraction system, your plants, and people. Remember that your odor filter should always be slightly stronger than your extraction fan when it comes to m³/h.

Ducting

If you have an extraction system, then you’ll also need an inline fan and filtration systems that must be connected by an aluminum duct which needs to be durable, flexible and fully opaque, and obviously the same width as your inline fans and other devices such as filters.

For your inline system to pull as strong as possible, your ducting will need to be as straight as possible. Every bend in your ducting system means that you’ll lose a bit of strength, around 50%, which can reduce your carbon filter.

Having a fan in your grow room is an absolute must, as they directly influence the health of plants for different reasons such as:

• Breathing: It allows plants to breathe, and an oscillating fan does wonders for rustling your plants’ branches, leaves, and trunk which induces breathing.
• Heat: Fans can also help to remove some of the extra heat in your grow room generated by your lighting system. Excess heat near the tips of your plants can cause them to grow thin and wiry and their flowers may end up opening and losing quite a lot of terpenes.

Pulleys

Pulleys are super practical as they allow you to raise and lower your lighting kit. However, many people set up a homemade rope system to save a bit of money

Timer

Having a timer in your grow room means that you don’t have to manually turn the lights on and off every day in order to keep your plants in the growth or flowering periods. So make sure to get a decent one.

Thermos-hygrometer

Thermos-hygrometers are designed to give real-time readings of the relative humidity in your grow tent or room, as well as the temperature. These devices are vital when it comes to giving your plants the right parameters to grow in – cannabis plants need a specific temperature and relative humidity during each period in order to develop properly.

On the other hand, they also keep a record of the highest and lowest of both temperature and humidity readings, so you’ll know if something is wrong during your plants’ night cycle. With these materials needed to grow cannabis indoors, it will be much easier to monitor the environmental conditions in your grow room or tent.