Finding and Selecting a Grow Environment – Planning Your First Indoor Cannabis Grow Series

Planning Your First Indoor Cannabis Grow – Part 1

Best Bud Seeds shares our best knowledge of how to plan your first indoor grow in this blog series. In this article, we explain how to find and select a grow environment to ensure that your first grow goes smoothly from start to finish. Selecting a grow environment or setting up a grow room can be a highly detailed process that is unique to each cultivator, but the steps and resources we have provided in this blog are tried and true by our growing experts at Best Bud Seeds and is a great foundation for beginning cannabis growers.

Finding and Selecting a Cannabis Grow Environment Steps

Here are Best Bud Seeds 5 steps to finding and selecting a grow environment broken down into easy-to-follow instructions that outline everything you need to consider before cultivating cannabis for the first time indoors.

1. Select grow space/room after considering variables
   1. A variable you might consider would be if you’re deciding to grow cannabis at home, that you’d want to dedicate that chosen space to your plants for anywhere from 3-6 months at a time, depending on flowering time. Also consider planning out if you would like to convert that same space to harvest and cure your plants once the plants have matured, or if you have plans for another space where you’d like to do so.
2. Go through variables to confirm room meets criteria
   1. Below we have laid out a detailed list of variables that can essentially make or break your grow. It is very important to consider every single variable especially if you’re deciding to grow indoors for your first time.
3. Plan room layout, considering veg/flower areas/rooms
   1. Best Bud Seeds recommends drawing a room or area blueprint to visually plan out where you intend to have your plants, if they have enough space, and if there is enough space for your equipment and any other supplies in this area for tidy growing.
4. Start researching equipment to ensure you can build room as planned within your budget
   1. Most indoor grows require special lighting, ventilation solutions, thermometers, and hydrometers, etc. by default. Once you have purchased these items, they will last you multiple cannabis grows that can be done at any time of the year. Think of your equipment purchases as an investment towards growing your own cannabis and be sure to buy higher-end equipment if that fits within your budget.
5. Next step: purchase equipment
   1. Once you have done your research and found the equipment that is right for you and your budget, you can go ahead and start purchasing these items. Most of these items can be bought in person at your local hydroponics store or online at relatively the same price. However, if you plan on ordering your equipment online it is best to order everything at the same time and give yourself a month to receive all your items in the mail. Best Bud Seeds does not recommend getting one piece of equipment at a time throughout your grow since it can be harmful to your plants growth and yield.

Configuration Options

These configuration options are there for you as a new cannabis cultivator to consider as you set up your grow space, for better organization and proper processing Best Bud Seeds recommends keeping your veg and flower rooms separate if possible. You can use grow tents and grow boxes if you have a smaller grow area, but it is better to dedicate an entire room to your cultivation if possible. Below are some of the configuration options that are applicable for indoor growing.

• Separate Rooms
• Divide Room
• Grow Tent
• Grow Box
• Single Rotation – This room would be all veg, and then all flower.

Cannabis Grow Space Variables to Consider

This list highlights all of the possible variables that need to be considered growing cannabis indoors for the first time. Best Bud Seeds recommends using this list as a starter guide to figure out solutions for each variable that exists within indoor growing. 

• Safety 
  • Fire hazards are prevalent amongst indoor grows because of all of the electricity usage from the lighting and other grow equipment. Best Bud Seeds recommends having a fire extinguisher and smoke detectors on hand.
• Vegetative/Flowering State Separation 
  • Determine your room configuration on how you’d like to separate your plants that are in the vegetative state, and ones that are flowering. You can do this by making a room within a room, using separate rooms, or utilizing tents/boxes.
• Size 
  • How much usable grow space do you have for your indoor grow? Is ceiling height or the volume of your plants going to fit in your indoor grow space? It is wise to consider the size of your room or grow area before starting any cannabis cultivation indoors. If you have low ceilings but enough space for a lot of plants, it is best to choose an Indica variety because of their short and bushy characteristics. If you have high ceilings, you can go ahead and choose a Sativa variety to grow because they tend to grow tall and skinny in size. 
• Ventilation, Circulation, CO2
  • Ventilation is highly important when choosing to grow cannabis indoors, here is a great resource on how to gauge what your plants need in what stage of growth they are in.
• Light Tight & Airtight
  •  It is important to monitor any light leaks, air leaks, critters, and bugs throughout your grow. It is also important to do research about the type of bugs you might have in your area so you can easily identify them before they ever reach your plants.
• Temperature
  • Generally, pot plants in their vegetative stage prefer a temperature in a range from about 68 to about 77 degrees Fahrenheit. When they are flowering, cannabis plants like a range of about 65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Humidity
  • Best Bud Seeds recommends starting with a high relative humidity of about 70% for your cannabis seedlings and reducing the moisture gradually until the plant is ready for harvest, where the humidity should be around 40%. However, this does depend on the strain type as well.
• Power Supply
  • Can your grow space handle electricity running 24/7 for 3-6 months at a time? Do you have power strips on hand? 
• Noise
  • Some lighting and ventilation equipment can produce a lot of noise, so if you’re considering growing in an apartment with your landlord’s approval, consider if this is something that could be a problem with any of your neighbors.
• Odor Control/Smell
  • During the vegetative state, there is almost always no smell. This goes for any CBD variety of cannabis plant as well. But most high THC varieties of cannabis will start to have a very strong aroma once it becomes a flowering plant. Proper ventilation helps of course, and there are ways to help minimize the smell, but this is something to consider if you’re trying to keep your indoor grow under wraps.
• Flooring 
  • Best Bud Seeds recommends no carpet in your grow area, as it can harbor mold spores and bacteria that are harmful to your plants.
• Water 
  • Consider water quality, water source, and proximity before you start your indoor grow. 
• Configuration of Grow Setup
• Number of plants you’re legally allowed to grow/want to grow
  • Best Bud Seeds has already done the research for you by state, learn more about your state’s cannabis cultivation legalities.
• Grow Method 
  • There are many different grow methods such as sea of green, screen of green, and big plants. You will want to do lots of research as there are hundreds of different methods in the indoor growing process. See our favorite growing methods in this highly detailed guide.

Examples of Good Cannabis Grow Environments

There are many different ways to set up a grow environment, but it is important to recognize proper technique when you see it. Below are some good examples of how to set up a grow environment and why they are good for your plants.

This first example shown above shows a proper grow tent setup, it has a small fan for ventilation, and its lights are closer to the plants because these plant examples are in the in-between stages of vegetative and flowering (as well as some seedlings seen in the middle, which Best Bud Seeds does not recommend unless you are a seasoned grower), and these plants shown are also spaced properly for this stage of growing.

This second example shown above is a great example of how an entire room can be converted into a grow environment. There is plenty of space for the plants to breathe and grow, as well as an incredible ventilation technique seen with multiple air ducts and fans for proper c02 exposure. You can also clearly see that the room is lined with plastic to keep out any contaminants which is also a great idea for utilizing an entire room.

Our Recommended Indoor Cannabis Grow Resources:

• Building Your First Indoor Grow Room Setup
• How to grow weed indoors
• Leafly’s guide to growing marijuana
• An intro to indoor cannabis cultivation
• How to Grow Cannabis Indoors: Beginner’s Guide

Next Step: Selecting and purchasing equipment

Now that you have planned out how you will set up your very first grow environment, the next step is to select and purchase growing equipment. Our next guide will be a very detailed list of how to choose the right kind of equipment, and how much of it you need for how many plants you decide to grow in your indoor cultivation space, and our favorite resources for growing equipment on the web.