Introduction
This guide is made for all the stoners out there who love weed, but are tired of paying for it. I recently made the switch to growing at home for my main source of weed, and it was the best decision I’ve made. A lot of people think that growing weed by yourself is difficult – it’s quite the opposite!
All you really need is a few minutes of your day, some free space, and the passion to grow. There’s a lot to consider, so I put together a quick list of pros and cons to help you decide if it’s worth it or not.
If you’re even a little curious about growing, I would highly recommend you give it a try! It might just become a lifelong hobby. I started back in 2022 – there was a steep learning curve at first, and I made a lot of mistakes which severely impacted my grow.
Demoralized but still determined, I kept at it – improving small things at every iteration and learning from previous mistakes. The result? Here’s a few pictures from my latest grow.
I’m still finding things to improve with each grow. Once I do, I’ll share them as I go. Hopefully this serves as a useful guide for newcomers who are curious about the process. My goal is to make cannabis as accessible as possible, so anyone can grow great buds!
Find your grow space
One of first things you’ll need to do is find a dedicated space to grow your plant. I’ve seen pictures of all kinds of grow setups, from a small pot on a windowsill, to a sprawling garden in a basement. While some are purely meant for instagram, what’s more important is the total area that you have available for growing.
These were the dimensions of my first grow tent. It did the job, but I wish I had gotten a taller tent.
This is probably the ideal setting for growers starting out – it’s compact, while giving the plant the space it needs to grow to its potential.
This amount of space gives you serious growing potential, since you can have 4 plants at a time. You’re gonna need to find ways to get rid of all that weed…
You’ll want an electrical outlet near your grow space, and a power strip if you have one. We’ll be using these to power the lights, fans, and other accessories.
Having trouble finding a location? Look for inspiration in strange places! There’s a corner in my bedroom that juts out randomly, and I had not yet found a use for that space. When I was looking for my first grow space, I noticed that the “jut” actually created a perfect 2 by 2 ft area – and so it was decided.
Choose your seed
I can’t think of a better place to buy seeds other than ILGM. They have a huge selection of seeds, and discount sales throughout the year. Each strain has information such as THC levels, yield amount, and much more.
$89 – $119 | 5 pk
There are plenty of other seed bank sites out there, but not all are equal. Here’s a few things to look for when buying from any site.
Feminized
Make sure you buy feminized seeds if you want harvestable bud. Male cannabis plants exist solely to pollinate female plants – they are useless when it comes to THC production (no offense, guys). To initiate the flowering process and start producing buds, you’ll need to limit the amount of light it gets to 12 hours a day.
Autoflower
Autoflowers are a type of feminized seed. I like to recommend these seeds for new growers. Once planted, the flowering process will begin automatically when the time is ready. However, while autoflowers can produce big yields, feminized seeds will produce bigger yields. This is simply due to its genetics.
Indica vs Sativa
There will always be two sides to this debate, but it all comes down to personal preference. Instead of picking a side, check out a particular strain and look up it’s effects. This will give you a much better idea for your desired high.
Most plants nowadays have a little bit of both strains in them anyway. The high you experience depends on the plants’ entourage effect of cannabinoids and terpenes, not just the amount of THC it has.
Once you get your seeds, make sure to store them in a dark, cool place. A perfect place is a fridge, freezer, or storage cabinet. By doing this, seeds can last for a few years. When you are ready to germinate your seed, take out a seed and let it warm to room temperature.
Set up your grow tent
Once you have the grow space and the seeds, you can begin building your first grow home. If you’re like me and need some discretion, I recommend that you get a grow tent. There’s a huge list of benefits to using a grow tent:
Discreet enough for parents who disapprove – when mine visit I put some books on it to disguise it as a bookshelf.
Insulates strong odors – towards a certain point in the grow, the plant will emit a dank weed smell. Even I (an experienced stoner) can only handle the smell for a brief period of time.
Keeps out dust and other particles – while this may seem trivial, small particles can play a role in stunting photosynthesis. If the plant is covered in dust, it will not grow to its full potential.
Keeps light contained within the tent – thanks to the thick tent walls, you can even have your grow inside your bedroom! The light that escapes (if any) is no stronger than a nightlight.
All in one systems – a large selection of grow tents on the market now have built in systems to automate lights, fans, and other climate controls. This is essential for a good harvest.
Hopefully that was enough to convince you. Don’t know where to start? Here’s a few different options to get you started.
All of the grow kits include the tent, LED lights, and inline fan. If you want to DIY it and install your accessories separately, go for it! However, you may need to buy some additional items if you don’t already have them. Most are included in the grow kits, and some are common household items.
Be sure to check if you’re missing any below.
- 5-gallon fabric pot
- Pruning scissors
- Trellis net
- Watering can
- A few sponges
- Clip fan (included in Spider Farmer, AC Infinity)
- Plant ties (included in AC Infinity)
When assembling the tent, be careful handling heavy objects. I encourage asking a friend or partner to help with the assembly.
Fill your pot with soil
Now, it’s time to fill up the fabric pot with the growing medium. In this guide, we’ll be utilizing a hybrid grow system – growing the plant in soil, while delivering nutrients via a hydroponic wick system.
Soil
Any potting soil will do for your plant, since we’ll be adding nutrients to the grow. Here’s a few different options. You’ll want a large bag (I recommend 1 – 2 cubic ft) since we’re using a 5-gallon pot. A 12 quart bag will not be enough.
Fabric pot
Fabric pots are a great choice for indoor grows. They allow the roots in the soil to breathe, which helps the plant grow even more. I chose a 5-gallon pot as opposed to a 1 or 3-gallon pot because I like to maximize the potential of each of my plants.
A cannabis plant will grow up to the size of the container it’s in. In other words, a cannabis plant in a 5-gallon pot will grow up to 5ft wide! That’s why I recommend a grow space height of 6ft. It’s enough space to grow all cannabis varieties.
When choosing a pot, any fabric one will do – just look for the cheapest online. Here’s a few from some reputable vendors.
Take out a fabric pot and fill it with the soil of your choice. Fill about 90% of the pot. If it looks like there’s too much soil, don’t worry! As time goes on, the soil will gradually sink down. It should look something like this.
Install self watering base
This is probably one of the biggest game changers in my grow process. But what’s so special about a water base? The reason is it reduces a substantial amount of manual labor. Cannabis plants can get very, very thirsty – some weeks they need to be watered every other day.
As a person who travels frequently, this was a big issue. I would be gone for weeks at a time, and I couldn’t rely on a friend to be available every time I left. I lost two separate grows this way – the plants were severely dehydrated when I came back, and never fully recovered.
I was determined to find a more effective way to keep my plants hydrated. Then I learned about the wick system – a passive method of gardening where water and nutrients are delivered directly to the plants’ roots.
By installing a reservoir directly under the pot, I could reduce the number of times I needed to water my plant. The self-watering base from AC Infinity holds 1 gallon of water – that amount can last anywhere from 3 to 7 days, depending on the plants’ growth stage.
However, the AC Infinity base comes in a pack of 4. If you’re only growing 1 plant at a time, the other 3 bases are kinda useless. Unfortunately I could not find similar products on the market. There are plenty of DIY videos online, for those who prefer to assemble one themselves and save money.
Once the water base is assembled, set it down inside your grow tent. Then, place the pot with soil on top of the base.
Add a CO2 bag
One of the crucial elements in photosynthesis is carbon dioxide. We learned in school that the more CO2 a plant gets, the bigger it grows. This concept applies to cannabis buds as well. Carbon dioxide is of the 6 limiting factors in plant growth, along with water, nutrients, light, temperature/humidity, and oxygen.
Normal CO2 levels in fresh air is about 400ppm, and cannabis plants can take up to 1500ppm in the later stages of growth. This is an area where we can improve our grow.
I like to add a bag of CO2 because its easy to setup, and you won’t need to move it again. There are a variety of CO2 bags available on the market – I chose Exhale because a single bag can last up to 6 months.
Just plop the bag in a corner of the tent, and let biology do the rest (or is it chemistry?). If you want, you can hang up the bag so that it hovers above the pot. Some experts claim that it provides better access for the plant.
If you want to monitor the CO2 levels in your tent, you can buy a CO2 meter for your plants – however this is completely optional.
Checkpoint
Your grow setup is now complete! Before we move on, lets do a quick check. The cannabis plant is at it’s most vulnerable in the early stages, so it’s important to ensure everything is in working order.