What Do You Need?
Grow Space scrambled it to make a type specimen book. 
Seeds or Clones scrambled it to make a type specimen book. 
Fundamental Requirements scrambled it to make a type specimen book. 
Germination Phase scrambled it to make a type specimen book. 
Vegetative Phase scrambled it to make a type specimen book. 
Flowering Phase scrambled it to make a type specimen book. 
Harvesting Phase scrambled it to make a type specimen book. Grow Space
Growing medical marijuana indoors?
The first step to start the growing process is setting up a grow room. A typical grow room can range from a small tent, a cabinet, or it can be a corner of any unused part of your house
However, keep in mind a few things before starting the process of growing marijuana plants.
For beginners, experts recommend starting cannabis growing process using a small pot. As you cannot avoid mistakes, especially when it is your first time. So, your mantra should be
“Start Small and Increase Gradually
Once you have confirmed the growing space, make sure to completely sanitize the area every two days a week. All you need is to clean the growing area using a wet microfiber rag.
Other than that, make sure having light-sealed growing space. Because this stage of growing medical marijuana indoors need complete or periodic darkness that is impossible if the light is peeping through the are
Seeds or Clones
Once you opt for your preferred strain, next step starts with finding the quality seeds or clones. But, the question is what is better?
As the choice for the final product can get confusing. Sativa, Indica, Hybrid?
Experts or professionals who are growing medical marijuana recommend using feminized seeds that are hard and dark colored.
But, beginners usually end up getting a lot with male seeds outnumbering female seeds. Finding a reliable seed source is essential for producing quality buds.
To avoid any seed scams, going for clones will be helpful. As clones are an exact copy of their mother plant. So, you can be sure of the type, strain, and gender of the plant.
Fresh cannabis clones require a warm and wet environment. So, starting around springtime will be beneficial for obtaining good quality buds.
You can use a heating pad to keep the environment right for the rooting process.
Light
As grow room is completely light-sealed, so finding the right light source for growing cannabis is of utmost importance.
So, grow lights acts as the replacement of the Sun and provide the necessary nourishment required for health cannabis growth.
Therefore, growers suggest using quality setups, especially if you are looking for growing cannabis as a long-term goal. Following are the type of grow lights that you can choose from-
LED Lights
This is one of the preferred light sources if you have no budget constraints. LED lights are incredibly efficient for growing medical marijuana indoors.
They use little energy along with creating a little amount of heat. Plus, they have the advantage of being available in a variety of wavelengths. Hence, are helpful in producing a higher yield and better quality plants.
Induction Grow Lights
This is usually not a good choice for growing marijuana plants. But, some companies have launched products that can be cost-effective as well as efficient
High-Intensity Discharge (HID) Grow Lights
These are one of the most commonly used grow lights. They are affordable, efficient with an easy operating system.
Fluorescent Grow Lights
They are one of the most cheaper and easily operable options if you are looking for growing cannabis indoors as a long term option.
Growing Medium
Once you have figured about grow lights, then deciding about the growing medium is a must.
There are a lot of options available for the ones opting for growing cannabis indoor. But, most growers choose between either soil or soilless (hydroponic) mediums.
For first-timers, professional growers suggest going for regular soil mediums. As it is cost-effective with few margins of error.
But, you need to understand that all soils are not the same. So, one must have prior knowledge of soils before starting with a growing process.
You can opt for pre-fertilized or organic soil ( that include coco choir, and a mix of earthworm castings, bat guano, fish meal, and crab meat) to remove any chance of errors while growing cannabis.
However, if you want to use hydroponic setups, then understanding the importance of every micronutrient is essential.
Because skipping any one of the essential micronutrients can result in stunted growth or low-quality buds. But, they will cost you 10 times more than the normal soil mediums.
Water
Like any living being, cannabis too requires water for carrying out its functions to grow. For indoor growers, water is a key element that helps to deliver nutrients to different parts of the growing marijuana plants.
Usually, rookie growers assume that overwatering help in producing good quality plants.
Well, that’s not true at all. Overwatering cannabis plants will destroy your plant’s productivity.
The frequency and quantity of water depend on a lot of factors such as the size and the stage of the developing plant.
You can choose mineral laden tap water. But, sometimes it might affect your plant’s quality and growth. So, experts recommend using distilled water or filtering the tap water to avoid any detrimental effects.
Other than that, the pH of the water is also an important factor when it comes to growing cannabis indoors. As the right water pH is essential to absorb nutrients through their roots.
So, you must always test the pH at regular intervals and adjust it accordingly to successfully grow your cannabis plants.
Go for pH between 6.0-7.0 when growing using soil medium and for hydroponics, pH must be between 5.5-6.5.
Air
Since you are growing marijuana indoors, your plant will require access to fresh air at all times. As the regular supply of air ensures the plant’s strength along with a proper exchange of gases within the grow space.
Also, a continuous air supply across the grow space ensures even distribution of water vapors and heat throughout the growing space. Thus beneficial in maintaining humidity and temperature of the space.
Another reason is that air circulation helps to take away excess of moisture formed because of the process called transpiration. That reduces the chances of forming molds or white powdery mildew.
Also, pests like spider mites and fungus gnats are unable to infest cannabis plant with proper circulation of air around the area.
And most importantly, air circulation helps to improve plant strength which further helps the stems to bear heavy buds during the blooming stage.
So, one must have a proper ventilation system to make sure air circulation is proper. Also, ensure to keep your ventilation system running at all times.
Following are some of the types of equipment that can help you managing air circulation for growing marijuana plants.
Fans
This is one of the most affordable equipment. But, it comes with an issue of continuous noise and placement. So, insulating the area is one other option to reduce noise.
One can also use different types of fan accessories for making your grow area perfect for growing cannabis such as floor fan, oscillating fan, ceiling suspended fan, and clip fan.
Exhaust System
This is the primary foundation of the whole ventilation system. You can use this system with some accessories to ensure success rates in growing marijuana plants.
These include acoustic box, active carbon filter, ventilation duct, thermo-hygrometer, dehumidifier, humidifier.
Temperature
Medical cannabis is typically hard in nature that can beat cold and heat alike. But, like any other living being, cannabis plants experience stress when subjected to extremes.
Cannabis as a growing entity loves a warmer environment that is not too dry or humid. Normally, marijuana plants like growing temperatures between 70-85°F during the day, and slightly cooler temperatures at night.
However, temperature requirements might change during the flowering stage. You will have to shift temperatures to around 65-80°F to produce the best color, boost the trichome production, and smell along with high-quality buds.
One of the reasons, you should be particular about managing temperature conditions is that marijuana plants are susceptible to mold when the temperature goes down.
On the other hand, higher temperatures affect the blooming phase of the growing marijuana plants that can further affect potency or smell of the buds. But, you can go for CO2 supplements for cannabis growing in higher temperatures.
To do so, make sure to maintain around 1500 ppm of CO2 in the air, increase your light limits, and try to maintain the temperature of growing space around 85-95°F.
Humidity
Humidity is nothing but the amount of water held by the air. And relative humidity is the measure of the maximum amount of water being held at a given temperature.
Cannabis plants are capable of growing at a range of relative humidities. But, one needs to check that air is not filled with too much water or else plants will have to face the issue of mold or fungus formation.
And if humidity becomes too low, it might affect the growth of marijuana plants.
So, balance is the key.
Therefore, whenever you are thinking of growing cannabis indoors, make sure to look at each and every factor or else you will have slow, stunted growth with low-quality buds.
Germination
Here’s how to grow marijuana indoors.
Once everything falls into their place, then starts the adventures of growing cannabis.
Seeds
The beginning of this procedure starts with the germination of your seeds. Every seed is capable of giving you a quality product. But for that, you will need the right conditions across the growing period.
This is not a strict process, rather an art that a grower needs to master. Here’s how you can start your germination process.
Once you have the right kind of seeds, it’s time to sprout them. There are many types of germination techniques.
But, if you are beginner, you can start sprouting by placing them into a seedling plug. And maintain warm and humid condition.
You can see seeds sprouting in just after a few days. Stick this plug into a container or your preferred hydroponic system.
You can also do this by directly placing the seeds into the final medium as well. Because germinating seeds in this way will help to bypass the process of moving seedlings during the process of growing marijuana plants.
However, when placing seeds into the medium, make sure to place seeds deep (approximately 1 inch) in moist soil for up to 24-32 hours. Using heating pads will be beneficial to keep a warm environment.
Once you see that seeds have transformed into cotyledons or leaves have begun the process of photosynthesis. Then, pretty much germination of seeds is going the right way. And, you have entered the vegetative phase.
Clones
If you start with cannabis clones, then treat them gently for the first two days. If the clone has not grown any roots yet, then ensure the clones are moist and are getting proper light until they develop some roots.
For this, you can use humid cloner and maintain the temperature at around 72-77°F. Don’t give 24 hours of light to clones as it can slow down the process of root formation. Make sure there are some periods of darkness as well.
Experts recommend starting new clones with 16/8 or 18/8 (light/dark) schedules. Once they start forming leaves, they have entered into their vegetative phase.
Vegitative Phase
This is a phase where growing marijuana plants are much more interested in gaining height and becoming strong. Here, a cannabis plant will focus more on growing stems, leaves.
It’s your wish to decide the timeline of the vegetative phase. Providing around 18 hours of light every day is beneficial for growing cannabis indoors.
You can manage timelines by placing a timer. You can also go for 24 hours of light schedule as well. You can consult a professional marijuana grower for deciding the light schedule.
During the vegetative phase, to keep up with the health of growing cannabis, you must maintain the following factors.
Water plants when you feel that soil is dry, especially the top inch. If growing in containers, make sure that water is draining freely.
- Water plants when you feel that soil is dry, especially the top inch. If growing in containers, make sure that water is draining freely.
- Include nutrients with half the strength of final volume. Raise the amount only if needed. Maintain pH to let roots absorb nutrients easily.
- Maintain a minimum of 18 hours of light during this phase.
- Maintain the temperature within 70-85°F and avoid low humidity levels.
- Make sure that your plant has access to a constant supply of air.
Look for the following factors to spot any problem during this phase of cannabis growing.
- Strange colors or spots
- Curling, falling or falling of leaves.
- Rotten Smell
- Mold on leaves
- Slow growth
- Stretching
If you find any of the above signs, then make sure to get things right or else you might lose your growing marijuana plants.
Other than that, you can also go for plant training techniques during the vegetative stage of cannabis growing to ensure the best yields.
Flowering Phase
Now comes the exciting stage. It will be like you are getting awarded for your hard work right in this phase.
This phase starts when you can see flowers or buds in growing marijuana plants.
To do that you will need to change the light duration to 12/12 on and off schedules. Make sure that your plant gets 12 hours of complete darkness or else your cannabis plant might reverse back to the previous stage.
This phase is also known as the toughest part of the plant’s life. So, it’s essential to provide light in this stage. As it is seen that quality of buds produced is directly proportional to the amount of light received during this phase of growing cannabis.
Other than that, make sure to expose your bud to plenty or recommended amount of light and air. And avoid nutrients such as nitrogen and increase the levels of phosphorus.
Also, ensure to keep the levels of nutrient low during this phase as harvesting phase or the final stage is approaching.
Keep the temperature of your grow area around 65-80°F with low humidity. To reduce the chances of any mold formation.
Harvesting Phase
Here comes the final signal to get your favorite cannabis strains. However, many beginners lose their patience and start this stage early than the recommended time.
Because of this mistake, marijuana plants grow buds that produce effects which can make you feel buzzed.
Some growers like to harvest only after 2 months of the blooming phase. While some prefer for 4 months. However, harvesting time is dependent on strain and your preferences.
To understand that the time has come finally, you can either look at the pistils or use the correct method of looking at the trichomes.
Mostly growers see if more than 60% of the hairs have changed their colors. Although, you will have a window period to access what is best for your growing marijuana plants.
Congratulations. Now you have mastered the art of growing cannabis indoors. But, this is not the end. You will still need to trim, dry, and cure your buds to make the buds usable.
