Growing weed indoors is a major undertaking. Even if you plan on starting out small with just a few plants, there’s a good chance that you’ll come across some challenges. The most difficult aspect of any indoor grow op is climate control, but it’s also the most important factor for a successful harvest.
You might be thinking to yourself, what’s so hard about maintaining humidity and adjusting temperature? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as adjusting a Nest thermostat and flipping on the humidifier every once in a while. Using humidity controllers to manage the grow room climate is a lot harder than it sounds, but this guide offers some helpful insights on how to do it.
Invest in the Right Tools
First thing’s first, every grower should invest in a set of tools to help with controlling climate. There’s no reason to go at it alone, and there are plenty of quality pieces of equipment available to help with climate monitoring and control.
Inkbird is one of the most popular brands for climate control tools for the grow room. This company carries the best temperature controllers for cannabis as well as the best humidity controllers. Most of their products feature an easy-to-use plug and play design than even the newest growers can figure out.
The main thing to remember is that there’s a tool for just about every aspect of climate control in your grow room. Nowadays it’s easier than ever to automate everything, so let technology do the work as you sit back and relax.
Focus on Temperature Preparedness
Even if you think you have a solid handle on temperature control, there are certain measures you need to take to stay fully prepared. Tons of growers fail to take heat emission from lights into consideration as they plan out their strategy. They neglect considering a temperature controller, which is a major mistake.
One of the most common errors made by both novice and seasoned growers is to prepare for temperature fluctuations with an oversized AC unit. This can actually cause more harm than good and cause a lot of damage to your plants. And here’s why according to HighTimes guide to climate:
The problem with oversizing an AC unit is that the system will run on a short cycle and then turn off quickly—that’s both an energy drain on the unit and a recipe for an unstable growing environment. When temps spike and fall rapidly, humidity levels also change dramatically.
The much better alternative is to invest in an AC system that offers consistent cycles for longer periods of time. This will ultimately result in more stable temperatures and fewer fluctuations, which means happier healthier cannabis plants.
Focus on Good Drainage
Stagnant water in a grow room is never good, which is made obvious by the success of outdoor plants that are grown near moving bodies of water. There’s a very scientific explanation for this, but it’s mainly because there’s more oxygen contained within flowing water than in stagnant water.
On top of that, stagnant water is a breeding ground for detrimental bacterial to thrive in the grow room. The easiest way to prevent this is to install a drainage system that keeps water from puddling up.
Ventilation and Air Circulation Is Key
It doesn’t matter how big, small, advanced, or basic your grow room is, ventilation and air circulation are both major aspects of a healthy climate. Air movement is essential for a few reasons, but the main one is that a consistent breeze mimics outdoor growing conditions, and it actually helps to strengthen the plant stems.
Air circulation is also key for moving CO2 throughout the space, which has been proven to result in beefier, heartier, greener plants. Yet another reason for air circulation is to prevent overly humid microclimates from forming around the plant leaves. This can lead to issues like root rot, mildew, and mold.
There are plenty of options for installing a ventilation system in your grow room and it should include a temperature controler. The setup can be anything as simple as basic fans to a full-on ducting system. The main thing to remember is that proper ventilation helps with other climate factors like temperature and humidity.
Realize That Each Phase of the Grow Op Is Different
This isn’t something that many new growers realize; they stick to a set temperature and humidity range for the entire duration of the grow op. But what you need to realize is that every phase of the operation has a different ideal climate.
For example, cannabis clones like the environment to be extremely humid, use a humidity controller for optimal results. This environment typically ranges anywhere from 60 to 80% relative humidity. But from there, the humidity levels in the grow room should gradually decrease. For veg, the ideal humidity is between 50 and 60%, in early flowering, it’s between 40 and 55%, and late flowering it can be as low as 30 to 35% depending on the strain.
For temperature, the fluctuations aren’t as drastic. There are still some adjustments that are made easier with a temperature controller from phase to phase. Young plants in veg like things to be a bit warmer, anywhere from 70-85°F, but then as they progress, feel free to bring the temperature down slightly.
In early flowering the ideal temperature range is anywhere from 65 to 80°F, obtained easily with a temperature controller. In the second half of flowering, an even cooler environment is ideal. This has been proven to create richer bud colors, healthier trichome development, and more potent smells and aromas.