From bunkers in gardens to indoor grows in spare rooms and closets, we’re testing the gamut of how cannabis can be produced. How to set up a small indoor grow room has become a question captivating the cannacommunity.
Here, we share some wisdom and lessons learned in 5 grow room layout tips.
1. Take proper control of your grow room layout
The first thing to control in your grow room is humidity. To do that, indoor grow room design has to provide spaces where you separate your vegetating area from your flowering area, your clones, and your drying area.
Changes in temperature lead to humidity changes, too. Keep tighter temperature control and you’ll give your plants their best shot at thriving.
The part of the country you live in will play less of a factor in humidity for indoor grows than for outdoor grows, but check that your indoor space doesn’t have air leaks from outside to be sure. Feel for drafts at windows and doors, then update caulking and weatherstripping where necessary.
2. Know how to layout your grow room with adequate space
If you grew any number of stand-alone plants in tents before, you might have come to the conclusion that you can just multiply the space used by the added number of plants you want to grow, and that’s how much space your indoor grow room will need.
Using a larger space is not as simple as doing what you were doing before on a bigger scale, though. Your cannabis plants emit heat, which impacts the room temperature and humidity.
To keep everything under control, work your way up to more plants in a bigger space incrementally. That way, you see what impact an extra 5, 10, or 20 plants have on the environment.
The number of lights you use is a factor in how big the room needs to be, too. The space will need to account for more fixtures. And don’t forget that the size of plants will change as they grow, too!
3. Install lights with practicality in mind
Speaking of lights, installing the right number of lights at the ideal height is just as important as choosing the right lights.
When talking about how to set up a small indoor grow room, you’re probably going to have plants vegging and flowering in the same space. Choose lights that have replaceable bulbs so you can transition between these without big equipment changes.
Looking at the height of lights, once again remember that plant height will change as they grow. A light system that can be raised and adjusted is best for a home grow room layout.
4. Ensure a reliable airflow
You need reliable ventilation in your grow room setup and design. Filter the air with a small microfon filter to keep pests out, not to mention dust, humidity, and anything else that floats into your space.
The ultimate purpose of an airflow system is to bring fresh air in and take the hot air out. Install your ventilation system at the top of your indoor grow room since heat rises. Also, look for a filtration system with charcoal filtration to keep the air and odor from moving to other parts of your home.
All those intake fans, outtake fans, ballasts, etc. create a bit of noise, too, which means noise reduction is another part of keeping your grow room from taking over your whole house.
5. Plan storage to maximize your indoor grow room design
With all that space you need for your plants, lights, and ventilation, it stands to reason you would want to minimize the other stuff in your grow room layout. For optimal workflow, ensure your access to essential tools with the right grow room storage.
Having easy access to your most important tools will avoid headaches later as you care for your plants. Look at the tools you have now to get an idea of what storage you need. Whether it’s a small cart or table, think about using something that can be rolled to the side.
A multi-level cart with room to keep nutrients and trimmers is the most common solution for a small indoor grow.
In a nutshell
These tips come from mistakes made by some of today’s best home grow experts when they first got started. Consider each of these factors in your grow room layout and you’ll ride the wave of a generation of lessons learned.
With humidity control, room size, lights, airflow, and storage all figured out, you’ll have a great indoor grow.
