If you’re new to growing hemp plants indoors, you may feel like it’s a lot of work. Indoor hemp plant growing is not hard; you just need the critical supplies.
One of the mistakes that people make when setting up an indoor hemp growing facility is failing to perform proper research.
Most beginners usually try to make do with a limited budget, and being unaware, they spend on non-critical supplies and leave out the essentials.
Having the right information not only saves you money but also allows you to make rapid decisions and complete your indoor grow facility as fast as you want.
You start with the essentials and maybe add other supplies later.
Benefits of Growing Hemp Plants Indoors
If you’ve decided to grow your industrial hemp, you may either grow it on a piece of land or in an indoor grow room. It seems many hemp businesses prefer indoor growing.
Organized environment: with outdoor cultivation, you’re at the mercy of Mother Nature, and Mother Nature is uncontrollable. With indoor cultivation, you can control the environment fully, and this helps with achieving precisely the results you want.
Maximal yield: one of the main factors in improving yield is lighting. With outdoor growing, the sunlight might not last as long as it takes to maximize yield, but with indoor growing, you can run the grow lights for an adequate period.
Fast-track growth: with indoor grow facilities, the environment, and other factors are artificial, and it’s typically set up in such a way that plants receive light and darkness round the clock, which is critical in accelerating the rate of development.
Critical Items for Indoor Hemp Growing
From germination to harvest, the most important factors include air, water, light, and nutrients. The growing supplies we consider essential typically aid these factors.
With indoor hemp growing, you have to simulate nature as far as the elements of plant growth, or else the hemp plants might become deficient.
Make sure you have these items for growing:
1. Cannabis Seeds
The hemp plant is a sub-species of the cannabis plant, and so, when we say that you’ll need cannabis seeds to be able to grow hemp plants, it’s correct.
But then cannabis seeds, or to be more precise, CBD seeds, belong in diverse categories, and it’s your responsibility to ensure that you purchase quality cannabis seeds [1].
Quality cannabis seeds are essential in obtaining healthy plants and a high yield. Some factors to consider when buying CBD seeds include genetic makeup, terpene levels, and compliance.
2. Growing Media
A growing medium refers to the material in which your hemp plant takes root and obtains nutrients as it develops from a small plant into a mature plant.
Soil is the most common form of growing medium, as it’s natural and easy to use. Other options include perlite, coco coir, and hydroponics. Growing media have their pros and cons.
For instance, soil as a growing medium is affordable and ecological, but on the downside, it’s prone to pest infestations; perlite may be light and yet stable and promote root development, but on the downside, perlite requires the pH to be tested regularly.
Coco coir is a soilless growing medium and popular with many indoor hemp plant growers. It’s efficient and reusable, but on the downside, it has hydration needs and requires constant monitoring.
Hydroponics, as the name suggests, is a water-based growing medium. It uses less space, improves yields, and promotes water conservation. Its major disadvantage is that it’s costly.
3. Grow Lights
Light is one of the most important factors in cultivating hemp plants [2]. Growing hemp plants in an indoor setup, the sunlight is blocked, and you need to provide an alternative light source.
Grow lights have different categories and features. Different factors typically influence the perfect grow lights. Take your time to research and find out the grow lights ideal for your plants.
The major categories include fluorescent bulbs, HIDs, and LEDs. Fluorescents lights are suitable for small spaces; HIDs and LEDs have greater efficiency and are ideal for large grow facilities.
| Lighting System | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Fluorescent | Readily available
Low cost Small-space friendly | Ideal for small spaces only
Low yields Minimized efficiency |
| HID | Relatively popular
High efficiency Relatively affordable | Not flexible
Heat emission
|
| LED | High performance
Highly durable Full-spectrum of light | High cost
|
4. Nutrients
Your hemp plants require nutrients to be able to stay healthy and achieve a good yield. Your plants’ nutrient requirements depend on the growing medium.
Whether you’re using soil, soilless mixes, or hydroponics, you will need different kinds of nutrients, and it’s proper you don’t guess.
You may talk to an expert before placing organic nutrients in your growing medium so that you’re guaranteed the best outcome.
5. Plant Pots
With outdoor hemp growing, the plants would be secured against the ground, but with indoor hemp growing, you need to improvise.
Plant pots provide an ideal room where your hemp plant will establish roots and transform into a hefty mature cannabis plant.
6. Ventilation
Hemp plants require a steady supply of fresh, carbon dioxide-rich air, and this may be achieved through installing a quality ventilation system.
Some grow lights can produce intense heat, and the grow room can become so hot that it threatens the integrity of the hemp plants. Ventilation cools things down.
7. Grow Tent
If you’ve converted your garage, extra room, or the basement into the grow room, you can take things a notch higher by installing a grow tent.
Grow tents allow for isolation of smells, make it easy to deal with pest infestations, and are excellent for boosting light penetration and absorption.
8. Smart Irrigation
Hemp plants require clean water for optimal yield. Water is critical in promoting health in hemp plants and supporting photosynthesis [3]. By installing a smart irrigation system, your hemp plants receive a steady and regular water supply.
9. pH Testing Tools
Temperature, water, and pH are some of the factors that influence hemp plant health and yield. Regular checking of pH levels helps with improving soil structure and boosting nutrient supply.
10. Pest Control
Your hemp plants could be attacked by various pests like Japanese beetles, leafhoppers, and blister beetles. Pest activity can lead to severe damages and loss. It’s important to regularly check to see if there are pest infestations and use pest elimination services.
The Takeaway: Essential Supplies for Growing Hemp Indoors
Many people have been getting into industrial hemp growing to extract CBD for private and commercial use. As a newbie, you may feel overwhelmed about growing hemp indoors, but it’s not hard a thing. To make things easy, you need to focus on the critical supplies, which include CBD seeds, grow lights, and grow tent.
Sources:
- Farinon, B., Molinari, R., Costantini, L., & Merendino, N. (2020). The seed of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.): Nutritional quality and potential functionality for human health and nutrition. Nutrients, 12(7), 1935.
- Magagnini, G., Grassi, G., & Kotiranta, S. (2018). The effect of light spectrum on the morphology and cannabinoid content of Cannabis sativa L. Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids, 1(1), 19-27.
- Barber, J. (2012, January). Photosystem II: the water-splitting enzyme of photosynthesis. In Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology (Vol. 77, pp. 295-307). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
