Building your own grow room is one of the best ways to experiment with delicious fresh cannabis and save tons of money compared to shopping at the dispensary. Whether you are growing one plant or two-dozen, a grow room has the potential to produce ounces of sparkling, delicious buds in your most-preferred strains and terp blends. Of course, the first step is to actually build your grow room.
One of the best places to build a grow-room is the garage or shed. This will give you plenty of room to work while also keeping your cannabis crop in a lockable structure outside of the family space. Of course, a garage or shed is probably not ready to be a grow room from day 1. Grow rooms require careful control over light, heat, and humidity to perfectly cultivate the grow patterns and bud-production of your plants.
This article will explain step-by-step how to build a grow room in your garage or shed so you wind up with tons of delicious, nearly-free cannabis flower season after season.
1) Size Your Grow Space
The first step is to take measurements of the space available to use as a grow room. For just one or two plants, a large closet cupboard will do. However, for a few tables of plants, you'll want a reasonably large square footage to dedicate as a grow room. Figure out how much space you have and how many plants you could reasonably grow within. Don't forget to leave room for you to walk around and work with the plants in your most-secure space.
For a small grow operation in a large space, you may want to tape out a designated area within your garage or shed that will be sealed for growing perfect crops.
2) Identify Your Power Source
The second step is to ensure you have electric power. You'll need electricity to run the grow lights, ventilation fans, and any heating/cooling your grow room might need to keep it in the ideal temperature zone throughout the year.
You will need at least one 240-volt household power socket and power strip to split that voltage between several of the devices needed for efficient indoor growing. Your garage may already have buried power lines to provide for the lights and garage door, but a shed might not, yet.
3) Plumb In a Water Source
You will also need a water source to keep your cannabis plants watered and happy - and for some washing up that is typically involved in garden tasks. Plumbing in an extra sink from your home is a large but not necessarily difficult DIY task, or you can call a plumber to run a professional line and install a new sink for you near the grow compartment of your garage or shed.
4) Finish the Space with Insulation and Ventilation
With access to power and water, it's time to finish the space. Make sure you have a good, sturdy flooring (not carpet) and that the walls and ceiling are sealed. If there aren't walls or a ceiling, have contractors come to "finish" the space . During this process, add insulation between the outer and inner walls to ensure that you have better temperature control over your growing operation space.
Ventilation is also a must, and should go in during the finishing stage. Make sure there is powered airflow through the garage or shed. This will keep the air from getting stuffy through the insulation and provide fresh, healthy air to your cannabis plants as they grow.
5) Light-Seal the Space for Light-Level Control
Cultivating plants to grow quickly or in a certain way means typically "outsmarting" the plant's instincts to grow naturally. This includes the plant's reaction to light, as light tells your plants "what time it is" and therefore paces its production. In order to take full control of your grow room, you'll want it light-tight. This means that no extra light gets into the room when you switch off the main light so that you can control your plants growth and production cycle more closely.
6) Prepare for Temperature Control
Next, prepare to take control of the temperature in your garage or shed. Insulation should help, and some people use a fully insulated grow tent - available from closet-sized to the size of a large room - to get it just right.
Temperature control is not just about insulation, you may also need to add a space heater, a cooling window unit, and a humidifier/dehumidifier to make sure that your plants always have the right level of heat and humidity to grow at their best. Each strain, for example, may even need a specific level of light, ventilation, heat, and humidity for the best performance.
7) Install your Garden Tables and Grow Lights
Now you are finally ready to install your grow lights and lay your cannabis beds. Deep planter tables make it possible to tend to your cannabis plants without bending or stooping. Hang warm full-spectrum grow lights above each table to provide an incredible concentration of light that your cannabis plants will drink in during your lighted hours and grow with lingering radiance during dark hours.
8) Arrange Your Workflow
Set up your own workspace near or inside your grow room. Make sure every table has room for the supplies you need like soil nutrients. Set up a table with trimming and drying supplies including gardening shears and a large number of empty, clean glass mason jars. Give yourself a place to sit and work, and a computer terminal to track your progress and make sure you are growing just the way you want to.
9) Buy Your Cannabis Seeds
When your grow room is done, it's time to prepare your planters and lay the seeds. If you haven't already, choose your favorite strains and order a few seeds from certified cannabis seed sources. There are several great brands and websites to choose from that can get you started on delicious beginner-friendly plants.
You can also buy small sprouted cannabis plants from some dispensaries or local grow ops to help you get started.
10) Have a Plan for Production
Finally, know what you're going to do with all that bud once you get it. Study the curing process and have tons of dry herb vaping, smoking, concentrating, or cooking ideas because once your pot plants get going, you'll have more cannabis flower than you know what to do with. At VESSEL, we can help out with great dry herb vaporizers and gear that you can use at home or bundle with huge jars of cannabis given as gifts to your friends.
Building your own grow room can be incredibly rewarding. For more cool cannabis answers, resources, and finely engineered gear, contact us today.
