How to Grow Cannabis Indoors with Kyle Kushman: Why You Should Grow and What Equipment You Need

This is a popular request and the reason I filmed my Beginner’s Guide.

Using my series of super-fun videos, you’ll learn everything there is to know to start growing cannabis indoors.

And there’s a lot to cover.

You need to know what to buy and how to set it up.

You need to know how to germinate your seeds, how to feed and water your cannabis plants, how to harvest and how to cure your delicious, potent weed.

I’m going to take you through it all, step by step, until you can grow cannabis indoors with complete confidence.

In this post we’ll talk about why you should grow marijuana indoors and what equipment you’re going to need. Check out the handy videos for each section!

Article originally published via our content partners at Homegrown Cannabis Co.

Why should you grow cannabis indoors?

Why do you want to learn how to grow the best cannabis indoors? Is it the climate? The cost of weed? Do you need a year-round supply of medicine? Or do you just like growing things?

You’ll be surprised how many pensioners and retirees are getting into cannabis cultivation, and achieving huge success!

If your 80 year old neighbor can grow cannabis, so can you!

Here’s a few good reasons to grow your own. There’s obviously plenty more where these came from, but I suspect you’ve made up your mind already!

• Dispensaries are expensive! Whether you’re growing for recreational or medical use, homegrown cannabis saves you money, and lots of it.
• Gardening is fun and therapeutic. Hobbies are a great way to beat stress. And few hobbies are as rewarding as growing your own cannabis.
• You’ll know exactly what goes into your weed. When you grow your own, you control all that goes into your plants. You can grow organic or veganic, and you’ll really notice the difference. Nothing beats well-grown, well-cured homegrown weed.

Episode 0: Introduction shows you why you should grow your own, and what to expect from the rest of the series.

Don’t assume the relaxation of cannabis prohibition applies to each and every state. It doesn’t.

Do not grow weed if it means breaking the law. Growing cannabis indoors or outside can still land you in jail!!!

California seems to have some of the most progressive laws on growing cannabis indoors, and it’s the subject of Episode One: Knowing the Law. I had lots of fun making this video!

Okay, so now you’re committed. You’re not going to break the law. You’re AMPED about learning how to grow weed indoors like a master.

Here’s what you do.

Shop for Seeds Now

Grow cannabis indoors: buying your stuff

What do you need to grow cannabis indoors?

This depends!

You might have a tiny, closet space with barely enough room for a seed tray, or you might have a huge garage with space for a 9 x 9 grow tent.

Episode Two: Buying Your Stuff covers a fun trip I made to 55 Hydro in Santa Ana. This will be you soon – shopping for your stuff!

Whatever you invest now, you’ll see incredible savings after one or two harvests.

The most important things for me are the tent, lights and environmental controls.

Like I said, there are a few major purchases you need to get right, and for me, this starts with the tent.

Grow tent

Knowing how to grow weed indoors usually means knowing your way around a tent.

Sure, you might have plenty of space in the garage, you might even have an entire room to dedicate to indoor cultivation, but nothing beats a tent!

Your tent is a sealed environment, where you can better control things like bugs, temp, humidity and C02.

Your tent is a sealed environment, where you can better control things like bugs, temp, humidity and C02.

It will be lined with reflective material for better light penetration, and will usually have sealable access holes for ducting and power cables.

To create these kinds of growing conditions without a tent is a BIG ask. It will end up costing far more than the tent and you won’t get the same quality of space.

Before you get your cash out, ask yourself the following questions:

• How much (safe) space do I have?
• Do I have enough power outlets nearby?
• How many plants do I want to grow?
• What’s my budget?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll have a pretty good idea of which tent to invest in.

And yes, it’s an INVESTMENT.

Look after your tent and it will be with you for years, decades even.

Grow after grow after grow.

Grow Cannabis Indoors: Lights

Once you have your tent, you need to buy your lights.

And not just any old lights.

You need enough power to replace the sun!

Okay, that sounds like a lot, but modern lighting rigs can deliver huge amounts of power, and today’s LEDs don’t produce the waste heat of traditional lights.

There’s a fair amount of choice when it comes to your cannabis grow lights, but it will probably all boil down to budget.

My advice? Get the best LEDs you can afford. But if you can’t afford at least 400W LEDs, go for an MH/HPS set up.

Confused?

Don’t worry, Episode Three: Choosing Your Lights sheds a lot of, ahem, light on the subject!

Just as I’m about to do right here.

Fluorescent lights

Fluorescents are known for being cheap and convenient, and you can buy them pretty much anywhere. They come in two main varieties:

• CFL — you’ll find these in any bulb-selling shop. They’re great for small spaces and provide a decent light spectrum.
• T5 — these lights are spread out over a large panel, ideal for multiple cannabis plants.

Fluorescent bulbs used to be popular but are rarely used anymore. Good LEDs are even more efficient, run cooler and last far longer than even the best fluorescent.

HID lights

High-intensity discharge (HID) lamps are far more powerful than fluorescents. They’re extremely popular with marijuana growers, but are expensive to run and produce a lot of excess heat.

HIDs are generally split into Metal Halides (MH) and High Pressure Sodiums (HPS).

You’ll need to buy a ballast and, in most cases, additional cooling to run these indoor lights.

But they’re extremely powerful, delivering all the wattage you need for the vegging and flowering stages.

As they emit a slightly different light spectrum, MH lamps are perfect for vegging while HPS are ideal for flowering.

With your modern kit, you’ll only need to worry about swapping out the bulb when you flip into flower.

When I started out, it was a lot more complicated!

LED lights

LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are a relatively new technology, but they’re already massively popular.

And with good reason.

The lamps run far cooler than HIDs, with a light spectrum you can adjust with a flick of a switch.

Many people ask me how to use cheap bulb LED lights to grow cannabis indoors.

A tricky question!

The problem with LEDs is the sheer range of choice.

With HIDs, picking the right stuff is easy, especially if you ask in your local hydro store.

With LEDs, there are thousands of different brands, many of which simply aren’t up to the task.

It’s vital you do your homework. If an LED seems too good to be true (1000W for $30, for instance) then it probably is.

Humidifier and dehumidifier

Why do you need a humidifier AND a dehumidifier? To replicate the natural conditions of the plant.

During the day, the sun shines and water evaporates. At night, the temperature drops and moisture condenses.

When you mimic this in your tent, your plants get to follow the natural rhythm of their native habitat, i.e outdoors.

You also get to control the day and night time humidity with incredible accuracy, something you can’t do with an outdoor grow.

Shop seeds, grow supplies and more.

Soil, nutrients, and containers

I would always recommend growing in soil, especially if you’re just starting out.

Your options are amended or unamended.

Amended soil has added nutes, some people call it ‘hot’ soil.

It will only need additional water, at least for the first few weeks.

Next option is unamended, my preferred choice.

When you add your own nutrients, you’re in total control.

You can react and adjust to problems and you retain the option to feed organic or veganic nutes.

Naturally, I would ALWAYS recommend going veganic – especially if you want to avoid the heavy metals present in organic and chemical fertilizers.

If you’re keen to learn how to grow organic cannabis indoors, go one better, go veganic!

As for pot size, well, you can start your plants in red solo cups and work your way up from there.

The bigger the pot, the bigger the plant!

Carbon dioxide

CO2 tanks and organic alternatives boost photosynthesis for a lush, green garden.

You can supplement the C02 by singing to your plants in the tent, seriously.

We pump out a lot of C02 while singing, and the vibrations help stimulate plant development, too.

If you don’t believe me, try it!

Fans

From cheap table-top fans to purpose-built, integrated air-con, your choice is vast.

First off, why do you need a fan?

A well-positioned fan will mimic a natural breeze, encouraging stronger limbs and branches.

It will also help cool the air and increase airflow around the cannabis leaves and stems – a great way to discourage mold and mildew.

Pro tip: Turn upper canopy fans off at night. Fans produce humidity so why fight the dehumidifier? This will also give the plants a resting period from swaying.

The perfect way to set them up is to have one fan aimed at the top of the plants, at the hot zone between the tips and the lights, with a second pointed under the canopy in the opposite direction.

This will circulate the air nicely around the tent, but don’t blast them with a hurricane.

A gentle breeze is all you’ll need.

Look out for the next installment soon: Building your grow room!

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