If you’re a medical or recreational marijuana user, sooner or later, you might conclude that paying to a nearby dispensary for each ounce of weed is too costly. Thus, you may start thinking about growing some weed for yourself – arranging a small garden or grow room to meet your weed needs without extra expenditures.
Obviously, this approach is much more sustainable – you save money on the intermediaries’ overhead costs and control the quality of what you smoke independently. But here comes the question – what is the best way of growing to meet your needs, create not too much headache for you, and fit your geographical location and weather conditions?
Growers face a common trilemma: growing weed indoors, outdoors, or in a greenhouse. Here we uncover the pros and cons of each method and give detailed instructions on how to grow marijuana in a greenhouse. Enjoy!
Greenhouse vs. Outdoor and Indoor Growing
When comparing all three methods, you might see that growing cannabis in a greenhouse is the most convenient.
- Outdoor growing is fantastic as it requires little input from you and resembles the natural growing environment, thus giving plants the nutrients, sunlight, and fresh air they need for successful flowering. Still, you have little control over the growing process and may fail to identify male plants, thus experiencing the flowers’ pollination. Pests and diseases also attack plants growing outdoors much more often.
- Indoor growing gives you more control over the environment but also poses constraints. First, you can’t turn the light on and off in the dark periods of the day to prevent the stress of your weed plant. Second, you need to give the plants optimal temperature, humidity, and sunlight, which are not quite convenient for human living. Third, you may not have enough space for indoor growing.
Considering these aspects of indoor and outdoor growing, you might see that a greenhouse is an optimal variant for enjoying the process and getting the expected yield hassle-free.
Pros and Cons of Greenhouse Use
The greenhouse cannabis growing approach offers numerous benefits to people wishing to maximize their ROI and end up with a good harvest. Here are the most prominent pros convincing many growers to go for this variant.
- An ability to grow your plants all year round. You set up a convenient environment for 365 days of plant survival and optimal development in a greenhouse. You can choose the temperature, sunlight, and humidity level for the greenhouse, which are pretty simple to maintain.
- With a greenhouse, you get a cozy, pleasant place to spend time and relax, watching your plants grow and flower. Even in the cold winter evenings, it can become an excellent place for a cup of coffee and a joint.
- The abundance of natural light. Keeping to the natural cycles of day and night is simpler in a greenhouse than in an indoor facility. Plants grow much better with natural daylight, while you can supplement the amount of light with lamps during a cold season. Blackout screens may be applied during hot seasons to reduce the amount of light and preserve your plants from fading.
- Greenhouses are much better at plant protection from pests and diseases as you’re the one controlling the environment, and you don’t let any external threat creep into this protected space.
Many beginners ask, “how long does the marijuana growing cycle take in greenhouse?” We have good news for you; the cycle often gets shorter as you create optimal conditions for your plants and accelerate their development. Plus, you can grow cannabis all year round by zoning your plants and giving them the same environment in any season. This is one of the major benefits of using a greenhouse in areas with seasonal weather extremes.
However, you still need to keep some cons in mind, as they may affect your desire to mess up with setting a greenhouse.
- Greenhouse equipment is pretty costly today due to the growing demand among individuals and small businesses. So, if your consumption is not that voluminous, you might prefer not to invest so much money in a greenhouse venture.
- Most greenhouses are automated, but you still need to conduct manual adjustments and check the settings from time to time. It won’t work on its own without your interference.
- Greenhouses allow less control than warehouse cultivation would give you. This factor matters if you grow much cannabis for commercial purposes.
- Keeping an automated, innovative greenhouse functioning may be a costly endeavor. It consumes much electricity and requires substantial open space for setup.
Rules for Greenhouse Growing
Growing weed in a greenhouse is not as simple as the commercials selling the equipment claim. You still need to provide your plants with adequate conditions and sustain the optimal environment for them to survive and thrive. Besides, as you might know, the proneness of cannabis to hermaphroditism (the last thing you need in your grow room) increases if the plant is subjected to stress and wrong treatment. Therefore, keeping your plants adequately nourished, watered, and consuming enough daylight is the fundamental precondition for your peace of mind and high yield.
Here are the basic terms to observe:
- Choose greenhouse equipment depending on your outside temperature, wind speed, humidity, and snow loads if you live in an area with significant seasonal fluctuations.
- Set the inside temperature between 65 and 850F to achieve an optimal temperature for growth.
- Provide your plants with 12-18 hours of light.
- Keep humidity moderate to prevent disease and over-drying.
- Customize your ventilation to humidity and temperature settings so that they function in tandem.
- Provide proper blackout for the flowering cannabis plants.
- Enrich the air in your greenhouse with CO2.
Conclusion
As you can see, greenhouses are a great option for everyone wishing to grow cannabis on their own but having no special knowledge or extra space for a plantation. Use these tips to make your greenhouse and enjoy the high yield all year round.