The shopping list
You don’t need a lot of equippement to grow cannabis on a (very) small scale. A grow tank, soil, nutrients, enough light, and an agreeable temperature make growing hemp indoors quite possible A good alternative for growing in soil is to fill planting pots with lava stone granules, or with rockwool flakes. In order to achieve a smooth growth- and floweringprocess you must pay a lot of attention to ventilation, regular watering, proper lighting, etc. Without appliances, you have to care for the plants every day. Therefore, you have to choose between growing in soil or in rockwool. Working on rockwool is advantageous because you don’t have to drag bags of soil around Still, some weed growers swear by soil, because they think the quality of weed isn’t as good if you grow on rockwool. Others see no difference. They would rather grow on rockwool, because they can achieve a greater yield. There are, however, many factors which affect the healthy growth and flowering of cannabis. ‘Green fingers’ are certainly not the least important We’ve made a shopping list for (semi-) professional growing on rockwool substrate. Cheaper alternatives can be devised for many of the articles. We’ll return to the three aspects light, air, and water later in greater detail. The materials listed below will cost between 2250, and 3000 guilders for a grow space slightly larger than two square meters:
– 3 armatures for high-pressure gas lamps;
– relay box for the lamps;
– 12 libra trays with water
drainage;
– 12 rockwool slabs;
– 36 rockwool blocks 7.5 x 7.5 x 6.5 cm;
– irrigation system with an immersible pump, electric timer clock, water reser voir, air pump, heating element
– ventilator for the intake and outlet of fresh air and the discharge of humidity;
– measuring cups (100 and 500 ml);
– hygrometer;
– pH meter;
– EC meter;
– thermometer with indications for minimum- and maximum temperatures;
– fertilizers;
– saltpeter/phosphoric acid.
Unfortunately, you’re still not ready, even with the materials listed above. Optimum climate control is needed for growing indoors. A ventilation system can (and in some cases, must) be added; varying from a simple bathroom ventilator to a more expensive carbon dioxide box ventilator with a humidifying system. You can go for a larger-scale approach by providing a system to keep the CO2 content optimal, by installing air-conditioning, or your own water purification regulated by osmotic filters, or by using a computer to regulate feeding. You can easily spend more than 20,000 guilders for a complete home-grow system if you want.