What material do I need to start growing indoor weed? 2021Updated

Growing weed indoors needn’t be difficult. All you need is the right equipment. Below, we’ve built the most comprehensive cannabis grow equipment list out there—complete with everything from seeds and pots to lights and tents. We’ve even included various options for each piece of equipment suited for beginner, intermediate, and advanced growers. 

Indoor cannabis cultivation is a rewarding endeavor that basically can be done in any climate. Growing pot takes attention to detail and the right equipment, time, and money, but the benefits reaped from growing your own weed are more than worth the time and expense. Not only is the practice of gardening itself therapeutic, it also lends a connection to the plants that cannot be experienced outside of a hands-on approach. Having trained and grown out a favorite cultivar to fruition is one of life's great joys for a marijuana enthusiast.

Indoor cultivation provides many benefits compared to outdoor cultivation, including control, reproducibility, and risk mitigation — not to mention location, location, location. The goal is to artificially create the ideal environment for your plants at all growth stages. This is achieved through precise lighting, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide content, and air movement within each indoor growing space.

Ultimately, the costs of equipment and recurring utility bills are more expensive than in outdoor and greenhouse settings. However, specialized indoor cultivation equipment allows cultivators to achieve multiple harvests per year and a more reproducible product. If you're detail-oriented and technologically inclined, indoor gardening is a fun and rewarding pastime, or could even be a full-time job.

It covers all of the tools and supplies that you’ll need on a daily basis when growing cannabis indoors.

Not ALL of these items are essential if this is your first grow and you’re on a tight budget, so don’t stress if you don’t have them all, just use it as a rough guide.

Seed Starter Plugs

In my opinion, Seed starter plugs are by far the best way to germinate cannabis seeds.

They are small lumps of peat moss with the perfect air-to-water ratio.

You simply pop your seed in the pre-cut hole, pinch it shut, add water as directed, then leave it under a standard lamp or by a window to keep it warm.

After a couple of days, your seed will sprout and it’s a simple job to transfer it to a large 5-gallon fabric growing container, where it will stay until it flowers.

I find that seed starter plugs enjoy a much higher success rates than other germination methods.

Alternatives – Cheaper methods include using a wet paper towel or planting your seed directly in the soil. However, more seeds may fail to germinate this way, and seeds can be expensive.

Fabric Containers

If you’re using soil as your grow medium ( and I recommend that beginners do ) you’ll need to add some kind of container your indoor growing checklist.

Small containers are fine for young seedlings, but you’ll need larger containers (2 – 5 gal ) to accommodate your plant as it grows.

Instead of messing around with multiple container sizes, I like to keep things simple by germinating my seeds in starter plugs and then transferring them straight into a 5 gallon fabric containers, where they stay until harvest.

I recommend using fabric containers like these

They provide excellent results as their porous walls allow your plants roots to breathe and they also prevent overwatering.

Alternatives – Standard garden pots will also do the job if you have them lying around. Just make sure they are large enough!

Oh, you’ll also need a large tray to catch water runoff.

Grow Tent

Grow tents provide the ideal growing environment for your plants.

Good grow tents will protect your plants from mold & pests, control the smell, reduce light loss, and generally make it much easier to control your plant’s growth.

They are 100% essential for your grow room if you want to maximise your yield and ensure that your indoor grow room is efficient.

A cannabis plant requires at least 1 square foot of space to grow in. It’s vital that your grow tent gives your plant enough room to breath and allows you enough space to tend to your plants.

Alternatives – Some growers choose to build their own grow tents. This option may be best only if have an awkwardly sized grow space.

LED Grow Light

Lighting is your plant’s food source, so choosing the right light is important.

The best highest yield led grow lights will maximize growth and encourage higher yields.

LED grow lights also easy to use and extremely energy efficient.

For optimal results, your plants need at least 50w of actual power (the watts it draws from the wall, not the total number of LED’s the light has) per square foot of grow space. ECO Farm LED grow lights can be your great choice.

Timer

Next up on my grow room equipment checklist is timers.

Timers are a very important bit of grow room equipment, as they automatically simulate day/night cycles for your plants.

Your light source plugs into the timer and the timer is then plugged into the wall.

The timer then automatically turns the grow light on and off at the right times so that you don’t have to do it manually.

Look for timers that can handle high wattages (at the very least higher than your lights’ total wattage) and can be programmed to control cycles for hours or even days.

Rotating / Oscillating Fan

Regulating your grow tent temperature and humidity Is vital for strong and healthy plants.

Rotating fans like this provide constant air circulation inside your tent, preventing mold growth, and helping to strengthen your cannabis plant’s stems and branches.

Choose an oscillating fan like the one above that can be mounted on the frame of your grow tent. This keeps it out of the way.

Inline Fan & Ducting

Inline fans provide the ventilation your grow room requires.

They provide your canopy with a constant stream of fresh air (oxygen) – the perfect growing environment for hungry plants.

There will be at least two ventilation holes in your grow tent.

One hole for a fan to pull fresh air in (typically the bottom port), and the other to expel stale air out (the top port).

Ducting is attached to the inline fan for the air to pass through and into a filter ( see below )

Carbon Filter

Carbon filters or “scrubbers” like these keep your grow discrete by controlling odors – purifying the air inside your tent.

To set up your carbon filter, you’ll need an inline fan ( to suck the air out of the tent ) some ducting ( to suck the air through ) and a decent grow tent with ventilation ports.

A good Thermo-hygrometer will measure both the temperature and the humidity inside the tent.

They are essential as they’ll help you quickly resolve any environmental issues inside the tent.

I’d recommend getting one with big displays so they are still legible even from outside the tent.

PH Meter

Maintaining a good PH level is vital when growing cannabis.

If your PH levels are too high or too low, your plant will not be getting the correct nutrients required to flourish.

Ideal soil pH is between 6.0 and 7.0, while hydroponics ideal PH is between 5.5 and 6.5.

PH eters are easy to use, you just stick them in your soil or the water you’re about to pour on your plants and they will give you a reading.

Pruners

A good pair of sharp pruners like these will make trimming and harvesting your plants easier and quicker.

They are an essential bit of weed growing equipment as they can also be used to increase yields by performing basic plant training.

Alternatives – You can use a pair of heavy-duty scissors from your house, but make sure they have been sterilized so that you don’t pass on any bacteria to your plants.

Watering Can

A standard portable watering like this one will keep your indoor plants hydrated.

Look for watering cans made from sturdy materials with long spouts.

Alternatives – Some growers like to use a battery-powered liquid transfer pump, which allows you to pump water from a much larger water jug ( meaning fewer trips to the tap ) but I like using my trusty watering can.

Spray Bottles

Spray bottles like these will be required if you’re planning to mist your plants or utilize foliar feeding.

They’re definitely handy to have, but I would not say that they are an essential bit of kit.

Ball of String

A ball of string is VERY useful to have in your grow toolbox.

This useful bit of grow equipment can be used to support your plants or to train them to increase yields.

You can also string to secure any fixtures inside your grow tent or to hang drying buds from after harvesting.

Every grower should have a ball of string in their kit 

Alternatives – Some people use cable ties, but they’re single-use and plastic, so…. don’t do it!

Duct Tape

Duct tape like this is essential for any grow room ( or house for that matter )

It’s one of my favorite bits of grow equipment.

This versatile bit of growing equipment can be used for fixing injured stems, sealing grow tents, labeling plants, and making your ventilation airtight.

Latex-Free Gloves

Gloves like these will protect your plants from contamination and protect your hands from sticky residue when harvesting.

Make sure the gloves you buy are latex-free, food-safe and powder-less, to prevent contaminating your freshly grown buds.

Protective Eyewear

Grow room glasses protect your eyes from harmful UV rays produced by most grow lights.

A good pair of grow glasses also make it much easier to inspect your plants under your lights, which helps to prevent eye strain.

Alternatives – Many growers simply use a pair of decent quality sunglasses which also offer UV protection.

Bud Trimming Machine

A bud trimmer machine makes trimming large yields a breeze.

They essentially do the same job as pruners but will do it in half the time.

Bud trimming machines like this one very useful for growers with hand mobility issues or growers looking to reduce their harvesting time.

Alternatives – A good set of pruners or a strong pair of kitchen scissors are all you need to trim your harvested buds if you want to save a few bucks.

No grow room equipment checklist would be complete without the reliable mason jar

Mason jars like this the best choice when it comes to curing and storing your weed.

They protect and prolong the shelf life of your dried buds and help maintain their potency.

The best jars have a large storage, thick glass, and an airtight seal.

Alternatives – You could also use vacuum bags but they don’t offer the same airtight seal and protection that a sealed glass jar does.

Power Strip / Extension Lead

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You may have run out of sockets after purchasing some of the electrical items on this list.

A trusty power strip like this will come in extremely handy, making sure you can plug in and run everything at once!

And that completes our grow room equipment checklist.

What's more, ECO Farm grow tent kit is best reommend.

ECO Farm 2*2FT(24*24*55inch)DIY Grow Package

The Good

High-quality diode technology for light emission

Height-adjustable tents for taller plants

Active air controllers provide maximum control over air quality

The Bad

More expensive than most kits

When it comes to cultivating cannabis indoors, you need to be sure to provide your plant with the optimal temperature, humidity, air circulation, CO2, and nutrients.

Maintaining the ideal temperature and humidity at all times is crucial to the health of your plants. Some plant varieties prefer hot and humid climates, while others like it cool and dry. Keeping them alive and healthy means controlling the temperature and humidity when the lights are on or off.

Air conditioning (AC) and humidification systems are used to control the temperature and relative humidity of an indoor grow room. The size of each unit is based on the amount of heat the lights and other equipment produce in relation to the size of the space. In an open grow room, intake and exhaust fans are used to constantly exchange the air within the room to maintain a consistent temperature. In sealed rooms, mini-split AC systems are used because they circulate the air in the room without bringing in fresh air.

AC systems maintain temperature and also dehumidify rooms. Fluctuations in humidity can affect plant health and should be controlled using a dehumidifier or humidifier, depending on conditions.

Advanced growers use digital environmental controls to monitor all equipment responsible for maintaining a stable environment (i.e., fans, AC, dehumidifiers, sensors, thermostats, etc.). These environmental controls can be worth the hefty price tag for the peace of mind they provide.

With lighting, AC, and other environmental controls in place, indoor cannabis plants will require large amounts of fertilizer or nutrients throughout their lifespans. Hydroponic systems lack the base nutrients that occur within soil; that leaves it up to you, the grower, to feed their plants with nutrient concentrations — the exact formula of which depends upon plant variety and phase of cultivation. With hydroponics, salt-based nutrients typically come in the form of a concentrated liquid or dry soluble powder that can be mixed with water.

As a cannabis plant develops, its nutrient needs change. That's why different nutrient lines are available for different growth phases. Most nutrient lines come with recommended feeding charts. If you're just starting out, be sure to get to know your nutrients and their ratios.