A guide to growing Cannabis seeds indoors – approx. 5min read

Lots of you like to grow your cannabis seeds indoors, at Coffee Shop Seeds we have a huge selection of strains that are both suitable to grow indoors and grow indoors or outdoors.

Before you start your grow you will need some equipment to enable a good yield growth. It is not imperative that you grow in a specific grow tent, however, if you are a beginner we would recommend purchasing a hydroponic grow tent set up. These generally come with all the equipment you will require such as filtered extraction fans, lights etc. grow tent setups are easily bought online.

At this point we must point out that this information is targeted for those where it is legal to grow or germinate cannabis seeds. We do not encourage anyone to break the laws of the country/state of your residence.

So, what is required to grow marijuana?

Marijuana seeds require a number of items to grow:

Water:
Most professional growers will use a treated water with a PH balance between 5.5-6.5. However, personally (and many will agree – open to debate!) tap water is fine, look at it this way, if you can drink it straight from the tap then so can you cannabis plants.
Don’t fall into the over watering trap. Over watering is as bad as under watering. If your leaves are looking weak and yellowing then they need water. If the leaves are dark green and curling at the ends then the are over watered. As a rule I recommend to water when the top inch of soil feels dry. Push your finger into the soil to the knuckle and if its dry water, if its moist leave.

Light:
Some would say the most important and whilst this is difficult to argue, I see it as a team game. Light without water and you plants will not grow, water without light…….you get my point. There are numerous lighting set up available and these generally come down to personal preference.
Firstly, you can go for a high pressure sodium light (HPS). You will require a minimum 600w and will obviously depend on the size of your grow if higher wattage is required or the number of lights you will need. One 600w light should yield you around 600g/21oz. Prices will vary for these but there are literally hundreds available online.
Alternatively, you could try an LED set up. Although these will cost more upfront the running cost are considerably lower and will pay you back in no time. Yield shouldn’t be affected using LED as these deliver more usable light per watt. An added benefit of LED is lower temperatures which can eliminate the need of AC and/or fans. Again, prices vary and are aplenty online.

With both these set ups I prefer to have the lights hanging so I can adjust their height. Whilst the plants are infants you can lower the lights and then heighten as required. This will aid with stretching.
Remember, you plants will require a light/dark cycle. Depending on your strain and flowering type this will be approximately 16hrs of light to 8hrs of dark to start. Reducing to an equal 12hrs during flowering.

Fresh Air:
Lets be honest, cannabis has been around for many a millennia, growing naturally out in the wilderness. Growing indoors needs to maintain as much of the plants natural growing climate as possible and fresh flowing air is one of them. A fan above at ceiling height or top of tent will create a light breeze. this gives several advantages, a less friendly environment for mould and pests, aid temperature control and will help strengthen your plants stems.

To keep the air fresh you will require an exhaust, I would recommend one with a carbon filter as this will filter out the strong smells during the grow.

Temperature Control:
As mentioned above, if you are using LED lighting it may be that you will not need any heating in your grow area. In fact, during the summer you may have to cool the area down with A/C. The issue here is very dependent on the stain you are attempting to grow.

Soil:
Whilst different strains will thrive in different soils, this is depending on their genetics. More experienced grows will vary their soil depending on the strain they are growing.
I usually find a good quality all-round soil will do the job. Visit your local garden centre and if in doubt ask a member of staff. If you don’t want to mention you are growing cannabis ask for an all round soil good for tomatoes as they will both thrive in similar soil.

And last, but most certainly not least.

Seeds:
Regular, Feminised, Autoflowering?

Depending on budget it can be a minefield if you don’t know exactly what your looking for.

Feminised Autoflowering Seeds – As the name suggest, these types are feminised cannabis seeds that will produce 99.9% female plants. As they are autoflowering they will bud from seed in usually less than 10 weeks and do not require systematic light exposure.

Feminised Photoperiod Seeds – Feminised seeds are bred in a way that enables them to develop and flower as female plants only. Their breeding process eliminates virtually all male chromosomes; the probability of female plants growing is 99.9%. photoperiod seeds, do however, require natural timed light exposure.

Regular Autoflowering Seeds – As Feminised Autoflowering seeds, these seeds begin flowering with age not light exposure. Regular seeds usually come as a 50/50 mix of male and female seeds. Many believe that although regular seeds are a cost saving alternative to all feminised seeds regular seeds are better at retaining their original strain features.

Regular Photoperiod Seeds – As nature intended – a 50/50 mix of male and female seeds that require natural timed light exposure.

Our recommendations:
Beginners – Shiva Shanti II by Sensi Seeds
Intermediate – Blue Cheese by Royal Queen Seeds
Advanced – Amnesia Haze by The Pant