More states in the US have taken the lead from California and adopted medical marijuana laws. Laws that finally allow folks to grow their own weed in their own homes without the risk of being prosecuted. The problem for far too many medical marijuana cardholders though is finances because it’s not cheap to set up a deluxe grow room.

So why not learn how to grow weed indoors step by step? Then after the first crop is pulled you can use that money to finance your deluxe “dream grow room” that contains everything on your wish list. Now of course you may have to sacrifice a little bit on the volume and the quality of your first crop but you’ll be surprised by how little money you can get it going with.

Tips on Discount Grow Lights

It’s a funny thing with grow lights today. This is because over the past couple of decades in particular home electronics in general have become cheaper to buy. That is with a few exceptions and one of them is grow lights.

20 years ago the cost of a ballast for a thousand watt bulb averaged in and about $100 or so. They were simple too. No knobs or options. Just an on off switch and that was it.

All that has changed though because now you will have no trouble finding a ballast for sale at a local hydroponics shop for up to $300, and they now come with a host of options as well.

“There are some key advantages to using LED growlights for indoor gardening and plant growth. The first benefit being that they are perfect for indoor growing.”

So forget about all the options on a ballast and just go for a basic model, and while you’re at it consider shopping online for a used one to save even more.Or if you can get your hands on some stadium lights, just like the type that light up your local Park those will work just fine too.

Then before you go plunking down up to $80 for a thousand watt metal halide bulb you might want to take a little time to shop around online. This is because you can find them now for as little as $20 brand-new, and by the way you don’t want to go with a used metal halide bulb. The reason here is that they gradually “fizzle out” as they use up their service life, so the little money you might save on a used bulb just isn’t worth it.

What About Track Lighting?

Track lighting like a sun circle rotating light fixture makes a huge difference in your final outcome, particularly if you’re using high wattage bulbs like thousand waters.

Rotating your light fixture allows you to get the lights “right down on top of the plants” so it helps to keep them short and stout with compact buds.

Go without the rotating fixture and you’ll have to hold the light back to avoid burning which in turn causes the branches to reach out and become become stringy.

“Made by American Hydroponics, it is a 360 degree rotating light ballancer. It will rotate a single lamp or lamps and even of mixed wattage and type over a crop profile in continuous fashion without flex getting tangled. The advantage it gives is a more even profile coupled with greater efficiency of the lights used. They come in three colors and three styles.”

So when you’re first learning how to grow weed indoors, if you have the money to splurge on one even with the tight budget restrictions you’re working within it would sure be nice to have a rotational light fixture. As stated above it allows you to cram the light down right on top of the plants but also allows you to spread the light out around your room more evenly to each and every plant end up with it’s fair share of light.

In the end when the math is done the extra cash that a rotating fixture is going to cost you will come back ten and even twenty-fold when you add up the value of your crop.

At the same time though the last thing you want end up stuck with is a used fixture with missing parts, and that’s on the verge of breaking down on you. One that’s going to give you any type of problems right in the middle of your grow.

So if you don’t have the money for a rotating feature than consider going with a series of smaller bulbs that you can position around your room instead of thousand watt bulbs.

Tips for Saving Money on Light Hoods

Light hoods in particular have undergone huge technological advancements in recent years.

At the same time though, as they have become better they’ve also become substantially more costly to buy and it’s not unusual now to see hoods priced upwards in the area $300 each.

This compared to earlier models from a couple of decades back that priced in at about 50 bucks apiece.

Now the good news here though, is that light hoods also happen to be the easiest piece of hardware to fabricate for your grow room.

“Grow lights are an essential piece of kit if you want to get a head start on your growing season or want to be able to grow indoors all year round. If you want to make your own light set-up, here’s a how to, along with the costings and where I got my bits and pieces.”

Keeping in mind here of course that anything you build only has to last few through the duration of one grow. After that you’ll be able to afford the best the market has to offer.

Now there’s surprisingly little information available online on how to do this but what is out there suggests that you start out with materials like a piece of metal air duct pipe that you can pick up your local hardware store.

Just the same though, if you let your mind wander a bit it’s not hard to come up with ideas on your own. Even a sheet of aluminum can be pounded and shaped into a workable light reflector.. after it’s painted with heat resistant white paint of course.

How to Grow Weed Indoors With Pots and Soil

Growing hydroponic weed is form sure the optimal scenario because you’re always going to get faster and heavier growth for a hydroponic system.

Even so, once again taking the hydroponic route costs money and even if there are affordable systems available, on a tight budget your cash might be better off spent in other areas for your first crop.

Pots and potting soil pretty darn cheap and try not to lose track of the fact that you can grow some pretty darn good plants in potting soil as long as you know how to mix it.

Now to start off with you don’t need giant pots because your plants can only get “so big” indoors. So something about the size of a 5 gallon bucket would be the maximum you’ll want to work with.

Also make sure that you only buy “premium grade” potting soil, and that you then mix it with vermiculite and perlite.

“I went to the hydro shop yesterday to make super soil and was told that An was better and more bang for my buck, lol. SO i bought my ocean forest there and worm castings and bat guano, so i am looking for the rest…….I go into Subs MIRC channel for a bit and they are talking about a guy selling just the “good stuff” and all you add is Roots and worm casting. 1/2 a full recipe for $45.”

Vermiculite and perlite can be a little expensive to buy in small bags so look for the big commercial size sacks of it at your local warehouse hardware store. Then your last bit of advice on potting soil is to “make sure that you cook it” in small batches in an oven and allow it to cool before you use it to kill any bugs or eggs that might be in it.

Carbon Dioxide on a Tight Budget

The first time you see what adding carbon dioxide to a grow room will do to the plants, particularly when they’re budding, you’ll be absolutely astounded.

Just one night with extra CO2 and the difference in resin production can make it look as though they’ve been through a “snowstorm”.

The problem you face though, is even the most affordable CO2 injection systems are for sure well out of range if you’re tight budget.

So then why not learn how to grow weed indoors using CO2 by taking the “poor man’s CO2 injection” option?

“Biologists and plant physiologists have long recognized the benefits of higher CO2 content in the air for plant growth. Horticulturists and greenhouse growers have used CO generators to enhance growth rates on plants for many years with good results.”

That is to simply head on down your local grocery store that carries it and pick up a block of dry ice. Dry ice is pure frozen carbon dioxide and it will work to produce the exact same effects as even the most expensive CO2 injection system. Do be careful though when you buy and transport dry ice because it’s so cold that can cause burns if it comes in contact of your skin.

Now the amount of carbon dioxide in the air we breathe is surprisingly small. In fact it’s miniscule so it only takes a very small amount to effectively double the quantity in your grow room.

So make sure that you “snugly wrap” your block of dry ice up nice and cozy in a blanket or sleeping bag before you stick it in your grow room to keep it from dissipating to quickly. Then finally because carbon dioxide is heavy and tends to sink make sure that you have a fan blowing in your room to keep the air stirred up.

The Bottom Line Here

Long before all the latest technology was developed and the slick marketers set to work to convince us that we absolutely must have it, people were growing great bud indoors. Now of course it’s always best if you travel in luxury, but in the end it’s arriving at your destination that’s what really matters the most.

So break out your tool kit and start “thinking out of the box”, just like early indoor growers did and do what it takes to get your crop going. So the bottom line is that you don’t need a load of cash “to learn” how to grow weed indoors.

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