In the previous two articles, we noted that growing your own marijuana benefits you in numerous ways, and you need a controlled space indoors to grow in.
The reason you want a controlled indoor marijuana growing space is so you can control environmental factors including:
- Temperature and relative humidity
- Access & detection interventions
- Air movement, air quality, air renewal
- C02 levels
- Lighting, reflectivity, darkness, and light cycles
- Block out pests and diseases
Now we’ll get more specific, starting with temperature for your ambient grow room air, and your marijuana root zone.
Your marijuana plants do best when they have average lights-on temperatures around 74 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you’re adding C02 to your grow environment to the rate of 1200 ppm ambient C02, your plants can handle lights-on temperatures up to 82F.
Adding C02 to your lights-on environment increases growth rate and in most cases increases yield.
And because your marijuana plants can handle warmer temperatures, you save money because your marijuana grow room does not have to be cooled to 74F.
Please read this very informative marijuana C02 article for a more complete discussion of how to use C02 in your indoor marijuana grow room.
Lights-off grow room temperatures should be 2-5 degrees lower than lights-on temperatures if you’re not using C02, and 6-11 degrees lower if you are using C02.
For example, if your lights-on C02 grow room temps are 80F, you want your lights-off temps to be about 76F or lower, down to 69F.
This lowering of temperature is said to encourage development of purple and red coloring, and to enhance percentages of THC and other cannabinoids.
One complicating factor regarding temperature is your marijuana roots generally do best around 69-70F but your hydroponics grow room temperature is supposed to be higher than that.
If marijuana roots, root zone, or nutrients water get too warm, it can cause big problems.
Some marijuana growers chill their root zone and hydroponics nutrients water even cooler than that, down to 66-68F, depending on the type of hydro system they use.
And we will talk more about temperature, C02, and humidity, because those factors often have to be controlled and managed using vent fans, ducting, AC, and other grow room equipment.
Important to remember: every strain of marijuana is different, and so is every marijuana growing situation.
When you experiment in your grow room by adjusting and controlling ambient root zone and air temperature, and/or by adding C02, observe your hydroponics marijuana plants closely to see how those changes affect your plants.
There is no one-size-fits-all program, but the guidelines here are a good generic starting point for your marijuana garden.
We’ll see you next time and you’ll get more information for newbie and beginner marijuana growers.
