10 Mistakes To Avoid When Growing Cannabis Indoors

1. A Dirty Grow Room

We start this list off by allowing the grow room to become dirty. This means soil on the floor, old foliage that has fallen off the plant on the floor or in pots, last harvest’s sticks and stems and fan leaves piled up in a corner somewhere and empty nutrient bottles. It may not sound like much, however a dirty grow room will only attract insects and pathogens. Keeping a sweeping brush and bleach solution close by, will allow you to maintain a clean and sterile indoor grow space. 

2. Second Guessing Temperature and Humidity

A sign of an amateur grower or one who does not understand the science of growing Cannabis indoors, is someone who does not use a hygrometer. This device will provide a digital reading of the temperature and humidity inside the grow room. These handy, battery-powered devices allow you to keep an eye on your indoor environment.

Temperature and humidity are an essential part of the equation when growing high grade flowers indoors.

3. Keeping Lights Too Close

Keeping your powerful HID grow lights too close for the comfort of the plants. You may sleep better at night knowing your plants are getting as much intense lighting as possible, however keeping the lights too close will cause heat stress. You can always tell when plants are not happy due to excessive heat and poor ventilation, as they will stretch and the flower production and overall plant health is heavily affected. 

4. Over Feeding

We have all been guilty of over feeding Cannabis plants at some point during our life as an indoor or outdoor grower. Often times it can be down to being over enthusiastic and believing that the more food than the bigger the buds. This is true, however, on the basis that primary and trace nutrients are well-balanced and easily available to the plant.

The worst possible time to over feed is during the final 2-3 weeks before harvesting. During this time, plants should be flushed of nutrients.

5. Over Watering

Overwatering Cannabis plants is easily done, and there are several factors that can cause a person to over water. One of them being the growing medium has poor aeration and drainage, causing the roots to sit in water logged medium. The other is down to experience and not knowing the sufficient amount of runoff that should be a result of correctly watering with the correct volume. Signs of overwatering are that plants will begin to wilt, and the leaves will droop downwards.

6. Forgetting To Flush

The reason why an indoor grower should flush their plants if they have been using nutrients, is to allow any internal reserves to be used up, and ensure any excess salts in the growing medium that have accumulated over time are washed away. The flushing period should take 14 full days and begin from the final 2 weeks of the estimated harvest date. Not flushing your Cannabis plants will only result in harsh tasting, cough inducing flower that will burn with an uneven charcoal black appearance.

7. Wind Burn

Wind burn caused by heat stress indoors is often one of the biggest causes of low yields and poor flower production. Cannabis plants will use water from the growing medium, and transpire through their leaves, in the same way humans sweat. Depending on the temperature, moisture levels and air currents, will determine how much moisture plants will use and allow transpiring through the leaves.

Keeping oscillating fans blowing at your plants whilst the temperature of the indoor room is too high can cause wind burn and induce heat stress. 

8. Big Drop In Temperature

Using a hygrometer, you will be able to check a digital reading of the lowest and highest temperature and humidity over a 24-hour period. When the lights are on, you will want to aim for a consistent temperature of 24 degrees Celsius, however when the lights are off then the temperature should drop between 5-6 degrees. If the difference between your light on and lights off readings are significantly higher, then this will cause plants to stretch and, when flowering, stunt and produce a small yield. 

9. Poor Air Circulation

How much fresh air is being circulated throughout the grow room, will dictate the amount of carbon dioxide available, and how much at risk you may be from mold and mildew. Poor air circulation is the number one reason why plants grown indoors suffer from pathogens such as mold, which if not controlled can cost you an entire crop.

You should aim for as much fresh air currents as possible, and can see the plants are being blown around gently. Of course, you do not want the plants to suffer from wind burn, so using several smaller sized fans at different heights can be a great solution to ensure the ideal environment and remove the concern over stagnant air pockets.

10. Not Drying In The Tent

One of the biggest mistakes a grower can make, after all that hard work, is to harvest their plants and hang and dry in a cupboard or spare room. Yes, the plants will dry in time, however the best way to dry out your indoor crop is to do it in a smell proof, temperature controlled environment such as a grow tent.

You can even buy a tent and put a carbon filter, intake fan and dry net inside, if you really want the best buds. Using a humidifier or dehumidifier can also be an excellent way of keeping everything in the ideal drying zone of 15 degrees Celsius and 50% humidity over a 14-day period. 

Conclusion
Bad habits can be hard to break when growing indoors, and keeping your grow room as clean and tidy as possible should be your main priority. Perform daily and weekly cleaning jobs, and always make sure the floor is free of organic debris and any yellow dead leaves are thrown away out of the grow room. 

When harvesting and drying, use a tent and a smell proof set up and keep a close eye on the temperature and humidity. On the basis you follow everything in this list, you will be well on your way to becoming the best grower and developing only good habits!