Yo, what’s good? It’s your boy, Dan. So, you’ve been growing cannabis for a minute now and you’re tired of doing the same old tasks over and over again? Well, don’t trip because your boy is here to show you how to automate your grow operation.
Growing your own weed can be a lit project, but let’s be real, it can also be hella repetitive and time-consuming. That’s where automation comes in. By automating certain aspects of your grow, you can make the whole operation smoother and less labor-intensive.
The first thing you need to consider is how much you want to automate your grow. Are you ballin’ on a budget or do you have racks on racks? Knowing your budget and how much free time you have will help you figure out how to best automate your grow.
If you’re on a tight budget, then stick to some simpler automation techniques, like setting your lights on timers. Analog timers are cheap AF and will work perfectly fine. Or if you want to be fancy, get yourself some digital timers that can be controlled from your phone.
If you have many plants, figuring out some way to irrigate them might save you a ton of time. But if you only have a few plants, then it might not be necessary.
Now, depending on where you’re growing your weed, the space will determine how much automation you need. If you’re growing outdoors or in a greenhouse, then automated lighting might not be necessary. But if you’re growing indoors, then lighting automation might be crucial. You might also need to manage the environment in terms of airflow, humidity, and temperature. Depending on your setup, all of these processes can also be automated.
Now let’s talk money. How much does it cost to automate a cannabis grow room? Well, that’s a tricky question because it depends on how much automation you want. If you only want to automate the lights in a grow tent, then a timer will set you back around €10 or less. But if you want to automate a larger grow room, then it’s gonna get more expensive.
Irrigation systems may become more complex and you might even look into “fertigation” – automated feeding. Controlling the environment of a larger space is more difficult and will likely require more advanced technology. That said, the cost of automating a grow room can stretch into hundreds of euros.
But why should you even bother with automation? Well, there are many benefits:
– Saves time
– Saves labor
– Allows you to grow more plants
– Takes the stress out of monitoring all aspects of the grow
– Makes mistakes less likely
Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty and talk about how to automate your cannabis grow tent. A large share of home growers run a small-scale operation, which often utilizes a cannabis grow tent. So, first and foremost, we’ll explain how to automate this small but perfectly viable growing space.
Timers are probably the easiest and most effective way to automate aspects of your grow. They can be used to control lighting, watering, air exchange, temperature, and more. You can find analog timers for cheap or go digital if you’re feeling fancy.
Automating lighting is by far the simplest way to streamline one of your tasks. Even the most basic timers work perfectly when it comes to controlling lighting. Cannabis plants need 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness during the vegetative stage. In the flowering stage, a 12/12 cycle is most common.
Cannabis plants generally like a relative humidity of between 60 and 70%. There are several ways to control this, but if you want to automate it, you’ll need to use a humidifier/dehumidifier or humidity sensors in combination with misters. Humidifiers and dehumidifiers can be expensive, but they will help you get the most out of your plants if you can afford them.
In a cannabis grow, stale air needs to be removed, and fresh, CO₂-rich air must be brought in. As with lighting, you can use timers to have these come on at intervals, which will ensure a steady supply of fresh air into your grow.
Now let’s talk about how to automate your cannabis grow room. If you have an entire grow room featuring numerous plants, then automation can become more necessary. Moreover, there are further elements that might be worth automating in a large-scale operation, which would probably be unnecessary in a smaller one.
Drip irrigation is a form of automation that uses very simple means. This method involves piercing small holes into a water hose, ensuring the holes are positioned over the root network of each plant in the system. Water then slowly drips over each plant’s root zone, providing a constant flow of hydration.
If you have a very large grow, such as a commercial grow, then it might be worth investing in a system that controls every aspect of the environment. But be warned, these can be very expensive. They control lighting, irrigation, temperature, humidity, feeding, pH level, and CO₂ level, all from a single centralized system.
Now if you’re like me and don’t have racks on racks to spend on automation systems, then you can build your own automated grow box. DIY systems are more primitive but they’re cheaper and will give you a sense of pride for building it yourself.
So now you know how to automate your cannabis grow operation. Some degree of automation is usually well worth it – for grows of any size. However, scale is the greatest deciding factor on what you should automate.
Alright y’all, stay safe and happy growing!