Indoor cannabis grow operations are becoming more popular than ever before, with so many prospective growers looking to perfect their own strains. What a lot of these first-time farmers don’t realize, though, is that weather is still a massive factor for your cannabis plants, even when you’re growing indoors.
Today, we’re taking a look at all the ways that weather can potentially impact your indoor grow, as well as ways to keep your plants safe, healthy, and unaffected by Mother Nature. With these tips and tricks, you’re sure to have a successful yield regardless of what’s happening outdoors. Let’s get started.
Indoor vs. Outdoor Grows
A lot of cannabis cultivators choose to grow their plants indoors simply because it allows more control. When plants are grown outdoors, it is much more difficult to properly navigate temperatures, lighting, moisture levels, and other environmental factors. Of course, it is more than possible to do so, but it does pose more difficulty and risk. Thus, indoor grow facilities are increasing in popularity. However, this does not mean that your facility is immune to weather.
This is actually a pretty common misconception. Because plants are grown inside, many newer growers will assume that the weather happening outside their facilities will not impact the temperatures inside. This is not the case! There are still ways that outdoor conditions can influence your plants’ growth if you aren’t careful.
Paying attention to the weather in your area is key to having a successful cannabis yield, both indoors and out. If you neglect to factor this in when you grow, you will have a much more difficult time throughout cultivation. Here’s why.
The Impact of Weather
You can think of your grow facility as your house and you as your plants. The weather outside your home still affects how cold or warm it is inside your house, causing your home’s heating or cooling to kick in. This is your home’s way of attempting to regulate temperature to ensure that it stays where you want it, despite the conditions happening outside. The same thing happens with your grow facility.
As your plants are cultivating, you have to pay close attention to how outdoor temperatures affect internal temperatures and adjust your facility accordingly. If you notice that the temperatures outside are rising, there’s a good chance the temperatures inside your facility are rising, too. If this is the case, you will have to lower the internal temperature to ensure that it balances out with the heat outdoors. Otherwise, you might find yourself with some dried, overheated plants.
On the same note, hot summer days also tend to bring a good amount of sun. While this can be wonderful for your plants, depending on where you live, too much sun can seriously impact the health of your cannabis plants— even indoors. Many grow facilities have windows, glass panes, or even skylights to let in some amount of natural light for plants. In facilities like these, growers must be extra attentive to not let in more sunlight than their plants require. Sometimes, this can seriously throw off a plant’s light/dark cycle, keeping it up and using energy when it usually wouldn’t be.
You can also say this for places that don’t get much sun exposure. Indoor facilities must work hard to compensate for this lack of actual sunlight, building their grow operations with the right amount of supplemental lighting and proper placement.
Finally, it’s essential to recognize that even your grow facility’s size impacts the weather’s influence. Studies have shown that grow facilities that are medium or large tend to be affected by weather conditions overall more than smaller, more compact facilities. This is likely because of the surface area’s amount, allowing smaller facilities to insulate their temperatures a bit more. All of this is essential to keep in mind when growing your cannabis plants, as it can make the difference between a successful and non-successful yield.
Staying Prepared for Outdoor Conditions
Thankfully, there are many preparations and precautions you can take to ensure your facility stays relatively unaffected by the weather.
Some small everyday choices include keeping the facility’s doors closed tightly and installing weather stripping to keep out drafts. Do the same for your windows, too! This will significantly help reduce the amount of excess air that’s traveling from outdoors.
An excellent way to keep track of temperature changes in your facility is to install sensors. Various companies craft sensors that you can put around your facility to let you know when significant changes occur. This can keep you on track and guarantee that your plants consistently get what they need, regardless of the weather.
For more considerable long-term changes, you can choose to switch your lighting types completely. Some types of lights are going to generate a lot more heat than others, affecting your grow facility’s internal temperature. If you combine hot lights with hot outdoor temperatures, you have a recipe for disaster. Instead, you might want to invest in lights like LEDs that have been known to produce substantial amounts of light without the intense heat. Changes like these may be a bit pricey, but it will be more than worth it to ensure potent, healthy cannabis cultivation.
Finally, you can choose to splurge a little bit more and invest in things like dehumidifiers and economizers to guarantee proper humidity levels and temperatures. Again, these solutions are expensive, but they work day-to-day to ensure that your cannabis plants get everything they need and nothing they don’t, especially from outside.
Keeping Your Plants Safe Indoors
With just a little extra time and dedication, you can efficiently work to keep your cannabis plants safe and sound indoors. While the weather outdoors does impact your grow facility, it isn’t impossible to reinforce your place to ensure that your plants stay safe and sound. Again, the first step is understanding the impact that weather does have. From there, you can make all the proper adjustments you need to keep your facility as weather-proof as possible. Trust us: your plants will surely thank you.
Luna Cultivation is here to provide you with all the information you need surrounding cannabis cultivation. As experts in lighting and lighting setups, we’ll teach you everything you need to know to get your grow facility operating just as it should. Again, with just a bit of patience and some adjusting, keeping the weather out of your cannabis grow facility may be easier than you think.