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Growing cannabis in a greenhouse has become increasingly popular amongst hobbyists and commercial cultivators alike. Read on to learn why, and explore the logistics of setting up your very own greenhouse grow!
Growing weed in a greenhouse combines the best of both indoor and outdoor growing, allowing you to exploit the powers of natural sunlight without sacrificing control over your growing environment.
If you’re lucky enough to have the space to set up a greenhouse, keep reading for an in-depth guide on how to build the perfect greenhouse for growing cannabis.
Contents:
The main benefits of growing weed in a greenhouse include:
Building a greenhouse is no easy task and involves addressing a ton of different variables that’ll be unique to your situation (such as the amount of space you have to work with, the materials you have access to, your budget, your DIY skills, etc.).
For the sake of this article, we won’t address all of these variables in detail. However, we will walk you through the main aspects of building a cannabis greenhouse as best we can.
Greenhouses come in countless shapes, sizes, and designs. And, while they can all be used to grow weed, choosing one over another will come down to your budget, the number of plants you're planning to grow, and the space you have to work with.
Below are some of the different types of greenhouses on the market and their pros/cons.
Note: Greenhouses typically come in a few standard shapes: simple racks/shelves, gabled greenhouses (square or rectangular houses with triangular roofs, designed to support heavier coverings like glass or fiberglass), Quonset greenhouses (tunnel-shaped), and lean-to greenhouses (similar to Quonsets but with a gradual decline on one end).
Remember, choosing one type of greenhouse over another will come down to how much space you have to work with, how many plants you plan to grow, your budget, and how sturdy you need your greenhouse to be.
Whatever greenhouse you choose to buy or build, make sure its dimensions match those of the grow space you have available, bearing in mind that you’ll want to keep some free space to comfortably move around inside. Also, remember to set up your greenhouse in an area that receives the most sunlight.
If you’re growing cannabis, security is important. Always make sure you invest in a greenhouse that keeps your plants out of sight from prying eyes, as well as security locks to make sure you’re the only one with access to your plants.
One of the main issues we see people run into when growing weed in a greenhouse is high humidity. While humid conditions are great for seedlings, they quickly become problematic for mature plants, creating a breeding ground for bacteria, fungi, and pests.
Make sure to use a thermometer and hygrometer to keep track of the temperature and relative humidity inside your greenhouse, just like you would in an indoor grow room. More importantly, make sure to invest in intake, outtake, and oscillating fans to provide your plants with plenty of fresh air and to keep the humidity and temperature down.
The type of fans you choose will come down to the size of your greenhouse. Just make sure that both your intake and outtake fans have a CFM rating equal to or greater than the volume (ft³) of your greenhouse.
When setting up your oscillating fans, make sure to place them both under and above your canopy to prevent old air from getting trapped inside your greenhouse and driving up the temperature/humidity. You should aim to create a gentle yet consistent breeze flowing through the entire space.
To further prevent humidity issues from harming the quality of your harvest, make sure to adjust your watering schedule. If you’re accustomed to growing outdoors, be careful not to follow your old watering habits, as you’ll most likely overwater your plants in a greenhouse.
Outdoor plants are exposed to direct sunlight, wind, and plenty of fresh air, all of which cause the water from their soil to evaporate quickly. In a greenhouse, your plants won’t endure the same conditions, meaning they’ll likely need to be watered less frequently.
Investing in an automated system is a great way to take some of the guesswork out of watering your plants in a greenhouse. At RQS, we are particularly fond of drip irrigation systems, as they constantly provide your plants with the perfect amount of water.
Using drip irrigation helps to prevent overwatering (which simultaneously minimises your risk of running into issues with bad bacteria or fungi), promotes the growth of healthy roots, and much more.
The idea of growing in a greenhouse is obviously to use sunlight rather than artificial lighting. And, while that might work fine for growers living in areas with consistently sunny conditions, those living in areas with more temperamental conditions might benefit from installing a set of grow lights that you can switch on as needed.
Obviously, there are many different grow lights on the market, and you’ll want to do some shopping around to find the type of light that best suits your setup. A great starting point, however, would be to use LED grow panels (remember to provide your plants with around 400W of light per square metre) for best results. We recommend LED lights because they are far cheaper to run than HID lights and also produce less heat.
Cannabis plants naturally flower after the summer solstice, as the days get shorter and autumn/winter approaches. When growing in a greenhouse, you have two options for dealing with the flowering phase.
First, you can opt to let your plants grow as they would in nature, and wait for them to flower based on the subtle light cycle changes that occur after the summer solstice. This method is obviously very easy and requires little more than patience.
Alternatively, you can choose to instal blinds or covers in your greenhouse to block out light and force your plants to flower (much like you would in an indoor grow room). This is obviously a much more hands-on approach, but it has the benefit of giving you more control over your plants and how they grow.
Some ways to force your cannabis plants to flower in a greenhouse include:
Installing a greenhouse might come at a reasonable initial investment. However, once installed and properly set up, a greenhouse can house multiple harvests per year and last for an extremely long time, given you maintain it properly.
Make sure to take some time after each grow to go over all aspects of your greenhouse, such as your watering and ventilation systems, light covers, grow lights, etc. Use this time to clean your gear and make any necessary repairs, and you should enjoy your greenhouse for years to come.
Greenhouses offer a lot of benefits to cannabis growers of all experience levels. If you’re ready to make the move, check out our in-depth guide to growing cannabis in a greenhouse.