Setting Up A Grow Room: A Beginner's Guide
With the cost of consumable produce becoming ever more expensive, setting up a grow room and "growing your own" can save you a vast amount of money, as well as make you some extra cash.
We've helped 1000s of growers put together their first setup, and our experts will be on hand to answer any questions you may have along the way. This guide will outline everything you need to know to choose your equipment and set up your first full grow. With a range of beginner grow kits available with free next day delivery, grab yourself a brew, read this guide and this time tomorrow you could be setting up your first grow.
Check out our quick and easy guide on how to set up your grow tent
The chances are, if you are thinking of setting up a grow room, you will already have a particular room or other location in mind where you intend to use it. For example, a spare bedroom or a loft.
It can be tempting to fill your grow space with the largest grow tent that you can get in there. After all, everything else being equal, the size of the harvest will be roughly proportional to the size of the area where the plants are being grown as long as there is adequate light. So, it makes sense to use every square inch possible, doesn't it? Well no, not necessarily. If parts of the garden are barely accessible, then tending to it will be very difficult. This alone could reduce yields, and lessen the enjoyment of tending it.
Ideally, when setting up a grow room you should match the size of the grow kit to the space that you have, and make allowances to have some space around it too. This makes it much easier to install ducting and route power cables into it. Also, overall, you will have a much easier time tending the garden if there are a couple of feet around the sides of it.
The only other consideration, in terms of the tent, is whether the space has a pitched roof or not. If it does, there stands a good chance a pitched grow tent kit will be your best bet.
What's the best grow light?
Check out our quick & simple guide on how to set up your grow light
Now that you have decided what size your tent needs to be, the next decision in setting up a grow room is what sort of grow light you would like. The choices are HPS, CDM (CMH), and LED. Each has their advantages and disadvantages.
HPS lighting has been around for a long time and will reliably produce good yields and good quality produce. It’s the cheapest way of setting up your first hydroponic grow and, if you’re looking to keep it simple, we’d recommend it for your first grow, we sell a range of HPS grow tent kits which are ideal for beginners.
1.2m x 1.2m
Essential 600w Full Grow Tent Kit
Pitched Essential 600w Full Grow Tent Kit
CDM Essentials Grow Tent Kits
Similar to HPS to use, CDM light has a fuller spectrum; this means you’ll get better quality produce than you will with HPS. CDM lights are currently more expensive than HPS, but they'll more than pay for that in quality gains. If your setting up a grow room with limited space, we would recommend our CDM essentials kit. Because standard CDM lights are 315w, rather than the 600w of a standard HPS light, the ideal area to use them over is smaller, and as a result, our CDM essentials Grow Tent Kit is based on a 1m x 1m tent.
LED light is only just becoming viable for indoor growing for most people. It’s still relatively new technology within hydroponics. Not only does it offer the full spectrum output of CDM light, but it also doesn’t require that you periodically change a lamp (or bulb). It uses electricity much more efficiently, meaning much less heat output, and smaller bills. LED lighting, however, requires a bigger initial investment and the technology is still developing. If your setting up a grow room and safety and energy usage are key factors in your decision, they're perfect.
Check out our quick and simple guide on installing grow room extraction
Choosing the right size extraction kit is essential to setting up a grow room; it locks in smells (with negative pressure), replenishes available CO2 which your plants use to grow, and keeps down temperature.
All our Full Essential Grow Tent Kits come with extraction matched to suit the light and size of the tent, and are chosen by our experts to give the best product at the lowest price. During heat waves and the peak of summer, we'd always recommend overspecing or going for low heat options like LED lights.
Which hydroponic system is best?
All our Essentials Kits come with root pruning cloth pots – hand watering is a good starting point when setting up a grow room for your first indoor grow, and lets you learn about what's right for your plants without adding complexity. You also have the option of a huge range of different hydroponic systems, which you can add in addition to your essentials full grow kit if you prefer. We'd start with something easy to maintain; Wilma systems are ideal, adding automatic feeding without too much extra work.
Your first grow
Now you've decided on your gear and are ready for setting up a grow room you're set to start your first grow. Our experts are on hand to give you help over the phone on 01782 749 955 or in our Cannock and Stoke stores.
Happy growing.
