If you don’t have enough space to grow, have you ever thought that you don’t necessarily have to grow in a grow tent or in an entire room? You can grow it in your closet, a computer shell case, or even in a shoe box. It sounds crazy, but more and more people are realizing this is possible, it’s called “micro-growing weed.”
Like normal indoor growing, micro growing also requires lighting, ventilation, and nutrients: for your plants to grow properly, even in small spaces, you need to keep your growing space at 50-60% relative humidity (RH), 64-77°F in temperature, and with around 18 hours of light. So what do you need to micro-grow?
Grow lights
Lighting is always the number one priority. For micro-growing, LED grow lights are far superior to HPS or MH lights. HID lights quickly gather heat in small spaces while LEDs generate less heat—you’ll want to find an LED that produces very little heat otherwise you’ll probably be dealing with burns. You can also use fluorescent lights but you need to adjust the color of the light according to the different growth periods of the plants and fluorescent lights do not produce an optimal spectrum for cannabis, so they aren’t as convenient as full-spectrum LED lights.
In normal indoor growing we would place grow lights above the plant canopy, but this is not suitable in extremely small spaces as it will easily burn your plants. You’ll be better off placing your grow lights on one or more sides (if using a fluorescent light) of your plants, which increases light transmission and prevents plants from growing too tall.
Air Exchange
No matter how large a planting space is, ventilation is required. Stagnant air can cause a lot of problems for your plants like mold and pests. Fortunately, it isn’t difficult to ventilate a micro-growing space: all you need is a small fan. For better results, place a clip fan at the bottom of the planting space. The odor produced by micro-growing is generally not very large, if you are concerned about this, you can also use a carbon filter.
Strain of Cannabis
We know that the strains are mainly divided into Sativas and Indicas. Sativas are characterized by being tall and slender while Indicas are short and bushy. The height of Sativas in the flowering stage can reach 2-3 times the original height, which is obviously not suitable for micro-planting, so we generally should choose Indicas.
Other than that, autoflowering cannabis is a great option as they are naturally small and can be harvested in as little as 10 weeks. Plus autoflowers automatically switch between vegetative and flowering stages so you don’t need to adjust the lighting schedule. Try using the sea of green (SOG) training technique for maximum yields.
Plant Training
We have covered various training techniques in the past. Sea of green (SOG), screen of green (SCOG), low-stress training (LST), and topping. Among them, topping belongs to what is called high-stress training techniques (HST). Another type of training that is suitable for use in micro-growing is also a type of HST: super cropping.
Super cropping is a very delicate style of training, which is more difficult than other training.
It’s a discipline of pinching and bending branches to break down the fibers inside the plant while keeping the exterior intact—this will help your plants grow faster and get more buds. It’s a difficult technique but if you know how to do it correctly you can train your plants to thrive in a small space. Be careful, though, if you do this incorrectly you will damage or potentially kill your plants.
Nutrients
Micro growing is usually more suitable for soil cultivation than for hydroponics, which costs more money than you’ll probably want to spend for a micro space. Due to less space, we should use 1 gallon grow bags—of course, the size will vary with the strain you choose and the amount of space you have.
Because the pots are smaller and hold less soil, they may not hold enough nutrients for plant growth. This requires us to water more frequently and remeasure the right amount of nutrients for the size of pots.
Wrap-up
Micro-growing cannabis has a long history—people have been trying to do it even before the term came into existence. With the continuous advancement of growing equipment (especially the change in grow lights), more and more people are trying this method to grow cannabis. Whether you’re new to the lifestyle, want to try spending less money, or simply enjoy growing in tight spaces, I hope this article helped you.
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