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In our GWE growing community, a grower recently asked...

"I'm confused about all the different types of grow lights. What's the difference between an LEC grow light and an Induction grow light? What about Plasma or CMH grow lights? They all look sort of similar to each other... and how are they different from LEDs?"

The post LEC vs Induction vs Plasma Grow Lights: What’s the Difference? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> by Nebula Haze

In our GWE growing community, a grower recently asked…

“I’m confused about all the different types of grow lights. What’s the difference between an LEC grow light and an Induction grow light? What about Plasma or CMH grow lights? They all look sort of similar to each other… and how are they different from LEDs?”

It’s crazy how fast things change! Back in the early 2000s, there were basically three types of grow lights available that worked for growing cannabis indoors. There were Fluorescent lights, Metal Halide lights and High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights.

Then a few years later LED grow lights started gaining a lot of traction in the cannabis grow light market.

And now it seems like new types of grow lights are popping up on the market every day! You may have come across names like CMH, LEC, Induction and Plasma grow lights, and possibly more. It can get confusing with all the new terms being thrown around! So today I will explain exactly what each term means, and to expect from each type of grow light when it comes to growing marijuana.

Cannabis needs lots of light to produce good yields, but which type of grow light works best?

Today we’ll cover them all! Let’s start with the newer types of grow lights, and then I’ll compare and contrast with some of the more traditional grow light types!
New(er) Types of Cannabis Grow Lights

Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

This is an improved version of a Metal Halide grow light. The main difference is it uses a ceramic arc tube like an HPS grow light, which makes it more electrically efficient. This is why some CMH bulbs look like HPS bulbs until you get close!

Ceramic Metal Halide lights get good results in the cannabis flowering stage, much better than a standard Metal Halide does.

And unlike HPS lights (which look very yellow), CMH lights produce a natural-looking spectrum of light that resembles light from the sun on a clear day!

This makes it easier to spot problems on your plants, and it’s also just nice to be able to see and take pictures of your plants in full color!

In addition, Ceramic Metal Halides produce UV-B light like the sun, which may possibly increase THC and trichome production! However, Ceramic Metal Halide bulbs need a direct path to the plants for the best results. Reflectors and hoods without glass are preferred (more on that in a second) because glass blocks UV-B light from getting to your plants.

Learn more about Ceramic Metal Halide (aka LEC) grow lights

Light Emitting Ceramic (LEC)

Despite the somewhat confusing name, this type of grow light has nothing to do with LEDs!

“LEC” is a brand name (trademark) for a specific model of Ceramic Metal Halide grow light by the company Sun System. LEC stands for “Light Emitting Ceramic” and is a marketing term, not a new type of technology.

That’s why the term “LEC” is often used interchangeably with “CMH” in online grow light listings.

However, the form factor of the 315 LEC model by Sun System (which uses 315W) seems to be particularly effective at growing cannabis. Part of this may be because it was designed to stay cool even without glass, so plants are able to get full access to all the UV-B rays!

In initial testing, the 315 LEC grow light yields about 4-9 ounces per harvest on average, but some growers have written in and reportedly yielded much more! Please contact us if you want to share your results with LEC grow lights and possibly get featured on the website!

Learn More About LEC Grow Lights!

Increased trichome production under LEC Grow Lights

Magnetic Induction Grow Light

A Magnetic Induction grow light is basically an improved fluorescent grow light. Instead of using a filament, it uses induction to power the light. This causes the bulbs to last significantly longer than a regular fluorescent light because the filament doesn’t burn out over time.

They come in bigger sizes than regular fluorescents, but otherwise get similar yields considering the amount of electricity used. They definitely can’t compete with the more powerful lights!

Although Magnetic Induction grow lights actually work pretty well for growing cannabis, I don’t really recommend them because I believe they cost too much (and use too much electricity) for the yields you get. You will get better bang for your buck with many of the other types of grow lights!

Learn more about Magnetic Induction grow lights

Plasma Induction Grow Light

Plasma grow lights also use induction technology, so you know the bulbs will last a long time. However, most Plasma lights on the market today are are obscenely expensive!

Instead of mimicking fluorescents, this type of induction light uses microwave radiation and excited sulfur plasma to generate light. This produces a greenish white light that looks beautiful to people, but unfortunately doesn’t work that great for growing cannabis.

Even worse, Plasma grow lights cause RFI interference which can alert someone to your grow! For security reasons alone, I highly recommend avoiding Plasma Induction grow lights Basically any other type of grow light is better!

Learn more about Plasma Induction grow lights

So how do these compare to more “traditional” grow lights? Let’s do a quick breakdown…

 

More “Traditional” Grow Lights

Fluorescent Grow Lights (CFLs & T5s)

This group includes CFLs and T5s and is one of the most common types of grow light for hobbyist growers of all types of plants. CFLs can be found anywhere, including gas stations, and T5s can be found at most stores with a garden section (like Home Depot or Walmart).

Outside the cannabis world, fluorescents are often used for starting seedlings, as well as for growing various flowers, herbs and vegetables. They are a little underpowered for growing marijuana, but offer a great spectrum and can actually get some pretty decent results when combined with diligent plant training.

Learn more about growing cannabis with CFLs

Learn more about T5 grow lights

Metal Halide

A Metal Halide (MH) is a very powerful grow light that gives off a bluish white light. It is often used for the cannabis vegetative stage and produces fast, healthy green vegetative growth.

The Metal Halide is Part 1 of the “golden standard” of grow lights, and is the most common grow light used by commercial growers in the vegetative stage.

Learn more about Metal Halide grow lights

High Pressure Sodium (HPS)

A High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamp is a very powerful grow light that gives off a harsh yellow light. It is often used during the cannabis flowering stage because its particular light spectrum stimulates bud production. HPS is also one of the most efficient types of grow lights available on the market, and produces amazing bud growth!

Because of these factors, HPS lights get some of the best cannabis yields of any grow light. That’s why HPS is Part 2 of the “golden standard” of grow lights!

Learn more about High Pressure Sodium grow lights

A combination of Metal Halide and HPS grow lights has been used by commercial growers for decades, and even though new types of light are on the market, MH/HPS are still by far the most common type of grow light for those looking to yield large amounts of bud. But that may change over the next few years as grow light technology improves!
​

LED Grow Light

You’ve probably seen these before! An LED lamp is basically a panel containing a bunch of tiny LED diodes. Although there are some full spectrum LED grow lights these days, the light from most LED models usually looks purple.

Although the LEDs from 10 years ago weren’t that great for growing marijuana, modern LED grow lights generally get yields almost as good as HPS grow lights!

Learn more about using LED grow lights for growing cannabis

Quick Summary of Today’s Article

• Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH) – Improved version of a Metal Halide grow light that uses a ceramic arc tube, which makes it more efficient. CMH grow lights can be used in both the vegetative and flowering stage.
• LEC Grow Light – LEC stands for “Light Emitting Ceramic” and refers to a Ceramic Metal Halide grow light produced by the company Sun System. In other words, “LEC” is a marketing name for a CMH light in a specific fixture, not a new type of grow light technology.
• Magnetic Induction – Basically a big, glorified fluorescent light. Although they last a long time and work well for growing cannabis, they aren’t much more efficient than regular fluorescent grow lights.
• Plasma Induction – An induction light that produces a greenish light that looks nice but doesn’t get great results with growing cannabis. Even worse, they create RFI interference which is not good for security! Avoid Plasma Induction lights! Basically any other type of grow light is better for growing cannabis indoors.

Compare to More Traditional Grow Lights

• Fluorescents (CFls & T5s) – Cheap to get started, very effective growing spectrum, but a little underpowered
• Metal Halide (MH) – Powerful light most commonly used for the vegetative stage
• High Pressure Sodium (HPS) – Powerful light most commonly used for the flowering stage. HPS lights are considered to have some of the best yields of any grow light. Together, MH and HPS are currently the most popular grow lights used by commercial growers.
• LED Grow Light – These light panels house several small LED diodes and usually produce purple light (though some newer LEDs produce white light). The technology for LEDs has been improving quite a bit over the last decade, and they now get yields that are nearly as high as HPS grow lights.

I hope that helps clear up some of the confusion about all the different types of cannabis grow lights! But if you’re interested in learning more, read an even more detailed breakdown of cannabis grow lights!

 

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Jump to…

More About Cannabis Grow Lights!

How Long Does it Take to Grow Cannabis?

10-Step Guide to Getting Started Growing Cannabis

How to fix 99% of cannabis plant problems

 

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The post LEC vs Induction vs Plasma Grow Lights: What’s the Difference? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> https://www.growweedeasy.com/do-i-need-side-lighting?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=do-i-need-side-lighting Fri, 12 Aug 2016 19:39:15 +0000 https://www.growweedeasy.com/newsletter_issue/do-my-cannabis-plants-need-side-lighting/ by Nebula Haze

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Table of Contents

Is Side Lighting Worth It?

Side Lighting vs Supplemental Lighting

When Is Side Lighting a Good Idea?

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The post Do My Cannabis Plants Need Side Lighting? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> by Nebula Haze

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Table of Contents

Is Side Lighting Worth It?

Side Lighting vs Supplemental Lighting

When Is Side Lighting a Good Idea?

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Is Side or Supplemental Lighting Worth It For Cannabis Growers?

When growing a cannabis plant indoors, light usually comes from a grow light located at the top of the grow space. This means all the light is beaming down on the plant from above.

Most grow lights point light straight down at the plants

You may have noticed that by harvest time, buds close to the grow light are often the biggest. Should you give more light from the sides to increase the size of lower buds?

Does it make sense to add side lighting indoors? Can you copy the sun and give light from the sides to increase yields?

 

Is Side Lighting Worth It for Cannabis Plants?

So is side lighting worth it for indoor cannabis growers? The answer is unsatisfactory…

Maybe…

Side lighting can be helpful in certain situations, but it’s often unnecessary and may reduce yields/watt compared to adding light from above. Why is that?

It has to do with how cannabis plants respond to their environment. Although buds tend to grow bigger with more light, cannabis plants still favor the upper buds. A cannabis plant can “tell” which buds are at the top of the plant and puts more energy into these “high value” buds even when everything else is equal.

Even when cannabis gets the same amount of light from top to bottom, like with these old-fashioned Phototrons, the top buds are still bigger. That’s just how cannabis plants roll 🙂

Pic by magiccannabus

Cannabis plants naturally put the most energy into upper buds even when the plant is getting tons of light from the sides. Growers have competing theories about exactly why. Perhaps the top buds are most likely to get pollinated by the wind in nature.

To take advantage of this natural tendency, indoor growers often train plants to produce many top buds near the light (as opposed to adding side lighting). This ends up getting you more “bang for your buck” because you’ll get better yields/watt with free plant training than you would with side lighting.

Because upper buds grow the biggest, growers often train their plants to grow bud sites on a flat, table-top shaped canopy. This puts more bud sites at the top of the plant close to the grow light.

Growing “wide” cannabis plants with light on top results in better yields/watt than growing “tall” plants with the same amount of light on the sides

Side Lighting vs Supplemental Lighting

• Side Lighting means specifically targeting the sides of the plant with light to try to increase bud size on the sides.
• Supplemental Lighting means you’re trying to increase overall light levels or change the light spectrum. Supplemental lighting isn’t about giving light from the sides; in fact, generally supplemental lighting is given from above the plant because that gives you more bang for your buck.

Supplemental lighting is common in greenhouses. If you have a spot in your yard that only gets good direct light for a few hours a day, or if you have a lot of cloudy weather at your location, you could supplement with extra light from a grow light while still taking advantage of the free light you’re getting from the sun.

Example of a Greenhouse Supplemented by LED Grow Lights to Increase Yields (A Light Mover Moves Grow Lights Back and Forth)

pic by Heliospectra AB

Another common reason growers use supplemental lighting is to alter the light spectrum, or “color” of the light. Each light spectrum affects how your plant grows and some growers are using the power of LED grow lights (which allow you to choose the exact spectrum) to supplement either outdoor light or the light of other grow lights like HPS. These days it’s pretty common to see growers use LED grow lights to achieve a specific spectrum; it’s also common to see growers combine their LED panel with an HPS grow light to help get better yields and increased flower production.

This grower added red-heavy LED grow lights to help encourage flowering

Supplemental lighting can be a great choice in a lot of situations, but it’s not exactly the same as side lighting, which tends to be less useful most of the time.

 

When Is Side Lighting a Good idea?

Side lighting can be a good idea with fluorescent grow lights like CFLs and possibly T5 grow lights with untrained plants. This is because these types of light don’t reach far down into the plant. In fact, the light from fluorescents is so weak that it’s only good for a few inches. By the time a plant is more than a foot away the light is pretty much useless as far as bud fattening is concerned. Because of these constraints, side lighting can help make sure all buds are within a few inches of a light bulb.

Sometimes side lighting can help with fluorescent lights like CFLs, especially on an untrained plant where most of the buds are far from the top of the plant

However, if you train your cannabis plant to grow short and flat you can increase your yields with the same amount of light because you’ll be able to make sure every main bud is located towards the top of the plant while also getting full light levels.

In other words, even with weak grow lights, you’ll get far better yields by growing plants that are wide and flat as opposed to utilizing side lighting.

These buds got really fat even though they were grown under a small T5 grow light because every bud was near the top and close to the light, due to being trained to grow flat along a screen.

When you get to really strong types of grow lights like HPS and LEDs, their light reaches deep down into the plant. This gives you long, thick buds and without any type of side lighting.

To sum it up, it’s good to get plenty of light to your buds near no matter where they’re located on the plant, as buds that are exposed to light and air tend to grow the biggest. But ultimately you’ll get better yields/watt simply by making sure all main buds are located near the top of the plant and shining light directly down on them from above.

Learn how to train plants to grow flat and wide
(and get the best yields possible with your grow lights!)

 

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Ready to learn more? Learn how to increase….

• Yields
• Bud Quality
• THC Levels
• CBD Levels
• Smell/Taste
• Density
• Bonus: What Determines Yields?

 

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The post Do My Cannabis Plants Need Side Lighting? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> https://www.growweedeasy.com/t5-grow-lights-cannabis?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=t5-grow-lights-cannabis Sat, 16 Jul 2016 05:37:18 +0000 https://www.growweedeasy.com/faq/using-t5-grow-lights-for-cannabis/ by Nebula Haze

T5 Grow Lights & Other Fluorescent Tubes

The post Using T5 Grow Lights for Cannabis appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> by Nebula Haze

T5 Grow Lights & Other Fluorescent Tubes

A few years ago, growers usually only used fluorescent tube lighting as a supplemental light for cannabis plants, or for young seedlings and clones only.

In recent years, we've seen the creation of new high-light-output versions of fluorescent grow lights which can actually be used through the entire vegetative stage.

Some growers even use fluroescent grow lights such as the T5 successfully to flower their plants (if the plants are kept short/small enough through growth control methods).

In general, I recommend changing to stronger grow lights like LEDs or HIDs for the flowering stage because they will usually give you double or more yields/watt of electricity. Unless you keep your plants very small, they will need more light to produce buds than a fluorescent light can usually produce. If you're in a dire situation where your plants have grown too big and you can't afford to get a different type of light, you can supplement your fluorescent tubes with additional light, for example you could supplement their light with a few CFL(compact fluorescent light) bulbs wherever you notice any "shadowy" areas. This is only a minor fix – the real fix is to grow very short plants or upgrade to a bigger light for the flowering stage.

Training plants to grow very short will produce the best yields with T5 grow lights

The biggest problem with fluorescent tubing is that the light that they give off is only useful for about a foot or so. That's why they're kept so close to your plants.

T5 grow lights should be kept as close as possible without burning your plants. 

Any part of the plant that is further away then 1-2 feet from the fluorescent grow lights is not getting an optimum amount of light, especially in the flowering stage when plants need a lot of light to produce buds.

With the new high output lights such as the T5, fluorescent lights can be used until the plants are about 24 inches tall, which is just enough to grow a very short plant through to the flowering stage when you control your marijuana plant's growth through the vegetative stage.

The great thing about fluorescent grow lights is that they don't get very hot, and they can usually be kept 1-4 inches from the tops of the plants at all times without having to worry about burning your cannabis leaves or buds.

The other great thing about fluorescent lights is that they are usually relatively low powered and won't make a huge mark on your electricity bill.

There are many different levels of fluorescent grow lights including the T5, the T8 and the T12. I strongly suggest sticking with the T5 style of fluorescent grow lights for cannabis because they give off the most amount of light for the size, and are specifically designed to be able to support taller plants up to 24 inches.

If the temperature is under control they can be kept as close as an inch or two away.

For optimal results, for vegetative growth choose fluorescent light bulbs that are labeled either as "Cool White" or "Cool" colored (also labeled as "6500k" colored).

For flowering, choose bulbs that are "Warm White" or "Soft White" colored (usually labeled as "2500K"  or "3000K").

Example of a ScrOG (Screen of Green) Grow Under a T5. Using a screen can be an effective way to create a flat, table-top shape to take the best advantage of T5 grow lights

However, you can use either type of lights during either stage and still get good results. People also use "Daylight" (5000K) bulbs with success.

If possible, opt for bulbs labeled as "High Output" (HO). This ensures that you're getting the most lumens (light) from your bulbs. But any T5 bulbs will work – hundreds of cannabis growers have the harvests to prove it!

 

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Jump to….

How Much Will Electricity Cost During my Grow?

What Type of Nutrients Work Best?

Stealth Growing: How NOT to Get Caught Growing Weed

Where to Get Seeds 

 

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The post Using T5 Grow Lights for Cannabis appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> https://www.growweedeasy.com/5-secrets-cannabis-heat-control?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=5-secrets-cannabis-heat-control Sat, 09 Apr 2016 03:58:38 +0000 https://www.growweedeasy.com/newsletter_issue/5-secrets-to-controlling-heat-indoors/ by Nebula Haze

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Table of Contents

1. Supplements That Protect Against Heat Damage
2. Environment Hacks
3. Optimize Your Grow Lights
4. Change Your Light Schedule
5. Heat Resistant Strains

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The post 5 Secrets to Controlling Heat Indoors appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> by Nebula Haze

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Table of Contents

1. Supplements That Protect Against Heat Damage
2. Environment Hacks
3. Optimize Your Grow Light
4. Change Your Light Schedule
5. Heat Resistant Strains

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Are your indoor cannabis plants stressed out by the heat? Controlling heat in the grow room is one aspect of growing marijuana indoors that can be difficult for many of us growers. Grow lights provide our plants with lots of life-giving light, but they also get hot, and big grow lights (even some LEDs) can raise the temperature of a room by several degrees.

Quick Heat Stress Tip: Of course, the best thing you can do is control the heat. But if that’s not possible, sea kelp extract can help cannabis plants deal with heat and quickly recover from heat stress (use at 1 tsp/gallon).

Each cannabis strain is a little different and some plants can handle hotter temperatures than others, but most plants start suffering from heat stress when their temperature gets over 85°F / 30°C.

Temperatures above 85°F / 30°C often causes problems, but if it’s not too severe plants may still grow slowly.

Some sensitive cannabis strains from cold climates (most often the short, squat, Indica strains with huge leaves) may start showing heat stress if the temperature rises above 80°F / 27°C. To avoid heat stress, you must keep your grow space below a particular plant’s comfort threshold.

Too much heat, especially over time, can greatly harm or even kill your cannabis plants.

But it’s not just plant growth that benefits from ideal temperatures. Controlling the temperature in the flowering stage has immense benefits to bud quality.

Buds that develop in a good environment reward you with increased density, terpene levels, and overall THC levels/potency.

On the flip side, too much heat harms bud development in the flowering stage by burning off smell/potency, discoloring buds, and causing buds to grow loose or airy.

Developing in heat can make buds look “ugly”.

Heat or light stress can cause a plant to keep making new growth on the parts of the buds that are closest to the light. When you see these top-heavy oddly-shaped “fist” buds, it’s usually the result of heat and/or light stress.

What can you do to protect your cannabis plants from heat damage?

This tutorial will teach you tactics that you can use to control temperature and fix heat problems to produce a plant paradise. You also get tips to help your cannabis plants thrive even if the grow space is getting too hot.

This tutorial shows you how to deal with heat so you grow healthy plants with beautiful potent top-shelf buds.

 

1.) Supplements That Protect Against Heat Damage

Some supplements can help protect your cannabis plants so they are more resistant and/or recover more quickly from heat stress.

However, many different companies offer supplements and it can be confusing to decide which one – if any – is best for your garden.

Try to get supplements and nutrients from the same company

For the most part, there is no best supplement for heat (or anything really). A lot of different supplements will get you to the same place in the end. Because of that, when possible it’s a good idea to choose supplements made by the same company as your nutrients instead of trying to find the “best” supplement.

This is because during the process of creating a complete nutrient lineup, nutrient companies specifically test their supplements to make sure they work together with the nutrients in their lineup nutrients without causing lockout or other unexpected problems.

So if you’re using the General Hydroponics Flora Trio nutrients, for example, it’s much safer for your plants to add supplements by General Hydroponics if possible. If you were using Botanicare nutrients you’d look at the supplements that Botanicare carries, etc. Learn about different types of nutrients for growing cannabis.

Use supplements to help protect your plants from heat damage if temperatures are rising too high

Seaweed Kelp Extract

One of the best inoculants against heat stress is a surprising gift from the ocean; seaweed! As a bonus it contains small amounts of trace nutrients and minerals. Many different nutrient companies use seaweed kelp extract as part of their supplement lineup, which means you have a lot of choices to choose from if you want to incorporate seaweed into your grow.

A few companies offer seaweed extract by itself, like organic Bloom City Liquid Seaweed. Liquid Kelp is a lovely choice for those growing outdoors or in super soil as they contribute to a healthy soil web matrix. Suitable for soil growers who want to avoid using mineral-based nutrients, but can also be used in coco or hydro (just make sure it doesn’t clog any nozzles).

Pure sea kelp extract is a great organic heat stress supplement. Use at 1 tsp/gallon.

If your nutrient company doesn’t offer a specific Sea Kelp product, you can almost always find sea kelp extract as an ingredient in one or many of their supplements. For example, General Hydroponics has a great all-in-one supplement called Floralicious Plus that contains several ingredients that work together to not only protect your plant against heat with seaweed extract, but can help it to produce better in other situations, too.

Or if you’re growing with Fox Farms nutrients, their Kelp Me Kelp You supplement not only has seaweed but also other ingredients that can make cannabis plants more hardy. So a great marijuana supplement for heat stress.

When starting out with supplements, it’s often best to start with something that matches your base nutrients and has sea kelp extract as an ingredient, like Floralicious Plus by General Hydroponics.

Silica Supplement

Supplementing your plants with extra silica (listed on the label of supplements as Potassium silicate) is not usually needed for healthy plant growth. There is almost always some amount of silica available, and plants don’t need a whole lot of silica to survive.

That means if your plants aren’t stricken with a (super rare) silica deficiency and are living in a great environment, adding extra silica might not give you tangible benefits. However, if your cannabis plants are under specific types of stress or are generally living in adverse conditions, extra silica can make life easier for your plant.

Silica (listed as Potassium silicate ) helps make plants more resistant to heat. Examples: General Hydroponics Armor Si and Dyna-Gro Pro-Tekt. It’s especially helpful to give extra Silica while your plants are still growing stems and leaves, as the silica gets incorporated into the cell walls.

The most popular silica supplement for marijuana plants may be Bloom City Silica Boost. (Use at 1 tsp/gallon, stop several weeks before harvest)

Plant roots with access to silica (Si) happily drink it up and the silica gets incorporated into plant cells, increasing the strength of individual cell walls. These “armored” cells help improve the hardiness, vigor, and structure of the plant. Kind of like sending your plants to the gym.

Benefits of Silica Supplements

• Plants supplemented with silica are generally more resistant to heat or cold stress as well as some types of disease.
• Silica increases the microscopic “abrasiveness” of leaves, which can act as a deterrent to pests and herbivores (like deer). In fact, if you’ve ever been given a paper cut by a piece of grass, you can thank silica for making those “sharp” edges.
• Silica helps plants get the nutrients they need. Silica is effective at making phosphorus more available to the plant, which can be helpful in the flowering stage when the plant is going through phosphorus at a much higher rate due to the process of making buds.
• Silica can also help the plant roots better absorb micronutrients (including boron, copper, iron, manganese and zinc) while making it harder for the plant to absorb certain toxic substances like aluminum and salt/sodium.

So again, silica won’t magically increase your plant growth, but it can help make up for some problems with the environment. Because of this, nearly all professional nutrient companies carry a quality silica supplement as part of their lineup.

I like Armor Si by General Hydroponics, but again that’s because they make my base nutrients. There is a silica supplement available from almost every major nutrient company out there and you’re least likely to run into problems if you go with the company that matches your nutrients.

Armor Si by General Hydroponics is an excellent silica supplement, especially if the rest of your nutrients are from General Hydroponics.

Note: Silica supplements (or more specifically, their main ingredient Potassium silicate) will raise the pH of your water, so you may need to use a little bit extra PH Down. Learn more about pH.

Root Health Supplement (Essential for Hydroponic Growing in Heat)

Not only does heat bother your plants above ground, but the roots may also become diseased. When growing cannabis hydroponically (and to a lesser extent when growing in soil or coco) it’s very easy for your roots to start running into problems like root rot when the temperature starts getting too high.

Cannabis plants in hydroponic systems are prone to root rot if you don’t give them a root supplement. Especially if it’s hot!

Full Tutorial – How to Get Rid of Root Rot

The types of microorganisms that attack roots thrive in hot, wet conditions without much oxygen. Unfortunately, in hydroponics your water can’t hold as much dissolved oxygen when it’s hot, and dissolved oxygen is one of the best ways to fight off root disease.

So it’s sort of a double-whammy for plants grown hydroponically when it gets too hot in the grow room: they’re getting less oxygen AND becoming more vulnerable to root rot.

Besides using an air pump with large air stones to create lots of bubbles in your reservoir (learn more about growing cannabis hydroponically), the best thing you can do to keep roots healthy is control the heat.

Unfortunately, as you know, controlling the heat is often easier said than done.

There are some products that are made up of beneficial bacteria and other microorganisms that specifically fight root rot. These work by out-competing the bad microorganisms in your water reservoir and populating your reservoir with friendly ones that actually help your roots.

Drooping is often the first sign your plants are suffering from root rot

Plants with root rot may also start getting what looks like various nutrient deficiencies, but the true cause is actually the unhealthy roots

 

My product of choice for fighting root rot is Hydroguard by Botanicare. Normally I only use nutrients and supplements by General Hydroponics but in my experience, this product has been the best for fighting root rot in DWC / hydro, so I use it specifically. I’m definitely not saying it’s the best root supplement out there, but it’s the best one I’ve ever used and I want to recommend something I know for sure will work. It doesn’t change the pH of the water, and it doesn’t interact with other supplements. I’ve seen it actually fight root rot directly, even when it’s hot, and I never go a grow without it.

I highly recommend Hydroguard as a root supplement for any hydroponic grower struggling with heat or root rot

I’ll be honest, I grow hydroponically in San Diego, and my grow room is too hot during the summer. I used to suffer from root rot but as long as I use 1 teaspoon per gallon of this supplement in my reservoir, I see white, healthy roots even in the heat.

I realize this isn’t a direct method to combat heat; rather, it’s a way to help deal with the consequences of too-high heat when it can’t be controlled. It’s best to control the heat in your grow area, but if that’s impossible Hydroguard will help keep your roots healthy in DWC / Hydro! It’s cheap and a little bit goes a long way. A 1-quart bottle will last you more than one grow!

 

2.) Environment Hacks

Add CO2 to the Air

Plants can easily survive in temps up to 95°F (35°C) when the air is being supplemented with extra CO2. However, for CO2 to make a difference to your plants, you need relatively strong grow lights (i.e. HPS, LEC, or big LEDs). But for those with strong grow lights, adding extra CO2 can result in faster growth as well as making it so plants can better handle the heat.

Learn how to add CO2 to your grow

Choose Soil or Coco (Hand-Watered Grow) Over DWC/Hydro

Growing cannabis hydroponically can give you some of the fastest growth rates of any style of growing, but as mentioned earlier, hydro does not really play well with hot temperatures because too much heat tends to trigger root problems and slower growth.

We talked about supplements that help prevent root rot for hydroponic plants, but the next step is to cut out the water reservoir altogether and go for a hand-watered grow. That’s because hand-watered plants are inherently much more resistant to high temperatures. Not only are the roots relatively safe from the heat (unlike in hydro) but the growing medium can hold a lot of oxygen no matter what the temperature (a lack of oxygen at the roots causes major problems in hydro).

Plants grown in containers or in the ground tend to be more resistant to heat compared to hydro.

Soil in regular containers is probably the most common way to grow cannabis indoors, and that combo works great.

But when it comes to growing in hot temps, coco coir may be a better choice than soil. In particular, coco coir inherently has properties and hormones that encourage healthy root growth and promote hardiness against heat.

Soil is a good choice, but coco coir is even better when it comes to heat.

Use Smart Pots or Air Pots (instead of hard-sided pots) 

Choose a Smart Pot (fabric pot) or Air Pruning Pot (plastic pot covered in holes) to let air in and help cannabis plants with the heat. These pots help increase evaporation from the sides of the root ball, which not only reduces the chance of overwatering but also helps keep roots healthy and heat-resistant by providing plenty of oxygen from the sides.

Use Smart Pots (fabric pots) instead of regular containers as further protection against heat. These coco-grown plants were regularly exposed to temps that crept up over 85°F (30°C), and although that wasn’t ideal they made it to harvest just fine.

Air pruning pots are plastic but have holes in the sides, which accomplishes the same thing as fabric pots (gets more air to the roots) and makes them more heat-resistant.

Growing cannabis with coco coir in fabric pots is one of the best ways to grow if you want your plants to be able to resist the heat.

Keep Roots Cool

Your plant is much more resistant to heat if the roots don’t cook too, whether you’re growing in a pot or in a hydroponic reservoir. If you can find a way to help keep the roots around 70°F (21°C), your plant will suffer less and recover more quickly from a hot spell.

Watering your plant regularly when it’s hot will keep roots from drying out and help them stay cool. If the sides of the pots are getting hot from the grow light, put your potted plant inside a bigger pot (or find some other way to block the pot from direct light. This can help keep roots significantly cooler.

If the sides of pots are getting hot from the light, put the whole plant in a bigger pot to create an air gap and keep the roots out of direct light

Use Fan Placement to Reduce Electricity & Bring Down Temps

Air conditioners can easily control the heat in any room but they use a lot of electricity, which can get expensive really fast! Unfortunately, a lot of growers are using an AC (or just dealing with too much heat) when they could actually reconfigure their fans to be able to maintain the right temps without needing an AC at all.

Proper fan placement can also help save costs because if you use fans more effectively you can use less of them. A lot of fans can use a surprising amount of energy that can really add up over time. That means you don’t want to fill your grow space with tons of fans if you don’t need to.

Being smart about fan placement and investing in electrically efficient fans can save you a lot of money. 

Exhaust Fans

The most effective way to control heat is to use an exhaust fan to vent hot air out of the grow space. Make sure your exhaust fan is set up to make sure you have the most cooling power. Here are some tips:

• Grow space is mostly sealed – Your grow space should be mostly sealed for an effective exhaust system, with just ports for air to come in near the bottom of the grow space, and a port for your exhaust fan to blow air out from near the top of the grow space. I highly recommend getting a grow tent for smaller grows to make this super cheap and easy. A grow tent with a strong exhaust fan creates a breezy plant environment that may not even need many other fans. As an added bonus, a grow tent makes it easy to control smells with a carbon filter so no one can smell your plants even in the same room.
• Strong exhaust fan – Your exhaust fan should be strong enough for the size of your space or tent. Avoid cheap ducting fans as they don’t move enough air to cool your grow light. Learn more about choosing the right exhaust fan.
• Vent air from top of grow space – Heat rises to the top of your grow tent/area, so make sure your exhaust fan is located at the top of the tent pointing out.
• Intake holes – You want holes to intake air, about 4x the size of your exhaust hole if possible. When the intake hole is too small it’s hard on your fan, the exhaust won’t be able to vent as much hot air. With grow tents, the intake ports are already built-in so you just leave them open so air can get through.
• Input fresh, cool air – The intake hole should have direct access to cool, fresh air. The inside of the grow space is always going to be at least a few degrees above the temperature of the intake air, so if the intake air isn’t cool the grow space will be even hotter. Cool air stays lower to the ground, so make sure your intake ports are as close to the floor as possible.

Learn more about setting up exhaust system.

Ducting

Keep all ducting as straight and short as possible. You want a short direct line to the window so that hot air is immediately vented outside. Try to avoid using anything in the window that restricts airflow. Though it’s often necessary to use some type of screen to make sure no one can see in, try to do the best you can to obstruct airflow as little as possible. How can I set up an exhaust that looks normal from outside?

Try to keep any ducting as short and straight as possible.

Window Fan

It may seem simple, but a window fan can be surprisingly effective at venting some of the heat if the grow light is raising the overall temperature of your room. In some cases, a window fan can cool your room by several degrees, which can help keep your plants cool. I sometimes call this a “No-Ducting Exhaust” but honestly it’s more like a ‘poor man’s exhaust’ if this is the only thing you’re doing to vent out heat. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t help,

If grow lights are raising the temperature of your room, a window fan can help vent heat and cool the room down by a few degrees

In order for a window fan to cool a room most effectively, there needs to be some sort of “intake” for cool air to get in. It’s like a bigger version of an exhaust system. A separate open window in the same room is perfect, though an open door can also help, especially if there’s an open window somewhere in the house. However, even in a completely closed room, a window fan can help keep temps down somewhat in the room because it helps vent out heat from the grow light. Although blowing air out is often the most effective, if the air outside is really cool sometimes it helps to blow air in. Experimentation is good.

Clip-On Fans

Small fans help ensure there is a gentle breeze around your plants and buds. This helps plants grow faster, helps buds develop more dense/tight, and reduces the chance of issues like white powdery mildew or bud rot.

Some specialty clip-on-fans are designed specifically to attach to the poles of a grow tent.

Oscillating Fans

Oscillating fans are perfect for reducing “hot spots” that form in the grow space. Certain grow lights can cause major hot spots. If it’s most hot directly under the light, using fans to blow that heat away from your plants can make a huge difference in how much heat they experience.

In addition to oscillating fans, using a strong-enough exhaust fan with a big intake hole helps keep everything moving so hot spots don’t form. In fact, a smallish grow tent with a good exhaust fan may not even need extra fans because the exhaust fan itself will make the entire tent breezy.

Just be aware that adding oscillating fans doesn’t bring down the overall temperature in the tent. Fans only move air around. So if the entire grow space is already hot, adding more fans isn’t going to help.

Learn more about how to effectively set up oscillating fans in the grow room.

 

3.) Optimize Your Grow Light 

There are several ways you can optimize your grow lights, up to and including upgrading to better ones.

Get the Right Size Grow Light (a smaller grow light doesn’t necessarily mean lower yields!)

Grow lights that are optimized for your size grow space tend to reduce problems with heat. Too much heat hurts yields by making plants grow poorly. On top of that, too much light (light stress) can prevent buds from fattening and make plants more sensitive to heat.  That means having the right size light for your space will help prevent the space from overheating. When buying a grow light, many manufacturers list which size space the particular grow light is optimized for (aka 2’x4′ or 4’x4′). Try to match the right size grow light to your space.

In some cases, getting a smaller light can actually increase yields, especially if the heat is out of control with your current light.

 If you’re struggling with heat and plants are constantly heat stressed, consider stepping down the light. These plants grew better after the grower turned down the power.

These plants were also getting way too hot. The grower started getting better yields when they took one of the LED panels out of the space.

Side note: I’ve found that older and “blurple” colored LED lights tend to put out far more heat than modern LED panels. Buds also don’t fatten as well under them.

Avoid blurple LEDs for growing weed!

Use an LED Grow Light

When it comes to heat control, LEDs are hands-down the best cannabis grow light. As of 2025, multiple newer LED grow lights have proven to be incredible at growing cannabis. These modern LEDs have been developed using real cannabis plants and live up to the LED hype, producing amazing yields and beautiful bud quality.

In my experience, nearly all newer LEDs run cooler per watt than other grow lights like HPS, or CMH/LEC.

On top of the fact that LEDs produce less heat compared to other lights, cannabis plants under LEDs typically can stand higher temperatures. So LEDs give you a light that puts off less heat and plants that can stand more heat. If heat is a concern, you want to go with LEDs.

Note: LEDs perform poorly in the cold. If you deal with cold in the grow space, HPS or CMH/LEC may be a better choice since they produce more heat and plants can stand cooler temperatures under them.

There are a lot of LEDs to choose from and the sheer number of options can be overwhelming. If you’re interested in getting your first LED and aren’t sure which one to get, Spider Farmer brand LEDs are a good mix of quality and price. They get a good rate of growth in the vegetative stage and better yields/bud quality than many LEDs in the same price range. I recommend avoiding generic LEDs (like you would buy from Alibaba) because they usually get hotter than expected for the wattage and often produce poor yields or bud quality.

The Spider Farmer SF-2000 LED grow light uses 200W of electricity and produces relatively little heat.

In my most recent grow, the Spider Farmer SF-2000 produced over 10 oz in a 2’x4′ grow tent, or over 1.5 grams/watt. The plants grew quickly and well. I got the buds lab tested and it produced more terpenes and THC than the other LEDs I tested at the same time. A great choice for under $200.

My friend used the Spider Farmer SF-1000 (100W and costs $90) in a 2’x2′ grow tent and produced several ounces. This light can be kept 8″ (20 cm) away or even closer for some plants, which makes it effective for small spaces.

Learn about other popular LED companies for growing cannabis.

Reduce Power

Many LEDs and other types of grow lights are “dimmable” which means they have different power settings that allow you to reduce the power of your light. For example, you might be able to set your grow light to 75% or 50% power. In these modes, your grow light will use less power and give off less light/heat. If there’s a heat wave coming up, it might be helpful to turn down the power until things cool down.

Raise Grow Lights

Raising your lights tends to help bring down the temperature experienced by the plants, especially with big fluorescent lights, CMH/LEC, and MH/HPS grow lights. Getting a lot of light can make plants more likely to suffer from heat, so another bonus of moving your lights further away can help them be more heat-resistant.

Note: If I need to raise my grow light higher than the normal hanger allows, I use zip ties to attach the grow light to the top of the tent. However, make sure to leave at least a little air gap so you don’t have a hot lamp touching the top surface of the tent directly (this can be a fire hazard).

Raise grow lights (if possible) when the plants are getting too hot to help reduce the heat they experience and especially reduce heat on developing buds. Sometimes a few inches can make a difference.

Learn more about how far away to keep grow lights from your plants.

 

4.) Change Your Light Schedule

Opt for 18/6 Light Schedule in the Vegetative Stage

Many growers give their plants 24 hours of light a day in the vegetative stage to produce the fastest growth. Yet turning the grow light off for several hours each day helps keep the temperature down, especially if lights go off during the hottest part of the day. The 18/6 light schedule is suitable for all plants in the vegetative stage, and for auto-flowering strains from seed to harvest.

Plug your grow light in an electrical timer to control the light schedule

Side Note: Although plants do grow faster if they’re getting 24 hours of light a day, you get diminishing returns after 18 hours of light a day. Cannabis plants benefit from having a night stage, and that helps make up for the lack of extra light. The difference in growth between 18/6 and 24/0 isn’t very noticeable (the increase in growth may not justify the extra electricity and heat).

Learn more about cannabis light schedules here.

Set Your Dark Period for the Hottest Part of the Day

This is a super simple solution to help control the heat for growers who get high temperatures in the middle of the day. User your timer to set your “Off” time to happen during the hottest hours of the day and you’re done. As long as you make sure plants don’t get light during their dark period, they won’t realize their “day” is during your night.

 

5.) Start with a Heat-Resistant Strain

Some strains are inherently more resistant to heat than others. For example, strains that originated from the equatorial region, including many Sativa and Haze strains, can resist much higher temperatures than strains that originated in colder regions, such as many Indica strains.

• Tall strains with thin leaves tend to be relatively heat-resistant
• Short, bushy strains with fat leaves tend to be more sensitive to heat
• Check the strain description to see if it mentions anything about temperature

Here are some strains that are heat resistant, easy to grow, and produce great effects.

Photoperiod (Traditional) Strains

White Widow

• Legendary strain
• Buds produce smooth relaxing effects that are great for enjoying with friends
• Overall easy-to-grow and resistant to heat and mold
• Has a surprisingly short flowering stage (8-9 weeks) for a Sativa-dominant strain, and doesn’t get too tall
• Great yields even if you mess up a little
• Get White Widow from Seed Supreme (ships from USA)

White Widow is a legend!

Purple Thai

• Thrives in higher heat and humidity than most strains
• Grows tall and stretchy so you need to train the plant to reduce the height (or it may grow into your light)
• Pretty potent at 22% THC but still more of a “head high” (it may even be suitable for day use for high-tolerance people)
• Get Purple Thai from Seed Supreme

Purple Thai laughs in the face of heat!

Afghan

• In addition to doing well in the heat, this strain is overall easy-to-grow and resistant to pests and mold
• Buds produce very heavy effects (a “brain melter”)
• Great yields and bud quality
• Get these Afghan genetics.

This Afghan plant thrived in burning hot temperatures during a heat wave.

Sour Diesel

• Withstands heat and light better than most strains I’ve grown
• Strong fast plants that tend to be stretchy/tall (not the best choice for small spaces)
• Buds are consistently potent and high quality
• Takes 12 weeks in the flowering stage but rewards with huge yields
• Get these Sour Diesel genetics.

Sour Diesel is the plant on the left. It produced over 9 ounces on one plant.

This bud from that Sour Diesel plant grew within 8″ (20cm) of a 600W grow light in the middle of a heatwave. The plant on the right suffered tons of damage despite being further away. On the other hand, the Sour Diesel buds came out huge and potent with a little heat foxtailing on top buds that were closest to the grow light.

 

Auto-Flowering Strains

The Ruderalis hemp ancestor of all auto-flowering strains originated in the frigid cold climate of northern Siberia. These plant’s developed the auto-flowering trait so they could complete their whole life cycle during 2-month Arctic summer. Unlike photoperiod plants, these plants didn’t have the luxury to wait until the sun told them winter was coming. They had to complete their whole life as fast as possible. As a result of the cold climate of their ancestors, auto-flowering strains tend to be sensitive to heat. However, some breeders have bred out the trait by crossing with heat-tolerant strains. The following is an example of a heat-resistant auto-flowering strain that also produces great buds.

Amnesia Kush Auto

• Gets a bit tall, but usually not too bad since it’s an autoflowering strain
• Excellent “day” buds with a pleasant mental buzz
• Get Amnesia Kush Auto from Seed Supreme (ships from USA)

Get Amnesia Kush Auto for your garden!

Auto Blackberry Kush

• Beginner-friendly
• Resistant to heat as well as plant stress in general
• Incredible fruity smell
• “Body stone” that keeps you glued to the couch
• Get these Auto Blackberry Kush genetics.

An Auto Blackberry Kush plant in a DIY setup

Dos Si Dos Auto

• Easy to grow (can handle some mistakes)
• Smooth, relaxing effects
• Above-average yields
• Buds smell of citrus with hints of cake or cookies
• Get these Dos Si Dos Auto genetics

Dos Si Dos auto by Barney’s Farm is known for its yields, bud quality, and fast growth.

 

If you have experience with a great heat-resistant cannabis strain, please contact us!

 

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Most importantly, take extra good care of heat-stressed plants – try to baby them as best you can!

 

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Jump to…

Growing Cannabis with Super Soil

How to Use Coco Coir as a Growing Medium

Top-Fed DWC (Bubbleponics) Tutorial

How do I produce top-shelf buds every time?

Where can I get seeds?

 

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]]> https://www.growweedeasy.com/link-guide-growing-cannabis?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=link-guide-growing-cannabis Mon, 01 Feb 2016 03:08:57 +0000 https://www.growweedeasy.com/faq/link-guide-to-growing-cannabis-tutorials/ ...lights Environment Create the Perfect Growing Environment Temperature Tutorial 5 Secrets to Heat Control Control Humidity for Better Buds How to Use Reflective Walls to Increase Yields Indoors How to...

The post Link Guide to Growing Cannabis Tutorials appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> by Nebula Haze

In addition to the search bar, this link guide helps you navigate through the Grow Weed Easy website. Learn about growing topics you won’t find anywhere else! This is a shortened list of all our cannabis growing tutorials, as the website has over 500 articles and tutorials!

Full List of EVERYTHING on GWE  ← Over 500 Articles & Growing Tutorials!

Start Here – Beginner Grow Guides

• Complete Beginner’s Guide
• How do I start growing my own weed indoors? (get help choosing your setup)
• How to Grow Weed in 10 Steps
• Simplest Cannabis Grow Guide Ever!
• How Long Does It Take to Grow Weed? (Marijuana Growth Timeline)
• 3 Steps from Beginner to Legendary Grower
• Complete New Grower’s Shopping List

Cannabis Life Stages

• Germination
• Vegetative Stage (Getting Bigger)
• Flowering Stage (Making Buds)
• Harvest

Choosing…

• Best Type of Nutrients
• Choosing the Best Grow Light
• Soil vs Hydro
• How Many Plants Should I Grow?
• What Part of the House Should I Grow In?
• What Setup Should I Get?
• Best Strains for Beginners
• Where to Get Seeds (including the U.S.)

Common New Grower Topics

• How Much Will Electricity Cost?
• Stealth Growing: How NOT to Get Caught Growing Weed
• What Equipment Do I Need?
• Germinate Your Seeds
• 7 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I First Started Growing Weed
• How to Save Money When Growing Weed
• How to Store Weed Properly (so it never loses smell or potency!)
• Ask Questions & Get Answers From Real Growers! (In Our Free Growing Community)
• Cannabis Grower’s Glossary

Problems & Symptoms

• Cannabis Problems Guide
  • How to Help Yellow Seedlings
  • How to Fix Yellow Cannabis Leaves
  • How to Fix Curling and Clawing Cannabis Leaves
  • What Causes Dry or Crispy Leaves?
  • What Causes Brown Spots on Cannabis Leaves?
  • What Causes Bananas (“Nanners”) on Cannabis Buds?
  • Is This Nutrient Burn on My Marijuana Plant?
  • What causes red stems in cannabis plants?
• Diagnose Your Sick Plant
• Bugs & Other Cannabis Pests
• How to Prevent Nutrient Deficiencies
  • Which Nutrient Deficiencies are Caused by pH? (picture guide)
  • How to Stop Flowering Stage Nutrient Deficiencies
• 7 Reasons Why Cannabis Plants Grow Slow
• 5-Step Remedy That Fixes 99% of Grow Problems
• All-Natural Pesticides – Safe Up to Harvest!

Plant Training (Indoor Tricks for Bigger Yields)

• Simplest Plant Training Guide Ever!
• How to Control Height of Indoor Cannabis Plants
• Complete Plant Training Guide
• Breakdown of Techniques​
  • Low Stress Training (LST) Tutorial
  • Topping vs FIMing Tutorial
  • LBH’s Famous ScrOG Tutorial
  • Supercropping: Magic Technique to Control Cannabis Plant Height
  • Sea of Green (SoG) Tutorial
  • 12-12 from Seed – Flowering Plants Early
  • Nebula’s Manifold Tutorial
  • How to Manifold Clones
  • Nebula’s Bud-Based Defoliation Tutorial
  • Alternate Defoliation Tutorial ​
  • What is Re-Vegging / Monstercropping?
• How Can I Train an Auto-Flowering Plant?
• 7 Unfortunate Plant Training Mistakes

Grow Mediums

• What’s the Best Growing Medium?
• Soil vs Coco vs Hydro
• Basic Soil Guide
• Organic Soil Compost Guide (Super Soil) – Just Add Water!
• Coco Coir Guide
  • Coco Coir: The Most Flexible Cannabis Grow Medium
• Hydro/DWC/Bubbleponics Guide
• “True” Organic Growing vs Just Using Organic Nutrients
• Can You Use Miracle-Gro?

Nutrients

• Which Nutrients Are Best For Growing Cannabis?
• Soil Nutrients
• Coco Coir Nutrients
• Hydroponic Nutrients

Grow Lights

• 5 Best LED Grow Lights 2025 (Yields, Speed, & Bud Quality)
• Compare Types of Cannabis Grow Lights
  • Fluorescents (T5s) – Good for Seedlings Only (not powerful enough to produce potent buds or big yields)
  • CFLs (Spiral Bulbs) – Not Recommended (LEDs are much better)
  • LED Grow Lights – Recommended for Most Home Growers
  • MH/HPS Grow Lights – Good Alternative to LEDs, But Run Much Hotter
  • CMH / LEC Grow Lights – Good Alternative to LEDs, But Run Much Hotter
  • Plasma / Magnetic Induction Grow Lights – Not Recommended (poor cannabis growth)
• How Does Light Spectrum Affect Marijuana Plants?
• How Far Away Do I Keep My Grow Lights?
• You Can Actually Give Plants Too Much Light?!
• Grow Light Upgrade Guide: Yields & Potency Explained
• Cannabis Grow Lights: What’s the Best Size?

Best LED Grow Light Articles

• 5 Best LED Grow Lights 2025 (Yields, Speed, & Bud Quality)
• LED Grow Lights: Too Much or Not Enough Light?
• LED Grow Journal: Mars Hydro TSL-2000W vs Spider Farmer SF-2000
• LEC vs LED Grow Lights: Side-by-Side Cannabis Grow Journal
• Nebula’s Auto-Flowering Grow Journal (Topping vs Natural) – cannabis plants are grown under LED grow lights

Environment

• Create the Perfect Growing Environment
  • Temperature Tutorial
  • 5 Secrets to Heat Control
  • Control Humidity for Better Buds
  • How to Use Reflective Walls to Increase Yields Indoors
  • How to Make Plants Grow Faster with CO2
• Where’s the Best Place in the House to Grow Your Plants?
• How to Control Odors
• How to Set Up an Exhaust
• How to Set Up a Grow Tent for Better Yields (and Stealth)

Plant Care Tutorials

• Cloning
  • How to clone weed in a cup of water (easy!)
  • How to make cannabis clones with an aero cloner
• Intro to Plant Training for Bigger Yields Indoors
• How Often to Water Plants
  • The Easiest Way to Water Plants & Remove Runoff
• How (and When) to Transplant Cannabis
• Male vs Female Plants
• When to Harvest?
• Drying & Curing

How to Improve…

• Yields
• Bud Quality
  • 7 Environment Effects on Bud Quality
  • The Secret to Excellent Bud Quality
• THC Levels
• CBD Levels
• Smell/Taste
• Density
• Bud Color (How to Grow Pink or Purple Buds)
• Glitter (Make Buds Sparkle with More Trichomes)
• Bonus: What Determines Yields?

Buying Seeds

• Where to Get Seeds
• How to Find the Right Strain
• What are “Feminized” Seeds?
• Which Breeders to Trust?
• Photoperiod vs Auto-Flowering Cannabis Strains
• Bag Seed vs Hype Seed: Is it worth it to buy cannabis seeds?

Recommended Strains

• Best Autoflowering Cannabis Strains for Yields & Potency
• List of Sugar-Dusted Strains (Heavy Trichome Genetics)
• 10 Cold-Resistant Cannabis Strains
• 14 Heat-Resistant Cannabis Strains
• Which cannabis strains stay short? (Best strains for small spaces)

Auto-Flowering Strains

• Nebula’s Guide to Cannabis Auto-Flowering Strains (Photoperiod vs Auto-Flowering)
• Should I “Top” or Train an Auto-Flowering Plant?
• What’s the best light schedule for auto-flowering strains?
• Nebula’s Auto-Flowering Grow Journal (Topping vs Natural)

Edibles

• Decarboxylation: How to Decarb Your Weed (crucial step for just about every edible recipe)
• Best Weed Butter Recipe
  • How to Make Great Brownies with Weed Butter
• Canna Caps
• How to Make Cannabis Gummies (Weed Gummy Bears)
• How to Make Cannabis Tinctures
• How to Make Hash Oil (aka Cannabis Extract Oil, Rick Simpson Oil, or RSO)

Extracts (No Solvents Used in Any Recipe)

• Solventless Extraction Showdown – Bubble Hash vs. Dry-Ice Hash!
• Dry Ice Hash (Made with Dry Ice)
• How to Make Bubble Hash (Made with Ice Water)
• How To Make Your Own Homemade Rosin (dabs)

And Lots More!

• How Long Does it Take to Grow Weed?
• Vegetative vs Flowering Stage (Long Days vs Long Nights)
• Germination & Seedling Mistakes
• Simple Guide to Plant Training
• What’s the Best Pot / Container?
• Perpetual Harvest
• What Determines Yields?
• 5 Time-Savers for Busy Growers
• Breeding Techniques
• 7 Gift Ideas for Cannabis Growers
• Grow Journals
• How long can I store nutrient water?
• What is High-Frequency Fertigation?
• Where is it legal to grow weed in the USA?
• See EVERYTHING on the Site!

Safety & Preparation

• Fire Protection in the Grow Room
• Electrical Safety Tips & Tricks
• Prepare Yourself for Growing Emergencies
• Stealth Growing Indoors: How to NOT get Caught Growing Weed

Just for Fun

• Weird or What? Cannabis Mutations & More!
• Creatures on Cannabis (Cute Photo Gallery)
• 10 Gift Ideas for Cannabis Growers

Submit Pics

• Submit Trophy Pictures of your Plants!
• How to Take Better Plant Pics
• How to Fix Yellow HPS Pics

Want More?

• Complete List of EVERYTHING on GWE  ← Full List (Over 500 articles & growing!)

 

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Thanks for visiting! We hope our website helps you find the growing tutorials you were looking for. We’ve written hundreds of growing marijuana articles and unfortunately we can’t fit them all on this page, so we encourage you to use the search bar on the right side (or top of the page for mobile users) to search for articles you don’t see here.

Happy growing!
Nebula & Sirius

 

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Use this “Navigation” page to find the pot growing topic you’re interested in, or click here to see every single page on the website!

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]]> https://www.growweedeasy.com/t5-vs-cfls-fluorescent-grow-light-showdown?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=t5-vs-cfls-fluorescent-grow-light-showdown Thu, 03 Oct 2013 02:07:00 +0000 https://www.growweedeasy.com/newsletter_issue/t5-vs-cfls-fluorescent-grow-light-showdown/ by Sirius Fourside

When stealth is a growers biggest concern, fluorescent grow lights are the undisputed king.

The post T5 vs CFLs: Fluorescent Grow Light Showdown appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> by Sirius Fourside

When stealth is a growers biggest concern, fluorescent grow lights are the undisputed king.

They make very little heat compared to HID(High Intensity Discharge) lights  and LEDs, they tend to make a smaller impact on your electric bill, and they are much cheaper to get started with.

They’re also very beginner friendly since they don’t require the purchase of secondary parts (such as an exhaust fan) in many cases and can be setup easily.

I actually hooked up my first fluorescent lights with nylon rope I had lying around!

But all is not well in this stealthy, new-grower-friendly world…

There are two types of frequently used fluorescent lights struggling for superiority, each with their own benefits: they are the T5 fluorescent light, and the CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamp).

Today, you’ll get the rundown on what’s better about each one which will hopefully help you make a decision should the need arise.

 

T5s

What are they?

The designation T5 comes from two attributes about the bulb: it’s Tubular and it has a 5/8” diameter. T5s usually come in an array of bulbs that arranged parallel to each other in a panel like the one shown to the right.

The total amount of light provided by a T5 fixture can vary greatly since there are many different T5 setups, but it can be easily calculated. Just take the total number of bulbs in the panel (usually between 4-8 tubes) and multiply that by the lumen output of each of your bulbs.

Using T5s requires having a fixture to place the bulbs in, and will need to be hung in a similar fashion to a MH/HPS light. However, T5s run extremely cool and can be kept only a few inches away from your plants without causing harm.

Advantages:

• As stated above, T5s run very cool and as such, they can be kept closer to your plants. In fact, they should be kept far closer to your plants than with non-fluorescent lights to maximize on their power.
• Since T5s can be kept so close to the plants, this means that growers can use smaller tents than they typically would with an HPS.
• T5s have a low impact on your energy bill compared to HID lighting.
• Possible to grow without exhausting heat which opens up growing spaces unavailable to HIDs.

Disadvantage(s):

• Not as much power as HIDs, so yields will naturally be lower.
• Growers might have to check on them more often since they are kept closer to plants and have less buffer room.

Advantages Over CFLs:

• CFLs can be placed into a reflector, but T5s are meant for growing and tend to be easier to use and adjust. Generally, moving a single T5 panel higher takes only seconds when it’s hung with rope ratchets. In fact, T5s take less effort to set up and maintain in general.
• More efficient use of energy than CFLs (albeit marginally).

 

Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)

What are they?

Compact Fluorescent Lamps are the ‘twisty’ bulbs that are replacing the old incandescent bulbs in our homes. They come in an array of colors and strengths with some CFL bulbs having wattage rivaling that of a small HID light. You could easily find a CFL bulb with as little as 12 watts or as much as 125, and both would work for growing.

CFLs use your typical light socket, which can be both a blessing and a curse. One of the main things to keep in mind when attempting to get started with CFLs is that you will need a separate socket for each bulb. If you’re not using a panel, these lights will all need to be arranged separately.

Advantages:

• CFLs are abundant! You can get them at Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Lowes, Target, and even some grocery stores just to name a few. CFLs are a typical household item, so buying/transporting them doesn’t arouse nearly as much suspicion.
• Although the bigger CFLs tend to run a bit hotter, the smaller-to-mid-sized CFLs
• Due to their shape and size, they can be placed in interesting ways to deliver light to parts of the plant that are typically shaded. (below 60 watts) can be kept as close as a few inches from your plants.
• May be the best grow light for stealth. They can fit in smaller spaces than any other type of grow light. I've even seen a grower use CFLs to grow cannabis in a large PC case!

Disadvantages:

• Not nearly as much light as an HPS; the difference between the two is very noticeable to say the least, so yields are lower.
• If not using a panel, a socket will need to be provided for each bulb. This can get tricky when the bulb count starts getting high.
• You have to adjust every bulb to be right near the plant for the best results, and you will have to readjust all those bulbs regularly to make sure they are close but not burning plants. This can get a bit time consuming in cases where the grower has 6+ bulbs and is adjusting them daily.

 

The Judges Desicion

So, who’s better?

Before I potentially start an incident, let me give you the honest-but-not-as-gratifying answer: Each one is better for different setups!

T5s are great if you have the width and want to hang up and go. CFLs are at their best in small spaces that no other grow light will fit into.

You can usually go to any strip mall with a home improvement store and get everything you need to grow with CFLs or T5s besides cannabis seeds. This is good for the initial setup, but it’s also great for times when you break a single piece of your setup and need to replace something quickly.

If you have some pics showing off your growing prowess with fluorescent lights, send them to us if you want to get them published!
 

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Go Fluorescent!

Ready to try your hand at fluorescent lights? Or maybe you’re new to growing cannabis in general? Either way, get started today; your future self will thank you!

 

 

 T5 Fluorescent Lights

 

 

 

 

Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)

 

 

 

 

MH/HPS combos for when you need more power!

 

 

 

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Jump to…

10-Step Quick Start Grow Guide

Should I get a regular or autoflowering strain if I want short plants?

Supercropping: the simple secret

Picture gallery of common marijuana growing problems

 

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The post T5 vs CFLs: Fluorescent Grow Light Showdown appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> https://www.growweedeasy.com/building-an-ultra-stealthy-grow-cabinet?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=building-an-ultra-stealthy-grow-cabinet Fri, 19 Apr 2013 02:30:00 +0000 https://www.growweedeasy.com/newsletter_issue/building-an-ultra-stealthy-grow-cabinet/ by G.D. Bud

This article comes courtesy of the good folks at seattlecannabisjournal.com, and was re-edited for clarity and ease of reading. Click Here to view the original article in all its glory!

The post Building an Ultra Stealthy Grow Cabinet appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> by G.D. Bud

This article comes courtesy of the good folks at seattlecannabisjournal.com, and was re-edited for clarity and ease of reading. Click Here to view the original article in all its glory!

The day I got a recommendation for medicinal Cannabis was a relief. This was followed by the knowledge and urgency that I needed to get some plants in the ground immediately.

This had been a long-time dream of mine, and I fondly imagined my first harvest, curing my flowers to perfection, and collecting their resin for concentrates. I saw myself carefully journaling their progress, and eventually becoming an expert caretaker of myself and my marijuana garden.

Then reality set in: I have a small space, in a small house, in a crowded neighborhood.

Momentarily discouraged, I quickly scrapped the idea of a dedicated room filled to the brim. I began with getting clear about my intentions; I wanted to inconspicuously and autonomously produce my medicine. This was a much more respectable and realistic goal, and one that I could embrace.

After months pouring over cannabis-related text and furrowing my brow at various nooks throughout my home, I saw through the problem. I would build a stealthy grow cabinet!

On Craigslist I found a cabinet kit still in the box for only $35. It came in at 24″ L x 30″ W x 70″ H. Next, I purchased a 6″ inline fan for another $100. The fan combined with a 400 watt light and Cool Tube from a previous grow gave me something to design around.

My sights set, I loaded Google’s 3D rendering freeware, Google SketchUp, and got to work.

Sirius: Google sold SketchUp to a company called Trimble. Although they have a free online option, SketchUp is no longer “freeware”. Additionally, SketchUp can be pretty tough to use without training, especially if you’ve never used it and you just want to design one thing. Rest assured: some paper, a pencil, a little math, and careful planning will work just as well!

The first thing to deal with was the Intake and exhaust – a clean environment and fresh air for my plants.

A rule with any grow space is to have the intake’s opening twice the open area of the exhaust’s.

Important: The opening for your intake hole should be about twice the size of your exhaust hole.

My inline fan with had 6″ opening (28 square inches) so I would need 56 square inch opening. I went with two louvered grills that were 5″ x 8″ which gave me 80 square inches – 30% for the louvers = 56 square inches. Perfect!

Sirius: This is a great point! In any enclosed grow area such as a tent or grow cabinet, it’s important to have a larger opening for intake than for exhaust. This will maximize the efficiency of your fan in addition to keeping it working for longer. Plus, this will keep tents from “bowing” in, reducing your grow space.

Of course I wanted to filter the intake air to keep out dust, pet hair, pollen, mold and the like.

I built a box inside the cabinet to hold the grills, so I could place the filter on the back of the cabinet.

Next, I faced the issue of providing my plants their light.

I chose a High Pressure Sodium bulb. Since these produce more light from the side(the long side as opposed to the plug and tip of the bulb), light coverage could be maximized by positioning them front to back. Some creativity was required to install the Cool Tube to keep my HPS bulb from becoming too hot.

We learned above that the cabinet is 24″ deep. Now this Cool Tube was 20″, hardly enough room to attach two 6″ flex ducts for ventilation without having to keep a door open. 

Keeping a door open is not a viable option for the stealthy gardener like me! I decided to use some creativity.

The solution I came up with was to place the duct work outside of the cabinet.

I built and installed 4″ x 10″ x 48″ wooden housing for the duct work for the exhaust of the Cool Tube (picture 3rd down). Next, three 6″ duct flanges into the back wall of the cabinet leading into the duct work spaced vertically 9″ apart.

This allowed three different height settings for the light. The unused two positions are capped off. Take a look…

I installed a sealed fan room to house the 6″ inline fan mentioned above. This sat in the top inside of the cabinet, pictured below.

Now that my fan room was set up, I allowed the exhaust to escape upward into a carbon filter. I mounted the filter inside a Rubbermaid tote to make the whole setup more discrete.

A fan speed controller and light timer are mounted on the outside of the fan room.

Next to the fan room is space for other more technical things. Here we find the ballast and command switching station.

Also, I installed a “Kill-a-Watt” device to monitor my electrical usage so I can easily calculate the total extra cost to my electricity bill each month.

I vented this area with a 4″ opening that opened into the fan room.

When all was said and done I harvested 264 grams (9.3 ounces).

Final Harvest Weight: 264 grams (9.3 Ounces) 

Cost: $1.64/gram

The final bounty boasted nine ounces of dried and cured cannabis flowers.

After the initial investment, $1.64 was my total cost per gram when I factored electricity, carbon filter, and nutrients.

Learn how to grow weed like G.D. Bud right here

Click for closeup

Viola!

Affordable medicine is a right, and medicinal Cannabis sets a standard for patient autonomy. Enjoy producing your own medicine.

Sirius: This is definitely an advanced method of creating a grow box, but he makes sure to include a lot of things one needs to consider when creating one, such as ventilation and making sure to leave room for everything you need. Do you have a better/more practical/more efficient design? Let us know so we can share with the world!

See Another Stealth Grow Cabinet in Action and Build Your Own!

Was the cabinet in the above article a little too much for your sensibilities? Then check out these pics by one of our awesome readers!

Make sure to click each one to see the full size picture.

Make sure you start your stealthy cabinet grow with the best seeds available!

These pictures were sent in by one of our readers who has taken a far more simple/easy approach to making a grow cabinet than G.D. Bud. Here’s what he had to say about it:

“1st time grower. Plants are 1 month old, and 12″ tall now. Set up for less than $250. Used cab.w/4 bulb, 24″ T5’s, 4″ elec exhaust, Thanx for great info.”

Use the following items to make a stealthy grow cabinet just like his:

• Old cabinet
• Line inside of cabinet with mylar (reflective material)
• Hang T5 grow light to inside-top of cabinet with rope rachets
• Cut 12″ hole in back (near bottom) for cool air intake
• Attach air filter to your intake hole if the outside air is dusty (and to protect your grow cabinet from any stray bugs)
• Cut 4″ hole out the top to use as an exhaust hole (cut a bigger exhaust hole for a bigger cabinet, or if you’re going to intall more/bigger/hotter lights)
• A 4″ exhaust hole uses 4″ ducting with fan to pull out hot air (drawing in cool air in through your intake).
  Remember, fan should be pointed up, to pull hot air out of your cabinet!
• Now you just add plants! 

Learn how easy it is to care for your marijuana plants right here
 

 

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Jump to…

1st Grow in My Garage – Using Homemade Grow Box Under 400W HPS

CFL Dresser Microgrow in Pictures – Clone to Harvest

How to Grow Weed in 20 Minutes a Week Using Bubbleponics

Which Grow Light? | Marijuana Grow Light Guide

2 Important Tips on Electrical Safety

Marijuana Yields & CO2

 

 

 

The post Building an Ultra Stealthy Grow Cabinet appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> https://www.growweedeasy.com/anongrower-1st-grow-pictures?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=anongrower-1st-grow-pictures Fri, 05 Apr 2013 04:37:09 +0000 https://www.growweedeasy.com/newsletter_issue/1st-grow-in-my-garage-auto-northern-lights-in-grow-box-under-400w-hps-5-35-oz-harvest/ by [Name redacted per request]

 

Quick Grow Snapshot

The post 1st Grow in My Garage – Auto Northern Lights in Grow Box Under 400W HPS – 5.35 oz Harvest appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> by [Name redacted per request]

Quick Grow Snapshot

• Strains: 3 x Auto-flowering Northern Lights
• Grow medium: FF Soil
• Grow Light:
  • Vegetative: 6400k T5 Grow Light
  • Flowering: 400W HPS with digital ballast and air-cooled hood
• Nutrients or Additives: Fox Farms Soil Nutrient Trio

May 5, 2012: Seeds sprouted
July 29, 2012: Harvest!

Total Time – Seed to Harvest:
85 days (2 months, 24 days)

Final Yield
5.35 oz

View full grow journal below!

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Getting Started – Pre-Grow

With space to grow in the garage, I decided to build a grow box and try my hand at growing marijuana, even though I’d never grown anything before.

In addition to learning grow skills, building my box was a big test of my carpentry skills, or lack of skills I guess I should say. I’d never built anything like this before.

Planning My Grow Box

Build grow box out of plywood and 2x2s with 2 chambers so I can swap the plants between the chambers when it’s time to flower.

The dimensions of the box are 4’W x 2.5’D x 5’H.

The grow box cost me about $135 for the lumber, screws, caulk, sandpaper, wood stain, and hinges.

You’ll see how the box is divided into 3 sections. I want to put a vent in the ceiling of the bottom right section and a vent in the top of the wall in the left section so that both of them feed into that top part where my carbon filter will be.

What would be the best way of ducting both of those vents into a single carbon filter?

Choosing The Right Grow Light

I was concerned about heat and light usage for my small space.

I looked at LEDs when I first started my research, but I kept reading things about them being kinda sketchy. A lot of people seemed to think they didn’t live up to all the hype.

I considered using T5 grow lights for both the vegetative and flowering stage (6400k bulbs for vegging and 2700k for flowering) because they produce such low heat.

I was hesitant about using a T5 in flowering, though. Some growers seemed to be getting good results with them, yet I was worried that a T5 was not going to be intense enough to get good yields in the flowering stage.

I decided to go with a 400W HPS light with an air-cooled hood and exhaust fan for the flower chamber. It was hard to resist getting a bigger light, but I knew that a 600W was going to be too big/hot for my space.

Final Setup

Grow Lights

• Vegetative: 6400k T5 Grow Light
• Flowering: 400W HPS with digital ballast and air-cooled hood

Grow medium

• Fox Farms Ocean Forest Soil

Nutrients

• Fox Farms Soil Trio

Strain

• Feminized Northern Lights (from Pyramid Seeds), ordered them from AttitudeI probably wouldn’t order seeds from this breeder again. The seeds ended up being an autoflowering strain even though it was advertised as being a photoperiod strain. It all ended up working out, but I would have been happier if I’d received the seeds I ordered.

My First Grow In Pictures!

I started germinating my seeds in a shot glass.

I put the seeds in a shot glass filled with water to germinate themI put the seeds in a shot glass filled with water to germinate them

Seeds have sprouted roots

I’ve got a pack of these pellets to start them in. I did a test run by putting a pellet in a cup of water, damn those things expand!

Here is what I ended up doing, I tried to cut out any extra steps and just put the pellets directly into the soil from the start.

I put bottles on top to help retain extra humidity (like a humidity dome). Here are my ultra cheap humidity domes

Seedlings under T5 Grow Light in Veg Chamber. It’s a steady 85 degrees F in there, no idea about the humidity in the bottles.

Day 7 from seed 

Day 13 from seed 

Day 19 from seed – Plants started looking a little sick

Leaves started looking sick on Day 19 I thought they may have used up all the nutrient in the soil (I haven’t been feeding extra nutrients until now). I started feeding them with Fox Farms Nutrient Trio.

I also considered it might be stress from the wind of the fan, so I got a lot more careful about blowing air on the seedlings.

With these two changes, the problem seemed to sort itself out.

Day 39 from seed – Moved plants into flowering chamber under 400W HPS

I moved the plants into the flowering chamber with the 400W HPS grow light.

At this point, I continued to keep them on a 18/6 light schedule, which should have kept them in the vegetative stage. I wanted to let the plants get a bit bigger before switching them to flowering.

I did not yet realize that these were autoflowering plants.

Day 41 from seed 

Today is also the first day I’ve tried to LST (low stress training). I know it’s generally recommended to start LST earlier, but I was trying to avoid it on my first grow just to see how my yield would be with no training.

I ended up LSTing one of the girls who was getting too tall.

I was surprised to see my plants start flowering (you can see a couple of flowers starting to appear in the picture above).

I’d purchased non-autoflowering seeds. Guess I’ll never order from that seed vendor again. At first I thought I was seeing pre-flowers, but I soon realized my plant was producing full-on flowers.

Then I saw something even more scary, a hermie banana…

On the advice of others, I plucked this single banana and finished flowering my girls. This was the only hermie sac I saw throughout the grow, and I’m glad I ended up finishing the girls because I had a fantastic harvest.

Day 45 from seed – Closeup of trichomes on the buds and surrounding sugar leaves

Day 53 / 54 from seed  – Buds are fattening up

The plants in the grow box definitely smell at this point, but it only became noticeable to me within the last few weeks. Even now it’s not too bad, and you would have to be in the same room as them to smell it.

Day 63 from seed 

Closeup of trichomes

Day 79 – End… The final days 

At this point I still don’t have a fan hooked up to my vented hood and I’ve been relying on a wimpy little one and keep the door cracked open to let the heat out.

For my next grow I’ll have a real ventilation system set up and heat shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve been running my light at half power (200W) for the past couple weeks to control the heat. I’ll have much better ventilation my next grow so I’ll be able to run it at 400W the whole time.

Day 84 from seed – Day before harvest (ready to be cut down)

I’m really happy with how they turned out.

For my 2nd grow I’ll have 4 plants instead of 3 and I’ll be LSTing from the start.

Also, I will finish my grow box by hooking up a fan to my hood (with a carbon filter), and I put mylar up on 2 of the remaining walls where I still need to cut some holes.

My light has only been running at 200W for a majority of the grow because the weather has been so hot and my ventilation sucks.

I’ll be really interested to see how much doubling the light, making all the other minor improvements, and avoiding all my previous mistakes will affect my yield.

Day 85 – Harvest!

I ended up having to go to a pet store and buying some activated carbon to control the smell of my drying buds. I knew it would smell, I just didn’t think that much!

Harvest Final Weight 5.35 oz!

My 2nd Grow in Pictures!

Stay tuned for my second grow in pictures.

Here’s a quick preview…

 

 

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Are You Ready To Start Growing, Too?

So you’re ready to start your own indoor grow…

You know the space you want to grow in, but you have a few questions…

“What do I need to get?”

“How much does it cost to start growing?”

There’s so many confusing options out there, yet you no longer have to figure it out all on your own.

This quick article will guide you through the whole process.

Get the right equipment for YOUR grow space

Get Started Today! 
https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabis-supplies-get-started-growing

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Jump to…

Growing Marijuana Indoors vs. Outdoors

5 Ways to Increase Yields When Growing Indoors

Autoflowering vs Photoperiod Strains – What Growers Need To Know

Help, My Leaves Are Dying!

Frequently Asked Growing Questions (FAQs)

 

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The post 1st Grow in My Garage – Auto Northern Lights in Grow Box Under 400W HPS – 5.35 oz Harvest appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabis-grow-lights?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cannabis-grow-lights Thu, 13 May 2010 03:27:36 +0000 https://www.growweedeasy.com/faq/grow-light-breakdown-heat-cost-yields/ ...By using smaller lights like fluorescents while plants are still short, you can save quite a bit of money on electricity during those first few weeks compared to using a...

The post Grow Light Breakdown: Heat, Cost & Yields appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

]]> by Nebula Haze

For the many growers who are unable to cultivate cannabis outside in the free abundant sunshine, grow lights are necessary to successfully grow cannabis indoors. Grow lights take the place of the sun, and power the growth of your plants and their buds. Light is like “food” for your plants, so without a lot of bright light, even a healthy cannabis plant won’t produce much bud at all.

More Light = Bigger Yields!
(up to a point, it is possible to give your plant too much light!)

 

3 Main Classes of Marijuana Grow Lights

There are lots of options for grow lights that work well for growing cannabis indoors but in the end they boil down to 3 major types:

1.) Fluorescent Grow Lights

• T5 grow lights (and other fluorescent tubes)

2.) High Intensity Discharge (HID) Grow Lights

• Metal Halide (MH)
• High Pressure Sodium (HPS)
• Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH, LEC, Light Emitting Ceramic)

3.) LED Grow Lights

• LEDs come in a huge variety of sizes and form factors.
• When it comes to growing weed, some LEDs get much better yields and bud quality than others.

 

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Note: Some growers may have heard of “Induction” or “plasma” grow lights, which are pretty rare these days but still pop up from time to time. There are two types: “Magnetic Induction” grow lights do okay for growing cannabis but they’re pretty much glorified fluorescent lights. “Plasma Induction” grow lights actually perform pretty poorly at growing cannabis.

Some types of induction lights are well suited to stadium lighting but they just aren’t that great for growing cannabis and they come with huge price tags. Most LEDs are cheaper and you’ll get far better results with them. You can learn more about induction grow lights here.

Note 2: Incandescent light bulbs (old-fashioned light bulbs) are NOT suitable for growing marijuana!

 

Compare the Pros and Cons of Each Grow Light

1.) Fluorescent Grow Lights

Fluorescent grow lights come in many different shapes and sizes, from twisty bulbs to long tubes. Fluorescents are popular because they make efficient and pleasant lighting for humans, and also work great for herb gardens and other types of low-key indoor gardening without using a lot of electricity.

Read the full tutorial on T5 grow lights.

T5 Grow Lights

T5 grow lights are one of the most easily available types of grow lights and are used to grow many different types of plants. As a result, they’re available in many garden and home improvement stores.

T5s are much bigger/wider than a regular light bulb and usually come as part of a panel. They can often be kept mere inches away from your plants without worrying about burning them because they produce relatively weak light levels.

Note: I’ve noticed some companies are produced “T5” grow lights that are actually LED grow lights, just in the shape of a fluorescent T5. Here’s an example of a “T5 LED” grow light. These can be used pretty much the same as a fluorescent T5 grow light, however, just like old-fashioned T5s, the LED versions are typically underpowered for growing weed.

These vegetative cannabis plants are thriving under T5 grow lights. However, buds tend to stay small if you use a T5 in the flowering stage while buds are forming.

Learn more about T5 grow lights for growing cannabis.

Pros of Fluorescents

• Cheap to buy
• They don’t use a lot of electricity or make a lot of heat unless you have a lot of them packed together in a small space
• Good light spectrum for growing cannabis
• One of the best lights for clones, seedlings and young plants, as they tend to be gentle. Big lights must be kept far away from young plants to avoid burning them, which ends up wasting a lot of light and energy. By using smaller lights like fluorescents while plants are still short, you can save quite a bit of money on electricity during those first few weeks compared to using a high-powered grow light.

Cannabis plants flowering under a T5 grow light – when plants are trained (like these ones in a Scrog setup) you can get okay yields from fluorescents. However, the yields-per-watt and the bud quality tends to be lower compared to using more powerful grow lights while buds are forming.

Cons of Fluorescents

• Fluorescent grow lights get much smaller yields per watt than the other types of grow lights if you use them in the flowering stage while buds are forming. With fluorescents you can expect about 0.25 grams of buds for every watt of electricity (using the true watts out the wall, not any type of “equivalent” watts), while LEDs and HPS get 2-4 times as much yield per watt of electricity.
• The light from a fluorescent lamp doesn’t penetrate far down into the plant so they are best suited to plants that have been trained to grow short and flat; they aren’t powerful enough to support tall plants in the flowering stage.

Summary: Fluorescents are a great choice for clones, young plants, supplemental lighting and can save you money on electricity in the vegetative stage compared to using high power lights when plants are too young to use it all anyway. However, after cannabis plants have moved past their first week or two, you will get much faster growth from more intense grow lights like HIDs or LEDs.

Learn more about T5 grow lights for growing weed.

 

2.) High Intensity Discharge (HID) Grow Lights

HID grow lights are much more efficient than fluorescent lights and are powered by large, oddly-shaped bulbs. They are usually screwed into a reflector or hood to reflect more light down onto the plants. HIDs are great at growing cannabis, but they also get very hot and are usually hooked up to an exhaust to help vent out heat.

 

Check out the full tutorial on MH & HPS grow lights.
MH and HPS grow lights get hot. They’re great for growing cannabis in a cool grow space, and one of the cheapest ways to start growing big yields.

Check out the full tutorial on CMH / LEC grow lights.
LEC stands for “Light Emitting Ceramic” and is a type of Metal Halide bulb that is built with ceramic like an HPS. Basically it’s sort of like a blend between MH and HPS bulbs. These got really popular around 2018-2020 but have fallen out of favor since then. The biggest benefit of using LECs is they dramatically increase trichome production (“sparkle”) on buds, which makes them a good choice for growers making concentrates by extracting the trichomes.

Metal Halide (MH) Grow Lights

Metal Halide grow lights are generally used for the vegetative stage because they produce a bluish light that vegetative plants love. MH tends to keep plants relatively short compared to other types of grow light. Although this type of light can also be used all the way to harvest, it tends to have reduced yields and reduced bud potency compared to switching to an HPS bulb once buds start forming.

The light from a Metal Halide appears a little bluish, and is well suited to growing cannabis plants in the vegetative stage.

Learn more about MH grow lights.

High Pressure Sodium (HPS) Grow Lights

High Pressure Sodium grow lights are often used during the flowering stage because they are very efficient and their yellow light stimulates bud production. HPS grow lights in the flowering stage get better yields per watt of electricity than any other type of grow light available today, which is a big part of why they are so popular.

The light from an HPS appears yellow, and is great for flowering plants because the light spectrum stimulates bud production

Learn more about HPS Grow Lights

Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH) & Light Emitting Ceramic (LEC) Grow Lights

These are actually just two names for the same thing. This type of metal halide bulb uses ceramic as part of the lamp just like an HPS. As a result, CMH bulbs are more efficient than regular MH lights (though still not as efficient as HPS bulbs).

“LEC” and “CMH” both refer to Ceramic Metal Halide grow lights, which is a type of HID light that is a bit more efficient than a regular Metal Halide light.

Learn more about CMH / LEC grow lights

Pros and Cons of HID Grow Lights

Pros

• Efficient – HIDs are an extremely efficient type of grow light (gets very high yields per watt and produces excellent bud density).
• Best HID for Yields – Of all the HIDs, HPS grow lights are the most efficient and the best for the flowering stage when it comes to yields. When using HPS grow lights in the flowering stage, you can expect up to 1 gram/watt if all goes well.
• Simple – HID lights are simple to use because they can be hung the right distance from the plants with no guesswork on your part (unlike LEDs), and no need to adjust the lights all the time (like fluorescents).
• Cheap Setup – HID grow lights give you one of the cheapest setups to get great yields. For example, a 600W HPS grow light can produce a pound or more and a complete 600W grow light kit only costs about $100-150. Check below for more information.

Cons

• HID bulbs get really hot and generate a lot of heat. Because of the concentrated heat production, you will almost always want to put the bulb in a hood and also provide some sort of cooling to prevent heat from beaming down onto your plants and driving up the ambient temperature of your tent/grow room. This is especially important for the bigger lights with power above 250W.
• Additional setup – As a result of the heat mentioned above, most growers use an exhaust fan with ducting to vent out heat. Unfortunately, the prospect of having to deal with the fan and ducting scares off many growers from HID lighting.
• More parts – HID lighting means a few more parts than other types of lighting. Fluorescents are just the bulb and a fixture and most LEDs are just the light itself. But most HID setups have at least a bulb, fixture, an external ballast and an extra cable if you don’t count the exhaust systems parts, too.

Example of MH/HPS Setups with Expected Yields

400W HID

• 1.5 – 3.5 oz per month
• Electricity: $96/month (including electricity for fans)
• Initial Setup Cost: $744.00

600W HID

• 2.5 – 5 oz per month
• Electricity: $128/month (including electricity for fans)
• Initial Setup Cost: $780.00

There is a larger size MH/HPS grow light available (1000W), but at that size it starts going outside the scope of a “hobbyist” grower as far as ease and yields. In addition to needing a lot of extra cooling which costs electricity, a 1000W HPS grow light is less efficient compared to a 600W grow light (as far as how much light is put out for electricity used). I think most hobbyist growers would be happier with a 600W, or even two 600W lights, over a 1000W 🙂

HIDs are very well suited to growing cannabis and very easy to use once they’re set up. If your main goal is to get the highest yields possible, then HIDs are the way to go! However, they do require extra setup compared to the other grow lights because chances are you will need a fan to vent out heat from your grow space.

Learn more about MH / HPS grow lights.

Learn more about CMH / LEC grow lights.

 

3.) LED Grow Lights

LED grow lights are very popular among cannabis growers as an alternative to HPS grow lights. They tend to run cooler and also usually come with built-in cooling that tends to move heat up and away from the fixture instead of beaming it down onto your cannabis plants like a bulb would. LEDs can be plugged directly into a wall and hung over plants. This is easier than setting up an HID grow light which needs you to screw in the bulbs and hang the fixture, possibly using ducting to vent heat. LEDs also have great penetration so they don’t need to be moved frequently like fluorescents.

Simply hang an LED light over your plants and start growing!

Check out my list of the Best LEDs for Growing Weed in 2025.

Learn more about growing cannabis with LED grow lights.

You might be interested: HPS vs LEDs: LED grow lights finally won.

Avoid “Blurple” LED grow lights (they’re old technology)

Old fashioned LED grow lights were this “blurple” color, almost like a black light, but these aren’t as effective at growing weed as wider-spectrum modern LEDs.

“Blurple” color LEDs are old technology. They tend to get worse yields and bud quality than modern wide-spectrum LEDs that appear with a more white light.

Modern LEDs have wide-spectrum light

Modern LEDs are “wide-spectrum” or “full-spectrum” and their light appears white, bluish, or pinkish. You should see the natural color of all the leaves.

The best LED grow lights to use in the flowering (budding) stage usually have a pinkish-white light because they have a lot of LEDs in the red spectrum.

These LEDs can be used to grow vegetative plants but may cause stretchier/taller growth than a blue-spectrum (“vegetative”) LED grow light.

LEDs come in all sizes, which means they can be used even in small grow spaces to get great yields and bud quality.

A small-yet-effective LED grow light like this Spider Farmer SF2000 is an excellent choice for beginner growers in a 2’x4′ grow tent. Check out my full review of the SF-2000 LED for growing cannabis.

Pros and Cons of LED grow lights

Pros

• Less Heat – LEDs almost always have built-in cooling that pushes heat up and away from the plants (unlike HID bulbs which beam heat down on your plants and need to be cooled separately). LEDs are also more electrically efficient than HID or fluorescent grow lights. As a result, LEDs run very cool. On top of that, cannabis plants actually prefer warmer temperatures with LEDs. All in all, for smaller sizes, cannabis growers may be able to get away without venting heat at all.
• Easy to Hang – The smaller size LEDs can be plugged directly into the wall and hung up over your plant, without needing to do anything else. You can just plug them in and start growing!
• Bud Quality – In side-by-side tests, we’ve found good LEDs seem to increase the THC percentages vs using HPS grow lights. Some growers believe LEDs produce more resinous bud. LEDs also tend to bring out pretty colors on buds like pinks and purples.

Cons

• Still Some Heat –  Although the LED lamp itself usually does run a lot cooler than a similar wattage HPS bulb, they still produce heat and the bigger sizes like 300W+ may need to be vented with an exhaust fan to prevent the grow space from getting too warm.
• Learning Curve – LEDs get slightly smaller yields per watt than HPS grow lights, on average, at least on the first grow, and especially for first-time LED growers. Growers need to “dial it in” and “get the hang” of using their LED grow light model. Since every LED grow light is different, they don’t have a standard distance away from plants like HID grow lights, which are standardized into specific sizes and form factors. There is a learning curve when it comes to getting the best yields from your LEDs. A little experience with a specific lamp can improve your yields by a lot!
• Avoid Older Models – Newer LED grow lights (especially since 2021 and later) get significantly better yields than older ones. There have been major improvements in LED tech since 2020, and many growers will find they get much better results simply from upgrading to a newer LED from a trustworthy company.
• Extra Distance to Plants – Small LEDs can be kept very close (my 100W LED is great at 8-12″ away) but big LED grow lights (above 400-500W or so) have strong lenses pointed down, and therefore tend to need a lot of space between the lamp and your plants compared to HPS grow lights. That means you need a tall grow space to get the best results with big LEDs. As an example, 300W LED panels should be kept 18-24″ away during the second half of the flowering stage to avoid light burning your buds (buds can be burned from too much light even if the temperature is cool), and some of the bigger models need to be kept 30″ or more away from the buds. That compares to a 600W HPS which can be under 18″ away as long as it’s cool. When in doubt, contact the LED manufacturer!

If you get very high-wattage LEDs, you may need to vent out heat to keep the grow space cool.

Notice that this grow tent vents out a window. This makes it much easier to keep a room cool if you’ve got big grow lights.

For growers who are looking to harvest up to 10 ounces per harvest, about 200-300W of LEDs may be your best choice. At this size, they are super low on electricity, run cool and need almost no setup. They get better yields than fluorescents but don’t run as hot as an HPS of similar wattage.

One great choice in this size is the Mars Hydro SP3000 which uses more electricity but gets significantly bigger yields. Here’s a complete 300W LED grow tent kit from Mars Hydro with everything you need that’s a great deal at $550 for the tent, light, carbon filter, fan, and accessories.

Note: When shopping for LEDs, make sure they contain some amount of green or white (full spectrum) light. Plants grown without at least a tiny amount of green or white light are very prone to nutrient deficiencies and simply don’t grow as well. Learn more about how light spectrums affect cannabis growth!

Learn more about growing cannabis with LED grow lights.

You might be interested: 5 Barriers to Total LED Grow Light Domination!

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Now that you are familiar with all the most common cannabis grow lights I hope your choice is a little easier. I wish I’d had this information when I first started growing indoors 🙂 Happy growing!!!

~Nebula Haze

 

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Ready to learn more? How to increase….

• Yields
• Bud Quality
• THC Levels
• CBD Levels
• Smell/Taste
• Density
• Bonus: What Determines Yields?

 

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