Back in October 2022, I used my blog to talk about “Getting Great Results from Your Indoor Winter Grow Room.” I was focused on helping home growers (as opposed to greenhouse growers) to optimize their indoor grows. In that article, I stressed the importance of properly adjusted systems for light, humidity, temperature, and air flow. If you’re growing indoors this winter, it’s well worth a quick review.
But today, I wanted to look at some of the purposes that indoor grows can fulfill. Growers’ objectives can range from personal to commercial, so let’s examine some of the “whys” of indoor growing as opposed to the “how-tos”. I am once again directing comments to people who have smaller indoor grows in their homes as opposed to commercial-scale greenhouses.
Growing Hemp for Personal Consumption
One of the most obvious uses of indoor hemp is to enjoy the plants yourself. Hemp flowers are smokable and deliver the most potent impact of CBD to your system. The effects from smoking flowers are nearly immediate – reducing anxiety, stress, inflammation, or pain. You may also feel more upbeat and energetic without the stronger psychoactive elevation of THC-heavy products. If smoking is not for you, there are a couple of other alternatives for producing CBD at home. One option is to extract your own CBD. I won’t go into all the details here as there are plenty of places to read about this online but suffice to say that if you invest in a precision cooker, it’s a simple two-step process to create your own CBD oil for personal use. Tinctures are yet a third way that you can enjoy home-grown CBD. As with CBD oil, you need to heat the hemp flower to activate its chemical compounds and there are plenty of recipes on the internet you can follow.
Growing Hemp to Pre-test Multiple Strains
Another reason to grow hemp indoors is to experiment with different strains to find one you might like to grow outdoors in the summer – either in patio pots, your garden, or in field rows. There may be certain properties you favor for your location – for example, drought tolerance or shorter stalks – and these characteristics are easy to observe and compare in a home-grow setting. Cheyenne Mountain Seed Company recognizes this common practice, and we offer sampler packs, with four different varieties in a small-quantity (as little as 20 seeds) orders to facilitate this kind of small-scale experimentation. Both offerings make affordable testing scenarios feasible for home growers; customers can try out multiple strains at once to identify a favorite before making a bigger investment in a particular hybrid.
Growing Hemp to Cultivate Seedlings for Transplant
Commercial growers who have the indoor space available may find it advantageous to start seeds indoors for later re-planting in the field. This is an economical option for those who don’t have the resources to maintain a stand-alone greenhouse. Growing your own seedlings can make it possible for you to get an earlier start on your season and more control over your plants’ health and viability when they are in their most vulnerable life stage. For example, if your local climate features heavy spring downpours that can drown or rot tiny plants, you can reduce some of your risk by seed starting indoors and transplanting once the weather dries out a bit. You can also stagger your seed-starting dates to set up a very manageable sequential harvest. Starting hemp indoors may also be reflected in greater yields, denser flowers, and higher levels of cannabinoids.
Choosing to Grow Indoors
Whether you’ve done it before or are a complete newbie, take some time to think about what your ultimate reasons are for growing indoors. When you’re confident in your choice, you’ll be in the right place to make the best decisions regarding your total investment, the appropriate infrastructure, the right-sized space, and the type of seed you buy. And I can’t pass the opportunity to remind everyone again: the quality of your seed will drive your success. Always go with a reputable, experienced vendor and purchase the best feminized seed you can afford. Don’t forget to ask around! Talk to other growers in your area and your county extension agent about strains and plant characteristics that are most successful for your local conditions.
Happy Growing!!
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