Top Ways to Automate Your Cannabis Grow

The quality of cannabis or hemp depends on the soil, CO2 levels, water, and sunlight. These factors must be optimized at the right growing stage to get maximum results, and plants must be tended regularly, checked for bugs, and kept well watered and fed. These tasks can be labor intensive, and that’s where technology can help. This article discusses typical products that can be used to automate your growing efforts and make cannabis cultivation easier.

The Advantages of Automated Systems

Growing cannabis using advanced automation is commonplace and may provide the following benefits: 

Reduce errors – Common mistakes made during the vegetative or flowering stages can be avoided. 

Increase efficiency – Automation may allow you to grow more plants in the same amount of space.

Optimize harvest –  Consistency and efficiency can result in more flowers per plant, so you get a bigger harvest.  

Improve quality – Optimal conditions give your plants the best chance to produce high-quality buds that can make the best cones in the dispensary.  

Make better decisions – Smart technology allows growers to collect data and keep good records. This information can aid in planning growing cycles and gives growers the ability to repeat a certain growing style or change the environment to encourage specific traits. 

Automated Grow Systems for Easy Cannabis Cultivation

Weed needs sunlight, water, and nutrients (plant food) to grow. To flourish it needs these items in the right quantities, and it needs the proper humidity, varying periods of light and darkness, plus a little extra carbon dioxide, or CO2, for the largest harvests. The following systems, used in the right combination, may meet these needs. 

Lighting

Indoor growers use grow lights on timers for automatic control.

Growing cannabis without automatic light control is almost unheard of, and even the smallest grower knows the importance of the photoperiod, or how long the lights stay on each day. The photoperiod needs to be controlled to encourage flowering, and many grow lights have built-in timers. 

Watering 

There are many different types of automatic watering systems. Some are programmable and some are just a pump and a timer. Some products can be turned into a fertigation system using a few scoops of water-soluble plant food like Reefertilizer, and automatically feed your growing cannabis plants. 

These products can make cannabis cultivation easy for anyone when it comes to the chore of watering. They use a hose or tubes to direct water to your plants, or an overhead drip or spray. 

Climate Control 

Climate control products can help you automatically control a grow room’s temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels. 

Temperature needs to be comfortable at all times, and optimal plant growth occurs when CO2 levels are higher than normal. Some automated growing systems add CO2 and control the atmosphere, changing it to match the day/night cycle of nature. This has been shown to boost harvests. 

Seedlings need higher humidity than mature plants, so humidity control is also necessary. Humidifiers and/or dehumidifiers may be necessary to control humidity, depending on your climate.

Nutrient Delivery Systems

Nutrient delivery systems can be used for fully automated cultivation and cannabis growing. These products are easy to set up and they work just like automatic watering systems, but less frequently. They save you the trouble of having to micromanage your crop when it comes time for feeding.

Smart Monitoring Systems 

There’s a suitable product available to automate almost any grow room or cannabis processing operation, and many of the products discussed here can be controlled with an app and are Smart-home compatible. With the right combination of products, plus a cloud-connected surveillance camera, growers can monitor an unlimited number of greenhouses from almost anywhere. 

Tips for Transitioning To An Automated Cannabis Growing System

If you’re tired of driving to the dispensary or having weed delivered, you may be thinking about growing plants at home. There are several things to think about when setting up an automated grow room. Here are some tips to help you start automating your grow room.

Tip #1 is to start with water and lights. 

  • A mechanical timer or Smart outlet can control grow lights.
  • A simple bucket-fed automatic watering system with a pump and 6-10 tubes is an inexpensive way to start.

Tip #2 is to use a timer on a fan to aid with basic ventilation and to keep the air moving.

Tip #3 is to use a humidifier if you are in a dry climate, and a dehumidifier if you’re in a humid climate. 

Tip #4 is safety. Almost every product for automated cannabis growing needs electricity, so be careful of extension cords that might create a fire hazard. 

Maintenance And Troubleshooting Common Automated System Issues

Many products that promise easy cannabis cultivation require occasional maintenance. Whatever system you use, some things can go wrong, so be prepared to deal with common problems.

Systems that use consumables will require special attention. Consumables include water in closed reservoir irrigation systems and humidifiers, nutrients for nutrient delivery systems, and CO2 used for climate control. You’ll need to resupply these products to keep them working.

Power failures can spell disaster. Most Smart products that run on timers for automated cannabis growing systems can “catch up” once power is restored, but you’ll want to check to be sure. Products that can’t catch up to lost time could cause problems.

If you use a pump on a timer, make sure to place it above the level of your water source to prevent the pump from siphoning water from the source when the pump is turned off. If this happens it can flood your plants.

Is Automating Worth It?

If you grow more than a few plants, then automation may be very beneficial.
But automating your cannabis grow room does not mean you never have to visit your plants. You’ll want to keep an eye on your crop to check for things like white flies, fungus, and other signs of trouble, but you’ll reduce time hauling water and fiddling with lights. With climate control products you won’t have to worry about the atmosphere in the room. Cannabis cultivation can be easier, more predictable, and more efficient with some simple and easy-to-find, low-cost automation.

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