According to Missouri state guidelines, patients who receive their certifications to grow cannabis can do so in any locked and enclosed area that is not accessible from above and not visible to the public. The cultivator should be the only person with access to this location. This means you can grow just about anywhere you have legal access to (yes, your landlord needs to know). It does not need to be your house and you can elect to team up with another cultivator in the same space provided you notify the state that you are doing so.
Personal grows for a single patient can be accomplished just about anywhere and on any budget, but here are some things to keep in mind when selecting your space:
- You will need at least one 15A circuit
- Ventilation is not optional
- Temperatures must be controlled (65-85 degrees F)
- Humidity must be controlled (55%-65%)
- The grow area must be light proof
- Odor must be controlled
The most common mistake I’ve seen are patient cultivators who ignore one or more of the points above and start growing plants before the space is ready. I strongly recommend setting up the grow space and ensuring that the cultivator can maintain the temperatures and humidity needed for healthy cannabis plants. Only then should seeds be germinated.
Electricity: Every device you plug into a circuit has an amperage (A) requirement. Add up all the devices you intend to use; a 15A circuit (determined by the rating of the breaker and the rating of the wiring for the circuit) can handle 12A (75% of rating) of load safely. Likewise, a 20A circuit can handle 15A safely. Keep in mind that a single high-intensity light can be 10A, which nearly maxes out a circuit on its own. My space is designed to accommodate 3 patients, so I have (3) 20A circuits and (1) 15A circuit dedicated to this space; all of which were professionally installed.
Ventilation: Don’t skimp here as this is very much a key component as you will see. Like other organisms, plants need to breath (transpire). They will need a regular supply of CO2 in order to thrive. As such, you should have a fan to circulate air within your space as well as a vent fan to exchange air with a larger space (inside the house). Any circulation fan will be fine and a happy plant dances merrily without being whipped about. A good rule of thumb is to acquire a ventilation fan that has a CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating 3x the volume of your grow space. Example – if you use a grow tent that is 5’x5’x7′ you have a 175 cubic feet of space and a 500CFM ventilation fan will fit the bill. Adjustable speed fans are nice as you won’t always need the full 500CFM capacity. As the reader will notice, CO2 intake isn’t the only thing proper ventilation will help with.
Temperature: Ideal temperatures for cannabis cultivation are between 65 – 85 degrees F and the perfect environment will be about 10 degrees cooler at night. Move outside those parameters and growth will slow. Move even further and your plants may get stressed, which invites disease and pests. Because dedicating an air conditioner to the cause is expensive, most home-growers will do well to leverage their ventilation fan to vent hot air out of the grow space and into a thermostatically controlled room. Finally, a min/max thermometer/hygrometer is a mandatory tool and you should log those values every single day.
Relative humidity (Rh): Cannabis can tolerate a wide rage of humidity without becoming stressed, so the benchmark of 55%-65% (some will say 45%-55%) Rh is mostly a guide. However, it is well known that high humidity invites molds and powdery mildews, which can decimate a cannabis crop. Further, very low humidity coupled with high temperatures is the ideal environment for mites – the bane of a cannabis cultivator’s existence. For Missourians, the solution is a dehumidifier. Just be aware that these handy devices usually have a high amperage requirement and they do produce heat as a byproduct. Since you will have your space ventilated for heat concerns, it will be most effective to dehumidify your entire house and allow your ventilation to pull in low-humidity air. Once again, get a min/max thermometer/hygrometer and log those values every single day.
Light proofing: With some exceptions, cannabis tends to be very sensitive to light. Light determines the growth stages of cannabis and should be monitored closely. More important than seeing your grow lights outside the space is allowing light infiltrating into that grow space when it should be dark. Any light brighter than a full moon could confuse and stress your plants. Do you want seeds in your flowers? Because this is the most common cause. Fixing light leaks is usually low-cost and common sense so do yourself a favor and periodically stand in your darkened room (until your eyes adjust) and then carefully look around to check for light leaks.
Odor: Last, but not least; odor can be a real issue. The plants could care less, but your spouse, neighbor, and local law enforcement will feel differently. Complaints can earn you a surprise inspection or worse and is the leading cause for such. The good news is that a quality active-carbon filter integrated into your ventilation will usually do the trick. You know you like your flowers to be danky-dank so get a carbon filter and use it all day, every day.
One could write an entire book on this topic alone, so there is a lot of content I elected not to add here. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to us!
Happy Harvests!
— The Lit Farmer —
Further Reading:
Just4Growers.com