My Top Tips for Choosing the Right Grow Space At Home

If you are a first-time or an experienced grower, you will want to set up a grow room in the comfort of your own home. Depending on where you live, you will present many different options in a potential grow space. In this article, I will provide some tips to help you decide which solution is best.

Tip #1 – A Basement Conversion

A basement is an excellent place to set up a home grow room. It may be one of the most expensive conversion options, or it may be the ideal place to set up several grow tents, and it is well hidden. A large basement will need to be thoroughly cleaned before conversion, and the room should be monitored to see how cold or warm it becomes during periods with lights on and off.

Tip #2 – An Old Cellar

Many houses have a brick cellar, and, like a basement conversion, when done right, it makes a superb grow space. You will need to ensure the cellar is damp-proofed and that you create entry and exit points for the extraction unit. Cellars may get really cold during the Winter months, so be prepared to add a heater to compensate for temperature fluctuations.

Tip #3 – Don’t Bother Neighbors

When deciding which part of your house or apartment to turn into a grow room, consider which rooms are closest to your neighbors. You do not want to cause problems due to noise or smell complaints, so pick a location as far away from the neighbors’ walls as possible. A happy neighbor will not bother you, even if you know what you are up to, so take the extra steps to consider your neighbor.

Tip #4 – Fresh Air

Ensuring that your grow room has plenty of fresh air pulled in and exhausted to the outside is an essential part of the decision-making process. This is why a basement or attic conversions work great. If it means knocking large-sized holes through bedroom walls, it may not be worth the while, especially if you do not own the property.

Tip #5 – Grow Tents Are Ideal

I love using grow tents, and as long as you have enough space, you can run 2-3 at once. My favorite way to grow indoor cannabis is to use one tent for vegetation, the second for flowering and the third tent for drying out once harvested. This allows me to produce a crop rotation every 7-8 weeks. Then again, you may have a spare single room that is perfect for a 1.2-meter grow tent.

Tip #6 – The Attic

If you have an attic at the top of your house, I recommend setting up a grow room, as long as you have enough room to hang your equipment. Attics are an optimal grow space for feeding the ducting out of the top of the roof through a tile space. The best thing about having an attic grow space is that the only way to access it is through the roof. Attics may be limited in height in some areas; however, they are ideal for growing high-yielding autoflowers, that will produce medium to tall sized plants.

Tip #7 – Access to Plug Sockets

You will want the grow space to have easy access to plug sockets. Running extension cables from one room to another works fine; however, life is much easier if you have plug sockets in the same room. 

Tip #9 – Beginners Can Use Wardrobe Spaces

If you are toying with the idea of setting up a grow room and do not want to work on a large scale or use grow tents, then wardrobes can be a good solution. You may not have loads of room to grow; however, cupboards are easy to cover with reflective mylar and are ideal for 2-4 small plants.

Tip #10 – Room to Work Inside

Once you have a grow space in mind, you will need to calculate how much space you have to freely move around inside, once your extractor, ducting, grow lights, fans and pots are inside. Smaller areas may limit the number of plants you can grow indoors. My advice would be to create a floor plan using a pen and pad, and find out to the nearest centimeter how much height and width you have for the pots or if you prefer growing with hydroponics.

Tip #11 – Safety First!

Ensuring your grow room is safe and tidy is an essential part of being a good grower. This means keeping cables and wires out of the way and keeping extension cables and plug sockets off the floor. Electric wires should be put out of the way and not have the chance to come into contact with water that may pour out from the base of the pots after watering.

Feature image: This spare cupboard has been turned into a sea of green set up for growing. Photo credit: Stoney Tark.