10 Steps To Building The Perfect Indoor Grow Room
You may have come across the term “hydroponics” at some point. It is a process that allows you to grow crops indoors.
When growing crops indoors, one primary requirement is to get the best grow tent for your hydroponic usage. If you cannot buy a ready-to-assemble model, you can build an indoor grow room. You do not need to be an expert to set up your indoor grow room.
I have prepared this comprehensive guide which you can follow easily. This guide covers various aspects of grow tents, like the grow tent sizes and the size of the indoor plant growing room that works for you.
Before we proceed, would you like a complete grow room kit? I would recommend the one from TopoLite.
How To Set Up a Grow Room Step-by-Step?
Essential Kits and Accessories For Indoor Gardening Systems:
A hydroponic gardening tent has many advantages, such as giving the plants an ideal environment. However, some essential tools are required when setting up a grow room. Here is the complete list:
- Grow Tent
- Grow Light
- Ballast
- Reflector
- Hanging Accessories
- Power Strips
- Timer
- Appropriate Ventilation
- Carbon Filters
- Ducting
- Duct clips
- Can Fans
- Temperature and Humidity Gauge
- Basic Assembly Tools
- Plants
- Tape and Fasteners
Step 1: Decide Whether To Use Soil or Hydroponics.
Whether it’s a grow tent you are using or not, determining the cultivation method is essential as you prepare to set up your indoor grow room. There are only two options available: Hydroponics and Soil.
If you choose the soil, your garden will likely be outside. Grow tents only allow you to grow plants in gallons and pots.
Step 2: Choose A Space
Another significant thing to consider is the space. Your buying decision will be based on the available space.
You don’t want to build your indoor garden and move it to a different place. You may be shocked that the framework does not fit through your doorway.
When choosing a space, consider the number of plants you intend to cultivate in your grow tent.
Generally, I advise gardeners to work with one plant per square meter for bigger or 25 smaller plants.
Controlling the environment should not be ignored; you will need to access the grow tent without obstruction. Therefore, it’d help if you had adequate space for all the accessories and room for maintenance and cleaning.
Step 3: Mounting the Frame
Once you are done with the preparations, your next step will be to assemble the frame, which serves as an indoor garden.
While at it, choose the shape that appeals to you and ensure that you make sturdy joints.
It would help if you also had some support bars, which you will use to hang the various accessories usually found in a high-quality tent. Pay attention to the type of materials you are applying for your grow room frame.
Step 4: Cover the Frame
The essence of a hydroponic grow tent is to create a shooting environment for your plants. This also should be your goal, even if it’s an indoor gardening room. As such, you will be required to cover the frame with the ideal fabric.
Ensure that you have a tear-proof fabric that will protect your plants from external interference.
Step 5: Ventilation Set Up
You need to set up your ventilation for the grow room properly. Did you know that hydroponic gardening systems are popular because they allow you total control of the environment?
You don’t want to have to deal with mold and mildew in your grow room, which is the primary purpose of having proper ventilation.
Fans are an integral part of air control as they help in air circulation, which will help the plants thrive.
You can keep the temperature and humidity at the desired levels with proper setup.
A simple way of ensuring that your indoor garden is ventilated is by cutting a hole in the top of the closet. You may also notice that the quality tents come with filter strips and observation windows.
If you cannot cut through the material you have used, you should find a way of leaving the door slightly open to have proper airflow. Ducting and carbon filters can also be included as part of the ventilation.
Step 6: Enhancing Indoor Grow Room Walls
The walls of the indoor gardening room are essential and should be prepared for the process by ensuring that the walls are reflective. This is why the indoor plant growing systems come with a Mylar lining inside the canvas to make it reflective.
You can use mirrors or bubble insulation with reflecting capabilities for the grow room walls. It fosters the growth of your plants to grow correctly. The reflective walls will intensify the light emitted by the installed grow lights. We love this Mylar film.
As such, every part of your plants will receive sufficient light.
Step 7: Install Grow Lights
Proper lighting is imperative for all indoor gardening activities, even when you have the right size and high-quality tent. When it comes to growing lights, there are a couple of options to choose from, including:
- High-Pressure Sodium Lights
- LED lights
- Fluorescent Lights
You can select the type of lights that will be more effective. I have noticed that most HPS and LED grow lights come with built-in fans that will be useful in air circulation and regulation of the heat.
Fluorescent and HPS lights are known for being quite hot, and they require additional fans to prevent any burning of the plants.
Use rope ratchets to keep your lights elevated. It will allow you to adjust them accordingly as the plants grow.
Step 8: Climate Control Setup
As we had highlighted earlier, the beauty of the hydroponic grow tent is that it will give you total control of the environment.
Some of the critical factors that you should consider controlling include:
- Temperature
- C02
- Humidity
We love this controller from Vivosun.
These climatic conditions vary from place to place depending on your region. An ideal number of fans also depends on the environment that you wish to create.
There are accessories designed to help you set up a conducive atmosphere for the plants. You can choose to have a humidifier, which needs to be cleaned quite often. It would help if you had the humidifier’s water changed daily – this is critical.
If you allow for stagnant water, it will be a breeding place for pathogenic microbes, which are detrimental to your plants.
Step 9: Collection Rack or Screens?
To grow plants using the soil, you must have a collection rack. You can use wire shelves to make the collection rack in your indoor grow room.
Place them at the bottom so the plants will rest readily on the rack. It will prevent the plants from reaching the ground and provide proper airflow.
Remember that the rack makes it much easier to clean the room. You can remove all the debris and other unwanted items without touching the plants.
You may also opt to use the screens; in this case, you need to find one that will fit inside the room. The screens may be ideal for younger plants as they will help them go through the vegetative cycle without any problems.
You can have the screen attached to the collection rack or the walls of the indoor grow systems.
Step 10: Start Gardening
If you have followed all the steps till this point, you are ready to start farming. You can decide to place the plants inside the grow room. However, conduct a safety check to ensure that all the installed accessories work as expected.
It is also essential to test the environment to be sure that it is ideal for your crops.
Space out your plants’ needs so they will not be forced to compete for some essential nutrients. If you use pots, you should have them 3 inches apart inside the grow tent.
Final Thoughts:
There you have it! You can easily monitor your plants as they thrive inside the grow room setup and air exchange system.
However, ensure that you are not interfering with the environment, which may affect the plants. Reduce the number of movements in the room to avoid contaminating the plants.
Assembling a grow tent from scratch doesn’t have to be challenging. With this guide, you should find it a bit easier. You do not need to have a lot of space to work in the area you have.
If you need to buy the best grow tent, check out some of the models I have reviewed in my previous articles. Was this guide helpful? I would love to know and feel free to share it.