Last Updated January 26th, 2023: One of the most restricting factors to starting your first indoor cannabis grow is often related to not wanting to purchase an indoor grow tent or being worried about space confinements. But what if I told you, you could grow weed in your closet?
I’ll be honest, growing weed in a closet can be difficult, but it’s definitely do-able if you get your setup finely tuned. In this guide, you’ll bear the fruit of about 50 closet grows where we narrowed down the perfect setup for anyone looking to grow in their closet.
Is It Even Possible To Grow Weed Inside Your Closet?:
Yes, it’s possible to grow cannabis in your closet. That being said it can be a bit difficult if you aren’t prepared.
Closets are difficult for grows because they typically lack proper circulation which plants need for growth. That being said, with the right setup you can provide adequate circulation, temperature control and light.
When you’re looking to start a closet grow you will need a handful of very important equipment. Below we’ll discuss what’s worked best for us.
Equipment Needed For A Cannabis Closet Grow:
To set yourself up for success I’d recommend the following pieces of equipment:
- A closet that is at least 36 inches wide and about 24 inches deep. Typically your standard closet is at least this size, so you should be fine.
- A professional plant grow light: We’ve had the best results with the BESTVA 1000W LED Grow Light
- Something to hang your lights from: We generally used clothes clips or hangers.
- Plant containers: We used these 3 gallon plant grow bags.
- Plant Soil: We used nutrient rich soil from Perlite.
- Cannabis Seeds: Check out our guide on buying cannabis seeds online.
- Plant Timer: Used to keep track of how long plants have been flowering and making sure they receive the correct amount of light.
- Air Circulation: We provided airflow via this CLOUDLINE ventilation system, as well as this 4 inch tubing.
- Additional Air Flow: If you have a small oscillating fan, this is great for additional air flow into your closet.
- Carbon Filter: To help clean the air and eliminate the smell.
- Temperature and Humidity Gauge: We used this Acurite gauge.
- Additional Nutrients If Needed: We used the Foxfarm Big Bloom nutrients.
The list might seed pretty overwhelming, but the majority of this equipment is reusable, which means you only have to purchase once and you’ll be able to use it for multiple closet grows.
How To Grow Weed In A Closet
Growing weed in your closet might seem slightly overwhelming with the equipment needed and the different things you’ll need to pay attention to, but once you get the hang of it, the process itself is rather simple.
Step 1: Setting Up Your Grow Lights In Your Closet:
The most important aspect to a cannabis plant growing is light! Without light you won’t have any plant growth!
As mentioned above we use the 1000W LED grow light by BESTVA because they have a few different wattages available, and they’re products are top class.
It is “technically” possible to use other types of grow lights other than LED, but at this point in time these LED lights are simply unmatched in terms of technology. LED lights produce less heat, are more energy efficient (so you pay less on your electric bill), more cost effective, and they are better at being ran for long hours than other types of lights.
Hanging Your Grow Lights:
Each set of lights will be slightly different, but the general principle is you’ll need to hang your grow lights so that they are are between 24-36 inches away from the soil.
My closet has wire racks that are around six feet tall, so I attach my lights to the bottom of this and hang them using clothes hangers and a bit of parachute cord. If you don’t have wire racks to hang your lights, you’ll have to get a bit creative, or you could simply drill a screw into the stud and hang it from there.
Step 2: Preparing Your Soil and Plants From Growing:
Because you’ll have limited space inside your closet for this grow, you’ll need to be space conscious in terms of the plant containers you use. I’ve been using the above referenced 3 gallon plant bags from VIVOSUN, but if you have less or more space, then you can adjust.
Before you begin you’ll have to germinate your seeds. If you’re new to germinating cannabis seeds, then I’d recommend you simply use the paper towel method as it’s the easiest and more foolproof germination method.
After germination, I’ll start the sprowts inside a small temporary growing container such as a plastic cup. Once they grow to at least 2-3 inches tall, then I’ll begin to transfer them to the permanent closet grow site.
Note: If you have the choice of cannabis strains, I’d definitely recommend a strain that has a short grow height. Because we are growing in a closet, our height is limited so we don’t have a strain that will grow more than ~48 inches tall.
Step 3: Setting Up Proper Air Flow, Ventilation and Carbon Filter:
One of the biggest problems with growing weed in a closet is that a closet doesn’t have natural airflow and ventilation. Furthermore, since cannabis has a very distinct smell, you’ll need something to filter out the smell if you have curious neighbors.
That being said, with the proper ventilation and airflow your closet grow will be halfway there to flowering! And if you correctly setup your carbon filter then the smell will be eliminated!
Ventilation and Airflow:
To give your cannabis closet grow a fighting chance, it needs airflow to stimulate the movement of oxygen in the plant, which it otherwise wouldn’t get in a closet. As mentioned above I personally use the Cloudline T4 ventilation system along with 4 inch tubing and the setup has been extremely easy. This system is designed specifically for close quarter grows and the setup is minimal. Each system will have a slightly different instruction manual, but each one will rely on sucking up the stale air and replacing it with fresh, oxygen filled air.
Carbon Filter:
Setting up the carbon filter should be quite easy and should just involve attaching the carbon filter to the ventilation exhaust. This means that any air being pushed out of the closet is running through this carbon filter to help eliminate any odors before being pushed either outside or into your home.
Step 4: Focusing On The Growth Of Your Plants:
Now that you have your seeds planted, and the correct airflow and ventilation setup, it’s time to start monitoring your growth!
Before you begin you should setup a temperature and humidity gauge in your closet to help keep the growing conditions optimal for your strain.
I personally check on my plants about twice per day, usually once in the morning and once at night. During this time I’ll check the gauges to ensure conditions are optimal, and also that all the ventilation systems are working.
You should also use this time to check if your grow needs water or additional nutrients.
Step 5: Harvesting Your Closet Grow:
After a “short” 8-12 weeks, the time has finally come! Harvesting time! Just like any cannabis grow you’ll need to trim and cure your buds before you can enjoy them.
If you’ve never harvested cannabis before I suggest you take a look at Leafly’s Guide.
Final Thoughts on Growing Cannabis In Your Closet:
I know this can all seem overwhelming, but once you get through your first closet grow, it’s actually extremely managable. Along with this, you’ll be able to reuse the majority of your equipment, so you don’t have to worry about purchasing anything else except some additional seeds and soil.
If you have any questions about growing in a closet, please leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to get back to you with some advice! I hope you have a successful closet grow!
Resources:
https://ag.umass.edu/greenhouse-floriculture/fact-sheets/ventilation-for-greenhouses