5 Essential Tools Every Home Cannabis Grower Should Have (But Might Not Realize)
No matter how much of a green thumb you may have, cultivating cannabis requires more than just skill. Sure, you also need patience as you wait months for your crop to be ready for harvesting. But what’s even more important than skill and patience is investing in the right equipment.
Although there is some level of skill, patience, and care involved in any grow op, the ultimate way to produce higher yields with each harvest is to use the proper tools. These 5 grow tools might just take your small at-home grow op to the next level.
An Accurate pH Meter
One of the most underrated tools for growing at home is the handy dandy pH pen (also commonly known as a pH meter). A lot of growers underestimate the importance of measuring pH, but it’s actually one of the most important aspects of any grow op. One of the most common misconceptions is that pH pens are only necessary for hydroponics. But this isn’t the case.
If you’re still wondering why pH is so important for cannabis cultivation, the main thing you need to know is that cannabis thrives within a specific pH range. This is the case for any living thing, including human beings. Cannabis thrives best when the pH value is between 6 and 7 – this is when plants are better able to take up nutrients.
The problem, though, is that every home’s water source has a different pH value. Some water is very high in pH and some is very low, and the only way to know is with a device that reads pH, like a pen or meter. Using this tool helps growers to determine whether they need to raise or lower the pH of their water so that the plants stay happy and healthy.
A Temperature and Humidity Gauge
This next tool is a no-brainer, but it’s still completely worth mentioning. Having a quality temperature and humidity gauge is a must for every grower. Actually, it’s best to have several of them placed in different areas of the grow room so that you can get a complete picture of the environment with no guesswork whatsoever.
Just as plants thrive on a specific pH, the same goes for climate factors like temperature and humidity. If the room gets too hot, too cold, too dry, or too humid, the plants will have no chance of meeting their full potential. This is why it’s so important to control grow room environment, and the first step in controlling it is knowing what you’re dealing with.
Protective Eyewear
Using protective eyewear should be on every grower’s list of important things to do, but you’d be surprised by how many growers actually forego eye protection. Even spending a small amount of time in your grow room each day can be tough on the eyes, but the good news is that it doesn’t have to be.
There are tons of affordable options for eye protection on the market, it’s even possible to find a nice pair of LED sunglasses without breaking the bank. Just be sure to find a sturdy pair that’s polarized for use outside of the indoor grow room.
A Quality Rosin Press
Technically a rosin press isn’t considered a necessity for the growing process, but it’s still a pretty cool tool to have around. It’s especially useful for ACMPR growers who invest in a rosin press Canada product for pressing their homegrown medical plants.
Whether you’re growing medically or recreationally, creating rosin is one of the most popular cannabis consumption methods today. Rosin technology basically works by using heat, pressure, and time to “press” cannabis into a sticky, concentrated substance called rosin.
It’s possible to make a simple DIY rosin press by just using a hair straightener, but the best way to do it is to purchase an actual press. There are several types to choose from, including hydraulic, pneumatic, and a modified hat press.
A Powerful Magnifying Glass
Aside from ignoring the importance of pH, one of the most common mistakes by growers is harvesting at the wrong time. There’s something called a harvest “sweet spot” when the plants are at their most potent and powerful, and to hit this sweet spot, you need to the plants’ trichomes.
The only way to tell if the plants have fully matured is to examine the trichomes, but not just with the naked eye. You’ll need a magnifying glass to properly tell if the plants have matured and are ready to be harvested to start the curing process.