Welcome to the ultimate guide on the 10 must-have tools for successful cannabis cultivation. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced grower, having the right tools is essential for achieving happy and healthy cannabis plants.
In this article, we’ll explore the essential tools that every cannabis grower should have in their arsenal. By using these tools, you can make growing cannabis much easier. This will not only reduce your stress level but it will also, increase your yield, and make the whole process much more enjoyable.
This guide has plenty of information to help you out. But as always, if you need any extra help, please feel free to comment in the cannabis growing forum. Ask questions about your grow, or even find out what tools you need, or what brand other growers would recommend. All you have to do is ask, and our community of experienced cannabis growers will be more than happy to help you. But for now, let’s take a look at what tools we recommend you have in your grow room!
pH Meter
A pH meter is a vital tool for measuring the acidity or alkalinity of your nutrient solution or grow medium. If the pH level of your medium or nutrient solution is not within range your plant will not be able to absorb the nutrients it needs. So monitoring and adjusting the pH level is crucial to keeping happy, healthy plants. There are a lot of different pH meters you can buy for your garden.
It is highly recommend you go with a high quality meter like Blue Lab pH pens, or “Essential” pH pens ( like the one in the picture). These are more reliable and will give you accurate readings. This is one of the most important tools for successful cannabis cultivation.
EC or TDS Meter
In addition to monitoring pH, measuring the electrical conductivity (EC) of your nutrient solution is important for proper nutrient management. This is especially the case if you’re using salt based nutrients for your cannabis grow. An EC meter allows you to assess the nutrient strength and adjust it accordingly, ensuring your cannabis plants receive the right balance of nutrients for healthy growth.
If you use the EC meter correctly you will be able to tell how much you plant is eating. You can tell if you’re feeding too much, or not enough. It is a great tool to help you diagnoses issues like nutrient deficiencies, or excess/ toxicity.
Hygrometer
A hygrometer is used to monitor the humidity levels in your grow room. Cannabis plants prefer a certain humidity at different stages of their life cycle. They like high humidity during veg, and lower humidity during flower. High humidity levels can also be a cause of mold and mildew on your cannabis plant, which is something you need to avoid at all costs.
Make sure you have a good hygrometer in your grow room. Not only does a hygrometer measure humidity level, but it will also measure the temperature in your grow room. It is recommended that you use one with a prong on it. This will be a prong on a wire so you can move the sensors to the best location above your plants for more accurate readings.
Syringe for Measuring Nutrients
To provide your cannabis plants with the right nutrients, a nutrient feeder or syringe is essential. This tool allows you to measure and distribute liquid nutrients, supplements, or pH adjusters accurately. By feeding your plants the proper nutrients, you can support healthy growth and prevent nutrient deficiencies. Nutrient syringes will come in different sizes so get one which suits you best. If you’re only growing a couple of plants, then maybe a 5ml syringe will be plenty.
But if you have many plants, you will be preparing more nutrient solution for them with every feed. In this case maybe a 25ml or 50ml syringe would be a better option for you. As a bonus, a nutrient solution syringe can help soak up run off from your plants after watering them. So a big one can double up as a run off remover too.
Moisture Meter
To prevent overwatering or underwatering, a moisture meter is a valuable tool, especially if your growing cannabis in soil. It allows you to measure the moisture content of your soil, ensuring you water your cannabis plants only when needed. This helps promote healthy root development. You can get a cheap double pronged soil meter from most garden stores. But nowadays you can even get them with WIFI enabled so you can check the moisture level of your grow medium from your phone!
When growing in soil it is important to give your cannabis plants a “wet and dry cycle”. So knowing when to water them is crucial to keeping happy healthy plants. You can make it easier to know when the plants need watering by using these moisture meters.
Garden Wire
When growing cannabis indoors, many growers will “train” their cannabis plants using some kind of string or garden wire. This helps spread the plant out more and makes the most out of the grow space they have. It is highly recommended that you train your plants a little as they grow, and to do this you will need some garden string. There are many alternatives to garden string too. Things like “bends”, trellises and netting.
You just have to find out what is more suitable for you. But training cannabis plants is a great way to make the most out of your grow space. Garden wire is an often overlooked tools for successful cannabis cultivation. So make sure you have some good garden string on hand in case you need it.
Air Stone
For hydroponic growers, an air stone is an essential tool to ensure the oxygenation of your nutrient solution, and the root zone. By introducing oxygen bubbles into the water, an air stone helps prevent stagnation and promotes healthy root development. It is particularly crucial in systems like deep water culture (DWC) or nutrient film technique (NFT), where the roots are submerged in water. But it is always good to have one even if you grow in soil or soilless mediums.
The added oxygen in the water is great for microbial life, so using an airstone is a great idea, even if you’re not growing hydroponically. It is also a great tool to have on hand for when your making compost teas, or just trying or aerate the water before watering or feeding your plants.
Watering Can
A watering can is an essential tool for providing your cannabis plants with the right amount of water. It allows you to control the water flow and avoid overwatering or underwatering your plants. Choose a watering can with a long spout to reach the base of the plants without splashing water onto the leaves. Watering your plants thoroughly and evenly will help promote healthy root development and overall growth. Also, you should make sure you have a watering can that is the right size for you.
It may be easier to have a small watering can and refill it as you need instead of trying to move a heavy one around. Make sure the spout has a filter on it too to make the water come out in small droplets. This will make it much easier for the water to be absorbed into the dry medium.
Mister Spray Bottle
A mister spray bottle is especially useful during seedling stages or when humidity levels need to be increased. It will also be used to spray pesticides around the grow room if needed and can also be used for foliar feeding your cannabis plants to treat deficiencies. There are a few types of mister bottle you can get. One of which is with a trigger that you pull and it sprays the liquid inside with each pull.
But there is also a pump style that you pump up and then your able to spray a fine mist for a longer period of time and it works great in the grow room. I would highly recommend you get one of these mister bottles. They are very easy to use, cheap, and a great to have on hand if you need it.
Pruning Shears
Pruning shears are your go-to tool for maintaining the health and shape of your cannabis plants. These handy shears allow you to trim away unwanted leaves, branches, or buds, promoting better airflow, light penetration, and overall plant development. A good pair of shears is most useful during the defoliation stage when you remove the lower, small branches from the plant.
To reduce damage and risk of infection, it is good to have a nice clean cut on your plant, so a good pair of shears in needed. You won’t use these everyday, but they are very useful to have on hand for when you do need them. Also have on hand some isopropyl alcohol for cleaning them in between use. This will help reduce the risk of your plants getting an infection.
Conclusion
Having the right tools is essential for successful cannabis cultivation. The 10 tools discussed in this article will make the whole process easier and more enjoyable. Prior planning and preparation prevents poor performance. So make sure you have all the necessary tools on hand. With these tools just remember the old saying, “better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it”. They are reasonably cheap to buy all of these products, and having them will give you peace of mind, which is priceless.
Thanks as always for reading, I hope this guide has helped you. Do you think we have missed anything out? Please feel free to add suggestions for more useful tools in the comments below or start a thread in our cannabis growing forum. It would be great to know what tools for successful cannabis cultivation you use in your grow room that you consider to be crucial.
@percysgrowroom very informative and I like that it shows photos of the product you may need and links to where you can see the cost .