10 Tips to Grow Cannabis on a Budget

The more you read about growing cannabis, the more this hobby turns out to be expensive. To be honest, that's the case with most hobbies. A ukulele is as cheap as $50, but the more you immerse yourself in it, you'll end up spending hundreds of dollars on fancy strings and electric pedals and whatnot. 

But, that doesn't mean you can't learn the ukulele on a budget, and the same applies to cannabis. Yes, grow lights can cost upwards of a thousand dollars, and other equipment can be expensive. Yes, you can install IoT and smart devices all around your fancy aeroponics setup, too. But, the truth is that you don't have to. 

Cannabis is a plant, and what is necessary for a plant? Good light, good air, and good nutrients. If you work on establishing a decent setup now, you'll see that the overall costs aren't all that high compared to the return. Over time, your investment should pay for itself. Read on to know about some of the best ways to save money while growing cannabis. 

Tips to Save Money in Cannabis Cultivation

Here are some ways you can save money while growing cannabis. 

1. Use Sunshine 

Grow lights are expensive, especially if you're looking for high-end ones. They come with an upfront cost but also consume energy in the long run if you're not using LED lights. But, then, you don't even need to spend on lights because sunshine is completely free, so why not use it? 

By growing cannabis outdoors, you can drastically cut down your expenses that would otherwise be wasted on grow lights. Plus, you won't have to spend money on extraction fans, heating, and other power-hungry peripherals if you grow outdoors. 

Yes, not everyone has the luxury of growing cannabis in the sunshine, whether it is due to shorter summers or discretion issues. In any case, figure out how you can use as much sunlight as possible. 

If being discreet is a priority, grow outdoor cannabis strains that are short and conceal them with companion plants. You can also grow cannabis on your balcony. If summers are short where you live, at least keep your plants outdoors during the summer months and shift them indoors during winter. 

The sunlight didn't travel millions of miles for you to spend unnecessary money on grow lights when you don't want to. Of course, grow lights have their place in cannabis cultivation, but they're overkill if your goal is simply to grow a plant for yourself as a hobby. 

2. Insulate Your Grow Room 

In many regions, you will use heaters to keep your grow room warm and cozy for your cannabis plant. Here, consider investing in insulation to maintain the temperature in the grow room. This is an excellent way of being energy efficient while saving money on energy bills. 

When you insulate your cannabis grow room, the heat will be trapped within and won't escape as easily. This will allow you to maintain the high temperatures that your plant strain requires. 

You also need to think about another form of insulation — light insulation. Your grow light produces light but much of it, which does not fall on the plant, is wasted. So, use insulations like mylar film or orca film around your plant to redirect the otherwise wasted light back to the canopy. This will significantly boost your plant's growth and yield. Be careful of light burns, though.

3. Be Energy Efficient In Your Grow Room

Similarly, you can try out some other things to make your grow room and cannabis cultivation more energy-efficient. These may seem like small steps initially, but they quickly add up. 

Of course, you'll still have to have various devices in your grow room, including fans, air conditioners, humidifiers, etc. but how you use them will make a difference. Here are some tips you should keep in mind to make your grow room more energy efficient:

• Keep your grow lights at the right distance so you are not wasting light 
• Use energy-efficient grow lights that don't produce a lot of heat, like LEDs
• Set up an exhaust system to regular the temperature 
• Use a swamp cooler if your grow room has low humidity naturally 
• To make your room warmer, get bigger grow lights or insulate the room
• Automate your grow room to reduce any kind of wastage of energy 

There are many such things you can do to keep your energy costs down. So, be creative. 

4. Choose Fast-Growing Cannabis Strains 

The longer your plant grows, the more energy it will consume. So, why not grow cannabis plants that grow fast, like autoflowering strains? These strains grow a lot quicker and require a lot fewer resources during their life cycle, leading to a lot of money saved in terms of energy and resources. 

Granted, an autoflowering plant will not produce the same yield as a photoperiod plant, but high-yielding autoflowering strains still produce a respectable yield that is more than enough for most hobby growers and recreational cannabis users. 

Some of the best fast-growing cannabis strains include:

• Exotic Purple Autoflower
• Milkshake Kush Autoflower
• Amnesia Haze Auto
• Big Devil Autoflower
• Mazar Autoflower
• Lemon Autoflower

You can even find autoflowering varieties of popular strains such as Girl Scout Cookies, Purple Haze, Gelato, OG Kush, etc. 

5. Clone Your Plants

In any case, cannabis seeds can be expensive, especially high-quality ones. That does not mean you end up getting bag seeds — they are low-quality, so avoid those. Instead, you can clone your cannabis plants, especially if you are only growing 1 or 2 cannabis plants each season. 

By cloning, you don't have to worry about seeds at all, and something as simple as honey can be used as a rooting hormone. It's a cheap way to grow cannabis plants!

Cloning your cannabis plants is a surefire method to save some money. There are several advantages to cloning cannabis, but here are a few of them:

• No Need to Buy Seeds

Buying seeds is an expense in cannabis growing. Cloning your plants allows you to make copies of your favorite plants without purchasing new seeds each time. As long as the mother plants have performed well, the offspring will do the same most of the time, depending on your growing conditions. Not only does this save you money, but you also get to enjoy consistent genetics and the same quality each time. 

• Maintains Desired Traits

Cloning enables you to reproduce desired characteristics from your cannabis plants such as potency, specific flavors, or preferred growth attributes. This also means that you can clone plants with higher yields to get more yields. Simply put, more yields without having to spend on seeds means more money. 

Why bother trying out strains and facing letdowns when you can rely on cloning to consistently cultivate cannabis with your preferred characteristics saving you time and money in the process?

• Minimizing the Chance of Male Plants

Regular cannabis seeds are less expensive than feminized or autoflowering ones. Thus, many growers opt for them; however, you will find many male plants in your room, meaning you'll waste money and resources growing male plants when you're trying to save some money, putting you back at square one. 

Cloning solves this problem. Simply clone a female mother plant you grew from regular or feminized seeds and you'll have as many female plants as you want. 

6. Go Easy on Nutrients 

When it comes to nutrients, you can save a lot of money here. You don't have to spend on store-bought nutrients at all. Remember, cannabis grows out in the wild and adjusts pretty well as long as you take care of its basic needs. 

For example, using soil as a growing medium offers many advantages for those looking to cultivate cannabis within a strict budget. Soil is easily accessible, user-friendly, and provides nutrients and microbial support for robust plant development. Moreover, soil-based cultivation methods are beginner-friendly, so you won't have many problems even if you haven't grown a plant before in your life. 

Also, soil is much cheaper than other growing mediums like coco coir, rockwool, etc, so you can certainly use it as long as you provide the right nutrients to your plants according to their stage of growth. For instance, plants growing in soil will do well with homemade compost tea.  Compost tea contains a lot of nitrogen that can help the plants during the vegetative stage. 

To give your plants an extra push, you can also use fish emulsion that you can make at home. Like compost tea, fish emulsion also contains nitrogen that helps the plant put out a lot of leaves and stems. If not, you can purchase it for a cheap price at any gardening store. Dilute it as instructed on the package with water and use it as either a soil drench or foliar spray to give your plants a nitrogen boost.

During the flowering stage, you can use bone meal that's packed with phosphorus and calcium for plant and bud development. Mix bone meal into the soil or simply sprinkle it around your plant's base for a slow-release phosphorus source during flowering.

Or, you can use wood ash which is valuable for its potassium content and trace minerals. Wood ash can be gathered from your fireplace or outdoor fire pit. Sprinkle it lightly around your plants to increase potassium levels in the soil during flowering. However, don't overdo it as wood ash can make the soil a tad alkaline. 

7. Train Your Plant 

Most tips mentioned here ask you to cut down on something to save money, but this is a tip that does not cut down on anything but brings out more yield from your plant, offsetting the money you spend on it. 

We're talking about training your cannabis plant. What is training? It is a method of shaping or manipulating your plant's canopy. Doing so has a few benefits, such as:

• Better air circulation within the canopy 
• Better light penetration and consistent light supply to all bud sites 
• Activated plant defenses for better growth 
• More bud sites in general 

Training can significantly boost your plant's yield. But how is that saving you money, you ask? Well, imagine if you were spending $100 on a yield of 500 g/m2 of weed. With training, you'll spend $110 on a yield of 600 g/m2. More buds for almost the same cost. It's an example, but you get the gist, right? 

Training methods come in a lot of variety, ranging from low stress to high stress, but beginners should stick to LST. Here are some of the best training methods you can try:

• LST or low-stress training 
• Pruning 
• Bending 
• Topping 
• Super cropping 
• Manifolding 
• Screen of Green (ScrOG)
• Sea of Green (SOG)

8. Recycle and Reuse As Much As You Can 

Lastly, be frugal with everything you have. If you are a cannabis grower, you are likely to grow more than a single plant in the next couple of years. In that case, you should actively learn how to reuse or recycle various tools, products, and materials that you use to grow cannabis. 

Some of the things that you can reuse or recycle include materials and tools like pots, soil, hoses, compost, gardening supplies, grow lights, and much more. 

Using pots, especially large ones, can quickly add up and become expensive over time. However, with a touch of creativity, you can repurpose containers and use them to grow plants. 

For example, old plastic buckets that you can find for free or at a cheap cost at hardware stores or recycling centers work as excellent containers for growing cannabis. Just make sure to clean them thoroughly before using them to avoid any contamination. Also, drill drainage holes in the bottom to prevent water buildup and root rot. Most buckets offer a lot of space for root growth. Plus, they are easy to move around, allowing you some flexibility in arranging your plants.

Another option is to use large plastic storage bins that can house even big cannabis plants. Again, they offer a lot of space for the roots to spread out and will not retain too much water if you drill holes at the bottom. You can also elevate them to ensure proper water drainage. 

Many growers also use old tires and repurpose them into old planters. It may seem unusual but it's a practical way to utilize their durability and stability for supporting larger plants. To turn tires into planters, stack them in layers, fill them with soil, and make sure to add drainage holes in the tire to prevent water buildup. To avoid too much heat during hot summers, you can paint the tires with light-colored or reflective paint.

Finally, think of using fabric pots to increase the airflow and improve root health. This is because fabric pots allow a lot of air in the root zone, thereby preventing excess moisture. Moreover, it allows water to dry up faster, so the chances of root rot or issues that arise due to overwatering will be prevented. They are relatively cheap and can be found anywhere.

9. Consider Building Hydroponic Systems

Growing cannabis using hydroponic setups is a great technique to provide plants with direct access to nutrients and water. This helps the plants grow faster and also improves yields. Of course, going for sophisticated hydroponic setups will be expensive. However, you can save some money by making your DIY setup with accessible materials. Here are some budget-friendly options:

• PVC Pipe System

PVC pipes are affordable materials that can be used for hydroponic systems. One popular choice is the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) where nutrient-rich water flows through a channel, creating a thin nutrient film for plant roots to absorb. 

You can find several guides online to set up an NFT system at home. In fact, we have guides to help you set up various hydroponic systems, including NFT. Essentially, you need to cut PVC pipes into your desired lengths and position them at a slight angle for water flow. Use a pump to circulate the solution continuously. PVC pipes also work well for building hydroponic towers, optimizing space usage, and allowing multiple plants to grow in small areas.

• Bucket System

Setting up a bucket hydroponic system is straightforward and doesn't require too many materials. To start, make holes in the bucket lid to fit pots or cups for holding the plants. Fill the bucket with a solution. Then, place the plant roots in it using a growing medium like clay pellets or perlite. Make sure the roots are submerged in the solution while keeping the top part exposed to air. Use an air pump and air stones to add oxygen to the solution to help in healthy root growth.

• Kratky Method

The Kratky method works on a simple approach that requires low maintenance and is budget-friendly as well, making it great for beginners. With this method, plant roots are placed in a container filled with the nutrient solution, sans the pump or circulation system. As plants absorb water and nutrients, the solution level decreases gradually, exposing the roots to air. For a DIY method, use containers like plastic bins or buckets and support the plants using pots or foam boards.

10. Utilize Sugar Leaves and Trimmings

If you really want to get the best out of your cannabis plant, you should use every part instead of just focusing on the buds. Yes, the buds have a major part of your attention, but it will serve you well if you use the remaining parts such as the roots, leaves, and stems to make your concoctions. While some people use the leaves to make tea, you can focus on just the sugar leaves to make some extracts or concentrates. Although they don't contain cannabinoids in high amounts like the buds, you can still use them to make hash, for instance. 

One of the most common ways to make hash is to use the trichomes, and since the sugar leaves also contain a hefty sprinkling of this precious treasure, you can use several techniques like sifting, ice water extraction (bubble hash) or hand rolling to make hash. 

Another way to use sugar leaves is to make edibles with them. Many people shy away from edibles because they hit hard and you may need a while to get used to them. In such cases, you can use the sugar leaves to make your edibles as the effects will be milder than using traditional buds. 

The process is just the same. All you need to do is decarboxylate the trim or sugar leaves and infuse it into a carrier oil or alcohol to make tinctures. Of course, trim can be used to make cannabutter as well. 

Cost of Setting up a Cheap Indoor Grow Room

Yes, it's possible to set up a relatively inexpensive grow room to grow cannabis at home. Of course, the cost will depend on the space, seeds, equipment, etc. Thus, we will take a 2x3 grow tent as an example so you understand what to expect. 

• Grow Tent

A grow tent measuring 2x3 feet is perfect for housing your indoor cultivation setup. A basic tent of this size usually costs around $50 to $100 depending on the brand and features.

• Ventilation

To ensure air circulation, an inline fan paired with a carbon filter will work well, which typically ranges from $50 to $100. Remember that you will require ducting and duct clamps for establishing ventilation.

• Preventing light leaks

Your plants will benefit if the light is distributed well across the grow room. Reflective materials like mylar or panda film will help you achieve good results. Or, you can paint the surfaces of the grow room to get similar effects. However, use only white paint for maximum light distribution. 

• Grow Lights

Most growers choose grow lights like CFLs or fluorescent lights to cultivate cannabis in small spaces. However, you don't need to do that as LEDs aren't all that expensive. If you're looking for an affordable LED grow light for a 2x3 grow area you can find one in the price range of $100 to $200. Ensure it offers full spectrum coverage and enough wattage to support your plants through all growth stages.

• Growing Medium

Invest in some quality potting soil, which usually costs between $10 to $20 for a 20 to 40-pound bag. Alternatively, you can mix your soil using compost, perlite, and other additives for a budget-friendly option.

• Pots

Choose from fabric pots that are budget-friendly and cost around $1 to $5 each depending on size and quality. Or, you can go for cheap plastic pots but they tend to retain too much water, so make sure you drill enough holes at the bottom to let the water drain out easily. 

• Seeds

When buying cannabis seeds, go for seed banks or breeders where prices typically range from $5 to $15 per seed depending on the strain and genetics. You can even choose expensive ones if you can dedicate some space and clone them. You can also get clones from dispensaries or other growers in your area if you're lucky. 

• Nutrients and Supplements

Consider investing in a specific brand of nutrients so you can purchase everything in one go. All you need are nutrients made specifically for the vegetative and flowering stages, which are commonly known as the grow (Part A), bloom (Part B), and micronutrients, which can range from $20 to $50 for a set.

• Miscellaneous Supplies

Get yourself a pH meter and EC meter to keep track of and adjust solution levels. These meters usually cost between $30 to $50 each depending on the brand and features.

You should also get a timer if you are trying to automate anything. They are relatively affordable with basic mechanical timers costing around $10 to $20.

Finally, you'll need a hygrometer to monitor the temperature and humidity levels in your grow tent, which may cost around $20. 

As you can see, it will cost around $300 to $500 to set up a proper cultivation setup at home. Remember that these prices can vary depending on factors like brand, quality, and local market rates. It's also possible to lower expenses by acquiring materials secondhand or creating some components yourself for your growing setup. If this is within your budget, you can explore the options. If not, consider growing outdoors to reduce the costs of purchasing grow lights and carbon filters. 

Summary: 10 Tips to Grow Cannabis on a Budget

As you can see, growing cannabis does not have to be an expensive hobby. If it was so expensive, it wouldn't be as popular as it is today. Everyone deserves to benefit from it or at least have fun with it. 

So, if you want to have fun without burning a hole in your wallet, use the tips mentioned above to cut costs when it comes to growing cannabis. Don't worry, you won't lose out on much. Even a basic cannabis setup can produce a decent yield that's still potent and flavorful.