Only these 4 ingredients are required by cannabis plants: Water, air, light, and soil. The air in our garden DOES impact growth - via factors such as temperature, gas composition, and motion (airflow). Here's how I ensure my plants get the right air they need for optimal health!
Temperature
Since we're dealing with indoor gardens in the Soil to Oil series, temperature fluctuations and extremes aren't much of an issue. My garden tends to be one corner of my livingroom. It's always about 22oC in here (room temperature). For most strains, this is great, and if you're growing at home you probably won't have to think again about this topic!
(If you had a larger indoor setup with multiple large lights you'd need additional temperature considerations such as venting, fans, and possibly even cooling.)
If your garden is against an outside wall, you may experience seasonal temperature fluctuations. Adjusting temperature controls, increasing airflow (see below), or using a physical barrier between your garden and the outside wall will help.
Cannabis plants don't mind the air temperature dropping a little at night (that's normal in nature), but at no point should it be colder than 12oC. Adult plants can handle warmer temperatures better than most people, so as long as they're properly watered, your plants won't mind if it's warm in your place.
Composition
The gasses that make up your air obviously have a major impact on the health of your plants! They require a steady supply of CO2 (and not too much O2), which combines with water and light to form sugar for powering other processes. That's pretty easy to provide, since regular room air has plenty of CO2 - we're breathing out plant food! (Sophisticated growers often use techniques to increase the CO2 level in their controlled garden environments.)
The only other thing to mention here is the moisture content of the air (humidity). Contrary to many growers' beliefs, cannabis doesn't require a humid environment. In fact, humidity usually leads to issues like mold growth. Unless your local climate (and house) is exceedingly dry, you'll never need to humidify your air or mist your plants.
Motion
The movement of your garden's air is vital, and something you can control to improve your plant health.
Benefits to better airflow include increased gas exchange, reduced chance of mold, stronger stalks, and prevention of hot or cold spots within the garden. Fans, vents, and windows are the most common and cheapest ways to do this at home.
Another consideration for airflow is space between (and around) plants. Lights too close, walls too close, or even other plants too close can limit a plant's airflow, and therefore growth rate. Provide a bit of clearance around your plants.
It seems simple, but air is 1 of the 4 ingredients required by plants, and refining its temperature, composition, and flow will improve your garden.
Soil to Oil
This is part of my 'Soil to Oil' series, which is following my 4th crop grown fully on the Steem blockchain. The first posts are here, here, and here. The series intends to help intermediate gardeners adapt their skills to producing high quality clean organic cannabis, in their living room, for essentially no financial cost. If you've grown tomatoes, fruit, or flowers, you won't have trouble using what you know to succeed with cannabis. This guide isn't intended for brand new gardeners, but I encourage them to follow along and start developing their green thumbs. The MKUltra and Steem OG crop will be grown, harvested, and the oil will be extracted for medical use.
These natural and inexpensive methods can ensure the best possible air conditions for our plants. Small indoor gardens like this make managing temperature and airflow fairly uncomplicated.
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