The passage of Issue 2 in November 2023 legalized recreational marijuana in Ohio, allowing adults 21 and over to buy and use cannabis products without a medical card. The new law further permits home cultivation, albeit with quantity and space limitations.
As of December 7, Ohioans could grow up to six plants per person, or 12 total at homes with two or more adults. Whether indoors or out, your cannabis crop must be kept in a locked, enclosed area that’s neither accessible to children nor visible to the public.
Actually nurturing a successful home marijuana crop takes time, patience and thousands of dollars, depending on where you plant, said experts and cultivation instructors interviewed by Ideastream Public Media. For indoor grows, Northeast Ohio’s unpredictable temperature and humidity shifts require a healthy dose of air conditioning, heating and humidification (or dehumidification) depending on time of year, noted Community Garden Supply owner Benjamin Moidell.
“I recommend people not just run out and buy everything,” said Moidell, whose Chagrin Falls-area shop sells cannabis materials and equipment to both home and commercial growers. “Get a cycle under your belt with the resources that you have when you start, just to get an understanding of the natural ebb and flow of temperature and relative humidity that you can provide for the plant.”
Should your first attempt at an indoor cannabis crop go awry, that is the time to consider additional tools such as a dehumidifier or grow tent, said Zach Simcoe, a long-time home grower from Columbus.
Starting costs for an indoor seed-to-harvest kit run from $750-$1,000, said Simcoe, a graduate of the Ganjier trade certification program at Green Flower, a California cannabis curriculum creator and industry bootcamp. Outlay for a typical 3x3 grow space may encompass lighting and a small tent – lights alone can increase your electricity costs by $100 monthly, as plants need between 12 and 18 hours of light depending on development phase.
After these one-time costs, the next expenses entail seeds, soil and nutrients, Simcoe said. Outdoor enthusiasts may have to landscape their backyards for a proper grow environment, but a good pot and some fertilizer may be all they require.
“People often get caught up in the word ‘the best,’ but the best isn’t always what you think it is when we’re talking about tools,” said Simcoe. “The way I like to describe this is to compare it to power tools. If you know how to use one power tool really well, you don’t need five other power tools.”
Answering a simple question
Climate is critical for health of an at-home crop, said Derek Gilman, managing director of the Ganjier program.
Maintaining perfect growing conditions is dependent on factors such as lighting and available space. However, room temperature for most grow rooms should be between 50-80 degrees, Gilman said. Cultivators should also put aside time to clean equipment and trim plants – cleanliness keeps away mold as well as predatory insects eager to feast upon your crop, he added.
While it generally takes between four to eight months to nurture a single cannabis plant, the control presented by indoor cultivation cuts that time considerably. Quality depends on proper air filtration, among other considerations, which protects plants by capturing contaminants and additional airborne threats.
Any equipment purchase should be preceded by a simple question, said Gilman: What type of cannabis strain do you want to grow?
“One of the first important decisions to make is what genetics you’re going to grow, and genetics need to align with the cultivation methodology,” said Gilman. “Just because you see a genetic with a cool name, each type of cannabis variety has been bred under certain conditions, and therefore will thrive under the conditions it’s adapted to.”
Outdoor growth cycles generally begin in March or early April, with plants establishing a strong root system by mid- to late summer. Flowering time outside is dependent on genetics as well, though outdoor growers will typically wait between eight-12 weeks before that stage is complete, Gilman said.
“Mountainous varieties like indica have shorter flowering times, while sativas have a longer cycle,” he said.
A growing wave
Even prior to choosing a strain, individuals should study the rules and regulations around home cultivation, said Moidell of Community Garden Supply. Chapter 37 of the Ohio Revised Code – particularly subsection 3780.29 – provides explicit instructions on growing at your residence.
For instance, marijuana can be grown outdoors in a secure area with zero line-of-sight from the street.
Otherwise, newbie hobbyists should avoid smothering their plants with too much care, said Moidell.
“The No. 1 piece of advice I can give to new growers is to not love them to death,” he said. “They are plants, they do need us, but they also need us to leave them alone to some extent. (Cultivators) will keep a watchful eye over their plants, and be concerned about anything that looks ‘abnormal.’ They’ll try to correct something that isn’t an issue, but a phase of growth the plant’s going through.”
Managing expectations will deliver peace of mind along with the satisfaction of creating something literally from the ground up, Moidell said. Control over the growth cycle, meanwhile, means knowing what is going into your crop – hopefully not pesticides, fertilizers or other chemicals that could impact body chemistry once ingested, he said.
Columbus home grower Simcoe formed his connection with cannabis when the plant helped him mitigate a stress-related seizure disorder. Along with wanting to bring mairjuna’s medical benefits to others, Simcoe is currently in the process of buying a hydroponics store.
“The legality of it was keeping the average person (from cannabis,)” Simcoe said. “There are so many people now who have reached out to do home-grow consultations and build out a nice grow in whatever space they have. People are coming out of the woodwork, sparked by either curiosity or they got themselves in trouble, and now are able to reignite that curiosity. In terms of Ohio post-Issue 2, I think the wave is growing.”
