Grow Your Weed in This Automated Fridge
Control every aspect of the process, whether you're a novice or an expert.
As marijuana becomes legal in more and more states, an increasing number of people will want to take a DIY approach to their weed. But for many people, figuring out how to grow your own weed is daunting. Information is scattered all over the internet, and it’s not always reliable. Luckily for them, a new device could make it easy for novices to grow at home, thanks to a controlled environment and an app.
“It’s like an incubator that’s very tightly controlled,” says Yoni Ofir, one of the creators. Preorders for the device, which is called the Leaf, started on Wednesday and Ofir tells Inverse that buyers can expect deliveries of the refrigerator-sized units to start in September 2017.
The big white boxes automate the growing and drying process for one marijuana plant at a time, and a connected app lets you make adjustments remotely. An HD camera even provides you with live video of your plant. The light, humidity, water acidity, and nutrient levels are all adjusted to meet recipes that can be programmed from the app.
The Leaf is about the size of a refrigerator.
These recipes are tailored to different strains, and a team of growing experts have already developed some for the app, including several for veggies and herbs like red peppers and basil. “But the beautiful thing will be when the community can create their own recipes,” says Ofir. Users will be able to browse recipes and watch time-lapsed video of plants to decide if a recipe is right for them. “They can just, in one button, click to sync that recipe to their own Leaf.”
Step-by-step videos on how to take care of your plant, like pruning, have also been built into the app. The tools are provided and are stored in a door compartment. Ofir says the Leaf can produce four to five ounces each grow cycle, and once that’s harvested, the Leaf turns into a sort of “high-tech humidor” for drying. Racks slide into the main compartment, and the humidity is precisely controlled.
The nutrient pods that deliver precise amounts of what the plant needs.
Throughout the entire growing and drying process, a carbon filter is hard at work eliminating weed odors. Ofir says that filter should last about three to five months, depending on just how smelly your strain is.
For now, the Leaf is only available in Canada and the United States for $2,990. That isn’t exactly cheap, but compared to the price of medicinal marijuana, the Leaf should pay for itself after a few growing cycles, making DIY medical weed a lot more affordable and straightforward.
