This series is intended for new growers. I will try to keep things simple and explain the pros and cons to each scenario. I hope this guide acts as a basic start for those of you who are new to growing or might be interested in seeing what is required.
I am not sponsored or paid by anyone to promote any products. I will recommend products that I use on a regular basis however these are just recommendations based on my own experience.
Tip #1 - How much space can you dedicate to a grow?
Before you purchase anything and decide on if want to grow or not, I would ask the following questions:
What are your local laws regarding growing hemp/cannabis ?
Do you want to grow indoors ?
Do you want to grow outdoors ?
Local Laws:
Depending on where you are, get familiar with what you are allowed to do legally. For example, you will most probably have a limit of what you are allowed to grow. You may have a 2,3,4, or 20 plant limit meaning that you can only have X amount of plants growing at the same time. Other considerations may also include where you are allowed to grow. For example, some locations do not allow you to grow your plants from public view. This means that you may not be allowed to grow outside and even displaying your plant through a window may be against the law. So check your laws!
Growing Indoors:
Growing indoors is what I personally prefer. This allows me to grow in a controlled environment. I can control the temps, humidity, light cycles, and potential pests effectively. This of course requires you to have a dedicated space in your home or growing location. Growing indoors also provides privacy.
Growing Outdoors:
Growing outdoors is natures way of course. Growing outdoors will require you to know the daytime/nightime light cycles and you must have an IPMP (Integrative Pest Management & Prevention) Program. You also should consider your temps and humidity. Locations such as the south in the USA have very high humidity at times that can reach into the 90s. Increased humidity encourages fungus, powdery mildew, and other issues. Additionally, disease and viruses can spread from other plants to your plants.
Tip #2 - Purchasing Equipment
I am going to focus on equipment specifically for indoor grows since that is where my main growing experience comes from. Once you figure out how much space you can dedicate to your grow you will probably have 2 options. You can grow in a tent or you also can grow in an open room without the tent. The list that I have put together below will take you to amazon. If you do make a purchase using these links then it gives me a small commission from amazon so thank you. However, I do recommend that you purchase from your local grow stores as the prices on amazon can be double what you pay in store.
I have put together this list below specifically for a 4x4 grow space.
Grow Tent - AC Infinity 4x4 Grow Tent
Inline Exhaust Fan - AC Infinity 6" motor with smart controller
Carbon Filter - AC Infinity 6" Carbon Filter
Venting Line - AC Infinity 6" 25ft Hose
Grow Light - Spider Farmer SE-5000 light
Oscillating Fan - 2 Pack of Clip on Vivosun oscillating fans
Humidifier - Paris Rhone Cool Mist Humidifier (6L)
Dehumidifier - Midea 20-22 Pint Dehumidifier
pH/EC Meter Combo With Care Kit - Bluelab Kit
Smart Plugs - Kasa Tp-Link Smart Plugs
Surge Protector - 15ft cord, wall mountable surge protector
Tip #3 - Choosing Growing Media
Growing can generally be broken down into 3 categories
Soil (Organics)
Coco Coir
Hydroponics
Soil (Organics):
Growing in soil biggest benefit in my opinion is that it is easy and cost effective. Your plant gets all the nutrition it needs from the soil. While there are many soil options out there, one of the first common mistakes is planting seedlings into nutrient dense soil. If you soil is "super hot", meaning very nutrient dense, there is a good chance your seedlings will burn up and never make it into the vegetative stage. This is also why your local common hardware stores sell "seedling" or "seed starting" soil as it is very lite in nutrients.
The major upside to growing in soil in my opinion is you get a smoother smoke and you don't have to spend a lot of time mixing up nutrients as you would with coco or hydro. You simply feed your plant properly pH'd water and some amendments here and there and your good to go.
The downside to growing in soil in my opinion are pests are usually always a thing. The pests originate most of the time in your soil bag. Common pests such as fungus gnat larvae are typically in every single soil that you purchase, no matter the brand. There are some tips and tricks that you can do but regardless of that, this is why you must have a pest management system in place from day one.
I typically will purchase 2 soils depending on availability. My primary soil is from roots organic and my second option is from fox farms which is very common and readily available in most locations.
For Amendments, I like to use the following products:
Coco Coir:
Coco Coir is a coconut based fiber medium that is another very common option for growers and very popular. It is a lightweight media and allows for rapid root growth. It is often mixed with perlite. You would pot it just like you would soil. I personally primarily grow in coco. The main difference between coco and soil is that with soil, all of your nutrients are in the soil and any amendments that you add to your soil feed the soil. With coco, there are no nutrients in the grow media. While some products will add amendments to coco, its commonly nutrient free which requires you to purchase your nutrients of choice. With coco, you are feeding the roots directly, not the soil. Coco also makes it difficult to overwater as its drainage is great. You also do not need to typically be concerned with soil-born pests with coco. I have gone many grows without using any pest management programs while using coco.
I would say if I could pick 1 downside to growing in coco, it would be that you have to spend time mixing your batch of nutrients into your water. You also will need to do some additional flushing at the end of your grow cycle to flush out the salts from your growing media. We will talk about this later.
My 3 Coco's of choice are:
Hydroponics:
Hydroponics is probably the fastest way to grow your plants and they can become absolute monsters. A properly done hydroponic system can produce a single plant that can fill an entire 3x3 tent or more. The roots have essentially unlimited room for growth. No soil or growing medium is used in hydroponics. It is just water and nutrients. Hydroponics is unique as it requires a water reservoir, air pumps, hydroponic pots, etc.
The downside of going with hydroponics is making sure your water temps stay cool. Ideally in the 68-73F degree range. I have honestly had my water temps as high as 78 with no issues however you do not want to promote bad bacterial growth which can damage your root system among other things.
Tip #4 - Choosing Nutrients
Since I will be focusing on Coco Coir grows, I have used various nutrient lines. I will be careful not to place any negative comments here. While you have the option to go with various nutrient companies, my 2 lines of choice would be:
Athena is great when it comes to simplicity. Cutting edge solutions is also a clean product formulated for cannabis. I currently grow using athena as it is simple and effective and really cuts down on my mixing time. While there are many add-on products you can purchase such as silica, supplemental cal-mag, sugars etc... I will just stick with the base packages for this write up.
Tip #5 - Choosing Genetics
Actually, before we get into genetics, I would like to start off this section by talking about the concepts of traditional photoperiod plants vs autoflowering plants.
Photoperiods
Traditional hemp/cannabis plants have different stages of growth. We can break this down to seedlings, vegetative, and flowering stages. The seedling stage is when your plant has sprouted and are typically less than 3 or 4 nodes tall. The vegetative stage is when you grow the plant, shape it, manipulate it, train it, and get it where you want it to be before you go into flower. The flowering stage is when you want the plant to start producing buds until harvest. The term "photoperiod" refers to the amount of time the plant is exposed to a light/dark cycle.
You could run your lights on for 24 hours and your plants will stay in the vegetative stage. I typically follow the 18/6 schedule which means 18 hours of lights on, and 6 hours of lights off while in the seedling and vegetative stages. I will change my light schedule when I am ready to start producing flower by switching my light schedule to 12/12. 12 hours on, 12 hours off.
The benefit to using a traditional photoperiod plant is that you can grow the plant as large as you want (depending on genetics and other factors). Essentially, you are in control of what the plant is doing. You can do short runs or you can do longer runs. Its up to you!
Autoflowers
Autoflowers have been getting a lot of traction recently. It is still part of the cannabis family and are closely related enough to traditional cannabis that they can be cross-bred between each-other however they contain a unique gene which allows them to flower automatically (ruderalis) without regard to a photoperiod cycle. In other-words, you could keep the lights on 24 hours a day and they will still flower. The plant will go through its entire life cycle from the day you germinate the seed. You do not have control over how long it stays in the vegetative stage. Average autoflowers will go from start-to-harvest in 3 months. This offers the grower fast turn-around times. While there is nothing wrong with that at all, and many growers just grow autoflowers, the genetics of autoflowers are still lacking today. There are a couple mainstream breeders that have done an excellent job in the autoflower realm and all respect to them. Typically speaking, autoflowers lack quality and terpene profile however I think they eventually will be amazing. It just takes time to get them to that point.
The downside of growing autoflowers is that you are against the clock. If there is a pest problem, overwatering problem, or some soft of situation that is stressing the plant, you do not have much time at all to make your corrections and your plant growth can suffer significantly upon errors.
In closing the quick discussion of photoperiods vs autoflowers, you can still achieve the same schedule and do quick grows with photoperiods. You can let your photoperiod plant vegetate for 1 month and flip to a flower schedule. The preference is up to you.
Indica VS Sativa Traits
Traditionally, all cannabis is classified as "Cannabis Sativa". However there are different phenotype characteristics from plant to plant, strain to strain, etc. Indica dominant plants will typically be shorter and bushier plants with fatter leaves. Sativa dominant plants will typically have thinner leaves and are stretchier/taller.
Each human being has their own endocannabinoid system. These are receptors in the human body that respond specifically to cannabinoids such as THC, CBD, CBG, CBN, etc, etc. Because each human is unique, the effects of cannabis are subjective and based on the individual. The reason that I bring this up is many people have the assumption that if you smoke an indica dominant plant, that you will go to sleep, that you will be locked to your couch, sinking in the bed, etc etc while Sativa dominant strains are good for daytime use, production, creativity, etc. While the majority of humans will have the same effects which has created the overall census on this idea, the truth is that its not 100% set in stone. 2 different people can smoke the same exact plant and experience different effects. With that being said, it is generally true that sativas are good for daytime, and indica is good for evening and night time chill out.
Feminized VS Regular Seeds
Cannabis produces both female and male plants. The females are what make your buds and the male produces pollen sacks commonly referred to as "balls". The male produces 0 flower and most growers throw them out immediately. If a male plant pollinates a female plant, the female plant will produce seeded buds. An un-pollinated female plant will produce buds with no seeds which is what most growers are looking for. Unless you are looking for a male plant to breed with, you should remove the males immediately from your garden. This is where puchasing feminized seeds has an advantage. Purchasing Feminized seeds are a 99.99% guarantee that your plants will be females. If you purchase seeds that are not feminized, then you will probably have a mix of male and female plants.
Final Thoughts:
I recommend purchasing your seeds directly through a breeder such as myself or purchase from a reputable seedbank such as seedsherenow, northatlanticseed, or multiversebeans. It never hurts to do some research on breeders on the internet however the internet is filled with garbage and results that may not be directly from the breeders fault but from the growers fault. Check out websites like growdiaries, homegrowndiary, and growithjane where you can see posted results of peoples grows. Feel free to please join my discord as well, as we have our own grow journal sections and you can talk with me directly and ask questions and chat with other discord members.
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