Although growing cannabis is relatively easy; doing it properly in order to get the best out of your plant has its tricks. This article tries to warn you and keep you away from making some of the biggest mistakes cannabis growers usually make!
1. Don’t Overwater Your Cannabis Plants:
Overwatering will kill your cannabis plants. Water only when the top few inches of the soil dry out.
Hydroponics makes it harder to overwater because Rockwool has such excellent drainage properties. As long as the Rockwool cubes are not sitting in liquid it is virtually impossible to overwater a hydroponic setup. A hydroponic setup could either be watered constantly as the drip method or once to three times a day as in the flood and drain method.
2. Don’t Tell People About Your Cannabis Plants:
Why? They will only be envious and jealous. People love to feel important and that is why they will tell other people; because others will listen to them. This can become a serious problem when you are growing cannabis plants!
Please keep it to yourself!
3. Touch/Kill Germinating Cannabis Seeds:
Please have some patience. It sometimes takes up to 10 days for a cannabis seed to sprout. The paper towel method is not recommended because you must handle the cannabis seeds when transferring them from the paper towel to your growing medium.
4. Grow Seeds From Seeded Cannabis:
One of the greatest disappointments known to the cannabis growing man.
90% of what the final product will be is in the cannabis seed’s genetics and has little to do with the environment the plant is grown in.
Many get their hands on the cannabis seed and think they have a gold mine. They will probably grow something like this: hermaphrodites, tall late flowering females coupled with early flowering males. This is because the only pollen that could have produced the cannabis seed was from a hermaphrodite or a very stunted and late flowering male the grower did not notice. Unless you are prepared for possible disappointment don’t use “unknown” cannabis seeds. This is why people buy cannabis seeds from reputable and well-known seedbanks.
5. Don’t Over Fertilize Your Cannabis Plants:
Fertilize your cannabis plant after the first 2 spiked leaves appear to follow the label. DON’T FERTILIZE EVERY TIME YOU WATER!!!
Start with 25% and work your way up!
Leach the plants with lots of pure water every 2-4 weeks. Organic growth is recommended. It tastes better and burns much better.
If the leaves suddenly twist or fold under, Leach and Spray with pure water for several days!
6. Don’t Under Fertilize Your Cannabis Plants:
Under fertilizing your cannabis plant is less common but it happens. If you are one of those people that likes to give the plant just enough nutrients, make sure you use an organic soil mixture with blood meal and bone meal or some slow-release fertilizer with micronutrients.
7. Don’t Start With Cannabis Clones: (I personally don’t agree with this, I use clones and cuttings)
Start with cannabis seeds. Bugs are a pain, So are plant diseases. Many growers are able to grow indoors without pest problems for years. If they do get pests they are probably not enjoying the change from their usual diet to cannabis resin! But as soon as you come in contact with others grow material (cuttings) it is almost guaranteed that it’s from a long time grower that has many different pests all eating cannabis and bug spray (and surviving) for hundreds of generations!… Think about it.
8. Don’t Start Too Early Inside or Outdoors:
For several reasons! If you are starting outdoors, June 1st is perfect. But if I start earlier I will get bigger buds right? Probably Wrong!
It’s strange but usually true. I’ll explain it. Plants started in early spring will get big but they will take significantly longer to start flowering. This is because at the peak vegetative period they sense the light cycles getting longer and longer, until June 21st. But they don’t realize that its time to flower yet. Finally, in the middle of August, the plant says “HEY” “time to flower already” and it produces buds in August and September or later, they will be tall as trees but thinner buds due to the fact that the sun is not as strong in September. Now if the cannabis plants were put out later, as soon as they get a foot off the ground they say “what’s going on” I am just in early veggie and the light hours aren’t getting longer, in fact, SHORTER” Then the plants go crazy and since the sun is so bright in July and August you get amazing 6-foot trees that are heavier than the plants started in April!!! in addition to finishing earlier the late started plants are not nearly as noticeable.
Indoors is the same for different reasons. The light cannot penetrate more than a foot or two. So flower when plants are a foot tall. If you wait longer because you want bigger yields, you will get smaller yields and wait longer for them.
9. Don’t Provide A Bad Environment:
Always provide air circulation and fresh air even during the night cycle, which is fine too. All of the air indoors should be replaced every 5-10 minutes as a rule.
Humidity between 30-70%, temperature aims from around 75 to 85 degrees. Even seedlings need a gentle fan to strengthen the stems.
10. Don’t Harvest Too Early:
I know its hard. You see the buds and resin forming at a rapid rate. The buds are potent and you feel tempted to chop them down! The only problem is that another 25% of the weight will form in 2 more weeks. Wait until the plants have totally stopped growing and the white pistils are at least 50-75% brown.
*NOTE: Outdoors – if security is a factor, make your own call on when to sacrifice the fields. Also, take buds continuously in case of thieves.
