With so many advantages to using cannabis, it’s much more cost-effective for you to grow it yourself. But how do you grow any plants, much less this controversial one, in your home safely?
It’s not a simple process, but it’s also not complicated. If you are serious about having on-demand access to your own cannabis, all it takes is a little setup and consistent follow-up.
As you experiment with growing your buds, you’ll learn little nuances that work better for you. But to get you started, you can use this step-by-step guide to teach you the basics of cannabis-growing.
1. Prepare Your Area
Not every plant can be grown indoors, but cannabis thrives in the right indoor environment. If you choose inside to grow your crops, you’ll have more privacy and less pest damage.
The major difference between indoor and outdoor growth is that indoor plants rely on you for their nutrients and care. You can use any room that has fresh air and a water supply, including a closet or pantry, as long as you can control the temperature.
If you plant your buds outside, they’ll grow wild, but repopulate easily. However, you won’t be able to control the variables that determine things like flavor and size.
2. Set Up Your Grow Lights
As your cannabis begins to grow, the temperature is very important. Young plants thrive better in warm temperatures, typically between 70-85°F. As they are in the budding stage, the temperatures need to be somewhere around 65-80°F.
The ability to control your temperature works best if you have grow lights. If you are using these lights in a small space, like a closet, you’ll need an exhaust system and some kind of air conditioner to circulate the air. Otherwise, it will be easy for the temperature to get too warm.
3. Pick Your Soil/Soilless Medium
The next step is to decide what you’re going to plant your cannabis in. Typically, most people use organic soil with enough nutrients to nurture a baby plant for about a month.
You can also use soilless mixes, such as perlite or vermiculite. If you go this route, you’re also using hydroponic growth, which can be a good way to get your plants to grow fast. Putting them directly in water and feeding nutrients into the liquid is the way to get big yields quickly, too.
Two other lesser-known mediums to try include aeroponics, where your plant’s roots are held in the air and misted, and aquaponics, which is growing a plant in an active fish tank.
4. Get Your Plant Food
Anything alive requires nutrients to survive. Your cannabis nutrients will determine how well your buds grow.
Look for soils that are designed for the medium you’re using. Organic nutrients are best, whether they are soil or hydroponic. But using soil nutrients in plants that are growing in water isn’t going to work well. On the other hand, hydroponic nutrients usually have everything your plant needs, no matter what medium it is growing in.
5. Plant Your Seeds
The final and fun step is choosing your seeds and getting them to germinate. There are many different varieties of cannabis, each with its own benefits. Where you chose to grow your plants will help you narrow down the type you want to start with.
Sativas, for instance, can grow up to 20 feet tall, so if you are growing indoors, you’ll want to avoid these. Indicas can grow to about ten feet tall, and Afghanicas are short, less than six feet tall, but grow better outside in cold climates.
Ruderalis are commonly used in indoor greenhouses because they typically grow less than two feet tall. They’re also auto-flowering, which means they don’t require a lot of time to flower.
Crossbreeding weed strains, as seen in this article from Veriheal, is another option once you learn what you’re doing. This lets you pick and choose the best of different varieties and grow your own optimal plants.
Conclusion
Once you’ve set your grow area up and planted your cannabis, taking care of it with the right nutrients, water, and temperature is all you need to do!
Healthy plants will grow and spread, and you’ll soon have flowering buds. Cannabis growing is on the rise, and this guide will help you be successful as you learn the steps!
To use this website you must be aged 18 years or over. Please verify your age before entering the site.
