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Growing guide for beginners

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If you have come this far, it is because you are interested in self-cultivation of cannabis, and the truth is that you are in the most appropriate place. The problem is that many times we don't know where to start or who to consult among many other things, something totally normal when we start a new adventure. Don't worry, on this page you will find answers to all your questions so you can start right away.

 

 

1.Reasons to grow

  • Health: Many times we don't think about it, but when we buy marijuana on the black market we are playing with our health, because we never know how that cannabis has been cultivated, and this can be very dangerous because it may contain fungi, it may have used phytosanitary products without respecting the safety term, mineral fertilizers without doing a good root wash, or for many other reasons that can turn the yerba into a toxic product.
  • Economy: As cheap as you can find cannabis on the black market, it will never be as cheap as growing it yourself. How much marijuana can you buy for €400? Well, you have to know that for less than that amount you can have your own complete indoor growing kit, including seeds, and with this kit you can grow your own cannabis for the rest of your life. If you decide to grow outdoors with less than €30 you can start. Are you going to keep throwing money away or do you want to start saving?
  • Quality: There is no recipe that tastes better than the one you cook yourself, but this in cannabis is even more remarkable because when you grow for self-consumption you have the possibility of choosing a variety with your favorite flavor and effect, fertilizing with organic fertilizers good, harvest at the point of ripeness that you prefer, wash the roots correctly, respect the drying and curing phase, and perfectly store the yerba hermetically, in the dark, and away from heat.
  • Independence: How many times have you suffered the inconvenience of going to buy marijuana and not finding it? Or finding poor quality buds, with little resin, no smell, or bad appearance? That will no longer happen to you when you grow your cannabis for self-consumption, since you will have control, you will not need to leave the house nor will you risk receiving a fine for possession, and with a little control you will never lack.

 

 

2.What do we need?

If you prefer to grow indoors under artificial light, I highly recommend getting a complete grow kit as it contains all the items you need to get started and is offered at a deep discount per set. In the case of wanting to grow outdoors, everything is much simpler and cheaper, since nature itself is responsible for providing light, air, CO2, and often even the soil and irrigation water.

  • Light: Plants need large amounts of light, especially in the flowering phase, to produce good buds. Outdoors, sunlight will suffice as long as there is at least 4 or 5 hours of direct sunlight on the plants. Indoors, LED, HPS, HM, LEC, and other types of lights can be used, but state-of-the-art LED equipment is highly recommended because they have a much longer useful life and emit a light spectrum very similar to that of the sun.
  • Air: Air is necessary for several reasons, first because it contains the CO2 that plants need during the diurnal cycle, and the oxygen that they require during the night phase. It is also crucial because during the growth phase the air moves the plants and reinforces their structure, something that later comes in handy to be able to support a greater weight of the buds. In the flowering phase, the air ventilates the plants and prevents the formation of fungi due to the accumulation of humidity.
  • Substrate: The most common is soil, but it can also be coconut fiber or use “soilless” systems such as hydroponics or aeroponics. In indoor cultivation it is highly recommended to use a specific substrate for cannabis from any brand in the sector, but outdoors it can be transplanted to mother earth, as long as it is good. However, when in doubt, it is very interesting to also use a specific substrate in outdoor crops.
  • Water: The water must be soft, that is, with a low level of dissolved salts. The best water is rainwater, but since it never rains to everyone's liking, the ideal is to irrigate with osmosis or distilled water in the event that the tap water has an E.C. greater than about 0.5. The PH of the irrigation water must be at levels between 6.0 and 6.5 as a general rule, although the ideal is to increase it little by little.
  • Fertilizers: Cannabis plants go through several phases throughout their lives, germination, vegetative growth, flowering, fattening, and maturation of the buds. Fertilizer brands formulate specific products for each phase, base fertilizers, stimulators, and additives that optimize plant performance. Fertilizer kits are ideal for people starting to grow cannabis, as they contain all the necessary products and are sold at a lower price than separately.

 

3.Best seeds for beginners 

There are cannabis varieties that, due to their flowering time, size, nutritional needs, or susceptibility to diseases, require a more technical cultivation. But there are also a series of genetics that, due to their ease of cultivation, are special for inexperienced growers. The faster you grow, the less likely you are to run into problems, which is why we rule out pure sativa strains and heavily sativa-dominant hybrids.

  • Autoflowering: They are the easiest to grow for several reasons, since they are very resistant, it is not necessary to change the photoperiod to flowering indoors, they are not affected by light stress, they remain at a controlled size, and they are very fast, among others. stuff. In indoor cultivation these plants can grow and flower with any photoperiod, and outdoors several harvests can be achieved per year, since they barely need 70 or 75 days of cultivation in total. Among the autoflowering varieties, Critical Plus Auto, White Widow Auto, and Mamba Negra Auto are special for novice growers.
  • Indicas: If you don't like autoflowering or for whatever reason prefer photoperiod plants, the best ones for beginners are indicas because they are much faster, grow less, and cause fewer nutritional problems than sativas. Within these varieties you have available the pure indicas or the hybrids formed by the crossing of 2 indica varieties. If you want some recommendations, you should know that among all the Indicas, Northern Lights, Hindu Kush, or Black Domina stand out for their ease of cultivation.
  • Mainly Indica Hybrids: After autoflowers and Indica strains, Mainly Indica hybrids are the easiest to grow. The flowering time of these plants is similar to that of pure indicas, and although they tend to have higher nutritional needs, the hybrid vigor achieved by the combination of 2 different genetics increases the general resistance. Among all the plants in this category, there are varieties like Hash Plant, Blue Cheese, or Bubble Gum that would be ideal for inexperienced growers.

 

 

4.How to germinate seeds successfully

Marijuana seeds contain a latent germ that is activated when the conditions of humidity and temperature occur, and that is precisely what we have to do in this process, which we are going to see in 5 simple steps:

  1. Take a plate and put a napkin or kitchen paper on it, place the seeds on top of the paper and put another napkin on top.
  2. Spray or moisten the paper but without soaking it, draining the excess water if necessary, and cover everything with another inverted plate, leaving a set consisting of plate-napkin-seeds-napkin-plate.
  3. Place the whole set in a heated greenhouse or on some device that gives off heat, so that they remain at a temperature of around 25º C, and once a day you have to open the dishes to check if the seeds have germinated and to make sure that it doesn't dry out too much.
  4. When the seeds germinate, they open and the primary root comes out of them. Once they take out the root, they can be planted in substrate, burying them about 1 cm below the surface and with the root facing downwards.
  5. The surface of the substrate must be carefully watered until the seedling sprouts, and from then on, water every time the substrate dries up.

 

 

5. Nutritional needs of plant

  • Root stimulator: These are the nutrients that the plant needs to quickly develop a healthy and strong root system, it is usually given during the first irrigations, and is mainly based on phosphorus and nitrogen.
  • Growth base fertilizer: It is used throughout the vegetative growth phase, it is composed of NPK and microelements, especially nitrogen, which is the most necessary element during the vegetative stage.
  • Flowering stimulator: It is usually applied during the first weeks of flowering, although there are some brands that recommend starting to use it earlier. The main component is phosphorus, key to producing a greater number of inflorescences that will become buds.
  • Flowering base fertilizer: It is applied during the entire flowering phase, from the photoperiod change to root washing prior to harvest. Based on NPK and microelements, it is combined with the flowering stimulator and the fattening of buds.
  • Fattening of buds: It is normally used for 3 or 4 weeks, coinciding with the phase of greatest fattening of the buds. This product is composed of phosphorus and potassium, and as a general rule they come from mineral sources.
  • Other nutrients: The microlife is mixed with the substrate or in the irrigation water, and works very well as a root stimulator and protector of the substrate. Hormones can increase yield because they speed up metabolic processes in plants. Vitamins reinforce the health and increase the vitality of plants. Sugars or carbohydrates improve the aroma and flavor of the plants and increase the weight of the buds.

 

 

6.Other care

  • Insecticide: Among the pests that affect cannabis plants, the most common are red spider, white fly, aphid, thrips, cochineal, and substrate fly, but there are many more. There are specific products to eliminate each type of pest, but there are also some broad-spectrum insecticides that can be used to treat various pests. Within the latter, preventive insecticides are the best option that we can use, because it is always more interesting to prevent than to cure. It is highly recommended to start applying insecticides preventively from the second or third week of the plants' life, once every 15 days until reaching the fattening phase of the buds, because from that moment it is no longer advisable to spray anything on the plants. floors.
  • Fungicide: Fungi can cause as many problems as insects, and even more, and among the most dangerous of all those that affect cannabis are fusarium, phytium, powdery mildew, mildew, rust, or alternaria, but there are more. As with insects, the best way to avoid fungal attack is prevention, because on many occasions this problem appears late in the crop, and it may be too late to act. Our recommendation is to start treating the plants with preventive fungicides from the second or third week of life, alternating weekly with the preventive insecticide, that is, one product one week and the other the next, until reaching the fattening phase of the buds.

 

 

7.Simple cultivation

 

Growth phase:

Next we are going to simulate an indoor cultivation monitoring using soil as a substrate, to see the necessary tasks each week:

  1. Photoperiod: 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness daily for photodependent varieties, and 20 hours of light and 4 hours of darkness for autoflowering.
  2. Nutrition: Root stimulator, growth base fertilizer, growth stimulator (optional)
  3. Phytosanitary: Preventive insecticide and fungicide
  4. Temperature: 23º C-25º C
  5. Humidity: 70%-80%
  6. Light: White/bluish spectrum is recommended, they can be fluorescent, metal halide, LEC, or specific or full spectrum LED.
  7. Ventilation: Direct at half power

 

 

  • Week 1: During the first week of life, the plants only have the cotyledons, which are the first 2 non-real leaves with a round shape. These leaves are not capable of absorbing much light, but it is important that the focus is not too far away so that the plants do not spike. To determine the ideal distance from the focus, it is best to place a thermometer or thermo-hygrometer on the pots, and bring the focus as close as possible as long as it does not exceed 25º C. It is advisable to put a fan at medium power pointing at the plants so that move them around a bit, as this will strengthen their trunks. Watering during this week can be daily, with a root stimulator and the PH corrected to 6.0, but watering sparingly so as not to soak the entire substrate. After the first week, it is recommended to increase the irrigation diameter little by little, and from the moment we begin to wet the entire surface of the substrate, the dry cycle between irrigation and irrigation must be respected.
  • Week 2: From the second week of vegetative growth, the plants begin to produce real leaves, which at first only have one leaflet, but later come out with 3, 5, 7, etc. leaflets. As the plants grow, the focus must also be raised, and to know the ideal distance, the thermometer must be placed at the height of the highest parts of the plants, and the focus must be brought as close as possible without exceeding 25º. C. This must always be done this way from now on, bearing in mind that there are thermometers and thermo-hygrometers that contain a probe that can be placed wherever we want so as not to have to move the device. It is recommended to continue with the interior ventilation aimed at the plants, and to start following the recommendations of the cultivation table of the brand of fertilizers that we want to use, with the PH corrected to approximately 6.2, and still without completely soaking the substrate. From this week you can start applying insecticides or fungicides preventively, preferably natural such as neem oil as an insecticide, or propolis as a fungicide. Pure sativas or hybrids of pure sativa varieties can already be switched to flowering, otherwise they can become too big.
  • Week 3: The plants begin to take shape, the leaves are getting bigger and with more leaflets, the trunks are thicker and the first branches begin to appear normally, although this also depends on the genetics of the plants. The PH of the irrigation water can be raised to 6.3 and we must continue applying preventives, so if in week 2 we have given insecticide, in this week it is time for the fungicide, or vice versa. Fast sativa strains or mainly sativa hybrids can be switched to flowering already, because these plants continue to grow a lot. This week is perfect for aerial pruning if you want to do it, because this way the plants will still have at least 1 week of growth to form new shoots before going on to flowering.
  • Week 4: The vast majority of commercial marijuana strains need about 4 weeks of flowering to end up with an ideal size at the end of their life, which in indoor cultivation ranges between approximately 80 cm and 1 meter. This is because they normally contain a part of indica and another of sativa, and depending on the proportion of each one they will grow more or less. The last week of vegetative growth is perfect for transplanting to a larger pot if necessary, allowing at least 3 days from transplant to photoperiod change so that the plants have time to adapt to the new container before planting. move to flowering The growers who plant at the beginning of the crop in the definitive pot, do not do transplants but can take advantage of this week to do a light washing of the roots. It is necessary to continue alternating the phytosanitary products weekly so that the plants change phase completely clean of pests. The PH of the irrigation can remain at 6.3 until we change the photoperiod to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. In the case of seeing deficiencies, excesses, or any other nutritional problem, it is important that they are corrected before moving them to flowering. 

 

 

Flowering phase:

The flowering phase can be divided between pre-flowering, fattening buds, and maturation, but to facilitate monitoring we are going to put all the weeks of this phase in a row.

  1. Photoperiod: 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness daily for photodependent varieties, and 20 hours of light and 4 hours of darkness for autoflowering.
  2. Nutrition: Bloom stimulator, bloom base fertilizer, bud fattening, and other optional additives
  3. Phytosanitary: Preventive insecticide and fungicide until the buds begin to form
  4. Temperature: 23º C-25º C
  5. Humidity: 40%-50%
  6. Light: Orange/reddish spectrum is recommended, it can be high pressure sodium, LEC, plasma, and specific or full spectrum LED.
  7. Ventilation: Direct at high power
  8. CO2: Up to 1500-1800 PPM (Only during the light cycle and from the third week of flowering)

 

 

  • Week 1: The plants continue to grow, but not so much because of the creation of new shoots, rather because it stretches its structure by widening the distance between the nodes to produce in that space the flowers that will gradually form buds. Due to this stretching, the plants continue to need nitrogen during the first weeks of flowering, however it is best to follow the indications of the cultivation table that we use. The PH of the irrigation can be raised to 6.4 and it is necessary to continue applying preventive phytosanitary products alternately.
  • Week 2: During the second week of flowering, indica varieties and mainly indica hybrids will show the first pre-flowers, but that does not mean that they will stop growing at this time. If you grow regular seeds and you don't want seeds to come out, you have to be careful during these days to remove the male plants so they can't pollinate the females. The female preflowers are a kind of white hairs called pistils, and the male preflowers are like small balls, and both appear in the nodes. Now the plants begin to have greater nutritional needs, and the irrigation PH can continue at 6.4 or raise it to 6.5, but following the recommendations of the fertilizer manufacturers.
  • Week 3: By now your plants may have doubled in size, and most strains will stop growing during this week. It is the ideal time to prune tall plants and those that are going to be cultivated under the SOG method. It is also a good time to start giving your plants extra CO2, especially if you are growing fast-flowering varieties. There will be more and more pre-flowers that will begin to form the first buds, and as a general rule they will begin to produce resin, which if you look at it with a microscope you will see that the heads of the trichomes are transparent.
  • Week 4: The key phase of flowering begins, the plants will have stopped growing except for sativas and hybrids with a high proportion of sativa, and will usually have started to produce more resin, so they will also start to smell stronger and stronger. The demand for phosphorus and potassium increases, and the buds increase in size, density and weight, just as there are more and more resin trichomes on flowers, leaves, and even some stems. Some branches may need support so they don't bend under the weight of the buds, so stakes can be placed to prevent this.
  • Week 5: The plants continue to flower massively, but as new pistils appear on the buds, the older ones begin to wither, losing their white color and normally taking on brown, red, or orange tones. If you look at the trichomes under a microscope, you will see that some of the older flowers are beginning to take on a whitish color, a sign that they are producing more essential oils made up of cannabinoids, trichomes, and other compounds, but many other trichomes remain transparent.
  • Week 6: From this week the fastest varieties will begin to mature, so if you are growing varieties with 50 or 55 days of flowering, and you are feeding the plants with mineral nutrients, throughout this week it is time to do the root washing. In the case of growing this type of variety but with organic nutrients, you can wait until week 7 to do the washing without problems. Most genetics will continue to fatten the buds during week 6, and if you look under the microscope you will see that there are more and more milky trichomes, although some will remain transparent, and you will surely find some reddish or amber. The plants are becoming more fragrant and no longer produce as many new white pistils.
  • Week 7: Most of today's commercial varieties are polyhybrids with between 8 and 10 weeks of flowering, and it is necessary to observe the state of maturation of the plants and take into account the information from the seed bank regarding flowering weeks. of the variety that we are cultivating, to decide the day of the harvest, and on this calculate the day of washing the roots, knowing that if we cultivate with mineral fertilizers it has to be between 10 and 14 days before the harvest, and if they are fertilizers organic we will do it 1 week before the harvest. After washing the roots, we will irrigate only with water, to force the plants to consume their nutrient reserves from the leaves, and in this way that the marijuana tastes better. The plants will mature, and there will be an increasing proportion of both milky and amber trichomes and brown or reddish pistils. At first glance, the buds no longer seem to get so fat, however they continue to gain weight thanks to the setting of the buds, the phosphorus needs decrease but the potassium needs increase.
  • Week 8: For many varieties it will be the last week of flowering, that is, the harvest. After washing the roots, the plants will begin to show nutrient deficiencies in the leaves, some will turn increasingly yellow or pale, it is normal and a good sign as well. The buds hardly show white pistils, they have gained in density, and the proportion of milky and amber trichomes is increasing. To determine the ideal harvest time, it is best to base yourself on the maturation of the trichomes, keeping in mind that if you prefer a more stimulating effect, it is better to harvest with the majority of milky trichomes, and if you like a more relaxing effect, it is better to wait until there are at least half amber trichomes. The harvest has to be done with the substrate as dry as possible, and the marijuana is left to dry in a place without light, with a temperature of around 24º C and a humidity that does not exceed 50%. Once it has practically dried, it can be consumed, but the ideal is to go to the curing phase, which consists of the buds losing the last part of the humidity little by little, and for this it is placed in glass jars or wooden boxes that have to be opened once a day the first week, and from then on open every few days so that the last traces of moisture can come out.

 

 

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