Since cannabis is now becoming widely legal across the United States, many individuals are now interested in growing their own plants for their personal consumption. However, cannabis can be quite a challenging plant to grow if you don't know what you're doing.
Luckily, this article will give you an idea of the steps of how to grow high-quality cannabis buds. Without further ado, here are the general steps to follow if you want to grow quality cannabis buds:
Step 1: Choose High-Quality Cannabis Seeds
They say that the first step is the hardest, and that couldn't be any truer. There are overwhelming options in choosing cannabis seeds. When selecting a strain, you must consider some important factors such as your cannabis preference and the type of cannabis relief you are looking for.
Also, when choosing high-quality cannabis seeds, it is important to get them from reputable seed banks. Though there is no assurance that you can successfully grow the plant because of several factors, many reputable cannabis seed distributors offer seed replacements if the one they sent you failed to germinate. You can find a well-curated list by experts here.
Step 2: Learn the Fundamentals of Cannabis Growing
To grow mouthwatering buds, you must know about the requirements of the fundamentals in developing the best cannabis. They're as follows:
- Nutrients
Nutrients serve as fuel for the cannabis plant to grow healthy. A fine soil mix that is easy to crumble is a rich composition of minerals, vitamins, and living organisms. Other organic fertilizers like feather meals, molasses, or compost tea help to enhance the quality of the soil and allow healthy growth for the cannabis plant.
- Temperature
Cannabis is very tough to grow yet it can stand in hot and cold environments. However, it can not thrive in extreme conditions because it can be stressed too. When the plant is in a not well state, it can stop the fluid that circulates inside it, thus causing it to stop growing.
The temperature to grow healthy cannabis must not exceed 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It can be easily maintained indoors since you can control the temperature with the help of cooling mats, space heaters, and cooling units. However, outdoor growing is high-maintenance as you must know the specific weather to plant. Using a sun cycle chart or app to know the right time for the plants to have daylight can help as well.
- Water
Cannabis is just like every living creature. It needs water to grow, survive, and function well. In outdoor growing, it will live in rain alone unless you are staying in a regular rainfall place. Massive cannabis is an infamously thirsty plant. If you plan on having huge cannabis, you need extra water in between rains.
Soilless systems and flush hydroponic are used for indoor growing. Besides, the appropriate pH level of water is important when growing cannabis.
- Air
Cannabis needs a consistent flow of fresh air for toughness and proper trading of gases. Outdoor growing has no problem when it comes to maintaining air. However, indoor growing needs to have stale air exhaust, a fan, and fresh air intake for air to flow. Still, several places may affect the growth of the plant as they could introduce mold and pests in your cannabis.
- Light
Cannabis has to have over 12 hours of light in a day to have healthy vegetation. Luckily, you can control indoor lighting with a timer. On the other hand, outdoor germination should be slowed down until cannabis can have 12 hours or more of daylight and collect at a minimum of 8 hours of direct sunlight each day.
Step 3: Germinate the Cannabis Seeds
This is the start of your cannabis growing adventure. Information and advice on how to grow the strain that you choose are usually included in its packaging.
Some seed breeders are very specific in how their seeds are germinated. It is best to follow those steps so that you wouldn't miss out on the germination guarantee. The life cycle of the strain will start when they have the right conditions needed.
There are 3 certain requirements to have effective germination of cannabis. These are the correct location, the right temperature, and water.
Step 4: Wait for the Vegetative Phase
Once your seeds are done germinating, the next step is to wait for their vegetative phase. While waiting for that, it is important to get proper light. Outdoor plants will typically begin their vegetative phase once they start metabolizing.
For indoor plants, it is ideal to put them into a regimen of having an 18-hour long day and 6 hours night. You can use electric light to simulate day and night.
Step 5: Prepare for the Blooming Period
The blooming period is where you can finally notice your cannabis buds. It will begin to develop its mouth-watering aromas. For outdoor strains, you can notice the blooming period to begin after the summer heat passes and just before autumn begins. For indoor strain, you can control when the blooming period begins because you can change the lighting to a 12-hour long day and 12 hours night.
Final Words
Growing cannabis is a fun adventure. The most important thing to accomplish if you really want to grow high-quality cannabis is to pick a high-quality strain and get the right condition for the plant. Some strains grow better indoors while others thrive better outdoors, so it is important to do your research first about your particular strain.
