Are you interested in growing cannabis at home? It doesn't have to be hard! With these basic practices, even beginners can achieve great results. Here are the four essential factors to pay attention to.
Lighting: Lighting is like food for our plants. It gives them the energy they need to eat food and grow. There are two phases for cannabis plants: the vegetative phase and the flowering phase. During the vegetative phase, the plant grows its body, including its branches, leaves, and roots. To tell the plant it's in the vegetative phase, you'll need to give it 16-24 hours of light per day. Vegetative light spectrums should ideally be more blue in spectrum, around 6700K, to mimic nature. During the flowering phase, which takes place in the hot summer months, the plant focuses on making fruits (i.e., buds). To make buds, female plants need pollen from male plants. If a female plant can't find any male pollen, it will try to self-pollinate, which can lead to hermaphroditing. During the flowering phase, you'll need to give your plants 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. Flowering light spectrums should ideally be more red in spectrum.
Ages/Periods: There are different stages in a cannabis plant's life cycle, including the seedling/start period, pre-teen, and ready-to-flower (RTF). The RTF period is when the plant has reached the size you want for your space and your harvest goals. The vegetative phase starts at the seedling/start period and ends when the flowering period begins. You can veg a cannabis plant as long as you want as long as the light cycle is over 16 hours. Ideally, it should be a minimum of 18 hours to guarantee results. The average flowering period is two months, but some sativas can go as long as four months.
Medium: Your medium is the soil or material that the roots will grow in and take up nutrients. The most basic option is soil, and your medium must be in a container like a pot or tote or even the ground itself. Reference the chart of ages/periods to size containers based on the plant's stage.
Food: Plants need light as energy, but they also need nutrients. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are key nutrients needed, but other things are used as well. The easiest way to feed your plant is with nutrient-rich soil. A great and easy beginner soil is Fox Farm's Happy Frog mixed with Ocean Forest for young plants in small pots, then straight Ocean Forest throughout the rest of the veg period. During the flowering period, a nutrient should be added to the water to provide phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, etc. During veg, nitrogen is the key nutrient. There are many products and lines you can use, and the best one is subjective to your setup. A good starting brand would be an Advanced Nutrient line or General Hydroponics A/B base line.
Environment: Your environment is your room or grow space, and you want an ideal temperature of 76 or less but above 60. Good air exchange and some wind or a fan indoors are also important. Ideally, you should have the ability to regulate humidity, with higher humidity during veg and lower during the flowering period. Remember that no light can reach your plants during the off periods in the flowering phase, or your plant will seed itself.
So, don't overthink it! Start growing cannabis easily, cheaply, and at home. Happy cultivating!