Growing cannabis isn’t always difficult!
People decide to grow cannabis on their own for various reasons. One way or another, in order to achieve what you want, you need to choose the right varieties and be able to care for the plants. In this article, we will make sure that you are ready for your first weed garden.
What do you need?
Marijuana seeds or clones.
Make sure to purchase good quality seeds.
High-quality fertiliser for hydroponics.
Any good hydroponic fertiliser and calcium/magnesium supplement will do.
The pots in which you plant the cannabis.
Since the plants need to stay relatively short, you need smaller pots (4-11 litres). If you have larger pots (20 litres or more), the plants should still be planted in smaller containers first until they grow out of them.
Coconut substrate.
You can purchase a ready-made mixture or soak the briquettes (remember to rinse them well).
ESL lamps.
You will need at least two 40W daylight ESLs (80W per plant) at first. As the plants grow, they will need more light, and you can add extra lights. During the flowering stage, you should have room for at least three more ESL 42W lamps with warm white light. The more light at the flowering stage, the better, and with ESL in this regard, it is impossible to overdo it.
Fluorescent bulbs (6500k) for the vegetative stage and warm white (2700k) bulbs for flowering are optimal choices, as they more closely match the colour temperature of the sun’s rays in summer and autumn.
An adequate number of sockets for light bulbs.
To save money, you can purchase an adaptor cartridge. Timer to turn on and off the light on a schedule. Both mechanical and digital will do. The timer is optional at first, but it will be required during the flowering stage (after about a month).
PH test kit.
This can be either a regular test strip complete with means for raising and lowering the pH of water, or a digital pH meter. The pH of the water during irrigation should be kept between 5.5 and 6.
Grow tent (optional).
If you do not have a suitable growing room, you can purchase a grow tent. For small spaces, 60x60x120 cm will work. If you have more space, use a larger model, such as 60x120x150 cm. This is a more flexible option that allows you to easily fit any plant and adjust the lighting. In such a grow tent, you can also put larger lamps, for example, a 250 W or even 400 W HPS. We recommend taking a grow tent as big as possible, as you always need more space. After the first growing cycle, you only need to spend on plants, coconut substrate and fertilisers, which will significantly reduce the cost later on.
Where to start
Now when you have all you need, there is a question: how to grow cannabis by yourself and where to start?
If necessary, add perlite to the bottom of the pots for extra drainage, then fill the remaining space with coconut substrate. Sprinkle the pot of substrate thoroughly before planting seeds or clones. Place the bulbs 10 cm from the pot so that they can be gradually raised higher (up to 60-90 cm depending on the type of plant and the time spent in the growing season). And you are good to go!
Watering and Fertilising Schedule
In the first week, add a quarter of the recommended fertiliser dose, gradually increasing this amount. In general, we advise you to follow the manufacturer’s instructions exactly. If you are not using fertilisers, check the pH level of the water anyway. This will greatly help reduce salt build-up and prevent nutrient problems. At first, you will water the plants every couple of days, and by the end of flowering, every day.
Conclusion
By using this method, the plants will be resistant to various problems. The method is great for learning how cannabis grows. It can be difficult for beginners to decide what to do the first time they grow, and it is a fairly cheap but effective option to get familiar with the process and get good results. After that, you can better understand what is right for you.
