The Top 10 Cannabis Cultivating Mistakes Made By New Growers
Cannabis Culturing
The Top 10 Cannabis Cultivating Mistakes Made By New Growers
1. OVER WATERING: This is the first on our list because nearly all new growers tend to over water as well as well established growers. When watering water the plants until the soil is fairly moist, but might be easy for new growers to just drench the soil and let the remaining water run off, and not to water again until the top 2 - 3 inches of the soil in the container is dry.
STEM ROT and ROOT ROT
Stem and root rot appears as a result of over watering. The plants start to droop and then eventually dry from a lack of oxygen to the root zone. Cannabis plants need oxygen to survive just like every other living creature on the planet, that's why a good soil mix is a must. Hydroponic systems typically don't have this problem because of the air pumps used to push water to the root zone. Although some people grow hydroponically it is possible to drown plants do to faulty equipment or the use of an air pump that is not strong enough for the system.
2. OVER FERTILIZING: It has been known for growers to get overly anxious and over fertilize. Over fertilizing causes nitrogen burn, or nutrient lockout making it physically impossible for the plant to uptake the nutrients that it needs to survive. Plants start to suffer from a number of deficiencies do to the lockout like magnesium, potassium, and nitrogen deficiency.
NITROGEN BURN and NUTRIENT LOCKOUT
Back off of your nutrient strength if you start noticing any nitrogen burn in your leaves, this typically mean that your feeding them to much too soon. If you feel your plants have a nutrient lockout then you must flush the plant with ph'd water to flush out the salt build up. Do this by flooding your soil pots with water until it over flows and then repeat after the water drains out. Hydroponic growers only need to add straight water to the reservoir to flush. This should be done for approximately 3 days, then nutrients should be added back slowly in small amounts. This goes for both soil and hydroponic growers.
3. BAD GENETICS: I can not stress this enough, that bad genetics will only yield to a bad outcome. If you grow dirt weed then you'll only get dirt weed. Cannabis breeders worldwide have dedicated there lives to finding and breeding the best genetics available. Growing bag seeds only lead to hermaphrodites and a gang of other problems, and that's even if the seed sprouts. Breeders have selected the finest genes around the world to assure that you have and best germination rate possible.
SEE HERE IS MEXICAN BRICK WEED
HERE WE HAVE A DESIGNER
There are a lot of strains available out there. A couple of seed banks that growers fancy the most are Attitude Seed Bank and Single Seed Centre/Worldwide Seeds because they mail your seeds timely and discreetly.
4. LIGHTING: New growers tend to think that they can place a 100 watt bulb over a plant and grow 5 ounces. The truth of the matter is, it's not that easy my friend. Cannabis needs adequate amounts of light to thrive, sure ok you maybe able to add a couple hundred watts of fluorescent bulbs over your plants and get by, but trust me that's all your doing, is getting by.
COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULB AND HPS/METAL HALIDE BULBS
Here is a Compact Fluorescent bulb called a CFL bulb, and on the other side we have HPS bulbs and Metal Halide bulbs, or otherwise known as HID bulbs. HID bulbs are idea for cannabis growth because of there lumens and there spectrum. The Metal Halides are used for vegetative growth do to its blue spectrum used to mimic the spring, and the HPS's are used during flowering because of it's orange and red spectrum which is used to mimic the approach of fall. 50 watts per square foot is the idea range for vigorous plant growth.
5. ENVIRONMENTAL: A lot of new growers don't worry about environmental temperatures, but they should, because this counts for a great percentage of the overall yield. Air within a house should be circulated at least every 10 minutes and the humidity in the grow room should be between 30 - 60% for plants to fully thrive in the vegetative stage, and 30 - 40% during flowering, but can be decreased slightly. Anything higher during flowering could cause moldy bud. Cannabis thrives at 72 degrees during lights on and, 64 degrees when lights are off, and could be even lower to encourage the plant to turn purple. Too high and the plant will suffer heat stress and stop growing when temps get above 90 degrees, or below 55 degrees.
MOLDY PLANT and HEAT STRESSED PLANT
Hydro systems should keep the nutrient temps in there reservoir in the low 60's to avoid fungus. It may be wise to invest in a air conditioner because HID lights can get pretty hot.
6. PH: Ph is very important, people think that they can just add water and grow. Well the truth my friend is that it doesn't work that way. You will need a soil ph tester if growing in soil, and a hydroponic tester if growing in hydro. Cannabis grows well with a ph of 5.9 - 6.5 and 5.6 - 6.2 in soil, with a scale ranging from 1-14 with 1 being extremely acidic and 14 being extremely alkaline.
SOIL PH TESTER and HYDROPONIC PH TESTER
Growers need to check the ph of the water they use regularly to avoid lockout. The ph tester for soil need to be pushed through the soil to get a reading while the hydroponic meter is digital, and needs to be put into the nutrient mix.
7. GROW ROOM SECURITY: Nothing is more important than security. The police are busting more and more people every year and even if you do have a license to grow you still have to watch out for friends and family. When weed comes into play people start acting like vultures and begin stealing even if they don't smoke it, and when they cant they get jealous and turn you in.
8. DON'T HARVEST TOO EARLY: I know it's hard, we all get impatient when it comes to harvesting the fruits of our labor. The truth is when we harvest too early we could have yielded an additional 20-30% more Grade A bud. Wait until about 75% of the white hairs on the buds have turned colors and started to recede into the buds. Another way of checking whether or not your prime bud is ready to harvest is to check the trichomes on the plant. Trichomes are the crystal looking stuff on the plant. Using a loupe or microscope check to make sure some of the trichomes have turned an amber color. All cannabis strains won't do this, so a cloudy look is good also.
TRICHOMES
9. DRYING/CURING: The key to great smoke is proper drying and curing. You should hang trimmed plants upside down and allow them to dry for a week or more depending on the humidity in the drying room. The room needs to be a cool, dry place that allows for easy access.
DRYING and CURING
Dry until the stems snap, and then put the buds into jars to cure. Open the jars a few times each day to let the moisture out. This process allows the moisture in the bud to evenly distribute, then is released out each time you open the jar. You will have to open the jar less and less after awhile and the curing process usually last a couple of weeks. The longer you dry and cure the better the smoke will be, so don't rush it.
10. LIGHTING CYCLE: The thing is you can give your plants 24 hours of light during the vegetative stage, but should you? Plants need to repair themselves and store energy to use, that's why it's better to give your plants an 18/6 light cycle during the vegetative stage. But during the flowering stage the plants will need a 12/12 cycle to remain in this stage. Do not let any light in during the lights off period because it can result in plant stress that leads to hermaphrodites and in the flowering stage you can send them back into the vegetative stage.
These are some of the basics, so get out there and grow. Do your homework because it's nothing like proper preparation. and GOOD LUCK!
