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Cannabis and cannabis products are now effortless to acquire, with many stores and online vendors cropping up lately. But, what remains a challenge is how to know who sells the best quality products. A single fault in the composition of a product can lead to debilitating effects, and one must be careful to get the quality desired.
What if there is a better way to ensure quality? Many local weed users are now resorting to cultivating their herbs, which has led to an increase in the market quality of cannabis products and a reduction in fake goods. However, with little to no knowledge of growing weed, it is easy to get low quality or no yield. Below is a simple guide to help you grow cannabis indoors.
Secure The Growing Space
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Apart from acquiring the right nutrients for growing weed indoors, knowing the variety and its requirements is prudent. Like other crops, cannabis plants require adequate space to expand their leaves and buds. If you don’t provide sufficient room for growth, the buds might bend or break while growing. In addition, the space should be away from disturbances; consider quiet and settled areas to prevent interference and breakage.
Physical interference is not the only hindrance to the growth of your herbs; other factors like poor ventilation, insufficient lighting, and moisture also play a part. So, it is best to ensure the place selected has adequate airflow, light, and humidity.
The place picked should also be away from intense direct sunshine or wind as these factors can break plant branches or lead to wilting. A space free from interference, somewhere next to a window with good ventilation and lighting, is ideal.
Get The Right Equipment
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Recent technologies have made it easier to cultivate cannabis on a small scale. If you find it challenging to secure a favorable spot, various equipment can provide a microenvironment suitable for your plants. Here are some of the tools one can use.
- Grow tents
- Mechanical timer
- Light sources like compact fluorescent light bulbs or high-intensity discharge lights
- Humidity Temperature monitor
- Portable fan
- Growing pots
- Plant saucers
Indoor grow tents are structured tents with reflective interior walls that can fit in most coat closets. The most decent grow tents are waterproof, light-proof, and have foil-covered walls though some may have vents to adjust the airflow. The tents have enough space to enable plant growth, hang your lamps, and attach a fan.
While auto-flowering plants do not require light to yield, typical herbs like cannabis demand significant lighting for a maximum harvest. High-Intensity Discharge (HID) light penetrates plant leaves faster to supply more light energy within a short time.
In the case of fluorescent light bulbs, full spectrum beams reach the plants to supply the energy required by cannabis herbs. So, it is advisable to provide adequate light for maximum output.
A ratio of sixteen hours of sunlight to eight hours of darkness is necessary during the growing period. These demands change when flowers start to appear; you’ll have to give a light: darkness ratio of 1:1, that is, twelve hours of lighting and twelve hours of darkness.
Provide A Perfect Growth Medium
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Regardless of the medium, your weed plants will grow provided sufficient moisture, oxygen, and space. However, a suitable medium is necessary for healthy, green, leafy, and cannabinoid-rich crops.
The most used medium is soil, and it is probably the best since it has natural nutrients. Other media include starter plugs ( solid growth medium that expand in heat and water), Clay pellets, coco coir, and perlite.
After selecting a preferred medium, you can add them to the growing pots, then plant the cannabis seeds. The seeds grow just like other seeds and take three to ten days to germinate, though the seedling can appear anytime outside this period.
Water the Crops Regularly and Provide Nutrients
For maximum absorption of nutrients and survival of your cannabis, it is vital to provide enough water. Just looking at the leaves can tell you if the plants need water. Drooping and yellowing leaves indicate a lack of water since water helps the plants stay sturdy and upright.
Alternatively, you can insert two to three inches of your finger into the soil; if it’s dry, you know it’s time to water. However, flooding the buds will lead to wilting and death. How do you know you’ve overwatered your plants?
The crops droop and look feeble in excess moisture but do not turn yellow. Also, excess water accumulates in the plant saucers. The amount of water you give depends on the growth stage, external environment, and plant state. More watering is necessary during germination, but you should reduce it as it matures.
It is also essential to provide nutrients to the crops to boost growth by adding synthetic nutrients or home manure. But, one should take care not to use excess artificial fertilizers.
Harvesting and Storage
To know whether your cannabis is ready for harvesting, look at the trichomes (the tiny hairlike outgrowths covering the flower). If most of them have turned cloudy and red-brown, harvest your buds and dry them in a controlled environment. You can then store the buds in sealed non-plastic containers for curing.
The time of harvesting depends on the intended use. When grown for fibers, harvesting before flowering is advisable, but the buds must reach maturity for smoking.
Conclusion
Indoor growth of weed requires the proper selection of space, tools, and reasonable care. One should consider all the requirements to get quality and maximum yield. The tips above will help you cultivate your weed at your convenience.
