Keep a journal!
Keep track of your Cannabis grow by recording your set-up, seed varieties, dates, fertilizers, harvest and curing details, as well as yield and your thoughts about the finished product. You’ll be able to make changes and improve over time if you’ve got good notes to review.
Starting Seeds
Cannabis plants start out as either a seed or a clone. Seeds will need to germinate to grow into a seedling. A clone is a cutting taken from a plant that you can then grow into another plant, and it will have the same genetic makeup. However, it is currently not legal to sell clones or seedlings in Minnesota, so you’ll most likely be growing from seed.
We carry feminized seeds. This ensures that your plants are female, and will produce buds/flowers for harvest. If you’re growing autoflowering plants, it’s best to plant the seeds directly into their full-sized containers (5 gallon is sufficient). Because of their short growing time, you want to avoid stressing them in any way, including transplanting them. Photoperiod varieties can be started in a smaller pot and transplanted easily, like vegetable seedlings.
Seeds need warmth, moisture and darkness to germinate. In the right conditions, seeds will begin to develop within 12–36 hours of moisture being introduced to them. Some growers germinate their seeds with the paper towel method, basically, placing the seeds in between two damp paper towels until they sprout. The seeds are then moved to planting medium when the sprouts are at least ½” long. Others find that planting directly into the planting medium is the least stressful to the plant.
Seeds should be kept evenly moist and warm after planting and as they grow into seedlings. 75-85°F; ~70% relative humidity.
Seedlings should be transplanted into their mature size containers when they’ve got 5-7 leaf nodes.
Vegetative Stage
After the seedling stage, plants enter the vegetative stage, which is generally the longest stage of its life. Here the plant will be a main stalk, branches, and fan leaves—no buds yet. You can begin fertilizing your plants when they’ve got their first true leaves, at about ¼ the strength. As they add more sets of leaves, increase the strength of your fertilizer accordingly until you’re at full strength.
Keep 70-85°F; 40-60% relative humidity in your grow tent during the vegetative phase.
Also, keep an eye on your temperature, humidity, lighting and watering. Make sure your light timer is working properly. Allow your planting medium to dry slightly between waterings. Make sure there’s adequate air movement in your tent. Watch for pests and disease.
This is also when some gardeners choose to train or prune their plants for maximum bud development and to increase air circulation.
Flowering Stage
The flowering stage is when weed plants start to grow buds. This is what we’ve been waiting for! Some strains will actually put on a burst of growth at this time, as they try to get their flowers up above their neighbors for the most sun.
You’ll be able to make sure at this time that your plants are female. Preflowers appear at the nodes of the plant, where a branch grows out of the main stalk. Females will develop an oval-shaped bract with hairs or pistils sticking out, while males will develop round pollen sacs. If you don’t see these white hairs, it’s very likely you’ve got a male plant. Check back in a day or two and use magnification to make sure. Male plants will not produce a flower harvest, and if you let them fertilize your female plants, the females won’t either!
Switch your fertilizer to support flowering:
Indoor Photoperiod strains– When you switch lights to 12 hours of darkness a day, the plant will naturally go to a flowering state. Start Bloom fertilizer a week after the light switch.
Outdoor Photoperiod strains– Plants will normally begin to flower a few weeks after the summer solstice (June 20) as the days begin to get shorter. Watch for preflowers as a sign to switch to Bloom fertilizer.
Autoflowers – These types of strains will flower automatically no matter how much light they’re getting daily. Autos typically start flowering after 3-4 weeks. Keep an eye out for new flowers and switch to Bloom fertilizer.
Be diligent about monitoring for pests, making sure your lighting and air flow are consistent, and don’t prune except for low branches if necessary.
Maintain 65-80°F; 40-50% relative humidity.
