Marijuana Grower's Handbook - Page 2

Of all the pleasant experiences to savour when growing our own cannabis, undoubtedly one of the most special and highly anticipated is the moment we finally take the scissors and cut the plant at harvest time. In many cases this emotion is followed by a great relief, brought on by the tranquility of removing plants, especially outdoor grown plants, which may have been exposed to certain prying eyes.

Situations such as this one, as well as others such as, for example, the grower’s sheer impatience to finish the crop, can lead to bringing forward the harvest and cutting the plants too early, before they reach their optimum maturity. Rushing these things is never a good idea, as haste clouds our judgement and can force mistakes, so the decision about whether to harvest or not will require close observation and patience.

The most common harvesting mistakes are usually to do with to the maturity of the plant, although there are other, less serious errors that can prove decisive to the quality of the harvest, alongside following the proper drying and curing process to ensure a top quality cannabis crop.

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Guerrilla growing cannabis

Guerrilla growing cannabis is a fairly common practice among those growers who don’t have any place of their own to cultivate, whether it’s an indoor grow, an outdoor garden or a balcony. In short, the idea is to find a suitable site in a nearby forest or scrubland where you’ll be able to safely grow a few plants and remain undetected. This can end up being a real challenge, given the numerous potential dangers we can face: Forestry patrols, hunters, hikers, wild mushroom collectors… they could all accidentally stumble upon your plants, something every grower wants to avoid at all costs.

In this article we’re going to explain everything you’ll need to consider when looking for the best spot to grow cannabis, as well as the best way to prepare the site so your plants are as well camouflaged as possible and can offer their maximum potential. We’ll also recommend the most suitable cannabis varieties and teach you a few tips and tricks to help you get the best out of your guerrilla grow, because, as every outdoor grower knows, the head stash supply for the whole year can depend on just one harvest, so there’s no room for errors!

With this in mind, security, discretion, weather conditions and genetics are just some of the aspects that we’ll be dealing with so that you can harvest the very best buds from your guerrilla grow... as if you cared for the plants in your own garden!

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The first time you venture into the world of cannabis cultivation at home, it’s perfectly normal to be overwhelmed with doubts and questions, making you feel like it’s all too much!

You will, of course, have made sure to read all the information you can get from the Internet blogs, forums, books and magazines, and your grower friends (if you know any) will have filled your head with loads of tips, tricks and secret, infallible techniques (so they say, anyway!) that we must follow to the letter if we want an abundant and high quality cannabis harvest.

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Principle characteristics of Automatic plants

Autoflowering or Automatic cannabis seeds are characterised by being varieties that flower all by themselves, or in other words, they are not photo-dependent, unlike photo-sensitive feminised cannabis seeds they do not depend on the cycle of light and darkness to trigger bloom.

Once the seed germinates, it goes through its vegetative growth period of about 15-21 days, after which in then begins flowering, regardless of the hours of light it receives.

This is the feature that makes autos so popular with many growers, as they can deliver a harvest just 60-80 days after germination, much faster than any traditional genetics.

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When we cultivate cannabis outdoors or indoors, it is always exciting, especially if it’s our first time, as it opens us up to a new world of opportunities in which anything is possible, and in which the growers wishes, doubts and dedication are combined.

The usual way is to start reading, immersing oneself in reference books to make sure everything, or at least the basic notions, are clear before getting down to work. What can leave us, either with a strong sense of being overwhelmed, or with full understanding of the "Kung Fu of cannabis cultivation."

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Of all the procedures we should follow when growing cannabis, none are as simple or as important as flushing the roots at the end of flowering. This simple operation, basically consisting of flooding the substrate with water, can make the difference between obtaining good or bad results from our cannabis harvest: if we haven’t washed the plants correctly they will contain residues of nutrients which will negatively affect the flavour of the smoke.

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Why grow cannabis as a monoculture?

Even if we only have a little outdoor space for cultivation it can seem a bit absurd to only grow a single product. In cannabis cultivation, for various reasons, growers usually opt for monoculture, turning their back on the wealth of advantages brought by integrating cannabis within a polyculture of vegetables, aromatic plants and flowers.

Cannabis plants are perfectly adapted to horticultural gardens, whether urban or rural. Sharing the cultivation space with other vegetables has great benefits which can be used by cannabis plants in different ways.

Aside from the obvious benefit of harvesting a variety of products, polyculture cultivation has a range of direct benefits to the cannabis grown in it, positively influencing aspects as important as the control of pests and diseases, fertilisation, yield, and the final quality of the harvest.

Towards the end of winter or in early spring is the best time to plan our next outdoor cannabis grow, to allow enough time to calmly prepare the ideal plan to suit our possibilities.

Studying the cultivation space fully, together with the assessment of the means we have at our disposal and the dedication and effort that we can provide, will mean we are much more likely to  optimise resources like the time and money that we will invest over the entire process of the culture.

The previous planning work will also help us to anticipate specific situations or needs of the crop that will occur during its development - irrigation, fertilisation, pruning, pest management, harvesting, etc.

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Healthy soil, productive soil

A healthy crop soil is a productive soil. The health of the growing medium can be measured by the diversity of organisms and microorganisms that inhabit it. These microscopic soil inhabitants, mainly fungi and bacteria, establish a whole series of relationships with the plant that are essential to the proper development of a cannabis crop.

In all substrates these beneficial microorganisms must be maintained and promoted. This is essential to achieve a balanced growing medium, as this equilibrium will give us the optimal conditions for the development of plants. All these soil microbes live in a symbiotic relationship with the plants to make up the so-called soil food web.

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What is a pure or landrace cannabis variety?

Landrace or pure strains are those cannabis varieties that are native to a specific area and have been adapted generation after generation to the conditions of that area and remained isolated from other varieties, keeping their genotype unaltered.

Cannabis is an ancient plant - probably originating from the Himalayas - that has been cultivated by humans for millennia, either for its recreational virtues, for its well-known and documented medicinal properties or for the multitude of industrial uses (including food) that he has. Over the centuries, it has been adapting to cultivation according to latitude and to different climates across the world, especially in the intertropical zone and in many of the temperate parts of the globe.

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After months of giving our plants all the care they require, the time to harvest finally arrives. Whichever variety of cannabis you cultivate, you’ll probably want to dry it before consuming it. While to many it may seem the least important phase (the hardest part is over!), the correct drying of our plants is essential to enjoy the best possible quality, if we don’t take the necessary care with drying, we can ruin our efforts… and our entire harvest!

In our post about drying and curing cannabis, we gave you the basic information to dry your flowers perfectly. In this article we will focus on the most common mistakes made when drying our precious buds, mistakes that as we say can ruin the flowers we have been caring for months. Let's see what the typical errors are when drying marijuana.

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Of the three stages of development that a cannabis plant has from seed - germination, growth and flowering, the second stage, vegetative growth, may seem the least demanding or important. This would be a big mistake, as each phase is integral to the whole process and neglecting or not properly caring for the crop during any one of them will have a negative impact on what remains of the plant’s development. So the vegetative or growth phase of cannabis is equally as important as germination or flowering.

What we call the growth or vegetative phase is the period of the plant’s development that starts when the seed has germinated and lasts until the plant begins to bloom. In this phase the plant shows exponential growth; the more vegetable mass, leaves and branches develop, the faster the growth accelerates, generating in turn more leaves and more branches.

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How do we germinate cannabis seeds?

Although the germination of cannabis seeds is a relatively quick and easy process, it is crucial to take into account a series of important factors in order to obtain as high a germination rate as possible. In addition, it's in our interest that the seeds germinate as quickly as possible, and especially if we want to avoid problems like fungal infection or a low germination rate.

In our article on how to germinate cannabis seeds we explain step by step what you must do to achieve successful germination. Today we will take a look at the main mistakes made during this process, some simple errors that, as we will see, can easily be solved. Let's see where many growers fail to germinate their seeds, it's a great way to learn what not to do if we want to make the most of our seeds.

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There are some essential accessories you should have in your indoor cannabis grow to successfully grow and harvest top quality buds. In this alrticle we'll list 7 devices that any indoor grower should use in order to avoid problems and provide their plants with the best possible environmental conditions.

Air extractor fans

To provide your indoor growing space with fresh air is crucial for proper development of plants, which need CO2 during the day and O2 during the night. If you don't have an efficient air extraction system, your plants won't be able to perform their basic functions properly.

Air circulation also helps to reduce temperature and humidity inside the grow room/tent, which in turn avoids problems with pests and diseases. You can find further information about it in our article about CO2 and cannabis.

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At this time of year, when summer and hot temperatures are comming, a number of mesures should be take in order to avoid pests in your plants, especially if these have not been taken during the rest of the year and whatever type of cannabis strain you're growing. Indeed, most insect pests attack indoor grow rooms during summer in a cyclical and predictable manner, when temperatures raise and relative humidity often drops. Thus, the reproduction of insects like red spider mites, thrips and white flies reaches its peak during this period, so using a pest prevention and control plan is highly recommended to ensure optimal growing conditions for your plants.

On the other hand, and if you're growing outdoors or in a greenhouse, this is also an excelent moment to start this type of treatments. You should then start a prevention plan to ensure that your plants will show their full potential in a few weeks, when the bloom phase begins. Plants should be always clean from pests or diseases before entering the flowering period if highest yields and quality are to be achieved, no matter what growing systems you're using.

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Cannabis plants need balanced and complete nutrition to develop to their full potential. Most fertilisers formulated for marijuana plants contain a number of macro and micro nutrients, necessary for both the growth and bloom stages. A deficiency or excess of any of these elements can quickly bring nutritional imbalances which affect the performance of plants.

According to their packaging, nutrients for plants have a certain N-P-K number to indicate us the amount of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) contained, the three main nutrients for plants (macro nutrients). Still, the classification of macro and micro nutrients can vary from one source to another, and some of them also include calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sulphur (S) as macro nutrients.

In this article we'll take a look at the main symptoms of imbalances on any of these 6 elements, which will be classified as macro nutrients. Keep in mind that each cannabis strain has its own needs with regard to nutrition, requiring more or less amount of each of these nutrients. Thus, while one plant may need large amounts of nitrogen to grow, another may present clear symptoms of excess nitrogen with the same amount of fertiliser.

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