Growing cannabis plants has only become more popular in recent years, thanks to recent changes in cannabis laws and improvements in plant growth technology. But how does one start?
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Whether you want to try growing cannabis indoors on your own or you want to start an outdoor cannabis crop, there are certain must-haves for any grower. The success of your plants depends on your seeds, the environment in which you grow your plants, the lighting, and the planters you choose.
That’s why your friends at GreenState came up with a checklist for new cannabis plant parents. With these items on your shopping list, you’ve got this growing thing in the bag (literally).
1. Seeds (and good ones)
Let’s start with the basics. In order to grow cannabis plants, you’ll need cannabis seeds.
Choosing the right seeds for cannabis is one of the most important decisions you can make when growing cannabis at home. After all, if you have low-quality seeds, you will have low-quality plants, or even worse, dead plants, before you can even harvest them.
But how do you know if your seeds are high-quality?
One way to ensure this is by purchasing from a reputable seller.
You can tell if a seller is reputable when they have great reviews. If a seller has poor reviews—or no reviews at all—skip them and move on to someone else.
You also need to consider what kind of seeds you want to buy. For example, some seeds require specific periods of light and darkness and different timeframes (measured in days from first planting) to sprout. Because of this, you will need to follow the germination instructions for each type of seed to get them to grow.
2. An indoor or outdoor space
Once you’ve selected your seeds, you need to decide whether to grow your seeds inside or outside.
Growing your cannabis outdoors is cheap since you won’t need to rely on artificial lights. However, you’ll have less control over the environment they’re growing in, and you will have to worry about pests, bad weather, and pollination.
If temperatures drop, you’ll have to protect your plants so they won’t get frost damage. Likewise, if it rains too much, you’ll have to keep your plants from getting overwatered.
You will have much more control over your growing environment when growing indoors. The downside is that your electricity bill will undoubtedly go up due to the grow lights you will need to use.
Choosing to grow outdoors or indoors depends on how much time, energy, and money you are willing to spend. It also depends on how experienced you are at growing cannabis plants.
Either way, you will need to make this decision and prepare a place for your seeds to flourish before planting.
3. Lights
One of the essential items on your checklist is lights for growing cannabis.
You should avoid incandescent lights since they won’t aid the growth of your plants. Instead, when your seeds start sprouting, opt for LED lights.
LED lights are one of the most popular lighting choices for growing cannabis. This is because many LED panels offer the full spectrum of light to your plants. This ultimately results in larger yields once your plants mature.
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LED lights won’t overheat since they produce less heat than other types of light bulbs. They are quieter than other lights as well.
The only downside is that LED lights are expensive to run for long periods. This is important if you are growing large crops of cannabis indoors.
If you are on a budget, fluorescent or CFL lights are your next best option. They are similar to LED lights but don’t consume as much energy. Therefore, they are cheaper to run.
However, they will not produce yields as abundant as LED lights will.
4. Ventilation (if you’re growing indoors)
When growing cannabis indoors, you are responsible for creating the perfect growth environment for your plants. Part of this involves ensuring that the air does not become stagnate.
How to do this? Good ventilation.
You can create an airflow in your indoor grow space by inserting a fan in your grow room.
In outdoor grow spaces, natural wind currents will provide all the ventilation you need.
4. Planters
As for planters, you need to make sure your plants have enough room to grow, and the soil is well-draining. Make sure your containers have holes in the bottom so that any excess water can drain out. If water pools in your planters, the roots of your cannabis plants could rot, causing the plant to die.
Choose planters that are not too tall. Tall containers put your cannabis plants too close to the grow lights.
Placing your cannabis plants too close to your lights can cause burns, stunted growth, and foliage discoloration. This, of course, would not result in the high-quality cannabis plants you want.
4. Soil
Last, but certainly not least, you need to choose good-quality soil for your plants.
Old soil you’ve used to grow plants in before will likely be devoid of nutrients.
Buy some high-quality, nutrient-rich soil for your plants. There are plenty of cannabis-specific soil brands on the market. We’ve also heard tell that ScottsMiracle-Gro makes excellent soil for cannabis plants.
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You have the tools to start growing happy, healthy cannabis plants now—from choosing the right seeds to selecting the perfect grow lights. Now, go plant some beautiful and, most importantly, bountiful herb.