grow your own

5 things you need to know before growing your own cannabis

September 3, 2024

Danny Murr-Sloat

Growing your own cannabis is incredibly rewarding. Seeing a plant grow from a tiny clone or seedling to a beautiful and majestic harvest is an amazing experience. Knowing that all the work, love, and care you put into cultivating your plant will improve your life, help you find relief, and mitigate symptoms of various ailments is empowering.

Connecting to and caring for a life form that has such a positive impact on so many lives is, to put it simply, such a cool experience. Growing your own cannabis will also help you appreciate the work that craft cannabis growers put into their cultivation, and will help you better understand the plant and the medicine.

There are so many upsides to cultivating your own cannabis. Not only a fulfilling experience, but it’s often incredibly therapeutic. The skills you will gain translate into many other aspects of life including the confidence which comes with self-sufficiency. For those who are truly passionate, this can become a profession. The rabbit hole is deep and there is always so much to learn!

growing cannabis in a tent — A cannabis plant inside of a grow tent. Photo: Canva

Potential downsides include time, money, and stress. However, I firmly believe that if you get into this without unrealistic expectations of huge yields and you don’t compare yourself to others, you’ll find cultivation to be a worthwhile endeavor while having fun and learning along the way.

Is it better to grow indoors or outdoors? Both are great. It entirely depends on what your goals are, what your living situation is like, what your budget is, what your local laws are, and which style speaks to you more. There is no universal right or better way, and maybe the answer for you is to try both!

What should people consider before diving in? Just do it!

Consider the source

Finding accurate information is difficult as there are many “experts.” Beware of online forums and people who use the title “master grower” to describe their knowledge base. Finding a cultivator you respect and taking note of how they grow can be a good way to learn. Inquire about their techniques and the nutrients and tools they use.

Seeking advice from professionals and experts in other more established horticulture fields can be very insightful as well. For example, if I have a plant question, I will often research how tomato farmers deal with whatever problem is at hand.

Keep it simple

Cannabis cultivation can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be. From complex hydro systems and computer-controlled nutrient dosing systems to plants grown in soil and watered by hand. Find which style suits your lifestyle and values best, and go from there.

Do what feels best and keeps you interested. And resist the urge to try complicated techniques often touted on social media. Instead, focus on having an easy and successful harvest. This is supposed to be a fun hobby, not a chore or a source of stress.

Experiment

The world of growing is vast with many many different techniques and styles. The best growers have played around with many different growing styles and nutrient systems and are better for it. You learn more from your failures than your successes. Never stop learning, and always stay humble.

Clean and organize your cultivation area

Remove dead plant material. Clean up spills. And always clean your tools before and after use. I can’t stress this point enough and it is the most common step that we see overlooked. In my opinion, this step is what separates the rock stars from the groupies.

Have fun!

Above all else, growing is a source of joy, so enjoy the journey! Cultivating cannabis is incredibly rewarding and will serve to enrich your life. We have all started at the beginning, and skill comes with experience. Every harvest is a win, no matter how small or how many mistakes are made along the way. Anything you harvest and can ingest is a win to be proud of.

Still on the fence after reading these tips? In general, I tell people to learn how to grow plants and have fun with an herb garden. If you can grow tomatoes and basil well, you can learn how to grow cannabis well.

*This article was submitted by a guest contributor. The author is solely responsible for its contents.

Danny Murr-Sloat Danny Murr-Sloat, founder at AlpinStash Genetics & Consulting,has amassed 14 years of experience across the U.S. and Canada, developing his own proprietary genetics and consulting with some of the largest cultivations in the industry. Danny credits using and growing cannabis with saving his life and seeks to give back as much as he can to this amazing plant.