Spring is one of the most wonderful seasons for cannabis planting, especially if you are growing outdoors. Though it may seem daunting to begin, outdoor growing can provide tons of natural benefits that make it worth overcoming the obstacles of seasonal planting.
If you’ve decided you’d like to give outdoor growing a try, here are some tips to ensure that you will be successful planting outdoors during spring.
Get your seeds at the most reputable seed breeders.
Since springtime is the ideal season to start growing your cannabis seeds, you need to ensure that you’re prepared. Aim to get your seeds a few weeks in advance of your actual target month. Make sure that your source can give you good quality seeds to ensure that your time and effort won’t be wasted.
Before purchasing your seeds, do your research on where you can get the best seeds. After you’ve discovered the best seed shop or breeder, you can decide which strain will work for your growing location. It’s important to know the climate you’re planning to grow in, as different strains need different conditions. Typically, strains that have more sativa dominance have a longer flowering time, with lower yields, and so are suited to growers who have a longer growing season. If you live in an area with a short growing season, indica dominant plants have a shorter flowering time, but with larger yields. Either way, do your research, as each strain has its own quirks for growing outdoors.
Start growing your outdoor strains in indoors.
You might be surprised by this technique, but this is actually the secret recipe to harvesting bigger plants during fall – start the growing process indoors before you transfer them in an outdoor environment.
According to experts, if you want to harvest the biggest outdoor plants, start planting your strains indoors in early December with a temperature between 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit and about 50% humidity. You also need to provide your plants with 18 to 20 hours of light each day to give space for the vegetative stage. After the threats of frost retreats, you can continue the vegetative stage of your cannabis plants outdoors throughout spring and summer. Your plants will then begin the flowering stage in the fall.
Prepare your containers or grow beds (outdoors) in advance.
Before it’s time to plant, begin the process of loosening your soil. The soil become compacted during the winter, so be sure to turn it over and add a cured compost layer above the soil. You can also purchase worms to naturally aerate your soil, which will allow the roots of your plants to grow easily.
Start the germination.
You can start the germination by using moist paper towels. All you have to do is put your cannabis seeds inside some moist towel, fold it, place it in a warm area, and wait for the taproot to be revealed. You can also use two plates (using the second plate as a cover) to lock the moisture inside. Be gentle when checking for sprouts, as you can hurt the sprouting of your seeds if you disturb them too much.
After 1-4 days, your seeds should have sprouted. The next thing that you have to do is to carefully transfer your sprouted seeds (root down position) into your growing medium (in a small hole 1 inch deep).
After planting your sprouted seeds, you need to give 24 hours of light per day to your seedling using a CFL grow light with the right distance to allow the start of its vegetative stage.
Vegetative stage and pruning process will now occur.
The vegetative stage is now here and you need to provide enough nutrients for your plants to maintain a good and healthy growth. At this point, if you think that the frost outside has subsided, you can continue the vegetation of your plant in your outdoor environment.
When doing this, make sure that your plants are well secured and are situated in a very safe location to avoid stressing and killing your plants.
Visit your plants twice a week or more to ensure that they are free from any damage and pests, and also to check if they need more nutrients or not. After doing all the maintenance for your plant, you need to check if your cannabis has nodes. If it does, then you can now start pruning your cannabis by trimming the growing shoots. We have an entire article on topping your cannabis plants here.
Foliar-feed your cannabis plants.
Foliar-feeding can provide tons of benefits to the overall growth of your plants during its vegetative stage. The process removes any dust particles that may have accumulated, and allows the plants to receive nutrients that will help in their growth.
To do this, spray your cannabis plants using a solution with mild nutrients in it. Water both sides of the leaves (top and underside) every morning so that the sun will not burn your leaves.
Your cannabis plants are now ready to go through the flowering stage. Of course, you still need to give the proper nutrients (potassium and phosphorus when flowers are beginning to form) to your plants during the flowering stage to get an assurance that you will get large plants.
While outdoor growing can be challenging, the rewards can be great. It’s more environmentally friendly then growing indoors, the buds develop a distinct flavour that many marijuana enthusiasts tout as the most satisfying herb to smoke, and in general, outdoor weed produces a higher yield that is both cheaper, and easier to grow. If you’re going to give it a try, prepare to read a high reward!
