Why Grow Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds?

July 15, 2019July 10, 2019 by Philip

One of the most popular cannabis varieties that growers can’t get enough of is an autoflowering seeds. What makes this kind of cannabis seeds better is what we are going to discuss in this special article.

What are autoflowering seeds?

Autoflowering cannabis seeds or auto/autos are seeds that are genetically manipulated to be able to provide cannabis in the fastest time possible. Regular cannabis seeds need 3 month to grow and then another 3 months more to wait till you can harvest. This is a total of 6 months wait from bud to weed. Autos are designed to grow in just three weeks and are ready for harvest in just 8 weeks. Technically, you can grow up to three times in a year depending on your location and of course more grow, more harvest and more profits for growers and suppliers. Autos are made to provide quality weed without the wait.

Special characteristics of auto seeds

Auto seeds are GMO. These are unique with characteristics that are not found in regular marijuana seeds.

Auto seeds have the shortest life cycles and can be grown indoors, outdoors or in a greenhouse. It can be the seed of choice by growers with a lot of room outdoors or by growers that only cultivate their crops inside their homes, in grow closets or tents.
Autoflowering seeds are “designed” to make short and small plants and are therefore ideal for stealth marijuana operations.
The term “auto” or “automatic” describes the seed’s unique characteristics. It works on auto pilot to provide the shortest cycles with the best yields. It does not rely on shortened artificial or natural daylight to stimulate its flowering cycle. It is genetically designed to grow in just 8 to 10 weeks.
Autoflowering cannabis seeds can grow even in inhospitable environments and unpredictable growing seasons in Northern Russia as well as Northern Canada.
In countries where summers are too short for outdoor growing, autoflowering seeds allow growers to cultivate weed that can be harvested fast without worrying about extreme temperature changes.
You cannot grow autoflowering plants from clones, only seeds. It’s therefore best to create your own autoflowering cannabis seeds so you don’t have to buy expensive seeds from online or local sellers.
Autoflowering plants have these great characteristics but all in all, these are just like regular cannabis plants. Autos also need a lot of sunlight or artificial light to grow healthy and to yield large crops. These plants have huge energy requirements so these should have a constant supply of water and organic plant food.
Autoflowering plants will automatically grow and be ready for harvest in the least possible time and therefore are very vulnerable to stress. From transplanting your plant from a small cup to a large pot to bending your plant to train it can stress your autos and affect its yield. All-in-all, this plant needs TLC from its vegetative stage to harvest stage.

Why more grow autoflowering cannabis seeds?

There are a lot of reasons why most growers grow only autoflowering seeds in their grow space. Here are the most popular ones:

You can grow several times a year

With regular weed you can only grow only once a year. Because cannabis does not like cold weather you won’t be able to grow at all during the cold season outdoors when you use regular seeds. With autos, you can grow up to three times a year because of its 8 to 10 –week growing cycle. You will also be able to grow indoors which can also massively increase your chances of getting better yield and grow volume.

You can get good profit

No need to explain that you can double and even triple your profit when you use autoflowering seeds. Imagine being able to grow weed three times a year depending on where you are located and compare this to growing regular weed only once a year. So if you are looking to make more money on your cannabis operations then you must grow only autoflowering cannabis seeds.

You can grow even in a small space or grow closet

Because you can grow autos in just about anywhere and still get the best yield it is recommended for growers who just don’t have enough space. Do you know that there are people who can grow weed from their window sills? Some can even use an old refrigerator or a wine cabinet as a small grow closet complete with ventilation, artificial lights and filters. Therefore you can be in the city or in the country and still be able to grow weed for personal use or profit from selling it.

You can never make a mistake

One thing about autos is that you can never make a mistake when growing it. Its unique characteristics are ingrained it its genes. You won’t have to undergo training, although it helps, just to grow autos for personal use. There are also a lot of reference materials, self-help books, online videos from growers and e books that can help you out.

Even novice growers can handle it

This is the kind of cannabis for new, first-time growers because you can’t make a mistake when growing auto cannabis. You can buy seeds from almost everywhere online and from local sellers too so it won’t have to be a huge ordeal to acquire seeds.

You can grow weed stealthily

And possibly the best thing about auto seeds is that you can grow stealthily. Because it grows without worries, as long as it gets a lot of light all day and has all the things that it needs to grow, it can thrive even in covert environments. This is the seed of choice for growing in small tents, small grow rooms, basements and in makeshift growing operations where the plant’s environment can be easily controlled.

Hydroponic Nutrient Solutions Explained

June 25, 2018June 25, 2018 by Adam

Hydroponics is one of the most popular methods for growing cannabis plants nowadays. This is why it is important to have clear insights regarding how to grow with hydroponics so you can ensure that your cannabis plants grow healthy and produce invigorating buds. In every hydroponic system, the quality and the amount of nutrient solutions are a key aspect that every grower should look into. Similar to growing in a soil medium, it is essential that your cannabis plants receive the maximum amount of nutrients. In this article, we will explain everything about nutrient solutions for hydroponics. More specifically, we will go over how nutrient solutions are made and their respective compositions.

What nutrients are needed for plants to grow?

Normally, for a plant to grow it requires a specific amount of nutrients in order to survive properly. That is why it is essential for your nutrient solution to contain these specific components. In a typical soil medium, these nutrients are readily obtained in the soil. For hydroponics however, this is an entirely different case. The nutrients should be given directly to the plants through nutrient solutions. The following includes the essential nutrients;

Nitrogen (N)

Nitrogen is the dominant element that your cannabis plants need to grow. This element is used for the development of cells, food processing, and transport within the plant’s system. These compounds are used to produce chlorophyll, proteins, and hormones.

Source: Nitrogen could be obtained through the atmospheric nitrogen. This compound is taken up into the air via some legumes that fix atmospheric nitrogen to be used by plants for absorption.

Other than that, you could also obtain nitrogen through fertilizers as needed.

Phosphorus (P)

This element is particularly helpful during the course of photosynthesis and bud maturation. On top of that, this is also used for the root’s development in its early stages. More specifically, phosphorus is often poured in your solution through the course of the flowering stage of the cannabis plant. This element aids to improve potency and bud yields.

Source: Most likely, you’ll get phosphorus in animal or human manure. Though in some cases, they are internally present within the soil as some rocks are rich in this element.

Potassium (K)

Potassium is mainly used to improve the bud quality being produced. Nevertheless, this element helps in keeping up your plant’s defense against diseases that could attack it. Aside from that, it aids in the manufacture of oils, starches, and sugars in plants.

Sources: Potash of muriate and sulfate are a common source of potassium.

Calcium (Ca)

This element is essential for root health and development. Similar to humans, this element helps with the stability of the plant’s structure.

Sources: Lime and Dolomite are the cheapest options.

Magnesium (Mg)

This is the key element for the green color pigment of the plant and it’s vital for a plant’s photosynthesis.

Source: Found in dolomite, magnesite (magnesium oxide), and Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate)

Sulfur (S)

The element that is used for protein production in the plant. Furthermore, this element is also utilized in energy processing.

Source: Most organic matter. Sulfur can also be present in gypsum, sulfate of ammonia, and some fertilizers.

Other Trace Elements

These elements are important for the plant to grow. But nonetheless, they should only be found in small amounts. These elements include iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron, and molybdenum. Excessive amounts of these compounds could poison the plant.

Nutrient Solution Formulation

Knowing all these important nutrients needed for your plants, you are now ready to mix all the nutrients that you have. Though most nutrient solutions are already pre-mix, you could intuitively formulate a solution for your hydroponics.

Basically, NPK namely Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium are used in ratios of 30:10:30. The other three macros namely sulfur, calcium, and magnesium could be found in some mixed bags of fertilizers. The same thing also goes for micronutrients or trace elements.

But nonetheless, these numbers could differ depending on what particular stage your plant has undergone. Respectively, the most pre-mixed hydroponic nutrient solution is given with two solutions, one for vegetative and other for the flowering stage.

Aside from that, some manufacturers present some feed charts for you to follow to indicate what particular proportions of each nutrient should be put into your water depending on the stage of your plants or your personal preference. For most cases, this feed chart is followed.

Other Things to Remember When Mixing Nutrients

Check the Water’s pH

Before mixing in the nutrients, it is important to measure the pH of the water. Variation in your water’s pH could affect the quality of nutrient solution that you’ll have. Ideally, the pH of your water should be close to neutrality or betweeen 5.5-7. Beyond this range, could mean that your water is contaminated with unnecessary organics, microbes, or ions. Thus, it is important to purchase a pH meter for things to become easy as possible.

Aside from pH, also take note of the water’s temperature before mixing. It should be roughly room temperature, not that hot or cold.

Shake the Container Well

Use a well-sealed container with a cap to mix everything. The container should contain all the nutrients and the water to be used. It is recommended that you shake it carefully as to not spill and lose some nutrients. Nutrient deficiency could cause damage to the plants.

Difference Between Winterizing and Dewaxing

November 1, 2018December 21, 2017 by Philip

With an increasing demand for CBD oils, any local grower and breeder would jump on the opportunity to create pure and clean cannabis concentrates. It is expected that soon the demand for CBD will skyrocket considering there are already more than 10 states passing CBD oil bills. So are you ready to create cannabis concentrates using your home grow?

Cleaner and purer concentrates

The key to getting the best profits in making cannabis concentrates is to make them clean and pure. There are many ways to do these but the most trusted and the most popular are winterizing and de-waxing. These are two completely different processes to clean your concentrates but are similar in the sense that the finish product is pure, clean and safe.

Winterizing process

In winterizing, grain alcohol or ethanol is used to separate plant waxes and fats. Because it is hard to burn off ethanol than butane, more of the terpenes are removed from the batch. This process is more common than de-waxing and is technically basic to do. Winterizing can be accomplished even by first time extractors.

People winterize because it is easier and needs only basic materials and butane. This technique won’t be too hard on your yields despite affecting terpene levels.

De-waxing process

De-waxing is far more complicated than winterizing but will be able to efficiently clean your concentrates. Instead of ethanol, the main solvent here is butane and is referred to as a single-solvent. Butane is run through the plant to extract it. Then the concentrate must be kept in sub-zero temperatures to let the lipid material separate from the concentrate.

The concentrate should be placed through a Buchner funnel and attached to a passive vacuum system. What will happen is the unwanted particles will soon rise at the top. At this stage, butane can be easily removed from the system without evaporating. Butane has to be removed fast to be able to separate the unwanted layers from the rest of the concentrates. De-waxing is almost the same as winterizing however this is not as efficient as the later. But the good news is your terpenes are not affected with de-waxing compared to winterizing.

De-waxing improves the color and purity of the concentrate. There are no additional solvents added to the concentrate which could affect terpenes or could change color and flavor of the end product.

Preparing your materials for winterizing and de-waxing

Possibly the most important equipment you need is an explosion-proof freezer for winterizing and de-waxing. Since it is very dangerous to use butane compared to alcohol then you must have an explosion proof freezer ready.

Using dry ice to immediately chill butane is becoming popular. Instead of cooling butane by running air over it, some people use dry ice to immediately drop its temperature. But there is a downside to using dry ice. The temperature could reduce the temperature so low it could get below -30 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, you might lose some of your yield. And if the temperature drops to less than -50 degrees Fahrenheit, the cannabinoids condense into fats that you actually want to get rid of.

Will de-waxing and winterizing affect yields?

After de-waxing usually you get more yields at around 6% more. This is because this technique can increase the number of lipid heads. Using a de-wax or winterizing actually removes lipids and fats from cannabis plants and no matter what technique you use, there will always be some lost yields. But despite the small loses, de-waxing creates concentrates that are smoother and better on the lungs.

Working with chemicals

There’s no doubt about it, because both winterizing and de-waxing will make you work with chemicals and flammable solutions. The key is to keep safe and to make sure that you know what exactly you are doing. An important thing about de-waxing and winterizing is to avoid using or wearing anything that can cause static. Anything static can ignite the butane and cause accidents.

Make sure that you use clean and disinfected materials in winterizing or de-waxing. Cleanliness begets clean yields so you must never handle your yields with unclean and sanitized equipment and to always clean everything and disinfect your hands before you work.

Cannabis and Phosphorous

November 1, 2018December 20, 2017 by Philip

Cannabis needs many elements and nutrients to grow properly and vigorously. The major elements for your Cannabis are nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium or N-P-K. They are food for your Cannabis plants in which if they will not be given in right amount and application, your weeds will starve and grow unhealthy. The most important nutrient for Cannabis growing is nitrogen; however, other nutrients are also needed to maintain a healthy growth of your weeds.

What is phosphorous?

Phosphorous is the second element for Cannabis growing. This is a kind of macronutrient in Cannabis and is present among weed plants. This element is a big part of the overall cycle of your weeds. It is present in any part of the Marijuana plants which has an overall weight of about 0.1% to 0.8%. This element is very vital in both seedling and flowering stage because it is the one who will help the plant in the photosynthetic process and transfer of energy. Another big emphasis of phosphorous is the fact that it is present in the DNA molecules and has a big role in the reproduction process. Growers must bear in mind that phosphorous should be abundant in Cannabis plants especially if you are planning for seed production and to reproduce strains because this element will help in the seed production of your weeds as well as in the process of passing the traits of the genetic information from generation to generation.

The right amount of phosphorus in every stage of Marijuana life

During early stage

For the early stage, you need to apply phosphorous in your Cannabis to help the plant in its faster growth and will achieve an overall strength. However, even this element is important during this stage; you still need to start in low dosage because the plant is very sensitive and delicate during in its early stage. 1/8 or ¼ of the required dosage amount is enough as a start.

If you are using a kind of soil which is rich in nutrients it will be okay to not apply phosphorous yet.

Pre-flowering stage

During this phase, all kinds of elements are needed. Phosphorous is not that important during this stage because your weeds will need more nitrogen and potassium during pre-flowering. In the application of phosphorous, you can use either chemical or organic, but make sure to not overfeed your weeds with any of the said elements because Marijuana plants are also sensitive during pre-flowering.

Flowering

Flowering stage is a phase where the flowers will start to show. These flowers are like pistils and are hairy. In this stage, you need some fertilizer switching. In flowering stage, your fertilizer would be 10-20-20 or bigger amount of phosphorous and potassium and a lesser amount of nitrogen.

The very reason why your weeds need a larger amount of phosphorous during the flowering stage is the fact that phosphorous has a vital part in the flowering process. But bear in mind that even your weeds need a large amount of phosphorous you still not to overfeed it. On the other side, a smaller amount of phosphorous will result in production of smaller flowers and if this will happen it will result to decrease of your yield.

Chemical fertilizers with phosphorous

If you preferred to use chemical fertilizers for your Marijuana plants, you can use P202 form. Using a fertilizer like N-P-K will be enough to support the growth of your weeds.

Organic fertilizers with phosphorous

If you are growing organically, you also need to use fertilizers which are organic. There are organic things which are phosphorous rich and you can use them to feed your Marijuana plants. They are the following:

Bonemeal

It is a form of crushed bones of animals is known as phosphorous rich matter. However, they can be absorbed slowly so you might not see results right away.

Rock phosphate

This is a kind of salt which has overall salt content. However, the bad side of this mineral is the fact that it is very slow moving; as a result, your plants could not able to absorb it right away. The best way to use this mineral is to manufacture it in another way or form to make it more effective and easy to use.

Bat guano

This is a manure or waste of bats and it has 20% or more phosphorous content. However, this organic matter has a large percentage of nitrogen which makes it not advisable to use for young Cannabis plants.

Animal tankage

Animal tankage is dried products of slaughtered animals. It is a good source of phosphorous and even nitrogen. Its phosphorous content is higher than nitrogen so it still safe to use for your weeds.

Signs and symptoms of phosphorous deficiency

Most of the time, the symptoms of phosphorous deficiency can be seen in the leaves. They are evident in the following forms:

Give negative effects to lower and older leaves
Leaves will turn dark and shiny like turning into dark green, grayish or blue.
The leaves will turn into yellow
Some leaves may turn into bronze or purple while some may start to have brown spots and blotches
Will thicken the leaves causing it to dry and stiff
Sometime, the stems will turn into bright red or purple

Solutions in case your weeds will experience phosphorous deficiency

Adjust your Ph level into its correct range
Make sure to give enough care of the roots of your weeds
Make some steps to provide the right amount of temperature
Give the right nutrients

Can I Use Fluorescent Lights to Flower my Plants?

November 1, 2018December 19, 2017 by Philip

Exposure to of light encourages budding of cannabis plants. It increases THC content making it more potent and desirable for those avid stoners. However, exposure to sun’s natural light poses a lot of limitations including weather and security considerations. That is why some of thecannabis growers prefer to cultivate on indoor spaces controlling the amount of light that goes in through the plants and to assure also safety knowing that there are a lot of people who will judge you on. However, grow lights are expensive and not readily accessible to some places. It is quite difficult for some who wants to cultivate indoors availing such specialized lights. To address this, most people use some alternatives such as incandescent and fluorescent bulbs to cater the need of light upon cannabis plants. But the question, is fluorescent lights doable for growing cannabis plants? Let’s find out upon reading this article whether such thing could be done.

What are Fluorescent Lamps?

Fluorescent tubes are low-pressure mercury vapor with inert gas most typically argon containing tubes that are coated with phosphor powder and which then utilizes fluorescence to generate visible light. It contains a set of electrodes at both ends connected for which electric current flows upon.

As you turned on the light, the electric current passes through the wirings under the tube to the electrodes. This will excite down the electrons on the ends of the tube wherein in response, mercury liquid changes state to gas. This excitation of electrons will result to bumping with mercury atoms. By then, the electrons will be promoted to higher levels and upon returning to normal levels, it will generate photons of light. However, this phenomenon is not readily recognizable by human naked eye and exists as ultraviolet rays. That is why phosphor powder is coated around to convert this form of wavelength to visible light.

These type of lamps are most often used in household and commercial units as a medium to light their spaces. It has been proven to be more efficient than the traditional incandescent bulbs for which overheats easily not containing a ballast for current regulation.

What is the basis for using it as lights for cannabis plants?

As you have noticed, the light emitted by fluorescent bulbs are mostly warm and hot. Likewise, this is most closely associated with wavelengths between blue and red for which could be desirable upon growing especially with the budding phase of cannabis plants.

If possible, this could be an efficient lighting material since its cheap and consumes low power as compared to popular grow lights like High-Intensity Discharge Lamps (HID).

Using Fluorescent Bulbs on Lighting out Cannabis Plants

As you’ve known, growing cannabis is a bit complicated especially if you are planning to do it indoors. That is why you really need to invest money, time, effort, and energy in order to grow your marijuana healthy. It is not an easy job and needs to be planned out including the lights that need to be involved.

Cannabis is a little bit sensitive plant. Likewise, you really need to use lights that are high powered and heats much as it can, resembling the quality of sun’s powerful light. By this fact, fluorescent bulbs do not fit the said description. Yes, the quality of light and its wavelength is doable but plants needed heat to grow. Unless you’ll put your cannabis plants very near to your fluorescent lamps which could be possible for growth.

Also, the area covered by the light of fluorescent lamps are not conducive enough. It is approximated that it could cover out distances only between ranges of one to two feet. Beyond such heights, the fluorescent lights are nonsense.

However, if you want to grow out one to four cannabis plants, fluorescent lamps could be applicable as its source of light. You just need to choose out cannabis strains of short stature since you’ll go to put the fluorescent tubes near to the plant.

But then, you could use fluorescent lamps as a supplemental light to shadowy and dark areas of the room. Let High Discharge Intensity (HID) or LED (Light Emitting Diode) Lamps be your primary light source and fluorescent lamps to brighten out the remaining areas to save energy and money.

Types of Fluorescent Grow Lights

As commonly, there are two types of fluorescent grow lights. These tubes relatively comein different forms and sizes. Otherwise, these are effective for low key garden occurrences and comes with cheap and less energy utilization. The following are two types of fluorescent grow lights. This includes the following;

CFL Grow Lights

These are energy efficient bulbs that are normally twisted shaped being sold in commercial and hardware stores. These bulbs light out narrow spaces for cannabis plants. That is why lighting should be very near within it.

T5 Grow Lights

These resemble like normal fluorescent tubes but extends through a panel. Unlike CFL Grow Lights, you could extend it out few inches towards the cannabis plants for efficiency. But still, inefficient as compared to High-Intensity Discharge (HID) Lamps and Light Emitting Diode (LED) Lamps.

Screen of Green Technique (SCROG)

When you are using a fluorescent grow lights, it is needed for your plants to get near the light. However, it is known that the quality of light isn’t still enough upon heavyexposed to it. That is why this technique is employed to maximize out the light that shines to every small part of the cannabis plant. Because of this technique, fluorescent bulbs could be utilized in order to get cannabis bud and flower more. However, it should be remembered that this method is highly applicable only to thesmall cultivation of cannabis and is unideal for a wide area of growing cannabis.

This method works through employing a specialize fine screen over the canopy of the plant as needed. This is most helpful to Sativa strains of cannabis wherein plants grow tall for which does not fit for indoor cultivation. Likewise, any marijuana strains are still applicable with this method.

Development on Fluorescent Lamps

There are a lot of innovations that have been done to fluorescent lamps. Nevertheless, a stronger, brighter, and warmer lights are now being offered in the market to satisfy any customer’s desires. New classifications of fluorescent lamps have emerged rather than the typical one that we use today. Some of these lamps include; a. color-balanced tubes, b. cool white fluorescent tubes, and c. high wattage fluorescent lights.

Growing Marijuana Hydroponically Guide

November 1, 2018December 10, 2017 by Philip

Growing a marijuana plant seems to be liked and loved by tons of individual nowadays. And because of the fast-growing change in the marijuana industry, many marijuana users (recreation or medication) were now opting to grow their very own marijuana to get an instant access for their special needs.

However, since growing a marijuana is not as simple as you might think, you need to consider doing an extensive research first before going directly to the actual process of growing because there are several methods, tools, and learning that are available from different sources.

So let’s just say that you want to grow your marijuana by means of hydroponics – are you aware that the nutrients, feeding schedule, light schedule, and growing mediums of this technique is totally different from growing a marijuana thru soil?

If you are still unaware of these hydro styles and techniques, then you need to take a deep breath before you continue on the next part of this article because growing marijuana plants hydroponically is a bit challenging when compared to the regular growing methods. So get your coffee now and read the simple guide on how you can grow a marijuana hydroponically.

What Is Hydroponics and Why You Should Consider It in Growing a Marijuana?

Hydroponic growing is one of the best ways for you to successfully harvest a marijuana crop with higher yields. You are growing your marijuana plant by means of water that contains soluble nutrients and fertilizer.

The presence of soil is not needed when using the hydroponics, but instead, you will use perlite, vermiculite, Rockwool, clay pellets, and coco coir as your growing medium. Also, these substrates are known for their ability to hold or retain minerals and water which is highly important when growing a marijuana in hydro.

Hydroponic growing is a bit complicated at first, but once you have learned the basics of it, you will surely enjoy using this method because hydroponics system will help you from achieving your desires such as by harvesting bigger and fatter buds in a much faster way since oxygen and important nutrients were directly supplied to the roots of your marijuana plants.

That being said, before you start considering the hydroponics system, you need to ensure first that you will allocate a bigger budget for this growing method because this set-up will really require you to spend lots of money.

Additionally, before trying this one, you have to get a full blast knowledge about the basics of growing a marijuana, choosing your strain, checking the pH level, etc., to lessen the trouble of preparing or choosing your hydroponic set-up.

So if you are totally ready to get started your hydro journey, let us now discuss first the different types of hydroponic systems.

Different Types of Hydroponic System

Deep Water Culture (DWC)

Deep Water Culture or otherwise known as “Bubbler” works by means of an air pump, net pots, and reservoir. This is the easiest hydro system according to hydro experts because its setup is actually the same with an aquarium where you have to provide a consistent air to allow your plants from continuing its living.

So all you have to do to successfully do this is to submerge the roots of your marijuana plant using the net pot into the reservoir. Then the air pump will push all the nutrients going to the roots until absorbed.

Make sure that the air pump will not be interrupted because, without the air, your marijuana plants will die. So always prepare a power generator with you to avoid unexpected occurrences.

Ideal grow medium to use: Clay pebbles or Rockwool

Nutrient Film Technique

You have to prepare a tray, the reservoir, an air pump, and nutrients to achieve this method. Then put your marijuana plants in a row, line them up, then slightly angle your tray downwards to allow the constant flow of water together with its nutrients with the use of a water pump.

So while the nutrient is flowing, and the roots are absorbing it, the unused nutrient flow will go back to its reservoir to be pumped again and flow back to its growing channel. When doing this, make sure that your tray is properly slanted to avoid root issues.

Ideal grow medium to use: Coco coir or Rockwool

Top Feed

Top or drip feed needs some emitters or tubes because they will be the one who will supply the nutrient solution into your growing medium. This growing technique is very efficient because the water and nutrients were being saved since the supply of water are just dripping.

The only disadvantage of this is that the tubes can be clogged by the build-up of nutrients. So regularly check your tubes to avoid issues.

Ideal grow medium to use: Coco coir, Rockwool, or Clay pebbles

Ebb and Flow

The idea behind this is to flood your growing container with your nutrients and water at a certain level for about 30 minutes until it drains. That means you need to set up a timer while it is being flooded with water and while it is draining to allow your plant from absorbing nutrients while getting some fresh oxygen.

Ideal grow medium to use: Coco coir or Rockwool

Aeroponics

This setup is a bit complicated and their size is a bit larger when compared to another hydro setup. But despite these complexities, this is the best and most effective hdyroponic system that is ideal for growing a marijuana.

So the idea of this setup is to provide the nutrients thru a mist pump and special nozzles and spray it to the plant roots which are suspended in a chamber with a 100% humidity. This setup will allow your plants to absorb oxygen while maintaining the moist from the water which will help in increasing the growth rate of your marijuana plants.

Ideal grow medium to use: Hydroton Clay

Tips When Growing Hydro

Check the pH level

The pH level when growing hydro should be between 5.5 to 6.8 pH range. But of course, you need to ensure what could be the best pH according to your chosen strain to avoid complications.

Maintain the proper temperature

The temperature of your water should be between 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit since this is the most comfortable for your marijuana plants when being grown hydroponically.

Soften your water

You can only do this by means of a reverse osmosis machine. This is important to be used because this will help in reducing the excessive calcium and magnesium which will result in build-up if not fixed.

Measure the nutrients

It is very important to check the amounts of nutrients that were being added to your water to avoid nutrient issues. So to avoid such, you need to buy a TDS meter to measure the nutrients.

Replace your reservoir every two weeks

You need to drain and replace your water with nutrients every 2 weeks to avoid mold growth and other possible issues.

Conclusion

Growing hydroponically is a bit tedious when you are just starting to grow a marijuana. But once you have learned and master the techniques, you will surely love this most especially the crops that you will harvest after all the long hard work that you have done. So if you are planning to grow your marijuana soon using the hydroponic system, make sure to do further exploration to get more guidance which will help in achieving your desire.

Light Deprivation Technique in Growing Weed

November 1, 2018December 6, 2017 by Philip

What is light deprivation?

Growing weed light deprivation or light dep. is the technique where we cultivate the plant through taking advantage of plant’s photoperiodism abilities. This can be done through forcing the plants to flowers sooner than it naturally would. This technique can be accomplished through stimulating a 12 hour light and 12 hour dark within the photoperiod.

Just like any other plants, you can use this technique in growing weeds. This technique is widely used by many growers since this is more beneficial than other techniques. However, before deciding to use this one, you need to be mindful about the things to remember in using light deprivation technique.

Light deprivation technique in growing weeds can be done both indoor and outdoor. For indoor growing, light deprivation is easy to do since you have a full control of your sources. For outdoors, even if it requires more effort and time, this technique can still be successfully done.

Benefits of light deprivation technique in outdoor growing

There are many benefits growers can gain with light deprivation technique. One of the major benefits is you can maximize the number of season you can plant and harvest your weeds. This has a big help especially if you are in a country where you have many weather seasons. This technique enables growers to plant and harvest even during winter. With this technique, you can grow weeds during:

May to late July (depending on your local weather spring to mid-summer).

Late month of July- natural harvest season (depending on your local weather).

If you have a warm year round season, you can do additional growing time.

The following are the benefits of light deprivation

Better entire bud quality

Experts found out that smaller weed plants which are grown outdoors are more conducive to produce high quality of buds. Another thing they pointed out is that smaller plant suffers less from rotten buds and other mold types.

Improve yields

Even if there will be smaller harvest in every yielding compare to the standard harvest, it still end up being the same or even larger with the two harvests. This would probably because of the fact that the second sets of grown weeds are already prepared vegetatively.

You can use them under July sunlight for budding

With the use of light deprivation technique, one set of weed plants will finish flowering stage during the good quality of sunlight in the month of July. In fact, other highest grade sensimillia outdoor were came from July fattened buds.

Catastrophic failure has lesser chance

Using light deprivation technique gives you two harvest seasons. In this case, you will worry less about failures due to insects, thieves and other causes of destructions.

No need to wait longer for the buds

With this kind of technique, you can now harvest two times and more buds with just few months.

How to effectively use the light deprivation technique?

During the spring season, you can start growing your young plants indoors with the help of fluorescent lamp as a source of light.
To make sure that your plants are getting 12 hours of continuous darkness every day, you can use black out tent to ensure that the weed plants are starting to flower as soon as you will put them outdoor.
After transferring your flowering weeds outdoor, start to grow indoors immediately and use fluorescent lamp for the needed sunlight.
If your outdoor batch is now ready to be harvested, reap it immediately since another batch will follow sooner.
Wait the second batch until the natural harvest season.

Since you already knew about the benefits and how you will do the light deprivation technique, it is now time to discuss about the things to remember carefully when using light deprivation technique.

Ventilation matters in light Dep technique

Proper ventilation for our weeds is very crucial especially in the blacked out area. During this time, make sure to provide ventilation for your weeds to prevent excess heat and humidity.

What are the financial and environmental benefits of growing weeds?

With the use of light Deprivation technique, growers enjoy the full control in growing their weeds. In this way, they can sell their crops anytime as long as the harvest season of their buds has come. When it comes to environmental benefits, this technique helps in minimizing the use of sunlight and extra wide spaces in growing weeds.

How to Set Up an Exhaust for Your Cannabis Grow Set Up

November 1, 2018December 1, 2017 by Philip

Exhaust Set Up for Cannabis Growing Plant

Regardless of what type of growing room, size, and set up that you want for your indoor growing of cannabis plants, it will still require you do the same instructions and get the best essentials because this is the only way for you to become successful in doing the indoor growing.

So if you want to become an expert cannabis indoor grower, you need to master first on exhaust set up for cannabis growing plants in growing room since it also plays an important role in the success of your plants.

Let’s have a quick and simple discussion about this matter.

Importance of Proper Room Ventilation

It is highly important for a cannabis grower to set up an indoor growing room with the proper ventilation system. Its significance is the same on how you place your grow light to your cannabis plants and how you take care of it by utilizing right amounts of water supply, nutrients, or even the fertilizers.

That being said, if you will not secure a good ventilation and exhaust system in your growing room, expect that your plants will encounter lots of issues such as the growth of molds and bugs. But if you are 100% sure that your indoor growing room has a perfect ventilation, your plants will grow much faster than expected and of course, you will get higher yields which we all love to see!

Aside from these things, you can also get tons of benefits such as but not limited to:

Good Temperature

For your strain to grow comfortably, you need to ensure that the temperature in your indoor growing room is maintained at a cool temperature because if you will let the hot temperature from spreading in your cannabis room, your plants will suffer from different kinds of illness.

So to get a guarantee that the temperature of your room will be maintained and controlled, your ventilation should be secured enough.

Better Management of Odor

The smell of your grow room will be improved since the use of good ventilation will reduce the pungent odor that is circulating in your cannabis room.

Enhanced Breathing Space

Your grow room environment will be free from toxin which is a good point to consider since your cannabis plants will stay healthy if all the toxins of your plants will be released without any trouble.

Prevention of Molds and Mildew

Perfect ventilation will help in controlling the humidity level in your grow room environment. And when that happens, pests and molds will be highly prevented.

And since we have already made a clear and brief statement on why you should maintain a good ventilation to your growing room, let us now move forward and learn how to set up the fans, exhaust system, and more!

A Simple Instruction on How You Can Set Up The Ventilation System

Before you set up your ventilation, you need to secure the following items first to meet the right requirements of building a perfect growing room with proper ventilation.

Exhaust fan
Lights with cooling fans
Ducting
Regular Fans
Carbon filters

After you have completed each item on the list then you have to start the set up of the ventilation by following these steps:

Create an intake hole on the opposite side where you are going to install your exhaust fan. But ideally, this hole should be at the bottom of your growing space. And whether it is a tent, cabinet, or what not, always ensure that the hole is slightly bigger than the size of your chosen exhaust fan so that the new air can get inside of your growing room.
Since the natural warm air is usually coming from top position, you need to ensure that you will also install the exhaust fan on top of your growing room or space.
Add ducting and connect everything into it such as your exhaust fan, light, and carbon filter which helps in controlling the bad smell that is circulating in your grow room. By the way, you need to use ducting clamps to be able to connect each of these items.
Set up your lights with cooling fans as per required distance and temperature so that the excess heat that is coming from your lights will be lessened and balanced as well.
Place your regular fans either by just using a standing fan or by mounting it to the walls of your growing space. The purpose of this fan is not to provide too much pressure of air to blow your plants, but this is only utilized to stir the air in your space.

There is more special equipment that you can add to your grow room or space. An example of this is the use of a dehumidifier to control the humidity levels. But overall, the bottom line of this is to ensure that you will follow all the important instructions when creating the ventilation of your grow space for you to get a chance to win your goals and harvest better and stunning cannabis plants for your future use!

How to Clone Marijuana the Right Way

January 8, 2019November 26, 2017 by Philip

Right Way of Cloning Marijuana Plant

Marijuana plant cloning has been practiced in agriculture for hundreds of years already. And it has already been practiced in marijuana growing for a very long time now. It is a very convenient and easy way to grow more plants with all the initial effort out of the way.

There are many benefits to cloning, however the greatest one is the capacity to choose the plants with the best qualities and ensure that these characteristics are passed on to new plants. Other advantages include consistency and resilience. With regards to how the first plant turned out, we can conclude how the clone will turn out, what outside components will influence it, and how to care more for it.

The strategy of cloning likewise empowers producers to choose examples that are impervious to certain plant maladies, something which early agriculturists would’ve given everything for. Different benefits of cloning are:

More resilience
Quicker reproduction
More affordable that starting over

The best way to clone

Since we have now learned the marvels of plant cloning, it’s a great opportunity to discuss how it is done. Cloning is a procedure that can be accomplished by nearly anybody with the willingness, and as long as the procedure is done, you can create great clones.

For the most part, the procedure can be done by taking a clone from a plant and moving it elsewhere to develop, however it’s more confusing than that. You must be ready that some of the clones might die.

So now let’s get to the steps of cloning marijuana plants.

Selecting the right mother

Everything begins with picking the right mother plant. It’s the part that establishes the whole thing. Take as much time as necessary and analyze the choices thoroughly.

Select the plant that looks most strong and has the best roots, yet additionally focus on its yields and pace of development. Ideally, you need a blend of every one of these properties. Much of the time, appearance alone can be a determinant if the plant will work for cloning. You should choose a branch nearer to bottom portion of the plant, as that is the place a greater amount of the plant’s hormones are stored.

Cutting the clone

Use a sharp blade to cut through the stem at 45 degrees so that your plants can get as much nutrients as they need. After cutting, place it in water immediately. Take off any excess leaves as the plant won’t be able to support it because it is still too weak and fragile. But make sure to leave some leaves to allow for photosynthesis.

Repotting

Once the clone have reinvigorated, it is now time to transfer it into its own pot. You should bear in mind that clones need a slightly different kind of care compared to plants that are grown from seeds. However, the difference is to your advantage because this means that the cloned plant can progress on its growth more quickly and therefore flower even faster.

Caring for the clone

You should place the potted clone far from the light at first as it can’t handle too much light in the early stages. If you are using LED lights, place the cloned plant 30 inches away from the light and take care to monitor the growing conditions regularly.

How Far Away Should you Keep Away your Marijuana Lights?

November 1, 2018November 24, 2017 by Philip

Marijuana Lights in Growing Cannabis

Non marijuana growers might think that growing marijuana is just a walk in the park, but the truth is that it’s not. It requires time, effort, money and most of all, deep thought and lots and lots of research. This is true even for the simple matter of how far you place the growing lights in the growing room.

The distance from your marijuana growing lights to your marijuana plants could be something that others might overlook but it is one factor that should be well thought of. In this article we will talk about how far you should place your growing lights from your plants for the most common types of growing lights and different wattages so stay tuned.

Fluorescent Lighting

Fluorescent lights, although not popularly used for gardening and growing are not very hot. So you can place them fairly closely to your plants without causing any form of light burn. You can even place them as close as just a few inches and it would still be find. If you’re not sure about the placement you could do the hand test by place your hand under the bulb, close to the plant and determine whether the temperature is too hot or not. And if you can manage to hold your hand under the light for 30 seconds then the light placement is alright.

If you want to use fluorescent lights as your growing lights, make sure that you do low stress training on your plants where you bend the stems outwards to form a kind of canopy to make sure that all parts of the plants are exposed to the same amount of light.

LED Lighting

Unlike fluorescent lights, LED lights are a popular choice for marijuana growers. One main advantage of these types of growing lights is that they are very energy efficient and also do not get very hot at all.

However if you do decide to use LED lights, you must be prepared to do a little trial and error when it comes to how far you should place it from your plants. That is because there is not particular standard for the distance when it comes to LEDs. You would be lucky if you manage to buy a variant that has instructions about distance from plants of the packaging, if not, there comes in the tricky part.

Just because LED lights are generally cooler than all the others that does not mean that they should be so near that they are touching your plants. Even with cool bulbs, plants could still get light burn from too much exposure to light. You would know that your plants are experiencing light burn where there are tiny little brown spots appearing on the leaves.

If you haven’t yet found out the proper distance or are quite unsure, here some guidelines that could work for you: when using a 1 watt bulb, they should be at least one foot away from your plants. When using 3 to 5 watts bulbs, place them at least 18 inches away from the marijuana plants. If you are using something a lot bigger than that, they should be at least 2.5 feet away from your marijuana plants.

HID Lighting

Another popular choice for growing lights for amateur and expert marijuana growers alike are HID lights. Like LED lights, using HID is most appropriate during the vegetative stage of growth. But compared to LED, HID lights are more likely to get you higher leads upon harvesting. so if you’ve purchased some HID lights already, check out the guidelines for theproper distance below.

For HID lights with 150 watts, the distance should be at least 8 inches from the plants. If you are using 250 watts, it should be at least 10 inches away. For 400 watt bulbs, they should be 1 foot away from the marijuana plants. And if you are using 600 watts, place them at least 14 inches away from the tops of the marijuana plants.

Conclusion

So there you have it, you have now learned that lighting and its distance from your marijuana plants should not be something that should be neglected. As an indoor grower, you have everything at your disposal to manipulate the environment however you like it. And it’s good to know exactly how to do it so that you won’t be wasting your time, money and effort. Good luck!

What are autoflowering seeds?

Special characteristics of auto seeds

Why more grow autoflowering cannabis seeds?

You can grow several times a year

You can get good profit

You can grow even in a small space or grow closet

You can never make a mistake

Even novice growers can handle it

You can grow weed stealthily