Hydroponic Marijuana Grow Guide

Have you ever thought about growing your own cannabis? Imagine having your own supply, your own kind of weed with your own sweat and blood. You could be growing tall and stately sativas or short but bushy indicas at home! But what if you can’t grow cannabis in your area? What if you are not allowed to grow in your own residence? Don’t worry, we have you covered with the best indoor cannabis grow guide.

How To Marijuana says that it is actually very easy to grow marijuana. You can grow your own garden and discretely cultivate different strains even without your neighbor’s knowledge. You don’t have to rely on a shady supplier again when you have your own supply. Growing cannabis at home is easy because this is a resilient and fast-growing plant that can grow like a weed. Cannabis can actually grow in any kind of condition as long as you care for it very well. And there are actually cannabis strains that you can grow in just a few months. In just a matter of four months, you have a smokeable weed that you can enjoy or share with friends.

What you need to grow cannabis indoors

You need these basic equipment to grow cannabis:

• Good grow lights
• Intake and outtake fans
• Grow tent or grow cabinet
• Pots and potting mix
• Smell filters or carbon filters
• Fertilizer

You can purchase these in an online garden shopping site or from a cannabis supplies site online and from a local supplier. These are also available in a complete set.

About the grow tent

The grow tent is where you will keep your plants from the seedling phase till harvest time. The tent can keep the light in so that your plants will benefit from intense light. Most updated grow tents have reflective interiors so that light can be reflected back to your plants. It also keeps the strong smell of cannabis inside and has efficient openings and fans that take fresh air in and remove stale and smelly air out. Finally, it has openings where the electric cables exit.

About your grow lights

Remember this simple equation: light = weight (of your harvest). So the better your lights, the more your harvest will be. There are three kinds of lamps that are available for cannabis growers: HID lamps, CMH lamps and LED lamps.

LED lamps are the most modern type of grow lights that are preferred by more growers because it is energy efficient. The bulbs may be expensive but you will save so much because it uses very little electricity and will last basically for years and years. But not just any ordinary LED lamps can make a good harvest. Cheap bulbs can only produce small buds and will only be a waste of your time. Use only top quality, expensive bulbs because these can produce the best harvest.

HID or high-intensity discharge bulbs are a bit old school but this type of lighting gives you huge harvests but the downside is this use so much power. These lamps are very cheap but you will only end up paying for more electricity.

Ventilation

Cannabis plants need fresh air to grow well. Grow tents and cabinets that are not well ventilated can develop molds, pests, and mildew which can affect your harvest. One very common condition is the growth of white powdery mildew which is a type of mold that can eat your buds right away. If you don’t mind air circulation inside your grow space, you will end up with destroyed crops due to mold and mildew.

The carbon filter will remove strong cannabis smell so you and your neighbors won’t have to smell it. Carbon filters are easy to install and are available in most cannabis growing stores.

Pots and soil

One type of pot is a pot made of fabric. These are better than solid plastic pots because oxygen will be able to reach the roots more efficiently. You will also be able to drain water faster with this type of pot. When it comes to garden soil, buy the top quality soil from a garden center. The ideal soil for cannabis growing is sandy-clayey soil because this can absorb water and nutrients better plus will drain excess water and nutrients as well.

The ideal soil medium will have nutrients that your plants will need for its first 3 weeks of its life so you don’t have to worry about giving it the right nutrients.

Top quality marijuana seeds

Now that all your basic growing equipment is ready, you are now ready to grow your cannabis seeds. So where do you get top quality seeds? You can find good seeds from online seedbanks or from a local seed shop. If cannabis growing is not allowed where you are located, order seeds using a stealth delivery method. This means that the supplier will send your orders in an unmarked parcel.

Your grow box area

Next, you will have to decide where you will set up your grow box. Growing indoors is indeed safer than growing outdoors. You can hide your setup inside your house in your garage, attic or basement. And because you are dependent from the weather, you can grow your seeds all year long. Nobody else should access the place. You must be very discreet with your setup and make sure that no one should know about it sometimes even your family or friends. And even if cannabis growing and use are legal in your area, some people may try to steal your weed.

Growing your seeds

Germinating your cannabis

The very first thing that you need to do after bringing your cannabis seeds home is to germinate your seeds. If you have How many seeds should you start? If you are growing regular seeds, then you might end with about 50 percent males and 50 percent females in a bag. Grow more seeds to compensate for possible male plants. You will remove male plants later.

If you are growing feminized seeds, start with 12 seeds if your grow closet can fit 10 plants. Two of these seeds are reserve seeds. As much as possible, start with as many plants as you can. Place seeds in jiffy pellets; just place each seed in one damp pellet. To dampen Jiffy pellets, soak these overnight in water until these become fat.

Place all the 10 Jiffy pellets in a plastic container or on a plate. Place this at room temperature. As long as the plant has not sprouted, you won’t need to place this in the light. Keep the pellets moist by pouring water into the container.  It will take 3 – 7 days for your plants to sprout.

Placing your seeds in your grow box

You may now place your newly sprouted seedlings inside your grow box. Switch on the light in your grow box. These should be on for 18 hrs. and off for the remaining 6 hrs. You may use a timer to help you monitor your lighting. Place your seedlings under the grow lights. Keep the soil moist and just give your plants peace and quiet. These will grow quickly.

When you see roots growing out of the pellets, it means that it’s time to transplant these to your growing medium. Place the seedlings in the Jiffy peat pellet to a pot with soil. Create a hole about two to three inches deep in the middle of the soil and just place the pellet in. Fill the top with soil. Lightly compress the soil with your hand and water it till you see water coming out of the hole. Place your plants under strong lights.

Water your plants regularly. Young plants need about approximately 1 x per week. Mature plants 1 x per day. You need to give water when the soil is dry. Excess water should drain out of the pots. That is no problem with fabric pots.

The vegetative stage

Lights at this stage are about 18 hours on and 6 hours off. Leave these under 18 hours of light for 3.5 weeks. Some growers may recommend using 24 hours of light but trust that you can get healthy plants with an 18/6 schedule.

The flowering stage

After around 3.5 weeks, place the lights to a 12/ 12 schedule. The plants will now switch from the vegetative to the flowering phase.  Because of the lighting, your plants will think that it’s late summer and therefore it is time to make seeds. You will see the first buds after about 4 weeks of 12/12 hour light. Now you must remove male plants.

How to spot a male plant

Both males and females have buds but females grow buds with whitish hairs while males have hanging balls. You must remove males at once before these pollinate the female plants. Your females will now produce unfertilized buds which will become larger and denser cannabis soon.

Applying fertilizer for hungry plants

Cannabis plants can grow fast and needs a lot of nutrients. There are special marijuana fertilizers that you can purchase. Fertilizer is always mixed with water and this is watered to plants. Choose a fertilizer that’s made for cannabis plants.

Harvesting

Cut the plants as a whole. You will dry the entire plant not just the buds. You can still use leaves and stems as bulk material for different cannabis products. Be sure to avoid touching the sticky buds because anything that is stuck to your fingers is lost.

Drying your buds

A good way to dry is spreading the buds on paper and leaving these inside a dark and dry room. These will dry slowly but surely. Slow drying can place your plants at risk for mold but if you are careful you can develop plants with a pleasant smell and taste. Buds should feel dry after around 7 days. Then place these into a large plastic bag overnight.