I know what it takes, the desire creeping in and slowly becoming a longing, a dream to grow your buds. Take it from me; the feeling of rolling a joining with the buds that you grew on your own is priceless.
However, the route to growing a bud that will give you a velvety high is not that smooth. It takes a lot of patience, attention, observation, and hard work to produce high-quality cannabis buds. The right effort requires the right direction and guidance.
But, you don’t need to worry. You, dearest reader, are at the right place. In this article, I am about to share some amazing techniques I have learned over years of growing weed.
Follow them stringently, and Voila! You will produce top-shelf marijuana buds, which will make you very proud. Let me put it in the way as my copywriter buddy says, ‘neighbor’s envy! Grower’s pride!’
The buds are the deciding factor for a good yield and not the plant’s growth rate and size. The secret to a lush harvest is in tiny steps you can take. Are you excited to learn all about them? So am I. Let’s start!
- Make A Healthy Soil
Suppose you have been thinking of using the usual potting soil for your dream marijuana crop. Drop the idea now! You need to prepare healthy organic soil. Healthy soil allows the marijuana plants to thrive.
The soil won’t only make the plants happy; it will also support the plants to defend against pests and diseases. Some say cannabis plants growing in good soil also produce tastier buds, and I agree.
Choose the compost, nutrition amendments, aerators, and nutrients carefully while preparing the soil. You can also get soil kits prepared from before and gradually build up your knowledge of preparing the best soil for your plants.
In time, with patience, tenacity, and a lot of observation, you will learn to prepare soil your plants would love to produce majestic buds in.
2. Procure Marijuana Seeds With Stable Genetics
If you want tightly packed, fragrant, aromatic buds that will give you the best high, the first step is to procure the seeds.
I say this repeatedly, growing from bag seeds is a bad idea because you won’t know what you will eventually get. For the Marijuana plants, it’s all in the genes.
Research your available options, read about their origins, requirements, growing time, flowering time, and the kind of effects they produce. You can then decide on the ones that suit you best.
I suggest you look at the beginner’s seeds section of the top online seed bank, i49. They have a wonderful variety of seeds with stable genetics and the best germination rate.
If you want to get clones, make sure that the cutting has grown strong roots.
Remember, all strains have unique requirements. Therefore research about them as well to provide accordingly.
3. Take Care Of The Temperature and Humidity Of Your Grow Room
Cannabis plants require different temperatures and relative humidity in each of their growing stages. Even a little bit of fluctuation of these might have a drastic impact on your harvest. Here is what you need to aim for when you are growing them indoors.
Stage |
Duration |
Temperature (Day Time) |
Temperature (Dark Period) |
Relative Humidity Required |
| Seedling and Clones | First two weeks | 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit | 10 degrees lower than daytime | 65-70% |
| Vegetative Stage | Three to Sixteen Weeks | 71-82 degrees Fahrenheit | 9-10 degrees lower than daytime | 40-70% |
| Flowering Period | Eight to Eleven Weeks | 71-82 degrees Fahrenheit | 9-10 degrees lower than daytime | Less than 60% |
| Late Flowering Period | Two weeks before harvest | 64-75 degrees Fahrenheit | 10-18 degrees lower than daytime | 30-40%
|
62-72 degrees Fahrenheit with 55% humidity will be good for the adult plants growing outdoors.
4. Provide For Carbon Dioxide
CO2 enables the marijuana plants to take in light for converting it into energy. CO2 will be easily available if your plants are growing outside.
However, if they are growing indoors, increasing the growing light intensity will boost the CO2 available.
5. Provide Adequate Nutrient
You need to take care of your plant’s nutrient needs in each stage.
When your plant enters the flowering period, lower the nitrogen and perk up the supply of phosphorus and potassium; otherwise, your plant will grow smaller buds.
6. Make Certain Of Proper Airflow And Spacing Around The Plants
Proper space around the buds would help them grow unrestricted to their fullest potential. Take care of the leaves and stems in their way of receiving fresh air and light.
Using a Low-Stress Training method, you can bend the stems lightly instead of cutting them to provide proper spacing and flow.
Stale air should be sucked out of the room. Place Air filters or fans to provide adequate airflow.
7. Prune Your Plants At Correct Time
Snipping of parts of plants correctly is also efficient in enabling cannabis plants to grow a splendid harvest. You should prune your plants during the vegetative period. Prune the small and weak buds. This will allow larger and denser buds to grow.
However, plants often do not recover from pruning or grow back into health if pruned after the vegetative stage. Therefore keep your gardening scissors away when the plant enters the flowering stage.
8. Provide For Adequate Container Space
When it comes to containers, you might think the larger, the better, but it is not so.
Medium-sized containers keep the plant happy. The plant can use all the nutrients available in the soil, and the soil is not underutilized. Small containers restrict root growth resulting in a below-par growth. Therefore always choose the correct container size.
9. Lay Out Support For Your Plant
Cannabis plants need support to become well developed, as even the best strains have weaker stalks. Use stakes, nets, or cages, depending upon your convenience, to support the plant to hold up the heavier dense buds.
10. Ensure Proper Lighting
Light is an important factor in a plant’s size and growth speed and the quality of the buds. Many growers prefer using common household light bulbs when they start growing. But in my experience, they do not provide sufficient illumination for the plant’s growth and lead to smaller buds of low quality. Also, though these bulbs are inexpensive, they consume a lot of electricity.
Buy Fluorescent or LED bulbs. Alternatively, you can use high-intensity discharge lights like high-pressure sodium (HPS) or metal halide (MH) to illuminate your growing space.
Go for full spectrum LED light bulbs as your growing light if you choose LEDs. They come with the feature of adjusting the wavelength, and they will come in handy to fit your plant’s varied needs for different growing periods. These plants not only have a great output, but they are also durable and they are energy efficient.
11. Harvest At The Correct Time
This is common with new growers, and I understand their feeling; their impatience reaches a peak as soon as they grow room becomes fragrant with the aroma of the buds, and they become fatter. However, be patient; the buds must be harvested when the trichomes start getting cloudy.
Know your plants are harvest-ready only when you notice amber shades on the buds through the magnifying glass. The resin-like trichomes should be cloudy and not clear to indicate your buds are ready.
Remember that harvesting the buds at a later time will also hamper their quality.
Final Thoughts
You need to stay patient for some time after harvest. Also, pay attention to the drying and curing process for the buds to become potent and taste great.
In summary, growing high-quality buds would need a keen eye for details and a lot of patience. If that seems like a lot, don’t worry; when you start enjoying the fruits, err, the flowers of your harvest, it will all seem worthwhile.
On this note, more power to you, my fellow grower