Cannabis growing basics

If growing your own cannabis buds is something you want to get into, read this informative article for an idea of where to start. But, let’s be clear right off the bat: this isn’t a grower’s guide. Rather, it’s more of an overview of the fundamentals, and should address any questions you may have about growing your own home stash.

Why Do People Grow Cannabis?

Some people grow their stash to take the edge off after a long day. Some want to save money and desire easy access to the herb.

Regardless of the reason, growing cannabis can be an interesting and exciting endeavour because you don’t need a lot to get the venture going. You will, however, need to educate yourself with vital pieces of information like strains and growing methods, which you will learn more about in the coming sections.

Most importantly, you must treat it just like any other plant. That means giving it the right amount of attention and tender loving care.

Are All Cannabis Plants the Same?

Just like any other living thing on this green Earth, not all cannabis strains are the same. Each one varies in the speed of growth, odour, yield, size, resilience, and cannabinoid/terpene content.

Furthermore, one major difference lies in the sex of cannabis plants. To make this conversation easier, you'll most likely want to grow female plants as they’re the ones that produce resinous buds. And, to ensure that, you’ll want to source feminized seeds—that is, seeds that have been engineered to develop into exclusively female plants. Regular seeds, on the other hand, have a 50% chance of becoming male or female.

Another factor you’ll want to consider is the difference between autoflowering and photoperiod strains. “Autoflowering” means plants will begin flowering on their own within two to four weeks after germination.

Photoperiod varieties, on the other hand, need 12 hours of darkness per day to induce and sustain flowering indoors. They also take longer to grow in general, as there is no set vegetative period.

What Do Cannabis Plants Need to Grow?

Growing cannabis is essentially cultivating a life. You need to give it your full attention and not skimp on providing it with the care and nutrients it needs to blossom into a healthy, thriving plant.

Just like any other plant, here are the four essential elements needed to grow quality cannabis:

1. Fresh Air

Let’s get a bit scientific for a moment. Plants need both oxygen and carbon dioxide for respiration and to make food and sugars, respectively.

If you choose to grow outdoors, you have nothing much to worry about since fresh air is abundant. But, if you’re growing your stash indoors, you’ll need proper circulation to allow the plants to breathe naturally.

But that’s nothing that an adequate ventilation system can’t fix. If you’re on a budget, you can pull it off with strategically placed fans. If you have the monetary resources, it’ll be best to invest in a more elaborate ventilation system.

2. Light

Plants depend on light to spur healthy growth through the process of photosynthesis. In the case of cannabis plants, the more light exposure they get, the more buds they develop.

Like how it is with getting fresh air, cannabis plants can get all the light they need when grown outdoors. But, for indoor growing, you’ll want to cover 400–600 watts (or more) per square metre.

Another factor you should look out for when growing indoors are high temperatures. Some types of lights, especially HIDs, tend to run hot, and can compromise your buds if they are too close to the canopy or too strong in general.

3. Water

Water is the lifeblood of every living organism on Earth. Cannabis plants are quite a rare exception because they can survive if you skimp on their water supply. However, there’s a good chance for it to die if you give it too much.

The best way to make sure you’re giving your plants the correct amount of water is to wait until the substrate dries out. If you lift up your plant containers and find them to be comparatively light, it’s probably time for a soak. In any case, don’t water again until the top inch or so of soil is completely dry.

As for the preferred watering method, bottom-feeding is arguably best for cannabis plants. It involves placing the pots into trays of water to allow the roots to absorb the right amount of water/nutrient solution into the soil.

This process also enables the roots to grow further downwards, which will benefit plants in the long-run. With enough fresh air, water, and sunlight, your plants can carry out photosynthesis to speed up their growth.

4. Nutrients

Providing nutrients to your cannabis plants is essentially you feeding them. These base nutrients are usually incorporated into the soil from the get-go, or are mixed into a solution and administered that way.

There’s a lot of science involved in the process of administering nutrients, but we’ll save that for another time. A great option is to use complete feeding solutions like Easy Boost from Royal Queen Seeds. All you’ll need is a single dose to provide your plant with up to 12 weeks worth of food. It’s the simplest, most straightforward solution. Who doesn’t want that?

How Long Does It Take to Grow Cannabis?

We briefly touched on the growing speed of autoflowering strains, but in terms of the length of time required before harvesting, most strains need at least three months.

Now, if you want to know how long it’ll take before your buds become smokable, just add another three weeks to cover drying (a week) and curing (at least two weeks).

To give you a better picture of the growing process, you’ll need to understand the two main stages of the cannabis plant life cycle: vegetation and flowering. Here’s an explanation in a nutshell:

Vegetative stage: The period when the plant’s leaves and stems begin to show themselves. It ends when you see the plant growing either male or female sex characteristics, which brings us to the next stage.

Flowering stage: This stage begins once female plants begin to grow white hairs, otherwise known as pistils, and when male plants grow pollen sacs.

What Equipment Do You Need to Grow Cannabis?

When planning to cultivate cannabis, you’re usually given two choices: indoor or outdoor growing.

We’ve previously touched on some of the differences between the two in an earlier section, but here it is in a nutshell: with artificial lighting, a grow tent, soil, nutrients, gardening tools, and— potentially—hydroponics equipment, indoor growing is usually a lot pricier.

Still, let’s take a deeper dive into what equipment you’ll need for each environment.

Growing Indoors

Grow tent: This is a small, enclosed space that will house all of your plants. As long as it can house all the other tools and provide sufficient enough light, you’re good to go.

Lights: HID lights lead to bigger yields, but can get a bit too hot and damage your plants. LEDs are cooler in temperature, but yields usually aren’t as large. It’ll be up to you what to prioritise.

Soil and containers: These will act as a home and support system for your plants. You’ll likely want to source pre-fertilised soils already containing nutrients, and, as for the containers, you can go with either fabric pots or standard plastic containers.

Hydroponic equipment: If you want to go soilless, you’ll need to get yourself some hydroponic equipment. In a nutshell, this method involves the use of concentrated solutions of mineral fertilisers to be taken in by the roots.

Water supply: Running water from faucets usually contains high levels of chlorine, so you’ll want to use filtered water for your beloved cannabis plants.

Exhaust fans: Plants need an adequate supply of carbon dioxide to thrive. To achieve that, you’ll need a steady, constant stream of air from an exhaust fan to help circulate the air around.

Climate controls and monitors: These controls moderate the lights, CO₂, humidity, and temperature, and should operate at a consistent rate to optimise the growth of your plants.

Outdoor Growing

Weather-resistant equipment: Nature can be a bit harsh at times, so you'll want that added protection for your plants. Protective coverings like hot caps and cold frames should do the trick.

Drainage system: You don’t want your plant’s roots to be flooded with excess water. Building a simple drainage system made of gravel will be of great help.

Soil: Whether you’re planting directly into the ground or using a pot, you’ll want soil that’s rich in nutrients.

Nutrients: Just like humans, plants need their vitamins, too. The base nutrients will be more than enough to provide that necessary nourishment.

Soil test kit: For an accurate reading of the soil quality in which your plant sits, a soil checker will come in handy. It should also notify you should you need to do some extra watering.

Containers: Oftentimes, Air-Pots are the best choice for outdoor cannabis growing. This enables natural pruning of the roots, which means better growth for your plants.

What Part of the Cannabis Plant Do You Smoke?

This might seem obvious to some, but it is still a valid question nonetheless.

Here’s the simple answer: the buds are the only smokable part of the cannabis plant. However, these buds need to undergo a drying and curing process before you can get a real kick from them.

And, as we mentioned in an earlier section of this piece, only female plants grow smokable buds, so it really is essential to source feminized seeds if this is your goal.

Getting Started Growing Cannabis — In Conclusion

Hopefully, this article was able to provide you with sufficient information about the basics of growing cannabis. If this is something you see yourself doing in the near future, you can refer back to this piece as a checklist for all the stuff you need to remember.

So you want to grow at home, but don't know where to begin. Never fear! Our guide to cannabis cultivation will inform you on all the essentials. Learn to grow like the pros!

KNOW WHERE TO FIND GROW GUIDES AND RESOURCES

If you yearn to grow your own cannabis, you’ve already taken the first major step by reading through this grow guide. Even if there are technical terms you don’t yet understand, becoming more familiar with the overall process of growing weed at home will help you when it comes time to plan and build out your grow.

Like any exploit, this is an artform that takes practice. In addition to this guide, the Royal Queen Seeds cannabis blog is chock full of helpful information, offering tips and tricks addressing all manner of grow-related questions and concerns. You can also check out the following articles below to discover some other resources to read and watch to help you on your way:

If you want to interact and learn from other growers, be sure to visit popular grow forums for personal accounts. Here, you can talk to novice and experienced growers alike, giving and taking advice to help each other learn. Of course, it’s important to take these accounts with a grain of salt as the information is seldom verified.

At the end of the day, though, putting theory into practice always comes with some unexpected hurdles. Get ahead of the game by familiarising yourself with these crucial factors below!

PICK THE RIGHT CANNABIS SEEDS

Obviously, cannabis plants don’t just grow from nothing, which means we need to get a hold of some seeds first. Fortunately, you can source quality cannabis seeds from the RQS catalog, which are tested for quality and feature some of the best germination rates on the market.

Now for the more difficult portion: choosing your strains. The key is to not let the array of genetics on offer overwhelm or confuse you. To successfully navigate the different options, let’s go over the basic differences between indica and sativa.

INDICA

Indica plants are stocky, and feature broad stems and wide leaves. Their flowering period is relatively short, and they are known to produce larger, denser buds. Indicas are what some stoners call “nighttime” strains because they often provide a relaxing stoned effect.

Other effects commonly associated with indicas include:

- Couch-lock
- Sedation
- Munchies
- Body high
- Deep relaxation

SATIVA

In contrast to indicas, sativas tend to grow quite tall, have thinner leaves and longer stems, and take much longer to flower than indicas. Moreover, their effects tend to err on the side of energetic over sedative.

Other effects commonly associated with sativas include:

- Cerebral stimulation
- Physical energy
- Creativity
- Euphoria

Some of our most famous sativa strains include: Power Flower, Amnesia Haze, Haze Berry, Royal Moby.

Today, very few cannabis strains are pure indica or sativa. Most varieties you’ll find are hybrids, a genetic mix of both sativa and indica. Hybrids can be indica-dominant or sativa-dominant, or can be split 50/50. As such, the morphology and effects of hybrids will vary greatly depending on genetic and environmental factors. That said, you can use the common traits of indica and sativa to help guide you in the right direction.

Although there is no “best” option when it comes to strain selection, beginners often choose indica or indica-dominant specimens as they are easier to control and take less time to finish.

AUTOFLOWERING

Autoflowers do away with some of the major complications of growing weed. These strains come in the form of both indica and sativa hybrids, but they also contain a third type of cannabis known as ruderalis. These genes allow autoflowers to flower based on age rather than light cycle, unlike traditional photoperiod varieties. Autoflowers also normally grow smaller than photoperiod varieties, which can be an advantage if your space is limited. If you want to learn more about growing autoflowers, you can check out our guide How To Grow Autoflowering Cannabis. For this guide, we will proceed with discussing traditional (feminized photoperiod) cannabis.

GROWING MEDIUM

Once you have your seeds, you will need to get suitable containers to hold your soil. Usually, around 7–11-litre pots are a good place to start. Ensure the containers have holes in the bottom to allow water to drain out. Cannabis doesn’t like stagnant moisture.

What type of soil should you get? In principle, you can use most types of universal potting soil, although cheap mixes aren't always optimal for cannabis. Some soil may contain too few nutrients and/or may not be airy enough. Well-aerated soil is important for proper root development. If you have an otherwise good potting soil, you can make it even better by adding perlite, an amorphous volcanic glass that appears as small, light white stones. These help make the soil airier for improved drainage.

These days, you can also find soil mixes especially made for growing cannabis, which should be optimal out of the bag. These mixes contain enough of the right nutrients to sustain the growing (vegetative) phase of your plants, so you shouldn’t need to add any nutrients in the first few weeks. Most of the higher-quality soils will also have perlite already mixed in.

What you definitely should not do: Dig out some dirt from the garden and use it as your potting soil. Not only will this not contain the right nutrients, it will likely also be contaminated with bugs, fungus, and other impurities you definitely don’t want in your grow room.

LIGHTING

Cannabis needs light to grow, and it needs even more light for flowering. Your lighting setup will make a big difference in how your crop turns out.

TYPES OF LIGHTING

In grow stores and online, you will come across all sorts of grow lights—some for the vegetative phase, some for flowering, and some for both. To keep things as uncomplicated as possible, choose a light suitable for all growing stages. In recent years, LED grow lights have become quite affordable. These can be an energy-saving alternative to other types of lighting, such as HID grow lights. Make sure you get a “full spectrum” light, or one with a switch that allows you to easily change the spectrum from veg to bloom. If you only require a low amount of light, such as for seedlings or young vegging plants, you can also use fluorescent bulbs.

WATTAGE

The wattage of your grow light is an important factor to consider for your grow room. For reasonable yields of good quality, you should get at least a 400–600W sodium lamp or equivalent LED light. Of course, you can find more powerful lamps like 1000 and 2000W types, or less powerful ones with 150–250W, but a 400–600W grow light provides a good middle-ground so you can expect decent yields without using too much energy.

A 400W sodium bulb can deliver around 7.1 oz of bud per m², while a 600W light can achieve 10.6 oz. Obviously, these are only estimates. If you get more, count yourself lucky. Expert growers may get up to 10.6 oz/m² from a 400W light, and 14.1 oz/m² from a 600W light in optimal circumstances.

When shopping for a grow light, ensure that you read the manufacturer's specs. And know that manufacturers of super-cheap LED lights may grossly overstate the specs of their products. If you’re unsure of what light to get, you can always ask for advice on grower forums.

LIGHT SCHEDULES

Unless you’re growing autoflowers (which you can leave under 18–24 hours of light from seed to harvest), you will need to keep your plants under a specific light cycle depending on their stage.

• Vegetative stage: 18-6

The vegetative stage of your plants can, in principle, last as long as you want. Normally, however, growers leave their plants to veg for at least 3–4 weeks, or until the plant has reached the desired height. A typical light schedule for this stage is 18 hours on, 6 hours off.

• Flowering stage: 12-12

For flowering, switch your lights to an even 12-12 light cycle. Make sure the “dark cycle” isn’t interrupted as this can prevent your plants from flowering.

When you connect your light to a timer, you can easily maintain these schedules.

AIRFLOW AND VENTILATION

If you’re growing indoors, you will need to ensure adequate airflow so your plants stay healthy.

EXTRACTORS

Although it may not seem as vital as, say, your grow lights, an exhaust fan and an air extractor (with activated carbon filter) can make a huge difference to your grow. Cannabis plants need carbon dioxide (CO₂) in order to develop, which they absorb from the air around them.

If you’re growing indoors and don’t have an adequate air intake and exhaust in place, your plant will sooner or later use up all the available CO₂. Once that happens, growth will slow down and your plant may even get sick. An extractor sucks the CO₂-depleted air out, automatically replacing it with fresh, CO₂-laden air.

An added bonus of using an air extractor with an activated carbon filter is that it will also neutralise the smell of your cannabis during flowering. This can help keep your grow-op clandestine. Carbon filters simply contain a tube of activated carbon that you connect to your exhaust system. Know that carbon filters won’t last forever. Most of the time, you will need to replace the filter after about 5 harvests.

AIR CIRCULATION

To ensure the fresh air sucked into your grow space is evenly dispersed, you will also need one or more ventilators. By keeping the air circulating, the ventilator ensures that CO₂, as well as heat and moisture, are evenly spread throughout the space. This can help disperse the heat from your grow lights and reduce the risk of mold.

You can also set up some fans to blow a light breeze toward your plants, causing them to develop thicker and stronger stems that better support heavy yields.

NUTRITION

Cannabis plants can’t just live off of light and love alone; we have to provide them with nutrients so they can grow.

Cannabis has different nutrient requirements depending on its stage. During growth, plants need high nitrogen and potassium levels and a medium intake of phosphorus. For flowering, the nitrogen level is reduced, more phosphorus is added, and potassium levels are kept about the same. Because of that, cannabis nutrients normally come with (at least) two bottles—one for veg, and the other for flowering.

Once again, you don’t need to make things more complicated than necessary. If you’re growing indoors, letting your plants veg for four weeks, and are using soil that contains a spectrum of cannabis nutrients, you won’t need to administer any nutrients during the vegetative phase. You can simply start during flowering, when the plant’s requirements change.

NITROGEN, PHOSPHORUS, AND POTASSIUM (NPK)

Fertilisers and nutrient solutions are based on three macronutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. They also contain micronutrients like iron and calcium. The ratio of how much nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium a nutrient solution contains is often displayed in the form of three numbers, such as 3-1-6 or 0-4-5. This indicates the N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) levels. As mentioned, nitrogen and potassium are crucial for vegetative growth, whereas greater amounts of phosphorus are useful during bloom.

Be aware that seedlings and young plants will have different nutrient requirements than large and vigorous plants. Seedlings, for example, will only need very little (if any) nutrients. Overfeeding cannabis plants is among the most common mistakes that new growers make. What’s worse is that the symptoms of a sick, overfed plant may just look like those of a plant that isn’t getting enough nutrients, such as yellowing leaves. If you run into trouble with your plants, it is usually best to give them a “flush” (see below) and start again with the recommended nutrient levels.

pH

The pH level of your water/nutrient solution is paramount for proper nutrient uptake. Nutrients modify the water and soil pH to some degree (some more than others). When growing in soil, the pH level should be between 6.0 and 7.0. If the pH is off, this can make it so your plant is unable to take up nutrients even if they are present, leading to so-called nutrient lockout. This can culminate in plants becoming sick or stalling, so you should always keep a close eye on the pH of your grow and adjust your water/nutrient solution accordingly with pH “up” and “down” products.

WATER

Improper watering is another common mistake made by new growers. Many times, growers tend to overwater plants, which will lead to all sorts of problems from fungus growth to pest infestation.

But proper watering is actually pretty simple: It is always better to water less frequently than too often. Allow the soil in the pots to dry out between watering. How will you know when that happens? There are a couple methods. One way is to stick a finger at least 1.2 inches into the soil. If it’s dry, you’re probably good to go. Even better, use the weight of your growing containers to help you differentiate when the soil is saturated versus dry. If your container is noticeably light, you’ll know it’s time to water again. Again, your plants can withstand a little underwatering better than overwatering.

FLUSHING

Flushing is when you administer plain, pH-adjusted water to your cannabis plants. There are two main reasons growers choose to flush:

• Flushing because plants are sick

When you feed cannabis mineral nutrients, salts will accumulate over time in the soil. This can throw off the pH and make the soil too acidic. As a result, your plants will get sick as they cannot uptake nutrients. To flush out the salts, drench your soil with about twice the capacity of your pot in plain, pH-adjusted water. Once you have done that, wait until the soil is dry again and give your plant the recommended nutrients. Fingers crossed, your plant will recover!

• Flushing before harvest

Many growers prefer to flush their plants before harvest. Flushing removes the remaining mineral salts in the soil, causing plants to draw out nutrients stored in their leaves. The idea here is that this will benefit the taste of your cannabis. To flush before harvest, stop feeding your plants nutrients and just give pH-adjusted water for the last 1.5–2 weeks.

CONCLUSION

All of this may sound like a lot to learn if you’re still new to growing cannabis. But no worries, once you get the hang of things, everything will fall into place! Don't forget that even pro cannabis growers started out as rookies. Mistakes can always happen, and you shouldn’t let small setbacks discourage you. In fact, every mistake is an opportunity to gain more knowledge. Rest assured, it won’t take long before you’re growing cannabis like a pro!