The Growing Season is starting! You may be wondering how even to start. Where to start? Can you grow without a yard? Is it legal to grow Cannabis where I live? We are here to give you some beginner information to start this season! At the end of the blog, we will include other resources to dig into Cannabis Horticulture even further.
Can I legally grow Cannabis?
It’s essential to look into the laws of where you live to ensure you will not do anything illegal. If you live in California, you can grow up to six plants if you are 21+. Each state has different laws, so look into them before you start to grow.
If you are renting, you should also check the rental agreement or any agreement you may have signed when you moved in. You don’t want your landlord to get upset and then jeopardize your living situation. So, make sure to check your laws and agreements before starting.
Clone or Seed?
Should you start from a seed? Our answer would be no, BUT if you have some seeds you’ve been saving because you’d like to grow them, you will have to go through a process known as “Seed Germination.” This will add a few days to your overall grow season since you must go through the process. Here is a solid video from Sneaky Pete that explains how to do it. You only need your seeds, plastic cups, water, and a paper towel.
If you choose a clone, you are guaranteed to be female(males will not provide the “buds” you want), and you can get started immediately. You can find clones AND seeds at a Farm Store near you.
Indoor or Outdoor?
Before getting into equipment, we must decide whether to grow outside or inside. Growing outside requires a yard and protection from natural occurrences like rain, bugs, nosey neighbors, etc. Or the people living in your home simply don’t want the plant to grow indoors, so it has to be outdoors. Consider all that before placing your plant outside next to your garden.
If you decide on an Indoor grow, you still have things to consider. For example, if you live in an apartment with neighbors on the other side of the walls, they will most likely smell the plants growing in your home. You can mitigate this by having a “Grow Tent,” but we’ll get into that in the equipment section. If you live in a house, you will most likely only disturb your neighbors with the smell if it’s grown in the yard.
Equipment for Outdoors
Equipment starts with your decision to grow indoors or outdoors. For outdoors, you can get as simple as dropping your plant right in your garden and taking care of it like your other plants. Some techniques and methods can be incorporated to optimize the yield, such as purchasing nutrients specifically for Cannabis, placing the cannabis plant in a growing medium, like a black bucket(black to keep sunlight from hitting roots), and trimming the plant in certain areas to increase flowering. You will also want to consider temperature. Cannabis thrives in a warmer climate.
Since this is your first grow, try to keep it simple and only spend a little if you can afford it. The budget doesn’t have to be sky-high for you to grow a cannabis plant. Suppose you’d like to spend some money on your grow. In that case, you can find grow equipment and nutrients at your local farm store. You can go to cannabis horticulture stores such as “Hydroponic Shops” that sell products specifically for growing Cannabis. Be bold and ask all the questions you may have.
Remember to consider all the natural occurrences that could happen, such as bugs, weather, and nosy neighbors.
Equipment for Indoors
If you live in an apartment and are concerned about smell, you must spend a little money to get all the necessary equipment. If you are worried about the smell, the best you can do is get a zip-up grow tent with all the required equipment, such as lights, a ventilation system, a tent, grow buckets, soil, nutrients, a thermometer, and a pulley system to raise and lower lights. The vent itself will also have to make its way outside. Below is an example of the ideal grow tent and equipment:
In the above image, you can see the tent, the lights with a pulley system to raise and lower lights, the plant in the growing medium, the ventilation system(the end of the vent would have to make its way outside somehow), and the nutrients. You can’t see the thermometer to keep track of the temperature inside the tent. Climate control is essential for Cannabis. For the vegetative stage, Cannabis prefers a temperature in a range from about 68 to about 77 degrees Fahrenheit. When they are flowering, cannabis plants have a range of about 65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
You can take it this far for an indoor grow, but it can cost up to $300, NOT including nutrients, soil, and a growing medium. Also, this is needed if smell is an issue in your living area. If it’s not, you can take a different approach like the one below:
Today, numerous commercial products for growing vegetables and herbs indoors are efficient and affordable. In the above image, an Aero Garden was used. There are even “Grow Boxes” for Cannabis, but those can be costly. The Aero Garden above is an option, but you want to buy a device that will allow you to raise the lights since the plant will grow. The model shown in this image is from 2013, but it’s still doing its thing and can grow plants up to two feet tall. Sure, that might not result in a significant yield of buds, but it’s all yours, and you grew it.
Harvest
The time to grow Cannabis does take months, so patience is a virtue. When it is time to harvest, you must cut down your creation and hang up the buds to dry for up to 7 days. You will have to set up a makeshift “Drying Room” because temperature and light still play a part after you harvest your buds. Folks like to use an empty closet, or if you have the grow tent, turn it into a temporary dry room(it might be a good idea to buy a “grow tent” to turn into a “Dry Room” when the time arises.). Keep the space dark and within 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit. You might need a little AC unit, a dehumidifier, or both to maintain that temperature. Once the drying process is over, it is time to trim.
Getting yourself a pair of Pruning Sheers is a good idea since they are precise and one-handed.
Do your best to trim off the excess leaves and stems. Depending on the yield, this will take some time, but it will be worth it when you finish. If you are wondering what to do with the excess plant matter and stems, go down the rabbit hole of Google and video platforms because there is a ton of stuff you can do with it!
Suppose you’d like to get deeper into Cannabis Horticulture. In that case, you are in luck because there are infinite resources, from books to people to videos to articles, etc.. They all teach you different ways and things for growing Cannabis.
Here’s a couple of places to get started:
-he is responsible for one of the most popular books on Cannabis Horticulture, and you can get off the website or Amazon
Equipment:
Aero Garden: https://aerogarden.com/gardens/all-gardens
You can also find grow equipment on Amazon:
