Cannabis Grow Instructions

 

1. Seeds can be planted directly in the ground or in pots. If planting in pots composted sheep manure works better than 3-Way mix due to a higher nitrogen content. If planting in the ground mixing manure with the existing soil is a good idea and will give plants with a higher yield. To plant push the dirt down half an inch and place the seed at the bottom, then cover with dirt. Seeds should come up in three to four days. It is important to keep the area moist while the seeds are germinating, pouring water over the area once a day is enough.
    

2. After three or four days the seeds should break through the surface. For the first two weeks you will not see much growth. After two weeks expect to see three pairs of leaves. During this time watering once a day is enough and you only have to water to the bottom of the roots. Since there aren’t many roots you don’t need to use much water.
    

3. After two weeks the plants enter vegetative stage. This will last until the plant reaches flowering stage. During this stage the plants will grow an inch a day. At this time it is okay to fertilize. Put a small amount of bone meal on the surface of the dirt, this will encourage the roots to grow. It is possible to burn cannabis plants if too much fertilizer is used. You will know this has happened if the tips of the leaves start to turn brown. Don’t worry if this happens it will not hurt the plant, just don’t put anymore fertilizer on until it has grown and is not showing anymore sign if burning.
    

4. After a week in vegetative stage you can add another type of fertilizer called blood meal. This will push the top of the plant to grow, again, just put a small amount on and wait to see if there is any burning. 
    

5. The seeds that you have received are not feminized, this means that each seed carries a 50/50 chance of being a male or female. At four weeks you will be able to tell if they are male or female. At the junction of the branches off the main stock females will have a white hair (to collect pollen) and the males will have two balls in a sack (the pollen sack) that look like bells. If you are unsure if you have a male or female at 5 weeks don’t worry, you have lots of time and it will become very apparent which sex they are after six weeks. It can be little unclear when identifying males since the sack takes longer to develop but the females are very easy to identify with the hair being about a ¼ inch long. 
    

6. If you are growing for fun and do not care about the quality of the cannabis then keep the males. They will pollinate all the females and give you thousands of seeds that you can enjoy next growing season. If you plan on using the cannabis it is recommended that you kill all the males. Doing so will ensure that the females are not pollinated and they will put all their energy into making the bud giving you higher yields with higher THC content. 
    

7. With marijuana plants there are what’s called auto plants and photoperiod plants. Auto plants will go into flowering after a certain time and lighting conditions cannot change this. They are usually smaller plants and are done after two to three months. Photoperiod are usually bigger and will finish in 4-12 months. These plants will go into flowering only under certain lighting conditions. If growing inside this means changing your lighting setup, if growing outside no work is required the sun will take of this for you! These strains will go into flowering when the days become shorter, so when we near the end of the summer and there is around 14 hours of sunlight they will go into flowering. Expect a mid-August flowering start and a mid to end of October finish but every weed plant is different so there will be variation. 
    

8. So how do you know when the plant has entered flowering? And what is flowering? Flowering is when the plant starts to grow the bud, the part of the plant that is consumed. At the beginning the female plants will sprout many white hairs from the tips of all the branches and the flower (bud) will grow through that. The bud comes in many colours, blue, purple, green or yellow.
    

9. Once you are sure that the plant has entered flowering you can add the rest of the bone meal. During flowering they like extra phosphorous and calcium to help develop the buds. Flowering will last anywhere from 8-10 week and the ending will be marked by the buds developing amber crystals. Before this the crystals will be clear, then murky and finally will turn to amber. 
    

10. When you can see amber crystals cut down the plant and hang to dry in a cool, dry place. Drying too fast will ruin the smell and taste and cause it to taste and smell like straw.