How to Grow High-Quality Marijuana: A Beginner’s Guide

CBD VS. THC

When choosing your seeds, you’ll want to look at CBD and THC of that seed and strain.

CBD: 

Cannabidiol (CBD) is the compound found in cannabis, which is not psychoactive. It targets the body by relaxing the muscles and is used in drops, pill forms, for humans, animals, and helps many people that don’t want to get ‘stoned’ or high. You will not feel stoned, only relaxed, and a lowered sense of anxiety and pain.

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You can purchase CBD drops and learn more about the benefits of CBD here from Healthline.

CBD is a great place for people to start out with that may be reluctant to get high or don’t want to feel intoxicated in any way. It is known to prevent and have anti-cancerous properties and even grow brain cells.

THC:  

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the part of the plant that has psychoactive properties and gives the feeling of being high.

Sativas:

Will typically have a lower CBD (less of a body high) and more THC (more psychoactive and creative).

Indicas:

Will typically have higher CBD and less THC.

Hydroponics or Traditional Soil?

Once you have your seeds and know the kind of growing operation you want to have (Indica, Sativa, Hybrid, or all three), then you will determine your growing method.

Hydroponics are common for growers seeking to keep their operation indoors.  With this method, you grow plants without the use of soil.

You essentially utilize mineral-concentrated water to grow your plants or food in, and this may help if you live in a colder environment or climate that is not conducive to year-round growing.

Plants don’t require soil to grow, but the soil will help with their root stability and offer support. Many growers recommend practicing outdoors before moving up to hydroponics as it’s a more complicated process that requires specialized knowledge to be successful.

Despite its complexity, it will be the route to go if you’re seeking a year-round productivity-machine that will yield results for your consistently and without relying on external sources like the weather.

What you will need to start with hydroponics will include but is not limited to:

• A space – this can be a closet, room with UV lighting, grow tent, etc. but it will need to be a space with balanced temperature, which we will discuss later.
• Lamps – these will need to replace natural sunlight, and you can learn more about proper lighting for growing here.
• A growing and watering system such as Autopot Gravity Fed Watering System
• The soil replacement for stability – something like peat wood or coco coir
• Nutrients – like the top-rated Professional Grower Formula for Ph Balance
• Ph Tester Meter

Comparing Indoor and Outdoor Growing

There are pros and cons to each, so let’s weigh out which growing environment will be best suited to your lifestyle, intentions, and expectations of your growing operation.

Advantages of Hydroponics: 

• No soil to maintain
• Bugs, wind, cross-pollination of other plants/all external sources of outdoors are eliminated
• Water is reusable which cuts costs compared to soil
• Hydroponics will require 95% less water than traditional growing that utilizes soil
• Your product will grow up to twice the speed.
• Don’t have to repot
• Usually more aesthetically pleasing and ‘pretty’ than outdoor-grown product
• Limits diseases where outdoor operations are more susceptible
• Hydroponics requires less space and a cleaner environment for you and your product.
• Easier to hide
• This is often the recommended method for a quality product.

Disadvantages of Hydronics: 

• Large variation in costs, depending on the scale of your operation
• Usually more expensive
• Less natural and uses metals and processed nutrients
• More involved while waiting for them to grow as you are responsible for controlling temperature and pH
• Requires a power source to keep water moving and nutrients flowing, thereby raising the electricity bill
• Some believe it’s not as natural
• Needs more monitoring than outdoor growing 

Advantages of growing outdoors with soil:

• Considered a purer method
• Can have a more natural smell, fragrance, and taste
• Cheaper costs to start out
• Lower electric bill
• Smaller carbon footprint
• Large and lush plants
• More room to spread out than indoors

Disadvantages to growing outdoors with soil:

• They may grow in more lushly, but it will take considerably more time than hydroponics
• More susceptible to bugs, diseases, pollution from external sources
• Factors you can’t control like temperature, pH, pests
• Deer eat it commonly
• You’re at the mercy of the weather and season/product could freeze over or scorch
• More exposed and less discreet. If you’re growing in an illegal state/country, it cannot be left out publicly, or you will face government regulation and intervention.

Based on the above information, you probably know instinctually, which will work for your lifestyle, city, amount of space, budget, etc. Choose the one that will be less hassle starting out, and you can always upgrade your system down the line when you’ve received some return on your initial investment.

The Growing Process

Assuming that you’re going with hydroponics for the ease of indoor growth without worrying about external forces like climate, pests, pH, exposing your operation to the public, etc. – here’s the process in its most basic form for growing indoors:

1. Find your grow room or designated space. Choose a small or large room/closet/space that can be kept in a balanced state. Meaning, you don’t want the highest-humidity room in the house, or you’ll constantly be trying to balance the moisture in the air. You’ll want a dry and cool room that can have some access to fresh air without substantial light-interference. You’ll also want a spot that is not easily detectable. Not just because of the law, but you don’t want your neighbors or strangers peeping in on your business. This will also mean picking a quiet fan that won’t attract unsolicited attention.
2. Start out small as this will be less expensive than a huge operation. Monitor a few plants and test your skill before investing large. You will make some mistakes, so you’ll want to make them while the risk is low.
3. Everything will need to be incredibly clean. Sanitize your entire grow space before beginning and make sure the surfaces are easy to access and keep clean.
4. It will need to be sealable like a tent, closet, room that you can contain the light within. Light leaks will harm your plants by confusing them on where their energy source is originating from and why they’re not outside. It may result in your crop offering male flowers when you want the female flowers.
5. Here are some of the best grow lights to get started. Try to find one that leaves room in your budget for other things without going cheap. Lighting is crucial to the success of your crop, so don’t be stingy.  But don’t buy the most expensive one while you’re starting out.
6. Your plants will need air! This is where the fans go in that will move the warm air out of the room and the cooler air towards your plants. Like a steady wind flow of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), you’ll want your plants to receive air at a temperature of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit to 85 degrees Fahrenheit when the lights are on.
7. Understand the pH of your plants and use the Ph Tester Meter mentioned above. Your hydroponics-based plants should be at a pH of 5.5-6.5 (with 7 being neutral). Your soil-based plants should fall between 6-7 ph.
8. Automate your processes. You want things to be running on their own, even while you sleep. This will mean choosing a system that controls light, humidity, temperature, Carbon Dioxide levels, and more.

You will want your lights on about 18 hours a day (recommended between 16-20 hours) and the lights off for the remaining time to induce a more natural environment that mimics night.

When the lights have been turned off (Indicas requiring less light probably based on their origin of being further North/South of the Equator and having to thrive despite having less sunlight than their Sativa counterparts), the temperature can be around 60 degrees Fahrenheit up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

These are the main steps, but of course, there is so much more in between if you’re serious about knowing the nitty-gritty.

The Main Nutrients Your Plant Requires to Thrive

Whether you are purchasing a nutrient package for hydroponics, soil, or creating your own from scratch – you will need to understand what needs to be in your nutrients to have a successful yield.

The main things you will be looking for when shopping for each individually or reading the labels on these nutrition substances include the following:

• Phosphorus (P)
• Potassium (K)
• Nitrogen (N)

Slightly less important but still necessary in lower quantities:

• Copper
• Calcium
• Iron
• Magnesium

If you purchase a pre-fertilized soil, be sure that you are feeding your plants weekly. If you are doing hydroponics, it will need to be flowing consistently, and the pH checked frequently to be sure the nutrients are being absorbed.

If the pH is too high, your nutrients cannot properly absorb into your marijuana plant. Test the water and soil frequently.

Your plants will, of course, need water. Water them frequently or when they feel dry but do not overwater them. Cannabis plants can take on nasty fungus diseases if oversaturated, and they are also very susceptible to the type of water you are placing on them.

For this reason, you may need to test your water quality to be sure your water isn’t contaminated, have an excessive mineral content, containing chlorine or other metals that are common in our tap water but will harm your cannabis crop.

When to Harvest

The time is right when you notice your lush plants are maturing to have brown tips. You’ll look for white pistil hairs and harvest when around 75%-85% of them have turned brown.

You also need to be aware of the stickiness and sugary quality that is layered on top like crystallization. If they’re beginning to turn an amber-brown, then it is time to harvest your buds.

This process will take around a season, averaging between 2-4 months, depending on strain, nutrients, seed quality, and environment.

During the last few weeks, you won’t need to fertilize your plants as much because a great bulk of the nutrients are stored inside of the flower. Like cooking, this is the time to let them simmer and turn down the heat.

Another indication is the way the flower will curl backward, into itself and towards the bud.

Give your buds as long as they require to mature, and don’t rush the process. This will mean the difference between a matured, fragrant, and dense harvest compared to a malnourished, dull, and dry plant that lacks quality.

How to Harvest

The process after harvesting is trimming. You may need to hire a team down the line to assist you with this.  This can be a lucrative side gig in legalized states. The process can be simplified as follows:

1. Cut the plant at the bottom to trim off the entire stalk for curing. You will be trimming branch by branch, so during this step, it will not look at all like what you imagine a finished product of marijuana that you’ve seen in movies, art, or life. They will be flowers that you will trim into that nugget-like shape, but first, they need to dry out.
2. Before any trimming is to be done, you’ll need to dry the flower in a dark space that is around 65 degrees Fahrenheit. You’ll want it to have a humidity level of about 60%, and fans turned off at this point.
3. You may open a window to get minor airflow moving, but not too much. It’s a fine balance because if there’s no airflow at all, the marijuana will mildew/mold and be ruined. This drying out process will take about a week.
4. After the week of drying, it’s time to trim into those nugget shapes we mentioned! This is why it needs to be fairly dry for trimming. You can use a pair of Trimming Scissors or normal scissors for the process, but this is to make them more aesthetically pleasing.
5. You will cut off the leafy parts by holding the stem at the base and trimming each branch into a more rounded and manicured shape. You want all of the nuggets to be relatively similar and avoid trimming the little red hairs that add value and richness to the strain.
6. After you are done trimming the entire harvest, it is time to cure.
7. Place all of your trimmed buds in a sealed container made of metal or glass as that will keep the oxygen from penetrating. You want to remove the product from any air or light, keeping it at around 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Let it cure for about 3 weeks and sample the product to test for quality. This step will be like winemaking so you can develop your own formula for the best quality effect, taste, high, and overall quality in flower.

Important to note when harvesting: You don’t want to touch the flower too much. Try to handle it in as little interaction as possible, considering investing in gloves. This will prevent your hands from being sticky but also retain the THC that is the crystallized bits on the outside of the flower. Every touch takes some away, so be cognizant of that in your harvesting and trimming process.

Final Tips to Make Your Grow a Success!

Some final gems of wisdom we’d like to offer you are tips for success:

• Find a style or way of handling each specific strain because each will be unique and require different things. Some will soak of water and nutrients faster than others, and you’ll need to adapt to its needs.
• If your plant is growing extremely tall, you may consider adding lights on the sides of it to aid in its lushness for all angles instead of just above.
• It’s easy to get the seeds, but you alone are responsible for using the legal resources listed in this guide, knowing the legality of your local government, and using the seeds responsibly. Know what laws apply to you or suffer the consequences of thinking you’re above the law.
• Finally, don’t rush the process. This is the biggest mistake of newbie growers because they’re just dying to know if they did it right or their product is good! Don’t do this.

Just like a fine wine that needs to age, your product needs to grow slowly, mature to its fullest potential, and not be dried out like a bale of hay. If you rush it, your consumers will taste and feel the difference between a subpar product.

Not only will that result in you not getting repeat customers to cover your initial overhead, but it’s also known to cause a more ‘edgy’ product that gives your clients paranoia. This is why it’s key to offer a quality product, or you’ll be stuck with an expensive hydroponics set, a ton of seeds, and no clients to sell to.

Happy growing!