Notes about: soil, lightings, autoflowers, pot sizes, seedlings, ventilation etc.
Have been making some readings and notes and maybe it will help some newbies like me:
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The vegetative stage starts as soon as your young cannabis plant starts growing real leaves. At this point, your plant is only making stems and leaves. It grows just like most houseplants at this stage, so your main job is just to provide water, light and nutrients.
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A good way to check if a CFL is too close to the plant is to use the "hand test." Put your hand where the plant is and leave it there for 30 seconds. If it's too hot for you it's too hot for your plants and the CFL needs to be moved further away
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About 2 weeks after the switch to 12/12, your plant will start making flowers
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CFLs that are in the 40-42 watt range are great for growing marijuana, and also make great seedling, clone and/or supplemental lighting.
40W-sized CFLs are a great combination of power and penetration when it comes to growing cannabis with CFLs.
If you do want to get all of one color spectrum, get all "soft white" (2700k) CFLs
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Vegetative Stage
Vegged for 30 days using just the 1 x 125w CFL 6500k bulb located above the plant
FIMed once on week 3 (the third grow node was just coming in)
Transplanted a couple days before going 12/12
I didn't defoliate during veg at all, as I didn't read about it till about a week into flower. I hear you see best results when you start defoliating in veg so I'll definitely be trying that for my next grow. But even for starting defoliation 2 weeks into flower I'm pretty happy with the results.
The 125w alone was more than enough for veg. In fact, I think I could've fit another plant in there if I used a smaller pot.
Flowering Stage
I added the supplemental lights (4 x 23w CFLs) on the side after I flipped the lighting to flower.
I started LSTing a week into going 12/12.
Started defoliating 2 weeks into flower, gradually. (10%-20% of the leaves at a time every 4-5 days)
I ended up clipping all fan leaves about a month after the start of flowering and just adjusted LST so the canopy remained open.
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I started with a 1/2 gallon sized pot, then transplanted to 2.5 and ended up in big 5 gallon pot.
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CFLs
Vegetative Stage - 184w Total Watts
8 x 23w 6500k CFLs (100w equivalent)
Flowering Stage - 274w Total Watts
6 x 23w 2700k CFLs (100w equivalent)
2 x 68w 2700k CFLs (300w equivalent)
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It is best to water your plants first thing in the morning for best uptake.
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seedlings...With compact fluorescent lamps (usually 100w or more), a distance of around 15cm should be maintained between the top of the young seedlings and the bulb.
If using normal fluorescent tubes (18-36w), seedlings can be kept within a few centimetres of the light source.
Cannabis seedlings growing under lights should always be given a gentle breeze from an oscillating fan (a small household fan on the lowest setting is fine), as constant gentle movement will strengthen their stems significantly. If seedlings grow tall and then fall over, this is almost always a result of growing in an environment with static air.
not seedlings...Nowadays, growers still use fluorescent lights when plants are extremely sensitive to heat. This applies to cuttings and seedlings in early stages of growth. Keep in mind, however, that the fluorescent lights still need to be close to the plants themselves, usually about 5 cm away. Fluorescent technology has changed somewhat, too, and now fluorescent lights offer slightly higher quality growing for Cannabis than they used to. If you’re using fluorescents, you’ll also want reflectors to go with them, to maximize their efficiency and save yourself some energy.
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A pure Cannabis Sativa strain is not as sensitive to the light changes as some other varieties because it is originally from tropical regions of the globe. Generally speaking, the relationship between night and day is more stable in these tropical regions and changes relatively little between seasons. This is one of the reasons that Cannabis Sativa is larger than other varieties, taking up to 5 full months to reach maturity. Because it becomes so large before flowering, it is not as common for indoor gardeners to use a Pure Sativa strain. Hybrids can be grown without any problems.
If you are growing outdoors, be aware of the zone you are growing in and make sure that the climate is right. It’s very easy for a Sativa to die or be hurt in cold weather before it gets a chance to mature or flower if it’s being grown outside of its native tropical zone. This can be ameliorated somewhat by the use of a greenhouse.
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The most important general rule to remember about light and Cannabis cultivation is that red spectrum colors induce flowering, while blue spectrum colors promote growth.
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If you put the Cannabis plants too close together, they will prevent each other from getting light and less photosynthesis will take place. Obviously this will cause major issues for your plants. Make sure that every plant gets plenty of light.
It’s important that the buds on your plants all get the exact same amount of light, even if they are of different sizes. To do that, you need to make sure that each plant gets plenty of space. You don’t want any plants to hog all of the light and prevent its smaller relatives from growing.
Giving your plants plenty of space from one another will also help air circulate, which is extremely important for maintaining stable levels of humidity. Let the plants touch each other only a little, or you risk buds malforming. This could encourage bacterial or fungal growth.
If you aren’t growing a lot of huge plants, you can keep them together with small gaps. Trimming isn’t the best solution, but sometimes growers need to make do with limited space. Above all, your plant needs reliable and uninhibited access to light in order to thrive. Don’t let the plants crowd each other out!
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Below we have a convenient list for growers to use in checking how far apart they want their plants and lights to be positioned from one another. Make sure temperature never exceed 80 degrees.
Fluorescent light 2 to 4 inch (5-10 cm)
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The two most common materials for reflectors are aluminum, both beaten and smooth. Each type of aluminum does a good job of reflecting light, but beaten aluminum will help diffuse the light.
...but your best bet is always going to be Mylar or Panda foil.
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WARNING: Stay clear of any fertilizers that advertise being “slow release” or “extended”. While these systems may be good for regular plants, they are most likely going to cause an array of issues when growing marijuana.
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Here’s How to Water Plants in Soil:
* At least the first top inch of the soil should feel dry
* You have to add nutrients to your water every watering and flush with water ony once every two weeks
* There needs to be about 20% additional water drain at the bottom of your pot when you water them
* Repeat the first step
(((Before your plant is three months old, only feed it once every few days)))
Certainly don’t add any fertilizers in the last few weeks of the flowering stage.
Potting soils are already mixed with these three elements which will aid the plant for up to three weeks. But as the plants grow they will need additional nutrients.
You can feed your plant each time you water, although it isn’t completely necessary. Twice per week will usually suffice.
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Whatever the suggested amount of nutrients are, it is best to cut that amount in half when you first begin. You will want to increase the dosage as soon as you detect the first sign of malnourishment problems.
Remember that a small amount really does go quite far!
Usually, the only people who have to increase their nutrients are the ones with fast growing plants and are using bright lights (outside also).
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As soon as the leaf tips turn brown you have to slow down on the nutrients
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If your plant is not receiving enough light, you will clearly know because it will begin stretching and reaching upwards, having more upward growth than outward growth. This is not good for a marijuana plant because bushy plants are the ones that are capable of growing huge, potent buds that every marijuana user dreams of.
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You should probably plan ahead and make sure there is enough ventilation before you even start growing your plant in closet or cupboard.
If you have set up the closet or cupboard (or other enclosure) and are in need of a source of ventilation, try putting in a fan. If you can set it up in a way that the fan is pulling fresh air in from the outside, then it will be perfect. If not, a fan that even just moves the air around can be very helpful. Using a fan from an early age of your plant has the additional benefit of encouraging it to grow a thicker stalk, as it registers this as potentially harmful wind and therefore grows stronger to counteract it. The thicker and stronger your plant is, the better.
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Luckily, chlorine is quite easy to get rid of. You simply need to let the water sit for 24 hours or more, with the container holding the water open to the air around it. This will also ensure that the water becomes the same temperature as the room. Watering plants with water that is room temperature is definitely healthier for them than shocking them with ice-cold water, so this process kills two birds with one stone.
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Be sure to give your new plants plenty of light once they are planted in the soil. The lights should be only about two inches away from the soil, and should not be moved upwards until the seedling has grown a decent amount. Some people provide their young seedlings with 24/7 light for maximum growth, but this part is up to you.
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Additionally, the 12 hours of light your plant does receive should be as strong as possible, so be sure to keep using your lamp.
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You can buy a medium that already has a certain amount of nutrients contained in it — organic soils are generally this way. This means you won’t need to feed nutrients to your plant much or at all until the flowering stage. When you do feed nutrients to your plants, go the organic route whenever possible as it is less likely to cause a nasty “nutrient burn” to your plant. Anything that has lots of salts is a bad idea (Miracle Gro, for example).
Luckily, high-quality soil can be found just about anywhere — your local garden center and even stores like Walmart or certain grocery stores will have it.
Quality soil should also have a balanced pH level (between 6.5 and 7.5)
If the soil is too acidic, then the marijuana plant will not thrive and has a higher chance of being male.
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Another mistake that many new growers make is adding too many nutrients to their young, vulnerable plants.
Also, remember that you should not feed your marijuana plant any nutrients at all until it is at least three weeks old.
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Pruning is generally an optional endeavor, although some growers absolutely swear by it. It can work wonders for a plant that you want to grow wide instead of tall, however, so for an indoor plant, it may be a good idea to look into the methods of pruning.
That being said, try choosing a strain of seed that won’t need pruning to begin with. Check the description and reviews to see that it is a shorter and bushier strain so you won’t have to deal with a monster plant. Otherwise, you will need to babysit your plant quite a bit more, and after a certain point, you just don’t want to dedicate so much time to one house plant.
If you do start seeing your plant growing taller than you would like, it’s time to get into pruning. Simply cut off the top of your plant, right where the top two branches meet.......
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When I plant my 2 OS Kush seeds, do I have to start them in smaller pots and keep transplanting or can I go big (5 gal) right out of the gate?
Starting a seed in a 5 gallon pot is not recommended. You end up wasting 1/2 the grow media used to fill the pot because, the taproot will go straight down and all the roots will gather in the bottom of pot leaving most of the grow media unused.
Plants should be started in a starter cube of any sort, 4? pots, or, a solo cup. Then transplanted to 1 gallon pots until they are 12-18? tall. Then you transplant into a 5 gallon pot. This will allow the much bigger root zone to spread out and you do not waste grow media.
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If the temperature of your plant rises up above 77 dergees (25 Celsius), the metabolism of the plant will accelerate, and it will require additional inputs: more light, more water, more carbon dioxide, and more fertilizer.
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If the humidity of your plant drops below 40%, then the plant will experience a faster rate of transpiration. There should be no huge concern. It will simply cause your plant to use up water at a higher rate. As long as there is plenty of water in reserve, you won’t have any issues.
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Remember that if you aren’t adding extra carbon dioxide directly into the environment, you need to make sure you let the exhaust and ventilation run the whole time you have lights on. Photosynthesis uses up carbon dioxide very quickly!
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Another option is hanging ventilators right at the same height as your grow lamps. This will help blow the hot air around the lamps out of the room and reduce the temperature in your grow room.
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Outside air will not necessarily be the right temperature for your plants, especially if you are growing at a latitude that experiences winter (which is a lot of indoor growers, frankly), or if you just happen to have cold nights. Although a marijuana plant is hardy, it’s still a warm-weather plant. It thrives in relative heat.
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Autoflower strains of marijuana flower when the plants are a particular age, rather than flowering in response to changes in light exposure. This means that, regardless of the weather and sunlight patterns, they will enter the flowering phase after a certain number of weeks. This, understandably, has opened the door for all sorts of new possibilities in the marijuana growing world.
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When considering an autoflowerharvest, it is important to remember that it will be different from the harvest of other types of marijuana. Certain limitations that come with the plant’s not having the time to grow as long and that includes the fact that it will be smaller. Consequently, the harvest will be, too. Your yield can only be so high when you grow smaller plants.
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Autos....The very beginning is the time to support your plants so they have as much growth as possible. If this is not done, you may end up with a harvest that is infinitely more disappointing than the “normal” marijuana harvest failure. The room for error is smaller with autos.
For this reason, it is often recommended that people who want to grow autoflower marijuana plants start growing them indoors, with artificial lights they can control. Indoor growing decreases the chance for error and favorably controls each aspect of your plant’s early life.
A strong start ensures that it will get everything it needs to thrive, both now, and later on.
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Once your autoflower marijuana plants have reached two weeks of life, you can feed them a small amount of vegetative nutrients. Feed them higher quantities of it gradually over time, until your plants are either six or seven weeks old.
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Autos...Don’t switch over to flowering nutrients until you have visibly noticed a stop in its vertical growing. Even if the flowering phase started a week earlier, don’t be premature with the flowering nutrients. Be guided, instead, by the ending of vertical growth.
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Autos... Lighting plants
Similar to regular marijuana plants, you can decide one of two lighting options:
One choice is to expose your plants to 24 hours of light per day
The other is to allow them some rest every day, and give them 18hours of light, and sixhours of darkness. It all depends on your personal preferences, as well as the strain that you are growing.
One specific go-to example is to use 120-watt LED lights for the first few weeks of growth, and keep it going for 21 hours each day. In this case, the light should be set up between 70 and 80 centimeters away from the plants. Once you have potted the older plants, you can convert to larger LED lights, and a schedule of 18 hours of light, and 6 hours of darkness.
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Autos..To put it bluntly, your harvest will be proportionate to the length of time that your autos grow. In simplest terms, longer growth equals bigger harvest.
Some strains that grow for about 3 months, for example, often average around 40 grams per plant. While longer-growing super autoflower strains might get between 150 and 500 grams per plant, when grown outdoors
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Autos...Choosing when to harvest is also difficult, and equally important to all the other decisions you might make when growing autoflower marijuana plants. You generally need to check your plant’s trichomes to see when 50% of them are amber in color.
The amber color signifies the point at which harvesting should take place. Make sure you stop watering the plants for at least one or two days before you harvest them so that their extra nutrients go away.
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Curing should be done inside an airtight container. This is so the moisture can spread throughout evenly, and move from the middle of the bud, where it is originally held.
During the process, open the container several times per day for a few days straight. Eventually, you should only open it once a day or longer, until the buds are thoroughly cured, several weeks or months later.
Once they have finished curing, the buds should not have much moisture left at all. A tiny amount of moisture is still good for smoking, though. Extra dry buds actually make the smoke more unpleasant.
Store the marijuana inside a sealed container, such as a plastic bag or glass jar. Smoke it within several months, to one year. After a year, it is unlikely that the product will be as pleasant for smoking. Keep it in a dark, cool location. Freezing it can keep it fresh longer.
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You also won’t have to be so careful with your lighting setup, and grow room light-proof sealing. This is because light leakages have no impact at all on your autoflower marijuana plants’ flowering phase.
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Autoflower marijuana plants contain genes from the ruderalis marijuana strain, they may be hardier than other types of marijuana plants. This idea comes from the fact that ruderalis plants are very hardy, and can handle cold and other obstacles better than photoperiod plants.
These plants will also work well in indoor and outdoor areas that have height or size restrictions. Finally, if your growing friends are already growing their own photoperiod marijuana, you can enjoy smoking your own marijuana, while they wait and wait for their own harvest to be ready.
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In terms of light usage per gram of harvested bud, autoflower marijuana plants are less efficient than regular photoperiod plants. This is because you will need the same amount of light per plant although these smaller plants have smaller yields.
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Some smokers of autoflower marijuana will complain that the aroma of their product is not as strong as that of regular photoperiod marijuana plants. Whether this is a pro or con might depend on your own personal preferences, of course.
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Super autoflower marijuana strains:
The idea behind the super strains is that they are larger, but still share the same useful trait of flowering automatically. They are stronger and hardier than regular autoflower marijuana plants, especially when it comes to resistance against mold or pests.
They were created specifically with the goal in mind of having a bigger, higher yielding autos.
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For smaller grow rooms, go for the Indica autoflower marijuana strain because they will be smaller, even in comparison to other autos. For outdoor grow setups or indoor setups that are large enough, a Sativa autoflower marijuana strain will be better since they will get to a bigger size and therefore have a greater yield. They will require sufficient space to grow large, of course.
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Auto-flowering strains, originally known as "Lowryders,"
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Autos...The smaller size means that autos tend to get lower yields than photoperiod strains. However, some of the strains that produce bigger plants (like the Super Lemon Haze Auto) are producing yields that match the harvest of any photoperiod plant.
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Generally, autos are ready to harvest sooner than photoperiod plants. Most autos are ready to harvest 2-3 months after being sprouted from seed.
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It's only until a few weeks before harvest that most auto-flowering plants stop growing “up and out.” At this point, auto-flowering plants put all their energy into fattening buds, and buds can gain substantial weight during the last few weeks.
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When purchasing auto seeds, good breeders will be able to tell you how long the strain will take until harvest. It's important to note that most strain breeders will tend to provide the shortest time frame they can, and many autos will produce better yields and higher potency if left for a week or two (sometimes even three) longer than recommended.
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Even photoperiod plants flowered from seed tend to take longer than an auto-flowering plant to be ready to harvest, and the yields are much lower.
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While there are currently fewer auto-flowering strains to choose from, the potency for autos and photoperiod cannabis plants is comparable. Auto-flowering buds are not significantly less potent.
However, one major difference is that many auto-flowering strains tend to have higher amounts of CBD in their buds than photoperiod strains (because Ruderalis plants are high-CBD). CBD is a cannabinoid that is known for having medical properties as well as reducing anxiety.
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An important characteristic for medical marijuana patients is that auto-flowering buds tend to contain higher levels of CBD than photoperiod strains.
CBD is a cannabinoid that is known for having medical and anti-anxiety properties. Most photoperiod strains these days are high THC, low CBD, and it can be hard to find high-CBD photoperiod strains.
This makes auto-flowering buds an attractive choice for some medical marijuana patients who are looking for higher CBD cannabis strains. There are also auto-flowering strains that are bred principally to be high in CBD. It's difficult for many growers get clones of one of the famous high-CBD photoperiod strains, and auto-flowering strains can make it easier for some patients to get access to CBD.
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Autos tend to stay short naturally. In fact, in most conditions it is difficult to produce very large auto-flowering plants because they have such a short lifespan. They only grow bigger for about 1-2 months. The rest of their lives are spent fattening buds.
On average, autos grow 1-4 feet tall by harvest time; generally auto-flowering plants will stay under 4 feet in height. The final height of each auto depends a lot on the strain you choose and whether you provide enough light. You can also use some non-stressful plant training methods like bending tall branches over (low stress training) to help prevent stretchy autos from getting too tall.
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Do auto strains needs a special light schedule? In a way, yes!
Autos Should Get 18-20 Hours of Light a Day For the Best Yields.
Most indoor growers report getting great growth rates when keeping light schedules on an 18/6 light schedule (18 hour of light and 6 hours of dark each days). 20/4 is another popular light schedule for indoor auto plants. Some growers will give 24 hours of light to auto plants, but others believe that auto plants develop better when given at least a few hour of darkness each day.
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One advantage of this internal timeclock is that auto-flowering strains can be grown outdoor in a city environment where the ambient light at night may be too bright for photoperiod plants to be able to make buds. Autos don't care if they're exposed to light at night.
If photoperiod plants receive too much light each day, or are exposed to light during their dark period, they will either produce hermies (bad) or revert back to the vegetative stage (stop making buds). If you will be unable to provide complete darkness to your plants during their night period, it's recommended that you choose to get an auto-flowering strain, which isn't affected by light at night.
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Autos:
Low to Medium Nutrient Needs
Whether you grow in soil, coco coir, or a full hydroponic setups, auto plants tend to prefer relatively low levels of nutrients compared to many other cannabis strains.
When it comes to adding extra bottled nutrients, start at ¼ strength of the recommended dose or less, and only add higher levels of nutrients if needed.
In good soil, you don’t need to add any nutrients during the vegetative stage. After the first signs of buds, start adding “flowering” nutrients at very low strength (¼ or less to start)
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Potted auto plants tend to do best in an airy potting mix with lots of drainage (plenty of drainage holes, and something like perlite to help add more drainage to your growing medium). This helps makes sure roots get plenty of oxygen so plants grow as fast as possible.
If growing in soil avoid choosing a “hot” (lots of nutrients) soil mix. BioBizz Lightmix soil or Fox Farms Happy Frog are good choices that don’t have too many nutrients to start. With any soil mix, it’s recommended to add about 30% extra perlite for increased drainage.
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Autos:
18/6 Pros
For hot climates, the ability to turn off lights during 6 hottest hours of day
Saves electricity
Possibly helps plant grow more healthy since it gets a dark period (this is unknown)
24/0 Pros
Cannabis plants grow faster when they get 24 hours light/day
A good choice if it gets cold and you don't' want lights to turn off!
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Blue Light for Vegetative - bluish light (like from Metal Halide bulbs or 6500k (blue) fluorescents/CFLs) are a great choice for the vegetative stage, which for auto-flowers is just the first few weeks of life
Yellow Light for Flowering - yellow/orange/red light (like from HPS bulbs or "soft white" colored CFLs/fluorescents) tend to produce the best growth and densest buds in the flowering stage. Their color mimics the reddish light from the autumn sun. It is completely okay to give your plant yellow light for its whole life. In fact, that's what I prefer to do as yellowish light encourages stretchy growth, and I want an auto-flowering plant that grows fast!
Remember: Spectrum is much less important to yields than the total wattage of your lights! (More Light = More Yields!)
The best yields and density in flowering is usually achieved with reddish-yellow light. For the hobbyist grower who may be low on cash and can't change up the lights, you may want to consider getting all flowering bulbs for autos since they spend practically their whole life in the flowering stage.
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