The legalization of weed has made many people happy, but most are frustrated with the high taxes and prices from shopping in legal marijuana dispensaries. For this reason, a lot of people decided to learn how to grow weed by themselves to save money and lessen trips to pot shops.
The best thing about growing your own weed is that you can be assured that it is authentic and safe. This is especially important if you often use oil extract. Aside from that, the process of growing weed isn’t challenging as what other people expect it to be. Oftentimes, marijuana can be planted indoors or outdoors. All you need is an ideal growing area, some planning, tools, and proper care.
No matter what your reasons why you want to grow weed for oil, whether you like to know how to use THC oil effectively or you want to experience its healing benefits, there are various things you should be knowledgeable of, and these include the following:
Know The Law Before You Get Started
The laws for growing weed may vary from one state to another. Before you start growing your own, you should know the law where you reside. If you are planning to do this and you are not in the right place, you are just getting yourself in trouble. To avoid this, check the policy of your state regarding growing weed.
Determine Your Grow Area
One of the first things that you should know when growing your weed is determining your grow area. It may be anywhere you prefer, provided that your chosen spot is cool and dry, and can be sealed from outside light.
If you are planning to grow weed indoors, the common grow areas are special grow tents, corners in spare rooms, cabinets, and closets. Since you are a starter, you may begin with small areas. A small space is much easier to manage and you don’t need to spend a huge amount of money when setting it up.
You may also grow weed outdoors and take advantage of the sun’s power for the natural growth of your weed. Just pick a place with a lot of light for better growth. What makes growing outdoors more beneficial than growing indoors is that it can save some of your money on electricity and lighting fixtures. However, you might have some problems controlling pests. In addition to that, you should check your local laws about weed before you plant outside.
Understand The Difference Among Various Strains
Marijuana can be categorized into two primary strains, namely Cannabis indica and Cannabis sativa. Cannabis indica will give you a stoned, heavier, and classic feeling, while Cannabis sativa provides a feeling of content and euphoria. However, the majority of the available strains are hybrids, which means they are a combination of sativa and indica traits.
Indica tends to be more compact and much shorter in size. On the other hand, sativa is leggier and longer. There are also auto-flowering and ruderalis strains. Such strains are hybrids, which are bred to start making buds automatically after several weeks. Usually, auto-flowering strains are prepared to be harvested in about three months. They’re also available in numerous famous or popular strains.
Gather All Your Supplies To Get Started
Once you have already determined the location and size of your growing area, the next thing you should do is to prepare all of the supplies needed, which should include the following:
- Seeds – While seeds are available from various sources, like dispensaries, you may also get quality seeds from a seed bank online.Your seeds should first mature before they can be ready for the process of germination. It means they must appear dark brown with some light accents, and should feel hard.
Other than the seeds, you may also purchase cannabis clones in numerous legal marijuana dispensaries. Such clones are rooted already and you can plant them in your garden quickly. Clones are also the best way to make sure that you will get female plants, which will save you more time and weeks of work if your seeds turn out to be male plants.
- Organic Potting Soil – You must grow your weed in soil, which is more forgiving compared to hydroponics. High quality potting soil works well if it does not contain any artificial fertilizers. You may grow your weeds in the ground or pots.
- Containers – When growing weeds, you will need two sizes of containers. You should use pots with a diameter of two inches for seedlings. Once they get bigger, you will need to use a three-gallon container. Fabric pots are perfect as they provide breathability.
- Lights – You will need to spend some money for your lighting setup if you will grow weeds indoors. Find the best LED grow lights if possible. Other options may include high intensity discharge or HID lights and fluorescent lights. HID lights are commonly used due to their efficiency, while fluorescent lights are much cheaper but less efficient.
Optimize Conditions Right From The Very Beginning
When it comes to cannabis cultivation, you have to start right through optimizing the conditions around your gardening area. Your weed needs full sun every day, which means it needs at least 6 hours of direct sun. It is also not a good idea to grow your plants close together since airflow reduces problems with disease and mold.
Avoid Overwatering
Did you know that many gardeners kill plants from overwatering and not from underwatering? No matter how dedicated you are in growing your own weed, you must do your best to avoid overwatering them. It is because this may result in starving roots of oxygen, which can lead to the rotting and death of your plant.
If you don’t want this to happen, you may consider installing your own drip irrigation system before you start planting. This system may be set on a timer to deliver water efficiently.
Use Enzymes To Maximize Your Fertilizer
If you want to harvest your weed as soon as possible, you should use enzymes in order to maximize the effects of fertilizers. These could help your weed with water and nutrient absorption through increasing the root’s surface-absorbing area and releasing enzymes that help dissolve nutrients, which are harder for plants to capture. Such nutrients include iron, phosphorus, nitrogen, and some bound nutrients.
Conclusion
When medical and recreational marijuana became legal across the US, more and more people became interested in growing weed legally for oil. Growing weed can be a bit overwhelming, thus newbies need patience to achieve success. Keeping those above-mentioned things in mind will help you get started and be more knowledgeable about how to grow weed properly.