Growing Indoor: 

• Grow Tent
• Lights
• Soil & Containers
• Hydroponic Equipment
• Water Supply
• Exhaust Fans
• Climate Controls & Monitors 

Growing Outdoor: 

• Weather-Resistant equipment
• Drainage System
• Soil
• Nutrients
• Soil Test Kit
• Containers 

1. Cannabis fundamentals
2. Lights for indoor cannabis
3. Germination & cannabis seedlings
4. The vegetative phase of cannabis
5. Blooming period of healthy cannabis
6. Harvesting, drying, & curing

You need to give it your full attention & ensure you’re not skipping any steps!

Fresh Air: 

• Plants need both oxygen & carbon dioxide for respiration & to make food & sugars respectively.
• If you choose to grow outdoors, you don’t have much to worry about.
• If you’re growing indoors, you’ll need proper circulation to allow the plants to breathe naturally.
• Growing indoors, you can get a adequate ventilation system or you can use fans strategically placed.

Light: 

• Plants depend on light to spur healthy growth through the process of photosynthesis. In this case of cannabis plants, the more light exposure they get the more buds they develop.
• Like it is with getting air, growing outside you get all the light you need
• For Indoor growing, you’ll want to cover 400-600 watts (or more) per square meter.
• Another factor you should look out for when growing indoors are high temps. Some types of lights, especially HID’s, tends to run hot & can compromise your buds if they are too close to the canopy or too strong in general.

Water: 

• Water is the lifeblood of every living organism on earth.
• Cannabis plants are quite a rare exemption because they can survive if you skip on their water supply. However, there’s a good chance for it to die if you water too much.
• Best way to make sure you’re giving your plants the correct amount of water is to wait until the substrate dries out.
• If you lift up your plant containers & find them to be comparatively light, it’s probably time for a soak.
• In any case, don’t water again until the top inch or so of the soil is completely dry.
• As for the preferred watering method, bottom-feeding is arguably best for cannabis plants. It involves placing the pots into trays of water/ nutrients solution into the soil.

Nutrients: 

• Providing nutrients to your cannabis plants is essentially you feeding them. These base nutrients are usually incorporated into the soil from the get-go, or are mixed into a solution & administered that way.
• There’s a lot of science involved in the process of administering nutrients.

*There is no guarantee for growing outside in MN, due to MN climate – most strains thrive in long summers.

Autoflowers

Why are auto-flowering varieties different? They contain ruderalis genetics. This is a third landrace strain, like indica and sativa. Thanks to comprehensive cannabis breeding programs, most established and popular strains are available in regular Fem and Auto-flowering varieties.

Feminized

For small-scale indoor operations, or those legally capped at a strict number of plants, feminized seeds make a lot of sense. Why waste time and resources raising a male when you can start with already-feminized seeds?

DOWNLOAD OUR 10 WEEK GROWING GUIDE

How Long To Harvest: 

• Autoflowers typically move from seed to harvest in 8-10 weeks
• Some varieties can take up to 12 weeks to fully mature
• Many growers elect to cultivate autoflowers because of their speedy growing rate. There hardy genetics & forgiving nature also makes them easier to grow & therefore more beginner- friendly 

Light Schedule: 

• Autoflowers don’t require a change in light cycle to enter the flowering stage
• Many growers choose to keep their autoflowers on a light schedule of 18 hours on & 6 hours off during entire growing cycle
• Others choose to keep their lights on around the clock in hopes of maximizing photosynthesis & grow rate 

PH Value:

• The PH value of your soil will determine how well your plants can access the nutrients within
• If the PH becomes too high (Alkaline) or too low (Acidic) nutrient lockout will occur & deficiencies will set in
• Cannabis plants thrive in a soil PH of between 6.0 & 6.5

Like all gardening, cannabis growing is a skill developed over time. Understanding the fundamentals of cannabis growing is a good place to start your growing journey.

1) Germination & Cannabis Seedlings: Growing cannabis is an organic process without strict set of rules – It’s not a linear system to learn, but an art to master. There are number of equally effective methods for germinating cannabis and over time you’ll find what works best for you. Seeds won’t germinate until 3 specific needs are met: Water, Correct Temperature & a Good Location.

• Method #1 – Straight into the medium
  • Place seeds directly into your medium, this way you can avoid any transplant shock. More often it is easier to germinate in a small pot of your chosen then pot in the garden or bigger pots.
• Method #2 – Paper Towel
  • Seeds are places on moistened paper towel on a plate & placed in a warm dark place.
  • Usually covered with plastic or an upturned plate to retain moisture & humidity.
  • After a few days to a week, your seeds should have sprouted.
• Method #3 – Water
  • Simply soak seeds in enzyme enriched water until you see the top root appear then put in your medium.
  • The seeding will quickly strike & break the surface a week later.
• Method #4 – Germination Stations
  • Offering substantial control over the germinating environment germination stations provide humidity, temperature control & can accelerate germination times.
  • When your plants have broken the surface & the cotyledons have shed the seed husk & opened to reveal the first set of true leaves photosynthesis has begun
  • Now you have a true marijuana seedling on it’s way to becoming a heavy resinous indoor miniature or booming outdoor tree

2) The vegetative stage: The moment green leaves meet the light photosynthesis begins in earnest. Your plants start to metabolize & the vegetative phase has begun. The vegetative phase can last as long as you like, depending on whether you want lots of small plants taking up your space as with the sea of green grow method or choosing a few larger plants topped & mainlined to produce large flower clusters.

• Indoors:
  • Lights are set to an eighteen hour day, six hour night light regimen.
  • Doesn’t have to coordinate with the actual daylight hours (can set it to time of day that works best for you)
  • Your plants are happy in an organic soil or they are being fed nutrients designed for the vegetative phase.
  • Lots of fan- forced breezed keep temperature under control & strengthen your young plants.
  • Exotic disciplines can be used like adding carbon dioxide to the environment.
  • Low-stress training & scrogging can be used to increase the growth rate & flower potential of indoor cannabis.
• Outdoors:
  • Cannabis grows rapidly once the daylight hours start to increase during spring & on into summer.
  • Unlimited root room & good generics can see a plant grow to 3-4 Meters during the vegetative phase.
  • Most contemporary plants are topped & under- shucked continually during the whole growth phase.
  • This encourages an even canopy that will fill with homogeneously sized buds during the bloom stage.
  • Cannabis will continue to vegetate while there are more than twelve hours of daylight.
  • The further away from the equator, you are the shorter vegetarian time your cannabis will have before starting flower. 

Blooming, flowering & budding all refer to the same place of growth for the marijuana plant.

• The next few month will be exciting times as aromas start to develop.
• Interesting floral arrangements also begin to emerge that are particular to your choice of strain.
• The blooming phase has distinctive chapters that are common to all cannabis plants & begin when vegetation finishes.
• Outdoors the first stage of flowering can be seen when summers heat has passed & fall is approaches.
• Indoor you control when the flowering begins by changing the lighting schedule to a 12 hour day, 12 hour night photoperiod.
• Depending of species cannabis responds to hormonal changes that make it continue vegetating or begin blooming.

The Different Stages of Blooming:

1) Differentiation:

• At the very beginning of the flowering phase a noticeable change in growth pattern happens.
• Rather than the striving & stretching symmetry of vegetation the branch growth begins to zig-zag & compresses with less distance between nodes – Differentiation is very noticeable.

2) Soon After Differentiation, Proper Flowers Will Start to Form 

• Calyxes will emerge at the brunch internodes quickly forming Pistil covered puffballs:
  • Much desired resins are already forming in young trichomes on the pistils, calyxes & leaf surfaces.
  • The puffballs of calyxes start to stretch along their own spike
  • This makes room for fresh fluorescent clusters & bud- specific leaves.
  • Unlike sugar leafs, these flower clusters multiply & form large colas covered in resin swollen trichomes.
  • Left to mature further the calyxes & the trichomes swell with copious amounts of desired resins. 

3) Full maturity quickly approaches 

• Harvesting, Drying, & Curing for the best quality buds:
  • During the last few weeks, nutrients are ignored & your plants will be flushed out with clean water.
  • This quarantes a pure flavor free of nutrient & build up salt aftertastes.

• Now covered abundantly in trichomes, pistils are shriveling back & change color (Deep orange, mauve,brown or scarlet may emerge depending on species)
• The swollen resin sacks begin to change color in waves all over the plant. First, going from clear to milky then milky to amber
• Flower clusters are so swollen they seem to have turned inside out
• These signs mean it is time to harvest
  • For a higher THC content harvest when trichomes are 20-30% amber
  • For a broader cannabinoid profile harvest when trichomes are 60-80% amber
  • (watch carefully as the difference here may only be 24 hours

There are no rules to harvesting except to be careful handling your plants – you want to disturb the delicate trichomes as little as possible!

Common Methods:

• Some will wet trim which is removing all the leaves while the plant is still standing then break the plant down further
• Hang branches to dry or lay individual buds on a drying rack
• Some will remove the large sugar leaves only then harvest & hang the whole plant 

• Dry your buds in a dark cool place with little humidity (Ideally, this process is very slow & should take a minimum of 2 weeks)
• Check things often for over drying or molds.
• When dry, thin branches will easily snap – thick branches will still be slightly flexible.
• The chlorophyll has degraded & the green of growth has been replaced with species dependent colors. (fawn, tan, a pale green or even deep blue & purple can emerge as the buds true dry colors develop)

• Loosely pack a well- sealed glass jar with your flower
• Open the top to “burp” the jar once a day for the first 2 weeks (by doing this it releases build up humidity which can cause mold)
• Once the flowers are dry to the touch only “burp” the jar once a week (don’t lack attention)

You can cure for as long as you like. Remember that the psychotropic compounds drop a water molecule when properly cured & become more psychoactive.

• This takes at least 6 weeks when cured under ideal conditions.
• The longer the cure the smoother the result.
• Keep your jars in a dark cool place (THC breaks down into other cannabinoids over time when exposed to light)
• If unsure about bud dryness sample as they dry, so you have reference in the future
• Dry cannabis doesn’t really feel completely dry because of the waxiness of the resins (you will develop the feeling & skill pretty quickly)