Like gardening itself, the cultivation of cannabis is a skill developed over time. It’s easy to learn, but mastering it will take a lifetime of fumet. There is no reason to be afraid to grow your own marijuana. Harvesting weed plants is a good starting point for your career as a grower. Making informed decisions from the beginning will maximize your final crops.
With the legalization, an authentic explosion of alternatives to lights and cabinets of culture for the cultivation of interior has arrived. Therefore, your budget will be the decisive factor. Today, there are cabinets designed exclusively for marijuana and ready to use, designed by professionals with decades of experience. Spotlights, fans, separate spaces for cuttings, vegetation and flowering, programmers, carbon filters. All ready to ride in your cultivation space.
Lighting for any Budget
At the other end of the scale, you can find rudimentary but efficient CFL systems (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) or small LED panels (Light Emitting Diodes) for less than 200 euros. That to cultivate high-quality buds in an empty cupboard. Other compact fluorescent lights such as T5 tubes have different spectra for vegetation and flowering. In addition, they can also be mounted in limited spaces. HPS (Sodium Vapor Lamps) and MH (Metallic Halides) bulbs are traditional types of light. A 1000W HPS with reflective panels can efficiently illuminate a 1.5 x 1.5-meter space and offer excellent development.
Cannabis Seedlings
The beginning of your adventure in growing marijuana is the germination of your seeds. Viable seeds contain all the genetic information necessary to develop the variety of plant you have chosen. They just need the right conditions to start their life cycle. The seeds will not germinate until three essential conditions are met, water, correct temperature (warm) and good location. Place the seeds directly in the culture medium. This way you will avoid the stress of the transplant. The seeds are placed on wet absorbent paper in a dish located in a dark and warm place.
They are usually covered with plastic or another plate upside down, to conserve moisture. Once the seedlings are established they can be put in their final position without damaging roots. Simply put your seeds in water enriched with enzymes until you see the primary root appear. Then place it in the middle. The seedling will sprout immediately above the surface, about a week later. When your plants have sprouted to the surface and the cotyledons have released the husk of the seed they will open to make way for the first pair of true leaves.
Harvesting, Drying and Curing
There is no definite technique for the harvest. Throw yourself and learn with practice. Some manicure the buds still wet, that is, remove all the leaves while the plants are still alive, and cut it down little by little. Others cut sugar leaves only when they harvest and hang the whole plant. Dry your buds in a cool, dark place with little humidity. This process should be very slow and take at least two weeks. When it is dry, the thin branches will break easily. The thickest ones will still be relatively flexible. The chlorophyll will have degraded and the healthy green will have been replaced by a color that varies depending on the strain.
Store cured buds
Now fill an airtight glass jar comfortably with your treasure. Open the lid once a day for the first two weeks. This will release the excess moisture that your buds could rot. Once the flowers are dry to the touch, open the bottle only once a week. You do not want months of hard work to go to waste for not being careful.
How long
You can cure marijuana as much as you want. Remember that psychotropic compounds release a molecule of water when they are properly cured and become more psychoactive. This will take at least 6 weeks if it is cured in optimal conditions. The longer the cure, the smoother the result will be. Keep your jars in a cool, dark place. THC breaks down into other cannabinoids when exposed to light for too long.
Conclusion
If you are not sure that the buds are ready, test your material when you think it is dry and you will have a reference for the future. Dry cannabis does not always look like it because of the resin waxes. Then you will develop the ability to perceive the moisture of the buds. Enjoying marijuana grown by you is not difficult. With a little patience and attention, you can get great results even in really small spaces. During the last weeks, you must abandon the fertilizers and wash the roots of your plants exclusively with water. This ensures a pure flavor, free of chemical regimes and excess salts. Already completely covered with trichomes, the pistils curl and change color. Depending on the variety, dark orange, purple, brown or reddish tones may appear.