As globalization and legalization of cannabis continues, nothing beats growing the herb by yourself. The plant itself is resilient and can be grown easily since the environmental conditions for growing it are quite flexible, except for certain strains.
With quality standards for buds and flavors rising, many individuals and cooperatives are now starting to grow the crop themselves. So, if you are planning to plant your own, you can buy cannabis seeds from i49 as they offer quality seeds and different strains that you could choose. Without a further a due, here are some rookie mistakes made by new growers that you should avoid to achieve a good-quality yield.
1. Over or Under Watering
Water is the medium that transports the nutrients from the soil to every organ of the plant and plays a vital role in its overall health. Cannabis does indeed need a large amount of water, like many other plants.
However, excess of water could cause the roots to choke, thereby causing serious damage or even death of the plant. Once the roots start rotting, the plant usually does not survive. With this product at ILGM, it is highly unlikely that you see your marijuana plant in bad health.
It could be a problem with the drainage in the pot that is causing a waterlog. Excess water also increases the chance of infections or infestations of the plant, which contributes to a foul odor in the growing area.
It could also be that you are watering too often without paying heed to your plant`s needs. To counter this, make sure the top layer of the soil is visibly dry before deciding to water it. If possible, lift and check the rough weight of your pots and note this over time. Additionally, before and after watering, check to see if wet dirt sticks to your finger. This makes sure that the plant does not reach the critical point of over-watering.
Further, lack of water causes the plant to wilt and may seriously damage it or cause stunted growth and yellowing of the leaves. If you are using a hydroponic system or any electrical-based watering systems, make sure that you check for leaks.
Proper water levels encourage high-quality cannabis growth for producing CBD capsules Canada and they support proper farming practices to sell the best quality cannabis products for users.
2. Overfeeding
The most common mistake made by the majority of new growers is overfeeding the plant with nutrients. Almost all companies selling fertilizers and nutrition supplements include a schedule for feeding the plants, which doesn’t take your growth environment into account.
It could mean that you are overdosing your plants with more nutrients than required. This causes something known as nutrient burn. Providing excessive nutrients for growing cannabis can lead to nutrient burn, causing damage to the plant, so careful nutrient management is of vital importance here.This may not kill your plants, but it could result in serious damage.
Understanding your plants needs is critical to evaluate which nutrients might be deficient in the soil.
In most cases, it’s an imbalance of soil pH that inhibits the nutrition absorbing-capability of your plant. Therefore, ensure you maintain proper pH levels before you look for signs of nutrient deficiency. Some common signs include curling and yellowing of leaves, a drooping plant, burnt edges, or browning along the sides of the leaves.
Each sign indicates a particular nutrient deficiency, and you only need to supplement that particular nutrient to your plant. Alternatively, you can use a natural manure like compost, since absorption is relatively slow in the soil and the nutrient release is easy to control.
If there is nutrition deficiency and the plant needs supplements, standard non-organic fertilizers can be useful to provide immediate nutrition.
You can also control the dosage by referring to experienced growers in your community or online.
3. Not Regulating Soil pH
The level of acidic content and its strength (pH) are critical for determining how effectively the plant absorbs nutrients.Ignoring these can lead to stunted growth, sick plants, or even cause the death of the crop. It will directly affect the plant yield and cause nutrition deficiencies leading to low-quality buds.
Cannabis generally prefers a slightly acidic environment to flourish. The standard pH levels acceptable for the plant is between 6 to 7 in soil and 5.5 to 7 for a hydroponic system.
Check your soil pH regularly and ensure the levels are acceptable for the proper growth. It’s impossible to maintain the same number but for best results, make sure the levels are within the range and the readings are consistent.
If you need to alter the pH, additives in water can help raise or lower the levels and you’ll be able to save your crop.
Another method to regulate the pH is to grow plants that absorb more pH from the soil, along with your cannabis plant to balance the levels.
Remember to check your pH levels before you begin feeding your soil with nutrients for the best results.
4. Improper Light Exposure
Plants need light to make food. However, many do not pay enough attention to this, and almost 60 percent of plants grown by people at home die due to insufficient light.
Cannabis is a photoperiod plant, which means the growth depends on the light exposure. It requires different levels of light at different stages of its growth. The growth direction, size of the plant, and buds are all determined by the amount of light it gets.
If you are using regular cannabis seeds, you need to understand in detail about the photoperiod requirements of your plant to initiate flowering.
The plant requires 18-24 hours of light during the vegetative stage and 12 hours of light followed by 12 hours of darkness during the flowering stage.
In the case of auto-flowering seeds, photo dependency is slightly less, although you’ll need to provide the optimum light conditions for your plant. Since light is such a critical factor for the survival of the plant, make sure it has direct access to sunlight. For new growers, the most recommended method is to grow using sunlight.
You can also invest in artificial lighting systems such as LEDs, CFLs, or halogen lamps to meet its requirements.Make sure to keep the light over the plant – instead of to the side – and only keep it on during the daytime.
5. Not Maintaining Optimum Temperature and Humidity
The temperature factor is very specific to the type of strain you are growing since every strain has different environmental needs. Exceeding suggested temperatures can cause wilting, sickening, poor yield, pest infestation, or even death of the plant.
Cannabis grows faster and better between 10-20 ℃. Most strains need 20-25 ℃ in the daytime and a minimum of 10 ℃ at night.
Monitoring humidity is extremely important as well, especially when the plant starts flowering. Excess moisture could cause a foul smell and influence the growth and yield. Also, keep an eye out for any sudden changes in the environment since inconsistency in these factors are the leading cause of bad harvests and crop death.
In addition, remember to keep pests away from the soil since they contribute to the overall health of the plants. Also, since cannabis attracts pests, growing it around complementary crops masks the scent, which can be useful to control pest infestation. It will even reduce competition of resources that cannabis needs and promote overall growth. Avoiding these mistakes will help you relish a healthy yield from your very own cannabis garden and most importantly, reap the benefits of such amazing cannabis plants with an impeccable quality of buds.