Marijuana Cultivation 101

With many US States making marijuana legal for both medical and recreational use, your time is coming to grow one of the best herbs known to man. Bear in mind you should investigate your state and bylaws regarding cannabis cultivation before you go out and buy a load of compost and potting soil.

Cannabis is a fairly straight forward plant to grow, after all it has been known as weed for decades cause it does grow like a common weed, even for beginner marijuana growers. Cannabis is an annual herbaceous flowering plant. The cannabis sativa plant is unisexual and may either be a male, female or can be a hermaphrodite plant.

Cannabis is best sown in the spring months to allow for a long vegetative period and because its sensitive to light cycles will start flowering in Autumn and finish blooming in early winter. 

Each part of the cannabis plant is harvested differently and for different reasons but to keep things simple we will discuss recreational cannabis growing. Cannabis flowers are harvested once they are ripe and can take anything from 7 weeks through to 15 weeks to fully mature.

There are hundreds if not thousands of cannabis varieties and hybrids. It is generally agreed that cannabis can be divided into three main categories, namely indica, sativa or ruderalis. 

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Indica is a variety of cannabis that originated in the middle east, specifically along the Hindu Kush mountain ranges that border Pakistan and Afghanistan. Indica plants have a short stature, thick fan leaves and dense flowers or buds. They usually have shorter flowering times and the psychoactive effect is potent and generally gives off a “couchlock” experience.

Sativa, on the other hand, is a taller plant that can reach over 12 foot in height, has long thin fan leaves and generally airy flowers in comparison to indica. Sativa cannabis seems to have originated from tropical regions closer to the equator and good example of a landrace sativa would be Durban Poison. Sativa cannabis is well known to boost energy and creativity levels.

Most of the commercially available strains today are known as hybrids and are interbred of either indica, sativa or ruderalis.

Whether you choose to pop some seeds you already have or buy from a seed bank growing cannabis requires certain elements to produce a good environment for its growth. The basic requirements of cannabis cultivation are listed below:

• Light – The sun is a perfect light source for cannabis but cannabis can also be adapted to grow indoors using artificial light sources. (Click here to check out our Top 10 Marijuana Grow Lights for Beginners)
• Soil – Cannabis likes acidic well-aerated soil grow to thrive in. Cannabis also requires different nutrients during the different stages of growth e.g Nitrogen ( N ) during the vegetative stage, phosphorous ( P ) during the flowering stage.
• Water – Good quality water from a reliable source is a definite necessity for cannabis growth and cannabis can be a thirsty plant when grown outdoors under the hot summer sun.
• Air –  Fresh air is a must and cannabis enjoys air flowing and being absorbed through the stomata found under the leaves.

If you can grow decent tomatoes outdoors you will easily be able to grow excellent cannabis. Cannabis is a great companion plant in any vegetable garden and most of the parts may be used during the growth cycle. The cannabis lifecycle from seed will take anything from 10 weeks to 20 weeks to complete. Once the flowers are weighing down on the stems and giving off beautiful aroma’s you should be ready to harvest your first homegrown flowers.