So you’re growing weed!

 

Hey there sport, see that you just found some weed seeds and now you’re curious what’s it gonna take to grow these puppies. Bet you’re also curious about what type of cannabis plant you got, if it’s male or female, and most importantly how do I grow this thing? That’s where I can help, in today’s post we will talk about all that, including briefly what essential tips and steps you’ll need to know to grow successfully.

 

How to get started

 

Today we want to really get into what to know about your seeds and how to get a better idea of what you have. But we can’t look at a seed and know whether we are gonna get flower off it or not. For that we have to actually grow the plant and see what happens. In order to do that our seed has to go through some steps. I could go into extreme detail about how to grow and what’s best. But I will save that for a different day, for now I wanna share the most basic steps to growing.

 

Germination

When you first get a seed, you need to prepare it and set it up so that a root can actually break from the seed’s shell and begin to do its magic. A simple way to do this is with a paper towel and some water. Start by submerging the seed in some water and let that sit for about 24 hours. Once that is done, move the seeds over to a paper towel, make sure it’s damp and wet but not necessarily drenched. Place the seeds inside a plastic baggy and put them in a dark and humid place. Leave the seeds in the paper towel until you notice a small root coming from the seeds. These guys are ready to be planted and move on to the next step.

 

Sapling and early growth

 

From here you wanna move that seed out of the paper towel and either into the soil or a hydroponics system. The seed will continue to grow under a light source, the light should be about 12-24 inches above the plant. In the very beginning stages and most of all veg stage you wanna keep the plant at an 18 on/ 6 off as a light schedule. From here monitor and keep an eye on the plants, feeding them nutrients as needed. Other than that, the next thing to do is to replant once it gets to a certain size.

 

Veg state into flowering

 

Your plant has now been rocking in the veg state for about 2 months, it’s a good size, maybe you even have used some topping methods and light stress training. Eventually you will get to a point where you’ll be ready to switch your lights and nutrients up and begin the flowering process. Something really important to know is that the light schedule for flowering will be 12 on/ 12 off. The plant will grow 50 to 100% of its original size during this period, so if you’re growing in a tent, make sure you can make the switch before the plants get too close to the lights. If that happens you can burn the leaves, causes poor growth and flowering.

 

Flowering into harvest

 

Your plant has been in the flowering stage for probably about 1-2 months, you’re at the point now where you are seeing big flowers and tight buds forming on the branches. Once the plants are at this point, you wanna prepare to flush the plant of nutrients by giving it only pH balanced water. After a few weeks of this, the plant will be ready to be cut down and moved over to the drying and curing stage. This should take about 45-60 days but that can differ. Once you’ve gone through this, the plant is ready to smoke!

 

Let’s talk about your plant

 

Now that we have a basic overview of growing marijuana, it’s time to talk about how to identify and recognize what you are growing. A note before we get into it, though, the only true way to know what strain you have is to know before you grow. My tips and tricks are to understand some basic qualities and take more accurate and specific guesses of what you got. 

 

Leafs

Source Image/ THC Design

 

The leaf of the plant and how it grows tells a lot about itself to the grower. When you look at the plant, what do you see?

 

• Indica – The typical growth pattern for these guys is bushy and big. The leaf of the plant will be large, but not extremely long. They are thick at the base and thinner to the tip. The plant’s main stem can grow tall, but typically the plants grow out wide and bushy, making topping the plant crucial to really boost the harvest and quality of the nugs
• Sativa – When looking at a sativa, the leafs of the plant will be thin and long. They are skinny from the base all the way to the tip. But rather than them growing bushy and wide, they grow tall. Even when topping the plant, growers will notice that these guys grow long and tall.
• Hybrid – Taking everything from above, this form of cannabis plant can grow in different ways. You can see a hybrid with thick leafs like an indica and grow tall like a sativa and vice versa. 

 

Again everything is still a guess, but using this plus the chart will help beginners and experienced growers identify their mystery seed a little bit better. 

 

Smell and terpenes

 

Now when the plants start to get bigger, you will notice the leaves start to get oily and that oil emits a smell. This smell is because of terpenes, all fruits have them and because of that we have a better understanding of the medical and flavor aspects. When you’re looking at the plant, gently pinch the leafs and run your fingers across. The oils will be on your fingers and by smelling that you can start to determine the Terpenes. Once you identify what you’re smelling, use my post about terpenes. 

 

Source Image/ Leafly

Identifying the terpenes will not tell you exactly what strain you have, but what it can do is help you identify what your plant can offer you as far as medical effects. 

 

Male or female

 

Source Image/ Weed Seed Express

Looking at those seeds would be useless to determine whether or not the plants are male or female. When the plants grow a couple of nodes as the image above shows, we can determine sex. Female plant will grow calyx and from their little pistils will form from there. It basically would look like another leaf in the flowering area. Male plants however will create pollen sacs in the flowering area and from there can impregnate the females. It is important to identify this as soon as possible or any work you do to grow flowers and bud will be a wasted effort. 

 

Takeaway

 

We all like to get high, growing your own crop can be an exciting hobby and a rewarding one at that. It’s important to learn how to grow, buy the right materials and properly manage the plant’s growth and harvest. If you’re like me and you want to know everything you can about what you’re smoking, then following these simple tips can help you identify the seed you have planted to help you get a better understanding of what you’re smoking. Nothing is 100% concrete, the only true way to know what kind of seed you have is to know ahead of time. This would work best for seeds found in the bottom of you baggy stash or that one you found in your grinder. Good luck on your grow and enjoy the harvest!