Starting your first grow is exciting but also anxiety-inducing. You will be able to save thousands by creating your own supply, but there is always the chance of failure during your first grow. To minimize your risk and boost your success rate, we have compiled a list of eight tips for new growers.
Pay close attention and implement these strategies to get the crop you’ve always dreamed of. If you follow these tips, you can expect big, beautiful buds and the confidence that comes with success during your first full growing season.
1. Start with a good grow tent kit.
The best indoor grow setup for a beginner would include a grow tent kit. If you are growing your plants indoors, there are plenty of factors you need to control. Addressing all of them can be hectic for beginners.
Complete grow tent kits for beginners give you everything you need to get started and nothing you don’t need. Come having covered most of these. They provide energy efficiency, control odors, and maintain fresh air ventilation.
These kits also come with an efficient integrated lighting system and are also excellent for controlling pests. Starting with a good growing tent kit saves you DIY work, costs, and hours of researching the best individual components.
2. Do your research
Marijuana cultivation is not a mainstream topic. You will not find the information in most media channels, so you must look for reliable sources. Look for articles like this one on tips for new growers.
You can also search for other in-depth guides on what to do at various stages for the knowledge you need to successfully meet your objectives and get the crop you’ve been dreaming of
3. Find quality seeds with the right genetics.
Growing your marijuana gives you control over most factors, yet even this cannot make up for low potential seeds. Take time to search for quality seeds that have high potential because of their good genetics. Avoid cheap cannabis seeds you may find online because you get what you pay for when it comes to seeds.
We recommend going with strains that are well known and widely cultivated. There is a reason many strains are widely cultivated. They are consistent and provide you with the best chance of success.
Beware of any site offering “free” seeds or low-cost seeds. If you’re planning on devoting 13-18 weeks of effort, you don’t want to waste your time on cheap seeds to later find out the cheap strain you chose is highly susceptible to pests, mold, or low-quality buds.
4. Pick strains suitable for your needs and circumstances.
Different strains suit different purposes and circumstances. Understand the physical characteristics of the strains, including their climate need and space needs for healthy growth. You also need to match the strains with your specific need. Varying needs include a medicinal effect, a certain compound’s richness, or just a mental high.
Our best advice is to start with strains of the “autoflower” variety if you’re a new grower. These types of strains are perfect for new growers because they don’t require light cycle manipulation to begin flowering.
They minimize risk and increase the number of crops per year so you can grow consistent harvests all year long. They typically only take about 13 weeks from planting to harvest and produce the same THC levels with much less risk.
Another benefit of autoflower strains is that they’re relatively short, making them ideal for smaller growing spaces like closets and small rooms with grow tent kits.
If you choose to go with a non-autoflower strain, we recommend going with an Indica strain. Indica strains are typically shorter and bushier than the taller Sativa strains, making them a preferred strain for indoor growers.
5. Check on room humidity across different stages.
You may want to invest in many things, from top tier nutrients to CO2 monitors, to boost your yields. However, humidity is one factor that can significantly affect the quality and size of the yield. Meeting your plants’ humidity needs at different points will help you avoid nutritional deficiencies and a low yield.
During the vegetative phase, the plants need higher humidity to reduce the salt levels and achieve bushy growth. During this stage, if your humidity levels dip below 45%, you start losing nutrition, and it gets severe below 25%. During the flowering phase, the plants need lower humidity levels, around 45 %-55 %, to prevent mold and increase trichome production.
6. Maintain optimal temperatures for your plants at different stages of growth
Temperature is another factor that needs maintenance at different growth phases. When you fail to control temperatures, they can affect the quality of your buds. Some guidelines include;
· You maintain vegetative temperatures at 70-85 Fahrenheit.
· You keep flowering temperatures under 80 degrees Fahrenheit always.
· At night, you decrease the temperatures by 10 degrees Fahrenheit to simulate natural conditions outside and boost the plants’ resin and terpene production.
7. Boost terpene production with gentle stressing methods.
You can also enhance the production of terpenes for a rich smell and taste using various training techniques. These methods include mild stressing techniques and aggressive ones like super cropping.
For new growers, low-stress training methods are easier to learn and give you room to study how your plant responds to stress, allowing you to be more aggressive in the future without hurting your plants.
8. Observe cleanliness and hygiene
Finally, you want to maintain cleanliness and hygiene around your growing room and in the utilities you employ. Your clothes and hands could carry contaminants like pests and spores from the outside environment.
As such, cleaning your hands and using clean clothing specifically for the growing room will help you prevent contamination.
You must also filter the water you are giving your plants through reverse osmosis. This process will help eliminate heavy metals and chemicals, preventing any unnecessary contamination.
A high-quality complete grow kit will help you manage and execute most of these tips. While growing your marijuana is a delicate process, the right information and quality seeds is an excellent foundation.
If you follow it up with properly managing the growing conditions, you should expect a high yield rich in potency and terpenes. Do not overcomplicate things or go overboard to avoid costly errors. Besides, you can always make further adjustments with future crops.
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