How to Grow Weed at Home: A Step-by-Step Growing Guide

The good thing is; you can grow marijuana either indoors or outdoors. But the common question would be how to grow weed in your preferred location. It’s not difficult as you might think. However, before joining the phenomenon of homegrown cannabis, you should familiarize yourself with the rules and regulations on growing marijuana at home. Does your state allow cannabis growing in your state? If so, we will guide you through the process.

Growing your weed is a fun and cheaper way to getting high-quality buds. Besides, you will have total control over the cannabis plants and what you put into them. This article is for you if you live in an apartment with limited grow space or a large field. Keep reading!

What Are the Benefits of Growing Your Weed?

1. You will save a lot of money. Weed is expensive when purchasing but cheap when growing it. Besides, depending on the state you live in, the cost per gram may vary, but it isn’t cheap.

2. You’ll have room for experience since growing your weed can yield a lot of buds.

3. You are aware of what you get. Since you’re the one growing the cannabis, you can rest easy knowing well you’ve complete control over what is used when growing it.

4. You can lot of cannabis strain options to choose from. If you’re a weed dispensary or a Cannabis Social Club, you’re lucky since you can choose from the different menu of many exceptional strains.

5. Growing marijuana is easy. After reading this guide to growing weed, you will realize it’s not as difficult to do as you might think.

6. The stigma surrounding cannabis is fading. Most people who want to grow their cannabis hesitate since the illegality of the plant in their state. And that is right; abiding by the law is good, and we encourage everyone to abide by the law. However, with many states’ changing regulations and legislation, the law allows anyone to buy and plant weed.

Factors to Consider Before Growing Cannabis Plants

1. Location

Where to grow cannabis is the biggest decision you need to make. Besides, this decision tends to be the biggest and simultaneously the simplest you need to make straight away: should you grow marijuana indoors or outdoors? Though there are advantages and disadvantages to each, in the end, it comes down to personal preferences and what makes more sense for your lifestyle.

a). Growing weed indoors

Growing weed indoors can have a lot of pros. One of them is that it is more private, so it is not open where animals can destroy. Second, setting up is a bit cheaper than you would expect, and you can control every characteristic of the environment your marijuana plants are living in.

b). Growing weed outdoors

If you intend to save money, growing cannabis outdoors is the best option. You will not need to buy things like lights, fans, or containers for your weed. However, your weed might be at risk of being destroyed by pests such as insects, wildlife, or other animals. Also, privacy, security, or pollination from male plants from elsewhere when growing marijuana outdoors can be a major concern.

2. Grow light to use

If you’re growing marijuana indoors, use a grow light that makes more sense for your specific indoor setup. Weed usually require a minimum of 8-hours of direct sunlight every day to grow fastest and well. So, buy a grow light that will offer enough light for your weed to grow fastest.

For indoor cannabis growers, you need to buy a particular type of light. You can go for LEDs, CFLs, MH lamps, or HPS lights. LED lights are higher in cost and higher in power though they require little electricity than CPS or MH. If you have a small grow space, CFLs are the best option.

3. Growing environment to set up

The type of growing environment you choose to grow your marijuana will determine how you’ll need to care for them. There are many options apart from simple soil, so it is wise to do your research and find out the advantages and disadvantages of each before planting your weed.

However, most beginner growers usually start with soil since it’s the easiest option. But if you want to try something else apart from the soil, you can go for perlite, vermiculite, or coco coir. Furthermore, you can follow the organic growing route by composting your soil. Though it takes more work, it usually leads to great yield results and great taste. Also, it makes for a wise option for the environmentally-minded.

4. Nutrients

Unless you’re using a kind of soil that has a certain amount of nutrients already, you’re going to need to buy nutrients in some form to feed your cannabis plants. This is because cannabis plants usually require different ratios of nutrients depending on the plant growth phase. The key types of nutrients you require are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).

The type of nutrient you buy depends on the growing medium you opted to use too. Hydroponics systems will require nutrients mixtures made particularly for hydroponic setups, for instance. These nutrients are handy in maximizing the growth of your cannabis plants and prevent the plant from having nutrient burn. Nutrient burn usually happen when the roots of your plants absorb an excessive amount of nutrients.

It’s also important to consider the pH level of your soil at the plant’s roots. The water, too, needs to be pH balanced before watering your cannabis plants. When the pH level happens to be too alkaline or acidic, you can balance it out with different methods like adding certain ingredients to your soil.

5. The strain of marijuana to choose

When purchasing seeds, the aim is to buy them from a trusted vendor. You can buy from online vendors. However, choosing the right strain is a different issue; you’ll need to buy one that’s easy for beginners to grow and thrives in your state and climate.

Simple Steps on How to Grow Weed Plants

Step 1: Germinating the seeds

After buying the cannabis seeds, you need to germinate them first. Buy a starter cube and ensure it stays warm and moist. Maintain it this way, and you’ll see the young cannabis plant germinating after a few days or even after a week. Conversely, you can decide to put the seeds in a glass of water for some days instead of using a starter cube. Please wait until the seeds grow a little tail; it might take 24 hours or more in some scenarios.

Moreover, ensure the water has a pH of 6 and a temperature of 68 degrees. Then, when the tails pop out, you can go ahead and plant them. Besides, some growers prefer to use a paper towel, which usually involves putting the cannabis seeds into a moist paper towel within 2-plates to maintain the moisture inside. This method takes a few days or even a week.

Step 2: Plant your seed

Use a traditional potting soil mix and a container of your choice with draining holes. Plant the seed in the soil about 1.0″ deep with the exposed tail facing down, then lightly mist the container’s top with clean water and place it somewhere it can access indirect or direct lights. After 2-3 days, you will see your first set of leaves popping from the soil. Ensure to use a spray bottle when watering these baby plants in the first few weeks.

Step 3: Vegetative growth

The vegetative stage is when the cannabis plants will grow and turn into a cannabis plant that can be recognized. The grower aims to get their cannabis plants to grow as fast as possible while keeping them bushy and healthy to have a fruitful and productive flowering stage later.

The perfect temperature ( 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit) helps keep your growing marijuana plants strong. When feeding your cannabis nutrients, ensure to feed them half the recommended amount until the plants grow fast. Besides, you don’t know whether the plants will be male or female during the vegetative stage, meaning you should ensure they’re all growing efficiently and quickly. Ensure the plant gets enough light for 18 to 24 hours a day. But if your plants are growing outdoors, ensure the plants get light from 10 AM to 4 PM.

Step 4: Flowering stage

The flowering stage is an important stage for cannabis growers since it is when the buds start growing. If you grow marijuana indoors, you’ll need to change the lighting routine to 12 hours on then 12 hours off. Ensure you keep the consistency so your plants can easily transition from the vegetative phase to the flowering stage. Conversely, if your plants are practicing outdoor marijuana growing, they’ll transition naturally.

Under this stage, remove the male plants from the bunch to prevent them from pollinating the female plants resulting in seed production instead of bud growth. You can identify the male plants by their pollen sacs and lack of white hairs. Please dispose of the male plant as soon as you identify it.

Furthermore, Reduce the temperature to a range between 65 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit to promote a more productive flowering stage. Also, ensure you monitor your plants closely because they could experience nutrient deficiencies since they’re using nutrients differently in this phase.

Step 5: Let it grow.

Now, for the next 8 to 9 weeks, allow nature to take its course. All you need to do is water your cannabis with tap water when you notice the top 3 or 4 inches of soil is dry and ensure you are shifting your grow light up (if you’re growing cannabis indoors) as it grows. Ensure the light is 12 to 24 inches from the top point of your plant so that the tops don’t get “light burns.”

Flowers usually start to form at week 3 of this phase, and virtually all finish with 8 or 9 weeks of growing marijuana in the 12/12 light cycle. You’ll know your cannabis is ready when the larger leaves start to turn yellow and when 75 percent of the pistols have turned brown or red on the flowers.

Step 6: Harvesting stage

When you notice that the buds on your cannabis plants are not growing white, new hairs anymore, or at least 2/3 of the hairs are darker; then harvesting time is upon you. Besides, if you want cannabis that leads to a vastly relaxing high, we recommend you to wait till most of the hairs have darkened; (80%-90%). Conversely, if you want cannabis with maximum THC, you should wait until 50%-70% of the hairs have darkened.

When it comes to the harvesting act, use scissors to cut off the marijuana’s flower matter, then throw away the rest of the plant.

Step 7: Dry and cure the weed

Once you harvested the cannabis plant’s buds, you’ll need to dry them out well without allowing any mold to form. Achieving this can be a bit tricky so ensure you tread carefully. Hang the buds upside down in a dark and cool place that has good ventilation. However, don’t let them dry too fast.

Once the buds have fully dried, you should cure them by putting the end product into a mason jar that closes tightly. Fill them up 75 percent of the way and put them in a dark, cool place. Ensure you open the jars once every day for some seconds so that moisture can be released and some fresh air can enter. If they appear moist than normal, you should leave them off the top for longer to prevent mold formation.

Besides, cure the cannabis product for up to two weeks and then open the jar once per week. Most growers prefer to cure their cannabis for at least 30 days, though it depends on your preference. However, a good rule of thumb is at least two weeks.