A miniature greenhouse is the perfect environment to sprout
Cannabis seeds or to grow very young clones. Home and garden supply stores sell
these plastic boxes that are black on the bottom and have a transparent plastic
lid. The kit that I bought had a plastic coated heating pad to go under the
bottom section, to keep the sprouts at about 85 degrees, moist and happy. The
heat causes the water at the bottom of the box to evaporate and condense on the
transparent lid, then drip back down onto the seeds, sprouts or clones like a
gentle rain.
Cannabis seeds normally produce both male and female plants.
Only the female plants have the wonderful flowers with THC, so the male plants
are destroyed as soon as they are distinguishable. “Feminized” seeds are
available on the market from companies that claim that their seeds produce only
female plants. They cost more, but save a troublesome step. Clones avoid the
problem altogether, by being taken as a cutting from a “mother” plant that is
known to be a high flower producing female.
I normally use one or two florescent tube lights that are “natural
daylight” balanced at 5000 K. You do not want the standard florescent lights,
as they produce light that is high in the green spectrum, and low in the red
spectrum. Daylight balanced bulbs will produce a bluish white light that will
cause the fastest vegetative growth. I keep these lights on 20 hours a day
during the first two months of a plant’s life. Daylight coming through a window
is my preferred light source for the mini greenhouse however, with the
florescent lights only needed after dark.
The warm, moist environment will only stay moist as long as
you continue to add water. Distilled water is best, but if you are going to use
tap water fill your container and let it sit out overnight to allow the
chemicals the government adds to the water such as chlorine to dissipate. Never
put anything but room temperature or below on your plants, hot water will kill
them.
I am a dirt farmer, I grow in potting soil and prefer
miracle gro brand if I can get it as it has all the required plant nutrients already
in the soil. I grow my marijuana in 5 gallon paint buckets from a home supply
store, but I am also trying plastic “grow bags”, a heavy duty black garbage bag
material container that allows more plants to fit in a tighter space than paint
buckets. I like the paint buckets because of the handle to carry the plants
from my indoor growing area to my outdoor growing area. The bags are harder to
move. The paint buckets must be prepared with 5 or 6 holes punched into the
bottom to allow water to escape, the inside edge is stronger and is better for
the holes than the middle of the bucket bottom.
When the leaves of the seedlings or clones are touching the
top of your miniature greenhouse, it is time to transplant them into the larger
containers. I often use Miracle Gro Perlite to lighten the soil. Perlite
is an amorphous volcanic glass that has relatively high water content. It makes
the soil less heavy, and stores water after the soil is dry. I often put a two
inch layer of Perlite in the bottom of my buckets, then add 5 inches of potting
soil and mix that up with a stick. The top half of the container gets miracle
gro potting soil up to about two inches from the top. I empty out an area
larger than my root ball, and plant my clone or seedling an inch or two deeper
than the top of the soil on the root ball. So my little plant is now half-way
up its stem in soil, but it will soon reach for the light. The deeper start
allows the roots to grow wider and faster.
Although some growers force their plants to start producing
flowers when they are only a month old, I like to allow at least two months or
more. The plants will stay in a “vegetative state”, growing like weeds, as long
as you keep more than 12 hours a day of light on them. Drop to less than 12
hours a day, they will think the summer is ending, and they start to flower so
they can produce seeds before they die. In the vegetative state, I like to keep
the plants in sunlight all day, then with electric lights much of the night, 18-20
hours a day of light. When the plants are growing this fast, they use lots of
water, so be sure to check the soil for dryness every day and water often. I
add an organic fertilizer to the water once a week before the plants flower. The
miracle gro potting soil comes with 6 months of plant nutrients already in it;
however I am providing a rich environment.
If you are growing from non-feminized seed, then at the end
of the vegetative state is when the male plants are pulled out. You identify
male plants by looking for their balls. Yes, they are tiny, but male marijuana
plants actually have balls at the plant’s nodes. They can be identified with a
magnifying glass or loop, looking at the place where the plant stems branch and
flower for tiny cannabis balls.
Once I have passed the sprouting or clone growing stage, and
I have my plants in 5 gallon buckets, I use a stronger light at night. I have
Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium 500 watt bulbs that I switch out
depending on if I am in the flowering or vegetative stage. The MH light is blue
/ white, mine is 5600k, and looks like sunlight, while the HPS bulb has an
orange / red color that helps the plants to flower. I often run the florescent tube
lights along with the MH lights around the edge of my garden to lighten up the
dark areas.
The distance from the top of your tallest plant leaves to
your very hot and very bright 500 watt or 1000 watt light is vital! You must be
able to adjust the height of your light at will, or you will burn the top
leaves on your plants. As I am a photographer, I just happen to have many
adjustable light stands, but one of my microphone stands is just as adjustable.
I have a metal “century stand” with an arm on it, and I hang my 500 watt light
on the arm, and can then adjust it from 3 feet to 12 feet off the ground at
will. I try to keep the light about 12-14 inches above the top of the highest
leaves. This gives them all the light they can handle, without burning.
I keep a gentle electric fan blowing on my garden anytime
the light is on. This also keeps the heat from damaging the plants, and helps
them to become stronger. It also keeps the smell from building up! Our next
article will talk about the flowering stage, but just remember; it takes strong
stems to grow good buds. Pay attention to the plants in the vegetative stage,
make them strong and healthy. Take care of any mold, fungus, insect or leaf rot
problems that you have quickly, or you will never get to the flower stage. Grow
your own medicine!
Keywords: cannabis, weed, pot, medical marijuana, pharmacy,
weed store, pot plants, grow marijuana, grow medicine
