Climate plays a vital role in cultivation of cannabis seeds and so it is important to pay special attention towards favourable climatic conditions when you plant your seeds.
This is especially important for those wishing to cultivate outdoor cannabis, as the local climate will affect the crop. Indoor plantation also needs important considerations for optimum cultivation.
Cannabis needs certain conditions to flourish – below we will discuss all possible factors that are considered while planting cannabis
Growth medium:
Most of the cannabis plants are grown through the medium of soil. But they can be grown using hydroponics or aeroponics techniques too.
- Right amount of sufficient nutrients namely, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous are required. These nutrients are more often provided to soil through fertilizers by taking certain precautions.
- The pH scale should be maintained between 5.9 and 6.5 because the use of commercial organic fertilizers tends to make the soil more acidic.
Light:
Natural light are used for outdoor growing, while artificial lights are used for indoor growing of cannabis. Under artificial lights, most of the plants typically remain under the regime of 16-20 hours of light while 4-8 hours of darkness. This process continues from germination till flowering of plants. Although, while remaining in light for 24 hours, the plants can grow without any harm but it will show decreased sign of photosynthetic response, overall decrease in vascular development as well as lack of vigour. Generally flowering in cannabis is occurred by hormonal reaction within the plant which is initiated by increase in dark cycle and so plants need sufficient dark cycle to germinate further. Indica strains need almost 8 hours of dark to begin flowering while Sativa strains require 13 hours of darkness.
Warmth:
Most favourable day temperature range for cannabis is 24 to 30°C (75 to 86°F). It is not favourable for these plants that temperature increases above 31°C and below 15.5°C which decreases the THC potency and results into slow growth.
Water:
Many of the factors such as temperature and light, age, size as well as stage of growth of plant determine the watering frequency and its ability to preserve water. One can notice a striking sign of water problems which indicate wilting of leaves. Excess amount of water can result in killing your cannabis plants.
Nutrients:
Nutrients are directly taken from the soil by these plants. A large portion of nutrient soil amendments are being added when the soil nutrients are being depleted. The fertilizers may be in the form of chemical or organic as well as in powdered or liquid form which usually contains mixture of ingredients. During the vegetation state, cannabis require more amount of nitrogen as compares to potassium and phosphorous.
Thus, favourable climatic conditions along with different factors are needed to be considered while cultivating quality cannabis vegetation. For the best grows, we would recommend searching cannabis forums for advice from experts on how grow the perfect bud! THCTalk would be a good place to start. But remember, growing cannabis could be illegal in your local area (definitely is if you live in the UK unless you happen to be G.W. Pharmaceuticals) – above all, stay safe!
By Bency George
