If you’ve been growing your own weed for some time, you may find that planning your next run just doesn’t feel as thrilling as it used to do. Don’t worry that your precious hobby is losing your charm, though, because we are here to help. Check out these advanced cannabis growing techniques and pick the next challenge to keep things interesting and level up your indoor grower mastery!

Next Level Growing Techniques

As an experienced indoor gardener, you will have grasped the basics of growing cannabis by now. You will know how to handle the essential stages of germination, growth, and flowering after multiple runs. In all likelihood, you will have collected the knowledge and equipment necessary to raise your crops from seed to harvest without major problems.

That’s great news in terms of predictable outcomes, but on the other hand, your growing experience could lead to complacency, boredom, and the rising urge to try something new.

Well, don’t worry about losing your cannabis affection over a lack of horticultural challenges. We have a whole range of advanced cannabis growing techniques just waiting for you to give them a try!

Why Use Enhanced Grower Methods?

Most home grow veterans turn to new methods to improve their harvest results, either in terms of bud quality, total harvest quantity, or both. Some try to speed up the overall growth cycle for more annual harvests. Others just want to squeeze as many plants as possible into a cramped grow tent or broom closet. Alternatively, however, you could use certain advanced techniques for aesthetic purposes, raising beautiful plants with extraordinary shapes, sizes, or colours.

Many of the techniques discussed below focus on optimizing harvest volume in various ways. Some were invented by weed growing gurus, but most have been applied to other crops by generations of regular gardeners. Applying these advanced cannabis growing techniques to your own favourite weed strains can do much more than save you from ‘grower fatigue’, though. They will help you hone your green skills ever further, as the quality and amount of top notch bud you manage to rake in keeps rising to ever-new highs!

Basic Stuff

The advanced cannabis growing techniques discussed below are relatively straightforward. They all come with risks, however: there’s always a risk of harm involved in tinkering with living organisms. That means you will have to learn by trial and error, but don’t worry too much: the benefits tend to outweigh the risks, especially once you get some practice under your green belt.

Most of these next-level weed growing techniques are applied during the vegetative phase of the plant’s life cycle, before flowering sets in. This is the stage when the potential for growth is at its height, while the stems are still pliable and the plant has maximum capacity to cope with stress and damage. Many interventions either involve bending stems and branches to make more light and fresh air available, or cutting key parts of the plant to trigger regrowth of multiple buds.

Low Stress Training

Low Stress Training, or LST, is  one of the easiest growing techniques out there. This approach aims to spread out the branches of the plant by bending them downward and then tying them in place. Since plants are programmed to grow toward the light, they will recover by ‘bouncing’ back up.

Low Stress Training results in a wider, lower plant structure that can be very handy in confined spaces. The main benefit, though, is allowing more air and light to reach the leaves and flowers, promoting growth of bigger, more potent buds with minimal risks involved.

Learn how to apply LST to your grow in this separate blog.

Screen Of Green

Screen Of Green, commonly abbreviated as ScrOG, uses the time-honoured technique of trellising to produce an even foliage canopy. This is done using a frame, or screen, consisting of wire mesh or similar materials. The resulting grid spreads out the stems of the plant evenly, ensuring that all branches receive enough light to produce full buds.

ScrOGging your plants is one of the most basic, non-invasive growing techniques out there. We suggest trying this one out as one of your first levelling-up exercises: you’ll discover just how to go about your first ScrOG run in this blog.

Sea Of Green

Sea of Green, or SOG, is a bit more risky than ScrOGging, but still less stress-provoking than most advanced cannabis growing techniques. Sea Of Green is all about making the most out of the space you have available by making a very early switch from the vegetative to the flowering stage. Obviously, this is an indoor growing technique, since it requires making an early ‘flip’, switching your lighting intervals to a 12/12 schedule before the actual growth stage concludes.

This will arrest plant growth, resulting in smaller specimens that usually produce only one worthwhile main cola to harvest. Counterproductive as this may sound, you have a good chance of ending up with more quality flower to harvest per square metre of floor surface.

If you would like to apply Sea Of Green to your next grow, read this blog for detailed SOG instructions.

High Risk, High Reward: Advanced Cannabis Growing Techniques

The following selection of advanced cannabis growing techniques is more risky in terms of potential stress and damage caused. However, they rewards involved tend to be bigger as well. If you are really looking to step up your game, and don’t mind a small chance of killing your darlings before you get the hang of them, feel free to try these out for even better results.

Topping

Topping is a commonly used advanced cannabis growing technique based on cutting out the top sections of a plant’s main stems. We know that sounds like a bad idea, but hear us out: what if we told you that for every terminal node you prune away, two new ones will appear as if by magic?

That’s right: a cannabis plant will respond to your decapitation efforts by growing producing two new growths instead, hydra-style. It’s easy to see how more growth tips gets you more potential buds on a single plant. Even though these colas are likely to grow less bulky than their non-topped counterparts, their sheer volume still tends to outweigh the yield of an au naturel plant.

We’ll show you just how to top your crop in this comprehensive guide.

Fimming

Fimming is a more extreme variation of the topping method discussed above. Whereas topping is applied to specific locations just underneath a plant’s terminal nodes or growth tips, fimming uses what you could call brute force to slash the tip itself in half. That explains the name: FIM is short for “F#ck, I missed!”

Fimming is a prime example of a high stress training technique. Understandably, it causes considerable shock and awe to your plant; and consequently, it will trigger an even more drastic stress response in turn. Whereas topping can double your amount of buds, FIM, if done right, can multiply the number of colas fourfold or even more.

Check out this detailed blog for full instructions on fimming.

Mainlining

Mainlining, also known as the manifold technique, actually combines topping and LST elements into a unified, high stress training approach. Here, the trick boils down to topping your plant to multiply the number of branches developing on each stem, and then using LST to spread out the new growth for optimal light and air availability.

Mainlining can be highly effective in improving the amount of harvestable weed per plant. Its drawbacks are the considerable levels of stress it can cause, as well as the restrictive influence of limited horizontal grow surfaces like modest-sized tents.

Find out all about mainlining in this technical explainer.

Supercropping

We will readily admit that there’s not much subtlety to the supercropping method, but it can still work wonders if you get it right. In supercropping, you purposely hurt and even maim your plant to stress it out. The main objective here is equal distribution of light, which is especially useful if your grow multiple plants with some specimens growing taller than others.

By gently crushing the tallest stems between your fingers, you will bend them back down to the ground and stop them from blocking out the light for the canopy layer below. Next, you support the bruised branches with sheathed wire to allow them to grow back up in a wider pattern. This creates a level playing field for your entire grow, resulting in more fat buds to harvest if you don’t take it too far.

Be sure to read all the details of supercropping here before you give it a go.

Best Strains For Advanced Cannabis Growing Techniques

Obviously, these growing techniques are intended for experienced growers only, so don’t go experimenting with them on your very first run. In addition, the best results are usually obtained by using tough genetics able to recover from any stress you cause them.

We suggest trying your advanced cannabis growing techniques on premium genetics only, such as the great selection of quality strains you’ll find in our online store. Our toughest and most forgiving plants are your best starting point, so we would suggest trying the following strains:

AK Choco Kush feminized

If you are interested in further inspiration to take your indoor grows to the next level, be sure to check all our suggestions for experienced indoor growers here. Remember that there is always a new way to make your cannabis hobby that much more interesting – until then, good luck improving your game!

Are you worried about how indoor cannabis growing is affecting your energy bill? Read on to find some energy saving efficient grow hacks. Pick up some sweet tips to cut back on power usage and save money while you help save the planet!     

High Cannabis Yield, Low Electricity Bill

As much as we try to keep weed and geopolitics strictly separated, sometimes it’s impossible to avoid one affecting the other. Recent and long-term global developments have caused energy bills to skyrocket all over the world, and while this affects all of us, indoor cannabis growers have started to feel the consequences in very real ways.

This has led to a surge of attempts to secure an energy efficient cannabis grow, ideally producing maximum harvest results at minimum power consumption. Luckily, we have a few quick hacks to help you keep your electricity bill in check and make your grows more sustainable while still making the most out of your power-hungry cannabis plants.

Sunshine

One obvious response to the mounting energy costs of growing weed is to take it all out into the sunshine. Growing cannabis outdoors drastically reduces your expenses by using natural and 100% free sunshine instead of grow lights. Extraction fans, heating, and other power-hungry systems are no longer required if you take your hobby outside.

However, not all of us have the opportunity to do outdoor ganja gardening. Maybe you don’t have a garden or balcony, or perhaps you are too scared of attracting unwanted attention. For practical reasons, we will only discuss ways to promote indoor growing efficiency below.

On that note, you could also consider planning your indoor cannabis growing over the warm summer months of the year.

There is an alternative to using direct sunshine that can be employed in any grow room: solar power. If you have the means, investing in a few rooftop solar panels can really help cut costs while benefiting the environment at the same time. If you have the chance, go for it!

Grow Lights

Indoor growers need grow lights to enable photosynthesis in their crops, simple as that. That being said, some lighting systems are way more energy efficient than others. LED lights consume far less power to produce the same amount of light emitted by fluorescent lights or HPS bulbs. That makes them a great choice for energy efficient grow setups, especially since the technology has become much more affordable for hobbyists in recent years.

LED grow lights are not just more energy efficient than other types of lighting. They also tend to last longer, produce less heat that can harm your crop, and many LED systems offer the option of adjusting the light spectrum to the specific phases of the cannabis life cycle your plants go through.

Insulation For Efficient Heating

Insulation is another way of improving the energy efficiency of indoor grows. Insulating your grow room properly will prevent heat from seeping away, making it more cost-effective to maintain the high temperatures that many strains require.

Technically speaking, thermal insulation will save more on power costs than any preventing light from leaking away, which also counts as insulation. Still, you will want to prevent light from leaking into your grow room rather than out as this affects growth behaviour, so eliminating one type of leaks will usually improve the other type of insulation as well.

Applying and improving insulation does not have to be complicated. That’s a real advantage for many growers, who prefer not to have construction workers or handyman relatives snooping around their grow rooms. You will find a full range of affordable insulation materials at any DIY that are easy to install, especially if you check out a few instruction videos on YouTube first.

If you are using a grow tent for your plants, remember that its level of insulation largely depends on the conditions of the surrounding room. You may want to relocate your tent to a more well-insulated room, or apply some additional insulants in the most suitable room for a cheaper, more energy efficient grow.

Choosing Fast & Efficient Cannabis Strains

Another way to cut back on power usage is to order fast flowering cannabis seeds, as these take less time bathing in artificial light to produce a harvest. Remember that your plants will require more light during the vegetative stage than while flowering. Picking indica-dominant strains that grow and flower faster than their sativa counterparts is an effective strategy. Autoflower seeds are a nice and quick alternative as well, with the added benefit of switching to flowering without requiring a change of lighting hours.

Below, you will find some of our most energy efficient cannabis seeds to try:

Managing Your low Energy Cannabis Grow

Clearly, there are plenty of quick and easy ways to make growing weed more energy efficient. The trick is knowing which power hacks will have the biggest impact on your particular grow setup.

And remember that any energy you manage to save on other aspects of your everyday life will help compensate for the watts you invest in those weeds. Taking fewer weekly showers can make a real difference, for instance – and no-one will smell your armpits anyway if you have a nice and dank grow going on…

Did you know that marijuana plants tend to like the same temperatures humans prefer? Sure enough, cannabis is a hardy crop, but if it gets too hot or too cold for you, chances are your plants will feel the same. There’s a bit more to finding the ideal cannabis temperature, though, so we wrote this blog to tell you all you need to know to establish the perfect weed growing climate.

Ideal Cannabis Temperature

It’s not hard to see that cannabis plants will grow and flower to full potential within a certain optimal temperature range. In fact, all life thrives only at the right temperatures. To be fair, we humans are a bit of an exception, since we build comfortable homes with heating and air conditioning. Your cannabis seeds, by contrast, need your help to flourish at the ideal cannabis temperature.

Failure to regulate heat and cold in your grow environment can be disastrous for your plants and their harvest potential.

Effects Of Low Temperatures On Your Grow

If you have a grow room, tent, or other indoor cannabis garden where temperatures regularly fall below 15°C, you run the risk of slowing down growth processes. Sub-zero conditions may even prove fatal for your crop. Even though your plants may not show any signs of cold-related stress, they are bound to slow down their development and produce less bud to harvest.

Cold conditions tend to worsen when they coincide with high air humidity. They increase risks of mould. Moreover, low and irregular temperatures can cause changes in leaf pigment composition. These in turn may impair photosynthesis, choking off critical energy supplies. Indoor grows tend to be more vulnerable to unstable and low cannabis temperatures than outdoor projects.

Too Much Heat

High temperatures can impair normal growth in their own particular way. In the flowering phase in particular, temperatures over 26 degrees can compromise bud development. Colas tend to become less compact and more open-structured, while bud fragrance and potency may also suffer from the heat.

If your grow room gets too warm, other problems may arise too, including pests, rot, and mould. Examples include rotting roots, powdery mildew, and mites. Your plants will signal their distress through discoloured, curled-up leaves and signs of stretching.

Optimal Cannabis Temperature For Indoor Growing

Your plants have different temperature needs as they move through the vegetative and reproductive stages of their life cycle. You should take these needs into account to raise your seeds to full potential.

Growth Phase

Juvenile plants can take a bit of heat. Throughout the growth phase or vegetative stage, optimal cannabis temperature ranges between 20 and 30°C. Try to avoid low air humidity at this point, as your young plants grow fastest in intermediate to high humidity and high temperatures.

The bigger your plants get, though, the better they learn to cope with temperature and moisture fluctuations in their environment. It can also be helpful to allow your cannabis temperature to drop a bit at night, as long as you stay within the recommended 20 to 30-degree range.

Flowering Phase

The flowering phase begins once your plants begin to develop their flower buds. During this stage, slightly lower temperatures are preferable; preferably somewhere between 18 and 25°C. Although your plants do not strictly need this cooldown, it does add to premium bud quality.

Particularly during the second half of the flowering phase, low cannabis temperatures can contribute to spectacular bud colours, increased trichome production, and fragrant aromas. While you’re a it, try to keep average air humidity low and keep night-time temperatures lower than daytime values.

The Link Between Cannabis Temperature And Humidity

We have already mentioned air humidity above, and that should be no surprise, since perfect cannabis temperature and moisture levels are interconnected. Usually, problems with one of these parameters can be solved by adjusting the other. Air humidity indicates the amount of moisture the air can contain.

We often hear experts talk about relative air humidity. This indicates the amount of water present in the air at a given temperature, compared to the overall maximum holding capacity.

The important thing to remember here is that warm air can contain more moisture than cold air. That means both temperature and humidity are important to track. Controlling both gives you optimal control over your grow environment.

How Do You Manage Perfect Cannabis Temperature?

Now you know the best cannabis temperature for all stages of your grow. So how do you make sure you achieve and maintain them in your grow room? Luckily, it’s not that hard to do, as you will find out below.

Your first step should be gaining insight into the actual cannabis temperature in your grow room. You can use a regular thermometer for it, but you may want to invest in a combined thermometer and hygrometer so you can check air humidity using the same device.

Next, you need to do something with the data you gather: your grow room can be either too hot or too cold. So how do you get the perfect cannabis temperature? Easy. Just keep the minor adjustments bellow in mind to stay in full control of your indoor grow climate.

Lowering High Temperatures

If your grow room gets too hot on a regular basis, you have plenty of options to get temperatures to drop. The first thing to arrange is a decent air exhaust system to expel hot air from the room. In addition, you should consider adequate ventilation to keep air circulation up to speed. Fans are the easiest way to sort this, particularly the swivel or oscillating type fans. Stagnation in airflow can trap the air in certain zones, which could damage your plants.

Another way of reducing heat buildup is adjusting your lighting. If your grow room gets too hot during the daytime, you could consider turning down your grow lights, or to replace them with fewer, smaller, or more heat-efficient ones. Led lighting usually has a lower heat signature than other types; plus they can save you serious expenses on power consumption throughout your grow.

As an alternative option, air conditioning can be a real gamechanger for lowering grow room temperature.

Increasing Your Cannabis Temperature

If your indoor garden tends to get too cold rather than too hot, the obvious first step would be installing some sort of heater. If you decide to do so, make your heating system does not blow hot air directly onto your plants, as this will probably do more harm than good. There are alternatives, too: installing more heat-emitting grow lights could help, for instance. Cool grow rooms can often benefit from improving insulation, which can be done in various ways depending on the layout of the space. This comes with the big bonus of saving on your energy expenses while you look after your plants.

As you can see, managing the perfect cannabis temperature is not as easy as it may seem at first. Still, keeping some degree of control is not that hard to achieve. A few simple adjustments will get you a long way towards establishing ideal climate conditions for growing weed.

Give Your Next Cannabis Seeds A Warm Welcome

Now you know what you need to keep your grow room at perfect cannabis temperature. Time to order the hottest cannabis seeds that match your taste and get cracking, then!

Order The Hottest Cannabis Seeds Online

Maintaining the right cannabis temperature is every bit as important as giving enough water, nutrients, and light; but there’s always more to learn about the best ways to make the most of any cannabis seeds you grow. Just leaf through our selection of Grow Blogs to find all the best techniques, tricks, and insights. That way, you can grow your grow knowhow while your plants flourish in perfect cannabis temperature conditions!

Do you ever pause to consider air humidity in your grow room? This is a topic that novice growers tend to overlook, to their cost. Managing ideal air humidity conditions can be a major factor in growing cannabis seeds into strong, healthy plants. Too much moisture can impair growth and increase risks of bud rot and mould, but low humidity comes with its own risks and problems. That’s why this blog explains all about the best cannabis air humidity conditions, and how to manage them.

The importance of controlling cannabis air humidity

Basic fact: your cannabis plants need water. Period. How much water they need, however, largely depends on the relative air humidity of the grow environment. High humidity enables plants to absorb water from the air through their leaves, reducing the need to absorb it through their roots. Conversely, plants will drink more using their roots of air humidity is low.

This is a mechanism that growers can use to their advantage. Of course, the water you use to feed your plants directly may contain nutrients that help boost growth. That only makes controlling air humidity  levels more important, though, as this in turn affects the uptake of nutrients as a result of root activity.

Air moisture levels can be used to influence other factors too, however, including growth rates, production of THC and other cannabinoids, and presence of mould such as bud rot.

Consequences Of High And Low Humidity

Cannabis humidity levels have a huge impact on your plants. Too high or too low air moisture percentages can cause very real problems. As mentioned, air humidity affects how much water your plants will absorb through their roots. They will drink much more in dry air. Pair this with high temperatures and you can be sure they will drink their fill, which can easily result in excessive nutrient uptake. If your plants absorb more than they need, nute burn may result, causing the leaves to turn yellow or display the characteristic ‘scorched’ edges of nutrient burn.

A major problem related to high cannabis air humidity is mould formation. While high humidity tends to be good for young plants, you should always be wary of mould issues including powdery mildew and bud rot. Ensuring you have proper ventilation in place is a good way to prevent fungi from spoiling your grow.

Improving your control over grow room moisture levels will benefit your plants’ overall development. Cannabis air humidity needs vary as plants go through different stages of their life cycle, however. Young plants prefer high humidity, while more mature specimens tend to need less as they enter the flowering phase. If your cannabis air humidity does not match the phase your plants are in, their growth will suffer and you will end up with sub-par harvest results.

Cannabis Air Humidity For Outdoor Growers

Outdoor growers have very few means at their disposal to control their cannabis air humidity levels. Factors such as sunlight, heat, and shelter form wind and rain are easier to manage than air moisture levels. Even though opting for a greenhouse can considerably improve control, outdoor cannabis humidity levels air far more difficult to influence than grow room or tent moisture percentages.

Absolute Or Relative Humidity?

Air humidity is an indicator of how much moisture the air can contain. It can be expressed in terms of either absolute or relative humidity.

Absolute humidity is the simplest quantification, indicating how much water is present in a given volume of air. The problem is, however, that warm air can hold more water vapour than cold air. This is due to the fact that hot air has more energy to turn water into vapour and keep it in that state. This means that even if absolute humidity stays the same, warm air has lower relative humidity than cold air.

We know this is a bit of a technical detour, but don’t worry: as long as you stick to relative air humidity, you should be good.

Relative humidity (RH) is the go-to expression in most fields of application. It measures the amount of moisture the air contains relative to the maximum amount the air can contain at a given temperature.

The Best Cannabis Air Humidity For Veg And Flowering Stages

Since ideal cannabis air humidity levels differ for each respective stage of a plant’s life cycle, it is essential to adjust them accordingly. We have listed the ideal cannabis air humidity levels for each stage below:

• Clones and seedlings: 70% RH; temperature 24 to 16.5 degrees;
• Vegetative/ growth stage: 60% RH; temperature 20 to 25.5 degrees;
• Early flowering: 50% RH; temperature 18 to 24 degrees;
• Late flowering: 40 to 45% RH; temperature 18 to 24 degrees.

As you can see, the table indicates both an ideal RH value and a temperature range. This underscores the relationship between perfect cannabis air humidity conditions and temperature as we indicated above. Different plants in different life stages will thrive within differing relative air humidity ranges, which correspond to ideal temperature ranges. That means that controlling your perfect cannabis air humidity automatically includes keeping ambient temperature in check.

How To Provide Ideal Humidity

Anyone growing cannabis in a grow tent is in a good position to provide ideal humidity values. Installing a hygrometer will give you accurate insight into current RH values, usually accompanied by temperature measurements for convenience.

The easiest way to keep cannabis air humidity values constant is using a humidifier and dehumidifier in your tent or grow room. Of course, such equipment is an investment, but your return on this investment is accurate moisture control at the mere push of a button.

If you can’t afford humidifier equipment, you can opt to regulate your cannabis air humidity manually. It will be considerably less accurate, but it’s still a good alternative for novice growers. We’ll explain to manage either method below.

Dehumidifying The Air

An air dehumidifier will draw moisture from the atmosphere automatically. Some devices can be connected to a drainage system, while others have their own reservoir that you’ll have to empty when full. Another means of lowering RH is using ventilation to control moisture levels.

Place a swivel fan, or oscillating fan, and ensure that your tent or room supports adequate exhaust capacity. Aim your fan so that the airflow brushes along the canopy, leaving the leaves swaying gently in the breeze. The circulating air will carry off any excess moisture, thus improving uptake of nutrient and water supplies.

An important cause of excessive cannabis air humidity levels is overwatering. Many rookie growers tend to give too much water to their plants, simply as a token of their dedication and budding love of growing. You can easily end up saturating your soil substrate, causing excess moisture to evaporate and increase existing moisture levels. Always make sure not to overwater your plants!

A final option for regulating cannabis air humidity without dehumidifiers is to prune away a few excess leaves from the foliage canopy. A dense canopy can easily raise your cannabis air humidity above ideal values, mostly by disrupting airflow and blocking ventilation efforts.

Increasing cannabis Air Humidity

If you need to increase humidity rather than lower it, your easiest option is buying an air humidifier to add moisture to the grow room or tent. Evaporation humidifiers come with the added benefit of lowering temperatures while they add moisture. Humidifiers with large water reservoirs are a smart choice that will prevent you from having to replenish your water supply several times a day.

If you are not in a position to buy special equipment to regulate your cannabis air humidity, you could try placing a bucket of water in your grow room instead. This will help to gradually increase your cannabis air humidity. Another viable option is using a nozzle sprayer. Simplistic as this technique may sound, it is still an effective if labour-intensive way to increase your RH values by hand

Whichever technique you prefer, always make sure to keep your humidifier equipment clean and use fresh water, or you’ll risk turning perfect cannabis air humidity into a giant mould and bacteria hazard.

As you can see, it’s not that hard to improve your control over optimal cannabis air humidity in your grow room, whether you have special equipment or not. Making sure your plants keep enjoying perfect relative humidity will surely improve your prospects of enjoying strong, healthy plants with beautiful buds.

Optimal Cannabis Air Humidity For Drying And Curing

After harvesting, the time has come to dry and cure your buds. Obviously, these processes depend heavily on RH values in your drying room and mason jars. Too much moisture will prevent any remaining water to evaporate from the flower buds. Too dry conditions may speed up the drying or curing process beyond acceptable limits, resulting in loss of flavour and potency.

When starting to dry cannabis air humidity levels should be about 50%, at around 20-degree temperatures. After three or four days, raise RH to 60% while lowering temperatures to about 18 degrees. Make sure to keep your grow room airflow moving as you proceed.

After drying comes the curing process that will elevate your weed’s flavour, fragrance, and potency to perfection. The best curing environment supports cannabis air humidity levels ranging from 60 to 65% at temperatures around 20 degrees. As our special drying and curing blog explains, it is essential to regularly open your mason jars to allow moisture to escape while drawing fresh air back in.

You’re Good To Grow!

Now that you know how to control your cannabis air humidity throughout the entire grow, you’re all set to start growing premium cannabis seeds. Just pick the seeds that match your personal taste and grow goals and order them directly from our online store: we usually ship them out on the same day.

Pick The Best Seeds

If you’re keen to find out more about the best conditions for growing cannabis seeds, or looking to improve your game to make the most out of every seed you germinate, check our Grow Blogs and watch your knowledge flourish as bountifully as the plants you raise!

Most beginner indoor cannabis growers have enough on their mind to overlook the importance of adequate airflow in their grow rooms or tents. Nonetheless, effective ventilation is every bit as essential for great harvests as ample water and nutrition supply. This blog gives you ten top tips for proper cannabis ventilation.

The Importance Of Good Cannabis Ventilation

Many rookie growers don’t give grow room ventilation much thought. After all, their plants are getting enough water and light, and there’s always air in a room, isn’t there? Well, perhaps so; but an effective, adequate fresh air supply and sufficient circulation are vital for plants, including cannabis plants. Proper cannabis ventilation is an important means to improve control over room temperature and humidity.

That makes providing your plants with ample fresh air a top priority. They need it for photosynthesis, the process by which they derive energy from sunlight. To do so, plants need light, CO2, and water, which they then turn into sugars and oxygen. They can only do so in the constant presence of enough fresh air.

On top of this, plants can breathe using the stomata dotting the surface of their leaves. If the air in the room is not sufficiently refreshed, they won’t be able to breathe as they need to make full use of the CO2 they need for growth.

A final reason for ensuring optimal cannabis ventilation is the fact that warm, humid spaces are hotbeds for bacteria, mould, and pests. Most of these unwanted visitors prefer hot, damp air as their ideal habitat.

All in all, then, it makes perfect sense to consider the circulation, inlet, and exhaust of air in the room or tent you use for your indoor grows.

Cannabis Ventilation For Outdoor Growing

If you’re planning to grow weed outside, you’ll have all the fresh air that you could ever want at your disposal for free. Although cannabis plants have the same needs out on the balcony or in the garden as their indoor counterparts, they can use the wind to supply and refresh all the air they need.

For outdoor growers, cannabis ventilation should only become problematic if the wind picks up speed, since strong winds can easily snap and damage plants. Beyond that, it’s wise to pay extra attention towards the end of the outdoor season, as this is when moisture easily accumulates in flowering buds, with all the associated mould risks that brings. Here, finding your plants a nice and breezy spot can be helpful, as the natural airflow will help keep the interior of the colas dry and mould-free.

As you can see, cannabis ventilation issues can also occur outdoors. Nonetheless, the rest of this blog will focus on those planning to grow cannabis seeds inside.

Cannabis Ventilation: Controlling The Environment

Adequate cannabis ventilation improves your control over the moisture and temperature levels in your grow environment. The principle is very simple: you replace the old, stale air in the room or grow tent by cool, fresh air drawn in from outside. It’s a necessity rather than luxury, really, as the air tends to grow too moist and too hot fast.

What you may not realise about the plants in your grow room or tent, is the fact that they have a natural tendency to perspire. They use the stomata on the leaves to release moisture to the environment. Evaporation of this moisture adds to the air humidity of the room.

On top of that, most people use high-powered grow lights for their indoor gardens. Although different types of lighting will emit different amounts of heat, any type will add to the room temperature while they are on. Proper cannabis ventilation will carry off heat as it expels air from the grow room, which helps keep temperatures at the required level.

10 Tips For Optimal Cannabis Ventilation

Providing the right cannabis ventilation equipment improves your control over your grow environment. It helps expel excess heat and moisture while allowing sufficient fresh air in. But what exactly is good cannabis ventilation, and how do you set it up? The 10 tips we provide below will help you determine the right airflow arrangements for any grow tent or indoor garden you want to manage.

Tip 1: Passive Or Active Inlet?

When setting up your tent or grow room, you’ll need to decide whether you prefer active or passive ventilation. Any grow requires a steady supply of fresh air, but you can arrange it either by passive or active ventilation.

Using a passive inlet means creating a natural airflow in the room without aid from mechanical ventilation. You can use windows or existing openings in the walls of you grow tent, without any need for electrical equipment. Of course, passive cannabis ventilation drastically limits your degree of control over the environment compared to active measures. We would not recommend it to dedicated growers anxious to squeeze everything out of their plants for maximum harvest results.

Active air inlets draw in fresh air by mechanical means using an inlet fan. This hugely increases the airflow in the room if used in the right way. If you have the means, an active cannabis ventilation setup is definitely the way to go.

Tip 2: The Exhaust Fan

Of course, any air you draw into your grow room has to be expelled at some point, too. That is where exhaust fans come in. As warm air tends to move upwards, exhaust fans tend to work best when installed in the top section of the room or tent.

When choosing your exhaust fan, the main aspect to consider is its capacity. The capacity of exhaust fans is expressed as CFM, or Cubic Feet per Minute. A bit of mathematics will help you determine the CFM airflow value required for your particular grow room or tent, as our next tip will show you.

Tip 3: Fan Capacity (CFM)

Calculating required exhaust fan capacity is based on grow room volume, expressed in cubic feet. Measure the height, width, and depth of your room or tent, and then use the example below to calculate your required cannabis ventilation CFM.

Example: The total volume of a tent measuring 6’ x 3’ x 3’ equals 54 square feet.

Ideally, you’ll want to refresh all air inside the tent once every three minutes. That is why you have to divide the total tent volume by three: 54/3 = 18.

CFM for cannabis ventilation = Volume ((in ft³) / 3

For this particular setup, exhaust fan capacity should be at least 18 CFM. This is the minimum capacity for adequate cannabis ventilation; don’t aim below this capacity, because there is a real chance your air refresh rate becomes insufficient.

You’ll notice your overall cannabis ventilation capacity is too high if the walls of your tent get ‘sucked in’ ever so slightly. A bit of negative pressure is fine, but don’t overdo it by going all in with an industrial capacity cannabis ventilation system.

Tip 4: Carbon Filters

Our next recommendation is to always install a carbon filter. They help remove contaminants from the air, but more importantly, they will help reduce the tell-tale smell of your cannabis plants caused by the terpenes they produce. You will be doing yourself, your family, and your neighbours a real favour. Carbon filters are usually fitted onto the exhaust section f your cannabis ventilation system.

Tip 5: Oscillating Or Swivel Fans

Choosing an oscillating or swivel type fan allows you to make full use of its cannabis ventilation capacity. These fans can rotate in two directions, creating varied airflow patterns that improve circulation throughout the room. They also have the added benefit of promoting development of sturdy stems and branches by mimicking the effect of a gentle breeze.

Tip 6: Cannabis Ventilation Inside Or Outside Of The Tent?

Generally speaking, your best option is usually to install your exhaust fan and other cannabis ventilation components on the inside of your grow room or tent. It will help keep any noise down to a minimum. If you have minimal space available, however, you could also try and set your gear up outside the tent.

Tip 7: Techniques & Tricks

In addition to all the technology you can use for optimal cannabis ventilation, you also have several grow techniques at your disposal that can help improve air circulation. Many techniques used for optimal light distribution will also promote better airflow. Examples include Screen Of Green and Low Stress Training techniques, which you can explore alongside many other useful techniques and tricks in our Grow Blogs section.

Making The Most Of Cannabis Ventilation

Our final three tips cover the best ways of installing and applying the cannabis ventilation measures and equipment you choose. The main thing here is to make sure air circulation resembles natural outdoor conditions as closely as possible.

Tip 8: Keep Things Moving

Out in the wild, cannabis plants are meant to spend their days gently swaying in the breeze. That is why you should always try to keep your plant in motion – but please be gentle or you risk damaging your crop.

Leave your cannabis ventilation on 24/7, but make sure to keep the leaves fluttering gently rather than blowing them all over the room. If the leaves move around too much, your plants will have a hard time positioning these ‘solar panels’ in the most beneficial way, which impairs their ability to make full use of the available light to grow.

Tip 9: Channel Your Airflow

Optimal leaf motion is easiest to manage by directing the airflow past your plants, instead of blowing them straight in the face. This provides sufficient cannabis ventilation capacity and variation without stressing out your grow with gale-force weather conditions.

Top 10: Horizontal Entry, Vertical Exit

Aim the airflow of your cannabis ventilation inlet horizontally. Make sure the flow remains at the level of the canopy and buds, without aiming the fan directly at the plants if at all possible.

As mentioned, the best position for your exhaust system is in the top section of your tent or room. This will allow the CO2 to flow along the entire plant. Grow rooms are warm by default, and since hot air rises, it makes intuitive sense to place your exhaust fan up high where all the not-so-fresh air tends to end up.

Reaping The Rewards Of Good Cannabis Ventilation

As you can see, proper cannabis ventilation is essential for any grow. Fortunately, a steady supply of fresh air is not that hard to manage. You don’t need to throw money at expensive professional ventilation systems. The level of complexity and the costs are entirely up to you to decide.

Even just opening the windows a few times every day will provide your plants with more fresh air. However, if you are looking to improve your control over your grow environment, a proper cannabis ventilation setup is your best choice. Ultimately, the best cannabis seeds in the world deserve the best grow environment you can provide, to ensure optimum growing, flowering, and harvest results.

Order Your Premium Seeds Online

In the end, cannabis ventilation is very much like proper watering habits, nutrition choices, and lighting setups: even the best systems cannot compensate for poor genetics – the cannabis seeds you order, that is. As soon as you get your cannabis ventilation up and running, you are all set to head over to our online store and pick your premium seeds to start that grow!

To growers, cannabis buds, flowers, or flower buds are the most interesting part of the entire plant. The flower buds of female cannabis plants hold most of the active compounds that determine the effects of the high. A strain’s medicinal potential and flavour are also concentrated in its cannabis buds. But just what constitutes a flower; and why don’t the flower buds of marijuana plants resemble regular flowers? It’s time we had a closer look at the biology of cannabis flower buds.

Flowers Are Sexy

Flowers exert a special kind of attraction over us, and over many other animals as well. This makes perfect sense, as flowers are all about deliberately captivating us by their amazing looks and scents. Flowers are quite an extravagant development from an evolutionary perspective: spectacularly beautiful in all their fragrances, colours, and shapes, yet at the same time, they are a considerable investment for any plant that has to spend its energy wisely.

Flowers are meant to draw the attention of animals that benefit the flowering plant. Every single plant in the floral kingdom is built specifically to attract specific species of animals at exactly the right time; usually to help pollinate a specimen and secure its reproductive success. As a consequence, the evolution of flowers often runs parallel to the development of specific insect species and other useful animals.

That means flowers are sexy in a literal sense. Inside a flower le the plant’s reproductive organs, but its exterior appearance is what physically attracts the animals that it needs. This attraction is both visual due to the dazzling colours and shapes flower can have, as well as olfactory due to the intoxicating allure of floral scents. On top of that, many flowers produce nectar as a special temptation intended to lure in the right pollinators.

Irresistible Flowers

Humanity has been under the seductive sway of flowers for ages, too. We use them in rituals, to win the hearts of those we love, to brighten up our homes, and to turn our gardens into a paradise. This is why we have been cultivating flowers for so long: cannabis buds are definitely not the first Dutch flowers that brought us international fame.

The English word ‘flower’ traces its roots to the Roman flower goddess Flora. Before it was commonly used, however, the word ‘blossom’ was the preferred nomenclature.

In addition to their charming scent and appearance, many flowers are edible too. Don’t be surprised when you find a daffodil or courgette flower  on your plate in a fancy restaurant. Flowers are also widely used in medicine, both for traditional folk remedies and for the development of state of the art prescription drugs.

And on top of all these wonderful uses, we still haven’t even mentioned what this blog is all about: the cannabis buds growers consider to be the best flowers of all. The flowers of cannabis plants embody nearly all the floral applications and purposes mentioned above; even though most growers simply love them for their psychotropic effects upon consumption.

Are Cannabis Buds Even Flowers At All?

If you want flowers in your garden, you’ll have to get seeds. Since growing weed is basically about flowers too, ordering cannabis seeds is your best guarantee for harvesting ganja flowers. If you manage your grow correctly, that is, because you’ll only get cannabis buds on female plants if they make it through their flowering stage.

Even though we usually just say ‘bud’, cannabis buds are flowers in every sense of the word. They may not look much like what you find at your regular florist, but then again, cannabis is no regular plant. Besides, nature holds such an incredible wealth of different flowers that you’re likely to overlook the flowers of lots of other species, too.

The flowers we call cannabis buds contain the highest concentrations of THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids. The branches, leaves (particularly their veins), and even the roots all contain minor concentrations of active compounds; but these are so low that you’ll need a considerable amount of plant material to produce any effects.

The majority of the terpenes that determine the scent, taste, and subtle effects of weed, as well as the flavonoids, are all concentrated in the flower buds. You can find them in the trichomes: tiny glands filled with sticky resin that produce the most valuable compounds found in cannabis. That is why the flower gets harvested by growers once the buds have ripened to perfection.

Once these buds have been dried and cured, they are ready for consumption. Before we get to that point, however, the floral blooms of our cannabis buds still have a long way to go.

The Purpose Of Cannabis Buds And Other Flowers

Ask any connoisseur what the purpose of cannabis buds is, and nine times out of ten, the answer will be ‘to enjoy of course’. An understandable answer to be sure, and not even wrong; yet biologically speaking, all flowers, including cannabis buds, serve reproductive purposes.

Female cannabis seeds grow up to be female plants that form reproductive organs meant to collect pollen spread by males. This process is called pollination. After pollination, the female plant gets fertilised. If that happens, she starts to produce her own cannabis seeds using the reproductive organs hidden inside her flowers.

As a grower, you’ll generally want to avoid pollination, as cannabis buds without seeds produce more cannabinoids and therefore stronger effects. Unpollinated flowers that do not produce seeds are called ‘sinsemilla’, which is Spanish for ‘without seeds’. Breeders, by contrast, are all about cannabis plants with seeds. They need strong seeds to crossbreed new strains using plant breeding techniques.

Cannabis is a cross-pollinating plant species. That means reproduction requires both a male and female plant to succeed: sexual reproduction, in other words. Self-pollinating species, on the other hand, develop both male and female reproductive organs on the same plant. That makes cannabis a dioecious plant, i.e., comprising both sexes.

Although males do not produce the flower buds we see in females, they do produce pollen sacs that release their genetic contents for the wind to carry along. Technically speaking, males definitely grow flowers; they just look completely different from those you see on females.

In some cases, usually due to high stress environments, cannabis plants will also develop both male and female flowers, or reproductive organs. If that happens, we call them hermaphrodites, which interestingly, biologists also call ‘bisexuals’ or even ‘perfects’. To growers, however, hermas are far from perfect: if you don’t spot them in time, they can pollinate themselves as well as the rest of your grow.

As we can see, cannabis buds serve two purposes for the plant. They use their pistils to collect male pollen, and they create seeds in their […] which they then help spread to let a new generation carry the parent genetics into the future. Many of the flowers we love to see in our gardens or vases serve a third purpose that explains their exceptional beauty: they help attract pollinators such as bees, hoverflies, and other insects.

Cannabis plants do not need such attractiveness, since they pollinate using the wind. This is probably why we see so few romantics trying to charm their sweethearts with a fresh bouquet of cannabis flowers…

Flowers After Pollination

Once a flower is pollinated, the pistils lose their function. Grains of pollen grow downwards toward the [….] or ovary to fertilise an ovum (female reproductive cell). Thee fertilised ovum cells are connected to the […] that works like a placenta. That means after pollination, flowers such as cannabis buds contain a genuine embryo: a cannabis seed!

After the seeds are ready for dispersal, the rest of the flower withers and dies. In the case of cannabis, which is an annual plant, the entire plant dies off. Still, you are unlikely to see this happen in any grow room or tent. Here, unpollinated sinsemilla cannabis buds are harvested as THC levels peak and flavour is most intense: time to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Are Cannabis Buds Fruits??

As soon as a flower starts to form seeds (you could call the flower ‘pregnant’ at this point), she starts to produce a fruit. The floral kingdom has thousands of ways to do so: fruits are almost as varied as the number of fruit-bearing species.

This may sound odd. You’re only just getting used to the fact that cannabis buds are actually flowers, and now we’re calling them fruits as well… Fact is, however, that fertilised flowers will not start to bear fruit until they get ‘knocked up’. Fruit, by definition, is simply any means by which nature protects seeds, and to help it find a good place to grow.

The reproductive cells of male pollen grow on to penetrate the ovary located in the lower part of the female flower. This organ contains the ovum cells, each of which can develop into an individual seed. You will recognise the placenta in a paprika: cut it in half to reveal the white stringy structures to which the seeds are attached.

When the seeds are ready, the function of cannabis buds shifts once more. The flower (fruit!) now becomes a ‘biological vector’ that helps the seeds spread. This process, known as zoochory, revolves around ‘seducing’ animals into eating the seeds, or carrying them away (in their fur or otherwise) move the seeds to new locations. This helps create space between plants of the new generation, which helps prevent unnecessary competition and colonise new territory.

Perhaps it is a relief to know that growers will go to great lengths to prevent such ‘unwanted pregnancies’. Most cannabis buds will not grow into fruits, since they remain without children. Whether that is a matter of free will or forced contraception is for you to decide, however…

Bud, Node, Or Cola?

On top of the flower/ fruit/ bud complexities, there is some confusion about the difference in weed jargon between the notions of buds, nodes, and colas. Sure, the community calls the flowers buds, but in fact, they are also nodes. Flowers, leaves, and side branches sprout from structures called nodes (nodia) found on the stems of plants. So which is the most accurate term: bud, node, or flower?

Before answering, let’s complicate the matter by adding another word commonly used by cannabis growers: cola. It’s a bit of a specialist’s term, but it can be useful nonetheless. A cola is the site where multiple flowers, or flower buds, appear in concentrated clusters.

If you look closely at a female cannabis plant, you will notice how her flower buds consist of many tiny drop-shaped interspersed by small ‘sugar leaves’. These drop shapes are the actual buds in the overarching flower structure we call cola. Whenever you hear someone mention a ‘main cola’, they usually mean the biggest flower of the plant, which usually forms on the central stem of cannabis plants.

You will recognise cannabis bud structure in the close-up of a cola flower below. If you look at cannabis flowers in bloom, the characteristic drop shape keeps appearing: these are the miniature flowers that together make up the entire cola.

The Heavenly Stench Of Cannabis Buds

No matter whether you think that weed stinks or find it the most delicious scent in the world, we can all agree that cannabis buds tend to produce strong aromas. As mentioned, this is due to the various terpenes found in the trichomes on the flowers. These aromatic compounds each have their own subtle effects on our minds, but cannabis plants don’t produce them to attract human connoisseurs like other flowers use scent to lure in pollinating insects.

The sometimes outright dizzying fragrances representing a cannabis plant’s terpene profile have evolved in nature as a repellent meant to keep harmful animals at bay.   It is difficult to determine whether the smell of cannabis buds also serves to attract larger animals to help spread seeds, and if so, which species.

The concept works in nature, though: many species of deer love to nibble on cannabis buds, for instance, and lots of birds feed on cannabis seeds. These are highly nutritious due to the energy supply they contain to help young seedlings on their way.

Quite possibly, larger animals love to munch on buds because they get some kind of benefit out of the compounds they pack inside. We can safely rule out that they could get high on the cannabinoids, however, since buds don’t contain any THC at all before the cannabinoid acids inside are heated for decarboxylation.

From a functional perspective, the sticky, stinky trichomes serve an altogether different purpose: they protect the flowers from external threats. The resin inside the microscopic glands acts as a barrier for all sorts of pests, but it mainly serves to shield the vulnerable parts of seeds and flowers against harmful UV radiation.

Grow Techniques For Better Cannabis Buds

Since growers tend to direct all their efforts at harvesting the maximum amount of cannabis buds, various techniques have been developed and perfected to grow as many large flowers as possible in the shortest amount of time. You can read more on these techniques in our dedicated Grow Blogs, including topics such as SCRoG, SoG, LST, topping, and FIM. As you will see, having the right knowhow and techniques handy can be very useful in maximising harvest potential.

Growing Cannabis Buds In All Colours And Flavours

So, has this extensive lowdown on cannabis buds has sparked your interest in growing some prime flowers yourself? You can find dozens of strains In our collection, suited for growing the finest flowers both indoors and outside. Remember that even the most beautiful flower starts out as a modest seed – and here at Amsterdam genetics, you will find genetics to grow cannabis buds in any colour, scent, or flavour anyone could ever ask for!

Pick Your Flowers

If you want to learn more about the biology behind all those fascinating cannabis plants, be sure to keep reading our latest blogs. Beyond that, growing great flowers is a matter of picking your favourite seeds and indulging in our premium floral delights!