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Tips For Growing Weed Outdoors: Make It Easier For Yourself

When you are just getting started with growing cannabis outside, it really helps if you keep things simple. Many of the best strains to grow outdoors consist of low-maintenance, easy-going genetics. Just order quality seeds, pick a good garden spot, and enjoy watching how nature takes its course. Read on for some tips for growing weed outdoor, and find the easiest way to get to your first outdoor weed harvest!

Easy Going, Easy Growing

Here’s a green fact for you: growing weed outdoors is easy – but you can make it as complex as you like by applying advanced grow techniques. If you’re new to the cannabis hobby, we recommend keeping things simple. This is actually one of the best tips for growing weed outdoors, especially if you have only limited prior experience.

Remember that cannabis is called ‘weed’ for a reason: your plants can and will thrive in just about any environment with minimal care and support. Basically, good seeds only need light, water, and good, healthy soil to thrive.

We have been helping outdoor cannabis gardeners get the hang of the hobby for decades, and we’ve seen plenty of people mess up their plants because they forgot to take – and make – it easy on their first few grows.

Start Out Small

Here’s some sound advice to get you started. One of the best beginner tips for growing weed outdoors is to keep it small. Even if you have a huge back yard, it’s best to start by growing just a few plants: three to five will help you keep your project manageable. You could try growing just one plant, but if you mess it up, you’ll be left with no backup plan(t)s.

The Best Strains To Grow Outdoors

Don’t be tempted by fancy strain names or spectacular harvest yield prospects when picking your first outdoor cannabis seeds. Some of the best strains to grow outdoors are fast-growing, hardy, low-maintenance autoflower cannabis seeds.

exotic purple autoflower — Our newest Autoflower Strain: a great option for outdoors!

Especially when growing weed in cooler Northern European climes, we recommend starting with autoflower seeds. These special strains start flowering earlier than non-autoflower photoperiod strains that depend on seasonal changes to flower. The speed of autoflowers allows you to harvest before the risky weather conditions of late August, September, and October set in.

If you’re lucky enough to live in a sunnier southern region, your options for growing weed outdoors are less restricted. Still, if you’re looking for useful beginner tips for growing weed outdoors, stick to easy strains: indica-heavy hybrid seeds are generally faster and easier to manage than sativa dominant strains.

Watering Outdoor Cannabis

Watering your weed correctly is arguably the most important of all tips for growing weed outdoors. The main mistake to avoid here is giving too much water. If that happens, especially in pots but even in open soil, you risk choking off the roots and hurting growth potential.

So how much water does a cannabis plant need, and how often? Many beginners are surprised to learn that weed doesn’t necessarily need water every day. Just check if your plants need water every day , and you’ll be fine.

Outdoors, precipitation, evaporation, and soil type affect how much water your plants need to stay healthy. As a rule of thumb (literally), you can stick your finger into the soil to check soil humidity. Always wait for the first few centimetres of soil to dry out before watering your plants. If it’s dry, soak the soil around the stem in water and let it sink in.

Be careful to water your plants early in the morning or after sunset to avoid the harsh summer sun from ‘burning’ the wet leaves. Check our full blog on watering cannabis to learn more about this crucial topic.

watering cannabis planys — Learn more about watering cannabis!

How Much Sunlight Do Weed Plants Need?

The second vital ingredient for outdoor weed growing is sunlight to fuel photosynthesis needed f犀利士
or growth. Don’t worry too much about how much light your plants receive: a few hours of direct sunlight a day is enough for most strains.

We have a dedicated blog to help you pick the best outdoor spots for your plants. For now, remember that planting weed in pots allows you to move your crops around if they need more sunshine or shelter from rain and storms. Remember to drill a few holes in the bottom of your pot pots for proper drainage.

The Best Nutrients For Your Outdoor Grow

If you think you have to add nutrients to help your cannabis plants grow, think again. If you have rich soil and possibly some good compost, you should be fine. If you do want to add nutes, go easy on your plants: adding too much can cause ‘nute burn’ that interferes with natural growth. If you want to know more about the best nutrients for all the stages of your outdoor grow, check our dedicated nutrition blog.

Our 100% organic Biotabs are a convenient way to gradually release additional nutrients into the soil without going too far.

stikstof kalium fosfor — Learn more about the key nutrients for cannabis!

Training Outdoor Weed Plants

As with all other tips for growing weed outdoors, we suggest keeping it simple when it comes to training techniques. All training comes with risks, and autoflower strains can be hard to train because they grow and flower too fast to recover from the stress you cause. Low Stress Training can be useful, but be careful not to snap the branches. Beyond that, steer clear of any advanced techniques until you complete your first few successful grows.

Ask For Advice

We have more great tips for growing weed outdoors in our expanding blog section. If you need quick advice, however, don’t hesitate to ask experienced growers for advice. Our customer service is always happy to help; but beyond that, there’s a large and friendly online grower community full of experts willing to help you finish your first outdoor cannabis grow.

Ask Questions About Your Outdoor Cannabis Grow

When you are starting your first cannabis grow project, you are likely to have a million questions about your outdoor cannabis grow. Any grower just getting into the cannabis gardening hobby will recognise the feeling. Even though a humble cannabis seed contains everything it needs to germinate, grow, and flower into a full harvest of home-grown weed, you’ll still want to avoid making mistakes that could ruin your project. That’s why most new growers search for information online, but that’s where things can get complicated fast.

An Information Jungle

It is easy to be overwhelmed by all the information available on how to grow weed at home. There’s just so much out there; and to further complicate matters, every experienced grower seems to have their own individual tips, tricks, and best practices to share.

So how do you find out which tips, techniques, and hacks will work for you? You could of course use a trial-and-error approach and see where it takes you, but that would risk wasting your precious cannabis seeds. If you’re an outdoor grower, making mistakes could force you to wait for next year’s outdoor season.

Fortunately, there is no need to take that risk. The best alternative to simply roughing it is asking questions about your cannabis grow and inviting the worldwide community to provide answers. If you know where to direct your questions, you are bound to receive useful answers that help you become a veteran home grower yourself.

Where To Look For Great Grow Solutions

Online information sharing has become one of the mainstays of the global cannabis grower community. And what a friendly community we’ve become! The (fading) atmosphere of taboo, criminalization, and even outright hostility ganja gardeners still face today has driven us into each other’s arms online. Turn to familiar platforms like Reddit or Instagram and you will soon discover a wealth of information provided willingly by growers from all over the world. Blogs, vlogs, and YouTube instruction videos are all over the web. Many growers will be happy to provide you with answers to the questions about your outdoor cannabis grow.

On top of that, we have our own Amsterdam Genetics customer service waiting to help you solve any grower issues. You can ask us all of your questions about growing weed, and we will do what we can to give you fitting answers. And that’s just for the rare occasions on which our extensive blog section doesn’t answer your queries straight away. Many novice growers struggle with their first germination process, for instance. Rest assured that we have expert info on popping those seeds waiting for you among dozens of useful Grow Blogs. Not sure on how and when to water your precious plants? No worries – we’ve got you covered. No matter what cannabis conundrum is on your mind, please feel free to ask us any questions about growing weed you may have!

Why You Should Ask Questions About Your Outdoor Cannabis Grow

When you start growing weed, you wil l soon realise that you are working with natural materials. That’s actually great news, because there is so much to learn as you watch the result of millions of years of evolution unfold before your eyes. On the other hand, nature can be fickle: there are many things that can go wrong before harvest time if you don’t recognise the first signs of trouble.

The best way to deal with these natural challenges is by asking your fellow gardeners for advice. Don’t be shy: ask the community to help you rule out possible causes of emerging problems. Solving problems through a process of elimination is usually the best way to proceed, and there are always growers who are happy to help you tackle your green issues.

Don’t hesitate to ask question and create buds like this Magic OG Kush

Tips For Asking Helpful Questions About Your Outdoor Cannabis Grow

If you are new to growing cannabis, it can be hard to ask the right kind of questions that will get you adequate solutions fast. To help you get the right answers to your cannabis growing questions, provide the community with the following information to help them identify your problems:

What seeds are you using (feminized/ autoflower/ regular), and what is the strain name?
What is your grow location (tent/ grow room/ garden /greenhouse/ balcony)?
What is your grow medium (soil/ coco/ hydro)?
How often do you water your plants, and how much water do you use?
Are you using additional nutrients? Which kind (brand) and how much?
What kind of grow lights do you use (LED/ HPS/ other) and what is their intensity?
What is your current lighting cycle (12-12/ 16-8/ other)?
What is your grow environment (temperature/ humidity)?
Nutrient water supply: what is your pH, EC, and TDS?

GrowDiaries Is Perfect For Asking Cannabis Growing Questions

One community platform that deserves special mention here is GrowDiaries.com. Here, marijuana growers of all nationalities and experience levels keep and share their online diaries featuring detailed information about their past and current grows. You are welcome to create an account and log your own personal grow projects here, including your photos, strain names, pH values, lighting cycles, grow behaviour, and so on.

The best part about GrowDiaries.com is its option to ask fellow growers for personal advice. It is probably the most accurate way to get tips that work for your unique situation, because anyone can access all the detailed grow info you choose to share. That enables expert growers to analyse your methods and visually inspect your plants from a distance. In a sense, this makes GrowDiaries the biggest online peer-to-peer weed helpdesk in the world.

As you can see, there is no reason to wait any longer before you start to grow your own weed at home. You have the power of nature on your side; and if things do seem to south somehow, you can always ask your cannabis growing questions to the vast and awesome online gardening community that is always glad to lend a hand!

Growing New Strains For The First Time

If you are considering growing new strains for the first time, you’re facing enough choices to make you lose sight of the forest for the ganja trees. That’s why we’re handing you a few simple guidelines to help you find the best cannabis seeds for beginner and veteran growers alike, no matter what your personal taste or grow purposes.

Growing New Strains For The First Time

No matter how many grows you’ve completed, and regardless of the superb strains you may have harvested, every one of us knows that familiar nagging sensation… It’s the small voice in the back of your head whispering: “but what if that next harvest would be even tastier, even more potent and even bigger than this last one?” It is the same familiar voice you can hear whenever a spectacular new strain catches your eye, and you can just smell those fresh buds simply by looking at them.

This voice is the curious, playful grower you carry deep down inside; even if you always pick the same cannabis seeds that happen to tick all you personal boxes. It’s whispering in your ear, encouraging you to try growing new strains and tasting them for the first time. Let’s face it: there’s still so much out there to sow, grow, and savour; and besides, the grass will always be greener on the other side…

But how do you go about choosing new strains and growing them for the first time? How do you pick the best genetics to match your personal situation, grow setup, and taste? Which cannabis seeds are best for a beginner, and which are more suited for advanced growers? We’re handing you some quick guidelines to help you decide, letting you expand your palate and experience to make you an even more proficient ganja grower.

Will You Plant Indica Or Sativa Seeds?

Choosing between growing new indica or sativa strains for the first time is a complicated affair even for experienced gardeners. Firstly, the respective sativa and indica labels don’t necessarily tell you much about a plant, its behaviour, or its effects. Moreover, the distinction between these two ‘subspecies’ is not as clear as you may think.

These days, you won’t find any ‘pure’ indica or sativa strains out there: all the current strains are hybrid crossbreeds. Strain descriptions often list percentages of both genetic lines to give you an impression of their origins.

Nonetheless, it can be helpful to know roughly what you’re getting when you order indica or sativa-dominant cannabis seeds. The following basic properties are important to consider when you’re considering growing new strains for the first time:

Indica Cannabis Strains

Grow with great speed and vigour in the vegetative stage;
Usually have shorter flowering times than sativas;
Often have shorter stature (convenient for indoor growing);
Leaves are broader;
Effects: more physically oriented, body buzz, stoned, relaxing, sleep-inducing;
Medical: often used for pain, stress, aching muscles

Sativa Cannabis Strains

Tend to grow and flower more slowly; stretch may continue in flowering phase;
Can grow to huge sizes, especially outdoors;
Narrow leaf structure;
Effects: more mentally oriented, brain buzz, high, uplifting, creativity, activating;
Medical: often used for low moods, fatigue and inspiration

Try Autoflower Strains?

These days, many growers select feminized autoflower strains by default when growing new strains for the first time. These special plants are nearly always female and start flowering by themselves within about 3-5 weeks. That saves a lot of complications regarding lighting adjustments, and it prevents accidental pollination of females by undiscovered male specimens (making feminized autoflower seeds some of the best cannabis seeds for beginner growers). In addition, they usually grow and flower at record speed.

Such rapid growth is great for anyone interested in harvesting more often, but especially when growing new strains indoors for the first time, you’ll appreciate plants that stop growing taller early by switching to flowering mode. This trait makes them perfect for growing in small tents or cramped grow rooms.

If you want to learn more about the benefits of growing fast feminized autoflower seeds indoors, check out this blog with inside information and the finest autoflower strains to try out for yourself.

Growing Strains With New Flavours For The First Time

You could also opt for growing new cannabis strains for the first time based on their flavour and scent. If you do, focus your attention on terpene profiles: the subtle interplay of aromatic compounds that determines the taste of weed.

cannabis terpenen meer smaak — Find the perfect strain for you: use the smell of terpenes!

Over one hundred different cannabis terpenes have been identified so far. Depending on their complex profiles, terpenes make buds taste like anything from citrus fruit (limonene) to earthy tones (humulene), or add a spicy twist to your flower (caryophyllene).

There’s plenty of wonderful flavours to try out there. How about growing a cannabis strain for the first time that tastes like chocolate, sweet and creamy pastry, dazzling diesel fumes, or the wild aroma of berries, banana, pineapple, or other exotic fruits?

Interestingly, each of these terpenes adds its own delicate touch to the high caused by its strain’s flower buds. You can learn more about this in our blogs on cannabinoid and terpene profiles, or in the specific background blogs on all the main cannabis terpenes.

Choosing Strains By Grow Properties

A final option is picking new strains to grow for the first time by considering specific grow properties. That means working from a true gardener’s perspective. If you do, these are your most important factors and characteristics to take into account:

Harvest yield: this is a rough indication of the amount of harvested weed to expect per plant or per square metre. Keep in mind, however, that a slow-flowering high-yield sativa plant may get you the same amount of bud you would harvest by growing two fast indica autoflowers consecutively over the same number of months. You’ll have fewer buds per plant, but that doesn’t matter if you can harvest after just half the flowering time;
Flowering time: this indicates how long plants take to produce mature buds from the first signs of flowering. Sativas tend to flower more slowly than indica dominant strains. This will impact your planning when growing new strains for the first time;
Stretch and size: ‘stretch’ indicates the extent to which (young) plants race up towards the light before they start to flower. Cannabis strains with high stretch properties tend to be impractical for growing in small grow tents, since they’ll soon reach your overhead grow lights, risking heat stress and failing to reach their full growth potential. Generally speaking, indica strains tend to have shorter, more compact stature than most sativa plants;
Sensitivity: sativa strains, especially the non-autoflower photoperiod kind, tend to be more sensitive to temperature, humidity, and lighting fluctuations than indica plants. That is why we would recommend tougher indica cannabis strains when growing new variants for the first time without much prior experience;
Resistance to mould and disease: when growing new strains for the first time, it is wise to consider their resistance to mould, disease, and pests. High-resilience strains are often the best cannabis seeds for a beginner, even though many of the most interesting exotic strains tend to be more sensitive. If you prefer one of the latter kind, it helps to know what to look out for to prevent getting into trouble.

As you can see, there’s plenty of choice out there when growing new strains for the first time. Fortunately, you have already made the most important decision: only use top notch cannabis seeds – but you’re going to be fine on that account as long as you stick with Amsterdam genetics seeds!

Insulate Your Grow Tent Or Room: Save Money, Reduce Noise and Smell

If you know how to insulate your cannabis grow tent or room, you can save some serious bucks while growing weed indoors. This blog helps you on your way to installing your very own DIY grow space insulation with minimum hassle.

Why Insulate Your Grow Tent?

Most indoor cannabis growers these days prefer the convenience of a grow tent to use as their foldable cannabis garden. Others convert an interior space into a full grow room. Regardless, knowing how to insulate a grow tent, or how to tackle grow room insulation, can make a big difference when it comes to harvest yields, grow efficiency, and electricity bills.

Insulation can also help keep your hobby a private affair, as insulting helps mask heat signatures, smell, and equipment noise while making your green efforts that much greener. If you mask the smell of growing weed, you can avoid detection while reducing your chances of annoying family members, flatmates, or neighbours.

amnesia haze amsterdam genetics seeds — Amnesia Haze is known for her intense and pungent smell

Cutting Back On Those Bills

These days, power usage and electricity bills are an important part of growing cannabis indoors. Skyrocketing energy costs can really spoil the taste of your harvest, and so, cutting back on your electricity expenses helps keep your hobby fun and worthwhile.

Applying proper grow room insulation can go a long way towards keeping growing weed affordable. Moreover, it helps reduce your carbon footprint. Trust us when we tell you your bud will taste even better knowing you have kept your environmental impact down to the bare minimum – and that’s before those electricity bills come rolling in!

energy efficient cannabis grow hacks — Learn more about saving energy on your grow!

Grow Room Temperature And Humidity Control

Managing your grow room or tent temperature and humidity control is crucial for healthy cannabis plants. Stable, consistent grow climate conditions give your crops the best shot at maximum harvest results. If you add insulation, it will become easier and more cost-effective to keep both relative air humidity and temperature levels constant: your premium cannabis seeds deserve it!

cannabis zaden 420 — Find your favourite Premium AG strains!

Protection By Insulation

Make no mistake: indoor grow conditions can be almost as unstable as outdoor garden environments. Winter outdoor temperatures affect your room temperature as well, and insulation helps counter these fluctuations. Perhaps more importantly, heat waves can crank up indoor temperatures fast, which can be fatal for anyone growing in exposed areas such as attics or extensions.

The same applies to air humidity. No matter how good your exhaust fans and air circulation are, you will be doing your plants a favour by improving the stability of moisture levels in your indoor garden. You’ll be doing yourself a favour too, because better insulation equals less worrying over sudden drops or rises in all the climate variables you need to manage when growing weed.

cannabis trend 2023 — Learn more about protecting your plants against heat!

Differences Between Tent And Full Grow Room Insulation

Tents and grow rooms can be insulated using the same kinds of materials. You can get these materials at any DIY store at reasonable prices, so consider your grow room insulation an investment that will pay off in terms of lower power consumption and added growing efficiency.

The main difference between a tent and a full room is usually a matter of floor and wall surface: spare bedrooms, attics, and garages tend to be much bigger than a regular grow tent. This difference is offset by the number of plants your grow room can accommodate: you’ll get bigger harvest yields in return for the extra insulation you apply.

At this point, it is worth considering that you may want to insulate the room where you place your grow tent or tents. Any heat and moisture kept in the surrounding room will contribute to a stable climate inside the tent. All in all, overall insulation quality of your designated grow area is worth considering before deciding where to put up your tent. Perhaps you could even insulate your grow tent as well as the room it is in for optimal effectiveness.

Cannabis Insulation Materials

Before you get started, take a minute to determine which insulation materials best suit your needs. We will discuss the three most commonly used types of insulation to help you decide.

Fibreglass

Fibreglass is a handy material for insulating entire homes, so it should work well in most grow rooms, depending on shape, size, and any obstacles that are part of the construction. Fibreglass is relatively affordable and pretty easy to install by yourself.

The big drawback of fibreglass insulation for grow rooms (or even tents) is the mess it produces when processed: these fibres can cause skin irritation and even harm your respiratory system. Always make sure to wear proper protection and clean up thoroughly when you’re done.

Reflective Foil

Reflective insulation foil is the usual means of insulating ready-made grow tents. This lightweight material is highly affordable and extremely easy to apply in problematic spaces. Reflective foil keeps heat inside while making optimal use of the light by reflecting it back into the room at different angles. Just make sure you don’t leave any light leaks open, because a tiny crack in your insulation can seriously ruin your growth and flowering prospects.

best place to grow weed indoors — Grow tents often come with inbuilt reflective foil!

Foam Board

Foam board is probably the cheapest grow room insulation material, making it a great choice for beginners with tight budgets. It is lightweight and easy to cut into any shape you need. In addition to great temperature control, foam board gives you additional moisture resistance, although it lacks the reflective capacity of foil to boost your lighting efficiency.

How To Insulate Your Grow Tent Or Grow Room

Insulating a grow tent is usually a pretty straightforward affair. The general idea is to improve its original insulation capacity by building a containment box around your tent for extra protection. Not only will this help stabilise your grow climate; it will also keep smells and noise inside to prevent annoying buzzing sounds and other nuisances. This can be done using any of the materials described above. A simple wooden frame is a good start here.

Another option is applying insulation inside the tent. Reflective foil is best suited for this purpose, but do make sure you keep the original walls of the tent intact. Leave enough space for any extraction fans, lighting rigs, and other equipment you want to use inside your tent.

When insulating an entire grow room, you can either choose to divide the room into insulated compartments for greater efficiency, or insulate the entire outer walls of the room in one go. Much depends on the amount of space you have available – and on the tolerance limits of any other people living in the same house, of course.

Always remember to put safety first, whichever materials you choose. Wear protective equipment such as face masks and gloves when working with fibreglass. Watch out while cutting up foam board and make sure to clean up the mess. Always try to leave power lines and other important utility features intact: you don’t want to risk electrocution, or interfering with the effective power grid you had running before you decided to insulate your grow room.

Getting Your Grow Room Or Tent Up And Running

If you need further information on maintaining ideal temperatures, air humidity, lighting schedules, or water and nutrient regimes, be sure to explore our Grow Blogs for more insider’s tips and tricks. If you’re not sure which room in your house is the best pace to grow weed indoors, this blog will help you decide.

If you have these basics covered, it’s time to order the best cannabis seeds Amsterdam can offer and start growing your own, well–protected, energy-efficient home-grown weed!

Myths About Weed: The Truth Behind Myths & Facts

There’s a lot of wild talk out there when it comes to growing weed. We try to debunk some of the main marijuana myths and hand you some solid facts about cannabis instead. That way, even if we don’t improve your growing accuracy, at least we’ll boost your cannabis trivia knowledge to help impress your friends at parties!

Uncovering The Facts About Cannabis

For centuries, all information related to cannabis consumption and cultivation was shrouded in a haze of mystery by default. Legal constraints, popular myth, and the ill-conceived international war on drugs all contributed to an overall sense of obscurity and taboo on all things dank and skunky.

We see it as our responsibility to help debunk some of the greatest and most persistent myths about cannabis. You will notice that many of these myths appear to be politically motivated somehow, probably intended to scare people away from a plant that has been praised, consumed, and enjoyed for millennia.

So without further ado, here are three persistent myths about weed, along with the relevant facts about cannabis to set the record straight.

Popular Myths About Weed: Death By Weed?

For decades, since long before the arrival of the internet in fact, there have been rumours about so-called “death by weed”, suggesting that consuming cannabis can actually kill you. This is an established marijuana myth, as there have never been reports about anyone dying from weed, period. For as long as we know, the total cases of cannabis deaths per year has been zero.

Even though any substance – including water and oxygen – will become toxic and even fatal at some point depending on overall volume ingested, there is just no way anyone could smoke or munch themselves to death. The sheer amount of cannabis, THC, or any other of its constituent cannabinoids required for a fatal dose would be too enormous to consume in a single session, or even a single day. As a matter of fact, our own physiology would prevent us from ever taking and toking so much: we would pass out on the floor long before death by weed became even remotely possible.

Some claim that even if this is true (which it is), consuming cannabis could cause severe brain damage that would be severely crippling if not entirely lethal. This is yet another clear example of pervasive myths about weed. Studies have demonstrated that even though cannabis can cause short term effects on memory, attention, and emotional states, these effects have never been proven to cause permanent brain damage.

The opposite could actually be one of the most positive facts about cannabis instead: various cannabis compounds are being studied for their potential merits in treating various brain conditions, including presently incurable neuropathology such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease!

Is Weed a Gateway Drug?

Another popular myth about cannabis is closely linked to the Gateway Drug Theory, also called Stepping Stone Theory by some. This theory suggests that use of relatively harmless substances like cannabis increases the likelihood of people switching to ‘harder’ and more harmful drugs such as heroin or amphetamines, for instance.

Multiple studies have demonstrated that this hypothesis is incorrect. Even if certain statistics show correlations between use of cannabis and use of other (illegal) substances, the theory is overly simplistic and ignores various social, biological, and political mechanisms at work.

Just like other myths about weed, including the lazy stoner stereotype discussed below, the Gateway Drug Theory should be consigned to a history marked by the unfounded persecution of people enjoying the recreational and medicinal potential of a plant that has been with us for ages – and which is likely to outlast our species with casual ease.

The gateway drug model could still apply to other substances, even if it is merely a myth when it comes to cannabis. The recent opioid crisis, for instance, has given rise to speculation that synthetic (prescription drug) opiates like fentanyl could act as a gateway towards abuse of other opiates such as heroin. Interestingly, medicinal cannabis has been suggested as an alternative for the abundance of opiates prescribed by doctors today.

cannabis dokter — Read more about Cannabis And Medication here!

So in addition to the fact that cannabis addiction is a hotly contended topic to say the least, weed could even help stop addiction epidemics that cost many thousands of lives every year.

So is weed a gateway drug? Science says it isn’t, and the opposite may in fact be closer to the truth. Perhaps it is time we added some new cannabis facts to replace some old myths about weed: marijuana could actually be a gateway towards safe and natural pain relief, instead of the stepping stone conservative pundits have long claimed it to be…

Facts And Myths About Weed: The Lazy Stoner Stereotype

Of the many myths about weed, few have been so prominently highlighted in popular culture as the lazy stoner stereotype. Media caricatures of cannabis consumers generally portray some sort of scruffy, lazy numbskull interested only in cartoons and the inside of the fridge. If you feel the whole thing once more smacks of propaganda in the war on drugs, that’s because you’re right – in part at least.

We will be the first to admit that cannabis ingredients such as THC can make anyone feel relaxed to the point of lethargy, especially the type of heavy bodybuzz associated with strong indica weed strains. This is hardly the whole story, however: there are many types of cannabis that produce entirely different effects.

Various sativa-heavy strains are bred, grown, and consumed specifically for the energizing, uplifting highs they produce. If you want an example, try one of our refreshing hazy sativa strains such as Lemon Haze seeds.

The type of high that debunks the lazy stoner stereotype is often fuelled not just by cannabinoids like THC or CBD, but by a whole auxiliary army of terpenes and other organic compounds such as flavonoids. Linalool, for instance, is just one example of an uplifting terpene, which is also found in lavender. Caryophyllene is another fine example, and the list goes on with over 100 different terpenes currently identified in weed strains.

The complex biochemical interplay that causes your high is a nuanced and delicate affair that involves dozens of different substances. Did you know, for instance, that cannabinoids can mutually influence, boost, or dampen each other’s mental and physical effects? Terpenes and flavonoids have the same ability, commonly known as the entourage effect.

entourage_effect — Click to read more about The Entourage Effect!

Today’s cannabis market offers such a staggering variety of strains that the old and speculative lazy stoner stereotype is definitely headed for the scrapyard. We have plenty of uplifting, mood-improving, creativity-inspiring and fatigue-busting strains to prove our point – and that’s a well-established cannabis fact that nobody can deny!

Cannabis And Paranoia

When you are high or stoned, your brain works differently. This can be a good thing, for people who use cannabis to counter stress or to cope with negative thoughts. For others, cannabis can cause and trigger paranoia. This can be a very unpleasant side effect and for a lot of people, it’s a reason to quit cannabis or not to use it at all. One of the possible causes are high THC percentages, combined with very low CBD and/or CBG percentages. In this blog, we’ll explain how cannabis can cause paranoia and how you can prevent it from happening during your next sesh.

Cannabis Paranoia: What Is It?

When someone is paranoid, they are convinced that others are against them. They become suspicious and look for reason behind everything. Some might think they are being followed or that there’s a big conspiracy going on. A person that’s paranoid, will always think someone or something is trying to bring them down. The most normal and harmless comments can suddenly be interpreted as an attack or a clue that suggests someone is trying to swindle them.

Paranoia is not the same as anxiety. There are some similarities, but it’s important to explain the difference. Anxiety or ‘angst’ is a normal emotion, especially when someone has experienced something that was frighting or drastic. Anxiety can make people feel worried about what people think of them. This will likely make them even more stressed or fidgety. The main difference here is that someone who’s feeling anxious might doubt, stress, and feel insecure about what people think about them. When you are paranoid, you are not in doubt, but completely convinced by your own irrational thoughts. Paranoia can be seen as the extreme version of anxiety.

This is the case for paranoia in general, as a personality disorder. It also applies to paranoia that’s triggered by the consumption of cannabis. In this instance someone is usually not paranoid, but feels this way throughout their high. The paranoid thoughts will fade away as the high fades. When someone experiences paranoia from cannabis, it’s usually not a pleasant or happy time. They feel suspicious, anxious and stressed. Some people never experience these kind side effects, others can’t avoid them. How does this work and how can you prevent paranoia from taking over your high?

Cannabis And The Brain: Why Does Paranoia Occur?

When consuming cannabis, the active components enter your bloodstream. Cannabis is rich in a variety of cannabinoids, like THC and CBD. As most of you will know, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the psychoactive substance and CBD (cannabidiol) has a calming non-psychoactive properties. When it comes to paranoia, THC is the most important component.

When trying to understand where paranoia comes from, it’s good to understand a little about the endocannabinoid system in your body. This system in responsible for a lot of different functions throughout the human, and a lot of animal’s, bodies. It makes sure that endocannabinoids, produced by the body, can transfer information to cells. The ECS is in the nervous system, the immune system, the brains, and many organs. Paranoia is caused by the connection that THC can make within the brain, in particular, the neurons of the amygdala.

cbd cannabis — Read our blog about the endocannabinoid system here!

Cannabis And The Amygdala

One of the taks of the amygdala is to experience, process, and direct emotions, mostly anxiety and stress. Endocannabinoids are involved in this too. They are produced by your body to regulate certain emotions, like anxiety. These endocannabinoids are broken down by enzymes once they’ve done their job. Vegetal cannabinoids like CBD and THC can cooperate with the ECS in the same way. What stands out, is that these cannabinoids are not broken down by the designated enzymes. THC and CBD can stay connected with the ECS, much longer than is needed. This can be the reason why some people experience paranoia after consuming cannabis.

Above all, THC connects with the GABA receptors in the brain. This causes the brain to stop releasing dopamine. This leads to an amplification of the dopamine levels which causes a euphoric feeling. When consuming cannabis for a longer period of time, the area in the brain that’s responsible for dopamine levels becomes overstimulated. This results in lower dopamine levels, which can result in social anxiety, which can lead to paranoia.

How To Prevent Cannabis Paranoia

Paranoia from cannabis has two sides: cannabis can also be used to battle anxiety. Research shows that THC has anti-anxiety properties within the amygdala. It can even be used in therapy against PTSS. For some people however, cannabis can trigger anxiety and paranoia. Luckily, there are multiple ways to prevent cannabis paranoia.

Firstly, choose the strain you’re consuming wisely. The more THC that’s consumed, the more likely someone is to experience paranoia or other unwanted side effects. A strong strains or even concentrates can make dosing a lot harder. Apart from this, the ratio of CBD:THC can also be of influence. Not much research has been done on this front, but from experiences and some small researches, it looks like strains with more balanced CBD:THC rations can drastically decrease the psychoactive effects, therefore minimizing the chance of feeling paranoia. CBD:THC balanced strains are becoming more popular in the legal states of the US too. CBD can ‘mute’ the psychoactive effects of THC to give a more calm, relaxing, and body high.

Another import factor you should weigh in: your own mood. If you are sensitive for anxiety or even paranoia, cannabis can amplify these feelings, especially when using cannabis for the first time. If you are diagnosed with paranoia, we recommend talking to your doctor first, cannabis might not be the ideal flower for you.

As discussed before, CBD can also minimise the chance of feeling paranoia or anxious. Using CBD Oil might be a useful and natural solutions to combat paranoia, because it defuses the functioning of the CB1 an CB2 receptors. THC, on the other hand, activates these receptors. You could choose to consume a more balanced THC:CBD strain, or mix a THC-dominant strains with a CBD-dominant strain like Blue Monkey CBD. This way, you can enjoy the psychoactive and relaxing effects from THC, while minimizing the chance that you get paranoid.

CBD STRAIN BLUE MONKEY — Probeer bijvoorbeeld onze Blue Monkey CBD!

What To Do When You’re Feeling Paranoid?

What if you used cannabis and you start to feel paranoid? First of all: ask help from a friend or someone you trust. Your brain is not thinking rationally, let them explain that to you! Also, don’t forget to remind yourself that the high is temporary, and so is the anxiety. Make sure to head to a ‘safe space’, put on some relaxing music and try to chill out. If you know cannabis can cause paranoia for you personally, make sure pick strains you’ve had comfortable experiences with, and keep some CBD Oil within your reach. This can help you with calming down whenever the high is a little too much.

How To Grow Cannabis Faster

There are many different kinds of growers. Some enjoy the slow, long lasting proces that the plants go through and just love the gardening. This has resulted in some awesome bonsai projects, where growers form and train their cannabis plants to create the most amazing structures. Some, however, don’t care so much about the proces, and are more result-oriented. They just want big buds in the shortest time possible. This could be because growing cannabis is still illegal in most countries, or they might grow commercially in countries where growing in cannabis is already legalized. Luckily, growing cannabis quickly is not so difficult! We’ll explain how to grow cannabis faster in this blog.

It All Starts With Genetics

Some genetics need a longer flowering phase faster than others. Indica-dominant genetics, for example, flower for about 45-60 days on average. Sativa-dominant genetics can flower for 60-90 days! This makes a big difference, considering the total flowering time could differ up to 45 days. Sativa-dominant strains grow taller and bigger buds, but not as dense as most indica-dominant strains. Although sativa-dominant strains grow bigger and taller buds, the yield are usually comparable, since the buds are not that dense. For people who want to grow cannabis faster, strong indica-dominant strains are a good option.

Shop high quality cannabis seeds at Amsterdam Genetics!

Autoflowers

With a total lifespan of 10-17 weeks, even indica-dominant strains require some patience. If you are a die-hard sativa fan, but still want to grow faster: autoflower strains might be the perfect solution. These plants start flowering when they reach a certain size, and are not dependent on a change of light hours. They usually start pre-flowering after 2-5 weeks of vegetative growth. Some very fast autoflowers can even be harvested within 10 weeks. Beside all this, since autoflowers are not dependent on the change of light hours, growers can keep their lights on a 18/6, 20/4, or even a 22/2 light schedule throughout the complete grow. This has a huge impact on the pace of the grow.

outdoor grow season autoflower — This Choco Kush Autoflower Strain might be the perfect option for you!

Indoors Or Outdoors?

The ever-lasting debate among growers: is growing indoors is better than outdoors? When growing indoors, you will have much more control on your grow and the different phases a cannabis plant goes trough. You can easily change the lights, temperatures and humidity. With the right knowledge, it is definitely possible to accelerate the growth of your outdoor cannabis plants. Read on to find out more about this!

Changing The Light Schedule Indoors

Photoperiod plants start flowering as soon as the hours of light decline, this tells the plant that summer is ending, which triggers to plant to start flowering. This can easily be done indoors, by changing the light schedule from 18/6, 20/4, or even 22/2 to 12/12. This gives a lot of freedom: you could choose to keep your plants in the vegetative phase for just a few weeks, or for a very long time. This will result in bigger plants with higher yields. The SOG method is a technique that profits from this. With this technique, many individual plants are grown on a relatively small surface. Each individual plant will grow for just a few weeks before initiating the flowering phase. This is one of the popular methods to grow cannabis plants faster. Read more about this method in our blog:

sea of green cannabis weed — Learn all about the SOG method here!

Another option, is to keep the lights on for 24 hours a day during the vegetative phase. This will make your plants grow way faster, as they are forced to constantly keep growing. This means you can initiate the flowering phase sooner. Be aware that a 24/0 light schedule can induce stress. Cannabis plants naturally need sleep, just like all living organisms!

The Right Nutrition Indoors

Cannabis plants require different kinds of nutrition during the different growth phases. During the vegetative phase, it’s import to feed them nutrition with enough nitrogen. Nitrogen induces the production of chlorofyl, which is key to converting energy (light) to sugars, and helps the plants grow faster. Plants need nitrogen during the flowering phase too, but way less than during the vegetative phase. Be sure not to overfeed your plants with nitrogen, this can weaken the stems of your plants and gives the flowers a weird taste. Overall, bad nutrition will slow down the growth of your cannabis plants, good nutrition will help you grow your cannabis faster.

During the flowering phase, cannabis plants mainly need phosphorus and potassium. Phosphorus helps with releasing nutrition for the plant, so the plant can absorb other nutrients efficiently. Potassium helps with many things, such as strong stems, the production of ATP for energy storage, a strong immune system, and sturdy buds. If you want to learn more about nutrition for cannabis plants, check out our blog that discusses this subject thoroughly.

Growing Hydroponic Indoors

Growing hydroponic means that your plants’ roots are not settled in soil, but directly in the water. This makes it possible to feed your plants more precisely, and uses less water. When growing hydroponically correctly, it can help with growing cannabis faster. Growing hydroponic is not as difficult as it might seem, which is why it’s becoming more popular among hobbyists as well. Learn more about hydroponic growing in this blog!

hydroponics diagram — Click here to read the blog!

Changing The Light Schedule Outdoors

For those who want to grow photoperiod plants outdoors, it’s a takes a lot of effort to increase the pace of the growth. An option is to put the plants under a light during the night, which is a hassle. Apart from this, it’s not a real outdoor grow anymore.

What might be easier, is to force your plants to start flowering sooner. This can be achieved by covering your plants, or putting them in the dark somehow, before the sun sets. When the plants receive 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness, they will start flowering. You’ll have to check when the sun rises and sets, so you can time this trick perfectly and force your plants to start flowering sooner. This will shorten the overal time of the grow, and help you grow your cannabis faster.

Pollinate Your Buds

The cannabis plant forms her buds to produce enough aroma’s, in order to be pollinated by a male cannabis plant. Usually, growers try to avoid this, because the plant will transfer her energy from producing big buds to producing seeds. When you manually pollinate your ladies about a week before harvest, this will accelerate the maturation of the buds. Make sure to harvest your plants before the seeds develop.

Back To Genetics

It turns out that there are many things you can to make sure you can grow your cannabis plants faster. However, the main influence is the genetics you’re growing. With photoperiod, sativa-dominant plant, you’ll need to put in a more of an effort than with photoperiod indica-dominant plants. Autoflower plants remain the quickest of all. For a good results, without too much effort, our Blue Amnesia Autoflower is a good option. This sativa-dominant autoflower strain will finish her growing cycle quickly. Apart from this strain, we have many indica-dominant autoflower strains to choose from, such as: Choco Kush Autoflower, Milkshake Kush Autoflower, and many more!

If you’d rather grow photoperiod plants, Dutch Duchess might be the perfect option for you!

Your Cannabis Horoscope

Here at Amsterdam Genetics, we tend to keep things scientific. But for today, we’ll explore the spiritual side. We’re going to figure out your cannabis horoscope! Some people despise horoscopes, others swear by them. Wether you believe in them or not, it can always be interesting. What did the stars tell us about you, and what kind of strain would suit you best? Let’s find out!

Which Cannabis Strain Suits Your Horoscope?

You might have never linked the lineage of the stars with what you like to grow or consume. Even though, many people base a lot of important decisions on their horoscope. So why not base you cannabis choices on your zodiac sign? We will not be discussing the logic or science about astrology, as there is not much to discuss on that front. Instead we’ll be heading straight into the cannabis horoscopes for every zodiac sign, so be sure to use it to your advantage!

Aries (21st of March – 20th of April)

Aries is definitely a spicy zodiac sign, and knows all about ups and down. Aries can be the very happiest zodiac sign, but can get extremely mad when things aren’t going their way. Aries is a real go-getter, which can have it’s down sides. Sometimes they just want a little too much, resulting in lots of frustration. Luckily, our cannabis horoscope can help!

For those moments, a nice indica strain would be very suitable. With a heavy bodybuzz, Critical Mass (Regular) can help you calm down to the fullest. Believe us, a few hits of this amazing strain will cool down your nerves and lock you to your couch. But don’t worry, you’ll still be able to focus, so Aries can plan and analyse all their thoughts and idea’s.

Taurus (21st of April – 21st of May)

Tauruses just love their comfort. Laid back on the couch, with a Netflix show on, and lots and lots of snacks. Taurus won’t be needing an indica strain, that would just lock them on the couch forever!

Besides all this, Tauruses are know to bottle up their feelings, resulting in an explosion sometimes. When Tauruses want to feel energetic to chat and socialize with friends, the Grapefruit Superstar will help with that. A whopping 90% sativa-dominant strain will help Taurus to be more social and active, as long as they don’t over do it!

Gemini (22nd of May – 21st of June)

Gemini is an impulsive one, that’s for sure. Apart from being very social, Geminis love to take on new challenges and projects. Finishing them, however, is not their strong suit. Due to their short concentration span, Geminis will often loose focus before finishing something off.

That won’t stop them from taking on a challenge, but since Gemini’s can easily lose their focus, we recommend a strain that won’t need as much time and attention. There’s not too much time for that in the busy and buzzing life of a Gemini. That’s why we would recommend an easy Autoflower strain. Our Choco Kush Autoflower won’t need too much care, and it’s effect is perfect for Geminis to relief their active brains and enjoy a nice calm down.

Cancer (22nd of June – 22nd of July)

This is one of the most empathetic zodiac signs out there. A sensitive, sequestered type that can easily tell how people around them are feeling. Their shy characters prevent them from expressing their feelings, even if they’re feeling down. This makes Cancer a true homester, but one who won’t doubt to go out to support friends and family. Therefore, Cancer is one of most caring and selfless zodiac signs of all.

Taking all this into account, we hope that the Cancers out there reading this will excite themselves, which is why we would recommend our Sketch cannabis strain. The happy and uplifting effect this strains gives is perfect for fighting the blues. Beside this, it’s can help fight depressive feelings too.

Leo (23rd of July – 23rd of August)

Just like a movie star, Leos love their attention, and it won’t cost them much effort! With a social character and a great sense of humor, most people see Leo’s as pleasant company. When Leo’s aren’t getting all the attention they desire, or if someone disagrees with them, it can result in some repercussion. Sometimes even resulting in theatrical situations, where Leo’s can stay irritated for days on.

Leo’s don’t like sitting about, and don’t really need much relaxation. They can, however, use a strain to cool down their spicy temper. Quicksilver is the perfect combination of being stress relieving, while keeping a cheerful and energetic effect for the perfect mix. With this strain, Leo will keep the social spirits high, whilst quenching their spicy temper.

Quicksilver seeds — Shop Quicksilver Cannabis seeds here!

Virgo (24th of August – 22nd of September)

Virgo is an earth sign, meaning they like to keep both feet on the ground. Besides this, they are friendly, tidy and economical. Because of their sobriety, it often seems as if Virgo’s are simple and straight forward people. This is not the case at all, Virgo’s remain a mysterious existence.

Virgo’s will only show their real selves to the people they let in, meaning not everyone knows them as well as they might think. Letting go of their control, if something Virgo’s find very hard to do. When it comes to cannabis strains, Virgo’s still cherish being in control. Spicebomb gives a perfect balance between a calm body buzz with a subtle head high. Thanks to it’s indica-dominant ancestors, this strain won’t give the trippy effects other Zodiac signs might be looking for!

Spicebomb seeds — Check out this beautiful and dense Spicebomb bud!

Libra (23rd of September – 22nd of October)

This Zodiac sign, Libra, is the most diplomatic one of all. Thanks to their abilities to look towards situations from all angles, they are the perfect mediator to resolve conflicts of people around them. Libra is definitely not easily upset, and very hard to impress. This special look towards life sometimes make them forget other people can be more easily upset or hurt. Sometimes this can cause some unpleasant situations, when the Libra is mainly focussed on their own needs. Libra’s also like to joke around behind people’s back, and being surprised that people don’t appreciate that. Luckily, thanks to their happy en fascination personality, Libra’s are really easy to forgive.

We’ve chosen a strain to help all Libra’s out there that seek a little more balance, and recommend our Magic OG Kush for this. This hybrid strain balances out evenly and will hit with a light head buzz first, followed by heavy stoned feeling that won’t allow you leave to your couch.

Scorpio (23rd of October – 21st of November)

Scorpio is definitely the most intense Zodiac sign of all. That sure says something! With their mysterious aura and high intelligence, Scorpio has no trouble contouring the heart of people around them. Anyone who enters the life of a Scorpio will be shocked by what’s waiting for them. What’s guaranteed is a good dose of dark humor and immersion, and a Scorpio will remember everything.

The down side of all this is the possessive and jealous side of Scorpio’s. When a conflict occurs, they will do anything to be on the winning side. This doesn’t exclude verbal aggression. That’s why we’d recommend a strain that triggers the sensual emotions, and won’t make Scorpio’s too talkative. An indica dominant strain would be the most suitable for Scorpio’s, like our Dutch Duchess strain. With genes from sunny California, this plant gives a mellow effect along with a long lasting euphoric sensation.

dutch duchess strain — Shop Dutch Duchess Seeds and order online!

Sagittarius (22nd of November – 22nd of December)

Sagittariuses are adventurous by nature, and smoothly sways through life, thanks to their radiant optimism. This makes their cannabis horoscope extra interesting. Sagattariuses like to expend their knowledge and tend to have a passion for nature, animals and philosophy. They prefer to be around people with the same mindset, and talk about their passions for hours. Not all of Sagattarius’ traits are positive, they get bored easily and can’t stand obligations. Don’t expect them to be in time, Sagattariuses will arrive when they desire.

If a Sagittarius is looking to make their friends as philosophical as themselves, some Super Silver Haze might do the trick. This strains gives an explosive creatieve and energetic effect, guaranteed to trigger some profound conversations!

Capricorn or Ibex (23rd of December – 20th of January)

The Capricorn is an intelligent and attractive Zodiac sign. Thanks to their perfectionism, Capricorns often look very fashionable. They demand the best of themselves, good is never good enough: it has to be perfect. This might give the impression that the Capricorn is very individualistic, they like to solve their problems on their own. Despite their blunt character, a Capricorn can be a great friend. They will always be there for you, no matter what.

Even though the Capricorn won’t easily show their own emotions, they will always be there for others. We want to advice all Capricorns to reach out to others more often, and to open up. That’s why our strain recommendation is our very own Lemon Haze, a classic happy strain that will put life a in new perspective. Besides this, this strain is guaranteed to make you laugh and chatter. It might even trigger the romantic side of the rigid Capricorn.

Aquarius (21st of Januari – 19th of February)

Just like a river stream, Aquarius has an unpredictable and eccentric personality. One thing is for certain, Aquariuses will not be bored easily. They are open for new ideas, as long as they contain fun. Because of their versatile personality, Aquariuses are keen to experience and learn new things. This, combined with their social character, makes a great conversation partner.

There is a downside to all this, Aquariuses can be incredibly stubborn and can even get mad when things aren’t going their way. During a situation like this, Aquariuses can use some alone-time. The perfect company for this would be our Green Magic cannabis strain, which suits Aquariuses cannabis horoscope perfectly. Thanks to its indica dominant side, this strain will put the body and mind at ease in a pleasant way.

Pisces (20th of February – 20th of March)

A spiritual, soft hearted, and dreamy personality, that’s how we would describe the Pisces Zodiac sign. They usually have an artistic side to, that can result in beautiful pieces of art when accompanied by their profound way of thinking. Even though Pisces are very compliant people, they value their own strong opinions. They don’t necessarily feel like proclaiming their opinions all the time, but when someone goes over the line, they won’t hold back. Pisces have to learn how to do this in a calm way, they’d rather avoid harsh confrontations.

The worst case scenario is that Pisces will avoid others. They are merciful, but don’t expect them to make the first move. To support their creative and social side, we would advice our Blue Amnesia Haze strain. Get your brushes and tools ready after smoking this strain, Pisces will bring them to use!

Your Horoscope And Your Perfect Personal Cannabis Match

And..? Can you feel the stars’ inspiration for your next grow? Take this Cannabis Horoscope and set sail to our webshop to shop the perfect cannabis seeds, for you! Or check out this blog to dive even deeper into the sea of personally matched cannabis seeds!