first time growing weed at home

Growing Cannabis: From Seed To Harvest

Welcome to the sequel to my first post on growing cannabis at home. In it, I explained what you need to get set up for your very first weed grow. After that, you ordered your perfect seeds to work with. That means we’re all ready to roll up those sleeves and get growing! Your weed plants will go through a lot between the moment your seeds germinate and that first taste of your harvest. In this blog, I’ll discuss the stages you’ll go through before you get to enjoy the fruits of your very first cannabis grow at home!

 

Hans Plomp writing

Nibameca

Looking for genuine first-hand grow expertise, sleeves rolled up and boots in the mud? You’ll find plenty in our Nibameca blogs & grow guides ! Ever since discovering White Choco genetics, this cannaboss refuses to leave our AG grow program – and rightly so. This veteran grower is all about top quality, innovation and sustainability in indoor grow projects. This Amsterdam Genetics Grow Guru shares his experience with our readers to make the most out of every weed seed you’ll ever plant!

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Baby Steps: Germinating Your Weed Seeds

When growers receive their Cannabis seeds, it is time to germinate. Germination is the first step of the real growing adventure: so far, everything was just preparation. Once a cannabis seed germinates, its protective shell cracks open, and the first tiny root peeps out. For the sentimental grower, this is an emotional moment – a bit like childbirth, actually. It’s also a moment, however, to be very delicate in handling cannabis seeds.

amsterdam genetics cannabis seeds

Personally, I prefer the following high success rate germination procedure. I take a glass of lukewarm water and gently chuck in the seeds. Then, I leave them alone someplace dark for 12 to 24 hours. I check them regularly: as soon as I see white tips (taproots) emerge, I carefully pick up the seed with a pincer. I place them root-down into a pre-watered grow plug. I use a water and root stimulator mix following user instructions. Then I put the plug and seed in my propagator and patiently wait for them to surface.

germinating first home grow cannabis seeds

You’re probably thinking: grow plug? Propagator? Root stimulator? What?! No worries: germinating is 100% natural. All cannabis seeds really need is light and water. Check out my preferred germination method here, or follow this grow guide to plant germinated seeds directly into the soil. Find out what works best.

germinating weed seeds
Germinated and planted: your grow is good to go!

From Germination To The Growth Stage Of Your Very First Cannabis Home Grow

After germination comes the vegetative or growth stage of the cannabis life cycle. In indoor conditions, the plants will keep on growing as long as they get 18 hours of light. This is a 16-8 lighting regime (18+6=24, i.e., a whole day). Autoflower strains are an exception; these switch from growth to flowering automatically.

Once the seeds become seedlings, with roots showing on the sides and bottom of the grow plus (usually after about four days), they’re ready for planting. I start with small P9 size flower pots. I’ll leave them for 7 to 11 days to give the roots time to develop, creating a stable habitat.

White choco first home grow cannabis
The growth stage begins.

The next step is transferring them to the full-sized grow tent. Time to repot ad\gain: choose a flower pot that matches your approach and available space. In my case, that’s 18 litres.

I continue the growth stage until I’m happy about plant size. It usually takes about three weeks, but my perfect size will differ from your ideal dimensions. It’s all up to you, and when you’re done, it’s time to start growing flower buds. Let’s start the flowering stage!

From Growth To Flowering

The flowering phase is where the actual magic happens. At this point, your home grow will start developing the (flower) buds containing the THC, CBD and other useful compounds. You can initiate the flowering stage by making your plants believe the calendar has moved past its midsummer peak. How, you wonder? Easy: just make the days shorter! Grab your timer and change the lighting settings from 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness to 12 hours of light/ 12 hours of dark. There you go; you’ve just started late summer in your tent! After about 8 to 12 days, you’ll see the first flowering hairs or pistils emerge. That’s a good sign: your plants have started flowering.

first cannabis home grow indoor

The transition from the growth to the flowering stage is marked by serious stretching. The cannabis plants soar up to the tent roof; some strains can triple their height at this point. Take this into account to make sure your plants fit your grow space.

Keeping Your First Cannabis Home Grow In Check

There’s all sorts of techniques to keep plant size under control.

LST, or low-stress training, simply amounts to bending and fixating your plants. This ensures maximum grow surface spread and enough light for optimal flowering across all branches.

Sea Of Green (SOG) allows you to grow more plants per square metre. You switch to 12/12 lighting early, creating a ‘sea’ of flowering buds.

SCReen Of Green (SCROG) instead accommodates fewer plants per square metre. Bending branches allows you to weave them through a screen or wire frame. That improves light distribution, allowing for SOG-like results using fewer plants in the same space.

Don’t Wake The Neighbours

Well, you’ve made it: at this point, your cannabis plants are in full bloom! Some strains have a 7-week flowering phase, while other flower for up to 14 weeks. Decide what you want before you start. Keep a tight grip on your grow climate in the flowering phase. If it gets too cold, bud development stagnates. High air humidity invites bud rot, mildew, and other pests to ruin your harvest.

flowering weed

Personally, I just love the flowering stage. You can watch the buds develop, rewarding your hard work so far. Still, the flowering stage comes with its own particular risks. As your budding colas flower, the lovely aroma of fresh weed spreads. Of course, we don’t want to share that with neighbours and passers-by. That stresses the need to use proper filtering with exhaust fans and carbon filters. Here’s a helpful tip in case you can’t control the stink, or if your power blacks out: always have a bottle of vinegar handy! In case of emergence, put a pan of vinegar on the cooker. Yes, it smells awful, but the vinegar stench will also neutralize the odour of your weed!

Harvesting And Trimming

Indeed, we’ve been saving the best for the last: harvesting those plants to find out how much they yield! It’s almost time to start trimming. At this point, keep the air humidity n your tent between 30 and 45% to prevent fungi and bud rot issues. You don’t want to lose all that hard work right before the finish line!

Can I Trim Yet?

As the flowering stage draws to a close, keep watching your trichomes. Trichomes are the little ‘crystals’ glittering on the buds and the small sugar leaves around them. In fact, they’re not crystals, but resin glands. They hold all the active compounds we’re after. Trichomes clearly indicate when it’s harvest time.

harvesting trichomes

A small, cheap USB pocket microscope or a jeweler’s lens are great for determining trichome maturity. Clear transparent trichomes are a sign to wait some more. Once they turn milky white, with a few amber-coloured trichomes among them, you’re ready to cut the flowers. Harvest time is finally here!

Trimming And Drying Your First Cannabis Home Grow

Harvesting and drying your buds can be done in various ways as well. You can let the buds dry first and trim them later, but some prefer to do it the other way around. In that case, branches loaded with buds are hung upside-down in the tent to dry before trimming. The downside is that your precious trichomes dry out, making them brittle and easy to lose while trimming.

first cannabis home grow drying

That’s why I prefer to trim first, and then drying the buds in a drying net in the same room where I grew them. I allow fresh air into the tent and keep it flowing to cut mold risks. The buds take two to three weeks to dry.

With the lights off, drying net in place, and exhaust fan running at 50%, air humidity slowly drops. Your buds are dry as soon as bending branches makes them snap.

Curing Your First Cannabis Home Grow

Now comes the last stage: curing your cannabis and processing the trimmings. Never just dump your trimmed leaves in the bin; use it for good. You can make hash or delicious edibles from what’s left over: this plant has more to offer than buds alone!

After drying, I carefully remove all the buds from the nets and place them in glass mason jars to cure. The buds cure gradually, improving their taste and ‘maturing’ them until they are perfect for smoking. Curing buds is a straightforward affair: simply stick them in a jar and wait. Give them time to ‘burp’, though: open them for a few minutes to refresh the air inside and return them to their dark storage location. How long you cure is matter of personal taste. I personally cure my weed for one month before that sweet day arrives: time to smoke those fabulous Amsterdam Genetics! Let’s not kid ourselves here: this is what we’ve been working so hard for, isn’t it?

curing cannabis amsterdam genetics

Let me conclude with a personal warning: try to curb your enthusiasm! Of course you’re proud of your results, and you should be! Still, avoid the mistake of telling taal tales to your friends. Keep your hobby to yourself, just like back when you started out. Oh and another thing: you now probably have more weed lying around than ever before. Don’t go and smoke your brains out now; handle your harvest responsibly. Well-cured cannabis will last for a long time. Enjoy your crop, but enjoy it responsibly.

Nibameca’s Final Thoughts

I hope I helped you make the best start at managing a first ever cannabis home grow! I wish growers all the best and lots of fun, as well as heaps of homegrown weed of course. Should anything go wrong along the way, then don’t despair. I’ve run into some minor setbacks myself – and major ones too.

My biggest mistake ever was leaving the lights on after flowering in the room where I set up my tent. Sadly, the tent wasn’t light-proof, so my plants got stressed out and turned into hermaphrodites. The result: a whole harvest full of seeds that was no use at all… Fourteen weeks of work down the drain! I also made the mistake of pumping out my entire 60L nutrient mix tank in one go once. Pretty bad for plants capable of handling 10 litres at once max…

Nibameca.

 

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