How To Grow Marijuana Indoors

We are about to dive into a one-stop guide to growing some of the finest dank inside your own home, safe, secure and without and legal threat.

The first initial step, which you probably have done correctly already seeing as you are here, is to purchase some fine genetics from a well-known seed company, let us say Nirvana for example.

There are however other methods of starting a cannabis plant, by the use of clones. This will be covered in a slightly later stage. First things first.

Starting from seed with reputable genetics from a well know seed bank is the safest way to guarantee good results.

The seed is like a sleeping embryo, the result of sexual propagation between male and female flowers. Only healthy parent plants will produce healthy top quality seeds. All the features of the plant, be it the height, color, aroma or quality, all depend on the seed.

If you want good-quality marijuana, you need good-quality seeds.

But how do you select a seed worth growing?

Avoid pale seeds, green seeds, and soft or damaged seeds. These are not mature or ready for germination and will be a waste of time energy and resources.

Cannabis seeds should have a hard outer shell. So what you’re looking for is hard, dark brown teardrop-shaped seeds, these seeds have beautiful markings on them in shades of dark brown and grey. These markings or patterns often resemble that of a tiger’s stripe.

There are numerous strains of seed available. But whatever the strain, you’ll also need to choose between regular seeds that could produce male or female plants and feminized seeds that should produce only the bud-producing female plants you’re aiming to harvest.

On to germination

We should by now know that we have various methods of germination. Soaking however is the easiest and most reliable option, however as they say though, different strokes for different folks. The method you choose to use is entirely up to you.

Soaking

In this method you need a normal cup filled with water. One could adjust the ph to a range between 5.5 and 5.8

Put the seeds into the cup of water. You will then see the seeds float perfectly on top of the water, creating the perfect balance between oxygen and moisture. Then place the cup inside a dark area and wait for germination.

Expect the seeds to germinate in the following 48 hours or so.

Some seeds will even begin to sprout within 24 hours. Look out for that white tap root.

Germination in soil

Some growers prefer to germinate in the soil. This method is also easy and works.

You need to take a pot filled with soil, soak the soil with some PH regulated water or distilled water and let the water drain. Once the soil is moist all the way through make a little hole for the seed to be placed into.

Now put the seed in and then close the top opening of the hole so that no light pollution is greeted by the seedling in its new home.

Spray water and keep it moist until you find a small sprout coming up from the soil.

Remember that it will require a normal room temperature to germinate in soil, which is around 25 degrees Celsius. This method is a lot slower that the soaking in a cup method and growers can expect to see results in the form of a sprout from 5-7 days of placing the seed into the soil.

Propagation Kits

Propagation kits are inexpensive and give good results.

They will come with their own instructions, but generally you have to pour the seeds into tiny pots or compartments, add the germination hormone or nutrient mix that comes with the kit, and the process gets started.

You can even create your own propagation machine, although purchasing it from market doesn’t cost you much.

Paper Towel Method

Two dishes, two paper towels and some water is needed for this method of germination.

To start off with we need a clinically clean area, the two dishes where the seeds will be placed in need to be cleaned thoroughly to avoid any contamination on the new sensitive taproot of the seedlings. Soak the paper towels in PH regulated water or distilled water. Make sure the papers towels are not drenched, so give them a squeeze and make sure they are wet all the way through. A good indicator is for the towel not to drip while hanging from your hand.

Place one paper towel on a dish, put some seeds on it, cover them with another paper towel and then use the second dish as a lid. This is necessary to prevent light entering this environment. Seeds will take 2 to 5 days to germinate through this method.

Remember that you don’t want to leave the germinated seeds on towel for too long. Transfer them from the paper towel as soon as the sprouts show their tips.

Germinating in Peat Briquettes

Soak a peat briquette in water and let it swell. Now push a seed into the hole. Keep it in a hot temperature, like in 26 degrees Celsius, a heat mat works wonders in this regard. Keep it moist and wait for the sprouts to come out.

Note that you can select any of the above-mentioned methods of germinating seed. Go with whichever suits you the best.

Cannabis Seedlings

Once your seedling has successfully sprouted and been situated for a few days it is time to determine whether she needs to be transplanted. Take a look at the size of the initial germination container and estimate growth expectancy. A good indication of the need for a transplant is when the roots start poking out of the holes of the container at the bottom.

At this early stage, a baby plant needs intense care.

Do not water the plant too much—big mistake. Also, pay attention to the amount of light it is getting.

Within the first week of growth, it is not necessary to add any fertilizers or growth nutrients. The plant will sustain itself from germination to the first set of true leaves.

Remember also that marijuana seedling requires approximately 18 hours of light on a daily basis. Set your light to 18/6.

What You’ll Need to Monitor During Growing

Now that your plants are growing up healthily and strong, we need to keep monitoring a few vital things.

First and foremost, we need to pay attention to nutrient deficiencies as well as toxicities. Both can have similar symptoms and equally devastating results. In general, look out for lightening then yellowing in older mature leaves, spots of different kinds, various sorts of discoloration and unhappiness. Wilting in leaves and misshaped leaves can also be a sign of stress pointing to deficiencies or toxicities.

The 3rd to 5th week can be the best time to determine whether your plant is growing healthily or not. If the color of the plant is a perfect green, branches are strong and dense and everything looks fine during this period then you should be satisfied that it is growing the right way.

Sometimes it appears that the stems of the plant in its early days are purple in color. Don’t worry. It is a normal thing. It happens just because of genetics and nothing else.

Low nitrogen level is good for female plants, while high nitrogen levels produce and nourish male plants efficiently. Too low and you’ll see lightning and yellowing of the leaves. Too much and you will see the leaves darken to an almost black-green.

Moreover, keep the potassium level low for encouraging the growth of female plants and vice versa for male plants. Too low and you’ll see a brown burnt look to the tips and edge of the leaves, turning yellow further into the leaf.

A general excess of nutrients—usually known as “nutrient burn”—is diagnosable by yellow or brown tips to the leaves. If nutrient levels aren’t reduced, you’ll see the discoloration travel further into the leaf and the tips will start to curl and become brittle.

However, don’t worry too much when you see initial signs in young plants, as the more they grow the more nutrients they need. The soil might be too rich for them now, but when they’re a bit larger it will likely be ideal. If it so happens that a feed has been miscalculated and too much fertilizer or nutrient was added, simply “flush” the plant on the next watering schedule with PH regulated water. This will allow most of the unneeded nutrients and fertilizers to flush out as well as prevent any form of nutrient lock caused by salt build up due to too much fertilization.

Try to keep control over humidity and temperature when growing weed plants indoors. A good humidity percentage to look for is about 40-70% in vegetative phase and 30-40% in flowering phase. High humidity helps in increasing the growth rate of female plants, while low humidity is good for the growth of male. Likewise, with the temperature: low temperature is helpful for female plants’ growth, while high temperature is good for male plants.

Temperature and humidity levels for female marijuana plants at different stages of growth

Seedlings: 20-25ºC with lights on, 4-5º lower with lights off; 60-70% humidity.Vegetative: 22-28ºC; 40-70%.Flowering: 20-26ºC; below 55%.Late flowering (1-2 weeks before harvesting): 18-24ºC, 5-10º lower with lights off; 30-40%.

Nutrients

We will explain a quick overview of the most important nutrients required to grow and maintain healthy cannabis plants. These nutrients will essentially provide most of what is required and can be seen as food for the plants. We will also touch on PH levels and the importance there of as well as correct watering discipline.

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is the most essential element that helps in leaf and stem growth. Too little nitrogen leads the plant’s leaves to turn yellow. So use as much nitrogen as you can, especially during vegetation to make sure that the growth of the plant occurs in the finest way.

Phosphorous

Phosphorus plays a key role in the process of photosynthesis and respiration. It is advised to use more phosphorus than nitrogen during the flowering.

Potassium

Potassium is necessary for the building and transferring of sugars for marijuana plants. It is also an important element for absorption of water and nutrients, aiding rapid growth of the plant.

Watering of Marijuana Plants

Watering depends on the size of the plant’s container and the light’s intensity.

HID lights due to the high level of heat given off affect the water level of plant.

In general, you need to water your crop every other day. Roots want air as well as water, so a little bit of dryness is healthy for the plant—but not too much, otherwise the plant will suffer from dehydration.

Water until about 20% of the water drains through the runoff hole at the bottom of the container. Then empty the runoff tray, rather than let the container sit in that water and reabsorb it.

Checking pH Levels

The pH level of marijuana plants needs to be monitored very carefully.

6.2 to 6.7 level is the best condition for the survival of your marijuana plant. Not paying attention to pH levels can lead to the devastation of the whole crop.

Over feeding of fertilizers and organic compounds may cause disturbance in the pH level of a plant, so make sure to do your research before using any fertilizer.

As far as fertilizers go, common manure fertilizer will do just fine for marijuana. You don’t really need to find some super extraordinary ultra-nutrient.

So you are now almost done with the main guidelines about marijuana cultivation in soil. The only thing that remains is the level of lighting, which we will guide you through in detail later on, after we’ve talked about cloning…

How to Grow Seedlings into Mature Marijuana Plants?

Now you are going to learn the most important things you need to know to become a perfectionist marijuana grower. Just like with the germination process, the choice of grow style is entirely up to the grower. Growers all achieve magnificent results once they are honed and skilled in their chosen manner of cultivation.

The different styles of cultivation we will be covering are:

Growing with Soil Using Germination ProcessGrowing by Cloning ProcessGrowing Hydroponically

We recommend first-time indoor growers go with the most reliable means of cultivation, which is soil. This is intended for the first time grower to be able to learn how the plant grows, what problems to look out for and how to solve them. Soil is by far the most forgiving medium, which is why this is the choice for most first time growers. This will also be advised by most professional growers as a first time experience.

The reason is simply that it is a cost effective method and has fewer risks, compared to other methods.

We are still going to briefly cover all the above mentioned grow styles.

Growing Weed with Soil Using Germination Process

We’ve already covered why growing marijuana with soil is the best method for beginners. It is cost effective, fruitful and reliable.

If you’re not interested in turning this growing thing into a large business, then you may choose to grow in the containers.

For the beginners, growing in containers is easy to handle and has less chance of failure.

Cloning Method for Growing Marijuana

Cloning is one of the smartest methods for growing weed indoors and is widely used by farmers and indoor marijuana growers.

Choose some donor plants, then take cuttings from them and grow the cuttings in a separate medium. You’re essentially creating mini-copies of the original plants.

The big advantage is that each clone will turn out to be a female plant.

Hydroponics

Hydroponics for growing marijuana results in the greatest yields.

Although the benefits of hydroponics have sometimes been questioned, there seem to be many advantages in growing without soil. Some hydroponic growers have found they get yields many times greater when they switch from conventional methods.

Because hydroponically grown plants dip their roots directly into nutrient-rich solutions, they get what they need much more easily than plants growing in soil, so they need much smaller root systems and can divert more energy into leaf and stem growth.

With smaller roots, you can grow more plants in the same area and get more yield from the same amount of ground. Hydroponic plants also grow faster.

Since hydroponics is ideal for indoor growing, you can use it to grow plants all year round. Automated systems controlled by timers and computers make the whole thing a breeze.

How Important Is Light for Indoor Marijuana Growing?

Marijuana requires a lot of light. This is the key factor in producing greater yields. The crop will not be sustainable if an appropriate amount and type of lighting is not provided. Whether you are growing cannabis in soil medium or in a hydroponic system, correct lighting is probably the most needed nutrient for healthy plant growth.

Lighting Systems for Growing Weed Indoors

When it comes to lighting systems for indoor growing, there is an almost overwhelming amount of choice available these days. And of course each option has its respective advantages and disadvantages—which we’ll cover shortly.

Lighting systems can include bulbs, led’s, reflectors, ballast, timers, different color spectrums and various other features.

But whatever the system, the intention is to activate rapid growth in your cannabis plants and maximize your yield.

Sources of Light for Indoor Marijuana Growing

Growing a crop indoors you will obviously need some artificial light source—and you simply cannot afford to ignore good lighting if you are a serious grower and want results.

Fluorescent and especially LED grow lights are great for the growth of marijuana plant.

Compact fluorescent lights are also available on the market, commonly abbreviated to CFL.

The best thing about CFLs is that they are available almost everywhere. HID lights may not be available in some places, but CFL is available pretty much anywhere in the world.

Early LED lighting systems were not ideal, but the technology and costs improved rapidly and LED lights are now highly regarded for indoor growing of plants. As we said above, they’re by far the simplest option and increasingly the best option too—especially for a beginner.

There are numerous benefits to using LED grow lights, but the one most worth mentioning here is that they produce full spectrum light with a low level of heat.

Placement of Light

The ideal distance of light from your plants totally depends on the type of source you’re using.

If you are using heat emitting grow lights, then you’ll need to place this type of light a bit higher above the plant. Check the light’s instructions. However, if you’re using something cooler like LED grow lights, hang them about 15-20cm inches from the plant.

Lighting Schedules for Different Stages of Marijuana Plant Growth

During the plant’s different phases, Cannabis Sativa requires different schedules and hours of lighting.

In the seedling phase, Marijuana needs 18  hours of proper lighting.In the vegetative stage, the requirement increases to 18 to 24 hours daily.In the flowering phase, give the plants 12 hours of light and increase the red part of the spectrum.

Remember that lighting plays the main role in nourishment of your marijuana crop. If lighting is not good enough, your harvest will not be either.

With following the above mentioned steps, this should allow you to not only grow a healthy plant successfully, but enable you to understand the requirements of the plant to be able to provide the optimum growing environment to reach the most successful end results. Then you can sit back, glance over at your frosty filled up jars of dank smiling after reaping the reward of a bountiful harvest. Happy toking.