Aloha.nl note: When you're inexperienced with - liquid or solid - fertilizing additives, do Not use these. You can easily burn your seeds and plants with these. Use pure Distilled Water when Germinating at 22C/72F and use Prefertilized pot-earth from your garden centre when transplanting. There's a system for fertilization through growth. Know the tricks and your local circumstances before you slowly introduce these, THX.
Germination
Germinating cannabis seeds will give the best results when placing the
seeds between a couple of layers of wet tissue paper on a shallow saucer. Put
the saucer in a dark place at a temperature of about 22 degrees Centigrade.
Take care that the paper does not dry out. After about four days, you can put
the germinated seeds separately in a small peat pot with unfertilised potting
compost.
After some ten days, the seedlings will have grown into a small marihuana
plants, the roots of which are visible through the peat. Now you can transplant
the seedlings, again separately, into a bigger pot with pre-fertilised soil. By
planting them in a generous pot, the plants will develop properly. After their
growth period, they will have developed sufficiently to be able to carry
considerable flowers.
Indoor growing
Indoor growing takes place under artificial light and can be repeated a
number of times per year as you are not dependant on seasons and weather
conditions.
Indoor growing: After germination you can pre-grow the seedlings in small pots
with unfertilised soil under artificial light. After about a week you can
transplant the little plants into larger pots filled with pre-fertilised soil.
Then you will have to use a timer to control the number of hours of light. In
this way you can determine yourself when you want the growing period - 18 hours
of light per twenty-four hours - to go over into flowering period - 12 hours of
light per twenty-four hours, or the Autumn. Do not hurry the plants and leave them to grow for at least 5 weeks so that they will
be large enough to carry the flowers/buds. When you leave the plants to grow
too tall, they often become too high to fit under the lamp. The flowering
period of the plant takes about eight weeks, which is the same as outdoors.
During the growing and flowering periods, the plant should have enough
fertiliser and a good air supply. So before you start your growing activities,
consider installing a ventilating system to regulate the air supply and
exhaust!
As soon as you put the clock on 12 hours per twenty-four hours, the flowering
period will start and the plants will show their gender. You have to remove the
males as soon as possible. You can recognise the males from the small green
balls hanging upside down in the nodes of the branches. The females have the
same balls but very small hairs are sticking out of them. After having
separated the sexes, you will have more space which you may use to transplant
the remaining females in bigger pots with pre-fertilised soil. They still have
to continue to grow for a little under eight weeks in order to reach their full
flowering potential. Additional fertilising is necessary with a fertiliser with
high P (Phosphor) and K (Potassium) levels in order to produce large, fat
flowers. While this crop is hung up to dry, you can start again with the next
crop! If you have two separate spaces at your disposal, you may even arrange
for a separate growing and flowering room in order to be able to grow
continuously.
Outdoor growing
The outdoor seeds offered by Growi Seeds are
selected for their early flowering period so that you can always get your
harvest in on time. This is particularly of importance in countries with
clearly different seasons when rainfall during the shorter and wetter Autumn
days may spoil a harvest. It will be clear that in more southern and warmer
countries the growing season can be longer because of the many hours of sun and
an Autumn season with considerably less rain.
If you are living in Western Europe or North-America you may best purchase
outdoor seeds like Afghan, Purple Power and Hollands Hoop, which start their flowering period early Autumn. By the time that the
weather really takes a turn for the worse, the flowers will be large enough and
you can harvest the crop in order to dry it. As soon as the climate becomes too
wet, we advise you to move your plants indoors because the chances of fungus
arising will increase. The larger the plant, the more flowers it can support.
That is why we recommend that you plant your seedling as early as possible
after germination and pre-growing (in March-April) so it may benefit from the
full flowering period (July-August- September) in order to form beautiful, large buds.
When you are living in more southern areas, you can purchase outdoor seeds
which will flower later in Autumn like Early Girl, Shiva and Master Kush.
Because you will generally be dealing with better and less humid weather
conditions, you can take varieties which are able to carry denser buds! Leave
the marihuana plant to keep on growing so that it can have a productive flower
period in September-October.
Outdoor growing: After germination and pre-growing you can plant the small
plant your seed has turned into. To this end use generous pots or a large hole
in your garden. Just fill it with enough fertilised potting compost so that
additional fertilising can be kept to a minimum. Use a little Perlite or Compost during mixing to keep the soil airy. For
additional fertilising during its growth, you can best use fertiliser with high
P (Phosphor) and K (Potassium) levels. If you are growing in an unprotected
garden, make sure that you support your plants. A simple stick will do. Only
water them if there has been no rain for some time. If you are growing them in
protected surroundings - in a greenhouse or on a balcony - you have to water
them sufficiently yourself.
After some seven weeks from the moment you can see the first small flowers,
your crop is ready for harvesting. Check carefully whether the flower hairs are
discoloured, the seed boxes are swollen and the flower is covered in THC.
Fertilisation
During the germination period and the first few days, the marihuana seed
contains enough nutrition substances to make it on its own. Once the seed has
transformed into a real marihuana seedling, it is wise to place the small plant
in unfertilised potting compost. But you do have to add some root stimulator
and leaf nourishment to the potting compost.
Once your small plant has developed a nice rooting and your marihuana plant as
a whole is developing well too, transplant it into a pot filled with some 2
litres of pre-fertilised soil (see below) and add some extra fertiliser with a
high N-level (nitrogen) like Fishmix or Terra Vega.
Follow the instructions carefully and do not exceed the prescribed amounts!
Once the plant is a few weeks older, you transplant it once more into an even
larger pot that can hold minimally 6.5 litre of soil. Place the pot on a saucer
and use root stimulator when transplanting!
Fertiliser substances are very important to have your plants grow and flower
well. Fertiliser substances can be categorised into two groups: Organic and
semi-organic fertiliser substances. Make sure that you always stick to the
exact amount on the label when using semi-organic fertiliser substances. Preferably
a little less, as adding fertiliser is a lot simpler than solving the problem
of over-fertilising.
With organic fertiliser substances, over-fertilising is practically impossible.
A major disadvantage of these substances is the strong smell. When you are
growing indoors and are using a dripper system, semi-organic fertiliser is hard
to use because the substance is very sticky, which may lead to blockage of your
drippers. During the flowering phase, you switch from fertiliser to fertiliser
substances that are especially suited for flowering like Terra Floria of Bio Flowering. During the flowering period you
can add PK13-14 and flowering stimulator. Once more, its is very important that
you stick to the prescribed amounts.
As will be clear from the paragraphs above, it is not just fertiliser
substances but also the soil that is of great importance! The soil provides the
basis for your marihuana plant(s). For that reason we give you a short list of
all the types of pre-fertilised soil soled in the Netherlands in Homegrow shops and in Garden Centres.
Of course, you can also compose your own soil. Whatever type of soil you choose, there excist all kinds of products on sale to "upgrade" your soil for a new growth cycle.
Harvesting and drying
When the flower hairs start to discolour, the seed boxes are swelling
and the flower tops are full of THC, it is time to harvest. Take a pair of
scissors or a knife and cut down the entire plant at soil level. First remove
the large leaves and then hang it upside down to dry in a dark room with a
temperature of about 22 degrees. Never use a fan or stove for drying because
this will affect the taste! As soon as the tops feel dry to the touch, the
cannabis will nearly be ready for smoking! Next, wrap up your home grown
cannabis in plastic and check the following day that it has not started
sweating. When it does, just put it out to dry again and repeat this procedure
until the cannabis emerges completely dry from the plastic bag. During the
first days of this drying procedure you should thoroughly check whether there
are any signs of fungus! After waiting a few more of days, it is finally time
to roll a joint of your own crop. Always keep the cannabis in a plastic tray or
bag in the vegetable tray of your fridge.
HINT: By using a pollinator or a simple polm shaker you
may be able to make hash from the cutting leftovers (leaves, and other
leftovers) of your own crop.
Epilogue
Cannabis is an ancient plant that has not always and everywhere merely
been used because of its intoxicating effect. Farmers, for example, have been
growing the plant for centuries because of its seeds and its fibre, as an
interim crop to improve the soil or to function as a wind-breaker. This is not
very surprising as the cannabis plant not only has a considerable history but
is also quite easy to grow. In India, marihuana has always been grown because
of its intoxicating small flowers. In countries like Turkey, Morocco and
Afghanistan the flowers were first processed into hashish before they were smoked.
The amalgamation of all these cannabis seeds took place when various cultures
interconnected through immigration or as a result of the slave trade.
Especially in Jamaica this has lead to a highly diversified range of ‘ganja’. It is for this reason that we probably should thank
the Jamaican Rastas who, via the United States,
introduced marihuana as Skunk in the Netherlands during the sixties. Until the
seventies, most marihuana in the Netherlands originated from India, Africa and
South-America and it was brimming with seeds. Jamaican cannabis contained
almost no seeds at all and was appropriately called Sensimillia,
which means ‘seedless’ in Spanish.
