How to
This is still a lengthy work in progress. The categories will be:
- Before you start
- Seeds or Clones?
- Seed Selection
- Starting Seeds
- Organic Gardening + organic pest control
- Wee plants – troubleshooting problems
- Potting up babies
- “Toddler” care
- Moving to her final big girl pot
- Harvesting
- Problems
*I’ll figure out how to link to the parts of the page you need
Before you start
Before we get started it’s probably best to consider the possibility of a learning curve while trying to cultivate this oh so trendy (yes I said it) plant. Let’s face it. Weed is in. Big time. It’s popularity is growing and so is your grandma. My best advice is to start by talking to someone you know who grows plants. All plants. Vegetables, flower gardens, houseplants … the more their house looks like a jungle the better. It’s not that these people are secretly growing pot (though there’s a good chance) it’s that they have spent years caring for their green friends and know more than any book will teach you. Reach out to old farmers. They can guide you through ways to make your crops flourish. It’s their livelihood and how we get our food. Farmers feed cities. After all this who knows, perhaps you’ll start keeping houseplants and growing veggies too.
Here is a link to a charming article from the Globe and Mail for those of you who struggle with growing:
“Canada’s saddest grow-op: My humiliating adventures in growing marijuana”
Story by Ian Brown:
Buck up Ian. At least you’re not this guy:
(Article from thegrowthop.com)
Seeds or Clones?
This is a personal preference thing. I’ll write more on the pros and cons of both choices later.
Seed Selection
This can be daunting. Luckily for you I did a blog post on the subject.
I hope it helps.
Starting seeds
I like starting from seeds. Here is a blog post of mine on the subject:
Organic
I prefer Organic techniques. There are so many ways to do this, some much more labor intensive than others. Rather then just listing what I do, lets start with this article from Leafly. It has a variety of excellent suggestions, including very easy beginner tips.
Why homegrown organic? You and you alone determine what your plants are fed and therefore what you consume. Yes, the cannabis you purchase from legitimate growers should have been tested, I’m not saying don’t buy it. That’s silly. How else are you going to determine which strain works well for you and therefore which seeds you want to cultivate? Personally I just prefer to know that no synthetic nutrients or “safe” pesticides have been used. If I had the space I would grow my own veggies too. In the meantime I will either head to the organic market or just buy regular vegetables like a normal consumer and trust the systems that society has put in place to ensure my food isn’t harming me.
Also I’m a plant fairy. Seriously, things just burst into bloom as I pass. It’s pretty much impossible to stop me from growing things. Who wouldn’t want to grow some beautiful clean cannabis to share with close friends and family?
Companion Planting
Organic Pest Control
Safer’s Houseplant Sticky Stakes Insect Trap
Seriously, these things are great and you can’t find them everywhere. I will happily use these in any of my houseplants. Sometimes bugs happen. If you’re going fully organic this is a great way to help eliminate your pest problems without adding any insecticides. I’ve tried other brands of similar products, resulting in sticky fingers and an unhappy user experience. These have been designed keeping in mind that someone actually has to set them up to use them. Its a great product.
Harvesting
You’ve done all that work, growing and nurturing your plants. Now … How do you know when to harvest?
Is today the day? Let’s talk about trimming:
Curing
PlantieKatie 