Cannabis Seeds and Soil: Understanding the Basics
Growing Marijuana as a novice can be challenging. One Google search will present hundreds of articles and guides with a vast range of information that can take forever. There’s much to learn – pH, lighting, soils, curing, harvesting, etc. So where do you begin?
The enormous amounts of online information can easily confuse you. It can almost prevent you from getting started. The best thing is to get started, and you’ll learn along the way. Understanding the seeds and soil basics is a great place to start if you’re growing Marijuana for the first time. We’ve discussed everything you need to know in this article.
Contents
Types of Easy-Growing Seeds for Novice Cannabis Growers
There are different types of cannabis seeds available to marijuana growers: feminized, regular, and auto-flower. With hundreds of cannabis seed strains like some listed at https://askgrowers.com/seeds/for-beginners, understanding the type of seeds you want to grow is crucial. It will make it easy for you to cater to your plant and help you understand the requirements of your cannabis plants. We’ve briefly explained each type to help you determine which seeds are best for you.
Regular Seeds
These are produced by crossbreeding the male cannabis plant with the female counterpart. They can either be female or male. With these seeds, it’s impossible to tell the ratio of male-female plants until the flowering stage begins and the plants start showing their sex.
Feminized Seeds
These seeds grow into female plants that produce the sought-after bud or flower. The seeds are a result of the female plant producing male flowers. Growers do this by introducing light at specific times during the flowering stage dark hours. You can also do this by spraying Colloidal silver on the flowers to trigger the plant into producing male flowers containing pollen. In this case, the “male” flower is technically female, so all the offspring should be female.
Auto-Flower Seeds
For novice growers, these might be the perfect seeds for you. Your marijuana plants will flower after reaching a specific maturity, typically ten weeks from seed, centrally to blooming due to daily light schedules. Auto-flower varieties are crossbreeds of Cannabis Ruderalis and modern-day strains. The former is the third cannabis subtype, the modern-day varieties being sativa and Indica. Cannabis ruderalis is found initially closer to the South and North Pole and has a different lifespan than strains found near the equator. Because of reduced sunlight for most periods of their existence at the south and north pole, they’ve adapted to a point where they still complete their life cycle despite the amount of light present.
How Do You Germinate Your Marijuana Seeds?
The germination phase is when your seeds sprout and start to grow into a plant, and it’s the first step of your cannabis growth. You can acquire your cannabis seeds from various sources, which vary in quality. For your seeds to germinate, they require heat, water, and air. You can soak your seeds in water or a wet towel for a few days, and they’ll germinate. Ensure that the germination area is warm- approximately 80 degrees Celsius.
Some marijuana seeds will germinate rapidly, while others might take a while, but typically, your seeds should take 3-10 days to germinate. If your seeds take over two weeks, they are spoilt and will not sprout. You know seeds have germinated once they split and a sprout appears – this sprout is the taproot and will become the plant’s main stem. It’s essential to be careful while handling the seedling since it’s delicate.
Transferring Germinated Marijuana Seeds to The Grow Area
Once your seed develops a taproot, transfer it into a growing medium such as soil. Here is a step-by-step guide to doing that:
- Fill a one-gallon or 4-inch pot with airy, loose potting soil.
- Water the soil before planting your seed. The ground needs to be wet, not soaked with water.
- Use a pencil or pen – the hole should be twice deep as the size of your seed.
- Gently place your seed in the hole with the taproot facing south.
- Lightly cover the hole with soil.
It would help if you keenly observed your soil’s moisture level and temperature to ensure the seeds are happy. The seedling stage is very delicate. When watering, use a spray bottle because overwatering can kill the tender seedling. In approximately one week, you will begin seeing your seedling growing from the soil. Remember marijuana germination process is only sometimes a success. Some seeds will fail to germinate, others will take longer, while others will pop fast and proliferate. The greatest thing about cannabis seeds is that growers can tell which genetics or plants will thrive from the start – this way, you can quickly determine which plants to extract cuttings for clones or which ones to keep for breeding if you want to harvest seeds of your own.
Reason Soil Quality Is Crucial
Soil is one of the most vital parts of growing cannabis. It allows growers to farm in confidence, knowing that their marijuana plants are getting all the nutrients they need. Well-nourished soil will continuously feed your plants well. Not only will well-fed soil be good for the current growing season, but it will also be great for future generations.
Type of Soil Best for Marijuana
Cannabis seeds prefer well-drained, rich, loamy soil. Adding grit such as pebbles, vermiculite, perlite, or sand to your organic soil can form your ideal soil if you’re growing indoors. It creates good drainage and allows the plants to spread roots quickly. It also promotes more potent plants and quicker rooting and minimizes the risks of root rot if the roots stay in stagnant water for long periods.
Developing loam soil is an ongoing journey that can take up to 5 years in the garden. The first step is amending your soil with organic material such as animal manure, compost, or worm castings. Ensure you buy them from reliable sources to avoid unwanted diseases or pests. After applying the organic material to your soil, use a rotavator or tiller to mix them. Use of compost or mulch should be done severally throughout the year. It helps maintain an environment that allows the organic matter to decompose healthily.
In addition, worms can help create better drainage and soil aeration. Working through the soil makes paths for roots to oxygenate and grow and allows water to flow better.
Maintaining A Good Ph Balance for Growing Marijuana
A neutral pH level is ideal for Marijuana growing. You can use pH testing kits to ensure your soil pH is balanced. You can find them at most garden centers, or you can easily purchase them online. Knowing the type of fertilizers, you’re using is a great way to maintain a balanced pH level. If your soil is alkaline, using organic acid fertilizer can help balance things. Most fertilizer manufacturers sell fertilizers depending on soil pH, so knowing the pH levels of your soil is vital.
When buying fertilizers, ensure you’re purchasing from reputable sources. Additionally, ensure you’re using proper fertilizers depending on the nutrients absent in your soil. You can determine this using a soil mineral test kit. These tools help you check the mineral levels of your soil and maintain healthy soils throughout the season.
Summing Up
Our experts are enormous fans of organic Marijuana growing. No amount of synthetic nutrients can come across the benefits of microorganisms found in organic soil. When you grow marijuana plants organically, the main goal is to build healthy soil instead of planting in unhealthy soil and then boosting it with chemical nutrients later. Combining top-quality seeds and healthy organic soils leads to healthy marijuana plants and bumper harvests. Although it takes hard work and dedication, this combo is hard to beat.
Denys Svirepchuk wrote this article. Working for AskGrowers.com, Denys has spent several years researching and writing about many Cannabis topics. His passion for Marijuana has led him to become an expert on the culture, history, and science of cannabis. Through his articles, he strives to inform and educate readers about the benefits of medical cannabis.