Germination of Medical Marijuana Seeds

Haven’t you really just been dying to know about germinating your marijuana seeds?  Sure, I know you have.  It’s like I’m reading your mind.  Here ya go…  It’s pretty simple.

Germinating Marijuana Seeds

The seeds should have nice striations on them.  Squeeze the seed slightly between your fingers.  If they don’t crush, they’re good.

It is questionable as to how much environmental factors effect the sex of the marijuana plants.  For those of the opinion that it does, the following is their advice.  For germination, low temperatures and high humidity favors females.  Warm temperatures and low humidity favors males.

You can really use different methods for germination.  An easy method is to put the seeds in a cup of water.  Put an air pump in the cup.  The seeds will pop in 2-4 days.  Once they do, it’s time to plant.  Oxygen is important in all the methods of growing.  You’ll be able to tell which plants are going to be weaker, even at this early stage.  It really is best to cull the weak seeds early.  I know, it might kill you to throw out any marijuana.  However, the sooner you get rid of the weaklings, the better.  You will waste resources, such as electricity, nutrients and water, on these marijuana plants that won’t produce much bud for you, in the end.  

Water & Nutrients in your Marijuana Hydroponic Setup

Water & Nutrients in Hydroponics

Obviously, your water is extremely important when you are using hydroponics.  This makes sense, right?  Water is the medium you are using to grow your medical marijuana in.

You’ll want to keep your water topped off.  Some growers like to add their nutrients when they do this, but you don’t have to.  Yet, it might be easier for you to remember.  You’ll want to change your nutrient solution every two weeks.  It’s helpful to do this but not absolutely necessary.  You can go 2-3 months with only adding water and checking the pH.  However, the more often you do this, the less chance of error you’ll have in producing healthy marijuana.  When you change your nutrient solution, discard the old solution.

Wash and rinse the reservoir your marijuana plants are in.  Also, clean the pumps, air stones, tubing and other equipment with hot water.  Take the pump off of the reservoir.  Put the tube on it.  Run it to a drain, sink or outside and turn the pump on.  After cleaning, wipe things down.  Add fresh water and then your nutrient solution (if you’ve decided on adding it at this juncture).  

Important Aspects of Growing Medical Marijuana

Let’s just quickly go over some points, we’ve discussed so far on growing your medical marijuana plants.  Then, we’ll move on to bigger and better grow info.

• Rotate your plants every day or so.  This will promote even growth and foliage.
• Double your yield with good light distribution and rotation.
• Keep your plants spaced as far apart as possible.
• You’ll want to use some kind of reflector.  A reflective hood would be a good choice.  Some reflect better than others.  You can double your grow area with a good reflector.  A good hood can be close without burning your marijuana plants.
• As far as lighting, HPS through both vegetative and flowering stages is okay.  MH through both is okay.  MH for the vegetative stage and HPS for the flowering stage is very good.  MH and HPS through both stages is the best.  You’ll want to be heavier on the blue (~60/40) for the vegetative stage and heavier on red/orange (~60/40) for the flowering stage.  

Choosing Your Medium for Growing Medical Marijuana

There are three main mediums for growing cannabis: soil, hydroponics, aeroponics.  Although, there are some people that come up with ideas that include any combination of those three.  A system is distinguished by the way nutrient solutions are applied.

Soil

Soil is the use of, you guessed it, soil (aka dirt) as the medium for growing your marijuana plants.  

Start Growing Medical Grade Marijuana

There are 4 main things to identify when starting to grow marijuana:

1. Establish your goal – How much to grow?  You’ll want to have an idea of how much you need for yourself and/or your patients.
2. Identify your limiting factors – Money, space, time.  Space will most likely be the most limiting factor.
3. Choose a medium – soil, hydroponics or aeroponics
4. Select a grow site

A small space would be best for hydroponics.