Cannabis cultivation
The cultivation of these hybrids is not difficult and does not differ much from the process of growing photoperiod strains. Below are these differences:
Lighting. There are still disputes over the issues of light sources and the length of daylight. Adherents of the first camp claim that the optimal regime is 18/6, while others insist on 20/4, however, there are also those who grow plants on a 24/0 cycle. The legend of hemp growing, Jorge Cervantes, suggests that novice botanists do not bother and maintain the 18/6 cycle. Despite the assurance of a professional, to get more yield, many growers use the 20/4 mode for the growing season and switch the timer to 18/6 when the plantation enters the flowering phase. The complete absence of night for the bushes is not recommended, because they need rest, as part of an integral biological process.
Substrate and fertilizers. These strains prefer fluffy, loose ground without clumps, mostly drained. To achieve good soil aeration, experienced growers add 30% vermiculite or coarse perlite to the substrate. Feed your pets with extreme caution and strictly adhere to the rules indicated on the packaging with fertilizers.
Containers for growing. Autoflowers are quite capricious and can experience deep stress when transplanting, so they are immediately planted in a pot. The optimal solution is a capacity of 10-15 liters, although decent yield results are achieved in five-liter containers.
Watering. To understand how much moisture the plant needs, it is enough to stick half a finger into the substrate, and if it is dry, then it is time to water. The formula will help you determine the amount of water: 20% of the volume of the container. If the pot is 10 liters, then you should add 2 liters of water.
Important! Hemp tolerates drought better than overflow.
Pinching. Methods of increasing yield in the form of FIM-pruning, removing most of the foliage (defoliation), topping and other techniques with a high level of stress are not suitable for growing autoflowers. In the best case, the plant will survive the stress, but the yield will decrease, in the worst case, it will die. Avtics do not tolerate stress like their counterparts, so you should refrain from such methods. But if you really want to, then there is always the method of bending (LST) and supercropping.
Advantages of autoflowers
A short life cycle will allow the gardener to remove several crops in one season.
From planting the seed in the ground to harvesting, it takes 55-80 days, depending on the variety.
Dwarf size. Rastikhi rarely exceed 100 centimeters in height.
Resistance to mold, rot and harmful insects. These features are inherited from a distant ancestor-ruderalis.
Cons of autoflowering varieties
Low yield (25-80 grams per bush), although today active work is being done on improving hybrids and some exclusive avtikas can boast a yield of up to 200 grams.
Low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol in the cones. But even in this direction, geneticists are working tirelessly.
Regular varieties of cannabis
Regular hemp seeds are a never-out-of-date classic. From such planting material, not only female, but also male marijuana plants grow. Regulars are very popular among professional breeders. They take pollen from male plants and use it to breed new, unique strains.
From a practical point of view, for a connoisseur of grass, male plants are of no value. And the appearance of such an individual in the greenhouse can turn into a real failure for Grover, if it is not removed in time. If the female bushes are pollinated, then their value will decline, because all the life force will be directed not to the production of precious resin and the growth of the pineal mass, but to the formation of the seed. Given the risks, a novice gardener is not recommended to purchase such material for the first experience.
What are the determining factors in the formation of gender?
The sexual identity of marijuana depends not only on the genes embedded in it, but also on external factors. Understanding this process, the botanist can tip the scales in the direction of most female bushes. The techniques and methods of influencing the plantation that have been learned by breeders are relevant to carry out in a certain phase of growth, namely, at the vegetative stage, when the sprout will acquire three pairs of leaves. The duration of the exposure technique is 2-3 weeks before the appearance of sexual characteristics.
How to get more girls
To increase the chances of having more females in the greenhouse, eliminating the factors that contribute to stress will help. It is also useful to read these recommendations:
it is necessary to provide the plant with lamps with a predominant blue spectrum (up to 70 %);
control of humidity in the growbox (70-75%);
daytime temperature should not fall below 20°C and not exceed 25°, and the night temperature range is 18-22°C;
increasing the nitrogen content in the soil to 0.3-0.4%.
The most lauded and no less effective way was shared with gardeners by the famous Jorge Cervantes in the eponymous bestseller Cannabis Grow Bible. The essence of the method is to feed the bushes with phytohormones (C2H4). They give stimulation to growth and help to form only female plants. At the same time, Jorge gives a number of examples of where botanists can get a cheap source of ethylene. It is found in ripe fruits, especially bananas. He emphasizes that even in green bananas, the concentration of ethylene is very high. Cervantes suggests placing several bundles of this fruit directly in the growbox. The isolated ethylene will stimulate the feminization of seedlings. This trick helps the seedlings to determine the sex and soon the seedlings themselves will begin to exude the female hormone, forming pre-flower cups.
How to get male cannabis plants
The formation of male reproductive organs in cannabis manifests itself under stressful conditions, such as high ambient temperature, drought, inappropriate lighting, etc.
To encourage the plants to form pollen stores, you need to do the following::
maintain humidity at 45-55%;
adjust the illumination of the red spectrum to an even blue one;
set the temperature to 24-29 °C;
add potassium to the substrate.
Important! Buy hemp seeds only in trusted stores. If the resource administrator assures the buyer that he is an official dealer of Sidbank, then there is nothing easier than to go to the official website of the breeding company and check the seller according to the available list. But it is better to buy directly on the Citibank website.
2. Germination of hemp seeds
1. How to properly germinate hemp seeds?
Throw expensive seed material just into the ground – how to play the lottery. Perhaps the grover will be lucky and all the nuts will hatch, and perhaps not, and one or two of the 10 seeds planted will rise. There may be several reasons for this phenomenon:
excessive overflow, which leads to the rotting of the embryo;
the shell is too thick;
lack of moisture;
unsuitable ground, etc.
birds (relevant for outdoor activities).
Bitter experience has led many gardeners to experiments that promote the embryo to get out more quickly, put down the root and take root. The Grover ingenuity is a vast universe of possibilities. Today, there are many ways to germinate nuts, the simplest of which is to germinate in paper napkins or cotton pads.
Seed-the rudimentary phase of marijuana, which is in the phase of rest or deep hibernation. This is a kind of embryo of the future lush bush. If you look at a seed without a shell under a microscope, you can see:
dormant cotyledons;
small root;
primary leaf cobs;
brownish color of the case.
In addition, the shell already contains all the necessary microelements for the start of a new life:
carbohydrates;
fats;
proteins and enzymes (necessary for the assimilation of everything).
2. Step-by-step instructions for sprouting marijuana nuts
The success of almost one hundred percent seed germination is based on three whales:
Temperature (24-29°).
Humid air.
Water (preferably use clean, bottled water).
Leaving the basics of biology alone, you should go to practical classes.
Collecting inventory
Most of the items are already in each apartment, and in their absence, you will have to go to the nearest hardware store.
Unused cotton pads or paper towels. Foamed (bubble) sponges for washing dishes will also work. If this is not the case, then there are probably several ordinary paper napkins (they need to be folded in several layers).
Plastic box with lid. Sold in all stores. If this attribute raises a question, then you can use a regular plastic bag.
Clean water without salt impurities. Their level should be in the range of 50-300 ppm. The optimal acidity index is 5.5-6.5. If there are no suitable measuring devices on the farm, just go to the nearest grocery store and buy drinking water in a bottle without gases.
Good planting material.
Soaking hemp seeds
In order for the hemp seeds to hatch quickly, they are pre-soaked for 12 hours in water. For this purpose, any container with water will do. It is placed in a dark place with a constant temperature of 20-30 degrees Celsius. During this time, the water molecules will penetrate the nut shell and awaken the embryo sleeping under it. After the specified time, the grover will be able to contemplate the seeds that are enlarged in size and swollen from the absorbed moisture. Now it's time to move them in cotton pads or in folded napkins in several layers.
Some hemp growers, when soaking the planting material, add additives to the liquid medium to stimulate root growth, as well as hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the medium. In addition to its antiseptic properties, peroxide also saturates water with atomic oxygen, which significantly reduces the risk of rotting.
The swollen nut is spread on a cotton pad and covered with a second one on top. Such a structure is placed in a container with a lid and watered with water. When the "cotton sandwich" has absorbed enough moisture, it is squeezed out and put back. The disk should be raw, and not have the appearance of a jellyfish floating in the ocean.
Interesting! If you use sponges for washing dishes and skip the moment of germination, the root can grow into a sponge. It is extremely difficult to extract such a quickie.
Accommodation in comfortable conditions
We return the lid of the container to its proper place and wrap the storage with a cloth or towel. We hide the incubator in a dark and warm place.
The nut is in a comfortable environment as close to natural as possible, so you should not worry about it. The process of germination can take from 10 hours to several days, so you should have patience, because there is a birth of a new world in the incubator and you do not need to rush it. After the time allotted to the universe, the shell will crack and a pearl-colored root will appear from it. If the seed does not split, then you can help it by filing the spout (the place of the split) with a nail file.
Transplanting hatched hemp seeds into the ground
The long-awaited moment of transplanting the hatched nut into the nutrient substrate has come. It is desirable that the root does not overgrow and does not begin to twist. This makes it difficult to transplant, which is carried out with special care.
Disembarkation rules
The seed sits with the root down, and not vice versa. The depth of the hole should not be more than 0.5 centimeters.
If an autoflowering strain is planted, it is placed immediately in a pot in which the plant will spend its entire life cycle. Photoperiod strains can be scattered in small cups or peat tablets.
Finish line
Now it remains to wait for the germination of the embryo and the opening of the cotyledons, behind which the ears of the first pair of leaves will be visible.
As a substrate, you can use coconut fiber, mineral wool, and nutrient soil. In the first days of life, the sprout is demanding to an abundance of moisture without transfusion and stagnation in the substrate. It is also important to provide the seedlings with continuous lighting for 24 hours a day. When the sprout gets stronger, and this will happen in the second week of life, the light day can be reduced to 18 hours. Mineral wool and coconut fiber are completely neutral, unlike soil and peat disks, which contain enough nutrients for the first two weeks of life. Therefore, when using coconut or cotton wool, it is necessary to gradually add a small amount of top dressing to the water.
Sensitive seedlings with excess moisture or prolonged drought can die, so you need to observe the measure. You should also pay attention to the lighting, or rather to the distance of the lamp to the sprouts. Too close is disastrous. Far away-will cause the seedlings to be pulled out.
Lighting. There are still disputes over the issues of light sources and the length of daylight. Adherents of the first camp claim that the optimal regime is 18/6, while others insist on 20/4, however, there are also those who grow plants on a 24/0 cycle. The legend of hemp growing, Jorge Cervantes, suggests that novice botanists do not bother and maintain the 18/6 cycle. Despite the assurance of a professional, to get more yield, many growers use the 20/4 mode for the growing season and switch the timer to 18/6 when the plantation enters the flowering phase. The complete absence of night for the bushes is not recommended, because they need rest, as part of an integral biological process.
Substrate and fertilizers. These strains prefer fluffy, loose ground without clumps, mostly drained. To achieve good soil aeration, experienced growers add 30% vermiculite or coarse perlite to the substrate. Feed your pets with extreme caution and strictly adhere to the rules indicated on the packaging with fertilizers.
Containers for growing. Autoflowers are quite capricious and can experience deep stress when transplanting, so they are immediately planted in a pot. The optimal solution is a capacity of 10-15 liters, although decent yield results are achieved in five-liter containers.
Watering. To understand how much moisture the plant needs, it is enough to stick half a finger into the substrate, and if it is dry, then it is time to water. The formula will help you determine the amount of water: 20% of the volume of the container. If the pot is 10 liters, then you should add 2 liters of water.
Important! Hemp tolerates drought better than overflow.
Pinching. Methods of increasing yield in the form of FIM-pruning, removing most of the foliage (defoliation), topping and other techniques with a high level of stress are not suitable for growing autoflowers. In the best case, the plant will survive the stress, but the yield will decrease, in the worst case, it will die. Avtics do not tolerate stress like their counterparts, so you should refrain from such methods. But if you really want to, then there is always the method of bending (LST) and supercropping.
Advantages of autoflowers
A short life cycle will allow the gardener to remove several crops in one season.
From planting the seed in the ground to harvesting, it takes 55-80 days, depending on the variety.
Dwarf size. Rastikhi rarely exceed 100 centimeters in height.
Resistance to mold, rot and harmful insects. These features are inherited from a distant ancestor-ruderalis.
Cons of autoflowering varieties
Low yield (25-80 grams per bush), although today active work is being done on improving hybrids and some exclusive avtikas can boast a yield of up to 200 grams.
Low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol in the cones. But even in this direction, geneticists are working tirelessly.
Regular varieties of cannabis
Regular hemp seeds are a never-out-of-date classic. From such planting material, not only female, but also male marijuana plants grow. Regulars are very popular among professional breeders. They take pollen from male plants and use it to breed new, unique strains.
From a practical point of view, for a connoisseur of grass, male plants are of no value. And the appearance of such an individual in the greenhouse can turn into a real failure for Grover, if it is not removed in time. If the female bushes are pollinated, then their value will decline, because all the life force will be directed not to the production of precious resin and the growth of the pineal mass, but to the formation of the seed. Given the risks, a novice gardener is not recommended to purchase such material for the first experience.
What are the determining factors in the formation of gender?
The sexual identity of marijuana depends not only on the genes embedded in it, but also on external factors. Understanding this process, the botanist can tip the scales in the direction of most female bushes. The techniques and methods of influencing the plantation that have been learned by breeders are relevant to carry out in a certain phase of growth, namely, at the vegetative stage, when the sprout will acquire three pairs of leaves. The duration of the exposure technique is 2-3 weeks before the appearance of sexual characteristics.
How to get more girls
To increase the chances of having more females in the greenhouse, eliminating the factors that contribute to stress will help. It is also useful to read these recommendations:
it is necessary to provide the plant with lamps with a predominant blue spectrum (up to 70 %);
control of humidity in the growbox (70-75%);
daytime temperature should not fall below 20°C and not exceed 25°, and the night temperature range is 18-22°C;
increasing the nitrogen content in the soil to 0.3-0.4%.
The most lauded and no less effective way was shared with gardeners by the famous Jorge Cervantes in the eponymous bestseller Cannabis Grow Bible. The essence of the method is to feed the bushes with phytohormones (C2H4). They give stimulation to growth and help to form only female plants. At the same time, Jorge gives a number of examples of where botanists can get a cheap source of ethylene. It is found in ripe fruits, especially bananas. He emphasizes that even in green bananas, the concentration of ethylene is very high. Cervantes suggests placing several bundles of this fruit directly in the growbox. The isolated ethylene will stimulate the feminization of seedlings. This trick helps the seedlings to determine the sex and soon the seedlings themselves will begin to exude the female hormone, forming pre-flower cups.
How to get male cannabis plants
The formation of male reproductive organs in cannabis manifests itself under stressful conditions, such as high ambient temperature, drought, inappropriate lighting, etc.
To encourage the plants to form pollen stores, you need to do the following::
maintain humidity at 45-55%;
adjust the illumination of the red spectrum to an even blue one;
set the temperature to 24-29 °C;
add potassium to the substrate.
Important! Buy hemp seeds only in trusted stores. If the resource administrator assures the buyer that he is an official dealer of Sidbank, then there is nothing easier than to go to the official website of the breeding company and check the seller according to the available list. But it is better to buy directly on the Citibank website.
2. Germination of hemp seeds
1. How to properly germinate hemp seeds?
Throw expensive seed material just into the ground – how to play the lottery. Perhaps the grover will be lucky and all the nuts will hatch, and perhaps not, and one or two of the 10 seeds planted will rise. There may be several reasons for this phenomenon:
excessive overflow, which leads to the rotting of the embryo;
the shell is too thick;
lack of moisture;
unsuitable ground, etc.
birds (relevant for outdoor activities).
Bitter experience has led many gardeners to experiments that promote the embryo to get out more quickly, put down the root and take root. The Grover ingenuity is a vast universe of possibilities. Today, there are many ways to germinate nuts, the simplest of which is to germinate in paper napkins or cotton pads.
Seed-the rudimentary phase of marijuana, which is in the phase of rest or deep hibernation. This is a kind of embryo of the future lush bush. If you look at a seed without a shell under a microscope, you can see:
dormant cotyledons;
small root;
primary leaf cobs;
brownish color of the case.
In addition, the shell already contains all the necessary microelements for the start of a new life:
carbohydrates;
fats;
proteins and enzymes (necessary for the assimilation of everything).
2. Step-by-step instructions for sprouting marijuana nuts
The success of almost one hundred percent seed germination is based on three whales:
Temperature (24-29°).
Humid air.
Water (preferably use clean, bottled water).
Leaving the basics of biology alone, you should go to practical classes.
Collecting inventory
Most of the items are already in each apartment, and in their absence, you will have to go to the nearest hardware store.
Unused cotton pads or paper towels. Foamed (bubble) sponges for washing dishes will also work. If this is not the case, then there are probably several ordinary paper napkins (they need to be folded in several layers).
Plastic box with lid. Sold in all stores. If this attribute raises a question, then you can use a regular plastic bag.
Clean water without salt impurities. Their level should be in the range of 50-300 ppm. The optimal acidity index is 5.5-6.5. If there are no suitable measuring devices on the farm, just go to the nearest grocery store and buy drinking water in a bottle without gases.
Good planting material.
Soaking hemp seeds
In order for the hemp seeds to hatch quickly, they are pre-soaked for 12 hours in water. For this purpose, any container with water will do. It is placed in a dark place with a constant temperature of 20-30 degrees Celsius. During this time, the water molecules will penetrate the nut shell and awaken the embryo sleeping under it. After the specified time, the grover will be able to contemplate the seeds that are enlarged in size and swollen from the absorbed moisture. Now it's time to move them in cotton pads or in folded napkins in several layers.
Some hemp growers, when soaking the planting material, add additives to the liquid medium to stimulate root growth, as well as hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the medium. In addition to its antiseptic properties, peroxide also saturates water with atomic oxygen, which significantly reduces the risk of rotting.
The swollen nut is spread on a cotton pad and covered with a second one on top. Such a structure is placed in a container with a lid and watered with water. When the "cotton sandwich" has absorbed enough moisture, it is squeezed out and put back. The disk should be raw, and not have the appearance of a jellyfish floating in the ocean.
Interesting! If you use sponges for washing dishes and skip the moment of germination, the root can grow into a sponge. It is extremely difficult to extract such a quickie.
Accommodation in comfortable conditions
We return the lid of the container to its proper place and wrap the storage with a cloth or towel. We hide the incubator in a dark and warm place.
The nut is in a comfortable environment as close to natural as possible, so you should not worry about it. The process of germination can take from 10 hours to several days, so you should have patience, because there is a birth of a new world in the incubator and you do not need to rush it. After the time allotted to the universe, the shell will crack and a pearl-colored root will appear from it. If the seed does not split, then you can help it by filing the spout (the place of the split) with a nail file.
Transplanting hatched hemp seeds into the ground
The long-awaited moment of transplanting the hatched nut into the nutrient substrate has come. It is desirable that the root does not overgrow and does not begin to twist. This makes it difficult to transplant, which is carried out with special care.
Disembarkation rules
The seed sits with the root down, and not vice versa. The depth of the hole should not be more than 0.5 centimeters.
If an autoflowering strain is planted, it is placed immediately in a pot in which the plant will spend its entire life cycle. Photoperiod strains can be scattered in small cups or peat tablets.
Finish line
Now it remains to wait for the germination of the embryo and the opening of the cotyledons, behind which the ears of the first pair of leaves will be visible.
As a substrate, you can use coconut fiber, mineral wool, and nutrient soil. In the first days of life, the sprout is demanding to an abundance of moisture without transfusion and stagnation in the substrate. It is also important to provide the seedlings with continuous lighting for 24 hours a day. When the sprout gets stronger, and this will happen in the second week of life, the light day can be reduced to 18 hours. Mineral wool and coconut fiber are completely neutral, unlike soil and peat disks, which contain enough nutrients for the first two weeks of life. Therefore, when using coconut or cotton wool, it is necessary to gradually add a small amount of top dressing to the water.
Sensitive seedlings with excess moisture or prolonged drought can die, so you need to observe the measure. You should also pay attention to the lighting, or rather to the distance of the lamp to the sprouts. Too close is disastrous. Far away-will cause the seedlings to be pulled out.
