With cannabis legalization slated for later in 2018, Canadian residents will have the option of growing up to four plants per residence. Here are some tips.
What’s the deal with indoor and outdoor growing?
“There’s a difference between indoor and outdoor growing,” says The Altered Native’s Melissa Ciraco. “With outdoor, you have the benefit of Mother Nature, who’s going to do a lot of the work for you. So you’re not worried about your temperature, your humidity or different things like that.”
But with indoor growing, people have the benefit of simulating ideal conditions, she says.
“When you have it indoors you can manipulate the growth of it differently than outside. So if you want a small plant, you can switch its vegetative state and its flowering state sooner than it happens in nature. You stress the plant or you change the light cycle,” she adds.
How to germinate the seed
The first step in growing your own plant, MacDonald says, is being able to germinate the seed. For this, growers must be cognizant of the water being used. Town water that is chlorinated should work well for this purpose, but if the water comes from a water softener, it should not be used, as the salt content has the potential to kill the seed.
Once you have the proper water in a glass, drop your seeds into it and keep them in a cool, dark place. MacDonald recommends the area atop your refrigerator, way at the back, as low vibration helps germinate the seed.
Once a seed has opened up, place it about one inch deep into a pot of soil, with the stem facing down, MacDonald says. Then, cover the seed with soil, and water it with a thin-spouted watering can, about two inches from the seed, all the way around for three or four times.
What to know about temperature and humidity
When growing indoors, Ciraco says, the ideal temperature should be between 23 C and 27 C with the lights on, and 18 C with the lights off. The ideal amount of humidity is between 40 and 60 per cent.
“If it’s under 40 per cent humidity, the plant thinks it’s in a drought — it doesn’t matter how much water is around its roots and its base, it’s sensing that from its leaves,” Ciraco says. “If it’s over 60 per cent, then the plant can’t push water out.”
How to choose your nutrients
There is a difference between food and supplements, Ciraco explains. Food is a standalone product that often comes in two parts: one for the growth stage and one for the bloom stage. There is a wide selection of plant foods available, with differing levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. This allows growers to grow different types of cannabis plants.
Then, as an extra element, growers can choose to add supplements to aid with factors such as root health or the growth of bigger, denser flowers.
In order for food to properly be absorbed by your plant, Ciraco advises, the soil should have a pH level of about 6.3.
When to harvest your plant
“I think the most complicated thing about growing is getting to the end of the season and figuring out what the right time is to harvest the plant, what they are looking for and how they properly dry it and cure it,” MacDonald says.
Looking at trichome ripeness can help indicate when a plant is ready, he adds. Trichomes are tiny crystals found on the cannabis leaves, and they indicate the kind of high you will get from your plant.
If your trichomes are clear, the end product will give you a heady kind of high, but if they are milky and still slightly transparent, the THC is at its best state, MacDonald says.
When the trichomes begin turning yellow, the THC is degrading, but the plant gets bigger at that point, so for this reason, many people will choose to harvest when the plant is showing trichomes that are partly milky and partly yellow in colour.
How to dry and cure your plant
Cut all the leaves off, then hang it with a fan blowing on it in a dark, cool environment, MacDonald says. After a week, you should be able to grab the stem and snap it.
All the flowers should then be removed, and the rest of the plant should be placed in a sealed plastic bag and put in a dark place overnight. The next morning, the buds should be placed on a screen or newspaper with a fan blowing on them for about 18 to 24 hours.
Once that is complete, the buds can be placed in sealed Mason jars in a dark space. Every day, the lid to the jars should be popped off and the contents should be fluffed around, MacDonald says.
“The smoke will get tastier, the flowers will smell better and be a little more potent over the course of a couple of months,” he adds.
******
How will legalization affect current businesses and their clients?
Those who have been cloning a specific plant they have developed in order to treat a medical condition, may have a problem attaining the same product upon legalization, MacDonald says.
“There are several people who have spent years and years and years developing a plant for that specific ailment that they have,” he adds. “So, if the government says you can’t have that plant, you have to buy this from here … if none of that works, then what? That’s where I think I lot of problems are going to happen.”
Nash Jeshani, owner of Friendly Smokers in Georgetown, sells only accessories but says he trusts that the government will have a wide variety of seeds to suit the needs of different clients.
“There are a lot of seeds — the government knows which is good and which is bad,” he says.
