Garden Education: Introduction

How do you grow cannabis? Growing cannabis is just like growing any other plant; give it water and sunlight and it will grow. Growing quality cannabis is a lot more complex than providing its basic needs. The most important aspect of growing good cannabis is controlling variables; how much water, what kind of nutrition, and the intensity of the light is what will separate the good from the ugly. This takes attentiveness, care, and an understanding of the plants genetics. Cannabis, like other plants, will grow in response to its environment. All plants require light, nutrients, water, CO2, and humidity best suited to that species. The right combination of all of those factors is needed to grow each species, and even cultivar(strain), to its full genetic potential. The reason why many choose indoor cultivation instead of outdoor, is simply because it is easier to have greater control of these variables in an artificial environment. Trial and error is key in perfecting the needs of each cultivar. Always remember this is a plant, and all plants follow some basic principles. For example, all plants only use CO2 during photosynthesis, and that's why we only supplement it when lights are on. What's photosynthesis? The process plants and some other organisms use to convert sunlight into sugars and oxygen. Since plants use photosynthesis to convert CO2 into energy, all plants are classified as autotrophs, meaning they produce their own food. So can I just give my plant CO2, water, and sunlight - and not pay for expensive nutrients to grow? Yes! But you wont grow quality - it all comes back to controlling those variables, dialing in the right kind of nutrition is key to growing good cannabis. Our Director of Cultivation and Chief Plant Nerd @furtherfarming always recommends a book called "What a plant knows" by D. Chamovitz, as an easy reading introduction to how plants work. It explains in layman's terms things like phototropism (how plants physically follow sunlight) and how plants respond to their environment. We will dig deeper into the nuances of each type of gardening as we build a better foundation of knowledge to start. As always....Questions? Hit us up!