Many countries of the world have now legalized the cultivation of cannabis. The cultivation of cannabis is a profitable vocation. But you have to know about the cannabis plant, its lifecycle,farticle and growth patterns if you are to reap rich dividends.
Feminized stains, that is, those strains that have only produced female plants, are always preferred by cannabis breeders because female plants give a higher yield than their male counterparts. Thus if you sow a female seed, you will get more yield per unit of land and this, in turn, means more return per unit of investment. Jealousy stain is a feminized breed that grows to a height of thirty to seventy inches and gives a good yield.
A Step By Step Guide To Grow Cannabis Outdoors
Selecting The Right Plot Of Land
Growing a variety outdoors is cheap and convenient because the natural soil and sunlight aid in the process of growth. However, it is important to select the cultivation plot carefully if you are to give the plant ideal growth conditions. It is better to select a piece of land that has an ambient temperature of around twenty-five degree Celsius.
Most strains can tolerate a temperature as low as sixteen degree Celsius, but anything below that is not good for growth. Also, the plot of land should be such that it gets direct sun rays for a continuous span of at least five hours. The ultraviolet rays produced by sunlight have been shown to induce the production of terpenes in plants. Cannabis species owe much of their aroma to the presence of terpenes in them.
In indoor conditions, most breeders try to induce the production of terpenes by using LED lights. However, if you wish to cultivate the plant outdoors, you cannot compensate for the lack of light in any way so getting direct and adequate sunlight is an absolute must to grow good quality and marketable plant products. So if the plot has large shade-giving trees, it may not be the best place to cultivate cannabis.
Prepare The Soil Properly
After light, soil quality is the most important determinant of how well a species grows. It is a good idea to add substances like perlite or vermiculite to the soil and mix them well before planting the seeds. Substances like perlite improve the aeration and the water-retaining ability of the soil particles. If you wish to restrict the growth of the plant to a certain height, then you should introduce containers in the soil that can restrict the growth of the root. If you can control the extent to which the root, you will be able to keep a check on the overall growth of the variety.
Prepare The Plant Before Transplanting
Do not sow the seed directly in the field; germinate the seeds in a controlled condition, and once germination has happened, habituate the young seeding to outdoor conditions. For this, you should take the seedlings out in the open for a few hours during the early morning. After about thirty to forty days, the seedlings should be ready for transplanting in the main field.
Add Stability To The Seedlings
In most cases, the seedlings will be weak and unstable, and you can give them a support system to add more stability. You can give a cane or a bamboo framework to support the tender stems till they become mature enough to support their own weight.
Give Water On A Regular Basis
Like sunlight and good soil, water is another essential element for the growth of a plant. However, when you give water, it is important to make sure that there is no saturation of water and that the water does not cause erosion of the soil. Also, if you want to conserve water, it is always advisable to go for trickle-drip irrigation rather than flood irrigation which floods the entire plot with water.
Add Nutrients For Enhanced Growth
Fertilizers help in enhanced growth, and most of them have nitrogen and phosphorus in a fixed ratio to enhance growth. You can get fertilizers from the market, or you can use manure from the farm to add fertility to the soil. Apart from adding nutrients that support growth, you have to make sure that your variety is protected against harmful pests.
Removing Some Shoots To Reduce Competition
Most people mistakenly believe that a big plant will give them more yield. However, that is not exactly true. At times you have to remove a few stems to reduce competition so that the plant as a whole grows optimally and so that there is less competition among the different stems of a given plant.
One easy way to make out plant strain and competition is to notice if the leaves are becoming yellow. This is a condition known as chlorosis. If too many leaves are becoming yellow, it means that the pigment chlorophyll is breaking down, and the breakdown of chlorophyll is a sign of stress.
Harvesting The Cannabis
The plant has hairy growth, and when those turn reddish, then it is a sign that the variety is ready for harvesting. In most species, the harvesting season is in the month of October, but if you stay in the southern hemisphere, then it will be different. The buds are the main harvest, and they are cut from the main trunk after retaining a stem of around six inches.
Conclusion
Many plant breeders prefer to grow cannabis outdoors because it is cheap, eco-friendly, and also good for the quality of the bud. If you are to grow the variety indoors, then a lot of capital has to be invested in maintaining the ideal conditions inside an enclosed room.
However, for outdoor cultivation, all you need is a good plot of land that gets adequate sunlight. Moreover, natural sunlight is also vital for improving the quality of the yield because sunlight helps in the production of terpenes which contribute to the aroma of cannabis.