Grow Tips for Beginners by Demario Bland

Check Your Water

Tap water: Research and check what's in the water supply in your state/county/zip code to determine if your tap water is safe to use for your plants. EWG's Tap Water Database ewg.org is a good resource. Also using testing pens that measure pH, PPM (parts per million) or EC (electrical conductivity) are a big help to quickly read levels before using tap water but I highly recommend using RO (Reverse Osmosis) or distilled water from the beginning to save yourself the headache and the overall peace of mind knowing your plants will have clean water from the start. These options put you the grower in control of what your plants absorb.

Reverse osmosis: is highly purifying water by running it through a filtration process where each level of filtration will trap and strip water of harmful particles, metals and chemicals. The best option but pricey.

Distilled: Distilled water will give the same benefits as RO water but the process of stripping the water of chemicals and metals is done by boiling the water into steam and condensing it back into a liquid in another container. Removing impurities such as bacteria, salts, dissolved minerals and metals.

Choose The Right Grow Medium

As a new grower it's important that you really research and consider what grow medium that you choose to begin with as each can come with their own set of challenges. In my personal experience I've only worked with 2. My first grow was with Fox Farm Happy Frog which is great for seedlings and early veg. Being that most growers will use synthetic nutrients to feed, it will still hold well during later veg leading into flower considering your nutrient schedule will lean more towards phosphorus and potassium with less nitrogen.

I must note with bags of soil it is extremely important to SANITIZE your soil before taking it indoors to your grow. Premixed and bagged soils can possibly contain a lot of pest and can cause trouble in your garden.

To sanitize premixed soil and coco coir is very simple. Grab an appropriate sized pot, water, tote with lid or bucket with lid (aluminum foil works well as a cover if no lid is around) a stove or hot plate to bring to boil and a large spoon or garden shovel to mix. Pour your soil/coco in the tote or bucket and bring your water to boil. Once it boils pour it over the top of soil or coco. Don't drown it but you want enough to saturate it completely and take a large spoon or shovel to mix it in to make sure all is covered in the steaming water and cover for 24 hours. The heat from the hot water will kill the pest and larvae.

I'd also like to note that premixed soils like Fox Farm Happy Frog come amended with nutrients for plants and should feed your plants for a few weeks before you need to add nutrients.

For coco coir I find this medium to work out best for me as it's a lot lighter which helps roots develop and it retains water well. I use a soil moisture meter to help me gauge how moist or dry the deeper parts of my pots are. ¹

I still suggest sanitizing your coco if you bought a premixed blend such as Royal Gold King's mix. It's a coco/peat blend. It comes amended with nutrients and will give your plant what it needs for the first few weeks after planting. ²

For hydroponics you want to consider that you'll have a lot of water to deal with so in my research I've learned that movement of the water is huge. So I would highly suggest running air stones to keep it moving and as a benefit of using them you'll also oxygenate the water for your roots.

Also diluting your water with 3% hydrogen peroxide will aid with keeping the water sterile. The recommended ratio is approximately 2.5–3ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water for reservoir maintenance. ALWAYS do your own research!

With all that being said, keep your water in mind if you're gonna use tap water as it contains a lot of things that may disrupt your plant growth. Reverse Osmosis (RO water) or Distilled Water will eliminate the guess work and suspense of using tap water.

Light Source

If you're a home grower my opinion is LED lights are perfect. Now of course this will boil down to preference and there are growers who swear by other lighting options but the point here is to be as sufficient as possible for the grower on a budget. Here's a few tips on why LED lights will be suitable for most home growers.

More Energy Efficient: They can literally help cut energy cost by 30-75%. They do this by having a lower energy draw to produce a higher amount of PAR per watt while producing less heat from the light itself which could affect your HVAC system in your home.

Control Intensity: By having the ability to control the intensity of your light it allows you to be in control of just how much light you want your plant to receive. As a grower you now are able to match the appropriate PPFD to your plants stage of growth which helps prevent light stresses.

PPFD (Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density): This tip is a HUGE one! Don't get discouraged by not knowing the science behind it. This is you the grower measuring and controlling how much light your plants get by using a PAR meter or using your phone which can act as one using the Photone App on iOS and Android along with making a diffuser with a piece of white printer paper and a piece of tape.

Again, don't get caught up in trying to completely understand this right now. What's important is you begin to do this from the start to improve your grow. Now, a general PPFD chart for cannabis specifically will help you set the ranges for each stage of growth. Granted some genetics can be more sensitive or tolerable to higher or lower PPFD ranges so keep an eye on your plants as they will let you know if they are happy or not by showing signs through behaviors or visual indicators of stress like light burn, curling or light bleaching.

I personally keep my light about 14-18 inches above the highest top of the plant and measure PPFD. Depending on the PPFD reading I'll then decide whether I need to possibly lower the light itself to get in range or possibly adjust the intensity to get it in range based on what growth cycle I'm in and what the current environment is in my grow tent as tuning the intensity can change the environment by producing higher or lower temps.

Can Help Manage Temp/VPD: LED grow lights don't emit a big heat signature but closed up in a tent, you'll see the difference in temperature based on light cycles which determines how long your light is running, the intensity of your light and the temperature conditions of the room in the house that your grow tent is in, also known as the "lung room." Being able to control the intensity of your light can work to your advantage by using the heat of the light to increase the temperature of your tent during colder months and helping to lower temps by decreasing in hotter months depending on where your tent is located in the home.

The Environment Matters

Remember, you're imitating Mother Nature. Without the right conditions your plants will suffer, you'll waste a lot of money and most importantly you'll waste your time.

Think in terms of light, temperature, humidity and airflow.

This is pretty simple in today's time. There are plenty of charts available that will help with what ranges you'll need for each stage of growth. The charts are typically broad and you'll learn through experience to fine tune your temps and humidity to your liking based on whether the plants will grow indoors/outdoors, climate in your area and your lung room if you're using a tent.

Keep the air moving. I can't stress how important airflow will be. You don't want to risk excessive humidity pockets in between your plants or its leaves. It'll cause all kinds of nasty things to form such as mildew and mold.

Another benefit of airflow is it will help your plants grow stronger being that it simulates wind if they were growing outdoors. Airflow will also help manage pest and give you a better fighting chance of saving your plants.

A hygrometer is essential to your grow and will help you track temperature and humidity and keep your plants healthy.

Cleanliness

Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Take care of your plants and they'll take care of you at harvest!

I think one of the big things that growers overlook is the power of a shop vac. Get one! Between the fans blowing dust and soil everywhere down to the leaves that you cut or in some cases fall off can all contribute to potential contaminants. If you grow in a tent and especially if you're gonna use a trellis net you'll need a tool that can clean around the bottom of your pots.

If you're growing the hydro way understand that feed water may spill and if there's nutrients mixed in they'll break down and eventually begin to grow bacteria. Be sure to clean and sanitize every time there's a spill. Stagnant water is not your friend.

Next would be wiping down your tent. At some point you'll have a decent amount of humidity flowing in the tent which will bring moisture and I feel it's important to wipe it down and sanitize your tent from time to time. I personally do it once or twice a week by using hydrogen peroxide diluted into water and spraying down my tent. Notice I didn't say my plants so be mindful when spraying your tent. The peroxide will help kill the microscopic things you can't see. After that I go behind it with a bleach wipe in hopes to kill any remaining contaminants.

Pest management is something you'll want to incorporate immediately in order to detect any signs of pest as early in your grow as possible so you can manage it properly. If you took my advice by sanitizing your grow medium then you've likely already won half the battle.

The easiest way to start is placing sticky gnat or fly traps in or around your pots being that the problem will likely start from your grow medium. I suggest hanging a few in the higher parts of the tent as insurance in case the lower traps didn't catch anything.

A mix of neem oil and water in a spray bottle can also be helpful as pest don't like it but as a pro tip only spray at lights off. The water droplets that are left on the plant will act as a magnifying glass when the light is on and will burn your plants. Be sure to spray all over including the undersides of your plant's leaves. This is very crucial as most pests will live on the underside of the leaves. This will be a huge problem during flower being that you'll have bugs stuck to the trichomes.

These are a few grow tips that I hope you'll consider going into your first or next grow as I strongly feel they'll give you a better chance at a successful harvest. Good luck!

-Demario Bland

Editor's Notes

¹ Coco and overwatering: Coco coir, especially when mixed with perlite, drains well and holds oxygen in the root zone — making it more forgiving than soil when it comes to watering frequency. The bigger risk for beginners is actually underwatering or watering inconsistently. A moisture meter is still a great tool to use while you're getting a feel for the medium.

² Buffering coco: In addition to sanitizing, coco coir that isn't pre-buffered should be soaked in a diluted calcium-magnesium (Cal-Mag) nutrient solution before planting. This step — called "buffering" or "pre-charging" — prevents the coco from locking out nutrients early in your grow. Many quality brands like Royal Gold come pre-buffered, but it's worth checking the label to be sure.