First Time Growing Weed? A Beginner's Checklist From Seed to Harvest

By @bsfseeds

A first weed grow comes down to nailing the basics: enough space, a temperature of 20 to 25 °C (68–77 °F), controlled humidity, water pH of 6.3 to 6.7, a decent light and healthy seeds or clones. Growing weed isn't hard, but it isn't exactly easy either. If you're about to start your first cannabis grow, know that what it takes above all is time, dedication and a lot of watching your plants. Most of the lessons come from the mistakes you'll make along the way. 

There's a lot to keep in mind when you grow a cannabis plant for the first time. The smart move is to go point by point and check things off a list to make sure you've got everything you need to kick off your first grow. 

The very first thing, before you even get a plant, is that you need to know the cannabis laws where you're going to grow. In Argentina, home growers can now get legal authorization to grow at home. Here's everything about getting a grow permit in Argentina.

Think of this post as a beginner's grow manual where you'll pick up the core concepts.

But that's not all. You'll also need to know how to take care of a cannabis plant, plus a few terms that come up in its care and growth. Here they are.

What you need to grow cannabis: the basics

Knowledge is power, and you'll want plenty of it before you start growing this ancient plant. So here's what you need to grow weed:

Space:

The more room, the better, mainly because grow lights tend to heat up indoor rooms. On top of that, grow cabinets and grow tents help you control light leaks while the plant is flowering, which is one of the main reasons home growers love them.

Temperature:

20 to 25 °C (68–77 °F). A key tool for keeping this in check is a temperature gauge, or thermometer. The nice thing about these gadgets (usually called thermo-hygrometers) is that they show you both temperature and humidity. 

Humidity:

30 to 45 percent. If you live somewhere humid, a dehumidifier is your best bet.

Water pH:

6.3 to 6.7. To keep this in range you'll need a pH meter, and they're easy to find. Tap water often has a pH that's too high, so you'll also need a pH adjuster (pH down), which is just as easy to get.

Light:

This depends a bit on how big your grow is and how many plants you want, but to start out in a grow room, a 175-watt HPS (high-pressure sodium) light is a good pick. These lights plug easily into a wall outlet, and all you need is a timer to set the on/off intervals for each stage of the plant's cycle. The light hangs above the plant. Read more about how far your light should be from your plants.

Seeds or clones:

If you're starting from seed, it pays to invest. A good, healthy seed is non-negotiable if you want reliable, quality genetics. If you're growing from clones, on the other hand, it's crucial to know where they came from and how they were treated early on, so you don't end up growing plants loaded with chemicals. 

How to grow cannabis step by step

A cannabis plant's growth process is simple, but every stage needs its own care. Here's how to tell what stage your plant is in, plus a few things to keep in mind:

How to plant cannabis seeds: germination

There are lots of ways to germinate seeds. As a beginner, you want a simple method with a solid success rate.

We recommend germinating your seeds indoors. Most cannabis plants like daytime temperatures between 20 and 30 °C (68–86 °F) and nights no colder than 15 °C (59 °F).

Vegetative stage:

During veg, cannabis plants need at least 18 hours of light a day, and this stage lasts anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks. As for nutrients, in week 1 use an NPK ratio of 2:1:2, meaning two parts nitrogen to one part phosphorus and two parts potassium. By week 7, you can bump the NPK ratio up to 10:5:7, followed by 1:1:1 in late veg.

This is the stage for grow nutrients, which are usually nitrogen-based, plus rooting boosters so the plants take up food well and start building a strong root system.

Autoflowering strains usually veg for just 3 to 6 weeks and start flowering no matter what the light cycle is. You can plant these seeds in any season. That said, 18+ hours of light across the whole 8- to 12-week life cycle is the ideal schedule for these ruderalis hybrids. Young cannabis plants need very little fertilizer or supplements. Nitrogen fertilizers and root-zone enzymes are usually all they need.

Also, cannabis plants have a pungent smell. If you grow indoors, it's worth investing in odor control. You can fit a carbon filter on your ducted exhaust fan and/or put odor absorbers in the room.

Flowering stage:

Now you cut the plants' light time from 18 hours down to 12 (12 hours on, 12 hours off), and depending on the strain, this stage lasts roughly 6 to 8 weeks. It's time to focus on raising phosphorus and potassium levels. Feeding helps in early flower, but it does a lot less in the final weeks, once real buds have formed.

Finally, other things to keep in mind: a clean, healthy growing medium, good drainage in your containers, a clean, well-ventilated grow room to keep mold and pests away, and above all, reading up and watching your plants closely.

How buds develop, step by step:

Once your plants can't flower any further, the flowers start to age. You'll need to recognize when your plant is almost ready to chop. The pistils (the little hairs on the buds) are white when they're new and turn brown as they age.

So how long does a cannabis plant take to grow buds? That depends on whether your grow is indoor or outdoor, the strain you picked, how well you looked after it and so on.

When you see most of the pistils turning brown, switch to plain water for at least 2 weeks (a flush), so the plant uses up whatever nutrients are left in the soil and in its own tissue, and your buds don't end up tasting like chemicals or fertilizer.

Once you get the hang of raising a cannabis plant, you'll know when it's ready to harvest. But knowing exactly when to stop feeding is something only experience can teach you.

After that comes drying and curing your weed, and the quality of your final product depends a lot on getting those right. Check out our guide to drying and curing your cannabis buds.

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