Welcome to Get Growing – The monthly column written with the beginning and intermediate gardener in mind. Get Growing will help you to take your meds from ‘Good’, to ‘Great’!
A Welcome Letter from Anthony:
Hello Colorado medical cannabis patients, and welcome to Get Growing, the column where I will do my best to help you sort through the hype and take the mystery out of growing great meds.
On Growing Great Meds:
There are almost as many ways to grow medical grade cannabis as there are different strains of it. The most important factors in achieving outstanding results are perhaps what some new gardeners might tend to overlook: the growing environment. Providing the correct environment for your plants to grow in is just as important as the nutrients you will feed your plants. By controlling the environment, I am referring to the factors surrounding the plant in it’s growing space or room – temperature and temperature fluctuations, humidity, fresh air intake, exhaust and more all play a bigger role in the final product than most people expect. With all the technology in the world these days to help you grow, making all the variables work in unison in your growspace is perhaps the trickiest yet most important part. As it is, finding the right balance of all the factors involved is paramount to the success of a cannabis garden, whether inside or out.
How to Grow:
For the very beginning gardener who is just starting out, you will be facing a lot of choices. Whether you decide your approach will be soil, hydroponics, aeroponics, or aquaponics, and whether you gravitate toward coco or hydroton rocks for your medium, be sure that you are choosing wisely for your growing ‘profile’**. Each different growing system and indeed medium comes along with its own set of pros and cons, and each method should be carefully considered against your growing style, physical ability, financial commitment and available time. Some methods are as easy as watering by hand every couple of days, whereas others require more intense oversight with nutrient meters, ph control and more on a daily basis
Where to Grow: Indoor vs Outdoor:
Growing cannabis indoors is a popular choice among patients for growing medical grade cannabis. Houses and commercial properties can be outfitted with everything from air conditioners and dehumidifiers to CO2 supplementation and even video cameras to watch your grow when no one is around. The indoor environment brings with it the ability to control the environment exactly and therefore gives growers the potential to increase yields, quality and growth rates of plants to the next level. Giving the plants exactly what they want at all times of the day with no interference from adversities such as weather and pests is what growing indoors is all about. Though, there are pros and cons in any situation and growing indoors does not escape this reality- it merely brings with it it’s own set of challenges. However, the better sealed and controlled your environment is, the more consistent your results in all seasons.
If you choose to grow marijuana outdoors in Colorado, it pretty much means that you will get one shot at doing it right since it is one long natural cycle starting in the spring and ending in the late fall, at harvest time. These seasonal transitions for the plant bring their own set of challenges. In early spring the weather can be very harsh and new fledgling plants may have trouble battling those harsh and often still-changing elements. Some negatives are possible hail storms and cold snaps that can stunt or even kill plants. Animals can also wreak havoc in an outdoor garden of any kind, especially in a cannabis garden due to its very attractive coloring. This too can be controlled for and corrected, as long as you are prepared and plan ahead. If you are lucky enough to have a covered greenhouse to grow in, this will limit the negative effects of the sometimes intense Colorado weather as well as any wildlife concerns. Though it too brings is own set of challenges, the positives of growing outdoors are quite attractive. First, consider direct sunlight at no cost which brings with it the ability to grow larger plants in the ground. The fresh dry air is also one of the great plusses to growing outdoors in Colorado.
Bringing it Home:
Though everyone knows that starting with good genetics is key in achieving a quality end product, genetics will only get you so far. Choosing your growing method wisely and knowing (and more importantly controlling) the factors in your growing environment will assure that your good genetics turn out great. Indoor or outdoor, never fail to consider your environment.
?There is No Such Thing as a Stupid Question!:
During the coming months this column will discuss a myriad of ideas surrounding the growing of medical grade cannabis. We will touch on everything from the basic propagation or ‘cutting’ of clones and starting from seed to basic nutrients and advanced nutrient profiles, and we will try to cover the many questions that beginning and intermediate growers have. Please, feel free to write and ask your specific questions or suggest topics that you want discussed. Any question regarding the growing of medical cannabis by legal patients in the state of Colorado will be considered. Laws and legal advice will not be covered. I look forward to bringing information to the people across the state of Colorado and hope it helps many people grow better and take their ‘Good’ meds, to ‘Great’ meds!
If you have a growing question, send it to: getgrowing [at] inharmonywellness [dot] org
Grow in Health
Tony, Cannabis Enthusiast
Anthony is a legal patient and Cannabis enthusiast residing in the state of Colorado. Anthony brings with him years of growing expertise, from small scale single patient grows to production facility level experience. Versed in both hydro and soil, Anthony is available for private consulting in your home garden. Inquire about Anthony’s growing consultation services via In Harmony by calling 970-222-5555 or by visiting our website at www.inharmonywellness.org.
