Growing weed is one of the most rewarding things a cannabis lover can do. There is seriously nothing like smoking your own stash. If you’re new to the growing scene, welcome. Once you’ve grown your own, you’ll see cannabis in a whole new light.

Growing cannabis isn’t hard. It does grow like a weed, after all. There are, however, a few things that can help a first-time cannabis grower harvest a successful crop. The following tips and tricks can help you get started on the right foot to ensure a first-harvest you can be proud of.

5 Growing Tips and Tricks to Start Your Ganja Garden Right

Use Feminized Seeds

Before beginning your ganja garden, you’ll want to decide on whether you want to grow from seeds or clones. If you decide to grow your weed from seed, purchasing feminized seeds is your best bet.

Feminized seeds are bred to contain only female chromosomes. This means every plant grown from feminized seeds will be a female that produces beautiful flowers.

Male seeds can ruin your crop by releasing pollen and “impregnate” any female plants that are in your garden. When this happens, female plants stop producing sticky buds and start producing seeds. The easiest way out of this mess is to make sure your seeds are female from the get-go.

Make Sure Your Clones are Quality

If you do decide to grow with clones, make sure the cuttings you’re picking up are quality. There are several recreational and medical dispensaries that sell them, making it easier than ever (in legal states) to grow your own weed.

Before you commit to a clone, check it carefully for any mites or mold. You want a strong, healthy plant to ensure a bountiful harvest.

Bonus if you’ve got friends you can kick you down a clone, especially if they already grow good weed. It’s likely they’ve got a solid mother plant that they take good care of. 

Avoid buying clones online. You’re purchasing a live plant that needs light and TLC, especially when it’s a delicate clone. A clone that travels in the mail will likely arrive at your house in shock, meaning it will need to be nursed back to health. If you want to start things out right, healthy, happy clones are the way to go.

Select Your Grow Space Wisely to Ensure Your Plants Get Plenty of Light

Plants need light in order to grow. Whether you’re growing indoors or outdoors, you need to ensure your plants will get plenty of light. When light (natural or artificial) hits the surface of leaves, chlorophyll converts this energy into sugars. It’s these sugars that feed plants. The more sugars created and consumed, the bigger they become.

If you’re growing indoors, the lights you use for your grow are paramount to the success you’ll see. Use metal halide (MH) lights for the vegetation stage, then switch to high-pressure sodium (HPS) during flower. A general guideline to follow is for every 100 watts, you’ll cover one square foot. Planning a 5x5 garden? You’ll need a 500-watt light.

When growing indoors it’s also important to pay attention to the height of your grow space. Think of it this way. Your grow light will hang down about two feet from the ceiling. Your plants should grow no closer than 18 inches to your lights. This will eliminate about 3.5 feet of your vertical growing space. Make sure you’ve got enough room where you’re growing that your plants can grow tall.

If you’re growing outdoors, your plants will thrive in as much sunlight as possible. Does the space you’re planning on growing in receive adequate sunlight each day? Is it free of shrubs, branches, and weeds? You’ll want to clear out anything that might block the sun of your plants in the area you decide to grow. South-facing plots are the best (if you live in the northern hemisphere) because they’ll get the most sunlight throughout the day. 

Choose the Best Containers

While you can grow weed in pretty much any container, “smart pots” (fabric pots) are often preferred by experienced growers. For one, smart pots provide extra oxygen at the roots, which is vital for healthy, robust growth.

Cannabis plants potted in smart pots also won’t become root-bound. When a plant is planted naturally in the ground, it will have space to spread its roots. In a container however, roots will start to rotate and twist inside the pot, essentially choking out the plant. A plant that is root-bound can be slow to grow, stay small for weeks, have brown spots, withering of leaves, or slow death of leaves.

When the plant roots begin to approach the wall of a fabric pot, they sense increased oxygen levels and grow in a pattern known as “air pruning.” This is when hundreds or thousands of tiny roots grow from the main root, essentially creating a fibrous structure that allows for more absorption of moisture and nutrients.

Choosing the best containers in which to plant your crop will ensure that your plants grow to be the healthiest they possibly can. In today’s world of growing, fabric pots are preferred for not only the healthiest harvest, but for maximum yields as well.

 Use Quality Soil

Quality cannabis needs quality soil. When you pot your pot in basic, poor-quality soil you’ll end up with basic, less than par weed. For plants to experience the healthiest, most robust growth possible, what they’re planted in will make a serious difference.

Pot plants planted in quality, organic soil will get the nutrients they need to stay healthy. Healthy, happy plants must have the right amount of nutrients. These nutrients are taken from the soil through the roots. Weed planted in quality, organic soil full of nutrients will flourish.

Get Your Garden Started Right

Getting your garden started right only makes sense if you want to grow quality ganja. These growing tips and tricks are perfect to get you started on your growing journey and will make a huge difference in the success you ultimately see.