GrowWeedEasy.com teaches you the secrets of cannabis home grow.

• Start Here: How to grow weed
• Get Seeds: Safe seed sources
• Sick Plants? See the plant doctor
• When to Harvest? Harvest guide

Get cannabis seeds at Seed Supreme or see our full list of our favorite cannabis seed banks.

Growing weed is easy when you know what to do, but most “how to grow marijuana” tutorials leave you feeling like you need a degree in horticulture.

GrowWeedEasy.com only contains useful cannabis grow tips, tactics, and lessons from actual home growers with years of growing experience.

Even a total beginner can consistently produce top-shelf weed by following our step-by-step home grow tutorials. 100% written by humans who care.

Who Made GrowWeedEasy.com?

Grow Weed Easy.com was started in 2010 by home growers Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside. Together, we built a free online “encyclopedia of cannabis home grow” with 650+ expert home cannabis cultivation tutorials about every aspect of growing weed.

GrowWeedEasy.com is now the biggest and most comprehensive source of free home grow information in the world.  We show you how easy it is to grow your own marijuana at home.

The GrowWeedEasy.com Ethos

Our Goal: You grow as much top-shelf weed as possible, with as little time and effort needed to grow your desired yields and cannabis bud quality.

Whether you’re a total beginner who wants to start growing cannabis indoors for the first time, or an experienced grower who wants to upgrade your skills to Pro level, this website was built for you.

Looking for a complete harvest system?

If you want dense, beautiful, great-smelling weed, our new digital book gives you our complete harvest system. Follow the straightforward instructions and massively upgrade your next harvest. A few small changes can make a huge difference to your results.

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FOR SERIOUS GROWERS ONLY

🌟 $200 Off Special Offer: Enroll today in Home Grow Masterclass!

If you’re reading this right now, you want to grow great cannabis at home.

Cannabis plants isn’t a regular house plant, but learning how to grow isn’t as complicated growers make it seem. We’ve spent the last 16 years breaking down the home grow process so anyone can learn it.

The key to consistent harvest results is simple: follow a proven system developed for home growers.

You could waste an entire grow learning through trial and error…

Or take the shortcut and harvest a sea of fat, dense, beautiful buds that smell great. At home!

Follow our 5-week course and get walked through each part step-by-step. Build by experienced home growers and honed with hundreds of students since 2019, we ensure you achieve great results on your very next harvest.

Learn How To Grow Top-Shelf Weed at Home!

Start Your First Class TODAY!

You may be asking yourself these common growing questions:

“How do I grow marijuana indoors?”

Read this guide on how to grow marijuana indoors. Or check out this article to learn what materials you need to get started growing your own marijuana!

Luckily, it’s really easy to get a cannabis seed to sprout!

“How much money will it cost to get started?”

If you’re considering growing weed, it costs as little as $300 to get started growing or a bit more for a semi-automatic, high-yielding bubbleponics grow system. See examples of yields to expect, electricity use & startup costs for different setups. Read this article to see even more growing styles with different price ranges.

“Where can I get marijuana seeds?”

Check out our How to Buy Marijuana Seeds Online Guide (with delivery to every state of the USA) to safely get your hands on good genetics. Starting with good seeds lets you choose the looks, smell, and effects of your buds!

Learn where it’s safe to buy cannabis seeds online (2026 update).

What do good cannabis seeds look like?

Learn about the best marijuana beginner strains and how to research and find the right strain.

Cannabis buds are generally green, but can also be pink or purple with certain strains.

“How much will electricity cost each month?”

If you’re just growing a few marijuana plants for personal use, it will cost you $20-$100+/month for electricity, depending on what grow lights (electricity) and nutrients you use. On average, I’d say a hobby-size grower might pay about $50/month to grow, but it depends greatly on your setup and local electricity costs! How much will electricity cost each month?

“How can I increase my marijuana yields?”

We have quite a few techniques to choose from or combine! See some of our most popular pages:

• Super Cropping – A simple technique to bigger yields
• Simplest Guide to Growing Short & Bushy Marijuana Plants
• LST (Low Stress Training) – Training your plants can easily double your harvest!
• Or check out our page on the controversial defoliation technique

Even More Ways to Increase Cannabis Yields

1. Increase Light Intensity (plus choose right light for desired yields & possibly add CO2)
2. Manipulate How Plants Grow (a free way to yield more bud indoors)
3. Provide Right Nutrients (low Nitrogen in the flowering stage, and remember sometimes less is more!)
4. Control Growing Environment (let the growing environment work for you)
5. Harvest Plants Properly (most importantly, don’t harvest early!)
6. Lastly, it’s important to remember that the strain has a major effect on yields!

Two small cannabis plants can yield several ounces of premium weed!

“How can I grow weed privately?”

Read guide on growing weed indoors without anyone knowing. But remember the most important factors to stealth growing: “No tell, no smell, no sell.” Never tell anyone, not even your best friend, that you’re growing. Be on top of preventing smells, and never ever sell cannabis. Breaking one of those 3 principles is how 99% of growers get found out!

“What if my plants get sick?”

The most common issue a grower runs into is a pH imbalance. Barring that, your marijuana plants likely either have a nutrient deficiency, heat or light stress, or are being attacked by some sort of marijuana mold, pest or bug. Whether you call it weed, cannabis, sinsemilla, skunk, pot, marijuana, or something else, the plant known as Cannabis Sativa is a hardy weed in the wild and can actually be easy to grow indoors at home when you know what to do.

Growing Medical Marijuana

“Medical marijuana” has become a household name. The body of evidence for medical marijuana in the treatment of cancer and other illnesses is growing every day. And for those who need medical marijuana, growing weed indoors is the perfect way to ensure a safe, regular supply of buds, for cheap.

In fact, when you grow weed indoors for personal use, you often end up with way too much. If you catch the growing bug like I did, and if you start enjoying the process of tending your cannabis garden just for the sake of gardening, you’re going to have to find a way to press, cook, freeze, and concentrate all your extra buds. 🙂

As you probably know, both medical marijuana and recreational cannabis have been decriminalized or legalized in many places around the world and weed is becoming legal in more places every day! Yet there still aren’t many simple indoor “how to grow weed” guides for beginners (even for those who legally grow, such as medical marijuana users and those who live in places where marijuana is legalized for personal use).

If so, I know how you feel. It can be hard to weed out all the bad information on the internet and find well-researched, free tips or instructions on how to grow your own cannabis. That’s why Grow Weed Easy.com aims to be a simple online resource that explains from start to finish what you need to do when growing cannabis so you can learn how to grow cannabis with great yields and potent buds, even if you only have a small grow space like a closet or even a computer case.

We’ve grown cannabis out of closets and have gotten ounces of buds and you can too. Grow Weed Easy.com covers many popular cannabis cultivation topics, including:

• A comparison between different cannabis grow lights including experience-based information about LED grow lights
• A page that teaches you the basics of how to grow weed
• Detailed how-to weed growing tutorials
• How to start growing weed tomorrow  (simplest cannabis growing guide!)
• Grow 4 oz with a 100W LED <– An Easy Way to Start Growing!
• Our famous grow guide that teaches you how to grow weed using bubbleponics (hydro).

Start Growing Weed Today!

Grow Weed Easy is run by a panel of experienced cannabis growers, including the founders Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside, who originally teamed together to bring you GrowWeedEasy.com. Due to the demand for more marijuana growing information, we’ve also started an inbox magazine all about how to grow weed, with additional tutorials, tips, and tactics sent to you each week. Simply sign up to start getting free expert growing articles delivered to you! All the information available at GrowWeedEasy.com is completely free and we regularly update the site and make new additions.

Looking for a growing book?

If you are interested in doing a bit of reading or would like to know more about the science behind marijuana hydroponics or horticulture, I strongly recommend viewing our page of Marijuana Grow Book Reviews. Read reviews of marijuana grow books. We would love to hear about your experiences with growing cannabis. Whether you are a pro grower already or are just starting your first plant, we have learned so much from our readers both beginners and masters! If you have any suggestions, comments, concerns, or just want to ask some questions about your marijuana grow, please contact us!

Happy Growing!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside

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The post Grow Weed Easy – Learn How to Grow Cannabis Tutorials appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Table of Contents

1. Choose an Easy Setup
2. Get Gear to Make Things Easier
3. Re-Arrange the Grow Space
4. Grow a Time-Saving Strain
5. Train Plants the Right Way

Are you thinking about growing cannabis for the first time, but are afraid it will take too much time? Or maybe you have been growing for years, but feel like caring for your plants is too time-consuming.

Every single growing style has its pros and its cons. There are ways to grow cannabis that take a lot of time tending the plants, but there are setups that do a lot of the work for you so you don’t spend as much time on them day-to-day.

Even a few small adjustments can make a big difference!

As you go through this article you’ll realize that you can’t do all of these things at once, but this list will give you several ideas on how to shave off time depending on your personal grow style!

In addition to this article, you may also enjoy Sirius Fourside’s guide to saving time during your grow!

1.) Choose a Less Time-Consuming Setup

Your responsibilities as a grower change quite a bit depending on how you set up your garden in the beginning. I’ve included some info (and the pros and cons) for cannabis grow setups that tend to be the least time-intensive for growers.

Grow Outdoors

Growing outdoors is pretty much guaranteed to take less of your time each day than growing indoors. When you’re growing indoors, you take the place of mother nature, which means you have to maintain the perfect environment and tend to your plants regularly. No matter how efficiently you do it, maintaining a growing environment indoors is going to take more time than letting nature do it for you.

When growing outdoors you’ll still get the best yields and results by checking on your plants regularly, but once every week or two can be more than adequate for many outdoor growers. Some outdoor growers will spend weeks between visits to their grow sites.

Grow with Super Soil

“Super soil” is a term sometimes used in the growing cannabis community to describe amended & composted soil. Super soil is formulated to give cannabis roots an environment where you don’t need to worry about pH or nutrients.

In a lot of ways, growing with super soil is what people “expect” growing cannabis in soil to be like. You put your seeds in a pot with the soil, and water your plants when they’re thirsty. Other than that the soil takes care of providing nutrients to the roots.

Why super soil? Cannabis plants have unique nutrient needs and use such high levels of nutrients that you will quickly start seeing nutrient deficiencies when using other growing mediums (like regular potting soil or coco coir) unless you provide nutrients with your water and regularly check the pH (which makes nutrients more available to your plant). Measuring out nutrients and checking the pH can take several minutes every time you mix up your water.

With super soil, instead of adding nutrients to your water, you pack the soil with natural sources of nutrients that slowly break down over the course of your grow, feeding even the voracious nutrient appetite of a cannabis plant. Instead of managing the pH so nutrients are able to be absorbed by your plant, the composting process enlists the help of microorganisms in the soil to do that work for you.

Learn more about growing with super soil

Grow Hydroponically

Super soil and hydroponics are very different from each other. In fact, you could say they’re pretty much on complete opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to grow styles. Yet they have one thing in common; they are both good at doing a lot of the work on their own so you don’t have to, even if they save time in completely opposite ways…

In hydro, the cannabis roots are grown directly in a reservoir of nutrient water

When growing in a container, even with super soil, your plant roots enjoy wet/dry spells, and do best being watered every few days. (Learn how to water your plants perfectly every time) Each time you water your plants, you ideally need to wait for extra runoff water to come out the bottom, then remove the runoff so your roots aren’t sitting in it. For me, that can end up taking 10 minutes or more if I have a couple of plants (I’ll share some tricks below on how to make that process go faster).

With a hydroponic setup your plant roots live in a water reservoir so you never have to worry about runoff water, and because a water reservoir can hold a lot of water at once it means you can go long periods of time without having to water your plants. There have been times in my life where I only tended to my hydro plants on the weekends (which I don’t recommend, but life happens!), which would be tough to do with a container-grown plant.

With hydro, a large reservoir can hold enough water to last for days, or even weeks in the early stages of a plants life. Some days, all that’s needed is just a quick visual check-in if anything at all!

Additionally, if you make up big batches of water each time, you can often go a long time between having to mix batches. That way when your reservoir water does get low you can simply fill it up again with your “reserve” nutrient water. I’ll talk about this a little bit more below, but the type of non-organic nutrients that are used for hydroponics can be pre-mixed with water for several weeks without any problems. This lets you focus on caring for your plants and training them instead of worrying about mixing up new water all the time.

As a bonus, plants grow faster hydroponically than any other grow style, which means you spend less time waiting for harvest time!

Learn how to grow hydroponically

Get Nutrients That Let You Mix Water Ahead of Time

When you need nutrient water for your cannabis plants, it can take several minutes to make up a new batch every time you water.

Instead, as mentioned earlier you can make a lot at once and only use it as needed.

But how long can you store pre-mixed nutrient water?

• Nearly all nutrients can last at least 1 week after being mixed with water without any negative effects on your plants

• For nutrients comprised solely of inorganic ingredients, your pre-mixed nutrient water can last for 2-3+ weeks without a problem even if the nutrient water is just sitting in the container.

How do you know which is which? Look at the label of your nutrients where it says “Derived from”

All the ingredients in the above picture are inorganic minerals and “chemical salts.” They all have “molecular” sounding names. When it comes to hydroponic nutrients, you will almost always see these types of ingredients specifically because they will not cause reactions or problems even when sitting in water for long periods of time.

But it’s not just hydro! Lots of soil and coco coir nutrients also use the same sources of nutrients because these specially derived mineral sources don’t need to be broken down and are available to your plant immediately.

As long as you don’t see any organic ingredients on the label, you know your nutrient water can be premixed for 2-3+ weeks. If you do spot organic ingredients on the label (like “seaweed extract” in this next example) then you probably shouldn’t let your nutrient water sit as long because organic material tends to start up biological processes. Ultimately this could cause things to grow in your water, possibly altering the nutrient content or even introducing some nasty microorganisms to your plant roots.

If you see any organic ingredients listed, like “seaweed extract,” don’t let your mixed nutrient water sit for longer than a week.

Learn more about different types of cannabis nutrients

Note: No matter what nutrients you’re using, make sure any pre-mixed nutrient water gets stored in a cool, dark place!

2.) Get the Right Gear

When you choose the right gear it can help you save minutes here and there, which really starts to add up!

Get a Bigger Plant Container So You Water Less Often

One way to get away with watering your plants less often is to grow them in a bigger container. This is because your growing medium can hold more water at a time, so it takes longer for your plant to drink it all before needing to be watered again.

Some things to keep in mind: When growing in big containers, you’ll get the fastest growth by starting your plants in smaller ones first, then transplanting them to bigger ones as they grow. But that also takes time. It’s much easier to start your seeds directly in big containers from the beginning so you can skip transplanting altogether. The one downside to that is seedlings tend to start a little slower at first in big pots (why?), but once your plant gets going they grow just as fast as any other container-grown plant and you’ll still get the benefit of watering less often.

Read the full article about plant containers

Avoid Smart Pots & Air Pots

If your goal is to water less often, avoid using a fabric pot (Smart Pot) or a container with holes on the sides (air pot). Although cannabis plants tend to grow faster in these types of containers, the pots dry out much more quickly since the soil is getting air from the sides. This means you end up needing to water them much more often than a similar-sized “traditional” plant container.

Learn more about Smart Pots & Air Pots vs Regular Pots

Get the Right LED Grow Lights

For most home growers, the best choice is LED grow lights to grow weed. LEDs grow great weed, are electrically efficient, and cheap to get started with.

If saving time is your main goal, get a simple, proven setup. That way you don’t have to think about the lights.

This 2’x4′ footprint makes it easy for you to reach all the plants, and fits in a corner of a bedroom.

This 300W LED grow light kit on Amazon grows about 8-14 oz of buds on average.

Learn more about different LED grow lights

Don’t DIY Everything

Although doing things yourself can save you a lot of money, having to make your own tools for the job almost always ends up taking more time. It’s like if you decided to use a rock to drive nails into wood instead of a hammer. You wouldn’t have to invest money in a hammer, but using a rock is going to take you a heck of a lot longer and not do as good a job!

One simple example when it comes to growing marijuana is using plant ties, which are a tool specifically made for bending and securing stems for plant training. Plant twisty ties unwind from a spool and an attached cutter lets you easily cut each tie to the perfect length in seconds. They are made to be strong enough to hook onto your plants and secure stems where you want, but not strong enough to accidentally hurt them.

Save time by using specially made plant twisty tie to secure your stems, not some random item around the house like wire or pipe cleaners!

If you wanted to save some money, you could skip getting plant ties altogether and just find something from around the house to secure your stems, like pipe cleaners. They both accomplish the same thing in the end, but with pipe cleaners you would likely have to tie several of them together each time you need to secure a stem. An extra minute here and there starts to add up after a while!

In addition to the time savings, DIY stuff often doesn’t last as long or work as well as tools made for the job. For example plant twisty ties are made of smooth plastic that is unaffected by water, while pipe cleaners are “hairy” and can easily start molding or running into other problems from being exposed to moist conditions. Unexpected malfunctions with DIY stuff can cause problems that take time away from your busy life!

Other handy tools specifically made for growing purposes include plant yo-yos (for holding up falling plants), a convenient grow tent (easier than building a grow space from scratch), and rope ratchets (adjust lights up and down with a few clicks). Each of these grow room accessories are cheap but can shave off a few minutes when you’re tending to your plants!

More growing tools you might not know about

3.) Optimize the Grow Space

Some of these ideas are little things and may only take a few minutes to set up, but can end up saving you so much time and frustration during your grow!

Make Sure You Have an Easy Way to Get Water

When it’s hard to get water, not only are you less likely to make up your water on time, it ends up taking more of your time.

• Learn how to get water from a too-small sink. If your grow space is near a sink, but you can’t fit your water container under the faucet, you can install an easy-release adapter that lets you easily “snap” a hose onto your sink. In my house, the only suitable place to fill up water is a little ways from my grow space, but with this adapter, I can use the bathroom sink on the same floor so I never have to lug water up a flight of stairs.

• Get a good-sized water container to mix up nutrient water. If you’re making up several 1-gallon containers of water at a time, consider getting a bigger container so you can make more at once.

• Don’t try to carry too much water at once. This doesn’t necessarily save time, but will save a lot of effort. If you can’t use a hose to get water directly to your grow space, try to think about how much water you’re expecting yourself to carry on a regular basis. I used to use a single 5-gallon jug to make up water for my plants because I wanted to make a lot of water at a time. The problem was that  I had a hard time carrying a jug with 5 gallons of water in it. I switched to using two 3-gallon jugs because they’re easier to carry/handle than a single 5-gallon jug and that works a lot better for me!

Make It Easy to Dispose of Water

When watering cannabis plants grown in containers, you want to give your plants enough water every time to get 20% extra runoff water out of the bottom. Making sure to water your plants thoroughly each time means you have to water less often, and cannabis plants grow faster when they get wet/dry cycles.

But in order to prevent soggy roots and plant drooping, you also want to make sure to remove that runoff water right away so your plants aren’t sitting in it. Sometimes that’s easier said than done!

If you’re growing with containers and each one has its own saucer, you have to physically pick up the plants every time you want to empty the saucers of runoff water. If you only have one smaller plant it’s not really a big deal, but the more plants you’re growing at a time and the bigger your plants get, the bigger of a pain this is.

You don’t want to have to empty each saucer one at a time after you water your plants

One solution is to put all your plants on a tray that will catch water, and put something small like a block of wood under the tray opposite you to make an incline. This makes it so all the runoff water drains to the front of the tray.

These trays are on a slight incline so runoff water immediately pools to the front

At this point, you can take something like a wet vac (I like this bucket vacuum attachment which hooks onto any 5-gallon bucket to make an ultra-cheap wet vacuum) to quickly suck up all the runoff water without having to move the plants at all.

Easy Access to Plants

This may seem simple but when it comes to making sure you pay enough attention to your plants without having to spend a lot of time on them, it’s super important to make sure you can easily access your plants. Every extra obstacle between you and your plants is going to cost a little extra time. So whenever possible try to make sure you have a clear path to the grow space, and that you have an easy-to-open grow tent, closet, or grow box.

The main idea is to make it so when you decide to check on the plants it only takes a second. That being said, don’t make your grow area easy to access for other people!

Make Sure the Tools in Your Grow Space Are Easy to Reach

You might not realize you’ve been wasting time going across the room every time you need to get your nutrients or a pH pen. When possible, you want every tool you use (measuring spoons, nutrients, pH testers, eye protection, grow journal, camera, etc) to be within arm’s reach so you don’t have to get up or move while tending your plants.

Taking a little time on a lazy afternoon to really think this one through and set things up right will save you a surprising amount of time and effort in the long run!

4.) Choose the Right Strain

Each strain grows and produces a little differently. Some strains may be better than others for your purposes!

Choose a Hardy Strain

Many strains have been specifically bred to be able to handle a wide range of conditions. These “easy to grow” strains can handle heat, cold, high humidity, and watering problems better than other strains. When you start with a known hardy strain, you can provide less-than-ideal conditions and care, but still get really great results. I’m not recommending you don’t care for your plants properly, but a hardy strain will let you get away with more without suffering as many consequences!

If you’re looking for suggestions, one highly recommended strain for first-time growers is Northern Light. It’s an award-winning strain that is easy to grow, potent, stays short, quick to harvest, and mold-resistant. It’s the first strain I ever grew and those plants went through a lot but still made it to harvest!

I Put This Northern Light Plant Through a Lot But It Stayed Healthy!

That’s one popular example, but there are tons of strains that are great for this purpose. When researching strains, the breeder will usually mention in the strain description if a plant is particularly hardy.

Learn more about researching to find the right strain. Also here are a few hand-picked heat-resistant strains and mold-resistant strains to help get you started.

Consider Growing an Auto-Flowering Strain

With auto-flowering plants, there is simply less for the grower to do. There’s little to no plant training (which can take quite a bit of time, more info on that below). There’s no light schedule to worry about and your buds will be ready to harvest in about 3 months without needing any special environmental conditions.

Another nice bonus is you have the ability to access your plants 24 hours a day (as opposed to flowering photoperiod plants that need 12 hours of complete darkness every day in order to make buds). This makes it so you can check on plants when it’s convenient instead of waiting for the lights to come on!

The one downside to auto-flowering plants is they can become stunted if they run into major problems during the first 3-4 weeks of life. So if you do go with an auto-flowering strain, you definitely want to try to make sure you keep a close eye on your plant until the first month is over. You may not have to do any extra work, but you still should be on the lookout for possible problems. If possible, choose an auto-flowering strain that is known to be hardy!

Learn more about auto-flowering vs photoperiod (“regular”) strains

5.) Plant Training

Growers train their plants because it’s a free way to dramatically increase yields indoors, sometimes up to 40% or even more compared to untrained plants. But although training increases yields, it does take time.

In my opinion, the best way to train your plant to get increased yields without wasting a lot of time is by using a technique known as manifolding.

Note: Manifolding adds extra time onto the length of your grow, but will minimize the amount of time and effort spent training your plants (while still ensuring exceptional results).

Example of a “Manifolded” Cannabis Plant With a Wide, Flat Shape & Many Colas

Why Manifolding?

All types of indoor cannabis plant training have the same goal – to create a wide and flat plant, with an even canopy like a table. This helps the plant get the most possible amount of light from the grow light. But there are many ways to accomplish this table-top shape, from simply bending stems (Low-Stress Training) to using screens (ScrOG).

Manifolding is one way to accomplish the table shape, and there are a couple of reasons I think it’s the best way to train your plants without needing a lot of time:

1. There’s less guesswork on your part compared to many other training techniques. You just follow the instructions exactly and it’s very clear without you having to think about anything.

2. It only takes two sessions to make your manifold, which takes just a few snips of the scissors.

3. After that, you’re pretty much done. As the plant grows, your only job is to arrange colas to make sure they all stay exposed to the light and none of them gets taller than the others.

Read the full manifolding tutorial

Note: Manifolding can only be done with photoperiod plants, not auto-flowering strains (why not?).

Or don’t train at all…

You might consider just skipping training altogether because you can still get great yields with untrained plants if you do it right.

Some growers use a technique called SoG (Sea of Green) to get the biggest yields without doing any training. Basically, the idea is to just grow a few or many untrained plants, and get them to make buds right away so you get a “sea” of plants with one main bud each. This can be a good choice for both photoperiod and auto-flowering strains, and in addition to taking no time training, harvest time comes quick!

SoG in action – This technique uses many small plants to create that flat shape with many colas, but without any training at all

One last tip…

Research before you start growing!

You can just put a cannabis seed in regular potting mix and deal with problems as you go along, and honestly, that’s how a lot of people start growing, including me! But doing it that way definitely ends up taking more time (and often money) because you end up running into problems or realizing along the way that you need to change up your setup.

I know this may be easier said than done, but if your goal is to grow cannabis without needing to spend much time each day caring for your plants each day, the best thing you can do is take the time to research before you even get your seeds!

Here’s a list of research topics to help you get started!

Jump to…

Growing Cannabis with Super Soil

How to Use Coco Coir as a Growing Medium

Top-Fed DWC (Bubbleponics) Tutorial

How do I produce top-shelf buds every time?​​​​​​​

The post 5 Time-Savers for Busy Cannabis Growers appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

In addition to the search bar, this link guide helps you navigate through the Grow Weed Easy website. Learn about growing topics you won’t find anywhere else! This is a shortened list of all our cannabis growing tutorials, as the website has over 500 articles and tutorials!

Full List of EVERYTHING on GWE  ← Over 500 Articles & Growing Tutorials!

Start Here – Beginner Grow Guides

• Complete Beginner’s Guide
• How do I start growing my own weed indoors? (get help choosing your setup)
• How to Grow Weed in 10 Steps
• Simplest Cannabis Grow Guide Ever!
• How Long Does It Take to Grow Weed? (Marijuana Growth Timeline)
• 3 Steps from Beginner to Legendary Grower
• Complete New Grower’s Shopping List

Cannabis Life Stages

• Germination
• Vegetative Stage (Getting Bigger)
• Flowering Stage (Making Buds)
• Harvest

Choosing…

• Best Type of Nutrients
• Choosing the Best Grow Light
• Soil vs Hydro
• How Many Plants Should I Grow?
• What Part of the House Should I Grow In?
• What Setup Should I Get?
• Best Strains for Beginners
• Where to Get Seeds (including the U.S.)

Common New Grower Topics

• How Much Will Electricity Cost?
• Stealth Growing: How NOT to Get Caught Growing Weed
• What Equipment Do I Need?
• Germinate Your Seeds
• 7 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I First Started Growing Weed
• How to Save Money When Growing Weed
• How to Store Weed Properly (so it never loses smell or potency!)
• Ask Questions & Get Answers From Real Growers! (In Our Free Growing Community)
• Cannabis Grower’s Glossary

Problems & Symptoms

• Cannabis Problems Guide
  • How to Help Yellow Seedlings
  • How to Fix Yellow Cannabis Leaves
  • How to Fix Curling and Clawing Cannabis Leaves
  • What Causes Dry or Crispy Leaves?
  • What Causes Brown Spots on Cannabis Leaves?
  • What Causes Bananas (“Nanners”) on Cannabis Buds?
  • Is This Nutrient Burn on My Marijuana Plant?
  • What causes red stems in cannabis plants?
• Diagnose Your Sick Plant
• Bugs & Other Cannabis Pests
• How to Prevent Nutrient Deficiencies
  • Which Nutrient Deficiencies are Caused by pH? (picture guide)
  • How to Stop Flowering Stage Nutrient Deficiencies
• 7 Reasons Why Cannabis Plants Grow Slow
• 5-Step Remedy That Fixes 99% of Grow Problems
• All-Natural Pesticides – Safe Up to Harvest!

Plant Training (Indoor Tricks for Bigger Yields)

• Simplest Plant Training Guide Ever!
• How to Control Height of Indoor Cannabis Plants
• Complete Plant Training Guide
• Breakdown of Techniques​
  • Low Stress Training (LST) Tutorial
  • Topping vs FIMing Tutorial
  • LBH’s Famous ScrOG Tutorial
  • Supercropping: Magic Technique to Control Cannabis Plant Height
  • Sea of Green (SoG) Tutorial
  • 12-12 from Seed – Flowering Plants Early
  • Nebula’s Manifold Tutorial
  • How to Manifold Clones
  • Nebula’s Bud-Based Defoliation Tutorial
  • Alternate Defoliation Tutorial ​
  • What is Re-Vegging / Monstercropping?
• How Can I Train an Auto-Flowering Plant?
• 7 Unfortunate Plant Training Mistakes

Grow Mediums

• What’s the Best Growing Medium?
• Soil vs Coco vs Hydro
• Basic Soil Guide
• Organic Soil Compost Guide (Super Soil) – Just Add Water!
• Coco Coir Guide
  • Coco Coir: The Most Flexible Cannabis Grow Medium
• Hydro/DWC/Bubbleponics Guide
• “True” Organic Growing vs Just Using Organic Nutrients
• Can You Use Miracle-Gro?

Nutrients

• Which Nutrients Are Best For Growing Cannabis?
• Soil Nutrients
• Coco Coir Nutrients
• Hydroponic Nutrients

Grow Lights

• 5 Best LED Grow Lights 2025 (Yields, Speed, & Bud Quality)
• Compare Types of Cannabis Grow Lights
  • Fluorescents (T5s) – Good for Seedlings Only (not powerful enough to produce potent buds or big yields)
  • CFLs (Spiral Bulbs) – Not Recommended (LEDs are much better)
  • LED Grow Lights – Recommended for Most Home Growers
  • MH/HPS Grow Lights – Good Alternative to LEDs, But Run Much Hotter
  • CMH / LEC Grow Lights – Good Alternative to LEDs, But Run Much Hotter
  • Plasma / Magnetic Induction Grow Lights – Not Recommended (poor cannabis growth)
• How Does Light Spectrum Affect Marijuana Plants?
• How Far Away Do I Keep My Grow Lights?
• You Can Actually Give Plants Too Much Light?!
• Grow Light Upgrade Guide: Yields & Potency Explained
• Cannabis Grow Lights: What’s the Best Size?

Best LED Grow Light Articles

• 5 Best LED Grow Lights 2025 (Yields, Speed, & Bud Quality)
• LED Grow Lights: Too Much or Not Enough Light?
• LED Grow Journal: Mars Hydro TSL-2000W vs Spider Farmer SF-2000
• LEC vs LED Grow Lights: Side-by-Side Cannabis Grow Journal
• Nebula’s Auto-Flowering Grow Journal (Topping vs Natural) – cannabis plants are grown under LED grow lights

Environment

• Create the Perfect Growing Environment
  • Temperature Tutorial
  • 5 Secrets to Heat Control
  • Control Humidity for Better Buds
  • How to Use Reflective Walls to Increase Yields Indoors
  • How to Make Plants Grow Faster with CO2
• Where’s the Best Place in the House to Grow Your Plants?
• How to Control Odors
• How to Set Up an Exhaust
• How to Set Up a Grow Tent for Better Yields (and Stealth)

Plant Care Tutorials

• Cloning
  • How to clone weed in a cup of water (easy!)
  • How to make cannabis clones with an aero cloner
• Intro to Plant Training for Bigger Yields Indoors
• How Often to Water Plants
  • The Easiest Way to Water Plants & Remove Runoff
• How (and When) to Transplant Cannabis
• Male vs Female Plants
• When to Harvest?
• Drying & Curing

How to Improve…

• Yields
• Bud Quality
  • 7 Environment Effects on Bud Quality
  • The Secret to Excellent Bud Quality
• THC Levels
• CBD Levels
• Smell/Taste
• Density
• Bud Color (How to Grow Pink or Purple Buds)
• Glitter (Make Buds Sparkle with More Trichomes)
• Bonus: What Determines Yields?

Buying Seeds

• Where to Get Seeds
• How to Find the Right Strain
• What are “Feminized” Seeds?
• Which Breeders to Trust?
• Photoperiod vs Auto-Flowering Cannabis Strains
• Bag Seed vs Hype Seed: Is it worth it to buy cannabis seeds?

Recommended Strains

• Best Autoflowering Cannabis Strains for Yields & Potency
• List of Sugar-Dusted Strains (Heavy Trichome Genetics)
• 10 Cold-Resistant Cannabis Strains
• 14 Heat-Resistant Cannabis Strains
• Which cannabis strains stay short? (Best strains for small spaces)

Auto-Flowering Strains

• Nebula’s Guide to Cannabis Auto-Flowering Strains (Photoperiod vs Auto-Flowering)
• Should I “Top” or Train an Auto-Flowering Plant?
• What’s the best light schedule for auto-flowering strains?
• Nebula’s Auto-Flowering Grow Journal (Topping vs Natural)

Edibles

• Decarboxylation: How to Decarb Your Weed (crucial step for just about every edible recipe)
• Best Weed Butter Recipe
  • How to Make Great Brownies with Weed Butter
• Canna Caps
• How to Make Cannabis Gummies (Weed Gummy Bears)
• How to Make Cannabis Tinctures
• How to Make Hash Oil (aka Cannabis Extract Oil, Rick Simpson Oil, or RSO)

Extracts (No Solvents Used in Any Recipe)

• Solventless Extraction Showdown – Bubble Hash vs. Dry-Ice Hash!
• Dry Ice Hash (Made with Dry Ice)
• How to Make Bubble Hash (Made with Ice Water)
• How To Make Your Own Homemade Rosin (dabs)

And Lots More!

• How Long Does it Take to Grow Weed?
• Vegetative vs Flowering Stage (Long Days vs Long Nights)
• Germination & Seedling Mistakes
• Simple Guide to Plant Training
• What’s the Best Pot / Container?
• Perpetual Harvest
• What Determines Yields?
• 5 Time-Savers for Busy Growers
• Breeding Techniques
• 7 Gift Ideas for Cannabis Growers
• Grow Journals
• How long can I store nutrient water?
• What is High-Frequency Fertigation?
• Where is it legal to grow weed in the USA?
• See EVERYTHING on the Site!

Safety & Preparation

• Fire Protection in the Grow Room
• Electrical Safety Tips & Tricks
• Prepare Yourself for Growing Emergencies
• Stealth Growing Indoors: How to NOT get Caught Growing Weed

Just for Fun

• Weird or What? Cannabis Mutations & More!
• Creatures on Cannabis (Cute Photo Gallery)
• 10 Gift Ideas for Cannabis Growers

Submit Pics

• Submit Trophy Pictures of your Plants!
• How to Take Better Plant Pics
• How to Fix Yellow HPS Pics

Want More?

• Complete List of EVERYTHING on GWE  ← Full List (Over 500 articles & growing!)

Thanks for visiting! We hope our website helps you find the growing tutorials you were looking for. We’ve written hundreds of growing marijuana articles and unfortunately we can’t fit them all on this page, so we encourage you to use the search bar on the right side (or top of the page for mobile users) to search for articles you don’t see here.

Happy growing!
Nebula & Sirius

Use this “Navigation” page to find the pot growing topic you’re interested in, or click here to see every single page on the website!

The post Link Guide to Growing Cannabis Tutorials appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Have you seen fabric pots (also known as “Smart Pots”) or plastic pots with holes in the sides (“Air Pots”)? You may see these in a local gardening store or online in cannabis growing pictures. Are you wondering if smart pots and air pots are good for growing marijuana?

Smart pots and air pots provide extra oxygen to the roots, which is a good thing. In fact, the act of increasing oxygen levels at the roots is a big part of what makes hydro so effective at increasing cannabis growth rates (hydro systems constantly pump air into the water so it’s ultra-oxygenated). Smart pots and air pots capture some of that power. Essentially, growing cannabis in smart pots or air pots gives you some of the advantages of growing hydro while allowing you to still hand-water your plants in soil or coco coir.

Smart Pots & Air Pots Make Cannabis Grow Faster!

Smart Pots
(Fabric Pots)

Air Pots
(plastic containers with holes on the sides like Swiss cheese)

However, there’s no one size fits all when it comes to growing weed. All types of containers have their strengths and weaknesses for growing weed, which I’ll outline for you quickly:

Quick Review: Regular Containers vs Smart Pots & Air Pots

• Cannabis plants grow faster in smart pots or air pots (especially in the vegetative stage), in part because plant roots get plenty of access to oxygen
• Cannabis plants in smart pots or air pots can’t really become root-bound, which is when roots wrap around the edges of the container and “choke” the plant. In a smart pot or air pot, it’s very difficult for the plant to get rootbound since it’s always receiving air from the sides which “air prunes” away any roots trying to wrap around the edges.
• Cannabis plants are protected from becoming overwatered in air pots or smart pots. The air from the side helps make sure your plant always has plenty of oxygen so your plants don’t get “wet feet.”
• However, in air pots or smart pots, plants need to be watered about twice as often as regular containers since the grow medium is constantly drying out from the sides.

Complete Cannabis Container Breakdown

Regular Pots vs Smart Pots vs Air Pots

Regular Pots for Growing Cannabis

This is a container with a hole at the bottom for drainage, plus a saucer to catch the water.

• Tried and true method

• Easy to find at any gardening store

• Saucer captures runoff water for easy disposal

• Helps keep growing medium from drying out too fast

• Usually made out of ceramic or plastic

Smart Pots for Growing Cannabis 

• A smart pot is a plant container that has been made completely out of a stiff fabric

• The shape is usually wider/more squat than a regular container, so it may be possible to grow plants in a slightly shorter space, especially compared to an air pot which is tall/thin. However, they take up more width than any of the other containers, so you may be able to fit less containers in a particular space.

• Indoors, you need an extra large saucer or a tray to capture runoff water since smart pots don’t come with a saucer or tray and they seep out water from the sides. So in addition to the container taking up extra room, so will the saucer.

• The wide base of a smart pot makes them well suited to growing really large plants, which is why smart pots come in huge sizes in addition to standard plant container sizes. Even giant plants won’t tip over in a smart pot. Many outdoor cannabis growers plant their cannabis in big (600+ gallon) smart pots since they help outdoor plants grow faster than just putting them straight in the ground.

• More oxygen is delivered to the roots than a regular pot

• Smart pots help prevent your cannabis from becoming root-bound and needing to be transplanted to a new container. This is accomplished by “air-pruning” roots from the sides, which stops your roots from wrapping around the edges of your container and “choking” your plant.

• Smart pots make it difficult to over-water your plants, but that also means you will end up watering more often

• Because smart pots dry out faster than regular cannabis containers, you should get double the size as you normally would, and it’s recommended your final size should be at least a 5-gallon container (anything smaller than that dries out in just a day or two!). So if you would normally get a 2-gallon container for your plants, you’d want to get at least a 5-gallon smart pot to make sure you’re not having to water your plants all the time.

If you’re going to go big, go with smart pots – your plants won’t by tippy

Air Pots for Growing Cannabis

• An air pot is a plastic container with holes on the sides

• The shape is taller and thinner than a regular container, so it may be possible to put more plants in a smaller space as long as you have the height

• The narrow base means plants tend to be less stable on the ground in an air pot, especially if they’re tall, which means large plants can be easy to tip over.

• Although water seeps out the sides when watering, air pots are tall and thin so you can use a regular sized saucer for each container (if it’s a 5-gallon container, you can use a regular 5-gallon saucer).

• More oxygen is delivered to the roots than a regular pot, though about the same as a smart pot

• Air pots help prevent plants from becoming root-bound and needing to be transplanted. This is accomplished by “air-pruning” roots from the sides, which prevents your roots from wrapping around the edges of your container and “choking” your plant.

• Air pots make it more difficult to over-water your cannabis plants, but that also means you will end up watering more often

• Because air pots dry out faster than regular cannabis containers, you should get double the size as you normally would, and it’s recommended your final size should be at least a 5-gallon container (anything smaller than that dries out in just a day or two!). So if you would normally get a 2-gallon container for your plants, you’d want to get at least a 5-gallon air pot to make sure you’re not having to water your plants all the time.

The Blue Velvet cannabis plant on the left reacted beautifully to growing in an air pot! On the right is what your cannabis roots look like after growing up in an air pot – all of the roots are reaching to get oxygen from the sides, and absolutely no signs of wrapping like with a rootbound plant!

cannabis root pic by coco coir expert roll_it_large

Which one is the best for growing cannabis? Is it Smart Pots, Air Pots, or regular plant pots?

The truth is these containers are each good in different ways. Some are better suited to some grow setups than others. So let me share my personal opinion…

A Regular Plant Pot is Tried and True

As a general rule a regular plant pot tends to take slightly less maintenance than the others because the growing medium dries out more slowly. Since you can use smaller pots for the same effect, you may be able to fit more plants in a small space.

At the same time, it’s a lot easier to overwater your plant in a regular pot, and you may find your plants quickly become rootbound if you keep them in a too-small container. When a plant is suffering nutrient deficiencies and droopiness from being rootbound, there’s not much you can do to fix it besides transplanting the plant to a bigger container and that can be tough, especially if your plant is already in the flowering stage. I like that you never have to worry about plants becoming rootbound with smart pots or air pots.

Air Pots & Smart Pots Make Cannabis Grow Faster

I’ve tried them both and air pots and smart pots both work amazingly well at increasing cannabis plant growth. A few years ago I even did a side-by-side grow with a regular pot for comparison. From my experience, I don’t think either air pots or smart pots are inherently better than the other. They are both very effective at increasing the vegetative growth rates of your cannabis plants, and they work by doing essentially the same thing – bringing in air from the sides.

As far as I can tell, the major differences between the two is mostly physical. Air pots are taller/thinner and made of plastic, while smart pots are wider/shorter and are made of fabric.

If you’re trying to stuff a bunch of plants in a small space, you might want an air pot since they’re thinner, however plants become tippy if they get tall.

If you have a shorter space, you may opt for a smart pot to save a few extra inches of height, and a smart pot is less tippy so it’s more suited to growing outdoors, or any time you’re growing a big plant.

Personally, I like smart pots better, but mostly just because I prefer fabric over plastic. (Check out my last grow journal using smart pots)

Full disclosure: I currently have switched to hydro (you just can’t beat those cannabis yields!) but if I was going to do another hand-watered cannabis grow, I would never use a regular pot again! At least for me, the increased cannabis growth from a smart pot or air pot makes it worth a little extra watering! It’s like capturing a little bit of that hydro power, while keeping the hand-watered experience.

Jump to…

Learn more about containers for growing cannabis!

How (and when) to transplant a cannabis plant

Learn how to increase your cannabis yields

Discover secrets to improving overall bud quality

The post Smart Pots vs Air Pots vs Regular Pots appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Here are cannabis plants grown with this coco tutorial: Coco 70:30 mix with Flora Trio nutrients. Strains are Planet of the Grapes, Mandarin Cookies, Zweet Inzanity.

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Pros: Why Use Coco Coir for Growing Cannabis?
• Cons of Using Coco Coir

Overview: How to Grow Cannabis with Coco Coir

• Supplies List
• Step-By-Step Coco Growing Tutorial

Coco Coir Rehydration Tutorial – Make an Excellent Coco Coir Mix at Home

• Step-By-Step Instructions

Coco coir may be my favorite cannabis growing medium (though I love them all for different reasons). Coco coir gives a hand-watered experience similar to growing in soil, but with faster growth rates and more protection against overwatering.

Grown in Coco 70:30 mix with Flora Trio nutrients: Power Plant, Peyote Critical, Critical Purple Kush

Follow the step-by-step instructions in this tutorial to for ultra fast-growing cannabis plants in coco…

Your reward? Big, fat, potent buds at harvest!

Coco also comes with many benefits of growing weed in hydro, such as fewer bugs and bigger harvests. Coco coir seems almost tailor-made for growing cannabis!

What is Coco Coir?

Coco coir is made of ground-up coconut husks and works surprisingly well as a medium for growing lots of plants, not just cannabis. Plant roots love it. As a bonus, coco is more environmentally friendly than peat moss (one of its main competitors). As a result, coco is slowly replacing peat in many soil potting mixes.

Dried and compressed coco coir. Just add water to turn into “soil” for cannabis plants..

Note: “Coir” is officially pronounced “coy-er” but I’ve noticed most cannabis growers say “kwar” (so it rhymes with “car”).

Coco offers a hand-watered grow experience similar to soil.

Coco coir is a versatile growing medium which can be used by itself or mixed with other ingredients. It’s often included in soil potting mixes to help prevent compaction and loosen the soil while still retaining plenty of water. For example, Fox Farm Coco Loco is a great choice for soil growers who want some of the benefits of coco.

Cannabis plants grown in Fox Farm Coco Loco thrive.

However, this tutorial focuses on coco growing that doesn’t involve any soil or non-inert ingredients. Growing in pure coco plus perlite (no soil) is what achieves the fastest growth.

Today, you learn how to grow with a coco/perlite mix and provide nutrients in the water. This root environment creates thriving cannabis plants.

As long as you remember to water your plants with nutrients as directed, coco plants tend to be more hardy than cannabis plants in other grow mediums. You are less likely to get bugs than in soil, or root rot like in hydro. It’s rare for a coco grower to run into major problems that prevent them from getting to harvest when they follow these directions.

Because of that, I believe coco is one of the best grow mediums for beginner growers. Plus, you’ll learn almost all the skills you need to grow in soil or hydro in the future. Coco gives you a great base of knowledge for growing cannabis that will serve you well even if you branch out to other grow mediums.

Cannabis plants produce excellent yields and bud quality in coco coir.

Pros – Why Use Coco Coir for Growing Cannabis?

• Feels Like Growing in Soil – Coco coir is a soilless growing medium that gives the experience of growing in soil. Plants are kept in regular pots, and growers simply water their plants with nutrient water. In many ways, coco coir can be treated basically the same as soil for growing cannabis.
• Harder to Overwater Than Soil – Coco coir tends to promote healthy and fast root development compared to other potting mixes. It holds onto moisture and nutrients, yet also has a light texture that gives roots access to oxygen. This makes plants less likely to experience symptoms from over or under-watering.
• Doesn’t Hurt the Environment – Coco coir is sustainable for the environment (unlike some other options, like peat moss), since it’s made of ground coconut husks. It also breaks down naturally.
• Does Not Attract Insects – Coco coir does not make a good home for many garden pests that affect soil growers. Cannabis growing in coco coir are less likely to be attacked by pests or bugs.
• Plants Grow Very Fast – Since you provide easy-to-absorb nutrients in the water, plant roots don’t have to go out and search for nutrients like they do in soil. This saves the plant precious energy, similar to growing in hydroponics. As a result, coco coir gives many of the benefits of hydro with a soil experience. You get faster growth and bigger yields than soil for the same amount of time and effort.

Cons – Downsides of Growing Cannabis in Coco Coir

• Must Give Nutrients with Every Watering – Unlike soil, coco coir is an inert growing medium with no inherent nutritional value. That means growers must provide all necessary nutrients in the water, even when plants are seedlings. On the other hand, soil naturally gives plants some nutrients (at least until all the nutrients in the soil get used up).*
• May Need to Adjust pH of Water – Although you also need to manage pH in soil to prevent nutrient deficiencies, coco plants need a slightly more acidic root environment than soil. Coco plants grow fastest with a relatively acidic root zone of 5.5-6.5 pH, while soil needs a closer-to-neutral 6-7 pH. That means unless you naturally have slightly acidic water, you typically need to add a bit of PH Down to the water to get it into the right pH range for growing weed in coco. Note: You can use a pH Kit to easily test and adjust the pH of your water. Learn more about pH for growing cannabis.
• May Need a Cal-Mag Supplement – If you’re growing with “soft” water, filtered water, reverse osmosis water, or any kind of particularly pure water, you may need to give plants a Cal-Mag supplement. Coco naturally binds to calcium, so extra Calcium may be needed, unless you have a lot of minerals in your water. If you have “hard” water, spring water, or other mineral-rich water, you probably do not need a Cal-Mag supplement.

*Don’t want to deal with nutrients? If you start with a nutrient-heavy composted “just add water” super soil, you may not have to add any nutrients at all from seed to harvest.

Coco coir holds onto a lot of moisture but also holds onto more air than similar materials, ensuring your plant roots get the oxygen they need to thrive. When coco is mixed with perlite, it provides an ideal amount of water and air for cannabis roots. Coco coir drains well so plants are less likely to get overwatered, but it also holds onto nutrients so you don’t need a ton of fertilizer.

Which Pre-Made Coco Mix is Best for Growing Cannabis?

Although you can re-hydrate coco bricks at home, a pre-made coco mix takes out all the work! If you decide to go with a pre-made mix, I highly recommend choosing one that contains both coco and perlite. A 70/30 ratio of coco/perlite works great for hand-watered cannabis plants.

Here are examples of pre-made mixes that I’ve personally tested and recommend: Mother Earth Coco Mix (70% coco / 30% perlite) was the first pre-made coco mix I ever used for growing cannabis. I’ve grown with Mother Earth at least a dozen times and always get great results. Another pre-made coco mix I’ve tried that works great for growing marijuana is FoxFarm Cultivation Nation 70/30 Coco. It’s newer but a bit cheaper, and works just as well in my experience.

Here’s what a good 70/30 coco mix looks like.

Did you know you can make your own coco mix at home? The pre-made mixes with coco coir that are formulated specifically for plants like cannabis. They’re convenient, but take up room in the house. A cheaper coco option is to buy dry coco bricks, which need to be re-hydrated with water before you can use it to grow plants. The process to use coco bricks is explained at the end of the article. It’s actually pretty easy! Another benefit is the bricks are small and easy to store, so you can make your own mix any time without having to store bags of coco mix.

Once your cannabis is in a good coco coir mix, like the options above, your job is simple. Just add nutrients, water, and light for happy plants.

Grower FirstDescent shows how he was able to get a ton of weed from a small plant in coco.

Although growing cannabis in coco coir is getting more popular, one of the problems is that there’s not enough free information to help new growers know what to do. A few simple steps ensures your coco plants stay in tip-top shape, and this tutorial will show you exactly what to do.

Ready to treat your plants to a luxurious life in coco coir? Your harvest will thank you for it!  

Overview: Growing Cannabis in Coco Coir 

This isn’t the only way to grow cannabis in coco coir, but this is what I do and it achieves fast growth, excellent yields, and top-shelf bud quality.

Which Nutrients for Coco Coir?

When growing cannabis in coco coir, always use nutrients made for coco coir or hydroponics. Many growers also benefit from adding a “Cal-Mag” supplement, which is a common gardening supplement that provides extra calcium. Learn more about which nutrients you should use for growing cannabis in coco coir.

Learn about different cannabis nutrients: https://www.growweedeasy.com/nutrients

I personally like the General Hydroponics Flora trio plus Calimagic​ (a Cal-Mag supplement) for growing in coco coir.

This is a tried and tested nutrient system for any type of hydroponic growing including coco coir. You can actually follow their nutrient schedule listed on the included nutrient schedule; it’s formulated for plants like cannabis.

​

Note: After adding nutrients (or even if you’re giving just plain water), always pH your water to 5.5-6.5 before giving it to your plants. This is important!

Like many cannabis base nutrients, the included dosage recommendations is aggressive and can burn your plants if given at full strength. No matter what base nutrient system you’re using with your coco coir, I recommend starting at half-strength nutrients at first, and only raising the dosage if you noticed plants look “hungry” for more nutrients. It’s also good to give enough water that some extra runoff comes out the bottom, to prevent nutrient buildup.

Here is the coco coir nutrient schedule I’m using right now (pdf)

Whenever using liquid nutrients, you will need a way to test pH so your plant roots are able to easily absorb all the nutrients they need. I use a simple General Hydroponics pH test kit. Learn more about managing pH here: https://www.growweedeasy.com/ph​

How much Cal-Mag should I use for coco coir? 

Here are instructions if using a Cal-Mag Supplement:

• Give Cal-Mag at full strength (unlike base nutrients, which typically should be given at half strength to start) alongside your nutrients for at least two weeks at the beginning of your grow. You may also add Cal-Mag with your other other nutrients throughout the grow, especially if you’re using soft or filtered water.
• Example of a Good Cal-Mag Supplement – One great Cal-Mag supplement for cannabis is CaliMagic by General Hydroponics. CaliMagic can be used at 1 tsp/gallon (2.5 mL per 2L).

See more coco coir nutrient suggestions.

Do you Need a Cal-Mag Supplement?

Unless you have very “hard” water that naturally contains lots of minerals, you likely need to use a standard plant “Cal-Mag” plant supplement to make sure your cannabis gets all the calcium they need. That’s because cannabis plants grown in coco coir tends to require more calcium compared to other growing mediums.

These plant supplements typically come in liquid form and contain calcium as well as magnesium. The extra magnesium is needed for your plant to be able to use the calcium properly. One great Cal-Mag supplement for cannabis is CaliMagic by General Hydroponics. CaliMagic can be used at 1 tsp/gallon (2.5 mL per 2L).

If you’re using a different nutrient company, chances are they have their own version of a Cal-Mag supplement. Whenever using any supplements, it’s a great idea to stick with the same company as your base nutrients in order to prevent the chance of unexpected interactions between two different brands.

Now that you’ve got a hand on what you need for you coco mix and nutrients, it’s time to start growing!

All Supplies Needed to Grow Cannabis in Coco

Basic Supplies

• Grow Light – I recommend using a cannabis-tested LED grow light.
• Coco Mix – Either make it yourself (tutorial – makes 10 gallons coco) or buy a pre-made 70/30 coco mix (1.8 cu. ft. of coco fills a 12-13 gallons worth of pots).
• Nutrients (base nutrients) – General Hydroponics Flora trio is my favorite nutrient option for growing weed.
  • Alternative: Dyna-Gro Superthrive Foliage-Pro & Bloom is a cheap-but-effective alternative.
• Plant Containers – I like fabric pots. They offer faster growth and less a chance of overwatering than hard-sided pots.
• Seeds – Learn where I buy seeds. Any cannabis strain can thrive in coco.

Here are some proven cannabis strains that work well with this coco tutorial:

Planet of the Grapes, Mandarin Cookies, Zweet Inzanity

Power Plant, Peyote Critical, Critical Purple Kush

Optional Supplies

• Cal-Mag Supplement – Calimagic​ is a good one. Get this if you are using RO (reverse osmosis) water, filtered water, or otherwise “soft” water without many natural minerals.
• Grow Tent – A grow tent is a good house for your plants. Learn about grow tents for cannabis.
• Solo Cups – To start seedlings (explained below).
• Seedling Plugs – I like Rapid Rooters to start seedlings. You can also plant seeds directly in the coco.

If you got my recommended pre-made mix, which contains 1.8 cu. ft. of coco, it will fill about 12 gallons worth of pots. If you followed the tutorial at the bottom of the article to make your own coco mix, you’ll have about 10 gallons of potting mix. This can be used to fill 2 x 5 gallon pots, 3 x 3 gallon pots, or 5 x 2-gallon containers.

I recommend larger containers for larger plants and to water less often. I recommend smaller containers for smaller plants, and when the grower is willing to water more often.

Step-by-Step Grow Cannabis Coco Coir Tutorial

Whether you’re using pre-made or rehydrated coco, here’s what to do to grow cannabis effectively.

1.) Fill your containers with potting mix

Don’t fill containers to the brim. Leave a little extra space inside, so that the sides of the pots act as a “fence” around the coco coir. This is useful when you start watering plants. It helps ensure all the water goes down into the coco and not spill off the edges.

2.) Prepare solo cups for seedlings (optional)

If you do use solo cups, make sure to cut holes into the bottom so that water can drain out after you’ve watered your plants. Always test to make sure water runs through cup freely. If you have a hard time filling up an empty solo cup with water because it’s running out the bottom, you have added the right amount of drainage.

3.) Germinate Cannabis Seeds (3 options)

Option 1: Germinate seeds in fresh Rapid Rooters. If you place the Rapid Rooters in a tray, making sure there’s a very shallow pool of water at the bottom to keep them moist.

Option 2: You can also place the Rapid Rooter on top of the moist but not soaking coco coir in your solo cups or plant pot. This ensures they stay moist and saves you from the step of having to plant the Rapid Rooters.

Fresh Rapid Rooters give some of the best germination rates, but of course there’s other ways to start your plants.

Option 3: Plant seeds directly in coco mix.

Some growers plant their seeds directly in the coco coir, and that works well, too.

Happy little seedlings are so cute!

Learn about other ways to germinate cannabis seeds here: https://www.growweedeasy.com/germinate

4.) Start Seedling-Strength Nutrients

After seedling grows first set of “real” (serrated) leaves, water with nutrients at normal seedling strength, and add a regular dose of Cal-Mag (Calimagic). Keep giving water until you get about 20% runoff ut the bottom of the solo cup. The first set of leaves are round, but the second set are serrated and pointy. Once you see those leaves, it’s time to water your seedling with nutrients.

5.) Nurture Your Seedlings

Some growers will put their Rapid Rooters in solo cups, while others put their seedlings directly in their final container. Either way, your job is the same. Make sure your seedlings get plenty of light while making sure that it’s never too hot for your seedlings. Place your hands where your seedlings are and wait 10 seconds, if it’s too hot for you, it’s too hot for your plants.

• Seedling Strength Nutrients – Continue to water plants at full seedling strength of the included nutrient schedule for the General Hydroponics Flora Series plus Cal-Mag.
• 2 cups (500 mL) water every 2 days – When watering seedlings, give just 2 cups (500 mL) of water every 2 days at first. Make sure any extra water can drain freely soon through holes out the bottom
  • In general, don’t give water again until the top looks mostly dry.

Water seedlings in a small circle around the base.

6.) Transplant to Final Plant Pots (If Necessary)

If you started in solo cups, you should transplant to bigger containers once the seedlings have grown grown a few sets of leaves.

Once your seedling has grown a few sets of leaves, it’s time to transplant to a bigger container!

Dig a small hole in your coco coir containers so there’s room for the new seedlings. Take a butter knife and carefully slide it all around the edges of each solo cup, then carefully transplant your seedling into your bigger coco coir containers.

7.) Vegetative Stage – What to Do

The vegetative stage is your plant’s first stage of life. Here’s your complete guide to the vegetative stage when growing marijuana in coco coir.

Your Goal in the Vegetative Stage: Maintain happy plants until they are half the final desired size. In this stage, they only grow stems and leaves. They need to get big and strong before they start making buds in the flowering stage.

Nutrients: Cannabis nutrients often recommend too high levels of nutrients for proper growth. If you’re using the custom nutrient schedule I created for you above, you can simply follow the instructions. But if you’re using a different nutrient system, I encourage you to start providing all nutrients in the water at half strength.

Watering: Water plants with vegetative stage nutrients with about 10% extra runoff. Don’t water again until the top of the coco is mostly dry. Continue to always adjust pH water to 5.5-6.5 before giving it to plants.

I use a water transfer pump. (Learn easy ways to water plants)

What to Do If You See Nutrient Deficiencies

• See yellow? If you notice the leaves are starting to yellow or turn lime green, it’s usually a sign your plants is “hungry” for more nutrients. Especially the yellowing seems to be climbing up the plant from the bottom.
  • Look at the nitrogen deficiency page for more information. If you have a nitrogen deficiency at this stage, it means your plants need higher levels of nutrients. If so, increase your nutrient levels slowly, watching closely for signs of nutrient burn (which means too high levels of nutrients).
  • Some leaves will likely turn green again once the plant gets more nutrients, but some may stay yellow, especially towards the bottom of the plant. So look at the new leaves for signs of recovery. Most important, make sure the yellowing has stopped spreading to different leaves.
  • It’s also likely that any improvement may take a few days after you provide increased nutrient levels. So don’t keep upping your dose until you’ve given your plant a few days to a week at the new level!
• Other Nutrient Deficiencies – If you have any other problems besides a nitrogen deficiency, it’s likely a pH problem. But if you’ve been giving nutrients and properly pH’ed water, yet are still seeing leaf symptoms, consult this page: Plant Doctor – Diagnose Your Sick Cannabis Plants.

If your plant is yellowing or lime green all over, it’s a sign it needs more nutrients overall.

See other leaf deficiencies? It’s likely a pH problem. If not, check the Cannabis Plant Doctor!

Optional Plant “Training” for Bigger YIelds

You can let cannabis plants grow naturally, and that works well. However, most cannabis plants naturally only grow one main buds, instead of many buds per plant. If you want to increase your yields and produce a sea of buds, these are the steps to take.

• “Top” the Plant (Optional But Helpful) – Cut off the top of the young plant above the 5th set of leaves with a clean pair of scissors. This helps cause the plants to “bush out” and produce more buds per plant. Learn how to top an autoflowering plant.
• Bend Over Tall Stems to Make Plants Grow Flat (Plant “Training” for Bigger Yields) – If desired, the vegetative stage is when you start plant training (I recommend waiting a few days after the transplant to make sure plant isn’t stressed before starting any training).

Note: If you are growing auto-flowering plants from seed, follow these autoflowering-specific training instructions.

Cut off the top of the plant above the 5th set of leaves. (Optional but helpful!)

This videos shows you how to top a cannabis plant.

This next video shows the whole cannabis topping process, in a timelapse format, showing what topping looks like in 10 days. This helps you see how the plant starts “bushing out” (the lower growth tips begin rising up). I think it also helps you see how topping splits the main stem into two stems.

Topping makes it much easier to train the plant to grow flat since you can bend each of the two new main stems down and away from the center.

Here’s a video showing what a plant looks like in the 10 days after being topped. Thanks to grower fuzzygrow for this awesome cannabis topping timelapse!

Read the complete guide to topping cannabis plants!

Whether you top or not, you should still make sure to bend over tall stems as they grow, to try to create a flat, tabletop shape.

Use bending and tying down (low stress training) to keep plants flat and wide like a table as they grow.

It doesn’t seem like much, but this process of bending over tall stems is key to getting the best cannabis yields later.

I gently bend tall stems down and away from the center of the plant, and use plant twist tie to hold them in place.

If using fabric pots, just poke a hole where you want to attach the twist tie. I use Gardening Snips (useful for plant training and trimming!)

Wrap the twist tie around the hole to give it some extra holding power.

Continue always bending over and tying down tall branches to maintain that tabletop shape.

The vegetative stage lasts until your plant is about half the size you want it to be in the end (or when they start flowering on their own). After your plant has grown half the desired size, it’s time for the next step.

• Wait Until Plants Are 1/2 the Final Size – Once plants are half the desired size, switch to the flowering stage (if you have auto-flowering plants, they will automatically start flowering after 3-5 weeks).

Why when plants are half the final size? Because on average they will about double in size during the flowering stage.

8.) Initiate Flowering Stage with a 12/12 Light Schedule (to get buds to form)

Now that your plants are half the final size, it’s time to switch to the flowering stage. With standard photoperiod plants, you do this by changing your light schedule to 12-12 (12 hours of light, plus 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness). This is done by plugging your grow lights into an electrical timer set to turn the lights off for 12 hours a day.

With auto-flowering strains, the switch to the flowering stage happens without you needing to do anything special.

Learn more about cannabis life stages and switching the flowering stage.

9.) Flowering Stage – What to Do

The flowering stage is your cannabis plant’s second (and last) stage of life. Buds are the flowers of a cannabis plant, and the flowering stage lasts until harvest. You’re at the home stretch!

Your Goal in the Flowering Stage: Keep plants healthy until they are ready to harvest. Plant care is basically the same as before, except during the flowering stage it becomes more important to control temperature and humidity than ever.

• Remember: Flowering Plants Are More Sensitive – Cannabis plants are much more finicky in the flowering stage, especially in the second half after they stop growing new leaves and focus totally on growing buds. It’s easy to trigger problems if you aren’t controlling your environment. Watch over plants closely, and make every effort to expose all bud sites to light and a breeze.

Nutrients: Now it the time to switch to “flowering” or “bloom” nutrients.

• Multi-Part Nutrient Systems – If using a multi-part nutrient system like the Flora trio (or other “trios”), then just follow the instructions to give the proper ratios for flowering. Their schedules slowly switch from vegetative to flowering nutrient ratios, with a “transition” stage in between.
• One-Bottle-Per-Stage Nutrients – If you’re using one-part nutrients like Dyna-Gro, switch to the “Bloom” bottle once you notice plants stop getting taller every day (typically 2-3 weeks after initiating 12/12). You need to give vegetative nutrients for the first few weeks because your plants will still be growing vegetatively for a while. Plants need those vegetative nutrients to grow all the new leaves and stems.

Watering: Water plants with 10-20% extra runoff. Don’t water again until the top of the coco is mostly dry. Continue to always adjust pH water to 5.5-6.5 before giving it to plants. Plants typically drink a LOT of water for the first few weeks, but slow down once they stop getting taller.

Training: You can still train plants by gently bending too-tall colas, but avoid any major training once the plant has started making buds.

Keep gently bending over any tall branches to keep cannabis plants flat and wide like a table.

This helps make tons of buds, and keeps them all the right distance from the grow light.

First, you’ll see little fuzzy white hairs growing all over the plants. These are the beginnings of buds, and will eventually fatten into hard nugs.

Cannabis buds look like bunches of white hairs at first.

If you see bunches of grapes instead of fluffy white hairs, that means you have a male plant. These should be removed from the grow space immediately or they cause all your buds to become full of seeds.

If you see little balls instead of fluffy hairs, remove the plant from the grow space! Learn more about male flowers.

Buds slowly gain both size and potency. The fuzzy hairs will eventually darken and curl in as the buds mature.

These buds are 6 weeks from initiating 12/12, but each strain develops at a different pace.

Now you’re just watering and caring for your plants until the buds are ready to harvest!

10.) Harvest Time!

Harvest buds when ready. At this point, all the hairs will have darkened and curled in. The buds should look solid.

These buds are all ready to harvest (each strain looks a little different).

This tutorial will explain everything you need to know about when to harvest your plants: https://www.growweedeasy.com/harvest

Now it’s time to enjoy the fruits!

Happy Growing!

Here are some additional nutrient suggestions for growing in coco coir:

More Nutrient Picks For Growing in Coco Coir

Often when growing cannabis in coco coir, it is helpful to supplement with extra Calcium and Magnesium as calcium deficiencies & magnesium deficiencies are relatively common in coco coir. There are many supplements that provide a boost of these nutrients, and pretty much all of them will work fine. A commonly seen one called “Cal-Mag” by Botanicare works well (and is pretty inexpensive), and so does “CaliMagic” from General Hydroponics. Coco coir is an excellent growing medium as long as you maintain the pH between 5.5 – 6.5 and make sure the plants have enough calcium and magnesium.

Any quality cannabis nutrients made for hydroponics will work well for growing in coco coir as long as you also use a Cal-Mag supplement.

I personally like the General Hydroponics Flora trio plus Calimagic​ (a Cal-Mag supplement) for growing in coco coir. This is what I use for my coco coir grow. You can follow the nutrient schedule provided by GH as long as you provide plain water every other watering. Or…

Here’s the custom Flora Series + CaliMagic nutrient schedule I use for coco coir [PDF]

You don’t need any other nutrients to grow marijuana; the Flora trio + Cal-Mag will give your cannabis plants what they need to flourish through the vegetative and flowering stages.

For the easiest coco coir growing, get a smart pot (pot made out of fabric – they work perfectly for growing cannabis and have good drainage).

IMPORTANT: Root pH Affects How Well Your Cannabis Plants Can Aborb Nutrients!

• General Hydroponics Flora Series Nutrient Trio & CaliMagic​ – Tried and tested nutrient system for any type of hydroponic growing including growing in coco coir. This version of Cal-Mag (CaliMagic) has been created by General Hydroponics, the same company that makes the nutrients. I use this combination for my grow.
  Here is the coco coir nutrient schedule I’m using right now [PDF]

​​

• Canna Coco A + B & Cal-Mag – This combo is a crowd favorite – many coco coir growers write in to tell us this is their favorite cannabis nutrient for growing in coco coir. From a grower: “Canna is a Dutch company and one of the best IMO. They make a great product line for growing in coco coir and test their products on real cannabis plants.” Another grower said, “Canna products are one of the only nutrient lines to be developed primarily for cannabis (and tested on live plants). They’ve been doing so for almost 30 years. Cost is a little higher than competitors but worth every penny.” A different grower added, “Canna – I have only used their coco line, but it is the the highest quality you will find.”
• Get a custom nutrient schedule from Canna or use this pre-made one [JPG].

 ​

• Fox Farms Nutrient Trio for Hydroponics & Cal-Mag – Very concentrated, less is more. This is what I used for my first few coco coir grows, and I was very happy with my results. “Grow Big” & “Tiger Bloom” provide most of the major nutrients your cannabis needs, while “Big Bloom” has many micro nutrients and beneficial compounds that help nutrient uptake and root health. This trio works extremely well by itself, just follow the feeding schedule (here’s a PDF, here’s a JPG) from Fox Farms. They offer a lot of supplements, but the only bottles you need to be successful growing cannabis is the FF trio, which is highlighted in green on the schedule. The trio tends to be strong, so use it sparingly (especially “Grow Big” & “Tiger Bloom”). Generally the Fox Farms nutrient system will prevent Cal-Mag deficiencies, but it’s good to have extra Cal-Mag on hand just in case whenever growing cannabis in coco coir.​

​

• Dyna-Gro (Foliage-Pro, Bloom) & Cal-Mag – Cheapest nutrients that work well for growing cannabis in coco coir. Use “Foliage-Pro” during the vegetative stage, and “Bloom” during the flowering stage. Just follow the instructions on the bottles!

​

• House & Garden Line-up (expensive yet remarkably effective) Coco A + B, Roots Excelurator, Algen Extract, Bud XL, shooting powder <– Get a custom nutrient schedule directly from the people at House & Garden via their free online nutrient calculator.From a grower: “H&G was started by a top researcher from Canna. They are right outside of Amsterdam and because cannabis is legal there, so both Canna and H&G are able to do R&D using cannabis. I don’t know about Canna, but I know that House and Garden makes all their own nutrients in house and they work great.”​

​

Make the Coco Yourself (Instructions Below) or Buy a Pre-Made Coco Coir Mix!

Mother Earth Coco Mix is a highly recommended pre-made coco coir mix for growing cannabis. However, many coco mixes work great for growing marijuana, including FoxFarm Cultivation Nation 70/30 Coco.

Coco Coir Rehydration Tutorial: What You Need

There are pre-made coco coir mixes, but they are usually more expensive than the cost to make a mix yourself. A pre-made mix is heavy like soil because it’s already been hydrated with water. This makes pre-made coco coir mixes expensive to ship, and heavy to carry around. If you’re willing to rehydrate your coco at home, you can skip paying a premium for water.

Everything you need to make your coco coir mix can be sent discreetly to your house. You just need some coir bricks and an airy bag of perlite which can be bought at any garden store. With this method, there’s no lugging a huge bag of potting mix home, or paying for shipping to have it delivered.

This tutorial will show you how to re-hydrate coco coir bricks and mix with perlite to create a rich, cannabis-friendly potting mix. I will also share some hints about growing cannabis in coco coir and how to take care of your plants for the best results.

If you follow these instructions, you will end up with 9-10 gallons of potting mix. I used this to fill four 2-gallon pots plus six solo cups, which is a good amount of soil for me to grow 4 small plants. Alternative options: Three 3-gallon pots or two 5-gallon pots.

Recap: Do you have everything you need to make your coco coir mix? You’ll need the following items to complete the tutorial above.

• 2 x 650g coco coir bricks
• 8-quart bag of perlite
• 10-gallon fabric pot
• 4 x 2-gallon fabric pots – Or any combination under 10 gallons.
• 5-gallon bucket <– Available locally (Home Depot, Lowes, etc)

The above tutorial should leave you with 9-10 gallons of potting mix.

The following tutorial makes about 10 gallons of potting mix. Double the recipe for 20 gallons!

2 x coco coir bricks (650g each)

For this tutorial, I used two bricks of a standard 650g Coconut Coir Brick. Any similarly sized bricks from a reputable company will also work.

​

I used “Nature’s Footprint” Coco Coir, but any 650g Coconut Coir Brick will work great!

8-quart bag of perlite

I have used Shultz, Espoma, Black Gold, and even Miracle-Gro brand perlite. Any 8-quart bag of perlite will work. Perlite can often be found in garden stores or the garden section of places like Home Depot and Lowes. I normally advise against all things Miracle-Gro, but their 8-quart bag of perlite is okay for this tutorial if you can’t find anything else. But remember, never use Miracle-Gro soil or their standard nutrient formula!

Any bag of horticultural perlite from any manufacturer will work for this tutorial!

10-gallon fabric container & 5-gallon bucket

I use a 10-gallon fabric container from Mad Farmer (basically a Smart Pot by a different company) because it’s sturdy, has handles and will stand up on its own after adding coco coir. ​You could use a 10-gallon Smart Pot, two pillow cases stacked inside each other, or any other fabric container that lets water through and is tough enough to hold 5 gallons of soil.

Here’s the 10-gallon fabric pot & 5-gallon bucket in a bathtub.

Note: You also need access to water and a drain for this coco coir tutorial.

Before You Get Started
(optional)

Run your finger nails over a bar of soap. This adds a layer of soap under your finger nails, which will prevent coco coir from getting stuck under your nails. Save yourself the time it takes to clean your nails after you’re all done!

See What You’re Making
(Makes about 10 gallons of potting mix_

This will make about 10 gallons of potting mix, just enough potting mix for…

• 2 x 5-gallon containers
• OR 3 x 3-gallon containers plus a little extra
• OR 4 x 2-gallon containers plus extra
• OR any setup that uses about 10 gallons of potting mix

Note: I hydrate the two bricks one at a time in the 5-gallon bucket because the 5-gallon buckets are easier for mixing in perlite, and the whole process goes by in less than a half hour anyway even if you do bricks one at a time. If you wanted, you could hydrate both bricks at once in a 10 gallon container, but that’s too heavy for me to work with 🙂

How to Rehydrate Coco Coir & Mix in Perlite

1.) Gather all materials and place everything near your tub (or wherever you’re going to rehydrate to coco coir bricks)

2.) Line inside of 5-gallon bucket with fabric container.

The inside of the bucket should be lined all the way to the top, and you need to have enough extra to be able to easily grab the top so you can lift it up later.

3.) Put the first coco brick inside the liner 

4.) Fill the bucket halfway with water.

Optimally, you can add a Cal-Mag supplement and pH this water to 6.0 before soaking. This can help make sure your coco coir has extra Calcium and also help it get into the right pH range right from the beginning.

Honestly though I often use water right out the tap. You’ll be adding Cal-Mag and setting the pH later, but the “best” way is to start supplementing your coco coir now, and it definitely may save you time and trouble later.

You’ll see the brick almost instantly starts getting soft once it makes contact with the water.

5.) Wait 10 minutes (or until the coco coir gets fully hydrated)

If you stick your hand in and there’s no more hard parts left, then you’ve waited long enough. The coco coir should feel soft all the way through the bucket. You can mix the slurry around with your hands to get it to break up faster if you’re in a hurry.

Some growers let it soak longer, especially if they’re using pH’ed water that’s been supplemented with a Cal-Mag supplement, giving the coco more time to “take in” the good stuff. But I usually wait about 10 minutes and go to the next step.

6.) Pull liner up and out, letting water drain.

First let the majority of the extra water drain out into the bucket, then place the liner in the tub or on the ground so it can continue to let water drain out slowly.

7.) Pour half the 8-quart bag of perlite on top of your coco coir

8.) Mix in perlite with hands

Make sure to mix everything thoroughly, and check around the sides too, where you’ll often find pockets of perlite or straight coco coir. It’s really easy and quick. Just stick your hands in and mix everything together until it looks even all the way through 🙂

This moving gif should hopefully give you an idea.

After mixing, your potting mix will feel light and kind of soggy. You should end up with something that looks like this.

9.) Fill your containers with potting mix

One batch makes about 5 gallons of potting mix, so it should easily fill a 5-gallon container. You could also use it to fill 3 x 2-gallon containers or 2 x 3-gallon containers, though in both cases you’ll be a little short.

Don’t worry if the mix feels soaking wet, it will dry in the fabric pots once you have a fan blowing over them in your grow tent.

10.) Repeat steps for second brick of coco coir & remaining half of perlite bag

Now you fill the rest of your fabric containers and possibly solo cups for seedlings.

Note: If you do use solo cups, make sure to cut holes into the bottom so that water can drain out after you’ve watered your plants. Always test to make sure water runs through cup freely. If you have a hard time filling up an empty solo cup with water because it’s running out the bottom, you have added the right amount of drainage.

Now you can continue directly with the above cannabis coco grow tutorial! It directly follows the tutorial above for rehydrating coco coir and creating a coir-perlite potting mix.

Jump to…

How to Grow Weed: Basics

10-Step Quick Start Guide to Growing Cannabis

Which Grow Light Should You Get?

Do I Need Special Nutrients?

The post How to Grow Cannabis in Coco Coir (Complete Guide) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Which cannabis growing medium is the best for growing marijuana, and which style of growing is right for you? Will you get the biggest yields growing marijuana with hydroponics, with soil, or a hydro-soil fusion (such as coco coir or other soilless potting mixes)? Which growing medium produces the highest quality buds?

This tutorial will teach you what to expect for each type of cannabis grow medium (including pros/cons, easiness, effect on yields, bud quality, etc). Get started growing weed today!

Table of Contents

Soil Guide

• Soil Pros vs Cons
• Soil Setup
• Soil Maintenance

Hydro Guide

• Hydro Pros vs Cons
• Different Types of Hydroponics
• Don't Use These Hydro Systems!
• Hydro Setup
• Hydro Maintenance

Soil-Hydro Fusion – coco coir & other soilless mediums

• Soilless Pros vs Cons
• Soilless Setup
• Soilless Maintenance

Intro to Growing Cannabis in Soil

Growing plants in soil seems to be what many people try first when it comes to growing in cannabis. If you’ve grown other plants in soil and/or have maintained a soil garden, this may be the best choice for you because you will already be familiar with a lot of what you need to understand to grow cannabis in soil.

Note: Do not use “Miracle-Gro” soil or any soil that has “extended release” nutrients for growing cannabis. These types of soil will continue to release nitrogen to your plant roots for up to 6 months. This can burn your cannabis plants in the flowering/budding stage and reduce your overall yields.

Pros vs Cons

Soil Pros for Growing Cannabis

Many Already Have Soil Experience – Growing cannabis in soil is similar to growing plants like tomatoes or corn – soil growing may be the most intuitive option for you, especially if you already have gardening experience.

Simple – hand-water your plants in containers

Outdoor Growing – most outdoor growers choose to grow with soil. In the wild, cannabis grows in soil, so growing outdoors in soil is most like a cannabis plant's natural environment. Many people find that when growing cannabis outdoors, soil is the simplest and most intuitive way to grow. Growing with composted "super soil" gives the grower the ability to grow outside without needing to add synthetic bottled nutrients or manage the pH of the soil.

Option 1: Store-Bought Soil + Nutrients – Growers can buy soil online or at a store, and simply add nutrients throughout their grow while watering for thriving, happy cannabis plants.

Option 2: Compost or Purchase "Super Soil" – For those who don’t want to worry about soil pH or adding nutrients throughout the grow, there is the option of amending and composting your own super soil (or buying it already composted) specifically made for cannabis plants. While this option takes more time before you start growing, it can be somewhat simpler especially for those who have composted soil in the past. Note: Some growers believe growing in organic composted super soil with a rich microbial life actually improves the taste and smell of cannabis by causing plant to produce higher levels of terpenes and terpenoids.

Soil Cons for Growing Cannabis

Pests – Soil is organic material, and there are many types of bugs that can live in soil. Often, soil-growers seem to suffer more often from pests attacking their plants than hydroponic growers.

Slower Growth – Growing in soil is not as fast as growing in a soilless or hydroponic setup – hydroponic plants tend to get better growth rates, especially in the vegetative stage.

Soil Setup

Setup Cost – Basically you just need soil and a container. Common cannabis soil mixes include Fox Farms Happy Frog and Fox Farms Ocean Forest. Any high quality organic soil mix will do in a pinch. Avoid Miracle-Gro soil or anything with “extended release” nutrients! If soil seems heavy, it can be beneficial to add 30% perlite and 10% vermiculite to aerate and loosen soil. One proven soil option is to compost your own super soil, which can be made organically and gets some of the best results of any soil. Common cannabis containers include classic plastic pots, terra cotta pots, smart pots (fabric pots) and air-pots. Standard gardening pots do best with soil that has perlite added so that there’s plenty of aeration for the cannabis roots. Smart pots and air-pots each add extra air to the root zones from the sides, so they don't require much (if any) extra aeration or perlite in soil mixes.

Setup Effort – Soil growing probably has the least setup effort of any method (with the possible exception of growing cannabis in a soilless mix). The biggest effort will likely be choosing your soil and nutrients.

Learn the basics of growing cannabis
 

Soil Maintenance

Maintenance Cost – After setup, the main cost of soil growing will be replacing your soil every grow (highly recommended – reused soil often does not get great results unless you know how to amend it with the nutrients that were used during your grow). Occasionally you will have to replaced used containers that crack or break.

Maintenance Effort – Watering your plants, providing cannabis nutrients as needed, managing the pH of your root zone (you should be managing your root pH if you’re not growing in composted super soil which has microorganisms in your soil to help manage pH and make nutrients available to your plant roots).

How long until harvest? Soil has relatively slower growth rates than hydroponic methods, but a tuned-in soil grow can achieve impressive growth rates if given a great environment and plenty of bright light. Most soil grows will require 1-3 months of vegetative time (depending on how big you want your plants) plus 2-3 months of flowering/budding (depending on your strain). Learn more about how long it takes to grow cannabis here. Some growers feel that cannabis grown in organic super soil has the best smell/taste profile, though this is highly disputed among hydroponic growers. 🙂

How long can grower be away? It’s important for a grower to always remain close by for their first grow, especially for inexperienced growers. Experienced growers can safely spend more time away from the garden. Bigger containers hold more water and therefore give growers more time away, since constant watering isn’t needed. In the best case scenario it is always best to check on your plants at least once a day. You never know when a pest infestation will take hold, a plant will fall over, or some other unexpected event will happen.

How to Grow Cannabis in 10 Steps

Growing with Hydroponics

Intro to Hydroponics for Cannabis

While technically any growing medium besides soil is considered hydroponics (including growing in a soilless medium like coco coir), when most people think of “hydroponics” they think of a water reservoir.

Technically any type of hydroponics with no inert medium is called a “solution culture” to differentiate it from other types of hydroponics.

Click Here for a Short Summary of Hydroponics History

This section focuses on types of hydroponics where the cannabis roots grow directly in water and/or the grower needs to maintain a water reservoir.

In the next section we will cover soilless mediums, which are technically a type of hydroponics, but which most people consider more like growing in soil.

We believe Hydro is one of the best ways to grow cannabis!
 

Pros vs Cons

Hydro Pros for Growing Cannabis

Faster Growth – Faster vegetative growth than any other growing method, which can result in harvests that come in sooner.

Bigger Yields – Experienced hydroponic growers usually get bigger yields than experienced soil growers – given the same conditions (light, nutrients, etc).

Less Likely To Get Pests – Of all the grow types, hydroponic growers are least likely have their garden attacked by bugs or pests (though it’s definitely still possible). Many pests need soil as part of their lifecycle, and many growers accidentally introduce pests into their grow room when buying new soil.

Some Options Are Low Maintenance – Some hydro methods are relatively low maintenance, and many growers believe some options are as simple as growing in soil (learn more about different types of hydroponic setups below).

Hydro Cons for Growing Cannabis

Setup Cost – Hydroponic setups are usually more expensive to set up initially, and some types of hydroponic growing may require some DIY.

Figuring Out Nutrients – Getting the nutrients “dialed in” can be difficult for some hydro growers (especially when combining nutrients and supplements from many different companies) unless you follow a proven formula. In hydro, growers have total control over nutrients, which means hydro growers can fix nutrient problems quickly, but also that nutrient problems should be monitored and fixed as soon as possible.

Root Problems – Many unprepared hydro growers run into problems at the roots, though it’s important to remember that there are several proven steps that can be taken to ensure happy, healthy roots – such as providing plenty of oxygen at the roots and keeping water temps around 70°F (20°C).

Some Options Are High Maintenance – Some hydro growing methods are relatively high maintenance, and may take lots of checking in for the best growth rates

Growing Hydro Outdoors Can Be Difficult – While hydroponic growing can be accomplished outdoors, many people find it difficult to control all the essential variables outdoors (sterile environment, controlling heat/cold, powering pumps, etc).

Best Hydro Methods For Growing Cannabis
 

Different Types of Hydroponics Systems

Learn which ones are and aren’t suited for growing cannabis

  ○ DWC (Deep Water Culture)
  ○ Top-Fed DWC (Bubbleponics)
  ○ NFT (Nutrient Film Technique)
  ○ Ebb & Flow (Flood & Drain)
  ○ Aquaponics (Fish for Nutrients)
  ○ Aeroponics (Misted Air)
  ○ Drip System (Automatic Watering)
  ○ Hand-Watered Hydro (Soil-Hydro Fusion)

DWC – roots in nutrient reservoir that is oxygenated by bubbling air through the water. There are lots of different variations of the DWC method.

We believe DWC is one of the best ways to grow cannabis!

Top-Fed DWC (Bubbleponics) – like DWC except water is also pumped to the roots via a top-feed – fastest growth of almost any hydro system

View tutorial on how to make a Top-Fed DWC hydroponic system for growing cannabis
(this is how we grow!)

Note: What’s “RDWC”? It stands for recirculating DWC, which involves many DWC units hooked together with pumps and a “controller” to make sure all the plants get what they need. Usually only used for very big grows with many DWC units – this method allows a grower to maintain many DWC reservoirs in one place, and have the water pumped to all the plants

NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) – roots in containers on a tilted surface (often PVC piping). A water pump drips water from a reservoir to the roots of the first plant, and a shallow stream of water flows down the ramp over the roots of all the plants, one at a time. At the end, the water is usually drained back into the main reservoir to be recirculated. It is called “NFT” or “nutrient film technique” because there is a film of nutrient water flowing over the roots at all times.

Flood & Drain (Ebb & Flow) – roots in container which is flooded with water and drained on a timer – get plenty of nutrient water to roots as well as oxygen.

Aquaponics – fish are raised in a tank, and their poop is used to provide nutrients for your plants. In return, plant roots help filter the water for the fish. This is all accomplished by building a colony of bacteria known as a "biofilter." The bacteria transform the fish waste from ammonia (which is toxic to fish and unavailable to plant) into nitrogen that the plants can use.

Learn more about growing cannabis with aquaponics!

Aeroponics – roots in misted air – this method gets more oxygen to roots than almost any other system. Can be difficult to get setup if you want to DIY (do it yourself) but there are lots of already-made aeroponics kits for growers interested in this style of hydroponics.

Drip system – Basically an automated watering system – can be used full hydro, with a soilless medium or even with soil. Plants are provided water via top-feed from a reservoir of water. There’s lots of variation on drip systems. For example, sometimes these systems are re-circulating, and sometimes the water is discarded after being dripped through the roots. Sometimes the water feed in on a timer, and sometimes the water flows constantly.

Soilless Mediums (Hand-Watered Hydro) – While growing with cannabis roots directly in a soilless medium like coco coir is technically considered hydroponics, I will go over it in the next section because as far as the grower is concerned, the experience of growing in soilless mediums is more like a fusion of soil and hydro compared to most other hydro techniques.

These Hydro Methods Are NOT Suitable For Growing Cannabis

Raft System – Only meant for small plants like lettuce, raft hydro systems keep plants on a "raft" floating in a nutrient reservoir.

No tiny hydro systems like ones made for growing herbs! These hydroponic systems are far too small for a plant like cannabis. They don't have enough room for roots, or enough light to get cannabis to properly produce buds in the flowering stage. Don't use an Aerogarden (Aerogrow)! It is a struggle to get cannabis to grow in one of these, and you will get a lot better results using almost anything else (never mind the fact that they're expensive).

Never Use an AeroGarden for Growing Cannabis!

Hydro Setup

Setup Cost – many hydroponic setups are very inexpensive, especially if growers are willing to DIY and build their systems from scratch. Most of the parts for hydroponic systems are readily available at the hardware store and usually aren't terribly expensive. The more complicated your system, generally the more it costs. So if you need lots of pumps, tubing and special pieces you may spend quite a bit to get everything. Luckily, these days there are many companies that sell kits with everything included, and often these kits are comparable in price to building everything yourself.

Setup Effort – When it comes to setup, you will benefit greatly from doing your homework. I highly recommend finding a grower with a proven setup already (a grower who has at least one grow journal showing a successful harvest), and copy them for your first grow. Many already-made hydroponic kits can be found online, and these are often easy to put together. Certain setups that use a timer usually take some tinkering to get everything to work the way you like (example Flood & Drain, certain Drip systems, etc). For aquaponics, the grower must also consider the time and effort it takes to set up a tank that can support fish.

Learn the basics of growing cannabis

Hydro Maintenance

Maintenance Cost – Once your grow is setup, the majority of your maintenance costs usually go towards your nutrients and your grow lights. Learn about hydroponic nutrients. Learn about different grow lights. However, you will need to replace tubing, pumps and air stones every few grows or as they wear out.

Maintenance Effort – Your first grow will likely take a lot of maintenance as you get a feel for how everything works together. As long as you do your research beforehand, you will avoid common growing hydro problems like root rot and figuring out your hydroponic nutrient schedule. The amount of long-term maintenance depends quite a bit on which hydro setup you choose. A dialed-in DWC setup with a relatively large reservoir can take as little as a half hour each week to maintain the reservoir. Most hydro setups are relatively low maintenance as long as the grower has grown in the setup before. Some hydroponic setups take inherently more maintenance, for example aquaponics (growing with fish) and aeroponics (growing in misted air – take a bit of maintenance to make sure spray nozzles are always working properly).

How long until harvest? All hydroponic grow styles generally achieve faster growth than growing in soil, especially when it comes to speed of vegetative growth. The fastest growth rates are achieved when roots have constant access to both nutrient water and lots of oxygen. That means that growers get the fastest cannabis growth by adding more bubbles and dissolved oxygen into their water, or exposed always-moist plant roots directly to air (like aeroponics). While vegetative growth is often faster with hydroponic setups, growing hydro does not reduce the time a plant needs in the flowering/budding stage – that’s determined mostly by genetics.

How long can grower be away? Depends on the setups. It’s important for a grower to always remain close by for their first grow, especially for inexperienced growers with DIY setups. You need to be there if there’s a leak, or something stops working properly. With safe & professional setups, experienced growers can safely spend more time away from the garden. Bigger water reservoirs (or bigger pots for soilless mediums – anything that holds more water at a time) give growers more time away, since constantly adding water isn’t needed. Highly tuned setups like aeroponics tend to need more constant checking in, while simple and direct setups like DWC can be left alone for quite a few days. In the best case scenario it is always best to check on your plants at least once a day. You never know when a bulb will go out, a plant will fall over, or some other unexpected event will happen.

Hand-Watered Hydro – Coco coir & other soilless mediums

Intro to Coco Coir & Other Soilless Potting Mixes

While technically any growing medium besides soil is considered “hydroponic”, growing in coco coir or other types of soilless mediums can feel a lot like growing in Soil.

Pros vs Cons

Soilless Pros

Faster Growth – Soilless growing mediums tend to achieve faster vegetative growth than growing in soil.

Less Likely To Get Pests – Soilless growers are least likely have their garden attacked by bugs or pests, but it’s definitely still possible.

Easy – Hand-water your plants in containers, just like soil. Many growers believe that growing in a soilless medium requires about the same effort as growing in soil. If your soil setup involves feeding nutrients in the water, growing in a soilless medium will be nearly the same experience.

Soilless Cons

Not As Fast As Full Hydro – Growing in a soilless medium will get faster growth rates in soil, but cannabis plants will not grow as fast as a hydroponic medium that is able to get more oxygen to the roots.

Figuring Out Nutrients – Getting the nutrients “dialed in” can be difficult for some soilless growers (especially when combining nutrients and supplements from many different companies) unless you follow a proven cannabis nutrient formula for your specific growing medium.

Soilless Setup

Cost – Soilless potting mix and container. One of the more common soilless mixes used for cannabis is “coco coir” which is made from coconut husks. Usually a soilless mix contains many different inert components to achieve just the right amount of aeration and water holding properties. I don’t recommend making up your own soilless mixes until you have some experience as it’s easy to make a mix that either holds too much or not enough water.

One proven soilless mix is to hydrate coco coir bricks and add 30% perlite and 10% vermiculite  to aerate and loosen the mix.

Common cannabis containers include classic plastic pots, terra cotta pots, smart pots (fabric pots) and air-pots.

Classic pots do best with a lighter soilless mix with plenty of aeration for the cannabis roots. Smart pots and air-pots allow for heavier mixes that hold more water, since each of these types of pots add extra air to the root zones from the sides (which adds more oxygen to encourage faster root growth, but also means potting mixes tend to dry out faster).

Setup Effort – Growing with a soilless mix has very little setup – just get the mix and your container. The biggest effort will likely be spent choosing your soilless mix and nutrients. Remember, a soilless mix is technically a hydroponic setup, so it’s important to get nutrients that are either specifically formulated for your mix, or formulated for hydroponic growing. Nutrients that are formulated for soil usually do not work well for growing in a soilless setup.

Learn the basics of growing cannabis
 

Soilless Maintenance

Cost – The main cost of soilless growing is replacing your potting mix every grow (highly recommended, reused potting mixes often contain a buildup of nutrient salts that are difficult to properly rinse out). Occasionally you will have to replaced used containers.

Maintenance Effort – Watering your plants, adding cannabis nutrients, managing the pH of your root zone (you should be managing your root pH if you’re not growing in a soilless mix in order to make sure nutrients are readily available to your plant roots).

How long until harvest? Soilless mixes has relatively faster growth rates than growing in soil, and a tuned-in soilless grow can achieve impressive growth rates when given a great environment and plenty of bright light.

How long can grower be away? It’s important for a marijuana grower to always remain close by for their first grow, especially for inexperienced growers. Experienced growers can safely spend more time away from the garden. Bigger containers hold more water and therefore give growers more time away, since constant watering isn’t needed. In the best case scenario it is always best to check on your plants at least once a day. You never know when a nutrient deficiency will take hold, a plant will fall over, or some other unexpected event will happen that needs your attention.

Learn how I grew my first cannabis plants in coco coir

Jump to…

Composted Super Soil Tutorial – Grow Organic Cannabis!

Simple Hand-Watered Hydroponic Cannabis Grow Guide

High-Yield Bubbleponics Cannabis Grow Tutorial

Grow Cheap and Stealthy With a $100 Space Bucket

The post Is it better to grow cannabis in soil or hydro? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Today, we’re going to discuss the difference between growing marijuana with soil or growing marijuana with hydroponics.

First…

What is soil and what is hydroponics?

Soil for Growing Cannabis

Soil is the mineral and organic material found on the surface of the Earth which is a natural growing medium for plants.

Marijuana prefers rich, slightly acidic, high-quality soil that drains well. Many growers supplement their soil with perlite for added drainage. Soil growers also almost always add either liquid nutrients or nutrient-rich materials such as manure, earthworm castings, or seabird/bat guano to make sure the marijuana plants get everything they need.

Organic potting soils often work well for growing marijuana when mixed with perlite. Fox Farm Ocean Forest is a popular soil choice among marijuana growers. Regardless of the soil you start with, most growers will need to supplement with nutrients for the best results.

Popular Cannabis Soil Choice: Ocean Forest Mixed with About 20% Perlite

Plants naturally absorb nutrients from soil, though especially in the flowering stage, it’s up to you to provide just the right amount (not too much) of the right kind of nutrients to maximize your yields and prevent nutrient deficiencies.

If you start with rich soil like Fox Farms Ocean Forest, you won’t need to add any extra nutrients for at least the first few weeks of growth, but by the time your plant gets to the flowering/budding phase, it’s very important you add additional nutrients to support bud growth (since your plant will have already used a lot of the nutrients in the soil!)

Learn more about marijuana soil nutrients here:
https://www.growweedeasy.com/nutrients

Learn More About Growing Cannabis in Soil

Hydro for Growing Cannabis

Hydroponics refers to growing plants in pretty much anything besides soil, including growing mediums like coco coir, sand, gravel, straight water, or even misted air.

When growing marijuana hydroponically, as the grower it’s up to you to provide all the nutrients your plants need throughout the entire grow. This is done by adding nutrients to their water supply.

The benefit to this is that you can accurately provide the right amount of exactly the right kind of nutrients your marijuana plants want, to maximize your yields.

Common growing mediums for hydroponics (often mixed together):

• Grown directly in water
• Growers often use Hydroton (clay pebbles) to anchor the roots in a hydro system
• Coco coir (coconut shell husks)
• Vermiculite
• Perlite
• Peat Moss
• Soilless Potting Mix

Learn more about hydroponic marijuana nutrients here:
https://www.growweedeasy.com/best-marijuana-nutrients-review

Learn How to Grow Cannabis Hydroponically

Learn How to Grow Cannabis in Coco Coir

Growing Weed in Soil Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Many growers claim soil-grown marijuana tastes better
• Soil can be more forgiving for the inattentive grower since it already contains some amount of nutrients in the soil
• If you’ve grown anything in soil before, growing cannabis in soil probably seems easier than some types of hydroponic growing

Cons:

• Marijuana tends to grow slower in soil than in hydroponics in the vegetative stage
• Soil usually returns lower yields compared to hydroponically grown marijuana (when given the same time, lights, and environment)

Popular Cannabis Soil Choice: Ocean Forest Mixed with About 20% Perlite

Growing Hydroponic Weed Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Total control over nutrient levels
• Faster harvest (you can shave up to 2 weeks off the vegetative stage)
• Less likely to suffer from weeds, soil-born diseases or pests
• Growing in a soilless growing medium like coco coir is almost exactly the same work as growing in soil, yet you get nearly all the benefits of hydro
• Techniques like bubbleponics and DWC give growers the ability to pretty much automate their grow, so it takes a few minutes a week to maintain
• Can correct problems much more quickly in hydro

Cons:

• Some growers claim hydro grown weed doesn’t taste as good, though many growers agree that taste has more to do with your nutrients and flushing methods than purely hydro vs soil
• Plants are quicker to show signs of problems
• Some hydro methods are overly complicated and not beginner friendly
• No natural nutrients so you have to supplement nutrients, which can be as simple as a nutrient system like Dyna-Gro (Grow + Bloom) and as complicated as a full cannabis nutrient system.

Biggest Differences Between Growing Marijuana in Soil vs Hydro

Nutrients

Generally hydroponic and soil-grown cannabis need slightly different nutrients, but there is one nutrient system that works for cannabis in all growing mediums, including soil, coco and hydro. If you’re not sure what to get, it may be worth a try. Learn more about cannabis-friendly nutrients.

Optimum pH for Nutrient Absorption

Soil pH: 6.0-7.0
Hydro pH: 5.5-6.5

Even if you’re growing in a potting mix, if it doesn’t say “soil” you will need to adjust the pH for hydro levels. So if your bag says “Coco Coir” then use the pH for Hydro.

Learn how to test and adjust pH to prevent nutrient deficiencies.

We recently received this question where a reader was growing marijuana in a mix of vermiculite and perlite. Because this seems soil-like, he was adjusting the pH levels as if he were growing in soil.

It’s important to note that growing hydroponically means growing in basically anything besides soil, even if it resembles soil.

Here’s the question….

Question: I’m growing 3 White Widow plants in soil with High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights using cannabis-specific utrients. The soil is made up of 75% Perlite 25% Vermiculite and I’m adjusting the pH to 5.5 – 5.9. All my plants seem to be having this problem. Any idea why? Thank you in advance.

Click for closeup

Answer: It looks like Magnesium deficiency, but considering your nutrients have plenty of magnesium, and what you said about your pH. I think this is really a pH problem.

Using Perlite and Vermiculite is still technically considered hydroponic (not soil), so you’ll need to use a hydroponic pH range (5.5 – 6.5). Magnesium and Calcium especially tend to get locked out when the pH near the roots drops below 6.0. If you adjust the pH to the proper levels, this problem should clear right up.

Also make sure you’re testing the pH of the runoff water that comes out the bottom of your pot. This will give you a clue if there’s something going on at the roots that is dramatically changing your pH. Good luck!

Hydro and Soil Grown Marijuana Usually Need Different Nutrients

As a general rule, you will need to get nutrients specifically made for soil or hydro. This is because soil provides some nutrients, while in hydro you must provide all the nutrients.

Dyna-Gro is a noted and well-loved exception that works great for growing marijuana in soil or hydroponically. Just follow their instructions at half strength. Use “Grow” or “Foliage Pro” for the first part of the plant’s life and then switch to “Bloom” after you see the first flowers growing.

Learn more about marijuana nutrients here
https://www.growweedeasy.com/nutrients

There Are So Many Different Hydroponic Methods, It’s Hard to Generalize

Each hydroponic grow method has its own pros and cons, and they’re so different from each other it’s hard to truly compare “hydro vs soil.”

Some hydro growers use bubbleponics of Deep Water Culture (DWC) which means they’re growing with their plant roots directly in water.

Other hydroponic growers grow in soilless potting mixes or coco coir, which in practice is extremely similar to growing in soil besides the nutrients and optimum pH.

Learn more about the different types of hydroponic systems.

Here’s the simplest way to grow weed in soil. Get Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil and plant your seeds. Water whenever top inch or so of soil seems dry. Start adding a tiny bit of Dyna-Gro Bloom fertilizer to your water after plants start budding and you’re good to go!

Growing marijuana hydroponically in bubbleponics tutorial:
https://www.growweedeasy.com/high-yield-bubbleponics-technique

Growing marijuana hydroponically in coco coir (with CFLs) tutorial:
https://www.growweedeasy.com/easiest-grow-method-cfl-coco-coir

Conclusion

You should grow in soil if…

• You really like the idea of growing weed as “close-to-the-wild” as possible
• You have access to good soil or are willing to make your own
• You are willing to supplement with organic compost teas or nutrients as needed
• You feel that soil-grown marijuana tastes the best
• You want something that’s more “set it and forget it” and don’t care as much about yields or fast harvests

You should grow with hydroponics if…

• You want a faster harvest
• Getting the highest yields possible is most important to you
• You desire the convenience of soil without the pests (hand-water grow in soilless potting mix)
• You’d like the convenience of a close-to-fully automated system (DWC, bubbleponics, etc)
• You are willing to become the sole provider of nutrients throughout the grow
• You love experimenting with different methods and want to tune into the perfect grow method

I hope you enjoyed today’s issue. As you may have gleaned from this article, I (Nebula Haze) personally love growing marijuana hydroponically. I believe proper flushing and overall lower nutrient levels give you marijuana buds that taste even better than soil-grown (though my opinion is obviously biased).

At GrowWeedEasy.com, we are dedicated to teaching people how to grow indoors the way they want. We’d love to hear from some soil growers and get more from your side of the story!

If you love growing marijuana in soil, don’t hesitate to submit info or pictures so we can share with the rest of the growing community!

Submit your marijuana pictures: https://www.growweedeasy.com/submit-trophy-pics

About the Author: Nebula Haze

Nebula originally started growing hydroponically in coco coir mixed with about 25% perlite. Once the coco coir and perlite get mixed up, they look just like soil.

Then for nutrients she either used Dyna-Gro Grow / Bloom OR the General Hydroponics Trio at 50-75% strength for happy plants, easy harvests and fat, potent buds.

Now she grows in DWC using a 250W HPS, check out one of her grows!

In response to the need for more tutorials aimed at new growers, Nebula co-founded GrowWeedEasy.com in 2010 with fellow grower Sirius Fourside.

Since then, Nebula has published dozens of growing articles in print and online, stars in online video lessons, and continues to dedicate herself to serving the needs of the medical marijuana growing community.

“My mission is to show other medical marijuana patients how easy and fun it can be to grow pounds of killer weed out of your closet.”

Jump to…

5 Ways to Increase Yields When Growing Indoors

How Long Does It Take to Grow Weed?

10-Step Quick Start to Growing Cannabis

Check These 7 Things & Cure 99% of Marijuana Growing Problems

The post Soil vs Hydroponics: Growing Cannabis appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Your marijuana plant will thrive as long as the roots have room to grow and have consistent access to fresh water, oxygen, and the proper nutrients. There are a variety of ways to satisfy all these needs of a weed plant while growing.

Which is the Best Growing Medium for Cannabis?

Growth Mediums for Marijuana

Soil or compost is one of the most popular growing mediums for marijuana plants because it is natural, easy to use, and available everywhere. If you decide to use soil, try using a sterilized, loose, non- peat-based potting compost. I recommend mixing your soil 50/50 with a soil conditioner like perlite which will provide drainage and keep higher amounts of air/oxygen in the soil.

Soilless mediums such as rock wool, perlite, vermiculite, and coco coir also all make great marijuana-growing mediums. My preferred method for beginning growers is to start out their plants with a mixture of half perlite and half coco coir and then water their plants by hand. I have written a detailed tutorial on how to grow marijuana with perlite and coco coir. Soilless mediums are great because you can treat your grow almost the same as soil only you just feed them all their nutrients in the water (hydroponically).  Because your plants are getting the nutrients delivered directly to their roots, you will often get quicker growth and higher yields when growing hydroponically. Another advantage of soil-less mediums is that you are less likely to have problems with mold or bugs.

Other hydroponics have you grow your cannabis directly in water or even in the air. The style of hydroponics which seems to get the highest yields is a method known as bubbleponics or a top-fed Deep Water Culture (DWC) system. I have a tutorial that will show you how to grow your marijuana plants using the bubbleponics method.

What exactly is hydroponics and is it good for growing marijuana?

How to grow marijuana with soil

How to grow marijuana with coco coir

The post When talking about growing weed, what is a grow medium/growing medium? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

by Nebula Haze

Times have changed! If CFLs are your only option, they do grow good weed. However, just about every cannabis grower would be better off with an LED grow light than CFLs as your grow light. They’re cheaper than CFLs per watt, and get better yields!

Explore Curated Cannabis Grow Setups:

• View Examples of Complete Shopping Lists Here

Get LED grow lights if you can! LEDs are better than CFLs for growing cannabis even for tiny grows.

I’ll let this article remain here for posterity, and also for anyone who lives in a place where CFLs are their only option for a cannabis grow light.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  • Pros & Cons of this method
  • Materials Needed
  • Important Note About Using CFLs
• Getting Started & Watering Schedule
• Vegetative Stage
• Flowering Stage
• Harvest!

This easy indoor hydroponic cannabis grow guide uses common CFL bulbs as grow lights and forgiving coco coir as a growing medium. It’s designed for the beginner as a cheap and easy way to introduce yourself to growing marijuana.

Growing weed doesn’t have to be hard!

The post Easy Beginner Grow Cannabis Guide w/ CFL Grow Lights | How to Grow Marijuana appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.