As harvest approaches, your buds still haven’t reached their final form. The choices you make about harvest timing, drying, and curing give you the power to guide your buds through a remarkable transformation. Today, learn 3 tips to help your buds finish tighter and preserve their best qualities.

These techniques can’t change your genetics or what happened during the grow. But they can help maximize the density of your buds while preventing the loss of bud quality right at the finish line.

1. Let buds finish building density
2. Dry buds to the right moisture level
3. Keep buds from sticking together as they cure

See Purple Ghost Candy buds go through their post-harvest transformation.

1.) Let Buds Finish Building Density – Harvest when buds hit maximum density, potency, and smell (peak “maturity”)

Key Idea: It’s common for growers to harvest buds too early, which can impact your bud density, yields, and potency. Buds gain a lot of weight and density in the last 1-2 weeks before they hit peak maturity, so harvesting too early can result in somewhat looser buds.

This bud is not ready! Baby buds with all white hairs typically have at least a month to go.

There’s 1+ month to go if all buds are still white puffs at the joints.

This bud is much closer to maturity, as you can actually see the bud underneath now. However, the white hairs show this plant still needs at least a few weeks before buds are ready to harvest.

Still not ready. Let buds continue getting fatter and more dense.

Ready to harvest

For most strains, once most hairs have darkened and curled in, buds are typically near their peak density, potency, and smell.

Ready-to-harvest buds tend to feel hefty and solid.

2.) Dry Buds to the Right Moisture Level – Regardless of how you dry, it’s crucial to stop drying at the right time.

Key Idea: Before smoking, buds must be dried. Buds are done drying when the leaves on the outside are completely dry, while the inner buds should still have some moisture. This moisture balance before curing is key to achieving the highest density with the buds you already have.

When to stop drying buds:

• Stop drying buds when the small stems snap but bigger stems are still bendy.
• The outside of buds should feel totally dry. The tiny leaves should feel a bit crispy and tend to break off.
• When you remove the buds, they should mostly “pop off” of the stem. If they leave lots of strings behind, they could dry a bit more.

Regardless of your particular drying method, the most important aspect when it comes to bud density is to dry buds to the right moisture before curing.

Hang drying is the most common dry method.

3.) Keep Buds From Sticking Together As They Cure – After drying, burp jars daily and gently rotate to ensure buds move independently.

Key Idea: After drying, most home growers “cure” dried and trimmed buds to improve overall smokeability, density, effects, and smell. The most common method is to cure buds in glass mason jars over several weeks, “burping” jars daily.

Curing Tips

• When it comes to density, it’s important to ensure buds aren’t sticking together as they cure.
• Burp jars daily and rotate or shake gently to make sure all buds are moving independently from each other. Free movement means they’re getting a bit of air around the outside of each bud, which helps bud moisture equalize more evenly.
• If buds are sticking together, they’re typically either too moist or packed in too tightly. They need to be gently pulled apart and given enough room to move independently from the other buds. Think very light tumbling.

Cure buds at the right moisture with daily burping and gentle rotation for maximum density.

Moisture not quite right? Don’t panic.

• Dried too much? Buds crumbling apart is a sign of overdrying but can be addressed. A 62% humidity pack in a glass jar can help restore moisture during curing. When a humidity pack is combined with burping jars daily, overdried buds can often still cure well.
• Dried too little? If you’ve removed buds from stems but realize they’re still not dry enough, it’s an easy fix. It’s common for buds to feel wet the next day as moisture inside works its way out. Put moist buds in a paper bag or loosely tied turkey bag until outsides feel dry again, before curing any further. Make sure to check outside of buds daily. They should never feel moist to the touch.

Conclusion

Buds tend to cure a bit “looser” if they are harvested on the early side, weren’t the right dryness when curing started, or were cured with buds stuck together. But that doesn’t mean the buds aren’t great to smoke! And it’s important to remember that bud density is greatly affected by what happened before harvest, for example: genetics, grower skill, plant health, light levels during bud development, and environment in the flowering stage. Even in perfect conditions, the buds at the top of the plant are bigger and more dense than buds lower down on the plant.

Density is nice, but it’s not the most important thing in my opinion. What’s most important is that the buds smoke well and produce the effects you want.

But follow the 3 tips in this tutorial to maximize bud density at the very end of the grow.

After 2 weeks of curing, these buds are already tight and smoke great.

After curing for a few months with occasional burping and jostling, color deepens, smell intensifies, and buds get even tighter. Effects often feel “stronger” and “smoother” when smoking well-cured buds.

Looser buds can still be wonderful to smoke!

These tips can help you improve density at the end of your grow, especially when used as part of a full harvest plan.

Want a complete harvest plan?

Learn how to HARVEST at the perfect time and process your buds to increase density and ensure they smell great.

The post 3 Tips to Maximize Bud Density Around Harvest Time appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

“Don’t overwater your seedlings!” is one of the most common pieces of advice for new cannabis growers. Some growers are warned about overwatering, and go too far the other direction and don’t give enough water. But how does a beginner grower tell the difference? Overwatered seedlings look droopy, but underwatered seedlings also look droopy.

Do my droopy seedlings need more or less water? Find out below!

Main Idea: Seedlings just need a little water at a time.

Water in a small circle around the base of seedlings.

Don’t soak the pot, especially a big pot with small seedlings.

Today, learn how to tell the difference between overwatered and underwatered cannabis seedlings.

Step 1: Compare with watering examples

Cannabis seedlings don’t drink a lot of water, but “a lot” can mean different things to different people. Sometimes it helps to get actual measurements so you can compare your watering habits to what’s been working for other growers.

Note: These amounts are for seedlings growing in bigger pots of at least a gallon. Keep reading below for watering seedlings in very small containers. And remember, these aren’t rigid rules. Each plant and setup is a little different, but having ballpark figures can help keep you on track.

Give just 0.4-1 cup (100-250 mL) water to tiny seedlings, then wait a few days.

 2-3 cups (500-750 mL) for a seedling this size, then wait a few days.

3-4 cups (750 mL to 1 liter) at this size, then wait a few days.

5-6 cups (1.25-1.5 liters) per plant at this size, then wait a few days.

6-8 cups (1.5-2 liters) water per plant at this size, then wait a few days.

What about in smaller containers?

Solo cup tips

• Plants tend to stay much smaller for longer in solo cups
• Must poke plenty of drainage holes so extra water can drain
• If a cup gets so light it’s easy to knock over, it needs more water.
• If the cup feels heavy or the medium seems soaking wet, wait to water.

Just 1 cup (250 mL) water, then 2 days before watering again.

By this size, slowly give just enough water to get a few drops out the bottom.

By this size in cups, water enough to fully wet the medium. These are 23 days old.

If cups dry out in under 2 days, the plants would love to be transplanted to a bigger container.

By the time plants are this size compared to their pots, start their “adult” watering schedule (below).

How to water adult plants (typically 30+ days old)

1. Wait until the top inch of soil is dry (for coco, wait until the top is mostly dry)
2. Water until you get 10-20% runoff out the bottom
3. Remove runoff (test the pH if needed) and start over

Still not sure if droopy seedlings need more or less water? Look at pictures for clues as to whether you’re looking at overwatered vs underwatered cannabis seedlings.

Step 2: Compare with pictures: overwatered vs underwatered cannabis seedlings

Quick check

• Wet soil + heavy pot + droopy seedling → probably too much water
• Dry soil + light pot + droopy seedling → probably too little water

Look at these pictures if you’re still not sure whether your droopy seedling is getting too much or too little water.

Too Much Water

There are a few ways to “overwater” your seedlings. Too much water (especially over time) can give seedlings “wet feet”, which results in slower growing seedlings that may show deficiencies.

• Too much water at a time
• Watering too often
• No drainage holes to let out excess water
• Grow medium too thick and stays wet a long time (“muddy”)

If the grow medium looks soaking wet, it’s way too much water for a seedling. If the pot feels heavy, that’s another sign it’s full of too much water.

Overwatering picture 1: Classic overwatered cannabis seedling. The grow medium looks wet all over, the leaves droop downwards.

Overwatering picture 2: This cannabis soaked grow medium and droopiness show this seedling is overwatered.

Overwatering picture 3: Overwatered seedlings often show yellow leaves or nutrient deficiencies, especially if the overwatering goes on for a while and the soil never gets a chance to dry out.

Overwatering picture 4: Most cannabis seedling “nutrient deficiencies” are actually caused by overwatering. Notice in the next picture how the soil is soaked throughout the pot. Combined with the brown spots, brown curling tips, and overall yellow color, this seedling displays a clear case of overwatering.

Overwatering picture 5: If the grow medium is so wet that it’s growing green algae on top, you are definitely overwatering.

Overwatering picture 6: When left unchecked, overwatering can cause all kinds of unusual symptoms, like the curling leaves, brown spots, and overall sad appearance of this seedling. But the green algae on the soil of this seedling gives a clear sign the seedling is getting way more water than it can drink.

Too Little Water

It’s less common to “under water” your seedlings, but it happens, especially for beginner growers who are warned over and over not to overwater their seedlings. Underwatering is mainly caused by…

• Not enough water at a time
• Watering too infrequently
• Poor quality soil that doesn’t hold much water

If the grow medium looks bone dry even around the base of the soil, it’s usually not enough. If you pick up the pot, the seedling may feel unusually light, as there is no water inside to give it weight.

Underwatering picture 1: Classic underwatered cannabis seedling. The grow medium looks completely dry, and the seedling looks droopy. Leaves on underwatered seedlings tend to look more thin and limp than the leaves of overwatered seedlings. Chronically underwatered seedlings often appear either pale green like this (or dark green as you’ll see below).

Underwatering picture 2: This seedling has barely grown at all due to lack of water. The leaves are dark and curling. The overly dry grow medium looks pale and dusty from lack of moisture. If you tried to pick up this cup, it would feel as light as a feather.

Underwatering picture 3: A severely underwatered cannabis seedling seems to just wilt as if there’s nothing holding it up. This seedling was growing fine at first but the grower forgot to water it. Seedlings with no water inside often have leaves that appear limp and lifeless. Note: Very high temperatures can cause similar symptoms.

Underwatering picture 4: This cannabis seedling has been thirsting for more water since it germinated. Chronically underwatered seedlings often appear either pale green or dark green. This underwatered seedling is so dark green it looks like it has a nitrogen toxicity, but the real problem is it needs more water.

You should be getting a better idea of what overwatered seedlings look like compared to underwatered seedlings.

But the best way to prevent having to identify which is which is simply to start with good cannabis soil and follow a proven day-by-day seedling watering schedule.

Let’s end this article with a happy seedling that is loving life!

This marijuana seedling is getting the perfect amount of water.

About the Author Nebula Haze

Nebula Haze is the co-founder and main author of GrowWeedEasy.com, which she established in 2010 to make it easier for home growers to produce great quality weed. GrowWeedEasy.com has become a comprehensive online free educational resource for growing cannabis at home.

Located in San Diego, California alongside co-founder Sirius Fourside, Nebula has written hundreds of cannabis cultivation tutorials, grow journals, and guides covering every aspect of indoor home cultivation. Her side-by-side grow experiments and growing tutorials have been featured in publications like Skunk Magazine and Cannabis Business Times.

The post Overwatered vs underwatered seedlings (too much or too little water?) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

If you are looking for a free, easy, and simple way to increase your cannabis yields, you need to understand marijuana pruning.

Pruning is key to growing lots of huge cannabis buds in a small space.

First, what makes big buds in nature? In the wild, cannabis plants are wind-pollinated. So wild cannabis plants tend to develop buds at the top of the plant getting light and wind.

Top buds that get light and some wind tend to grow biggest and densest.

Indoors, strategic pruning is the best way to mimic those conditions on many buds, maximizing cannabis yields in a limited space.

What makes big yields indoors? Many main bud sites. The more big, long buds, the bigger your yields on average.

A big main bud is sometimes called a “cola” which means “tail” in Spanish.

Why prune your cannabis plants? Pruning cannabis creates lots of colas in a tight space.

Big indoor yields come from many well-spaced colas under the grow light.

If you’re willing to spend a few minutes a week on pruning, you can easily achieve double or even triple the yields versus not pruning at all.

Today I’m gonna share the 3 most important techniques, so you turn the natural tendencies of cannabis plants to your advantage.

3 Steps to Prune Cannabis for Bigger Yields Indoors

Here are the 3 steps, in order of importance for indoor cannabis growers.

1.) Split main cola into two (“topping”)

Cut off top tip of plant when it’s got about 6 sets of leaves (typically a few weeks from germination).

Cut off the top of your young plant. So simple. So effective.

Topping should only ever be done when the plant is still in the vegetative stage. It should never be done after buds have already started forming.

• Photoperiod – A home grower should almost always use the topping technique with photoperiod plants that are still in the vegetative stage. Since photoperiod growers can control when the plant starts flowering with the proper light schedule, you can make sure the plant is already growing fast and healthy with its newly split top (completely recovered) before initiating bud formation.
• Autoflowers – Topping should be used with caution. Since autoflowers automatically make buds, only use topping if your autoflower already has six sets of leaves by week 3 and hasn’t started flowering yet. If an autoflower is older than 3 weeks or has started making buds, skip topping and use just the next two techniques. Learn more about topping autoflowers.

Topping may be the most important plant pruning technique to increase yields, whether you’re growing indoors or outdoors.Why? Topping takes a few seconds and can make a big difference to yields. Even if you don’t do anything else but let the plant get big enough before making buds.

Topping is the base of almost every further plant pruning technique, so if you’re going to do just one thing, do this.

What to Do:

Wait until young plant has 6+ sets of leaves, the cut the top off above the 5th set of leaves.

Cut off top above the 5th set of leaves. (This plant is at day 22)

This breaks the “apical dominance” and plants naturally start growing more bushy.

Cannabis naturally grows more wide and bushy after topping. (1 week later)

Even if you did nothing else, this step increases the average number of main bud sites per plant.

Now it’s time to magnify your results.

2.) Create tabletop formation (low stress training)

Low stress training (LST) is a fancy way to say “use bending and tying down”. You do this as plants grow with the goal of creating a flat, table-top shape in the vegetative stage.

If you did the topping step, you’re already well set up. That’s because topping when plants are young make this part a lot easier. As a result of  hormonal changes that happen in the plant after topping, plants naturally grow more wide with lots of branches, even if you don’t do anything else.

But here’s how to take that to the next level.

What to Do:

Simply to look at your plants as they’re growing and bend over the tallest branches to help prevent any part of the plant getting taller than the others.

A flat wide shape is key to creating several rows of buds (a sea of weed) that fill your entire grow space.

Bend tall branches down and away from the middle. (Day 36)

4 days later (day 40), plants are wide and bushy. Perfect.

As plants grow, gently bend tall stems to spread out the branches.

Plants are ready to start flowering when the grow tent is filled almost end to end with bud sites.

Fill tent with bud sites before 12/12 (look like stars from above)

Once you create a flat tabletop shape that fills your entire grow space, you can start to achieve those types of yields that make other growers jealous, even experienced ones.

Initiate the flowering stage by giving plants a 12/12 light schedule once they’ve reached about half the final desired height. Plants about double in size after you initiate flowering.

Initiate 12/12 when plants are half the desired size.

Try to continue bending tall branches for the first few weeks after 12/12, while stems are still flexible.

8 days after 12/12 plants are already significantly taller.

The flowering stretch causes plants to double in size on average. Check out these plants below to see how big they got!

3.) Define your top colas (strategic defoliation)

Around the time buds start forming, you’ve already done most of the work. Mother Nature is going to take over once the plant is fully in budding mode. But here’s how to prepare and care for your buds in the flowering stage to maximize yields at harvest time.

What Buds Need:

• light – strong, direct light on top buds
• space – empty area around each bud
• breeze – air moves around each bud

You accomplish by giving every top branch direct access to light and a few inches (5-10 cm) of air around each bud.

For many plants (though not all), you may need to remove some of the leaves strategically in order to ensure that buds are getting full light. Get this step right and you can dramatically increase not just yields but also bud quality and density.

Not defined (too many leaves)

If you’re growing healthy, fast-growing cannabis plants indoors, typically plants explode with leaves after initiating 12/12. Many plants have so many leaves that you can’t actually see the bud sites.

Too bushy example – These cannabis colas aren’t defined enough to get light and air. Remove some of the biggest leaves that are covering up but sites.

Strategically removing leaves “defines’ your colas.

Bud exposed to light and air = Good

Plants need plenty of healthy, green leaves, but remove any big leaves that are putting buds in shadow.

Get step-by-step instructions for strategic defoliation in the flowering stage.

Defined buds – plenty of leaves left, but every bud gets light and air

For some plants, you don’t have to do anything. Some strains just naturally grow the optimal number of leaves, especially strains that stretch a lot in the flowering stage. Don’t defoliate a plant that doesn’t need it.

About halfway through the flowering stage, you should still see tons of green leaves, but all the buds should be exposed.

As a result of taking these 3 steps, almost every inch of the tent filled with buds. I was able to harvest over a pound out of this 4×4 grow tent with 5 plants.

Max yields in a small space comes from growing lots of long, beautiful “colas”. As long as you start with high-yielding genetics, you can consistently produce huge buds just by topping, bending, and defining your colas.

White Rhino is a naturally high-yielding strain.

Fill your grow tent with weed by following today’s tips.

Learn how to harvest to increase potency, density, and smokability.

Those are the basics, and just those 3 techniques (topping, bending, strategic leaf removal) can dramatically increase your yields even if you don’t do anything else. But if you want to dig deeper…

Learn other free techniques you can use to increase your yields even further.

The post 3 Steps to Prune Indoor Cannabis for Bigger Yields (Free & Easy) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Today learn the universal principles that let you grow better weed than you can buy. 

I love these strains for home growers: Blue Dream (pictured here), Candy Games #38, and Purple Ghost Candy.

1.) Start with Extraordinary Genetics

What to Do: Start with the best seeds you can find. Good seeds germinate consistently and produce the kind of weed you want (density, smell, size, effects, strength, color, smoothless, etc.).

Why: Good seeds grow good weed with your desired effects, even if you make mistakes. Plants works with you instead of against you.

Quick Win: Use one of the following 3 methods to find great genetics for your next cannabis grow.

1. Choose a proven breeder and read the strain description to find what suits you. A good breeder always maintains quality for all their seeds. Some breeders I like lately are Happy Valley Genetics, Seedsman, Seed Supreme, and Ethos (all represented in my current grow journal). 
2. Copy what works – Get the genetics that you see people growing great weed with. For example, if you have friends that grow weed, or interact with growers on social media, take their lead if you like what you see. Find out what they’re growing and get seeds from the same source to copy their results.
3. Enjoy the gamble – The old fashioned method. Grow the seeds you have, or choose a strain that sounds good and go for the adventure! Good seed banks curate their seed selection and have seed germination guarantees, so any of their seeds should produce good weed.

The seeds you pick make a huge difference to results. For example, the following plants were grown together with the same grow medium, nutrients, and care. But look how different they’re turning out! The difference is 100% genetics, not anything I did.

Blue Dream and Candy Games #38 have wildly different genetics! Choose a strain that makes weed you want to grow.

2.) Use a Strong LED Grow Light (Cannabis-Specific)

What to Do: Get a proven cannabis grow light that’s designed for the size of your grow space.

Why: Light = food for plants. More light is better, up to a point. Spectrum (light color) matters too, affecting not only yields, but also density, color, and potency. Older grow lights, most especially “blurple” LEDs, don’t get nearly as good cannabis yields or bud density as newer “quantum board” style LEDs with pinkish or white light.

Modern cannabis LEDs usually produce white or pinkish light.

Quick Win:

1. Choose an LED grow light that’s proven to get great results with weed. The best thing you can do is use a grow light that growers are already using to produce great cannabis harvests. 
2. Good LED companies include… We’ve consistently found these are the most popular grow lights for GrowWeedEasy.com readers: Spider Farmer, Mars Hydro, and HLG. I’ve used multiple models from each of these companies and always had great results with growing weed. Which one to get? Choose the grow light that best fits your grow space and budget requirements. Spider Farmer and Mars Hydro get about equal results. HLG lights tend to be overpowered and cost a lot, and often have to be turned down even in a dialed in setup, but gets some of the best bud density of any LED we’ve tried so far. Even their tiny 65W and 100W LED lights have produced multiple ounces for us.
3. Check out our list of 9 recommended cannabis lights with yield estimates, and see pictures of real cannabis plants we’ve grown with them.

A HLG 65W LED is surprisingly productive in a 2x2x3 grow tent. Not bad for an LED that uses less electricity than my bedroom fan.

Or upgrade to a bigger grow light, like a HLG 350 Diablo (or two).

Or go BIG, like Max did here, with multiple lights including a Spider Farmer G5000.

Often it’s easier to combine multiple smaller grow lights than have one enormous grow light. That way you can adjust them independently and have more control over where light falls.

3.) The Right Nutrients at the Right Time

Whether you grow in soil, coco, or hydro, provide proper nutrients. Either use cannabis-specific nutrients and dole out to plants on a schedule. Or start with a cannabis-specific soil that slowly delivers the right nutrients at the right time (called “just-add-water” super soil). 

What to Do: Make sure plants get the right amount of nutrients at the right time.

Why: Faster greener growth, but more importantly, proper nutrition in the flowering stage greatly increases bud quality, yields, and potency. On the other hand, a plant that is starved of nutrients while buds are forming makes small, airy, non-potent buds. Most crucially, make sure plants have plenty of nutrients for the first 6+ weeks of the flowering stage, until hairs start darkening and curling in. Plants still need nutrients after that, but for the best harvest, it’s especially important to avoid significant nutrient deficiencies during the early flowering stage and initial bud formation.

Quick Win: Use cannabis nutrients and follow an already-tested schedule

1. Easy cheap option – Dyna-Gro Grow + Bloom. Give at 1 tsp/gallon. Give “Grow” for seedlings until first 3 weeks into flowering stage. Then once the flowering stretch is over, give “Bloom” until harvest. These nutrients were initially designed for orchids, but growers have discovered they give surprisingly great results with weed. I was impressed when I tried them in coco.
2. Advanced nutrient system – General Hydroponics Flora trio. My personal favorite nutrients, I find the GH trio provides some of the fastest growth and biggest yields. No need to follow a special schedule. Just follow the amounts listed on the side of the bottle at half-strength, and only raise the amounts if plant seem pale. I’ve had good results in soil, coco, and hydro.
3. Use super soil instead – Use a “just add water” organic soil that’s made for a plant like cannabis. This kind of soil slowly releases nutrients over the course of the grow, so you don’t need to add any extra nutrients. Nature’s Living Soil is a proven super soil concentrate that makes super soil when used with Coco Loco soil. Just remember, super soil can be stinky at first! But the smell settles after the plants make themselves at home in the soil.

General Hydroponics Flora trio are my personal favorite nutrients for growing weed.

Follow the directions on the bottle at half-strength to grow green, happy, and abundant cannabis plants.

4.) Water Plants So They Grow Faster

Water plants regularly with the right amount at a time. It’s important roots don’t dry out, or stay overly wet for too long. Luckily, if you’re following all the other steps here, you can make some watering mistakes and plants still turn out great. Cannabis plants are remarkably able to recover from watering issues as long as you course-correct.

What to Do: Water plants properly. The easiest method is to follow a cannabis-specific watering schedule like the one below. Or follow proven general principles.

Why: Plants grow faster and get fewer deficiencies, especially seedlings, when given the right amount of water. Good watering practices helps plants start growing fast out the gate. 

Seedlings grow super fast if you give the right amount of water!

I use a battery operated water transfer pump to easily water plants.

Quick Win: Basically, give seedlings just a little water at a time, at first, in a small circle around the base, every few days. If you don’t want guesswork, follow the following seedling watering schedule that I use. It’s suitable as long as you’re in a 3 or 5-gallon pot (and works pretty well in most sizes). Never wonder again if you’re over or under-watering your seedlings!

Day 1 – Give 2 cups (500ml) water per plant (at this point, your cannabis seedlings should have their leaves completely open and be in a 3-gallon or 5-gallon pot under the grow light)
Day 3 – Give 2 cups (500ml) water per plant
Day 6 – Give 2 cups (500ml) water per plant
Day 8 – Give 3 cups (750ml) water per plant (every 3 days after this)
Day 11 – Give 3 cups (750ml) water per plant
Day 14 – Give 4 cups (1 liter) water per plant
Day 17 – Give 4 cups (1 liter) water per plant
Day 20 – Give 5 cups (1.25 liter) water per plant
Day 23 – Give 6 cups (1.5 liter) water per plant
Day 26 – Give 6 cups (1.5 liter) water per plant
Day 29 – Give 8 cups or 1/2 gallon (2 liter) water per plant

At first, cannabis seedlings only need a little water in a circle around their base.

After the first 30 days, start watering like this…

(1+ Months) Cannabis Watering Schedule

1. Wait until top inch of soil is dry (for coco, wait until top is mostly dry)
2. Water until you get 10-20% runoff out the bottom
3. Remove runoff (test the pH if needed) and start over

P.S. Learn about auto-watering pot bases so you can water plants less often. I’m loving them lately.

5.) Harvest at the Right Time

Wait to harvest until buds have reached peak potency, size, and bud quality. Harvest earlier (speedier more “up” weed) or later (stronger relaxation effect) to achieve your desired effects. Dry and cure using a proven home method.

What to Do: Harvest buds based on their maturity level. After harvest, dry buds to make them smokable (buds are mostly water on the plant), and then jar them so they “cure”.

Why: Choosing the right harvest time maximizes yields, potency, and effects. Drying and especially curing increases density, appearance, potency, and effects, while enhancing the natural bud smell.

Quick Win: 

1. Follow our free harvest & curing guide on GrowWeedEasy.com
2. Check out our new digital book HARVEST. It’s perfect if you want a step-by-step harvest guide that’s available anywhere without the internet Growers who sign up for our Home Grow Masterclass next week get a free copy of HARVEST. And those who have already purchased HARVEST get a steep discount on the class! Make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter and watch your email for more info coming soon.

Wait until buds have reached maturing before harvesting for best effects…

Harvest time may be my favorite part of growing!

The post Grow Better Weed: The 5 Core Principles appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Do you want bigger yields of better weed? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Get 5 proven tactics to increase cannabis yields and bud quality with any seeds, no matter your experience level.

Fill your cannabis grow tent with buds using today’s quick wins.

1.) Maximize Your LED Grow Tent Strategy

Quick win: In a grow tent, raise LED lights first. Only dim if needed.

Improve your LED grow tent game with this strategy.

The walls of a modern cannabis grow tent are 90+% reflective. Extra light is reflected back and helps fatten buds deeper into the plant.

1. Full power at recommended distance – Keep dimmable LEDs at 100% power if you can. This makes the most light photons (“food” for leaves). Start at the recommended distance.
2. Raise lights before dimming – If top leaves look stressed, raise the lights first. Even to the top of the grow tent (zip ties are your friends).
3. Dim lights if plant health demands it – Dim the grow light if it’s too hot even with fans and venting, or if top leaves look stressed with the grow light at the top of the tent.

Even a relatively small 200W LED is effective 3+ feet (1 m) feet away in a grow tent. On the other hand, dimming to 50% cuts yields in half. Raise before dim.

Even 3 feet (1 meter) away, a 200W Spider Farmer LED produced over 10 ounces.

Insider Tip: If your top leaves are getting stressed even after the LED is raised to the top of the grow tent, don’t hesitate to dim your grow lights. And don’t hurry to raise the intensity again. Wait until discoloration stops spreading before turning back to full power, if ever.

Healthy leaves help power the growth of a lot of big, high-quality buds. Don’t sacrifice leaf health to maximize light intensity.

Keep leaves healthy for highest quality buds.

If the grow tent is always hot or top leaves appear yellow or discolored, you often get a better harvest simply by turning your grow light power down until harvest. Sometimes less really is more.

True mastery of LEDs is all about using them right for your particular setup. Maximizing light helps maximize yields, but lowering light levels can improve bud quality if it’s too hot or plants are stressed. Always listen to your plants first.

Learn more: How to Improve Bud Quality with the Environment

2.) Bend Over Tall Stems = More & Better Quality Buds

Quick win: Every time you check on your garden, bend any tall branches down and away from the center of the plants. This naturally creates a wide, flat “table-top” shape that increases the number of bud sites.

Bend over tall stems to create a flat “table-top” canopy, like I did in this grow journal.

This results in lots of buds sites about the same distance from the grow light. A sea of buds gives you the best yields indoors.

Why this works: The biggest, tightest, and most potent buds tend to grow at the top of a cannabis plant. A flat, tabletop canopy helps cannabis grow as many of these top buds as possible.

Insider Tip: Lots of big buds from plant training = sagging stems in late flowering (great problem to have!). Use specially-designed weed plant yo-yos to safely hook around buds so you can string them up to the top of the tent.

See those little yellow things on strings? Those are plant yo-yos holding up this well-trained bud-heavy plant!

Easy-to-adjust weed plant yo-yos hook right onto stems without disturbing buds.

Attach to the top of the tent and you can hold up your most bud-heavy stems exactly where you want them.

Learn more: Manipulate How Plants Grow (free way to produce more bud)

3.) Feed Plants Smart (Not Just More)

Quick win: Give cannabis plants the right amount of nutrients at the right time, and they reward you with faster growth, fatter/longer buds, and denser buds.

The easiest way to do that is start with good cannabis nutrients and follow a proven nutrient schedule. That ensures your cannabis plants always get what they need.

Why This Works: Nutrients are more like a multivitamin than food. Cannabis plants get their food from light, so you get the best harvest by giving plants the right amount of nutrients (not too much, not too little).

Insider Tip: Take the time to pH balance your water before giving to plants. This helps keep leaves green and healthy.

Harvest Rescue: How to Stop Flowering Stage Deficiencies

Learn more: Choose Great Cannabis Nutrients for bigger buds

4.) Give Plants a Bud-Building Environment

Quick win: Get a thermometer for the grow space to track the environment in your grow space. Proper temperature and humidity are key to good bud quality, and having a way to measure them is the first step.

The ideal bud-building environment is essentially a warm, sunny, breezy day. Aim for 70-80°F (20-26°C) and 40-60% relative humidity.

I hang up my thermometer so it’s easy to see when peeking on the plants.

Why This Works: A plant in a good environment is a happy plant. Without sweltering heat, high humidity, or stale air, cannabis has more energy to put toward bud-building.

Insider Tip: Use a small oscillating fan in the grow space to strengthen stems, prevent hot spots, and improve bud structure formation. I love this quiet little grow tent clip fan which hooks directly to the poles of a grow tent.

Learn more: Control Growing Environment (make the growing environment work for you)

5.) Harvest at the Right TIme = Improve Potency

Quick win: Choose the right time to harvest (around when all the hairs have curled in). A little patience goes a long way.

Why this works: Buds can gain 10-25% of their size in just the last week or two, and harvesting at the right time helps buds reach their full potential as far as THC, smell, and density.

Insider tip: Our harvest book turns harvest timing into the most fun and masterful part of home growing.

Get our complete cannabis harvest system.

About Nebula Haze & GrowWeedEasy.com

GrowWeedEasy.com was created in 2010 by Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside to help people learn how to grow great weed at home. Our focus is helping growers get better results with simple, step-by-step cannabis growing tutorials based on real grows, real pictures, and real home grow experience.

You might like…

• How to Improve Bud Quality with the Environment
• Low Stress Training: Manipulate How Plants Grow
• How to Stop Flowering Stage Deficiencies

The post 5 Quick Wins for Bigger Buds in an Indoor Setup appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Table of Contents

1. No-Move Germination – Plant seeds directly in final pot.
2. 18/6 Light Schedule – Set timer to 18/6 ON/OFF
3. Water Seedlings Right – In a small circle every 2-3 days
4. Lovely Environment – Like a warm Spring day
5. Measure Your Success – How big to expect seedlings to be

Bonus: 7 Recommended Seeds for a Strong Start

How to Start Strong: Fast-Growing Cannabis Seedlings

Many cannabis growers struggle with seed germination and seedling care. That’s normal! But cannabis germination and happy seedlings are easy with the right techniques.

Give cannabis a great grow light, like this TSL2000 LED (8-14 oz yield – learn more)

Here’s how to get seedlings to grow: Follow the steps in this “fast start” seedling tutorial. Your cannabis seedlings will grow so fast that other growers won’t believe how big they are for their age.

These cannabis plants are just 1 month from germination. They got off to an ultra-strong start using the techniques in this tutorial.

Starting strong is an important aspect of achieving big yields with cannabis. Especially autoflower strains, which have an extra short seedling period, and start flowering (making buds) in just a month from germination. That means a slow start results in small autoflower cannabis plants that stop growing bigger when they only have a few bud sites.

No matter what you do, a tiny stunted plant can not compete on yields with a big cannabis plant with tons of bud sites positioned directly under the grow light.

1.) Germination – Plant Directly in Soil

My recommended germination method for a fast start is to plant the seed directly in the coco or soil. This way you never have to move your seedlings after they sprout.

Plant your cannabis seeds and keep them warm during germination. Warmth is key to fast, strong seed germination.

2.) Light Schedule – 18/6 ON/OFF

My recommended light schedule for seedlings is 18 hours light/day. You can give cannabis plants up to 24 hours of light a day, but giving a 6-hour night increases the overall hardiness of seedlings vs giving them no dark period.

Use a cheap electrical timer to turn your grow lights on and off for you. Set it to turn the lights off for 6 hours a day. Perfect for cannabis seedlings.

Give seedlings 18 hours of light a day by putting grow light on a timer.

I recommend using a cheap electrical timer to turn your grow lights on and off for you. Set it to turn the lights off for 6 hours a day. Perfect for cannabis seedlings.

Just plug your grow light into the timer, and the timer into an electrical outlet. Now you’re good to go! The timer turns the lights on and off for you on the 18/6 schedule.

3.) Watering Seedlings – In a small circle around the base, every 2-3 days

The easiest way to stunt autoflowering seedlings is from poor watering. Give them the right amount of water (not too much, not too little) so they’re growing fast right out of the gate.

Give just a little water at a time in a small circle around the base of new seedlings at first. Water every 2-3 days.

4.) Environment – Like a warm Spring day

Analogy: Seedlings are kind of like the story of the 3 bears. Just like Goldilocks, seeds want the temperature just right. Not too cold, not too hot.

Ideal Environment for Seedlings

• Warm – 80-85°F / 27-30°C is a lovely warm-but-not-too-hot temperature range for new seedlings and young cannabis plants.
• Medium-high humidity – 50-65% RH is a good humidity range after the seedlings have popped their heads above the soil. Too low humidity and seedlings get stressed. Too high humidity and seedlings don’t grow as fast as they could because their leaves can’t transpire as much.
• Breezy – Make sure plants have fresh air, plus a gentle breeze to strengthen stems and help prevent the possibility of mold or stem rot.

5.) Measure Your Success – How big to expect seedlings to be.

Aim for 6 sets of new leaves by day 21 from germination.

If plants have grown at least 6 sets of leaves in 3 weeks (day 21) from germination, you’re perfectly on track. If plants have fewer leaves than that, it’s okay, but you may still have room to improve your start.

For photoperiod plants, a slow start isn’t a big deal; it just means you may need an extra week or two in the vegetative stage. However, for autoflowering plants on a tight schedule, slow start plants may not get as big or produce as much weed as they could have.

An average “strong start” looks like this. These cannabis plants are 21 days from germination. Some are bigger than others, but overall they’re all growing fast and healthy. Even the smallest one has 6 sets of leaves (though the 6th set has just started growing in on that upper right plant).

In perfect conditions, with fast-growing strains and a strong grow light, cannabis plants can get even bigger in that time. These autoflowering plants are also just 21 days from germination. Now that’s a STRONG start.

Cannabis plants depend on you for a strong start.

For photoperiod plants, a strong start can shave a week or two off your total grow time, which is awesome.

For autoflowering plants (which start making buds when they’re about a month old on average), a strong start is key to getting good yields. If autoflowering plants start making buds before they reach a good size, they’ll stay stunted and puny, incapable of producing a big harvest. That means it increases your yields to avoid common pitfalls that slow down young plants.

By germinating seeds in their final destination, giving 18 hours of light a day, watering seedlings perfectly, and giving a perfect environment, you’ll get strong fast-growing seedlings that get big quickly and can start flowering as soon as possible to produce a big harvest.

Give great care to your cannabis plants and they reward you well!

Bonus: Recommended Seeds for a Strong Start

Standard Strains (Photoperiod) – These are my top 3 personal favorite strains right now.

• Candy Games #38 – Good germination, outstanding density and bud appearance. May be one of the most potent strains on the market, testing at over 30% THC. Smells amazing. Grows hard “nugs” of weed that are easy to dry.
• Mandarin Cookies V2 – I absolutely love the buds from this strain, including the appearance, but especially the effects. Buds are potent, relaxing and smell of pineapple and sweet to me. Produces stellar bud quality even if you make some mistakes. Absolutely encrusted in trichomes, and tests particularly high in relaxing limonene.
• Purple Ghost Candy – This strain is extremely easy to grow with massive yields and some of the best bud quality I’ve grown. Plants get big, and grow fast. Make sure to initiate 12/12 once plants reach half the final desired size. Responds extremely well to training. Will reward you with enormous yields, just make sure to give plenty of light and nutrients.

Four different examples of Mandarin Cookies V2 I’ve grown in different environments. Forgiving plants, and always an outstanding smoke.

And an example of the resulting Mandarin Cookies V2 buds after harvest. Like out of High Times magazine 🙂

Autoflowering Strains

• Banana Daddy Auto RBX2 – very potent but still relaxing effects (described as “euphoric) that may be a good choice for those with anxiety who still want to get high, with around 24% THC and 1-2% CBD. About 80 days from germination to harvest. Chunky buds and the plant stays a manageable height.
• Blue Dream Auto – Ready in as little as 62 days though THC improves over another 1-2 weeks, dense buds, low CBD to help the buds feel more potent.
• Creme de la Chem Auto – A personal favorite, ready in 65-75 days (mine was ready in 70). I love the bud effects, which feel strong yet mellow and relaxing.

Bonus: Pineapple Express Auto – One of the most famous auto-flowering strains of all time, this is ready to harvest in under 70 days from germination.

This Creme de la Chem Auto grown under a tiny LED turned into a bud ball.

The post 5 Steps to Give Cannabis Plants the Best Start appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

See Other Examples of Cannabis Growing Setups

Mars Hydro TSL-2000 Quantum Board LED Grow Setup for Growing Cannabis

• Average Yields: 8-14 oz ounces
• Plants: Recommended 2-6 plants
• Optimal grow space is a 2’x4’x6′ grow tent
• Actual Power Consumption: About 300W at full power, and can be dimmed down for younger plants or if the temperature is getting too high
• How Far to Keep from Plants: 24″ from the top of plants in the vegetative stage, and 18-24″ away in the flowering stage (watch plants for signs of light stress)

Mars Hydro TSL2000 LED grow light – great seed-to-harvest cannabis grow light.

Example of cannabis plants grown under the TSL2000 MarsHydro LED grow light (by Sandra, an alumni of our Home Grow Masterclass).

About the Mars Hydro TSL2000 LED Setup for Growing Weed Indoors

This is currently the LED I’m using for growing weed. Mars Hydro does testing on live cannabis plants and it shows. Cannabis plants grow fast and healthy under every Mars Hydro LED grow light I’ve tried, and it gets some of the best LED bud density and yields in the 2×4 footprint range.

Pros: The Mars Hydro TSL-2000 is a bar style quantum board with a great spectrum and ultra-high efficiency chips that seems to get better yields than some other LEDs for the amount of electricity. They’re gentle on plants and easy to use. The giant reflector does a great job of getting light through the whole tent so buds get fat right up to the walls.

Cons: The metal reflector is a bit sharp around the edges (at least mind is). I didn’t have any issues with it, but I did cover the edges with duct tape so I didn’t accidentally bump my head into it.

Setup Cost Estimates

Estimated Cost: $575+

• Ultra budget (no smell filtering): $575
• Ultra budget + smell filtering: $675
• Premium – higher quality fan plus optional extras: $850

Summary of what’s needed for this Mars Hydro TSL2000 LED cannabis grow light setup.

Complete Grow Supply List

This cannabis grow room setup guide with shopping list includes all the supplies you need to get to harvest.

Mars Hydro TSL2000 Quantum Board LED Grow Light (up to 350 watts)

Mars Hydro TSL2000 LED grow light (designed to be used from seed to harvest)

• Yields: 8-14 oz per harvest
• Simple to use and hang. Works exactly as you’d expect.
• Gets great growth on young plants as well as excellent bud formation.
• Only uses 300 watts of electricity (can be turned down if necessary)

Cost: $360

The Mars Hydro TSL2000 can produce up to 14 oz of weed when used as directed

The TSL2000 LED grow light is dimmable, so you have full control over the intensity.

Example of cannabis buds I grew under the Mars Hydro TSL-2000 (strain is Zweet Inzanity). Check out the full grow journal!

More cannabis plants grown under the Mars Hydro TSL-2000.

My most recent harvest of cannabis plants grown under the Mars Hydro TSL2000.

Grow Tent (recommended sizes)

Just about any grow tent brand works great, but I’ve had good luck with the CoolGrows tents and they’re pretty reasonably priced. A grow tent is an easy and cheap way to instantly create a perfect cannabis grow space that can deal with water, light, heat, and smells.

• 2’x4’x6′ tent – an example is Mars Hydro 48”x24”x71” grow tent.

Cost: $110

This Mars Hydro tent is a good fit for the Mars Hydro TSL2000 LED grow light.

6″ Exhaust Fan 

An exhaust fan vents hot air and can be combined with a carbon filter to stop all smells from leaving the grow space. The 6″ size is more than enough for a 2’x4’x6′ grow tent.

• Recommended:  6″ AC Infinity CLOUDLINE series of inline exhaust fans. These are quiet at top speed and completely silent at lower speeds.
  • S6 is the cheaper, simpler version which works well and gives you basic fan speed controls
  • The programmable T6 version has handy extras like a Temperature/Humidity Probe and Display Screen
  • I picked the 6″ fans because their 4″ fan struggles to keep this size tent cool if the grow room gets warm, though it could get the job done in a pinch.
• Budget choice (Cheap but loud): 6″ Vivosun fan
  • The Vivosun 6″ Fan – 440 CFM is significantly smaller and cheaper. However, it is also significantly louder and uses more electricity.

Cost: $80+ ($80-160)

The AC Infinity CLOUDLINE S6 6″ exhaust fan uses less electricity and runs quieter than most other exhaust fans of similar power. It is silent on the lower settings. The programmable T6 version is the exact same fan but has a digital screen that gives you more control over the fan settings.

(Optional) Carbon Filter – For smell filtering

When set up properly, a carbon filter removes 100% of odors but it must be attached to a good exhaust fan (like the AC Infinity above) to work.

• Recommended: AC Infinity 6-inch Carbon Filter, 6″ x 16″ version plus ducting/clamps

Cost: $100

I’ve had great smell filtering with the above 6″ AC Infinity Cloudline fan attached to a matching 6″ carbon filter with 6″ ducting.

Plant Pots

I prefer fabric pots or air pots because cannabis plants grow faster but need to be watered more often than standard hard-sided plant pots. Both types work great for growing cannabis indoors. Often the best plant pot is whatever is cheap and easy for you to get.

• Recommended: Fabric pots between 2-7 gallons (any fabric pots work great so I pick whatever is cheap or looks the best to me)

Cost: $20

These 5-gallon fabric pots work great in this setup.

Grow Medium (Soil, Coco, Hydro)

Grow mediums can include coco coir or soil (hydroponics for more advanced growers) but if you’re not sure, a coco-based soil like Coco Loco is perfect for beginners.

• Recommended Soil: One 2 cu ft bag of coco-based soil with perlite should be able to fill 15 gallons worth of pots. For example, it will fill 3 x 5-gallon fabric pots.

Cost: $40

Coco Loco is a coco-based rich airy soil that cannabis plants thrive in.

Nutrients

Many nutrient systems have a nutrient schedule so you give your plants the right ratios for each stage of life. Basically, you use a “vegetative” or all-purpose plant nutrient for the first part of your plant’s life and a “bloom” or low-nitrogen nutrients when buds are forming. Tip: Always start at half-strength with a new base nutrient system since the recommended amount can be too high for cannabis plants.

Recommended Beginner Nutrients: Dyna-Gro Grow + Bloom nutrient combo is excellent, cheap, and easy to use for growing cannabis indoors.

• Dyna-Gro “Grow”: Give 1 tsp per gallon of water during the vegetative stage.
• Dyna-Gro “Bloom”: Give 1 tsp/gallon of water after buds start forming.

Cost: $20

Dyna-Gro Grow + Bloom is a cheap and simple nutrient system for newbies. One bottle for veg, one bottle for after buds start forming. 1 tsp/gallon. Super simple!

Premium Nutrient Alternative: General Hydroponics Flora Trio. It costs a bit more and isn’t quite as simple as Dyna-Gro, but this is my personal favorite nutrient system for growing weed. Check out my cannabis growers’ guide to the Flora trio.

Other Nice-to-Have Stuff

• 24-Hour Timer (to put your grow lights on a timer so the plants get a day and night period on a schedule) – $10
• Water containers (I personally use a 3-gallon or 5-gallon water jug to mix up nutrients, but anything can work) – Much cheaper at Wal-Mart ($5-15) than online!
• Extra 1/8″ Rope Ratchets (sooooo handy) – These can be used to hang your grow light or carbon filter from inside the tent, and still be able to easily move it up and down without needing any strength. Your grow light usually comes with a set of rope ratchets, but it’s a great idea to get an extra set to hang the carbon filter – $10
• Thermometer/Humidity Monitor with a probe so you can keep track of the temperature inside the tent – $15
  • Advanced Alternative: These Govee Thermometers let you check the temperature and humidity from your phone. Convenient! – $32
• PH Test Kit – Prevent potential nutrient deficiencies by testing the water pH – $20
• Measuring spoons for measuring out your nutrients (many people already have these) – $9

Estimated Cost: $575-$850 plus the cost of seeds

• Ultra budget (no smell filtering): $575
• Ultra budget + smell filtering: $675
• Premium – higher quality fan plus optional extras: $850

More cannabis plants grown under the Mars Hydro TSL2000 LED grow light

By DD

By Andres

By Amanda

The post Mars Hydro TSL2000 LED Cannabis Grow Setup & Tutorial (300W LED) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

“Curing” is a special process that makes cannabis better after you’re done harvesting and drying buds. A proper cure improves the density and smell of buds, but that’s not all. Curing cannabis actually increases the subjective potency of buds, and improves the overall subjective effects.

The #1 Most Important Tool for Curing Weed: Boveda Humidity Control Packs (automatically maintain humidity)

Why do growers cure weed in the first place?

• Higher Bud Density – Curing tends to tighten buds so they are overall more dense and feel more solid.
• Improve Smell – Sometimes the cannabis smell gets lost during the drying process. Curing helps bring those smells back. They also increase the overall complexity of smells.
• Increase Potency – After curing buds for two weeks, they typically feel “stronger” when smoking compared to smoking right after they are first dried.
• More Lovely Effects – Many growers feel the effects of cured buds are more captivating, more relaxing, or otherwise improved.
• Smoother to Smoke – Curing buds tend to make them less “harsh” to smoke, so they’re easier on your lungs.

Curing can make the difference between “good” and “out of this world” cannabis!

Curing gives you higher quality, more potent weed! (This is Alaskan Thunderf*ck after curing)

This Purple Ghost Candy got ultra dense after curing.

A cannabis grower’s 3 best curing tools:

1. Boveda Curing Packs – Moisture levels in the air are key to a great cure, and these packs automatically maintain the humidity (amount of water in the air) to ensure buds never get too wet or too dry. The right humidity ensures buds are exposed to the perfect amount of moisture during the curing process.
2. Wide-Mouth Glass Mason Jars – Glass mason jars are perfect for curing and long term storage, as they are airtight but easy to open and close. The “wide mouth” version ensures you can fit your hands inside. Glass mason jars are what most cannabis growers use for curing, and what I use. The most popular size is 32 oz (1 quart), which holds about 1 ounce of weed. A few other types of containers can be used for curing, but are much less common (more info below).
3. Mini Hygrometers (Optional) – It’s nice to know the humidity inside your jars. However, the Boveda Humidity Packs automatically maintain the humidity, so this is the least important of the 3 tools.

With these three tools alone, you can achieve a fool-proof professional cannabis cure every harvest!

Complete Step-By-Step Guide to Cannabis Curing

Curing is actually one of the most straightforward parts of growing cannabis, especially if you invested in Boveda Humidity Packs. Before these packs were popularized, growers had to manually maintain the humidity, which can be a pain. Luckily, the packs take out the guesswork and do most of the work for you.

Step 1: Dry and Trim Your Buds After Harvest

Before putting jars is buds, it’s essential to make sure your buds are fully dried and most of the leaves have been trimmed off.

Why Dry Buds Before Curing?

Freshly harvested buds are mostly water (75-85% water). Although humidity packs can take out extra moisture, they don’t have the drying power to take all that water out of your buds. Too much water locked in the jars can grow unwanted stuff, so you must dry buds first.

Buds are dry and ready to jar when…

• Small stems snap instead of bend
• Buds “pop off” the stem, without leaving strings behind

If the small stems are still bendy, or buds are leaving strings behind when you try to pop them off, it means there is still water contained inside and they should be dried a bit more.

The most common way to dry weed is hang branches upside down and let them air-dry.

Why Trim Buds Before Curing?

Although you can trim your buds before or after drying, it’s crucial to trim your buds before curing. If a lot of leaf matter is put in the jars to cure, the buds get a grassy hay smell, and buds won’t be as smooth to smoke even if you trim the buds at that point.

Don’t skip trimming before jarring your buds! Buds respond well to curing in jars, but leaves don’t.

Example of trimmed vs untrimmed cannabis buds.

Helpful Tutorials

• When to Harvest Weed Tutorial
• Complete Guide to Trimming Weed
• How to Dry Cannabis Buds

Step 2: Put Buds in Airtight Container with Humidity Pack (Optional: Add Hygrometer)

Once buds are trimmed and dried, it’s time to put them into an airtight container to start the curing process. These containers should be easy to open and close because you will be “burping” your jars once a day for a few weeks. Most cannabis growers use glass mason jars for curing cannabis.

During curing, it’s crucial to maintain the proper humidity. Luckily, this is easy with today’s curing tutorial! Just add a Boveda humidity control pack (sometimes called “Humidipaks”) to automatically maintain the humidity in the right range. They come in different versions, which I’ll explain below.

Lastly, you can optionally add a mini hygrometer to monitor the humidity in the jars.

Less than $20 for a 10-Pack of Humidity Control Packs – An investment worth EVERY penny!

There are two types of humidity packs you can choose to use for curing weed.

58% vs 62% Humidity Pack – Which is Better for Curing Weed?

• 58% Humidity Pack – The 58% version keeps things a little more dry than the 62% option. I personally prefer this version for curing weed. I think buds tend to smoke better, and it lowers the chance of any moisture building up in the jar, especially if you’ve got bigger or denser buds. It is also an ideal humidity for long-term storage, as weed should be a bit drier when stored for more than a month or two.
• 62% Humidity Pack – The 62% size is another great choice for curing weed. This is better if you prefer slightly softer weed, and also is an ideal choice for smaller buds (which tend to be easier to dry out). Although I like slightly drier buds, many cannabis enthusiasts prefer the texture of weed that has just a bit more moisture contained inside. However, if you plan on storing your weed for more than a month, you should opt for the 58% version (or switch after the 2-week cure).

Besides the humidity rating, these packs also come in different sizes. Boveda’s “Size 8” (this stands for 8 grams, which is the weight of each pack) is the perfect size to cure 1 ounce of weed. If you’re

Whether you get 58% or 62% packs, choose “Size 8” for 1 ounce of weed.

What containers to cure weed?

These are the most popular types of containers to cure your weed inside:

• Wide-Mouth Glass Mason Jars – These glass jars were originally made for cooking, but they’re also perfect for curing! These are what I use, and (by far) the most popular container for curing weed. They’re completely airtight, yet easy to open and close. You can easily see the weed inside.
• Turkey Bags – Also known as “oven bags”. These are what you would stick a turkey inside of to cook in your oven without drying out. They happen to work well for curing weed, especially if you’ve got a BIG harvest and don’t want to have to “burp” tons of jars once a day. The one downside is the trichomes may stick to the sides from static, but if a bag is full of a ton of weed that won’t make a significant difference.
• Other Airtight Containers – Glass tends to get the best results. Wood containers can leave a woody smell, and plastic tends to make static and can attract trichomes so they stick to the side instead of staying on your weed. Some growers get specially made curing containers that claim to automatically “burp” the weed for you, like the insanely expensive Herb Guard Auto-Cure Smart Jar or much more reasonably priced 2-Way Humidity Control Bags. However, in my experience these don’t work any better than the tried and true glass-jar-plus-humidity-pack combo.

Make sure to get the “wide mouth” version (not “regular mouth”) so your hands can easily fit inside.

Glass mason jars – tried and true for awesome curing. The 32 oz (1 quart) size is most popular, and holds about 1 ounce of weed.

After buds are cured, they can be kept in the jars for long-term storage.

Another option that’s popular for a big harvest is to cure the buds in “turkey bags” (the kind of bag you would use to cook a turkey in the oven). Buds are put into the bag, and then you tie it closed tightly to make it airtight. The benefits of turkey bags are you can put a lot more weed in them, and they’re easier to open and close to “burp” than jars (which you’ll learn about in the next step).

If you’ve got 20 ounces of weed in 20 jars, it can actually get a bit time consuming to burp them all every day. But you could put that much weed in a few turkey bags, and opening/closing is easier.

With a large harvest, daily burping can feel a bit daunting. Turkey bags make burping easier.

The only thing to keep in mind with turkey bags is they’re not suitable for long-term storage. Even if you tie them tightly closed, they’re not airtight like glass mason jars. That’s fine during the curing process when buds still need a little fresh air. But once the buds have finished curing for 2 weeks, you should move them into a truly airtight container.

Turkey oven bags can also be used for curing cannabis the first 2 weeks.

Tie the bag as tight as you can. Note: Even tied tightly, they are not completely airtight.

Remember, buds need to be moved to an actual airtight container after 2 weeks of curing.

Hygrometers are optional, but fun. If you want to see the actual humidity in you jars, you can buy cheap mini hygrometers that fit right inside a glass mason jar! However, if you follow all the other steps including getting the Boveda humidity packs and burping the jars, you don’t really need them.

Mini hygrometers are unnecessary if you follow all the other steps.

But they’re cheap and fun!

Step 3: “Burp” Jars Once a Day for 2 Weeks

While curing buds, the container should prevent air from going in and out, but buds do need some amount of fresh air. That’s why jars should be “burped” once a day during curing.

“Burping” means to open the jars and then close them. Larry had a LOT of jars to burp last harvest.

This step is pretty straightforward. Open your jars (or other curing container such as a turkey bag) once a day for the first 2 weeks. This ensures they get some amount of fresh air.

Don’t skip this step even if you feel like you overdried your weed. It’s crucial for the buds to get some fresh air to properly cure. The humidity packs ensure there is the right amount of moisture for a proper cure.

Sniff your weed! Burping is also a good time to enjoy the smell of your weed as it intensifies over the curing process. Maybe keep a nug for a smoke test 😉

Some strains like Platinum Cookies smell like a tasty dessert!

If buds smell musty or feel wet on the outside, pay attention! Buds should feel dry to the touch. Also, if buds smell like something besides weed (ammonia, vinegar, musty, or otherwise like something unwanted is growing in there), don’t ignore it! Typically, this happens when the weed was still too wet when jarred.

A humidity pack can remove some amount of moisture, but if the buds weren’t fully dried before being put in the jar, it may not be able to pull enough water out. Or the moisture may be building in the bottom of the jar, away from the humidity pack.

If you think your buds aren’t dry enough, dump them out of the jars onto a clean surface and let them dry for a few hours. Don’t put them back in the jars unless the outside of each bud feels completely dry. You may need to repeat this process again the next day if you still notice a musty smell or the buds feel wet again.

If buds seem wet in the jars, lay them out on a clean surface and let them dry for a few hours.

Step 4: Enjoy Your Cured Buds!

After 2 weeks, your buds are done their initial cure. At this point, they’re ready to smoke!

After 2 weeks, you don’t need to keep burping the jars every day. But it’s not a bad idea to open the jars once a week for a few more weeks to keep the curing process going. Buds may continue to improve for several more weeks or even months of curing.

Is it worth curing buds for longer than 2 weeks?

I’ve noticed certain strains keep getting more and more potent for months, while other strains don’t seem to improve much past the first 2-4 weeks of curing.

For example, we grew some Full Moon and Purple Ghost Candy plants together. The harvest was enormous, and we were smoking it for over a year. We noticed that the Full Moon maintained its potency, but for the Purple Ghost Candy continued getting more and more potent until we used it all up. We actually started calling it the “Day Ender” because if you smoked some of it you weren’t going to be doing anything else that day!

Some strains continue improving from longer curing, like this Purple Ghost Candy.

Buds were super potent after 2 weeks of curing. (Note: although the leaves were purple, the buds were mostly green)

But after curing in jars for a few more months, the Purple Ghost Candy potency reached “day-ender” status!

On the other hand, the Full Moon buds (plant on the left from the same grow) only maintained the same potency after a long cure.

So strain and genetics seem to play an important role on the effects of long-term curing.

What about long-term storage?

One of the coolest parts of being a home grower is after you’ve gotten the hang of it, each harvest results in way more weed than you can use. Even for daily smokers!

Check out this unbelievable harvest by our friend Mr. K!

So you may end up in a situation where you want to store your weed for a long time. Properly stored weed maintains its potency for years.

Here’s what’s most important for long term storage:

• Buds are completely dry – It’s a good idea to open jars once a week for a little while to ensure that moisture isn’t building up inside. After a few weeks, if buds seem totally dry every time you check, they’re ready for long term storage.
• Add a Boveda 58% Pack – For long term storage, moisture is your enemy, so you want to keep buds on the drier side. A 58% Boveda pack works great.
• Cool, dark place – Besides moisture, the biggest enemy to weed in storage are heat and light. Both tend to degrade THC levels. Ideally, you want to keep your buds completely in the dark, in a place that stays cool all the time. Don’t store your weed jars next to a window with the sun shining on them, or a room that gets hot!

If you followed all the steps, buds can be stored for years without losing potency. And as mentioned before, in some cases, you may find they’ve actually gotten more potent!

If you follow today’s 4 easy steps, you’ll end up with perfectly cured cannabis every single harvest!

Happy Growing!

Looking for some awesome new cannabis strains to grow? Wondering where to buy marijuana seeds? There are lot of choices, but learn about the marijuana seed banks we recommend here: https://www.growweedeasy.com/seeds

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About the Author: Nebula Haze

Nebula Haze founded GrowWeedEasy.com with her husband Sirius in 2010. Our mission is to demystify the world of indoor marijuana cultivation. We’ve shared our passion and knowledge through hundreds of tutorials covering every aspect of growing, both in print and online. We’ve also guided numerous students through our comprehensive online courses. For us, it’s not just about growing cannabis; it’s about empowering every grower to discover the simplicity and joy of nurturing cannabis plants to an outstanding harvest. Growing is easy, you just need to know what to do!

Keep smiling and growing,
~Nebula Haze

The post The #1 Method to Cure Buds Perfectly Every Time appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

“Fimming” (also known as FIMing) is a cannabis grow technique to increase yields. Discovered by mistake, this unusual plant training technique increases the number and size of cannabis buds. When the fimming is done right, of course. This marijuana fimming tutorial shows you how to fim plants perfectly every time.

Fimming refers to removing the top growth of a young cannabis plant, like this.

The result of successful fimming? 4 branches from one spot.

Fimming can help make more bushy, productive cannabis plants.

What to remember: The ultimate goal of fimming is to create a bushy plant with lots of main branches. This results in many big buds instead of only one.

What is fimming cannabis? Growers pinch off the top of a cannabis plant when it’s a few weeks old. When timed just right, plants naturally grow more top buds once the plant starts flowering. The fimming process causes a plant to naturally grow more wide and bushy as it develops. When growing cannabis indoors, creating a wide, flat plant is key to getting the biggest yields from your setup. Fimming naturally helps create that ideal plant shape for you.

A freshly “fimmed” cannabis plant.

Does fimming increase cannabis yields?

Yes, usually. The results of fimming range from “no effect” to “very effective”, depending on whether it’s done correctly. The bonus of basic fimming is growers can’t really do it wrong. The worst that can happen is no effect. But if you follow this fimming tutorial, your cannabis yields consistently get a yield boost.

Is fimming better than “topping”?

“Topping” is a similar technique to fimming, also to increase cannabis yields. The difference is topping means removing the whole top of the plant. Fimming means pinching off a small amount of growth.

Both methods are effective to make plants grow bushy and produce lots of big buds. Topping consistently splits the main stem into two, but you can accidentally stunt plants if you do it at the wrong time. Fimming is less consistent, resulting in 1-4 stems coming from the same spot, though you should get all four when fimming is done right. If you fim cannabis plants wrong, the result is no effect, and you’ll have the same single main stem as before. You can’t stunt a plant by simply fimming, but if you do it wrong, it doesn’t work and you don’t get any of the benefits.

Learn More: Topping vs FIMing Cannabis Tutorial

Why is it called “Fimming”? Fimming was discovered by mistake, and the name “Fim” reflects that history. The story goes that a cannabis grower tried to cut off the top of the plant, but didn’t do a complete job. But he liked the results better, and named the technique “FIM” for “F*ck I Missed”. Fimming was born.

How to “Fim” a Cannabis Plant

The main idea behind fimming is to “mow” off the top growth of your plant. The goal is to split the main stem into 4 stems with one strategic cut. A plant with 4 main stems is easy to train to grow wide and flat with simple bending. When done right, fimming cannabis can give results somewhat similar to time-intensive manifolding without adding weeks onto your grow time.

Wait until plant has grown 3-5 sets of leaves. At the right time, you’ll noticed all the lower stems are starting to grow into little branches. Yes, it’s not just about the total number of leaves, but also the overall size of the plant. If a plant is still tiny and thin, you should wait even if it’s got plenty of sets of leaves.

Too small to fim – even though this has 3 sets of leaves, the plant is tiny. The lower growth has not started growing away from the stem yet. Wait until plant gets a bit bigger or it may get stunted from fimming.

Beginning of fim window – This plant is just barely big enough to fim. The lower branches are just starting to grow away from the main stem. You might get better results by waiting just a bit longer.

Ideal size to fim – A cannabis plant about this size is the perfect size to fim. It’s got about 4 sets of leaves, and the lower growth is starting to grow away from the main stem into little branches of their own.

End of fimming window – This seedling has 5 full sets of leaves, starting on the 6th. This is about as big a cannabis plant should be when you fim. If your plant is bigger than this (and still in the vegetative stage), you should use the “topping” technique instead of fimming. To top a plant, cut through the main stem right above the 5th set of leaves (check out the full topping tutorial).

Right after fimming your young cannabis plant, it should have a “mowed” top left behind. Look at the above diagram to try to make sure you’re cutting through at the best spot.

Look at your plant and compare to the diagram above.

Remove this much growth to “fim” a cannabis plant.

Leave this much behind.

When done right, fimming results in 4 stems coming from essentially the same spot on the cannabis plant. However, fimming is not always the most consistent. Instead of 4 tops, if you don’t cut at the right spot you might end up with 1, 2, or 3 tops instead of all 4. If you want total control with perfect symmetry, check out the “topping” technique instead.

It’s normal for the new growth right after fimming to look weird. Remember, you cut off 80% of these leaves before they got a chance to grow out! If you damage a young leaf, it becomes more and more obvious as the leaf grows. However, brand new leaves after these ones should look normal.

A few days later, those mowed leaves from fimming should look a bit funny growing in.

Plants that have been fimmed naturally grow more bushy, which helps maximize yields in the flowering stage.

However, to improve your results, bend over tall branches. Just regularly bend the tallest stems down and away from the center of the plant, and tie them down. This process is known as Low Stress Training, or LST for short.

Keep bending tall stems down, so plant grows wide and flat.

The result? Tons of buds at harvest time!

Advanced Technique: Remove all stems but the top 4 (Serious Fimming)

Some growers take their fimming to the next step. Instead of just splitting the stem into 4 and letting the plant grow naturally, some growers remove all the other stems on the plant. In other words, they remove all steps but the top 4 they want to keep.

A fimmed cannabis stem. All but the top 4 stems were removed off the main “trunk”. Source: Nugbuckets

This makes it so all branches come from essentially the same spot on the cannabis plant.

Another example of a cannabis plant that was fimmed and all other branches removed. Source:Tarzan

However, if you want to go this direction, you may enjoy a more consistent plant training technique known as manifolding.

Learn how to manifold your cannabis plants.

Manifolding – better than fimming for cannabis growers who want symmetry.

Now you know how to fim your cannabis plants, so you get bigger yields at harvest time!

Want to learn about other marijuana plant training techniques to increase yields? Check this out!

Complete Guide to Cannabis Plant Training Techniques

The post “Fimming” Cannabis: The Secret to a Bigger Harvest? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

It’s weed time! If you’re growing cannabis plants, then the flowering stage is when your weed comes in. But what do you need to know to make sure your flowering stage ends in a magnificent harvest? Find out today!

Buds are the dried flowers of a female cannabis plant.

An annual plant like cannabis normally grows from seed to maturity and dies over the course of one year. Like many flowering plants, there are 2 main phases of life for marijuana plants: the Vegetative Stage and the Flowering Stage. 

Vegetative Stage

First, a cannabis plant goes through a phase of vegetative growth, producing lots of stems and leaves. In this stage, the plant only gets bigger and does not make any flowers or buds. We recently covered the cannabis vegetative stage in depth.

In the Vegetative Stage, cannabis plants only grow stems and leaves. No buds.

Flowering Stage

Next, when a cannabis plant “senses” that the year is coming to a close, the plant completely switches gears from growing bigger/taller and begins a flowering phase of growth. During this flowering stage, the main goal of the plant is to produce flowers, which are the organs needed for sexual reproduction.

The Flowering Stage is when your cannabis plants grow buds (aka “weed” “marijuana” or “sinsemilla”).

At first the flowers looks like white hairs.

But they soon develop into familiar buds.

When buds reach peak potency, the branches are cut and hung upside down to dry.

Dried buds are jarred, and soon are ready to be smoked!

Nothing is more satisfying than smoking your own homegrown weed, like this Platinum Cookies.

Now that you understand the basics, let’s cover everything you need to know about the Flowering Stage of cannabis growth, including:

• What to Expect During the Flowering Stage
• Flowering Light Schedule: When to Start 12/12 Photoperiods

5 Keys to Flowering Stage Success

• Temperature – Not too hot or cold
• Light Spectrum – Mimic the Autumn sun
• Light Intensity – More light = more buds (to a point)
• Nutrients – Give bud-boosting nutrients
• Seeds – Start with great seeds to grow great weed

What to Expect During the Flowering Stage

With most cannabis plants, the “signal” that tells them when to start flowering is how much light and darkness they get each day, also known as their photoperiods. (The exception is auto-flowering strains)

Let me explain.

For most strains of cannabis, once the plant starts experiencing longer nights (when they’re getting 12+ hours of darkness each day), they enter into the flowering stage within a few weeks.

This is because the plant uses a special chemical process to sense how long the nights are. When night periods get long enough, the plant “senses” winter is coming and starts preparing to make seeds by beginning to flower.

Though all cannabis plants look the same when they’re very young, they reveal their sex in the flowering stage.

Yes, sex.

Most cannabis plants are either male or female, which is part of their genetic programming.

Home growers are often only concerned with female cannabis plants, because only female plants produce the beautifully sticky flowers (or “buds”) that we love so much. On the other hand, male cannabis plants grow pollen sacs instead of buds.

Male and female cannabis plants look the same until they start making flowers.

Note: Pre-flowers can also reveal a cannabis plant’s sex about 3-8 weeks from germination, depending on the strain.

When flowering begins, female plants start growing wispy white hairs at the base of each fan leaf. These hairs are actually the pistils of their flowers. The spots where these white hairs appear develop into buds, and are sometimes called “bud sites”.

Wispy white hairs = female plant

Male plants start growing “balls” that form into pollen sacs, in the same places a female plant grows wispy hairs. Most growers kill male cannabis plants on sight, to prevent them from pollinating the female plants (pollinated female plants focus on making seeds instead of buds, giving you seedy buds and dramatically reducing your yields).

Bunches of “grapes” = male plant

Important: Only Female Plants Make Buds!

In the flowering stage, only female cannabis plants make buds. In the flowering stage, watch closely to make sure all your plants are female.

Buds look like bunches of white hairs at first.

Watch Out for Male Cannabis Plants!

When a male cannabis plant starts flowering, it makes pollen sacs instead of buds. Pollen sacs look like little balls at first, and often have zero psychoactive effects.

Remove male plants quickly! If you see a male plant, it’s recommended to immediately remove it from the grow area. Otherwise the pollen can cause your buds to get seedy.

Male cannabis plants only make pollen sacs in the flowering stage.

After a few weeks, pollen sacs open and spill pollen everywhere, causing nearby buds to grow seeds.

Male cannabis plants are pretty…

…but you don’t want any pollen near your buds!

Use “Feminized” Seeds for All-Female Plants

Luckily, home growers can start with feminized seeds. All your cannabis plants are female with this type of seed, so you can be sure every plant grows buds, and only buds.

Start with feminized cannabis seeds to ensure every cannabis plant is female and grows buds.

As female cannabis plants continue to mature, their buds look more and more like the buds you buy.

Those bunches of white hairs form into solid buds over several weeks.

At harvest time, the hairs on buds have darkened and curled in.

Ready-to-harvest buds look mostly solid, like this. 

The Flowering Stage of cannabis can be a worrying time for growers because flowering plants are not as tough as they were in the vegetative stage. Flowering plants often have a bigger visible reaction to problems or stress.

Imagine what your plant is going through. Sure, it is a little stressed out trying to make awesome flowers. But a female plant just needs a little extra loving care in this stage to produce the biggest, most potent buds possible.

Don’t worry about minor slip-ups, but do watch your plants closely in the flowering stage, especially your first few grows, and you’ll be able to handle anything that comes up by using the information below.

Now that you know what to expect during the flowering stage, when should you initiate it?

Grow Light Flowering Light Schedule: When to Start 12/12 Photoperiods

It’s generally recommended to switch indoor plants over to the flowering stage when they’ve reached half their final desired height.

Switch to 12/12 when cannabis plants are half height.

Most cannabis strains about double in height before their buds are ready to harvest. “Short” strains tend to stretch less. “Tall” strains may triple in height. Learn more about the “flowering stretch“.

For indoor growers, set your timer so that the lights are off for 12 hours a day to “tell” your plants to start flowering. This is known as the 12-12 light schedule because you’re providing 12 hours of light, and 12 hours of dark each day.

Here are those same 3 cannabis plants at harvest. Twice the height and covered in buds.

However, strain makes a difference. Pay attention to the breeder notes for a strain to see if it tends to be particularly tall or short. The following example helps show the difference in “stretch” between a short and a tall strain.

“Short” vs “Tall” strain – How much does cannabis grow after initiating 12/12? It depends.

Why do cannabis plants need total darkness during their daily 12-hour dark period?

As I mentioned before, cannabis plants decide to start flowering in response to how long their NIGHTS are.

In fact, many growers mistakenly believe that 12 hour days are important, when what’s actually most important is the length of uninterrupted night, or darkness.

Cannabis plants need total darkness during their 12-hour dark period. Even a candle can prevent flowering or cause re-vegging.

Total darkness is needed because specific chemical changes happen during long nights that tell the plant to start flowering.

So for example, your plant would still start flowering if you gave your plant 12 hours of darkness then 24 hours of light, then 12 hours of darkness, etc.

Though this is a generalized rule. It’s important to keep in mind that cannabis naturally grows all over the world, in many different climates. This has caused a lot of variation between strains that can be confusing for new growers.

Some strains respond very strongly to different light cycles, and may be triggered to start flowering after only a few “long nights.”

Other strains, especially Sativa strains from equatorial regions, may need even longer nights to be triggered to start flowering. For these tall, lanky plants, you may need up to 14 hours of darkness each day before they “get the hint” and start flowering. Typically, a breeder will list this in the strain details so you aren’t surprised.

Certain strains may need extra-long nights (up to 14 hours a day) to flower properly.

For reference, these varieties of cannabis tend to be harder to manipulate using the light cycle:

• Moroccan strains
• Southern African strains
• Commercial hemp
• Hybrids developed for early outdoor harvests (September or earlier)

These strains are more likely to respond negatively to light leaks and more likely to show hermaphrodites in response to light stress. For some reason, they also tend to be harder to clone.

Want to Ignore Light Periods?

Some extreme northern varieties of cannabis, for example the Ruderalis or “auto-flowering” strain are actually not photosensitive at all. For these plants, the amount of time since germination (the age of the plant) seems to determine when to start flowering.

Auto-flowering strains automatically make buds without special light periods.

Learn about auto-flowering cannabis strains.

5 Keys to a Productive Flowering Stage

While the light period is your main tool to “tell” your plants to start flowering, other factors can have an effect on happy natural development of buds, (the importance of these “secondary” factors is dependent on the strain).

So in addition to photoperiod (i.e., day length), which we already discussed, factors such as light quality (spectral composition), light quantity (photon flux density), vernalization (exposure to a long period of cold), and nutrient and water availability may have some strain-dependent effects. Other strains are much less sensitive to these other environmental variables. Of course, the strain itself is crucially important as well, as genetics control how a plant grows and develops buds.

Cannabis plants need a good environment to grow big, beautiful buds.

In the wild, flowering can be initiated by stresses such as nutrient deficiencies, lack of water, or overcrowding. Why? This allows the plant to produce seeds in bad conditions, and seeds are much more likely to survive environmental stress than the plant itself (which only lives for one year in the best case scenario).

Yet as the grower, you don’t want to “stress” your plant into flowering. You’d much rather get plants to start flowering naturally. This also gives you more control over your garden.

1.) Temperature While Buds are Forming

Avoid Heat– High amounts of heat (especially above 80°F or 27°C) can cause several problems during flooding, including loose airy buds, as well as buds with low potency or smell. The heat both “burns off” the good stuff, while also preventing the plant from forming them in the first place.

Avoid Cold – Cooler temperatures are not as bad as too much heat, but you don’t want it to be under 75°F (23°F) during lights-on if possible. If it’s cold all the time, especially during the first 6 weeks of the flowering stage, buds won’t get as big as they normally would. There is some evidence that the presence of cooler temperatures can cause some strains to start flowering quicker, but does not necessarily increase how fast buds develop.

Quick Tip: For many purple strains, cooler temperatures at night are needed during the last ~2 weeks of the flowering stage for the buds to develop their signature purple coloring.

Cool nights during the last 2 weeks tend to bring out purple in many cannabis strains.

Freezing temperatures will kill most varieties of cannabis. In the wild they live their whole life cycle in one year and die when winter comes, so they have no need to become resistant to freezing cold.

2.) Light Color/Spectrum: Flowering Grow Lights Mimic the Fall Sun

For optimal bud production, growers often switch their grow lights to “warmer” colored lights with higher amount of red and far red. This combination simulates the Autumn sun and helps plants start flowering, stay in the flowering stage, and grow the biggest buds.

If you went for a MH/HPS grow light, now’s the time for that thin HPS bulb that produces yellow light.

However, most home cannabis growers these days are using LED grow lights. Each model is a little different, but here are some tips to keep in mind.

1. Get Flowering LEDs, If Possible – Some LED grow lights are labeled as “bloom” or “flowering” LEDs. These tend to get the best yields and bud potency in the flowering stage. Typically they appear to have a white-pinkish light.
2. Flowering Setting – Some LED lights come with a “flowering” setting that should be chosen during the flowering stage.
3. Choose a Trusted LED Brand – Certain LED manufacturers have created LEDs that are specially tuned to growing cannabis plants, and even test their lights on actual cannabis plants. These companies include Spider Farmer, Mars Hydro, and HLG. Any of their LED grow lights will produce spectacular weed if used as directed.

It’s important to note that any grow lights will work during the flowering stage. But extra strong lights with higher levels of red give you the best results.

Light from good modern flowering LEDs usually looks white to the human eye, often with a tinge of pink or yellow.

If you’re growing outdoors, you let the sun do its thing and just watch your plants for signs of problems or stress.

3.) High Light Intensity

Strong, intense light is what fuels the growth of buds. Photons are like “food” for cannabis plants. Plants use photosynthesis to turn light into sugar for energy to grow. As a general rule, if your plant is staying healthy, then more light = more buds during the flowering stage. However, too much light will start causing symptoms of light stress.

More light = more buds (to a point)

After you reduce all other limiting factors, there comes a point where even stronger light can’t be used by the plant to grow more buds and may hurt them. This is where some dedicated growers have discovered tricks (like supplementing CO2 in the grow room), which allow plants to use even more of the light, increasing yields beyond what would naturally be possible.

However, for most new growers, just mastering the basics and preventing problems during the flowering stage will cause a huge increase in yields even with a humble grow light. Often, this increase in yields from understanding the basics is more than you would get by upgrading your lights.

I’ve seen many dedicated growers get bigger yields in his or her first grow with a relatively small 200W LED grow light than other growers who start with an enormous 600W LED light and the most advanced equipment or nutrients available. That’s because it’s much easier to manage plants under a smaller grow light, so you maximize your plant’s potential. With a big grow light, growers may struggle with heat and light burn, reducing both their yields and bud quality while wasting electricity.

How to Maximize Light Intensity: Choose the right grow light for your space, and keep your lights the right distance away.

High light intensity is necessary for big, dense buds. Remember, light is food for plants.

4.) Bud-Boosting Flowering Stage Nutrients

Most cannabis-friendly nutrient systems have you change to a “flowering” schedule when buds start forming. Flowering nutrients contain higher levels of the nutrients a cannabis plant needs for the creation of buds. Flowering nutrients also contain lower levels of nitrogen, because too much nitrogen tends to make flowering cannabis plants more leafy with fewer and smaller buds.

Want effective and easy nutrients for bud formation? Dyna-Gro Bloom works well at 1 tsp/gallon for cannabis.

Full tutorial: How to Use Dyna-Gro Nutrients to Grow Cannabis

A lot of beginner growers add excessively high levels of nutrients at this stage thinking that the plant will take it in as food and grow bigger buds.

The hard truth is that adding too many nutrients will only burn your plant. Nutrients does not equal food for your plants. If anything, nutrients are more like their multivitamin, and light is their food.

Too much nutrients = nutrient burn

So as far as nutrient levels, you’ll want to keep doing things the way you have been, just with flowering-specific nutrients. You’ve already dialed into what works for this plant, don’t go totally crazy on it with nutrients now.

Only increase nutrient levels if your plant is showing signs of a deficiency, and only if you’ve ruled out pH problems as the culprit. Even then, increase nutrients slowly and watch plants for signs of nutrient burn. Adding more nutrients than needed during the second half of the flowering stage can give an unpleasant “taste” to your buds, even with organic nutrients such as compost/manure.

Towards the end of the flowering stage, it’s natural for there to be some yellow leaves near the bottom of the plant. No need to increase nutrient levels at this juncture. However, if top leaves are turning yellow, or bottom leaves are turning yellow early, try to figure out the cause and fix it quickly. Your plant needs a lot of green, healthy leaves until just before harvest in order to make the biggest and best buds possible.

5.) Start with Great Seeds (Ultra-Important)

This isn’t something you actually do in the flowering stage, but your seeds determine half your results at harvest, or more. You can’t grow great weed without great genetics.

Think about it, if you grow hemp seeds, the buds won’t have any potency whatsoever. If you grow seeds you find, you don’t know if they got the “good genes” from their parents, or whether they’re grow completely different from the buds you found them in.

3 Proven Cannabis Seed Sources

These are the 3 main cannabis seed sources I personally use when I’m growing weed.

• Seedsman – For growers who want the biggest selection of cannabis strains possible. They’ve got just about everything! Especially in 2025, they have continuously updated their offerings with some of the best breeders. They also breed their own top-tier in-house strains which are cheap seeds for what you get.
• North Atlantic Seed Co. – This seed company was started by and is run by home growers. They take genetics seriously, and heavily screen all breeders. You can feel confident any breeder on this website is a trustworthy breeder or they wouldn’t be there. A great source of rare American genetics.
• MSNL Seeds – This company is run by a geneticist. What I like about these strains is he thoroughly lab tests each strain for potency and smells, and freely shares that information about each strain. If you’re looking for consistent plants with particular potency or effects, this is an excellent choice.

Learn about other recommended cannabis breeders.

3 Recommended Strains for Home Growers

If you want more specific recommendations, let me share my 3 current favorite strains as of mid-2024. These are the strains I’ve grown before, and am currently growing again.

1.) Pineapple Chunk

Pineapple Chunk is a quintessential European strain that continues to impress me I grew it in 2012, then 2015, 2022, and recently again in early 2024. Every time the buds came out even better than the previous time. I personally think this may be Barney Farm’s best strain, and that explains why they keep refining it. This one was grown under a newer LED grow light and smelled like a mix of citrus with a hint of strawberry. Buds came out dense and sparkly.

2.) Liberty Haze

I am a huge fan of Liberty Haze. The bud effects remind me of the unique psychedelic “day” (uplifting) effects of now-rare outdoor Sativa strains. You never see them anymore because they get huge and need long hot summers in order to produce properly. Liberty Haze gives you access to those bud effects yet is suitable to grow indoors. It still tends to grow tall and stretchy, but as long as you top the plants when they’re small (cut off the tops, which forces the buds to makes many buds instead of one), you can wrangle them indoors.

The left plant here is the 2nd time I grew Liberty Haze. As you can see it got a bit tall, which I’ve come to expect, but it was otherwise easy to grow and produced excellent yields. The Critical Kush on the right was also a good plant, but the Liberty Haze buds won when it came to effects.

Example of a Liberty Haze plant sent in by a reader.

3.) Amnesia

This strain lives up to its name. Amnesia buds are known for making you forget what you were just saying. Not necessarily the best choice for social situations (unless you all just want to chill) but perfect for relaxation at the end of a long day.

Example of an Amnesia plant I grew in a hydroponic setup.

Closeup of Amnesia buds. Dense and chunky!

Here’s a detailed guide on how to research and find the best strain for you.

Now you have a complete overview of everything you need to master the flowering stage, the most important stage of growth for most growers. Now check out some specific tips and hints so you produce the best buds possible!

You might like: Week-by-Week Timeline: What to Expect in the Flowering Stage

About the Author: Nebula Haze

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 hundreds of growing articles in print and online, teaches online video lessons, and continues to dedicate herself to serving the needs of the cannabis growing community.

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

The post Growing Marijuana: The Flowering Stage appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.