by Nebula Haze
Busy lately? Or just a little lazy? Me too. But I still want to grow a ton of weed. Over the years I’ve learned some tricks and time-savers so you only need to spend a few minutes a day tending your cannabis plants and still produce the best quality weed. Today I will teach you 9 ways you can reduce the amount of time and effort it takes to grow cannabis without reducing yields or quality.
Grow a ton of potent sticky weed in less than 10 minutes a day if you follow this tutorial. Perfect for busy people!
Keep in mind these main tactics to reduce time and effort to grow weed:
- Pick a low-maintenance grow style
- Set up properly – Certain equipment cuts down time and effort
- Fewer grows per year – Maximize yields and only grow good weed
Without further ado…
9 Ways to Reduce Effort and Time Growing Weed
1.) Skip mixing nutrients with a “just add water” grow medium
Skip mixing nutrients with this grow medium. Just add clean water to this organic slow-release soil. Another bonus is you don’t get runoff water with this setup, so you save the time it would normally take to remove runoff water that comes out the bottom of a pot. This grow medium produces excellent buds and good yields, but plants tend to grow a bit slower and yields are a little smaller than when growing with nutrients.
Check it out: “Just Add Water” Cannabis Tutorial
Create a “Just Add Water” grow medium by incorporating compost in the soil like Nature’s Living Soil concentrate. Check out my full “Just add water” tutorial that I used to grow these plants.
2.) One-part nutrient systems
For those who want the fast cannabis growth and enormous yields that come from using good nutrients. Some nutrient systems require multiple bottles to give the exact right ratios, like the General Hydroponics Flora trio. It takes less time to mix up a one-part nutrient system because you only use one bottle at a time. I have personally had excellent results growing cannabis with Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro and Bloom. I’d say Dyna-Gro plant growth rates and yields are 95% as good as the Flora trio (my personal favorite nutrients for weed) with the same excellent bud quality. A good choice for soil, coco, or hydro.
Dyna-Gro is super simple and works in soil, coco, or hydro. Use Foliage Pro at 1 tsp/gallon for the vegetative stage.
Use Bloom at 1 tsp/gallon after buds start forming
3.) Fast hardy strain with high yields
Save time by not dealing with sensitive plants. And if your non-sensitive plants also have high yields, you can grow fewer times a year. Where can you buy hardy, high yielding cannabis strains? Generally, by Royal Queen Seeds, Dutch Passion, Barney’s Farm, Bomb Seeds, and Fastbuds are a solid choice. I’ve also included several specific strain suggestions at bottom of article.
Grow fast hardy strains with big yields (recommended strains at bottom of article)
4.) Get a good grow light
It is a huge waste of your time to produce small yields or weak weed because of an insufficient grow light. Stick to proven cannabis LEDs (best choice for most cannabis growers) or HIDs like MH/HPS (best for cool grow spaces like in a cellar or during the winter), and LEC/CMH grow lights (best for high trichome and terpene production). Avoid fluorescent grow lights and generic LEDs. Fluorescent lights (like CFLs or T5s) tend to get low yields/watt, produce a surprising amount of heat, and require constant adjustment to maintain the right light distance from plants. Unsuitable LED grow lights tend to cause nutrient deficiencies for no reason, slow down growth, and produce poor yields with low-potency buds.
Check out 7 recommended grow lights we’ve had great results with (including harvest pictures!).
Spider Farmer SF-2000 may be the easiest grow light I’ve used, and it’s pretty cheap at $250. Check out my full Spider Farmer SF-2000 review.
5.) Time-saving plant pruning technique
There are many ways to prune or “train” your plants to produce bigger yields and better buds for free. However, many are time-consuming, such as the manifold technique.
Here is the quickest and easiest plant training method that will give you a ton of bud sites and flat table-like plant canopies that make the best use of your grow lights.
- Wait until plant has grown 6 sets of leaves (or 6 “nodes” as cannabis growers often say)
- Cut off the top of the plant just above the 5th set of leaves (“top the plant above the 5th node” in weed growing lingo)
- Spread branches out as the plant grows to make a flat “tabletop” canopy that fills the space under the grow light
- Any time there’s a branch that’s taller than the others, bend it down and away from the center of the plant.
- Tie branches down with plant twistie tie so they don’t turn back up
- Use the supercrop technique to bend thick branches without snapping them.
- Once plants have reached half the final desired height and the branches fill the entire grow space, initiate a 12/12 light schedule to get plants to start making buds.
- Buds will naturally form as shown below.
Read the full tutorial on how to use this technique.
This simple training technique produces plants like this
This shape forces plants to produce many big buds at harvest
6.) Remove extra leaves in the flowering stage
Strategic defoliation in the flowering stage increase yields, maximizes THC (yes, proper defoliation can make buds more potent), and makes it easier to trim buds after harvest and drying. It’s worth doing because you will end up with more and better buds, but also removing leaves in the flowering stage can save you hours of trimming time after harvest. Be aware of your plant’s leafiness level, and try to make sure light can get through your plant for the best results. Make sure to get good scissors with a thin blade like Fiskars for both pruning and trimming after harvest.
Plucking leaves strategically now will increase yields, bud quality, and save you a ton of time later during trim time.
The above picture shows a pretty big defoliation session (which I like to do first when buds start forming, and then again 3 weeks later). Try not to pluck your plants more bare than this. This took about a half hour, but if you remove just a few leaves at a time when you check on your plants, it won’t ever take much time. Any leaves with trichomes on them can also be used to make edibles or hash.
Remove leaves whenever your plant gets so bushy light can’t get through the plant (left plants are too leafy, right plants are the perfect leafiness to maintain). Learn when NOT to defoliate.
Read my 3-step super simple flowering defoliation tutorial.
7.) Make a workspace
Have a dedicated table to mix nutrients, hold plants, etc. Don’t work directly on the floor. Make sure your nutrient bottles, tools, etc. are all within easy reach of your workspace so you’re not moving all around the grow room to do regular things.
Have a place to mix your nutrients and hold grow equipment so you’re not working on the floor
8.) Easy water access
Get the right size water container, it makes all the difference. A 1-gallon water container often is too small to water many plants at once, so you end up mixing nutrients all the time. A 5-gallon container holds a lot of water but is really heavy when full. I’m not strong enough to easily carry it aroud. But a 3-gallon water container is a lot more manageable and still holds a lot at once (MUCH cheaper to buy water containers in person like at Wal-mart or a water store).
A water transfer pump can make it easier to water your plants. Some growers set up an automated watering system. If it’s a pain to carry water around, get a faucet adapter so you can attach a hose to your sink and use a hose to fill your water container next to your plants.
Ready the easy watering tutorial
Make it easy to water your plants (especially any in the back) by using a small water transfer pump or watering can
A faucet adapter makes it easy to get water from your sink directly to your grow room with a hose
9.) Plan BEFORE you start growing
Choose a proven cannabis setup based on your desired yields and budget instead of piecing everything together one thing at a time. This helps ensure everything works together without any surprises. Make sure to get rope ratchets to hang your lights while still being able to easily move your light up and down (rope ratchets often come with your grow light, otherwise get them separately). Rope ratchets can also be used to hang a heavy carbon filter. Just attach them to your carbon filter or grow light, attach the other end to the bar, and use the ratchets to ratchet equipment up or down. Use plant yo-yos (which are specifically designed for cannabis) to hold up any branches or heavy buds that start falling over.
Learn about proven grow setups and helpful cannabis grow tools.
A cheap grow tent with a cannabis grow light and a fan will give you a perfect easy “pop-up” grow environment that is waterproof, holds your grow light, manages heat, and can filter smells.
Summary: Cannabis Grow Time-Saving Cheat Sheet
Here’s a cheat sheet that includes everything you need to know to reduce the amount of time it takes to grow weed.
- Low or no-effort nutrients
- One-part nutrient systems (Dyna-Gro works well – Use Foliage Pro at 1 tsp/gallon for the vegetative stage. Use Bloom at 1 tsp/gallon after buds start forming) – Takes less time to mix up a one-part nutrient system than nutrients that require multiple bottles to give the exact right ratios. Good choice for soil, coco, or hydro.
- “Just add water” grow medium – Even less work than a one-part nutrient system. Just add clean water to this organic slow-release soil. Another bonus is you don’t get runoff water with this setup, so you save the time it would normally take to remove runoff water that comes out the bottom of a pot.
- Quick easy watering
- Have a dedicated table to mix nutrients, hold plants, etc. Don’t be working on the floor.
- Easy water access with a faucet adapter and hose
- Get right size container (I like to mix nutrients in a 3-gallon water container). It makes a surprising difference.
- Use watering pump to reach all plants easily
- Automatic waterers
- Set up for fast growth and no problems
- Grow tent – is waterproof and easy to clean, protects your floors, and has convenient places to hang grow light, place fans, etc.
- Get a good grow light – Avoid fluorescent grow lights and generic LEDs. Fluorescent lights tend to get low yields/watt, and require constant adjustment to maintain the right distance from plants. Unsuitable LED grow lights tend to cause nutrient deficiencies for no reason, slowing down growth, and overall produce poor yields and/or low-THC buds (you don’t want to grow bad weed)
- Fast hardy strain with high yields (save time dealing with sensitive plants, with high yields you can grow fewer times a year). Recommended strains below.
- Grow accessories – plant twist tie, fiskar scissors, rope ratchets, plant yo-yos. Learn about more helpful cannabis growing tools.
- Low-maintenance grow style
- Easiest plant training – top above the 5th node, spread branches out, supercrop as needed to control tall branches. Here’s the tutorial.
- Remove extra leaves in the flowering stage – Here’s the tutorial. If you remove just a few leaves at a time, it only takes a minute. Not only will this increase your yields (and also THC levels in some tests), it will dramatically reduce the time it takes to trim your weed after harvest. Any leaves with trichomes on them can also be used to make edibles or hash.
- Pluck most fan leaves just before harvest – Don’t remove the fan leaves on the biggest colas as they help protect the big buds during drying. Removing all the leaves right before (or during) harvest will help buds dry more evenly and will save you time trimming.
- Maximize yields per grow to grow less often
- Don’t skip plant training as stated above
- Get the right size grow light for your space and desired yields
- Invest in genetics that grow good weed so you always use every last bud
- Recommended strains below
Recommended strains (photoperiod)
- Purple Punch – Super potent
- Skiskaberry – Creative social high
- Orange Hill Special – Smells delightful
- Blue Cheese – Hardy, unique smell, fast-flowering
Recommended strains (auto-flowering)
- THC Bomb Auto – Pretty and potent
- Cinderella Jack Auto – Dense and potent
- Pineapple Expres Auto – Smells delightful
- Girl Scout Cookies Auto – Crowd favorite
THC Bomb Auto makes beautiful potent sparkly buds
