Learning how to grow weed won’t be complete without knowing what to do during the vegetative growth. You should also know about pruning.
After germinating the weed seeds, it’s now time to transfer them to your preferred growing medium and allow them to grow in an ideal growing environment. For most indoor pot seeds, the vegetative growth cycle is usually around 2 to 4 weeks and will be completed in the 3rd up to the 5th month, depending on the growing condition and the type of strain you are growing.
Amount of Light Needed During the Vegetative Phase
Marijuana plants need the blue spectrum of light during the vegetative stage. The blue light will help prevent stretching while inadequate blue spectrum will result to weak weed plants having vertical spaces in between their branches. During this phase, plants need more than 12 hours of light per day. The lights should be switched on from 18 to 24 hours a day but how much light do the marijuana plants will need also depend on several factors such as type of light used, genetics, temperature, spacing between the plants and the distance between the light and your cannabis plants.
LED lamps, metal halides and fluorescents are among the top choices of artificial lights best for marijuana plants on vegging because they emit a blue spectrum of light sufficient for the plants’ need. Place the lights as close as possible to the plants but if you are using a kind of light with high wattage, do not put it too close because too much heat may burn the top of your marijuana plants.
Nutrients for Cannabis Vegging
Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus are the primary nutrients needed during the vegetative phase and all throughout the different stages of cannabis growth. These three macronutrients are included in plant food labels at different ratios. When plants are vegging, high amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus are necessary.
Micronutrients are also just as important as macronutrients but these elements are given only in minute amounts. Among the secondary nutrients needed during the vegging phase up to blooming time are manganese, sulfur, zinc, magnesium, boron, calcium, copper, molybdenum and iron.
Feed your weed plants just the right amount of nutrients because too many nutrients can burn your plants. Over-fertilizing can result in “nute-burn” in which the tips of the marijuana leaves will start turning brown. Fewer amounts of nutrients may slow down the growth of the plants but more nutrients can cause stunted growth and can even kill your cannabis plants.
Pruning Marijuana Plants
The primary reason why growers prune marijuana plants is to draw focus to the lower branches so plants will not grow very tall but grow bushier instead. Two different shots will move in from the stem if you cut the tip of the cannabis plant. A lot of growers have gained benefits with pruning if the process is just done correctly and at the right timing. With pruning, your weed plants can produce a big harvest of large colas. Remember not to prune young dope plants and if you do so, make sure that the dope plants have already developed at least 5 bladed leaves.
