How to Grow Your Cannabis Quicker
Homegrown, healthy cannabis is worth the wait, but why wait longer than you have to? There are some methods that can help speed up the process from seedling to bloom in less time. Read on to learn how to grow your cannabis quicker.
How to Grow Your Cannabis Quicker
1. Indoors versus Outdoors
When comparing the two options, growing indoors is always quicker and more reliable because you have more control over the environment. Evaluate the different rooms in your home to see where you can better control things like temperature and sunlight.
2. Choose Autoflowering Strains
Autoflowering cannabis strains outpace their photoperiod counterparts in reaching maturity. This speed boost is attributed to the inclusion of ruderalis genetics in their makeup. Originating in cold regions like Siberia, ruderalis adapted to short summers by developing the ability to quickly produce flowers and seeds, ensuring the species’ survival.
Typically, most auto-flowering hybrids initiate flowering approximately two weeks post-germination and can be ready for harvest in just seven weeks—which is quite speedy compared to traditional cannabis growth, which can take 15 to 26 weeks in total.
3. Take Photoperiod Strains Straight To Flower
To accelerate the maturation of photoperiod strains, a handy trick involves subjecting them to a 12-hour daily darkness regimen right from germination. This approach speeds up the process significantly, bringing them closer to the swift pace of auto-flowering cannabis. However, there’s a trade-off—the plants won’t reach the same size or yield as much as those allowed a more conventional 4–6 weeks of vegetative growth. Be prepared for smaller, dwarf-sized plants, each yielding around 28g or less. It’s a compromise between speed and size.
4. Grow From Clones
Growing marijuana clones presents a reliable shortcut. Essentially, a cutting functions as a prepped, mature seedling that’s ready to progress into the vegetative stage swiftly. While there’s a brief period for the cutting to establish new roots, it’s notably shorter than the germination and seedling phases of a regular seed. Opting for indoor clone cultivation offers a straightforward and expeditious alternative to the repetitive cycle of germinating seeds.
For those already tending to a thriving plant, you can continuously harvest cuttings from existing plants to kickstart the next round. This method not only expedites the process but also ensures a consistent batch of plants.
Important to note: Cloning is not recommended for auto-flowering strains. This is because cuttings retain the age of the host plant, causing them to flower prematurely before reaching an optimal size.
5. Leave Lights on During the Vegetative Stage
In the realm of cannabis care, the notion of leaving the lights on 24/7 is a hotly debated topic. Unlike some other plants, cannabis doesn’t demand a daily dark period to thrive; in fact, it seems to flourish under continuous illumination. This unconventional approach results in shorter, faster-growing, bushier plants during the vegetative stage.
By embracing the 24/7 light cycle, you might even trim down your vegetative time by a third while still cultivating robust plants by the time you initiate forced blooming. However, as with any experiment, observation is critical. Keep a vigilant eye for signs of deficiencies. If your plants appear under the weather, consider tweaking the light parameters—dialing down the wattage or adjusting the hours of illumination to aid their recovery. It’s a balance between pushing the boundaries and maintaining plant health.
6. Keep It Darker Before Bloom
To kickstart the bloom, embrace a strategy of providing your plants with less than 12 hours of light per day during this crucial phase. Begin by subjecting them to complete darkness for 48 hours before transitioning into the 12/12 light cycle. Then, fine-tune the process by adopting an 11/13 light cycle throughout the bloom. This additional reduction in light exposure tricks the plants into believing that winter is fast approaching, prompting an earlier flowering response.
However, a word of caution: Starving a plant eager to bloom for its natural 9–10 week cycle to force an early harvest can lead to diminished yields.
7. Try Hydroponic Growing
Consider making the switch to hydroponics. In contrast to traditional soil or soilless mixes, hydroponics can shave off a few weeks from your vegetative stage. This method channels nutrients directly to the plant’s roots, which supports rapid growth. While it might not expedite the flowering period significantly, hydroponics is renowned for yielding heavier, denser buds and larger harvests. The extra time invested in this method often pays off in the form of bountiful returns. Sometimes, it’s about the quality and quantity that make the time worthwhile.
8. Supply Plenty Nutrients
For a faster harvest, providing the proper nutrients at the right time is critical. Avoid overfeeding or underfeeding, as it slows down the process. If you’re using cannabis-specific nutrients, stick to the provided instructions, but go easy at first to see how your plants react.
In the vegetative stage, your plants crave more nitrogen (N), while during flowering, they hunger for extra phosphorus and potassium (P & K). Too much nitrogen during bloom isn’t advised as it hampers bud growth and results in less impressive yields of a healthy harvest. It’s all about finding the right nutrient balance for robust, dense buds.
Choose Harvest Hero to Support Healthy Growth
Whether you’re looking for the fastest growth possible or are in it for the long haul, our proprietary, 3-in-1 soilless blend improves your soil quality, helping your plants get the nutrition they need to ensure robust, vigorous growth. This patent-pending soilless mix is excellent for recreational growers and professional horticulturists. Shop for Harvest Hero Enhanced Perlite Mix today.
