Planting cannabis seeds or clones during warm weather often produces healthy plants with delicious buds. When selecting your seeds, look for ones with feminized traits which produce fat flower buds with lots of psychoactive compounds.
Make sure that the plants receive ample sunlight and drainage, with rich soil composed of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content. Many growers utilize five-gallon pots or larger with good air circulation to avoid disease or fungal issues in their cultivation of crops.
Spring
As soon as spring arrives, growers can begin germinating their outdoor marijuana seeds or clones. It’s essential to select genetics which provide your plant with optimal conditions, which will lead to bigger yields and higher quality bud.
If starting your crop in spring, select fast-flowering strains such as Jack 47 F1 Fast Version, Royal Cheese F1 Fast Version or Afrodite that bloom quickly – these should be ready for harvest by late November even when planted as early as June or July!
Before planting, dig wide holes to give your plants enough room to spread out roots and develop. Add organic matter such as compost, manure or worm castings into the holes to enrich and amend your soil, adding perlite for air circulation and absorbency if your clay soil is heavy. Also utilize drip irrigation kits for optimal water delivery in dry farming techniques.
Summer
Autoflowering strains should be planted between May and June for optimal success, so that they begin flowering before day length decreases, signaling maturation processes to kick in and initiate production of buds.
Moore insists on the necessity of an outdoor growing space with plenty of light for optimal cannabis cultivation. Most growers choose a garden plot, though others might opt for a balcony or rooftop with good sun. They might cover this area with a tarp to protect the plants from peeping neighbors; or build heavy-gauge wire cages to ward off thieves and birds.
When selecting an outdoor location for growing marijuana, consider the soil type and drainability. Clay soils tend to hold too much water while sandy ones don’t absorb as efficiently. Also take into consideration what other plants will surround your marijuana crop: marigolds, alfalfa or herbs make great companion plants as they repel powdery mildew while providing essential nitrogen fertilization to your crop.
Fall
Growers experimenting with growing marijuana from seed or clones will likely see their plants transition into their flowering phase at the end of summer, making this an excellent time to plant clones as they “think” they are living under artificial lights for 18 hours per day and trigger vegetative (green) phase growth. As soon as daylight fades in autumn, their flowering phase should follow.
Once your plant enters flowering phase, harvesting can commence. A good indicator that a plant is ready for harvest is its color of pistils and trichomes: mature cannabis will have reddish orange or amber hued trichomes which turn from white to reddish orange then amber with age; furthermore, its scent should change from sweet to pungent when ready.
Winter
Cannabis plants are typically resistant to frost damage, yet frost can still bring devastating results in terms of garden destruction and root issues that hinder development and cause nutrient lockout and stunted growth.
Planting outdoor cannabis during winter can be a risk, even with protective structures like hoop houses or greenhouses in place. Temperature drops can quickly reduce yield, potentially killing off your crop before it even has time to produce buds!
Photoperiod strains require a change in light cycle to flower properly, which cannot happen outdoors during winter. Therefore, those attempting to cultivate outdoors in winter should stick with autoflowering seeds or select feminized ones that start flowering around August. Indoor cultivation allows cultivators to control variables like temperature and humidity more effectively for winter growing marijuana cultivation.