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reserve your ad hereAs a first-time grower, flowering indoor cannabis plants is an exhilarating time, and when you get to see exactly how your plants will express themselves. Whilst changing your timers to 12 hours of light, and 12 hours of dark starts the flowering stage, there is a great amount of detail involved to achieve the best results possible.
In this article, I provide 8 top tips to ensure success and allow you to produce high-grade indoor cannabis and get your first ever harvest under your best, as well as highlight mistakes to avoid.
Top Tip #1 – The Optimal Temperature
Cannabis plants thrive when the grow room temperature and environment are consistent and the plants can flower stress-free. My tip here is to lower your temperature once your plants are producing buds, and if you can, lock in a temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit, doing so produces the best quality flower from my experience.
Top Tip #2 – pH Levels
pH levels are so important and play a crucial role when growing cannabis plants indoors. Nutrients that the plant needs as a food source will be made available within a specific pH range. If your pH levels are not correct, then nutrient uptake and availability will be affected, resulting in nutrient deficiencies. My tip here is to maintain a pH during the flowering period that is between 6.0–6.5 to achieve the optimal range, as recommended by Flora Flex.
Top Tip #3 – Avoid Topping Once Flowering Begins
Topping is a plant training technique that involves removing the crown shoot from a cannabis plant. Doing so will cause the auxiliary shoots to take over, resulting in two main colas once flowering begins.
My tip here is to avoid topping your flowering plants, to avoid causing stress and potentially stunted growth. Plant training techniques such as topping should always be done during the vegetative stage (18/6) and before switching your timer to 12/12.
Top Tip #4 – Remove Hermaphrodite Plants
One of the worst things that can happen when flowering cannabis indoors, is to notice that the female plants are producing female pistils and male flowers. It is not always easy to spot a hermaphrodite cannabis plant as a beginner.
My tip here is, once you have identified a cannabis plant showing hermaphrodite traits, is to remove it from the grow room. By removing the plant, you will fully eliminate the risk of the plant pollinating itself and potentially the surrounding flowering female plants, as advised by M.S.N.L
Top Tip #5 – Do Not Overwater
As a first-time grower, you may believe that the more water or nutrients you provide, the bigger and fatter the buds will become. Giving your flowering plants excessive amounts of water and over watering will result in a soggy and over-saturated growing medium, starve the roots of oxygen, and cause the plant’s leaves to wilt and droop downwards.
My tip here is to keep the volume of water as consistent as possible once your plants are flowering, and to remember that less is more when growing high-grade cannabis. How frequently you water your plants should be based on how wet or dry the growing medium has become, and to maintain the right balance.
Top Tip #6 – The Right Humidity Level
The humidity level in your grow room will be a reflection of the amount of moisture that is present in the air. Cannabis plants during the vegetative stage prefer a higher humidity level between 60 – 75%, however, during the flowering stage, you should aim for 40-50% as suggested by Royal Queen Seeds.
My tip here is to use a digital hygrometer to see the exact temperature and humidity levels in your grow room. Keeping your flowering cannabis plants within this humidity range will prevent the buds from forming mold and produce the most resinous flowers, giving you the peace of mind of not losing any buds due to a bad case of mold.
Top Tip #7 – Harvesting Your Plants
Once you are in the final week of harvesting your plants, and have watched all your hard work and patience pay off, harvesting at the right moment will play a major role in the quality and quantity of buds.
My tip here is to avoid working off the flowering time suggested by the seed company, but to base the harvest window on trichome maturity using a magnification tool, how swollen and fat the calyx and bracts are, the ratio of brown or orange pistils, resin production, and aroma.
Top Tip #8 – Removing Molding Buds
In the unfortunate event that you notice the buds have signs of mold, then do not panic, but be prepared to remove the contaminated molding buds off the plant. Mold occurs when the humidity levels are too high, and the air flow around the buds is not adequate.
My tip here is to wear a pair of latex gloves and use a sharp and clean pair of scissors, and to cut away the entire parts that show symptoms of mold. Once you have carefully removed the infected buds, do your best to lower the humidity level and dramatically improve the air flow around the top of the canopy using oscillating fans.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Never ignore molding buds, as mold can quickly spread, especially with dense buds.
- Do not chop and harvest your plants early, and pay close attention to trichome maturity.
- Avoid letting the buds touch one another or the grow room walls, due to overcrowded plants.
- If your plants are wilting, do not give them more water and wait for them to recover.
Feature image: Panty Punch Femenized from Seed Stockers. Photo credit: Stoney Tark
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