Growing marijuana in the ground

Tim Alchimia 2022-09-21
Hi, thanks for your comment and question. The 2m spacing is a rough guide, based on average-sized outdoor plants. The ideal distance between plants depends on several things, but the final size of the plants is what will determine the spacing and this is dependent on factors such as genetics, soil and weather conditions, nutrition, time of planting, etc. For example, if we plant Indica-dominant auto-flower varieties, it's highly unlikely that they'll grow to a big size, meaning that we can reduce the space between plants. On the other hand, if you plant a Sativa-dominant, non-auto variety in early spring, it's probably going to grow into a huge monster if the conditions are good, so 2m might not be enough space for it to develop properly. It's important to strike the right balance between using the space to maximum effect and still allowing enough room for plants to be well-ventilated, as insufficient air movement among the plants can lead to problems with mould and pests. I hope that helps you decide on planting distances. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-08-23
Hi Marvin, thanks for your comment and question. The area around Valencia has some of the best weed-growing weather in the world, so there's really not much of a limit to which type of genetics you can grow (unlike wetter, colder areas where autumn might come early) - almost everything will produce well if cared for properly when given the correct nutrition and irrigation. To find the best seeds for your own situation and tastes, I'd recommend using our Seed Selector, where you can filter our entire seed catalogue by characteristics such as "High Yielders", "Easy To Grow", and "Fast Flowering", etc. as well as flavour profiles and type of effect. Otherwise, you can talk to local growers and see what they all plant - if they're looking for big yields then the changes are it'll be something like Amnesia. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2021-03-31
Hi Matt, thanks for your comment and questions. That's all good, start the seeds indoors and when you think they're big enough transplant them to the woods. I'd recommend digging your hole and filling it with the All Mix a couple of weeks before you plan to plant them out, to allow the soil to settle, your plants will thank you for it later. Depending on when you plant out and on the composition of the forest soil, you may need to add some more nutrition later in the season to avoid nutrient deficiencies, in which case I would recommend top-dressing with organic fertiliser as soon as you start to see the lower leaves yellowing. And yes, you can top or FIM the plants outdoors without any problem. Personally, I stop any pruning around the last week in July to let the plants grow uninterrupted for a few weeks before they initiate flowering in mid-August. I hope that helps, best of luck with your crop!

Tim Alchimia 2021-03-30
Hi Dylan, thanks for your comment. The time listed for the genetics you have will be for the flowering period (unless they're auto-flowering genetics, you don't mention that) and doesn't include the time needed for vegetative growth. The time to sow the seeds will depend on how big you want the plants to get, if you sow them now and keep them under lights until, for example, May, before putting them outside then they'll grow to a really good size and give you a great harvest. If, however, you don't have much room outdoors or you want them to stay small and discreet then you'd be better sowing later in the season, although I wouldn't leave it as late as September. If they are autos then you can sow them at any time, just be sure to calculate 6-7 weeks before your earliest frost date to ensure that they finish before the weather turns in autumn. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2021-03-12
Hi Jordan, thanks for your comment and question. Trabe recommends adding 200g of Nutrihemp for 70 L of substrate, so use that as a rough guide but the quantity you need will depend on the size of the hole that your digging as well as the fertility of the soil you're planting into. For full-season plants you may have to add more to the soil surface throughout the season to maintain nutrient levels. I hope that helps. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-10-05
Hi, cannabis needs fertile and well-draining soil. I did a quick search for nutrient requirements and this is what I came up with: "Industrial hemp requires 80 to 100 lbs/ac (90 to 112 kg/ha) nitrogen, 35 to 50 lbs/ac (39 to 56 kg/ha) phosphate and 52 to 70 lbs/ac (60 to 80 kg/ha) potash. Hemp prefers a sufficiently deep, well-aerated soil with a pH of 6 or greater, along with good moisture and nutrient holding capacity. Poorly drained soils, however, are not recommended as excess surface water after heavy rains can result in damage to the hemp crop. Hemp is extremely sensitive to flooding and soil compaction." I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-10-02
Hi Will, thanks for your comment and question. Yes, if you carefully dig the plant up without damaging the root ball then there's a good chance that it will survive although it's also very easy to stress the plant so much that it simply stops developing after being transplanted. A lot will depend on the size of the plant, with smaller examples having a better chance of survival. To summarise, it's not the ideal way to finish a plant but if there's no other option then it's way better than losing the entire crop! I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-09-04
Hi Kris, thanks for your comment and question. Do you know what variety the clones are? If they're a Sativa-dominant hybrid or a pure Sativa then it's fairly normal that they don't initiate flowering until late in the season, going on to finish in November, December or even Jan/Feb in really extreme cases! If, on the other hand, they're not Sativas then it could be that some light contamination is interrupting their night time dar period, which would prevent them from flowering. Check there are no street lamps or house lights nearby that could be causing the issue. If that's the case then the only options would be to either move the plants to somewhere they don't get light contamination (only if they're in pots!), or alternatively you could force flowering by covering the plants with a light-proof cover of some sort, to fool the plants into thinking it's night time. You'll need to be very dedicated though, the plants will need to be covered and uncovered 12 hours apart, at the same time each day, for it to work properly. If the plants are in pots then you could move them into a dark garage or shed every evening, say at 8 pm, then you'd bring them out of the darkness at 8 am every morning, giving them 12 hours darkness (you can even do 13 hours darkness if you want them to flower a bit faster, but be consistent and don't chop and change the light schedule! I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-08-17
Hi and thanks for your comment. Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear about your plant but I'm sure it can be saved unñess the plant has snapped off completely, in which case I'm afraid it's history. If the plant has simply flopped over without breaking then its easy to fix. Get some canes or sticks and poke them into the ground around your plant then tie your plant to them, using soft string or specialised plant ties. Alternatively, you can make a cage from chicken or sheep wire fencing. The less the plant can move in the wind, the better. I would water with some kelp meal solution and Aloe Vera juice to help offset the inevitable stress of falling over. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-08-10
Hi Tweak, thanks for the question. It's a tough one because it will depend on the final size of the plants, both the cannabis and the companion plants. Try to plant them so that the cannabis won't block out the light to the companion plant, but not so far away as to negate any of the positive effects. You also need to consider the vigour of the companion plants, for example, I like to use mint as a companion plant but it will take over the planter if I let it, so plants like this will go in a separate pot to avoid them swamping everything else. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2019-10-30
Hi Dan, thanks for your question, and congratulations on your first grow, nice one! If you change the water in the buckets every day (or more if they seem to be drinking lots) and keep the garage at a reasonable temperature - not too hot, not too cold, then they'll be fine for a few days or up to a week if they were really healthy when you cut them down. You can start removing the large fan leaves to help reduce transpiration and to speed things up when you get around to start trimming them. Personally I wouldn't wait too long, at this point they aren't going to mature much more so the sooner you get them trimmed and drying the better, in my opinion. All the best and happy harvesting!

Tim Alchimia 2019-08-29
Hi Robert, thanks for your question. It certainly sounds like your soil is full of lots of life and great things, the compost sounds wonderful! I wouldn't recommend defoliation on outdoor plants, at least not to the same extent as indoors, where all the shade leaves are removed (although it would be nice to do a comparative experiment with two of the same clones, one defoliated and the other not, just to see the results). However, outdoor plants can definitely benefit from having lower leaves and shoots cleaned up, removing anything that won't receive much sunlight. This improves the air circulation to the lower parts of the plant and also helps to prevent mould and pests. I hope that helps, all the best and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2019-05-28
Hey Freddie, thanks for your comment. Let me answer your doubts one by one... firstly, strong winds can certainly slow down a plant's growth, but they can also strengthen the plant too. As long as it's well- supported, some movement of the branches is a good thing, as it will encourage them to grow thick and sturdy. High winds can, however, stress the plant in other ways, for example, by causing too much transpiration and drying out the plant too much, so make sure they have enough water on windy days. Secondly, your Purple Punch plants are flowering because they were planted outdoors too early in the season. Clones that have been kept indoors under an 18/6 photoperiod will begin to flower immediately they're put outdoors before mid-late May. This is because the natural photoperiod before this time is similar to autumn, with long nights and short days, which will mean plants will stop growing and begin flowering. I imagine your friend who supplied the clones must be giving his some supplemental lighting to either extend the daylight or break up the nighttime, if they're doing as well as you say, otherwise they would have been flowering too. With the Purple Punch plants, I'd let them mature as much as possible, then I'd cut them back, making sure to leave some healthy flowers and leaves so that they can revegetate and give you another harvest at the end of summer. As the days get longer, the plant will receive the signal to begin growth again, and new shoots will emerge from the flowers, meaning the plant will be able to grow and get bigger over the summer before flowering again. It sounds like the Fire OG may have been stressed at transplant, so rather than start to flower, it just stayed in stasis for a while. If you can see it's recovering now, then I certainly wouldn't recommend moving it again, you're likely to stress it and have the same situation until it recovers. I'd leave it where it is and begin to work on the fertility of the soil where it is planted. You can improve the soil by top-dressing, which is as simple as putting soil amendments on the surface around the plant and maybe working them into the top inch or so of soil. Without knowing what the existing soil is like, it's hard to say what you'll need, but some good quality worm castings would be a good start and aren't expensive. Check out our article about Living Soil and you should get some idea of how earthworms and natural soil microbes can help you get the most out of your plants without spending a fortune of nutrients and soil! I hope that's helped, all the best with this crop and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2019-04-04
Hi Alison, thanks for the question. I'd look for land with a southerly aspect to maximise solar exposure. As far as soil goes, a rich fertile loamy soil that drains well is perfect, but it's also feasible to improve the growing soil in terms of fertility, so I'd say that well-draining soil that isn't going to get waterlogged or flood in heavy rain is the most important thing. You'll also need to consider water supply for irrigation, which can make or break a grow operation. Flat, level land will be easier to work, but is generally more expensive to buy or rent. Hilly land can be terraced for growing, but that's another expense and a lot of work. Avoid growing in a depression or dip, as cold air will settle in the lower areas, sometimes causing "frost pockets" in autumn, which can damage a crop quickly. Good air movement is essential in the growing area, but often this must be balanced against the discretion and privacy we growers often need for our plants, as we are forced to hide them to avoid theft or detection by law enforcement agents. That's a few basic pointers for finding land suitable for cultivation, I hope it's been some help. Happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2019-03-06
Hi Christopher, thanks for your question. I think this is a case of an article being written in Spanish and then later translated to English, so a few of the more nuanced meanings got lost in the process. Here, the idea is to make a dip or a slight depression in the soil around the base of the plant to avoid the water and nutrients running off straight away and being wasted. I hope that clears things up, I'll go in and make a change to the article so there's no more confusion ;) All the best and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2018-09-05
Hi John, thanks for your comment and questions. For sure, you can put a seed in the ground after germination and as long as the soil is good then you can give it only water without any problems. I wouldn't water it every day from the stat though, at first it will only use very little water, and excess irrigation will water-log the soil, and stress the plant due to lack of oxygen in the rootzone. as well as potentially causing mould problems. There's no need to buy chemicals to grow weed, although some good organic fertilisers can make a huge difference to the quantity and quality of your harvest. As for your second question, it's unusual that stress in early stages has caused the plant to grow double the size, usually growth would be restricted by stressful conditions. Without knowing the reason for this phenomenon I'd say that if growth is doubling then it follows that the yield will also be increased too, although it could simply be the natural stretch period that plants go through at the beginning of flowering, which is more pronounced in some genetics than in others. You can read a bit more about the stretch here on our blog. All the best and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2018-07-30
Hi Wendy, thanks for your question. I'd advise you to use an extra cover if you think that some light is getting through the one you're using. It's important that the plants get full darkness, any light leaks could slow down flowering and even potentially stress the plants to cause hermaphrodite/intersex problems. I hope that helps, all the best and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2017-12-07
Hi Walter, thanks for your question. The seeds were planted in soil, right? I think it's probably best to let them grow a little bit more, once they've got a couple of sets of true leaves their root system ought to be robust enough to be able to transplant them safely. The trick is to do the transplant before the roots of the 5 plants become too entangled with each other, and be very delicate with the fine and easily breakable roots when transplanting. Good luck and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2017-11-17
Hi Kerrie, thanks for that ingenious tip, what a good idea! I've heard of people hanging plastic tomatoes or other fruit from their plants in an attempt to disguise them, but flowers really do make a lot more sense! Thanks again!

Dani Alchimia 2017-07-10
Hi Koren55, Once flowering time comes, you can add some slow-release organic nutrients to the soil, also liquid organic nutes once into bloom if you see the need. Hope it helped!

Dani Alchimia 2017-03-20
Hi Ruben, Normally, people use quality soil to grow their plants, it is one of the do's for any grower, otherwise you may have problems like poor development and yields. What people do is digging a hole in the ground and filling it with quality substrate. The bigger the hole, the more quality substrate you can put in, so the better your plants will grow. You can mix your soil with solid nutrients or use liquid fertilizers to have more control on the exact dose. Hope it helped!

Dani Alchimia 2016-04-22
Hi Gene, You just have to cut the tops of the plants. Count the pairs of leaves starting from the lower part of the plants, and cut the tops when you reach the 7th or 8th pair of leaves. In this way, you'll get two tops on each stem/branch, and the plant will look more bushy and compact. Hope it helped!