- Summer is a warm and ideal period for the cultivation of outdoor cannabis, Lady Nature accompanies us in the realization of our tasks concerning the care to be given to our dear plants, but we must not forget that we are still the Main actors in the success of this fascinating activity.
- Depending on the configuration of your plantation, which you cultivate in the open ground in the open air or in a greenhouse, this summer period evokes the holidays, the beach, the barbecues, outings and outdoor activities for the majority of between us. However, it is also a crucial moment in order to put our culture outside in the best dispositions, in order to obtain a high quality harvest.
- During this article, we explain what the main key points are when the flowering of outdoor cannabis plants begins. Follow the leader…
The summer period is conducive to holidays, long friendly evenings with family or friends, or simply in relaxation after an often long winter season. However, it is also a crucial period for the good future of our dear cannabis plants which will evolve long weeks outdoors, because it can happen a lot of germination, including growth, which is followed by the Flowering period, before the long -awaited harvest finally arrives.
Even if each step mentioned here is currently aimed at culture outdoors, it is also valid to obtain a good harvest indoors. It is important to bring a certain preparation and consideration during each phase, especially in this period the stress generated by the high temperatures of certain geographic areas of the world, can become a real problem for some. Many cultivators will make their choice either to feminized to photoperiod cannabis seeds, or to a self -foliage option better suited to their possibilities.
Regardless of the option chosen by each, because the main objective is to obtain healthy cannabis plants at each stage of evolution of the culture cycle, which must therefore receive suitable care, with sufficient water resources, in Nutrients, in light, to obtain delicious cannabis flowers full of trichomes of resin. Depending on the location, it will also be vigilant about humidity conditions, in order to avoid the appearance of fungal problems.
We present here below the 5 key points on which you will need to concentrate your efforts when the flowering period begins, which are: watering, mulching, structural support of plants, defoliation or leaf clarification, and importance the quality of the lighting during the entire cycle.
OPTIMAL WATERING
From the start, that is to say early from the stage of germination or sowing development, then growth (vegetative phase), it is very important to carry out a water supply up to the needs of each plant , in order to avoid any water deficiencies that can undermine your cannabis culture. I would even say that you have to know how to anticipate things at this level when you cultivate, because very often it is very better to prevent only to heal. There is a double interest during this phase, because if hydration is an essential thing, nutrients is just as much.
It is also important to point out that planetary global warming causes disastrous consequences at this level, because the generalization of the increase in temperatures does not help us. It is for the same reason, that it is crucial to provide all the nutrients necessary for your cannabis plants during each phase of the culture cycle, week after week to strengthen their immune system.
This is why it will be necessary to use a quality fertilizer corresponding to the different needs of the plants during the growth period as well as flowering. But not only, because the use of a stimulator promoting the health and development of your roots (up to a weekly application), which will make it possible to obtain perfect vigor as an optimal absorption capacity of the latter .
The use of Trichoderma (Harzianum) will also be beneficial for life, protection and balance of your soil. We advise you to always preferably carry out your watering either in the morning or in the evening, when temperatures are still quite fresh or moderate, in order to avoid stress on plants or to cause root cooking. Therefore, avoid watering your cannabis plants between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., because it is generally very hot in the majority of countries in the world during the summer during this time slot.
Be sure to use water whose temperature corresponds to the values of the ambient air, to avoid any thermal shock in the ground. It is also necessary to avoid watering at night (especially during and at the end of flowering), because the humidity increases significantly in a natural way in the air. It depends on the climate, however it is a trend quite generally widespread around the globe. This can be a critical point, if you grow varieties of cannabis which are not very resistant in the face of fungal diseases.
A detail that also has all its importance, is that we focus our efforts on the water supply of each plant on the ground level, but there is also a major interest in also doing hydration, as in refreshing and rinsing Of all the leaves, because we must keep in mind that the stomates of the latter, actively participate in the various gas exchanges during the photosynthesis week after week.
Please note, it is above all necessary to rinse the leaves during the stage of vegetative growth, because if we repeatedly spray water on the pistils of cannabis flowers, we risk altering these, which could also undergo some burns under the action of the sun outside. It is exactly the same for interior culture, because the lighting of artificial light will produce the same effect.
Whether indoors or outdoors, and this is also valid for CBD plants, it is also necessary to have great vigilance when rinsing the leaves, not to leave large drops of water on them, because it produces a Large effect on these and this can cause fairly large superficial burns, which can slightly hinder the photosynthesis of each plant.
We recommend that you use a good growth fertilizer until you see a fairly large quantitatively large density appear, because it is a sign that demonstrates a well -started flowering phase of your cannabis plants with photoperiod. Subsequently, it is advisable to ensure a transitional step in terms of the use of the various fertilizers, by gradually reversing for around 7 to 12 days, the evolutionary needs of the growth phase to those necessary at the stage of the bloom.
One thing that can have a certain importance for cultivators located in hot regions whose water supply is difficult to achieve, is that a self -luring variety always supports the water deficiencies than the varieties with photoperiod. We owe this to ruderalis genetics, which is resistant to many difficult weather phenomena, this is explained by the nature of its original habitat (Eastern countries of Europe, Siberia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Central Asia).
It is good to know that a variety of cannabis indica is more fragile than a sativa plant for example concerning the lack of water, it is easy to understand, because the vast majority of these varieties come from hot countries, it is This also explains that the heads they produce are more airy and elongated to also resist a high humidity level and especially to the different pathogens that could appear and therefore gradually put the entire harvest. The starting choice based on quality seeds is a capital base.
It is true that if you start, it may be interesting to cultivate self -foliage plants, from quality seeds like Critical+2.0 Auto, Moby Dick Auto, Critical Jack Auto or L.A. Vanilla Cake Auto. They require less special attentions, they fear less a high temperature, with also fewer weeks of expectations, in order to offer you a harvest of high quality heads and covered with trichomes of resin.
FLOOR INSULATION AND PROTECTION THANKS TO MULCH
When we talk about mulch or mulch in English, we evoke the possibility of utility of natural or synthetic materials, such as straw for agricultural use, wooden bark, wood chips, perlite or simply the Crushed grass obtained during the mowing of your garden, in order to limit the phenomenon of water evaporation and possible thermal shocks in the substrate of your cannabis plants during the stage of vegetative growth or the phase of Flowering, which will allow you to harvest the precious cannabis flowers of high quality so much sought after.
Mulching is an excellent preventive method to protect the upper layer of your substrate and ensure a certain comfort of all of your cannabis plants. As we mentioned earlier, this protective layer of the soil is most often made up of plants, wooded waste or mineral rock, the thickness of which must be between 2 and 5 cm thick depending on the intensity of the heat of the region where you cultivate.
A temperature too high within the substrate could alter microbial life of the soil, especially if we use an organic method. When many cultivators start, we do not think of this kind of structural details, which are however essential week after week in order to finally obtain the hoped -for harvest.
We massively use this method of protecting the soil protection in California for example, quite simply because summers are very hot, as evidenced by the appearance of many fires (megafeous) in recent years, but also because organic or biological culture is very Established there, and that the life of the soil has a major role so that this cultivation method works optimally.
When it is said that a soil is alive, it is a reality, it is also for the same reason that they commonly use geotextile jars, which are used directly to improve the respiratory capacity of the substrate, but also to promote the oxygenation of microbial life of the soil. This will have as a final result, to energize the different metabolisms in aerobic, such as the exchanges between the different organic agents present in the soil. The judicious choice of high quality cannabis seeds makes it possible to surpass many difficulties.
It is necessary to pay particular attention during the establishment of sowing after the germination outside, because their fragility is raised during the first 3 to 4 weeks. All these tips are also valid For CBD plants. This is the reason why during this vegetative growth phase, it is preferable to prepare them possibly under the lighting of an interior artificial light in order to strengthen them before their arrival in their final habitat.
SUPPORT FOR THE STRUCTURE OF THE CANNABIS PLANT
The use of a good support device for the vegetative structure of the cannabis plant has become an important step in recent years, especially with the appearance of American varieties with modern photoperiod on the world cannabis scene. Previously, cannabis plants had a more homogeneous vegetative structure, most of the time having the shape of a well -defined Christmas tree.
It must be admitted that nowadays, the cannabis plant is evolving at different levels, varieties that have become very popular like the OG Kush for example, needs a structural support that guides and supports its vegetative growth, But not only, because the real role of such a device is above all to support or strengthen the structure of the plant so that it can bear the weight of the large and thick compact heads that will have to be harvested at the end of the Culture Culture . It is also the same for certain hybrids rich in CBD.
The structural support for a cannabis plant is made either using nylon perforated treble -town net, or with a metal cylindrical cage which is often made from mesh used to make the fences for private houses. Otherwise, it is possible to use conventional tutors, the only problem with them, is that the support of cannabis plants will not be homogeneous and can be insufficient sometimes.
Most of the time, such a support system only one and only cannabis plant, the latter must be set up either around or the horizontal of the plant, so as to guide the growth of the latter at the desired height. Some cultivators sometimes set up a first support net on the lower part of the cannabis plants, then a second in the heads, in order to relieve the pressure of the weight exerted by the weight of the flowers.
If it is phase there is not done or too late, you can expect certain ramifications will fracture under the weight of heavy heads full of trichomes of resin. It would be a shame to have implemented so much effort, money and time in a global way, to finally obtain significant losses at the end of the cycle, when harvesting. Especially when this can be avoided …
DEFOLIATION OR LEAF CLARIFICATION
Defoliation is a simple method which simply consists in removing all the leaves which mask light on the parts where we all look for, the precious cannabis heads full of trichomes of resin. It is logical to think that this principle applies more for indica plants only for a sativa plant.
However, even if this general trend is valid, with the availability of so many photoperiod polyhybrides on the current market, this method can be used on almost any variety from feminized cannabis seeds.
It is a method that will do wonders at the start of the flowering phase on a variety like L.A. Vanilla Cake for example, but it also works perfectly on Grape Juice, Cookielato, Watermelon Runtz, Gorilla Frost, Starfire OG and Zkittlez 2.0. The reduction of humidity within the canopy is crucial, in order to avoid the appearance of harmful pathogens. This also applies to any variety with high CBD content.
All of these varieties produce either a large quantity of sheets or the latter reach too much size, compared to the overall scale of the cannabis plant concerned. The result is the same, that is to say that these leaves prevent swelling as the optimal development of high quality heads in general, because the production of trichomes of resin, terpenes and flavonoids is also impacted.
It is fundamental to pay great attention to the penetration of light into the canopy of the plant, as this will affect in a more or less significant way the production of cannabis flowers to harvest, and therefore on the overall yield of harvesting .
In addition to this, this leaf mass can create an accumulation of humidity on certain parts of the plant, which can cause the appearance of harmful fungi. The density varies from one plant to another, normally, a sativa plant is normally better endowed by nature than an indica.
Certain cannabis hybrids have a variable distance between the nodes, like a leaf mass which is not the same from one variety to another. It is most often an intrinsic trait of the hybrid you cultivate, but it may also be due to an excessive nutrient intake during the growth phase.
Pay attention to the opposite phenomenon, that is to say that if you achieve excessive defoliation, plants could be affected by too much stress, preventing essential photosynthesis, which would slow down the optimal development of the plant and also reduce The production of beautiful and delicious heads full of resin trichomes.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LIGHTING
The quality of the lighting has an important place in order to obtain optimal development of your cannabis plants, not only for the flowering stage. It is of major importance to bring great consideration to the quality and intensity of the lighting, whether indoors or outdoors.
It is much more important than you can imagine, because when your seeds come to life after germination, then reaching the sowing stage, it is from this moment that the need to use lighting Of adapted power and quality takes on its full meaning.
For all cultivators who use pots, indoors and outdoors, it may be interesting to move them within your space, because the brightness is not uniform depending on the place where each plant is arranged. The quantity thus captured by each individual is random.
By moving them, you will optimize this, which will optimize the production of grass heads, but also the amount of resin trichomes and at the same time you reduce perspiration and you improve its respiratory capacity.
If you cultivate outdoors in the ground, it may be interesting to cut or free up the surrounding plants depending on the possibilities of the site, while taking care to preserve a certain confidentiality, in order to optimize the homogeneous capacity of lighting to the maximum.
