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Thankfully, once you’ve witnessed that all your seeds have sprouted, this only means that you should be ready onto the next phase, which is transitioning them to pots to get a good look at them. Luckily, in this article, we’ll give some of the basic tips and methods in handling your cannabis seedlings carefully.
Finding the right size of the container is beneficial for the plant to fully mature. For me, the right side of the container should accommodate them from the last day of the harvest. Since it is not advisable to transport plants time and time again because of the amount of stress they can feel, getting the right size for your cannabis seedlings is important to avoid shock from your cannabis seedlings when constant transplanting occurs. Cannabis seedlings that fully mature only need small to medium-sized containers.
For expert growers, they use propagators because it is the best option for the plants to thrive. After all, your favorite cannabis plants require a consistent environment to grow in a healthy and harm-free way. When handling cannabis seedlings, consistency is the key. Having consistent temperature, airflow, light, and humidity will ultimately be the factors of having successful germination.
These environmental factors are often offered by a propagator. Any alterations done to the environment of the plants should transition smoothly, or else you risk of shocking your plants, thus having a longer time to grow. In doing so, the alterations should be done gradually and not hastily.
In its simplest form, a propagator can be created using any type of medium as long as it allows light to reach hard to reach areas of the plants – trapping humidity and heat inside is a type of maintaining a constant environment for your plants to thrive. A decent choice of a propagator is putting a clear elastic bag situated over the top of your plants with a connected, flexible band. This type of propagator is inexpensive but operational.
As your cannabis seeds start to germinate, it is important to keep humidity levels around 80%. You can do this by keeping your grow room vents closed, thus minimizing or stopping airflow inside your grow room, this prevents moisture from leaking outside of your grow tent. However, once all of your seeds have fully sprouted, you can open the vents gradually. Do it a day at a time to not shock your plants. This process is commonly called hardening. It is an important part wherein you will prepare the seedlings transitioning onto the main room.
Cannabis seedlings are very delicate during this stage, transporting them onto their new location carefully should prevent them from getting stressed. When transplanting cannabis seedling onto their new pots, punch a hole with the use of a pencil. Put your cannabis seedlings onto the soil and cover it up with the soil. After that, water them, but don’t overwater them, or else your seedlings would drown.
During the seedlings stage, they only need minimal light but a constant one. It is highly recommended to avoid using incandescent light bulbs as they produce too much heat, and it may bleach the leaves of your plants. Young cannabis seedlings are best grown under fluorescent, LED, and metal halides. Providing the right intensity of light will give them a healthier start to their lives and will give them a stronger root system.Â
When your cannabis seedlings fully sprouted and pop out entirely onto the medium’s surface, they will start the photosynthesis process; this means that light should be provided for 18 hours a day. Even though it is possible to let them be exposed to the sunlight during the day, it comes with many problems. The first of which is sunlight isn’t constant because of the ever-changing weather. The sun isn’t as consistent compared to a grow lamp.
That’s why it is highly recommended for the plants to be grown indoors rather than outdoors because the sun is not constant, and exposure to extreme sunlight tends to dry the plants out. If the source of light levels is quite poor, the plants tend to stretch quite a bit more as they seek the light. Stretched and spindly plants will only give you weaker yields. That’s why you have to keep a constant light whenever you have indoor cultivation happening.
As much as possible, the plants should be short and stocky until they are finally ready for the flowering phase. Otherwise, you may end up wasting your time with long-stemmed plants rather than having long buds. For this very cause, investing in great light is the best and safest way to go.
When your cannabis seedlings are still very small and are constantly exposed to heat and light can simply stunt their growth, and even in some cases, end up killing them. One of the cheapest and best ways to offer 18-hour a daylight is investing yourself with fluorescent lights; not only they are cheap, but they don’t produce too much heat too. Also, because they don’t exude too much heat, they can be placed near the plants, thus minimizing light wastes.
Unless you are growing them in a soilless medium, fertilizer isn’t necessarily needed. The usual watering routine for cannabis plants should be twice a day. The amount of watering needed should be dependent on the humidity and moisture within the grow room.
Watering shouldn’t be done by directly pouring it onto the plant; it should be around a few inches of the plant. This is because the roots and stems can be easily damaged if doing this method. Plus, you have to pay for other cannabis plants that aren’t growing like the others, failure during this initial stage will not encourage a stronger root system and may eventually cause the cannabis seedlings to die.
One of the key objectives of propagation is to promote strong root systems. When water is scarce within the growing medium, the roots will stretch as it will look for more sources of water. That’s why it is essential to keep the soil medium moistened all the time. When water and food are constant and are readily available, the roots won’t stretch and thus encouraging for a healthier and stronger root system.
On the other note, it is essential to know that during this stage, your cannabis seedlings are still small and may not require constant watering, or else you’ll drown them. When feeding your plants, the right time is when they already produced leaves, but it may be hard to know whether if you are overfeeding them. Overfeeding them will turn their edges curling or brown, when your plant is hungry, the color of their leaves usually turn yellow. It is important to take these because young cannabis plants are quite hard to read and may result in overfeeding. Overfeeding and overwatering your plants is an example of too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
Transplanting plants from one place to the other tends to stress them quite a lot. During this stage, the seeds are vulnerable and must be taken with the utmost precaution. Your primary goal during this stage is to minimize the shock they can feel during the transplanting stage.
In order to get the best results, and to minimize the possibility of shocking them, you can just transplant your cannabis seedlings to the very same growing medium that you used early on. For example, if you germinate your marijuana seeds into the soil, then the right method should be transplanting them onto a soil pot. This will rapidly speed up the time for your cannabis seedlings to form new roots in their new growing medium.
There’s a belief among growers that you shouldn’t water them on the day of their transplanting as it may cause damage. At the same time, watering them immediately right after transplanting them can also bring unwanted pathogens from the already damaged roots. Therefore, to be sure that you aren’t causing damage to your cannabis seedlings, it is best to water them the next day.
Taking good care of your cannabis seedlings at an early stage should maximize the success rate of each seedling to mature fully. Investing in some reliable materials and equipment during this stage should bring you closer and closer to having a magnificent yield.Â
Handling cannabis seedlings very well is the ultimate key to having a successful in the months to come. That’s why taking care of them at an early stage plays a pivotal role in how they turn out once they mature. Remember that when they are taken properly, they will reward you with the magnificent quality of yield with high-quality buds.
Never hesitate to add new tools and equipment to further improve the overall wellness of your plant. Besides, your plants will decide how they can repay you from the things you have done for them. Handling cannabis seedlings might a tedious job for an individual to make, but remember that the hardest part should be at the start; the harvest will reward you with something fulfilling in the end!
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