Marijuana Grower's Handbook

Growing automatic plants in mother plant cabinets

The autoflowering varieties come from crosses with Cannabis ruderalis and are characterized by flowering according to their age rather than the photoperiod. This means they begin to form flowers between the second and fourth week after germination, regardless of the number of hours of darkness they receive.

This pattern makes them especially interesting for mother plant cabinets or small auxiliary cabinets because you can maintain a long and stable light cycle for your conventional mother plants—such as 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness—while also growing autoflowers that will complete their cycle in about 10–12 weeks without needing to change the timer.

Compared to classic varieties, automatic plants tend to be more compact, faster and less tolerant to stress, but they allow several harvests per year in very small spaces and without complications related to photoperiod changes.

Fungus gnats in cannabis cultivation

The so-called fungus gnats in marijuana cultivation almost always correspond to mosquitoes of the Sciaridae family, known in English as fungus gnats (genus Bradysia and related). They are a typical pest in potted crops and moist substrate systems, including cannabis, especially in indoor spaces and grow rooms with high humidity.

Cannabis and mealybugs

Outdoor cannabis cultivation faces various threats in the form of pests, and one of the most persistent and problematic is the mealybug. These small insects can cause significant damage to your plants, affecting both their health and the quality of the harvest, thus compromising your efforts over the last few weeks.

In this article, we offer you a complete guide to understanding what mealybugs are, how to identify them, the damage they cause, and the best strategies to prevent and control their presence in your cannabis crop. Nothing is more annoying than spending months caring for your plants only to end up seeing them covered in these annoying and unsightly insects!

Lollipopping and cannabis

In cannabis cultivation, pruning techniques are essential to manage plant development and optimize the production of high-quality flowers. Cannabis plants, being robust and adaptive, respond well to selective pruning methods that allow growers to adjust their structure and energy distribution according to their needs.

Pruning not only improves the quality of the buds but also helps prevent pest problems, increases light penetration, and facilitates air circulation, crucial elements in efficient cultivation. Among the featured pruning techniques is our protagonist today, the Lollipopping method, ideal for maximizing the quality of the top flowers in indoor crops and in tall plants where light, whether natural or artificial, reaches in a limited way. Keep reading and we will tell you all about it!

Caterpillars and cannabis

Growing cannabis outdoors faces several challenges, and among the most problematic pests are, as you probably know, caterpillars. These moth and butterfly larvae actively feed on leaves, stems, and buds, causing structural and aesthetic damage that directly affects the health and productivity of the plant, as well as attracting fungi such as the dreaded botrytis.

Exposure to natural environments facilitates the arrival of this pest, which usually increases during the warmer months. In addition to their visual and physical impact, caterpillars can cause secondary diseases in plants due to the wounds they leave, which open the door to infections caused by viruses or fungi. Today we explain how this threat acts on your plants and what you can do to keep it under control.

7 Philosopher Seeds cannabis strains to help you sleep

Traditionally, cannabis has been used for centuries for its various therapeutic effects, and one of the most common reasons for its use is the ability of many varieties to induce a deep feeling of relaxation. Indica-dominant varieties, rich in THC and other cannabinoids such as CBD, have sedative effects that help reduce stress, and anxiety and, above all, help to fall asleep, a problem that affects millions of people around the world today.

Terpenes such as myrcene and caryophyllene also play a key role in this relaxation, enhancing the "couch-lock" effect, which facilitates rest. The proper selection of a relaxing strain can be essential for those seeking effective relief from insomnia or daily stress, so today we have proposed to invite you to discover 7 genetics from our catalog that will definitely help you relax your body and mind and prepare your body for a restful sleep.

Nürburgreen Super Auto, high-yield cannabis — Nürburgreen Super Auto de Philosopher Seeds

Recently, Philosopher Seeds catalogue has expanded with new releases, new hybrids and limited editions in both feminised and auto-flowering varieties. To concludethe 2024 season, Philosopher Seeds proudly presents its new Super Auto, a cannabis plant that elevates the Skunk concept to an entirely new level.

The new genetics by Philosopher Seeds pay tribute to the iconic Nürburgring circuit, a true testing ground for Ringmeisters and beginners alike. Any motor enthusiast can take their personal vehicle (daily driver) onto the Ring and enjoy a session, simply for the sole pleasure of the experience. Similarly, Nürburgring Super Auto delivers a unique range of sensations in the purest Green Hell, making it a plant suitable for growers of all skill levels, from professionals to beginners. Currently, Nürburgring Super Auto is available only in Limited Edition seed format.

What is triploid cannabis?

Earlier this year 2022, Dark Heart Industries, one of the leading cannabis genetics companies in California, announced that it had produced the world's first triploid seedless cannabis for commercial growers. Dark Heart's 'PistilGuard' technology purportedly produces triploid cannabis seeds and clones that are essentially unable to produce seeds, even when directly exposed to pollen.

This technological innovation means that triploid cannabis can be grown on the same scale as maize or wheat, minimizing the risk of accidental cross-pollination and seed production. “The introduction of this characteristic in cannabis is a real advance that will allow higher yields, a drastic reduction in costs and better aromatic and chemical qualities of the crop. All of this leads to increased profitability,” the company said in a press release.

According to the company, the ability to grow THC-rich cannabis from sterile triploid seeds and clones that guarantee the production of seedless plants "is a huge win for growers" as pollen-proof cannabis and the benefits that offers "will help marijuana production move from artisanal cultivation to the large-scale agriculture division."

What are cannabis landraces?

In many countries, it is now easy to find seeds of hundreds of cannabis strains on the market. However, most of these seeds are hybrids, that is, crosses between plants with more or less different genetics, or direct crosses between hybrids, which further increases the genetic mix that these varieties present.

But where did the first marijuana hybrids come from? What plants were used for its development? Well, they were the pure varieties or landraces, genetics adapted to a specific environment and that, at the time, were cultivated in other territories for the creation of the first hybrids. Today we will talk about them and we will see their importance to explain the current situation regarding cannabis varieties.

Aphids and cannabis, how to avoid and combat them

Aphids are parasitic insects that feed on a large number of plant species and represent a serious threat to many crops. Their adaptability and high reproduction rate make them a pest to be taken seriously, especially when they are accompanied by other insects such as ants.

Today we are going to tell you everything you need to know about these annoying insect pests and explain a trick that works wonders for eradicating them from your plants, because you don't want to spend months looking after your garden only to have these little insects come and devour everything!

Cannabis Ruderalis: what it is and how it revolutionised the seed market

Every once in a while, the cannabis seed market undergoes a true revolution, such as the one that occurred at the end of the last millennium with feminised seeds, or like the appearance of a new type of non-photoperiod-dependent varieties, in other words, auto-flowering or automatic varieties.

The emergence of this new type of plants marked a before and after for many growers, over the years and through good breeding programs, they have greatly improved much of their cultivation characteristics. And we owe all this to the fact that, at some point, someone decided to use a type of genetics that until then had been "forgotten" by cannabis consumers: Ruderalis genetics. Today we tell you its story and how the incorporation of these new genes has changed the cannabis cultivation scene forever.

How to prevent and treat downy mildew on marijuana — El mildiu en la marihuana

The fungi that cause mildew usually appear when there is too much humidity, in those places where sunlight does not reach or when the plants are very close to each other. These microorganisms also affect other plants, since the disease known as mildew is caused by a large number of fungal species, both fungi themselves and the so-called fungoidal protists (molds that resemble true fungi, but in reality do not are related to them).

These are fairly specialized pathogens, with several host-specific species. This means that the type of fungus that infects one type of plant may not be the same species of fungus that infects another plant, even though the symptoms may appear to be the same. Downy mildew spores are easily spread through wind drift and air movement, although they can be carried by insect pests moving from plant to plant. As the spores settle on a host plant, they can germinate and infect in as little as eight to 12 hours if the plant or its leaves are wet.

How to make rooting compounds for cannabis

Rooting or the root development phase is crucial to subsequently achieve abundant and lush vegetative growth, whether we are talking about plants coming from seed, cuttings or clones. For this reason, the use of rooting or root growth enhancers is very common among all kinds of growers, who want to ensure the best conditions for their seedlings or cuttings, something very important in order to get the maximum possible crop yield at harvest time.

Well, today we are going to show you several recipes so that you can produce your own homemade rooting agent quickly and easily and, above all, achieve great results. In this way, we are supplementing our plants with 100% natural and environmentally friendly products, made at home and with a minimal carbon footprint, something very important to take into account in these times we live in.

The pollination of cannabis

Pollination is a process that we do not usually pay too much attention to, despite the fact that it generates and ensures biodiversity throughout the world, in addition to the fact that without it our subsistence would be impossible. And when we talk about cannabis, it is undoubtedly the alpha and omega of the entire biological process of the plant. That is why it is important to understand how it works to get the most out of our crops.

Cannabis can be both a monoecious plant species (plants that can be of both sexes, hermaphrodites) and dioecious (meaning that male and female flowers are borne on separate plants). Both types of cannabis exist in nature, although hermaphrodites mostly only express themselves under certain stress conditions. For example, if a female cannabis plant senses imminent death, she will begin to express male characteristics in order to self-pollinate.

Cannabis transmits its DNA sexually through the act of pollination. Males develop clusters of flowers that spray pollen from their anthers (the part where a stamen ends). A single male flower can produce 350,000 grains of pollen and this genetic material of microscopic size is transported to female plants by the wind (or by pollinating insects such as bees) and can travel great distances, even tens of kilometers, when conditions are favorable. .

The purpose of this pollen is to fulfill its genetic mandate to impregnate as many females as possible. Finally, pollination occurs when the pollen reaches the stigmas of the female, which causes the plants to produce seeds inside the pistils, which is their reproductive organ, to perpetuate the species.

The FIM pruning technique and cannabis

Whether they cultivate cannabis indoors, outdoors or in greenhouses, many growers like to apply various training or pruning techniques in order to maximise the yield of their plants and thus obtain the most abundant harvest possible. These types of techniques can be of high impact and cause stress, such as pruning (where some part of the plant is cut, no matter how small) or low stress, with less negative impact. A perfect example of the latter would be Low-Stress Training, where the branches of the plant are tied so that it grows with a structure determined by the grower, but where there is no pruning or cutting of the plant, it is simply guided in its structural development.

Today we are going to discuss a high-stress technique - because it involves pruning - although as you will see it differs slightly from the classic apical pruning or topping, as it is usually called. What we're talking about is the FIM pruning technique, with which we will achieve even greater development of new buds and lateral branches than that achieved with the tried and tested technique of apical pruning. Let's see what this it's all about!

Cannabis cultivation for the inherently lazy

As with many other plants, vegetables, and vegetables, cannabis homegrowing is undoubtedly one of the most satisfying activities for any consumer of this plant, because apart from the advantage of being able to decide what to grow, how, and when, you always have the satisfaction of having taken care of your plant in order to get a product of the best possible quality. And it is that, as they say, there is no better cannabis than the one you grow yourself!

However, there are many reasons why we may not be able to give our plants all the attention we would like during the months that the crop will last; work, vacations, family...or perhaps, simply and simply, we are somewhat lazy and prefer a type of cultivation that does not require too much work on our part. Well, today we are going to give you a series of tips and tricks that you can follow to make cannabis cultivation take as little time as possible, and without subtracting an iota of quality. Go for it!

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