Welcome back to part 2 of Building Out A Home Grow! In this article I’m going to cover a few more topics that will help you get growing. So now that you have your grow space measured out and how much lighting your circuits can handle, it's time to decide what type of grow method you are going to use. Let's take a look at the two major growing methods and then we can dive deeper into their offshoots in another article. 

Organic vs Salts

I’m not going to get into whether or not organic is better than salt growing or vice versa.  This article is more focused on which option is best for you in the situation that you are in. For instance, if you are an individual who has more time to devote to gardening then organic cannabis growing is going to be a great choice for you.  If you don’t have a ton of time to devote to growing but still want a good product that you know was grown free of harmful pesticides and growth hormone regulators then a quality salt based nutrient may be a good option for you. Everyone's gardening situation is different. 

Some people have great soil in their backyards, others are growing in a studio apartment so composting and ferments can be a challenge.  Figuring out what works best for your situation and how to maximize the tools and resources that you have will make your gardening experience better and the quality of the final product will be superior to anything you can buy, because you grew it.  What's my personal choice for growing cannabis, fruits and veggies? 

Korean natural farming and JADAM protocols are so far the best production method that I have found in the 35 years that I have been farming. But they are not the easiest to produce when living in an apartment. That said, it is possible, and I highly suggest you go follow @mindfullyrooted on Instagram, he has an amazing tent grow where he showcases natural farming protocols and his trials and tribulations with indoor growing in the city.  

Container Sizes 

Containers and raised beds…oh my! Which type of vessel do you want to grow your cannabis in? Well there are a few factors to keep in mind. First thing to remember is that the container or the pot, “contains” the size of the plant.  So a smaller container means a smaller plant. This is because the size of the container will limit how many roots the plant can grow. If the plant can grow more roots, it can grow more branches which leads to more flowers being produced. Or as the old adage goes, the more roots, the more fruits.  When you grow with salt based fertilizer, yes you can grow in smaller containers, and yes you can push plants with a high EC on the fertilizer. But this generally equates to a lower quality product.  

It's comparable to someone who does way too many steroids. They looked jacked from a distance but up close their skin is horrible, they have roid rage and a host of other physiological problems from a hormonal imbalance. Point is, find the balance between pushing the plants as hard as you can and a quality harvest. In my opinion less is more, but balance is boss.  

Let's start with this question; are you growing from seed or clone? If you are growing from seed then you’re going to want to choose containers that are taller. This is because when cannabis is grown from seed it has a tap root that will extend down into the medium. Allowing this tap root to grow more towards its fullest potential without hitting the bottom of the container, will allow the plant to maximize nutrient and water uptake as well as being able to support itself with limited help through its life cycle. If you are growing from clone you can use a shorter container that is wider because the plant will produce fibrous roots instead of a main large tap root.  

Raised beds are a great way to grow plants if you have the space for them. Some of the benefits that they have over pots include having to water less, increased root interaction between plants (which can also be bad sometimes but mostly is good), larger surface area for roots which means more nutrient uptake, increased ability to store more nutrition for the plants to access. Some of the negative issues associated with raised bed production are; if there is an issue with soil health such as rice root aphids or another pathogen it can be difficult to treat or isolate the issue. If you have to move the raised bed and you are growing indoors, you have to hand shovel the material out in buckets. So once again we cross the path of what works best for your situation and what resources are available in your area to achieve your goals. 

Pots or containers are a great way to grow and they come in a variety of different types of materials. If you are environmentally conscious and want to reuse your containers and eliminate plastic in your garden, clay pots are the best option to pursue. One downside to clay pots is that they are extremely heavy and when they are filled with soil and they have a plant in them they can be difficult to move. So if you have a disability you may need to find a garden helper if you want them moved.  They also can crack easily, relative to plastic containers. You can find clay pots in various sizes at your local nursery or hardware store. Most contemporary grow stores that cater to cannabis growers won’t carry clay containers. They will mostly stock plastic and fabric containers. Both of which are reusable. 

Some fabric pots can be washed in a washing machine, though they should be pre washed to remove the majority of soil and roots so that they don't clog up your washing machine line. The majority of the fabric bags sold on the market are made of nylon or polypropylene and so they resist degrading but are also plastic-based.  

There are a lot of different types of containers on the market so take your time to research different types of pots that work best for your lifestyle and access to resources. You can always get rid of your pots by selling or giving them to other people if you find that they aren’t what you were expecting.

Hydroponic growing is also an option, but if you’re a beginner it is best to stick with growing outdoors in the soil, or in a container in a growing medium. There are a lot of different types of hydroponic systems and they all share a few things in common. One, they initially require a larger financial input compared to growing with a medium in a container.  Hydroponics also requires a better understanding of pH, EC, TDS and water temperature than growing with a medium in a container. 

So it can be easier to kill a crop in hydroponics if you don't understand what you’re doing.  While hydroponics can produce a fantastic product, it's best to get the basics down first with soil and then move onto hydroponics later. This is just my personal view, but if you have plenty of money to spend, and love a good challenge, then check out all the different types of systems that are available. 

Growing Mediums

The quality of the inputs that you choose to use is extremely important and will dictate how well your plants grow, including how well they smell and taste (which impacts the effect). 

These growing mediums will then need to be amended with nutrients depending on what type of plant is being grown, and then even more specifically what variety of that plant species is being cultivated. We’ll go into more about what nutrients to use in part 3 of this series. Another option is to dig up some local soil on your property and use that in a container.  This soil will be filled with Indigenous Microorganisms that will help your plants acclimate to the local climate faster. There are a plethora of different recipes available on the internet for “super soils” and other types of “water only” applications. These mediums are made so that they require little to no nutritional supplementation through the life cycle of the plant. This is a great option to pursue because it can allow you to dial in managing the plant's growth and structure before diving head first into soil microbiology.  

Read more in our article What Is Living Soil?

Testing

Once you have decided what growing medium you want to use I suggest getting a soil sample test done so you know what you are starting with.  There are soil labs in every state of the US that will take samples and run them for you. Generally they are pretty affordable and they can really help you gain insight to what nutrients and minerals are available to your plants. It can be overwhelming to analyze the data at first but there are plenty of resources on the internet to learn what ranges your plants like to grow in.  

Take the time to educate yourself on this process and your skills as a gardener will grow exponentially.  It would also be a good idea to get your water quality tested as well. These two (water and soil quality) are major factors for how well your plant will grow. So logging this data and getting a better understanding of how to purify water and manipulate the pH, EC, TDS and temperature will make for very happy plants which in turn will yield higher quality material.  

In the next article we’ll talk about Nutrition, Mulch, Pesticides and IPM, Drying, Curing and Long Term Storage.  

Thanks for reading along and I hope you grow great flowers!  

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are salt-based fertilizers?
Salt-based fertilizers are synthetic nutrients for plants, normally in liquid form, that utilize salts for efficient nutrient uptake through the roots. 

What are fabric pots?
Fabric pots are like regular plastic pots except they're made of breathable fabric, which are great for root ball management in that they allow oxygen to pass through the pot and into the soil. This keeps the roots from forming a dense mass along the inside of the pots, which is common for root-bound plants that outgrow their plastic pots. 

Can you reuse fabric pots?
Some fabric pots can be washed in a washing machine, though they should be pre washed to remove the majority of soil and roots so that they don't clog up your washing machine line. The majority of the fabric bags sold on the market are made of nylon or polypropylene and so they resist degrading but are also plastic-based.  

Is it easier to grow cannabis in hydroponics or soil?
It's generally easier to grow cannabis in soil than in hydroponics. Hydroponics also requires a better understanding of pH, EC, TDS and water temperature than growing with a medium in a container. 

What is Korean natural farming?
Korean natural farming and JADAM protocols are so far the best production method that I have found in the 35 years that I have been farming. But they are not the easiest to produce when living in an apartment.