Cultivating weed is a massive industry for companies and individual users. Now that cannabis legalization is spreading, it may be possible for you to have a personal stash right in your own home.
It makes sense. Why give your money to a business when you can grow a cannabis plant the same way as any other greenery?
That is, as long as you have the space and the ability to create the right environment. The better your knowledge of growing cannabis, the more successful your yields will be.
Ready to step up your growth game and increase your yields? Start using these five tips, and you’ll see a major change in your buds.
1. Cut it Down
What? Cut your hard-grown cannabis? Yes!
Much like our hair and plants like roses, when you trim cannabis down, it can grow back healthier.
Tall and Thin or Short and Broad?
The process is called “topping.” Slice off the top of the plant while it’s still healthy, and when it grows back, it will be thicker and fuller. Tall and skinny weed is okay. Bushy, with a thick stem, is even better!
Plants that have tall, thin stems aren’t strong enough to support heavy flowers. Since as many large buds as possible is your goal, a thicker stem is essential.
Flat, broad canopies of cannabis give you the optimal yield. The lower and wider the plant is, the more light it can receive.
2. Don’t Overload Your Garden
Whether your cannabis garden is inside or outside, keep the number of plants comparable to the size of the space.
It’s tempting to put as many plants as you can fit in the area. But remember that healthy cannabis grows and spreads. Each plant is going to be bigger if it has room to stretch its branches.
Patience is truly a virtue if you want to increase your yields. Start with fewer plants. They’ll grow faster because they’ll get all the light, nutrients, and space without competing with too many other plants.
3. Train the Branches
It’s possible to train some plants to grow the way you want them. Luckily, cannabis is one of them!
The technique is called Low Stress Training (LST). Gently guiding the branches as they’re growing ensures they spread a certain way. If you’re not careful, though, this can put too much stress on a plant.
Why would you want to bend cannabis? Well, when you see neighbor plants starting to compete for resources, bending the branches teaches each one to grow in an open space.
A happy plant is a thriving one. LST helps make this happen.
4. Learn How to Super Crop
Is your cannabis growing too high, even after you’ve topped your buds? You could have a dominant strain that naturally wants to spread as close to the light as possible.
When that happens, you have to show that plant who’s boss! Super cropping is an effective method.
How to Super Crop
Similar to LST, it involves training the plant where it should grow by bending it. Decide where you want it to bend and which way you want it to grow. At that spot, pinch the stem between your fingers and lightly twist it until it bends.
The goal is to soften the stem before you bend it so it doesn’t break. Twisting it first lets you tilt the plant to 90 degrees. Ultimately, you’ll get more space for the plant to grow and room for more buds.
While it does increase your yields, it’s also more stressful for your cannabis plant. Not all strains can handle this “high-stress” form of training. Before you try this method, stick with trimming and LST if you aren’t sure yours won’t get stressed out.
5. Flush the Nutrients
Flushing the human body is a process that clears out toxins from our bloodstream. The same concept applies to cannabis plants that are in distress.
This process of flushing uses clean water poured through the plant’s soil. It clears out everything, including the nutrients, in the soil. This way, you can start over fresh with new nutrients or an entirely different medium.
Once you flush out the nutrients, the plant has no choice but to use what’s already stored away. If anything in the previous soil was causing a problem, it will gradually be cleaned out.
With fresh nutrients and a clean start, your yields will be healthier.
Conclusion
Cannabis from a dispensary goes through rigorous quality standards before it gets to the shelf. But personalizing the weed you use is the best way to know you’re getting the flavor and characteristics you want.
From beginner to expert, we all want to boost our cannabis yields to get the most buds possible. These tips will improve how each of your plants grows, netting you more high-quality buds.
