GROWING CANNABIS: Tips and Tricks to Grow High-Quality Cannabis for Recreational and Medical Purposes

By Edward Lewis

It doesn't matter if you call it marijuana, cannabis, pot, or weed, because it all has the same history of human use. In ancient cultures, marijuana wasn't used for recreation. Instead, it was used as herbal medicine. It is believed to have started somewhere in Asia around 500 BCE. The history of cannabis use in the US dates back to the early co

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edward Lewis
• Release date: Aug 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088255421

Edward Lewis

Edward Lewis, propelled by the extraordinary success of Essence magazine, has become one of the most successful and respected magazine publishers in the country. In 1969, he cofounded Essence and later founded Latina magazine. Mr. Lewis was honored with the Henry Johnson Fisher Lifetime Achievement Award, the Time, Inc. Henry Luce Award, and was a 2014 inductee into the Advertising Hall of Fame by the American Advertising Federation. He is the former chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America and currently serves as Senior Advisor for Solera Capital, a New York–based private equity firm.

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Introduction

It doesn't matter if you call it marijuana, cannabis, pot, or weed, because it all has the same history of human use. In ancient cultures, marijuana wasn't used for recreation. Instead, it was used as herbal medicine. It is believed to have started somewhere in Asia around 500 BCE. The history of cannabis use in the US dates back to the early colonists who cultivated it to make rope and textiles.

In this book, you will discover all the information needed to grow cannabis at home. We will first go over the life cycle of a marijuana plant, discussing all the changes a plant goes through before it is ready for harvest.

Then you will be introduced to different strains of cannabis. There is a lot to cover from learning to spot differences between Indica and Sativa strains to the different varieties of weed and their effect on the body. After this, you will learn about how plants can be grown from seeds and how to prepare the seeds for growing and planting. Once you are aware of all this, the next step this book covers is the vegetative growth cycle of the cannabis plant. We will take an in-depth look at what you should expect to happen to the cannabis plant during the growing stage and what the plants will need for their growth during this time.

Then, we will talk about the cloning process. Cloning has become very popular, especially if you are interested in keeping a cannabis plant growing at all times. As you will soon find out, you don't necessarily need a male plant close by for pollination. Instead, you can simply start cloning. After that, we will discuss the flowering stage of the cannabis plant. This is the part that everybody looks forward to, but you can't harvest it just yet. Here we will look at what the plant will need to produce some of its best buds.

Once the plant produces buds, we will get to the most interesting part of growing marijuana at home. The next set of processes is harvesting, drying, and curing. This is likely one of the most important parts and is something you can't simply skip. It will seem like a long time, but it will definitely be worth the wait. Then we will discuss the best ways to grow cannabis plants indoors. You'll also be introduced to the different aspects of doing this and what will be required to grow healthy plants.

Apart from all the topics mentioned until now, this book will offer information about dealing with common issues such as tackling pests and managing unpredictable weather. These factors influence the yield and health of plants. So, paying attention to them is needed. You will also be given information about breeding plants. This is quite similar to cloning but is slightly more advanced. Before you get started with anything, learning about it and gathering information is needed. Without this, you might end up wasting the resources available at your disposal. To ensure this doesn't happen, you need the right information. This is where this book steps in, and it will act as your guide every step of the way.

So, are you eager to learn more about all this? If yes, there is no time like the present to get started! Let's jump into the world of growing cannabis at home!

Chapter 1

The Life of Cannabis

It could be a bit confusing when you begin growing marijuana, especially when you have no idea what to do or expect. You might think you have been doing everything right but end up with a much smaller harvest than you expected. Well, the only way to grow healthy and thriving marijuana plants is to gather relevant information. The first step of this process is to learn about the life cycle of cannabis so you can grow the best crop possible.

Marijuana plants go through a lot during their lifetime. There are some major milestones, and when you become familiar with them, you can take better care of the plants. This information will also help identify any potential problems the plant is facing and get ahead of them.

It becomes easier for you to identify and fix the problem when you can determine the best-case scenario. But there might be times when you hit a problem that you just cannot fix. Well, the idea is not to give up. You may find yourself in a situation where your plant does not grow despite you doing everything you know, but this should not deter you from learning. You can change the way you treat your plants with the information you have, and can see the difference in a few weeks. Once you are prepared for all stages of the plant's life cycle, you'll better understand its needs and requirements. Let's begin by looking at the history of marijuana.

History

Like corn and wheat, marijuana plants have also been around for over 12,ooo years. It is possible they were there for longer. According to Chinese records and legends, Shennong, a Chinese emperor, discovered the plant and started using it for its benefits. Meaning the Chinese have known about Cannabis for over 10,000 years. He also started to use the fibers of this plant to make textiles. Shennong used certain parts of the plant to make tea. He recommended this tea be used to treat a variety of afflictions. Some of the issues he believed the strain could treat were gout, malaria, absentmindedness and rheumatism.

Let us now move a few centuries ahead. Over 3500 years ago, people began to document very little information about different plants. If you look at this evidence, you will notice that the Egyptians used marijuana to treat numerous illnesses, including glaucoma and hemorrhoids. Indians, in early BCE, used to drink a concoction called bhang which uses marijuana. The concoction was used to treat problems such as sunstroke, dysentery, fever, anxiety and digestive problems.

The Marijuana plant also entered Africa and was later found in North and South America as it moved closer toward the Caribbean. That said, the plants currently used in China, Egypt and India are different from those used earlier, which are called landrace strains. During the past century, cannabis growers have recombined the plant’s genes to access desirable traits, such as having an idea CBD and THC content, aroma, and flavor.

The trouble with this is that nobody documented anything about these plants. They did not even document where and how the plants were acquired. Our ancestors, over a thousand years ago, used these plants, but did not track where they sourced them from. They were just happy to grow these plants around where they lived. Since technology has evolved, biologists can finally identify the origin of these plants. They can just look at the plant's genes and figure things out from where they are from. This information is vital in determining a strain's properties and potency.

What Are Landrace Strains?

Landrace strains are varieties of marijuana plants that have more concentrated DNA than other cannabis strains. This definition means that the landrace strain contains DNA that is similar to the strain used by Emperor Shennong used to brew his tea almost 5,000 years ago.

Let us try to understand how these strains came into being over the course of the years, and how they changed. It was during the Neolithic period that the Chinese came across the marijuana plant when they were cultivating different plants. They found this plant in the wild. Once they realized how valuable and useful it was, they took seeds from one plant and planted them closer to home so they could have their plants.

It is possible these strains were only transported to India from China and then planted there. Some of these plants grew in different locations, including new ones, and the hybrid models were descendants of the landrace strain, which is the first strain of cannabis. At that point, people continued breeding the plant, leading them to develop the required hybrid traits, such as shorter growing seasons, cold resistance, and bug resistance. In the 200 years of cultivating, the oldest strains gave birth to hybrid strains which are now used.

Is the Landrace Strain Better?

The answer to the above-mentioned question depends on whom you ask. Having said that, most people prefer landrace strains since these are assumed to be stronger and more potent than other strains. The DNA in these strains is much stronger.

This example if like asking if a Porsche built in 2020 does better than a Ford Model A. The latter would have been manufactured between 1927 and 1931. So, which do you think runs better? The Porsche, right? Some people may like driving old cars, but they would definitely love the experience of driving a new car. The Porsche unlike the Ford is definitely easier to drive, comfortable and smooth. It can handle high speeds, too.

The landrace strain is like the Ford. If you can purchase this strain, you should definitely sow them, but you cannot expect the genes and characteristics to be the best. This strain will also not give you the best high. Landrace strains have less of an effect on your body than modern strains. These strains are better to use, especially if you are aiming to treat