A Beginner’s Guide to Growing Cannabis at Home

At the same time, you have total control, allowing you to ensure a quality crop using organic cultivation techniques, free from potentially harmful chemicals like fertilizers, supplements, and insecticides.

To help home growers produce plentiful crops with limited resources and grow space, breeders have created autoflower seeds. Those seeds are bred to grow quicker and flower according to time rather than a light schedule, making them much easier to work with than photoperiod seeds.

Additionally, auto seeds produce more resilient plants that thrive in various environmental conditions and are less affected by common mistakes that new growers can make.

So, without further ado, here is your beginner’s guide to growing cannabis at home.

Choosing the Right Seeds

For this article, we will focus on autoflower seeds, as they are the most resilient and easiest to grow for inexperienced cultivators. Autflower seeds are typically ready for harvest within 8 to 12 weeks, making them ideal for new growers looking to cash in on their efforts in less time.

The first step to choosing the right seeds is identifying a seed bank you want to purchase from and deciding which strain you want to grow. For beginners, we recommend Homegrown Cannabis Co. because they have a good selection of autoflowering strains at reasonable prices, but more importantly, they have plenty of educational materials to guide you while you learn the basics. The site contains over 600 YouTube videos, dozens of blog articles, and live support to help you troubleshoot any issues you may encounter.

Once you have your seed bank, you only need to decide on a strain. Will you grow indoors or outdoors? Do you prefer the effects of a sativa, or are you more of an Indica person? What flavor profiles do you enjoy? These are some of the questions you will need to ask yourself when shopping for a strain; however, you can rest assured that whatever you are looking for, Homegrown Cannabis Co. has got you covered.

Setting Up the Grow Space

Next, you will need to set up your grow space. First, if you can access an outdoor grow area in a favorable climate where the plants will be unbothered, go for it. Nothing beats natural sunlight and soil when growing cannabis. There are plenty of autoflower seeds to choose from that thrive in outdoor environments.

If you are growing indoors, you will need to make a few purchases to get started. Although you can spend a lot of money on this, you really don’t need to as long as you cover the basics.

Here is what we recommend.

• Grow Tent: 2’x2’ or 3’x3’ will work fine unless you plan to grow several plants simultaneously.
• LED Grow Light: Full-spectrum LED light, 100W to 300W per plant.
• Light Timer: Although you don’t need to adjust light schedules through the various growth cycle stages for autoflowers, a timer is suitable for automatically turning the light on and off. We recommend a 20-hour on and 4-hour off schedule.
• Inline Fan with Carbon Filter: This will help control odors.
• Oscillating Fan: This will create airflow to prevent mold.
• Fabric Pots: One three to five-gallon fabric pot per plant.
• High-quality Soil: Light organic soil that drains well.
• Perlite or Coco Coir: Create a mix of 1:1 with soil for Coco Coir or 80/20 soil to perlite to help with aeration and drainage.
• Cannabis Nutrients: Autoflowers need only light doses of nutrient feeding, and you can use organic grow formula for the vegetative stage and bloom formula for the flowering stage.
• pH Meter: To test water and soil ot maintain a pH level between 6.0 and 6.5.
• Thermometer/Hygrometer: To monitor temperature and humidity levels.
• Trellis Net or Plant Supports: Depending on the strain you are growing, your plants may need additional support.
• Pruners & Drying Rack: Use the pruners to maintain and trim the plants and the drying rack during harvest time.

This is a basic setup you can use to start growing your own autoflower buds in your own home.

Soil, Nutrients, and Watering

With autoflower seeds, you don’t need to overcomplicate things. All you need is a light, airy soil mix that drains well and low doses of cannabis nutrients. You will want to make sure you only use low doses of cannabis nutrients to prevent nutrient burn and avoid overwatering to prevent your plants from becoming waterlogged.

Also, use the pH meter to ensure your water and soil are consistently between 6.0 and 6.5.

The Growth Stages

There are four stages in the cannabis growth cycle.

• Germination: Use the paper towel method to obtain a sprout (3 to 7 days)
• Seedling Stage: 1 to 2 Weeks
• Vegetative Stage: 2 to 4 Weeks
• Flowering Stage: 4 to 6 Weeks
• Harvest: 8 to 12 Weeks

Harvesting, Drying, and Curing Cannabis

Depending on the strain, auto seeds should produce plants ready for harvest within 8 to 12 weeks. When it is time to harvest, remember to use trichrome color changes as a guide, to dry the plants properly, and to cure the buds to ensure the best quality, highest potency, and smoothest smoke.

Final Thoughts

Growing cannabis at home doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive, and once you have a tested operation in place, you will never need to overpay for weed again. For best results, choose autoflower seeds from Homegrown Cannabis Co.