No Rest for the Wicked

Winter months are a good chance to plan for outdoor springtime planting, but indoor crops also require attention during this time.

Whether you grow indoors or out-, the wintertime is a very productive period in the Cannabis community. Autumn brings harvest season for outdoor growers, who may take some time off after harvesting, drying, trimming and curing their hard-earned crops. The following months can be utilized as a rest period, or you can take a quick break from farming and then spend a long time preparing your next crop. Indoor growers are likely enjoying this cold, dark time of the year, as the winter is often the easiest time for cultivators in certain regions to successfully finish a crop - the summer months are the most difficult time for many indoor growers, who prefer to take a hiatus during the hot, humid weeks or months through June, July and August.

Whatever you prefer, it is important to use the wintertime to your advantage. Once the holiday period has passed, there are many tasks that require a grower's attention while the weather is still cold and uninviting. One thing is for certain: Cannabis growers really do not have any downtime during the year!

Winter Tasks for Outdoor Weed Growers

If you prefer outdoor plants, this is a good time to determine your approach for the upcoming season. Taking the time to work out a strategy can save you time and effort weeks or months later, when you will have larger concerns with which to occupy your time, such as prevention and treatment of pests and pathogens, drastic weather changes that damage plants, etc.

Choose Your Strain
Perhaps you have been curious about trying a new variety, or simply collected seeds from an amazing bag of smoke. Either way, it is not a bad idea to try some new strains every once in a while. Some gardeners reference the Farmer's Almanac to determine what sort of growing season is forecast for a particular region; those who have just relocated to a new area may wish to check local records to familiarize themselves with the typical weather of that city or town. Another option would be to match a potential strain to your local climate or weather. Finally, a new planting season is also a good opportunity to use up old or suspect seeds.

Select a Safe Location
One of the most essential tasks for an outdoor grower is to prepare the plot in advance. The first step, naturally, is to choose the ideal spot for your plants, according to your particular needs. Those with vast acreages need not worry as much as renters in the city or suburban cultivators, although caution and stealth should never be considered paranoia or wasted time/effort.

Those living in densely populated areas like cities typically use the guerrilla growing approach, although this method carries obvious risks. Some apartment dwellers prefer to utilize a balcony, roof deck or terrace for a grow space; while small, bespoke poly-tunnels or greenhouses may be perfect for this task, it might also be a good idea to plant some camouflage foliage, such as tomato plants, to keep nosy neighbors and prying eyes at bay.

Suburban growers may employ their back yard as a growth plot, which may be easier to hide than a square meter on an apartment block balcony in the city, but can also be easily discovered if preventative steps are not taken. Situate your suburban babies in a sunny, well-drained corner of the yard or garden that can be somehow hidden or at least partially blocked from the view of your neighbors, mail man, meter readers, etc. Do not underestimate the abilities of prying teens! Greenhouses and poly-tunnels may be even easier to use in such locations, and camouflage foliage even easier to apply. Fruit trees, the aforementioned tomato plants and flowering shrubs all present leafy blinds with which to shield your illicit crop, while fences and landscaping walls provide physical barriers from theft and discovery.

Those with large properties, such as rural landscapes or farmland, will have the easiest time of all outdoor growers - although wildlife often poses a larger problem for such growers than for suburban or urban gardeners. However, it should be noted that large outdoor swathes of Cannabis plants can easily be discovered via air, as in when the authorities decide to do an infrared sweep of the countryside. Not all local law enforcement agencies can afford the high costs of helicopter surveillance, but the feds (DEA) usually can. Cannabis emits a different heat signal than other plants, tending to glow bright orange to red on such scans. Thus, a heavy tree canopy is one of very few options available for hiding plants from above. Even greenhouses and poly-tunnels cannot mask the distinctive glow of a marijuana crop.

If you grow your plants large enough (indoors) during the winter, your outdoor success will be guaranteed, as the plants will be larger, more vigorous and more easily able to handle stress from pruning and training. One easy method of concealment is to simply plant your plants in the corner of a fence or wall and train them to grow just above the ground, running along the border in opposing directions. One benefit to it being wintertime is that you can work out the logistics well before the thaw has set in and have your plot and plan of attack ready for the first frost-free day.

This pruning technique works with regular Cannabis plants, but if the bonsai technique has been applied (i.e., the central cola has been removed, promoting a V-shaped plant) then the two large lateral branches may be snaked and staked to promote a Loch Ness monster-shaped ganja plant that can take up two to three square meters along two sides of your yard or garden. The more surface area to the plant, the higher your yield will be, without compromising your relative safety.

Select the proper corner of your fenced-in space, being careful to choose a well-lit but naturally draining area, where you will be planting your weed plant in the springtime. Make sure to plan for enough room between the plant and the border material, so that proper air flow and light exposure is maintained.

It should be noted that, while this technique aids in visual camouflage of your illicit weed crop, the smell will not only still be noticeable, it is also the easiest way to get caught.

Ready Tools and Equipment
Chances are good that you might not have touched your tools since the last crop was brought in. If you have taken advice from our past articles, you will know that the best way to maintain your equipment and tools is to keep them clean, organized and repaired or in working order. If you have done so, then everything will be easy to locate and ready to use. Now is a good time to double-check the condition of everything that you will need for your next grow; mend or replace broken items, oil things that need to be oiled and run through your check list of necessary items - the last thing that you want to happen is for a required tool or other gardening item to be required at not at hand. This is the perfect time to re-stock your gardening shed and consider trying new merchandise.

Germinate Seeds/Create New Mother Plants
During the wintertime, one of the most important tasks for outdoor growers is to organize mother plants and clones for the upcoming season. This cold, quiet time of the year is the perfect opportunity to germinate some new seeds, create new mothers or cut the required amount of clones for planting. Since it will be a while before anything will be transplanted outside, you will have sufficient time to establish roots and new growth before the days get longer and the weather improves.

Mother plants should be switched out every eighteen months or less and their living space properly cleaned and maintained on a regular basis. This is because the plants lose vigor and vitality as they age and a plant's natural life cycle should have ended long before most mothers are cut down. This is a good time to compare flavor, yield and flowering time of any strains, new or old, that you are considering planting. Perhaps a 'bad' summer has been forecast, prompting the selection of a particularly hardy, easy-to-grow or short-flowering strain. Make sure that the space where you propagate mother plants and/or clones is clean and that the ventilation and extraction is in order.

Clean all plant tags/labels, pots, nutrient measures and cutting implements after use and store them in a well-organized manner.

Winter Warnings for Indoor Cannabis Cultivators

You might think that growing indoors during the wintertime would offer a stress-free alternative to battling the natural genetic tendencies of Cannabis and the whims of Mother Nature and the seasons. However, those choosing to create their own optimal growing environment inside their own home, warehouse or other space must be vigilant against several threats to their plants' progress.

Maintain and Monitor Temperature and Humidity Levels
The cold, often dry months may be the happiest time of the year for most indoor marijuana growers, due to the distinct ability to control temperatures and humidity, within reason, at this time. It is important to remember, however, that colder outdoor temps usually prompt an adjustment of your indoor heating and ventilation/extraction, either for the grow room itself or considering the building in its entirety. For example, some people keep their plants in the spare bedroom or the attic of their house, while others may build a room-within-a-room, of widely varying sizes. The former would have to consider not only the relationship between the spare room or attic space and the heating and ventilation systems of the house but also the degree to which the heating method will dry out the air.

A decrease in outdoor temperatures also pushes down humidity levels, often causing particular difficulty for those who are germinating seeds, rooting clones or vegetating their plants during colder months (although a humidity level of forty- to sixty-percent is required throughout the flowering period for healthy plants). This can further handicap indoor growers living in dry regions and those with central heating, which dehydrates the air. Humidifiers can be helpful but a thermometer/hygrometer per square meter is essential in monitoring hot spots, damp or dry areas or other potential problem sites - the idea is to provide as consistent an environment as possible in terms of light, heat, fresh air, etc.

Ventilation Is a Constant Priority
We all know that extraction and ventilation are key in keeping grow room temperatures down during warmer parts of the year, although anyone who has ever attempted a large crop during peak summertime weeks or months knows that it is sometimes impossible to keep the plants cool enough. In the wintertime, when outdoor temperatures swiftly decrease and the day/night difference narrows, it is essential to adjust your extraction and ventilation to mirror this change. Fresh air still needs to be drawn in to the space, but the wintertime temperatures are not conducive to healthy marijuana plant development and should therefore be somehow modified in order to attain the required climate.

Likewise, extraction may need to be adjusted to match the changes in your ventilation. If you are not sure what to change and how to do it, check out the website for the equipment or contact your local retailer. Grow books and online forums, such as ours, are also extremely helpful resources, especially if your extraction and ventilation equipment is of a smaller brand.

Promote Plant Vigor and Vitality in a Clean Grow Room
Infestations, pathogens and contamination take hold at lower rates than during the hot, humid summer months, but care should still be taken to avoid such issues as certain pests (e. g., spider mites) can thrive in environments that may seem counter-intuitive.

Additionally, practice good hygiene when entering and leaving your grow area. The easiest way to get into a clean routine is to think of Cannabis as a commercial food product or some other commodity that is intended for public sale and consumption and subject to rigorous hygienic standards. Whether you are watering the plants, checking their flowering progress, adjusting the lamps, sweeping the floor, trimming the harvested weed or even just cleaning out the room between crops, keep a few basic tips in mind:

• Make sure that you and your crew refrain from smoking, eating or drinking (except for water) in the same room as the plants

• All hair should be tied back or otherwise contained - hair nets may look ridiculous, but a clean product is worth the effort

• Do not underestimate the utility of the disposable painter's suit, especially the zip-up variety with hoods that also cover your shoes - fibers, human and animal hairs, dirt, chemicals, cosmetics (body lotion, cologne, etc.) and other residue from myriad sources can linger in hair and on skin and clothing and contaminate your product

• Have two sets of clean clothes for in and out of the grow room - consider wearing a different set of clothing, even under a painter's suit, when working around your plants

• Wash your hands, often, even if you frequently wear gloves - all sorts of substances can be transferred from your hands onto the plants, either when trimming or simply handling the plants

• Shower immediately upon leaving a grow space infested with any type of insect or pathogen - such invaders can be transmitted relatively easily from area to area; just because there are no weed plants in a post-work space does not mean that no spores or eggs, larvae, etc. will be transported to a subsequent location

• Keep the grow room clean - frequent vacuuming, HEPA filters and strict cleaning schedules will help to ensure a healthy crop; a little bit of hard work prevents weeks or months of the intensive labor associated with infestations, pathogens and failed crops

• Do not be lazy - immediately removing sick, dead or otherwise useless plant matter such as leaf waste from the grow area will help to prevent diseases and other blights from taking hold