Planning Your First Indoor Cannabis Grow – Part 5
Best Bud Seeds shares our best knowledge of how to plan your first indoor grow in this blog series. In this part of our series, our experts at Best Bud Seeds will show you how to plan your maintenance schedule, as well as sharing great examples of how to maintain your grow and plants.
How to Plan Your Cannabis Plant Maintenance Schedule
Best Bud Seeds walks you through what your plants need in every stage of growth by week. The basic fundamental stages of growing marijuana from seeds are seedlings, vegetative state, and flowering. After these 3 stages, it’s time to harvest. For now, this detailed guide will explain why your plants need certain maintenance at certain times, and what it doesn’t need in each stage to avoid damaging your plants.
- Plan your maintenance around each stage of growth.
- Seedling Care: After germination, your cannabis seedlings will be delicate as they grow and acquire more leaves. You won’t need to water them that much or that often—too much water at this stage can drown your fragile seedlings. You’ll likely only have to water them once every 4-7 days, but it depends on your climate and indoor grow setup. Hold off on nutrients when your cannabis plants are still seedlings—they’re not strong enough for them now. Just plenty of light, and water when they need it is ideal.
- Vegetative Stage Care: The vegetative stage is also known as the “teenage” years of cannabis plants, as they grow up and leave the seedling stage. At this stage, just like human teenagers they’ll want to move out of the house and relocate to a bigger pot. Moving a cannabis plant into a bigger container will allow its root network to expand, and allow it to grow bigger and stronger. Cannabis plants will need more water as they get bigger and you can start giving them nutrients, which is recommended for indoor growers. Be sure to give your growing cannabis plants “grow” nutrients here, which are heavy in nitrogen for vegetative growth. After several weeks, top plants to encourage them to grow out, instead of up. Don’t worry about chopping off the top of your plant—it’ll be worth it in the long run to give the entire plant an even amount of light. You can start pruning as well, to remove dead leaves and branches that will get shaded out. Slimming down your plant will allow it to focus its energies on producing bigger, better buds that will get more light, and ultimately increase your yield. It’s a good idea to set up a screen—known as a trellis or scrog—to give your cannabis plants support. This will also allow light to hit more of the plant, giving you higher yields, and will also open up the plant to allow more airflow, reducing the risk of mold and pests.
- Flowering Stage Care: Cannabis plants at this point should be completely set up for the most part before entering the flowering stage. You don’t want to move plants around at all during flowering. Before flowering, cannabis plants should be:
- Transplanted into their final pots
- Done topping
- In a trellis or scrog for support
You can still prune marijuana plants a couple weeks into flowering, but hold off after that. Cannabis plants will really be thirsty in flower as they pack on weight and bud out, and you’ll need to increase their water. As an indoor grower, you’ll want to switch to “bloom” nutrients—nutrients higher in phosphorus and potassium for bud production. It’s important to keep a close eye on your cannabis plants and make sure they don’t develop nutrient deficiencies. Also, growing indoors means you’ll also need to change your cannabis plants’ light cycle to 12 hours a day. Before harvesting, remember to flush your plants by giving them only water a week or so before you chop them down and harvest them.
- Create a checklist of grow tasks that should be done weekly, and if all equipment is working properly.
- Air ventilation working properly
- Air circulation working properly
- Humidity Level: Aim for between 45-50%
- Temperature: Day time; 70 – 75°F (21 – 24°C); Night time; 55 – 60°F (13 – 16°C)
- Soil Moisture; water as needed
- Cultivate soil surface
- Check pH
- Rotate (turn) plants
- Check for spider mites and other insects under leaves
- Check for fungi
- Check for nutrient deficiencies (check out this guide for more information)
- Regular fertilization schedule
- Check light system for excessive heat at; plugin, timer, ballast, and near ceiling
- Clean up! Ensure the area is clean so no bacteria forms.
- Check walls and ceiling for mold development
- Move lamp up to 12-36 inches above plants
Example of Cannabis Plant Maintenance Schedule
Below is a schedule of plant maintenance for your grow that goes week by week, with all of the specifications listed below for your knowledge. This schedule starts at week 1 of vegetation, and ends at week 8 of flowering.
Week 1 (Vegetation):
Amount of light: 50% of the lamps on (MH)
Light distance between lamp and plant: 40 inches for 400-Watt lamp
Light duration: 18 hours per day
Temperature during the day/night: 73/64 degrees Fahrenheit
Humidity level: 70%
Watering schedule: 250 mL per plant, every other day
pH level: 6.2
TDS/EC: Not necessary at this stage.
Week 2 (Vegetation):
Amount of light: 100% of the lamps on (MH)
Light distance between lamp and plant: 20 inches
Light duration: 18 hours per day
Temperature during the day/night: 77/64 degrees Fahrenheit
Humidity level: 70%
Watering schedule: 500 mL per plant, every other day
pH level: 6.2
TDS/EC: 500/1.0 (FP Start)
Week 3 (Flowering):
Amount of light: 50% of the lamps on (HPS)
Light distance between lamp and plant: 20 inches
Light duration: 12 hours per day
Temperature during the day/night: 77/64 degrees Fahrenheit
Humidity level: 60%
Watering schedule: 1 Liter per plant, every other day
pH level: 6.2
TDS/EC: 600/1.2 (FP Grow)
Week 4 (Flowering):
Amount of light: 100% of the lamps
Light distance between lamp and plant: 20 inches
Light duration: 12 hours per day
Temperature during the day/night: 79/67 degrees Fahrenheit
Humidity level: 60%
Watering schedule: 2 Liters per plant, every other day
pH level: 6.2
TDS/EC: 650/1.3
Week 5 (Flowering):
Amount of light: 100% of the lamps
Light distance between lamp and plant: 20 inches
Light duration: 12 hours per day
Temperature during the day/night: 79/67 degrees Fahrenheit
Humidity level: 60%
Watering schedule: 2 Liters per plant, every other day
pH level: 6.0
TDS/EC: 700/1.4 (FP Bloom)
Week 6 (Flowering):
Amount of light: 100% of the lamps
Light distance between lamp and plant: 20 inches
Light duration: 12 hours per day
Temperature during the day/night: 79/67 degrees Fahrenheit
Humidity level: 50%
Watering schedule: 2.5 Liters per plant, every other day
pH level: 6.0
EC: 1.5
Week 7 (Flowering):
Amount of light: 100% of the lamps
Light distance between lamp and plant: 20 inches
Light duration: 12 hours per day
Temperature during the day/night: 79/67 degrees Fahrenheit
Humidity level: 50%
Watering schedule: 2.5 Liters per plant, every other day
pH level: 6.2
TDS/EC: 800/1.6
Week 8 (Flowering):
Amount of light: 100% of the lamps
Light distance between lamp and plant: 20 inches
Light duration: 12 hours per day
Temperature during the day/night: 79/67 degrees Fahrenheit
Humidity level: 50%
Watering schedule: 2.5 Liters per plant, every other day
pH level: 6.2
TDS/EC: 850/1.7 (FP Bloom + FP Booster)
Our Recommended Plant Maintenance Resources
- Marijuana seedling and plant care
- Marijuana Calendar and Checklist
- Grow Schedule For Soil Growers
- Cultivation and Maintenance Tips for Cannabis
- A visual guide to cannabis deficiencies
Next Step: Planning for Harvest
Now that the flowering stage has ended, it’s time to harvest your buds. In the next guide we will elaborate on how to tell when you should start trimming your plants down, how to flush the nutrients out of your plants, how to dry and cure your buds, and how to store your cannabis.