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growing cannabis for rookies

How I Clone Cannabis Easy!

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If you’re new to growing cannabis then cloning cannabis could seem very difficult. Where to cut your plant, how to cut your plants, and why you cut your plants the way you did. Are some of the questions I asked when starting out. So for today I’ll answering those questions in hope to save you time. I’ll be explaining how to clone your cannabis plants and answer those questions as well.  

Why Clone Cannabis?

Cutting Cost

Before I learned how to clone cannabis I was buying seeds and clones from other people. Paying between $5- $20 per clone depending on the strain.  I wasted countless hours looking for sellers and messaging people just to find certain genetics. I have ordered seeds online but those too were expensive. Then they took a long time to arrive. You could buy cheap seeds without the sex identified  and hope for females. (Normally 50% Chance) Or you could buy or make feminized seeds. Buying feminized seeds will run you for about $10+ per seed plus shipping. Making feminized seeds is great, but you still need you first plant.

Cal Okes Clones

Guarantee Plant Sex​

Nothing beats growing the same plant that you already been growing for the last 6 months.  Knowing the sex before you start is a crucial part for a successful grow. Each strain of cannabis grows completely different and requires a different balance of nutrients. When you clone your plants what you’re essentially doing is making a copy of the mother plant you was already growing.

Guarantee Genetics​

Just like the sub tittle states  clones guarantee genetics. A clone is the same as the mother plant. If the mother grows a certain way then the clones will grow the same way. No need to worry about males no need to worry about bud formation.

Stay regular Cannabis Nugs

How I Clone My Cannabis Plant Easily Explained! ( 7 Step Guide)

Step 1. Figure out where you'll want to cut!

When cloning my cannabis plant I like to typically cut the stems that isn’t getting enough light or from branches that are growing  wild and untamed. When I’m cutting my clones I like to only take cuttings from growth that grows outside of my plan. Such as branches that would produce popcorn nugs or that don’t want to grow with my trellis. When taking cuttings I usually look for 5 things.

  • 1) Health of the plant.

  • 2) How big will the cuttings be?

  • 3) Where the new growth is starting to form.

  • 4) How many cuttings can I take?

  • 5) Which method works best?

Step 2. Making The Cut!

Always use a brand new razor when performing cuts. Our goal is to stay as sterile as possible to keep healthier plants. Picking the location to cut is mainly up growers discretion. But I’ll tell you how I pick my location to cut my mothers. I typically like to make my cutting decision based on how I want my mother to grow.  For instance if my mother plant is too tall then I’ll take some cuttings from the top and etc….  

Cal Okes cloning Cannabis

When making your cut use very little pressure to push down while holding the stem with the other hand. Let the razor blade do all the work! 

Step 3. Make A Diagonal Cut

Just like the picture shows you make a Diagonal cut on your stem.  The reason your making a diagonal cut is to increase the surface area for your roots to form. The length of the diagonal cut isn’t too important, just make sure that your stem can support the plant.

cloning cannabis
cloning cannabis

“Cutting your diagonal cut in half isn’t a must but I like to go the extra mile for my roots”

Step 5. Cloning Gel

Now we are almost done! At this point you should have a cutting that is ready to be dipped into a cloning gel. You can use the rooting powder from Home Depot but you’ll have a lower success rate. I normally would rotated between Clonex and Rootech on my cloning gel. So far I haven’t find a major difference besides packaging. Dip you clone stem into the cloning gel. For this be generous when dipping clone.

Rootech Cloning Gel

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cloning cannabis Cal Okes

Step 6. Insert Clone Into Grow Medium

Preparing your grow medium! If your using rockwool cubes you’ll want to soak them in water with a light nutrient mix. (The one I use is Oliva’s Clone Solutions ) I would PH my water between 5.8 and 6.5. Since at this stage I’m not feeding so the accuracy of my PH isn’t that important to me. I like to do a broad range and soon as I get roots I’ll dial it in. Preparing soil is a lot easier for me. I just find soil with bad drainage and use that for my clones.

When inserting your clone into it’s grow medium you’ll need to pay attention to the diagonal cuts you made. If you insert your cutting too aggressively you run risk of breaking your clone stem or wiping off all the rooting gel. 

Carefully insert your clone into its grow medium and then cut half of all your leafs  off. By cutting half of the leaves you’re forcing the plant to send out more roots to support the new growth. ( Remember Your not cutting your leafs completely off just in half)

cloning cannabis Cal Okes

Step 7. Water And Spray Twice A Day

Cannabis In Humidity dowm
Cannabis roots

The finish line! Once you have you clone cuttings ready to go put them into a humidity tray for about 2 weeks. Spray and water them at least twice a day to prevent your clones from drying out. At this stage you shouldn’t have to feed them for about 3 weeks. As soon as your roots start to show you’ll want to transplant them into your grow medium asap and light feed.

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How To Grow Cannabis In 14 Steps

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How To Grow Cannabis In 14 Steps!

In this article I’m going to walk you through the complete 14 step process for growing cannabis. I won’t be using any fancy terms such as lumens, lux, ppm, and etc. I want to keeps this as basic as possible so any body can comprehend it. So lets dive right on into this.

Step 1: Germination Of Seeds 

Wk 0

There are 2 main methods that I use to germinate my seeds. 

Method number 1 is to place my seeds into a paper towel and spray it with a spray bottle until the paper towel is real moist but not dripping. Then place the moist paper towel into a zip-lock bag. Wait for 1 or 2 days and check to see if you got a root.Method number 2 is to get a cup and fill it with water then place your seeds into the cup.  (Almost all your seeds should float ) Wait for a few hours and check to see if your seeds sunk to the bottom of the cup. Ones that didn’t sink try to push them down with your finger. ( Remeber not to keep your seeds under water for too long or they’ll drown. 12hrs max! )

Step 2:  Plant Germinated Seed

Wk 1

After your seed has been germinated and you got your tap root it’s time to figure out how you want to grow.        ( But for this tutorial we are going to stick with good old fashion dirt. )  To save pace when I plant my seedlings I use a 4 oz Styrofoam cup.  When I plant my seedling I create a hole just long enough for the root to lay in, and the shell to sit right above the dirt. Then I sprinkle dirt over the hole and shell covering up everything.

Step 3: Water Seedlings   

( Use PH Water  6.0-7.0 )

Wk 1 to Wk 2

When your cannabis plant is still in its seedling stage the roots are not established enough to use a watering can. If you water with a watering can the water run off could take your plant with it. The recommended way to water your plant is to mist it with a spay bottle or mister. ( At this stage your plant does not need food)

Light Cycle 18hrs


When your plant first pop out of the ground!		Cannabis Seedling
After about week your plant will begin to look this!

Step 4: Begin To Feed Seedlings  ​

( Use PH Water  6.0-7.0 )

Wk 2

At This stage your plants used up all the stored nutrients from the seedling phase and needs to start sending roots out to gather nutrients. Now is the time when you should start feeding your plants, but don’t go all out. Start with a light dose of nutrients then gradually increase your dosage to where you want to be at. ( Tip your plant could use way less then the recommended dosage. )Here the plants are still pretty small and a watering can could still take your plant, what I use is a condiment bottle.Cannabis in veg
Cannabis Early Veg Phase

Light Cycle 18hrs

Step 5: The Beginning Of Vegetative Growth    ​ 

(Clones Normally Start Here )

Wk 2 to Wk 3

The first sign that your plant is in vegetative growth is when your seedling leaves fall off, and your plant begins to look like a little cannabis plant. You’ll start to notice that your plant is growing faster and your leaves would start to resemble the actual cannabis leaf. At this stage your plant will need the most nutrients( mainly a nitrogen heavy feed ). 

Light Cycle 18hrs

Step 6: Plant Training ( Optional )

Wk 3 or Wk 4

This technique is a little more advance, but if done right you can double your harvest, if done wrong you could kill your plant. At this stage you’ll want to top your plant to produce multiple main colas at the top for flowering.

Light Cycle 18hrs

How to train cannabis
Cannabis Plant Training

Step 7: Transplant Into A Bigger Container 

Wk 4 or Wk 5

After your plant starts looking like a cannabis plant, you’ll need to transplant your plant so that your roots can continue to grow. ( If you don’t transplant your plants, after awhile your roots will begin die ) ​

Light Cycle 18hrs

Step 8: Ending Vegetative Growth Phase

Wk 5

This is the last week to do specialize plant training, before you flip your lights into a 12 hours on 12 hours off cycle.Light Cycle 18hrscannabis veg growth
Cannabis End Veg Phase

Step 9: Flowering 

Wk 6      (First wk of flower )

At this phase you would want to transplant your plant into it’s final container.  (Normally those containers are 3-5 gal pots/ buckets. )  You would also want to switch your nutrients from a vegetative growth nutrient into a flowering heavy nutrient. 

Light Cycle 12hrs

cannabis transplant
I typically transplant my plant 2 days before flowering!		Cannabis roots

Step 10: Feeding During Flowering  ​       

( Use PH Water  6.0-7.0 )

Wk 7 thru Wk 9     

( Second wk up to the third wk of flowering )

While it’s still in the beginning phase of flowering you would want to provide a feed that promotes flowering.
( While in this phase I tend to feed heavier then normal. ) 

Light Cycle 12hrs

Step 11: Minor Plant Training 

Wk 10    (Fourth Wk of flowering )

By now your plant is thriving and you have all kinds of insane growth. This is when you’ll want to cut a lot of that under growth off, every part of the plant that you don’t think would get enough light or places that you feel is too crowded.

​Light Cycle 12hrs

Spliffseeds

Photo By ​spliffseeds

Step 12: Cut Back On Nutrient Feed        ​

( Use PH Water  6.0-7.0 )

Wk 11 or  Wk 12       

( Fifth and sixth wk of flowering )

At this point you can see the finish line and want to start letting the plant use all the nutrients that is in your soil.
I typically only add approximately 1/4th of the recommended dosage at this stage.

​Light Cycle 12hrs

Step 13: Flush

​( Use PH Water  6.0-7.0 )

Wk 13 and Wk 14       ( Last Wks )

Water with water to get rid of the nutrient taste!

​Light Cycle 12hrs

Step 14: Harvest

The End! Enjoy!

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List Of Everything I Use

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Why Do Plants Need Calcium?

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What Is Calcium?

What is calcium? Why do plants need calcium? Where do we get calcium from? These are some of the questions that beginner growers ask. Let’s begin with the basic first, calcium is a alkaline metal with the symbol Ca and its atomic number is 20 on the periodic table. Calcium is the fifth most abundant element in the earth crust, and every living cell depends on it. But for today we would be talking about why plants need calcium. 

Why Do Plants Need Calcium?

Calcium is an essential secondary macro-nutrient that is absorbed by the roots of plants and travels by the xylem to new shoots and leaves. The plant uses calcium to strengthen cell walls, hold cells together, plants metabolism, and activates specific plant enzymes. Calcium improves the absorption of nutrients and helps in their translocation within the plant. Calcium is a alkaline metal which helps neutralize organic acids in plants that form during cell metabolism such as bonding to pectate acid to form calcium pectate. Unlike most macro-nutrients calcium is not a mobile nutrient meaning that it starts at the roots and ends at the leaves, it does not go up and down.This Island Is Covered with Limestone
( Limestone is mainly composed of  calcium carbonate or dolomite)

Calcium Deficiency 

In nature calcium deficiencies are rare because there is so much of it in the soil, unlike everything else calcium is not considered a leach able nutrient. But depending on your soil condition, what calcium you have could not be available to your plant. In This section  we are going to discuss a lot of the main causes for calcium deficiency.   

Environmental Stress

Calcium travels by transport of the xylem, as the plant draws in new water it releases the old water thru its leaves into the air. Humidity, temperature, light, soil condition and wind could potentially slow down transpiration affecting the intake of calcium. ( “Xylem: the vascular tissue in plants that conducts water and dissolved nutrients upward from the root and also helps to form the woody element in the stem.”) Definition from dictionary.com

Lack Of Watering

Very similar to environmental stresses the lack of water can and will cause a calcium deficiency. ( Remember that calcium is up taken with water by the xylem)

Water PH

When your PH is below 6 the solubility of calcium drops. ( Ideal PH is 6.0- 7.0)

What Happens When There Is Too Much Calcium?

Excessive calcium creates a nutrient lock preventing other important macro nutrients and micro nutrients from being adsorb. (Potassium, magnesium, manganese and iron and etc…. ) When you have an excessive amount of calcium you’ll begin to see symptoms of other deficiencies making it hard for the beginner grower to spot and diagnose.Calcium is consider a non leach able substance meaning that it doesn’t drain away with water. If you are adding more calcium than your plant can use and keep adding more and more flushing your plants might be difficult then anticipated.

Sources Of Calcium

Gypsum: Composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate ( Will Not Raise PH )   Buy Now!

Lime: Calcitic lime and/or Dolomite lime  ( Will Raise PH ) According to U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine some plants could pull carbon from calcium carbonate instead of from the air.   Buy Now!

Grounded Shells: You’ll want to bake them around 200 degrees  and then crush them up. ( Remember this method is more natural but takes longer to be available, you can add vinegar to speed up the process)

Bone meal:  Just like the name implies bone meal is finely grounded up animals. Buy Now! 

​Cal Mag: Calcium and Magnesium deficiency are most of the time associated together.    Buy Now!

 In a recent study we provided evidence that pigweed, an aggressive weed, attenuates this problem exploiting large crystals of calcium oxalate as dynamic carbon pools. This plant is able to photosynthesize even under drought conditions, when stomata are closed and water losses are limited, using carbon dioxide from crystal decomposition instead from the atmosphere. ​ U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine  

References 

ScienceDirect

Soil in the Environment By Daniel Hillel   

U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine  

Cell.com

​North Carolina  Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services
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