Growing Weed with LED Lights Guide

When grown indoors, cannabis plants need a lot of light, which is the most important feature compared to other plants. “A lot” means: in order for a plant to exploit its full genetic potential, more light is needed than is available in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere. In the UK, for example, both the light intensity and the light duration are lower than in southern Spain or Morocco. That’s why cannabis plants thrive much better there. Indoor growers therefore often prefer growing weed with LED lights.

The advantages of growing weed with LED lights
The number of cannabis growers keeps increasing, the quality of plants has never been better than before, so the trend has turned away from HPS lights in favor of LEDs. So what are the advantages?

• Saving money
• Less space needed
• Fewer reflectors needed
• No warming uptime
• Deter pests and bacteria

1. Saving money
   First, the energy savings are enormous. If you use an LED grow lamp for the same purposes as an HPS lamp, you can save about 40 percent of the energy consumption with the LED light. LEDs also last much longer than other light sources. You can expect between 50,000 and 60,000 operating hours for an LED lamp, compared to 2,000 to 3,000 hours with an HPS light. This is because LED lights have no filament to glow.

For many years, LED grow lights resulted in the same yields as their high-pressure sodium counterparts, but technology has considerably advanced in the last few years. The advantage of LEDs is that they operate at a much lower temperature, consuming less than half the electricity and giving more control over the plants. With LED lights, cannabis plants grown indoors will have a wonderful fragrance and exceptional flavor. The most efficient LED lights reduce power consumption by 60 percent.

2. Less space needed
   LED grow lamps take up less space, shine faster, are more durable and more impact-resistant than HPS lamps. They also have much less heat generation, reducing the need to keep your grow room fresh, which significantly reduces the risk of fire. HPS grow lamps get very hot, but high-quality LED lamps still feel cool even after several hours of use.

3. Fewer reflectors needed
   LED grow lamps focus the light with lenses so that fewer reflectors are needed as with NDL grow lamps, which scatter the light without focusing and therefore require external focusing. HPS lamps require approx. 100 to 150 watts more power than LED bulbs because power management is integrated into the LED lamps. HPS lamps require external ballasts which also require electricity and thus increase consumption.

4. No warming uptime
   In contrast to HPS lamps, which take a while to warm up before they light up completely, LED lamps switch on and off immediately. LED grow lamps can even be easily dimmed. LED lamps classified as Class 1 are considered safer plant light. This is also because they do not contain mercury like some other lamps, such as compact fluorescent lamps.

5. Deter pests and bacteria
   LEDs also have the ability to deter pests and bacteria.

Disadvantages of LED lights
Although the light spectrum of new LED grow lamps is very well suited for the entire life cycle of a cannabis plant, certain NDL lamps are still somewhat better. However, this difference is no longer large and is therefore negligible for most growers. There are huge advantages to growing with LEDs over high-pressure HPS sodium bulbs, fluorescent and plasma lamps. LEDs work very well, use little electricity and produce healthier plants with great taste and aroma.

Of course there are also disadvantages associated with the use of LED. When using LED grow lamps, precise management is required. In addition, LED lamps have higher purchase costs. Apart from that, they are cheaper over a longer period.

Invest in LED lighting for growing cannabis
After selecting the marijuana seeds for your grow, lighting is the next important component of indoor growing. Investing in high-end G8 LED type lamps will pay dividends in the years to follow. You will be able to save money and enjoy impressive crops.

It’s not surprising that LED grow lights are predicted to become increasingly important to indoor weed growers.

Photosynthetic Photon Flux (PPF)
The PAR value describes the flux of photosynthetic photons, measured in micromoles (μmoles) per square meter per second. Photosynthesis is the natural process by which plants use light to synthesize food from carbon dioxide and water, leading to plant growth.
The number of photons of light sets the photosynthetic photon flux. Natural sunlight, for example, has a PAR value of 1200-1600 micromoles (μmoles) when the sun is directly overhead.

Efficient grow lights will have PAR values that range between 800 and 1600 μmol. Using lighting with higher PAR values ​​can be counterproductive and cause stunted plant growth. The G8LED 600 Watt Veg / Flower lamp has a PAR value of 1480μmoles

LEDs that use most of the light spectrum
As the use of LEDs is aimed at reducing energy consumption, it is beneficial to grow weed with an ultra efficient grow light that optimizes photosynthesis.

The best quality LED grow lights utilize six to nine varying wavelengths of the light spectrum. If there are fewer than six wavelengths, the light will not be sufficient for robust and healthy growth. Looking for a wide range of OG strain seeds online like alien og seeds, og kush seeds and white fire og seeds.

If there are over nine wavelengths, the light is comparatively inefficient as it omits parts of the light spectrum that plants don’t require —this waste leads to lower yields and excess heat.

LEDs emit ultraviolet light, which traditional bulbs do not. LED lights that emit ultraviolet light have the extra benefit of encouraging the formation of resin and also help repel pests in the grow tent. Cultivating weed with a grow light that has UV diodes will increase your grow volume.

Guide on How to Make Feminized Seeds

Feminized seeds first entered the cannabis market about 15 years ago. Even if some seed banks were initially reluctant. In the meantime, virtually all of them now sell feminized seeds in their catalogue.

Making feminized seeds isn’t easy at all. We therefore recommend buying high quality feminized marijuana seeds from a reliable source. Yet, if you are dare a devil you can try to make them yourself. Check out new autoflower seeds online lemon autoflower, gelato autoflower and new sweet tooth seeds.

Curious how to feminize seeds? With this guide we tell you exactly how to make feminized seeds at home.

The background of feminized seeds

Most growers use only feminized seeds and some have never even seen a male plant in their lives. Many young cultivators cannot even remember a time when only regular cannabis seeds were available.
Growing weed from seeds was only possible by starting with twice as many plants. To obtain, for example, 10 female plants, it was necessary to plant 20 regular seeds. It was, of course, impossible to predict exactly the number of female plants and there were often good or bad surprises. It was easily possible to end up with no female plants out of a pack of ten!

Cuttings / clones
For growers who had the opportunity, the best solution for growing only females was to obtain cuttings of female plants or to take clones themselves from selected mother plants. However, not all growers can afford to produce their own cuttings. You must have an indoor growing space with specific lighting and the possibility of growing over a long period after selecting one or more mother plants. It is not always easy to make your own cuttings and growers need to know a number of techniques. These are the reasons that led to seed banks producing feminized seeds.

Outdoor growers, in particular, were interested in feminized seeds. Indeed, outdoor growers must keep their plants growing for several months before their sex is revealed, usually during August. In guerilla crops, plants are sometimes difficult to access and it is not always easy to remove the males before pollination. With a culture based on regular seeds, the outdoor grower can end up with a majority of male plants, which can compromise his entire season.

The arrival of feminized seeds, followed by autoflowering feminized seeds, has boosted the sector, making cannabis cultivation easy to access. No more need to recognize males and females and more risk of ending up only with males in its growing space or facing unwanted pollination. Plus you can choose to breed from plants with characteristics that you love.

How to feminize seeds?

As explained above, making your own feminized seeds is pretty difficult but it can be done by changing the sex of the plant which is called “reversion” for which you need a hermaphrodite. The pollen from this plant will fertilize a group of female clones and obtain feminized seeds without having the hermaphrodite traits of a true hermaphrodite plant. We, therefore, speak of “feminization” of seeds but it is above all a question of “masculinizing” a female plant which will act as a reproductive male. Products like GA3 or silver nitrate, therefore, allow the development of male organs and others like phytohormone auxin or ethylene promote the development of female organs.
Products and methods to feminize seeds
Making your own feminized seeds can be done with different methods. The most common methods are:

• Rodhelization
• Gibberellic acid
• Silver nitrate
• STS
• Colloidal silver

1. Rodhelization (not recommended)
This is the easiest method to get feminized seeds naturally without any products, but there are many disadvantages to this method. The goal is to stress a female cannabis plant to make it hermaphrodite. This happens from time to time in the wild, usually after the plant is subject to stress such as a lack of water. It naturally produces male pollen flowers and ends up self-pollinating. Changing the photoperiod several times is one of the techniques used to stress the plant and obtain male flowers. Keeping the plant in its growing space at the end of the life cycle, well after maturation, may favour the appearance of flowers. This technique is a bit random and does not always allow good results to be obtained. In fact, you are highly likely to end up with a high proportion of hermie (hermaphrodite) plants in the mix.

2. Gibberellic acid
Gibberellins are a family of phytohormones. Their active compound is called gibberellic acid. Gibberellins are called G or GA and followed by a number from 1 to 110, GA3 being the best known. Long used for growing plants, including cannabis, gibberellin was first identified in 1926 by phytopathologist Eiichi Kurosawa. The chemical structure of gibberellic acid was determined in 1955.
Present in its natural state in plants, it is cultivated in the laboratory in the form of a mushroom and marketed in the form of a GA3 spray. In the cannabis sector, it has several uses. It promotes germination, lifting the dormancy of some old seeds or those that have difficulty germinating. Some use it to obtain larger female flowers, provided that they do not exceed certain dosages. But GA3 is mainly used to reverse female plants. The spray is deposited on cotton which is applied directly to the female flowers of the selected plant, at the beginning or in the middle of flowering. Become a hermaphrodite plant, it will be able to pollinate a group of clones which will then produce only feminized seeds.
Gibberellic acid has long been used to obtain feminized seeds, but most professional seed banks now use silver nitrate, which is considered more effective.

3. Silver nitrate
Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound which has different uses, especially in the health field thanks to its antiseptic properties. It is used for the production of feminized seeds most of the time in combination with sodium thiosulfate to form the STS (Silver Thiosulfate).

4. STS
STS is a mixture of silver nitrate and sodium thiosulfate. This product is mostly used for the production of feminized cannabis seeds. It is possible to buy it ready-made or to prepare it yourself.

5. Colloidal silver
Colloidal silver also allows the reversion of female cannabis plants. It is easily found in online stores and it is possible to prepare it yourself. All you need is colloidal silver with a 9V battery, 2 alligator clips and two silver coins – and a YouTube tutorial to tell you what to do!

Making feminized seeds (step by step)
Once you have colloidal silver or the substance of your choice, the method of preparing the plants is pretty straightforward.

1. Spray the bud areas of your chosen female plant each day during the initial month of the flowering stage.
2. As soon as you switch to a 12/12 light schedule, select the bud sites of your selected female plant, and give them a good soaking each day with the colloidal silver, STS or gibberellic acid.
3. As the treated flowers start to develop, you will notice them forming into male pollen sacs. The bud sites that you don’t treat will develop normally into female flowers but don’t be tempted to harvest them unless you are completely confident that they haven’t been exposed to the colloidal silver during the feminization process as this can be toxic to smoke.
4. The male pollen sacs can be harvested when they become swollen and begin to open up -like a ripe seed pod. Don’t harvest until you are sure they are ready and keep up the spraying routine or you could risk ending up with empty sac! You can collect the pollen sacs by picking the seed heads and leaving them to dry for a week. At that point, they can be placed in a Ziploc bag and shaken to safely gather all the pollen. The pollen can then be used to fertilise another female plant; ideally, one that is two to three weeks into the flowering phase. You will need a soft-haired paintbrush to apply the pollen carefully to the chosen female plant. Just gently dab the pollen directly onto the bud sites. You are mimicking the actions of a bee or another pollinating insect!
5. Six weeks later you will be ready to harvest your very own feminized seeds. You can either germinate them straight away or store them in a cool, dry and dark place for up to two years – or possibly even longer although we doubt that you will be able to wait that long! Be a professional grower and label them with details of the strain and the date.

Final thoughts
Some growers are reluctant to try and grow feminized seeds, saying that it doesn’t feel right and is interfering with nature. However, it is a process that occurs naturally – lobelias, for example, only flowers with hermaphrodite and female plants. Male plants encourage genetic diversity – and the leaves of male plants can be used to make excellent hashish so feminization is not a road that is essential to explore. However, there is no strong scientific reason not to only use feminized seeds – at least for a couple of generations. Just make sure you do it the right way so as not to end up with lots of hermaphrodite plants.

Common Problems Growing Weed

Cannabis cultivation is a rewarding, fun pastime. Every so often, though, nature and bad luck can disrupt growing activities. Though we cannot cure everything, the knowledge in this guide will help you identify and avoid some of the most common problems found in marijuana grow ops across America, from Oregon to Ohio.

Nutrient and pH Imbalances

Imbalances and fluctuations in soil or feed pH can be disastrous for cannabis seed growers. However, this problem is one of the easiest to point out and to resolve. Hydro and coco growing media should be at a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Soil is a bit more forgiving, and because it acts as a buffer, it can have a pH of up to 7.5. Each strain has a fertilizer preference and a pH sweet spot, and only hands-on experience and time will help you find it.

As the plants grow, imbalances from the usage of poor-quality nutrients and over-feeding can spell trouble. When cannabis plants have wilted, discolored, and burned leaves, it is typically due to nutrient lockout or nutrient burn. In either case, the pH is unbalanced, and a pure water flush may help solve the problem.

After a flush, you will have to evaluate multiple factors when identifying and treating the problem. Testing water runoff with a pH tester will offer some clues, as will a visual inspection of the plants. Using pH-balanced nutrients is an easy and efficient way to prevent these problems in the future.

Overwatering and Underwatering

Sickly, droopy plants may suffer from under- or overwatering. In both cases, the plants’ roots are suffering, and their growth will stop. Until countermeasures are implemented, plants will deteriorate and become more vulnerable to disease and pest infestation. It is possible to determine the nature of the problem by evaluating the growth medium and evaluating the plants’ watering schedule.

When growing in standalone containers, the easiest way to gauge the need for water is to lift the pot. If the pot feels light, the plant may need water; if it feels waterlogged, it is okay to wait. Hydroponics setups are more susceptible to under- and overwatering. Be sure timers are properly set and keep an eye on water pH and plant behavior. Underwatered plants are droopy, with yellow sagging leaves and a dry growth medium. Though overwatered plants may look similar, the medium will be wet, and the roots may give off a foul odor.

Of all the problems in this guide, over- and underwatering are the easiest to correct. Try to adhere to a feeding and watering schedule and monitor water runoff and plant behavior when setting up a wet/dry cycle. Try and grow indoor and outdoor big bud seeds, zkittles seeds and your favorite acapulco gold seeds.

Cannabonsai Guide: How to Grow a Bonsai Weed Plant?

Bonsai weed plants are neither myth nor legend. They are very real and fun ways to cultivate a good-looking potted strain. After all, bonsai simply means “planted in a container” in Japanese and refers to any tree-like scenes that can be kept sustained in a small pot. Bonsai originated in ancient China and was brought to Japan, where it developed as an art form and hobby for the elite. You can even find living bonsai today that date from the 17th century.

Just like the ancient Japanese bonsai trees we all love, cannabis can also be grown in miniature to be aesthetically pleasing through pruning and trimming. Here, we look at how to get started with this cannabonsai trend. Best seeds online? Check out tropicana cookie seeds, kush mints seeds and white russian seeds.

Bonsai Cannabis: what is it?

Bonsai cannabis, or cannabonsai, is a popular trend among weed aficionados and aesthetic gardeners. It’s the art of planting and sustaining a simple cannabis strain in a pot and pruning it into pleasing shapes and sizes.

As the goal of bonsai in Japan (or Penjing in China) is to grow a gorgeous looking tree to maturity in a tiny container, so too cannabonsai sustains cannabis plants through clone clippings.

Where cannabonsai really comes into its own is in maintaining genetic variation for a cannabis garden. You can utilize the small potted format to generate diversity through mother plants without having to sow seeds. However, there’s no denying that there’s an aesthetic art to bonsai. This is where the trend comes in.

The idea behind Cannabonsai

More than just generating clone clippings for cultivation, cannabonsai is about training your plant to grow in spectacular ways. That means you can just keep it simple with miniature Christmas tree-like shapes, but the more fun route means aiming for more experimental appearances with off-shoots.

Bonsai Cannabis, a new trend?

The first cannabonsai tree is hard to pinpoint. People have been keeping mother plants for decades. Seasoned cannabis growers gravitate towards strong plants, which they keep in the vegetative state to produce clone clippings for future crops. These, however, tend to grow big, not small. Trimming them for aesthetic and compact purposes, however, can be traced back several decades or so ago, when images began to circulate on internet forums.

At first, people thought it was a hoax. Many fake photoshopped images were indeed distributed with cannabis in impossible shapes and sizes. But some were real. The trend hit off and has been perfected among aficionados over the years.

Given that bonsai simply refers to growing a plant in a small container, a simple potted cannabis plant surely fits the bill as well. Whatever style you go for and for whatever ends, the cannabonsai has become a solid talking point in the online community and has swept across Instagram with clever tags like #budzai, #cannabonsai and #bonshigh.

With some training and patient pruning, you can achieve the same iconic twisted branches and miniaturized aesthetics of the iconic Japanese bonsai trees. Get started with this subtle art by following these handy tips.

How to make a bonsai weed plant?

1. Gather materials
2. Prepare pot
3. Secure trunk
4. Training
5. Pruning
6. Harvest, dry and cure

1. Gather materials

To grow your cannabis bonsai tree, you’ll first need a young cannabis plant or seedling that’s ready to pot. You’ll also need a few materials for both preparing your new pot and sustaining the plant. These include an electric drill (see stage 2), wire or twine for training and a growth stick or wooden stake to reinforce the main stem. You’ll also need adequate soil nutrients and growing equipment, as you would any other potted cannabis plant.

However, as the end goal here is an aesthetic plant rather than a harvest, you’ll also need plenty of patience and a keen eye for details. Once you’ve prepared all these, it’s time to get started.

2. Prepare pot

To get started, you have to prepare your pot for planting. A small pot is crucial to keep to the bonsai tradition. The shape and size, however, is entirely up to you. You can opt for circular, rectangular, deep or shallow pots.

In the tradition of bonsai, your plant shouldn’t dwarf its surrounded or be dwarfed by its pot. Many growers have opted to drill holes in their pot before they plant their cannabis cutting or young plant. This gives robust, permanent space to affix twine and wire for training your compact cannabis plant when it begins to grow and take shape. Without this, your plant will grow in its natural, bushy way and can be difficult to “bonsai”.

Just be sure not to use an ornamental pot that will be ruined by drill holes. You can always re-pot your plant when it’s sufficiently trained if you’d like it to be more aesthetically pleasing.

3. Secure trunk

Once you’ve potted your chosen mother plant clipping, place a wooden stake or grow stick into the soil vertical with the stem. This is the best way to help position your plant as it grows, ensuring that it remains firmly upright and secure. However, you have to be extra careful when placing it in the soil so as not to disrupt or damage any of your plant’s roots.

Place your stake in slowly and gently. You can then attach string, bands or wire to this stake to train and promote your plant’s shape. A stake is one of the most fool-proof methods of reinforcing your stem, but there are other options too. Some have used plastic hooks and climbing frames that are more typically used for ivy.

4. Training

This is where the fun begins. To encourage unique tree-like growth, you’ll have to train your plant to grow in certain positions. Simply put, you train your stems and branches by tying them down and promoting growth in chosen directions.

Want your branches to take on a horizontal shape like a classic bonsai tree? Tie them down with more force with your wire through your pot’s holes. Don’t be too rigorous, though; some space is required for natural growth. Enclose the branches too tightly with wire and your branch won’t be able to grow properly.

This is a low-stress methodLinks to an external site. because it doesn’t involve actually cutting your bonsai – but that comes next. Training can be implemented at any stage but is best done when your plant is vegetative as this is when it does the majority of its growth.

5. Pruning

Pruning is an essential part of all cannabis cultivation, but it’s crucial to cannabonsai. As your cannabis grows, it will begin to take on classic genetic shapes – either bushy like an Indica or tall like a Sativa.

Offshoot branches can be pruned off to retain a pleasing aesthetic, and canopies can be kept in check. Just be careful not to damage any of the main branches, as this can seriously hurt the plant itself and slow the growing cycle down considerably.

Another key element to pruning is allowing air and light to reach the stems – preventing mold, pests and mildew. Bonsai plants aim to mimic in miniature the natural formation of trees as they appear in real life, so there are plenty of ideas out there to choose from.

6. Harvest, dry and cure

Once your cannabis plant has reached the peak flowering stage, it’s time to harvest. You’ll recognize the harvesting stage from the more pungent aroma and delightful, frosty-white buds which develop during flowering. Follow these links for more details on determining when and how to harvest cannabis.

Once you’ve plucked your precious resinous buds from your bonsai plant, you should dry and cure them to perfection. This stage is among the most important for imparting a mature and developed flavor to your cannabis and preserving it for future use. An airtight glass jar and dry, dark storage space are all you really need to achieve this.

After you’ve harvested, there’s some debate on how long to keep a cannabis bonsai plant for. Some can consistently revert their plants back to the vegetative stage repeatedly, essentially keeping their mother plant alive and productive for years.

ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION EXPERT HELP VALIDATE MY CLAIM?

Determining liability in a car accident may not be straightforward. An objective third party can help conclude who was ultimately responsible for the accident and who should pay for the cost of injuries. An example is hiring an accident reconstruction expert to factually establish liability for a car crash.

Below, our Sacramento car accident lawyers discuss accident reconstruction and how these experts may be able to help validate a car crash claim. If you believe your claim would benefit from an expert, or you have other questions after a car accident, call the Arnold Law Firm to schedule a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.

WHAT IS AN ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION EXPERT?

An accident reconstruction expert is an experienced professional with extensive knowledge of physics, engineering and skills in reconstructing the scene of an accident. The reconstructions bring together factors that led up to a collision, including weather conditions, visibility and vehicle speed.

Accident reconstruction can be particularly important in a claim when liability is contested or multiple parties may be at fault.

HOW CAN AN ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION HELP MY CAR ACCIDENT CLAIM?

Accident reconstruction experts assess the factors that may have caused or contributed to the crash, such as speed, low visibility or even vehicle malfunctions.

Accident reconstruction helps jurors visualize the scene of an accident and what happened.

The expert’s testimony may also provide clarity with conflicting eyewitness testimonies. For instance, two people who witness an accident from different angles will have had different lines of sight, greatly affecting what they each saw. An accident reconstruction expert can address inconsistencies between the differing testimonies.

Learn from the experts and know more about structural engineering and accident reconstruction.

The Arnold Law Firm maintains a network of qualified experts if accident reconstruction is necessary to validate your claim and determine liability.

DO I NEED AN ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION EXPERT FOR MY CLAIM?

Each personal injury case is unique. Some collisions are straightforward with clear liability, with no need for expert testimony. Other accidents are complex, such as multiple at-fault parties or compromised road conditions, and reconstruction may help support the victim’s claim. Your attorney will help determine whether hiring an accident reconstruction expert would benefit your case.

WHO PAYS FOR AN ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION ANALYST?

If your attorney recommends hiring expert witness testimony, you may be concerned about the cost and who pays the expert’s fees.

The Arnold Law Firm takes personal injury cases on a contingency basis, which means that we pay upfront costs while we build your claim. Fees related to your case are deducted later from your recovery amount.

Our attorneys understand that your injury case impacts your life, regardless of the potential value of your claim. We take measures to balance case expenses with a strategy to maximize your settlement.