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Growing
Fundamentals
Re-focused
by Jason Mispagel , contributing writer
Jason Mispagel is the co-owner and operator of Year-Round Garden , a grower ’ s supply center serving both home and commercial customers since 2016 . His extensive growing experience in hydroponics and soil dates to the early days of legalization in Colorado , where he served as one of the state ’ s early caregivers . Year-Round Garden . 1225 W 103rd St , Kansas City , MO . 816.216.6917 – FB : yrroundgarden ● IG : @ yrroundgarden
Whether you ’ re a long-time grower or just starting , it ’ s easy to get lost down so many different rabbit holes on the journey to producing top-shelf cannabis . While there ’ s certainly nothing wrong with becoming hyper-focused on particular elements within your grow , that intensity can often distract from the bigger picture . Even in these monthly articles , we ’ ve gone on some pretty deep dives with an extremely narrow focus . In reality , each component — from lighting to nutrition , water quality to humidity , root health to temperature — does not exist in a vacuum . They ’ re all variables , interacting within the same environment and requiring balance to produce healthy plants .
For example , you can purchase a 1,000-watt ceramic metal halide light to give your plant every bit of color spectrum and intensity it can handle . However , if you put it in a 3-foot x 3-foot grow tent without proper ventilation and air exchange , you ’ ll quickly end up with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and some extra-crispy cannabis . Allow the air to become too dry , and you ’ ll struggle with vegetative growth . Don ’ t water frequently enough ; the intense light will evaporate the moisture before your plant has time to use it properly .
To avoid situations like these , I find it beneficial to refer back to the fundamentals .
The same basic principles of growing for beginners are the ones that can also help re-center the experts . And that ’ s not to say every grow needs to conform to the exact same parameters . It ’ s sort of like driving down the highway . Painted lines on the road help you stay in your lane , but they don ’ t prevent you from crossing over to a different lane ( or leaving the road altogether )! For me , a simple cheat sheet or checklist works best — a few key points to keep in mind when making decisions or addressing problems .
Here are a few of those fundamental concepts , accompanied by a handful of basic questions to ask yourself at any point along your grow journey . The answers can help you quickly identify if you might have inadvertently swerved into oncoming traffic .
Lighting
Fundamental concept : Cannabis uses light to perform photosynthesis and grow . It most efficiently photosynthesizes a cooler , bluish spectrum of light during vegetative growth and a warmer , reddish spectrum during flowering . For photoperiodic plants ( those which are not autoflowers ), vegetative growth occurs when they receive less than approximately nine hours of uninterrupted darkness during a 24-hour period . As they begin to receive more than nine hours of consistent darkness each day , they ’ ll transition to a flowering state . The most commonly used photoperiod light