by Elana Dusse

Here in Northern California, we were recently blessed with some late-season rains in a very dry winter. They extended our natural green season but now it seems the last of the rains have come and gone and any green that is forthcoming will have to be coaxed and cultivated by human hands.

Now is the time to get those stiff garden gloves and hand-tools out of the shed; to get those seedlings in the dirt; to set up your automatic drip systems if you have them. Now is the time to turn your soil, maybe add in some compost or nutrients to fortify it, to give the little plants their best chance at surviving and eventually thriving.

This is not specific to cannabis cultivation but the same rules apply, except cannabis plants are especially delicate little fairies in the beginning of their lives and need to be carefully transitioned to the Great Outdoors in a process sometimes referred to as ‘hardening off’. Sounds kinky, no? But it’s pretty straightforward and I will attempt to explain it with the remainder of this article.

If you expose your little cannabis seedlings to too much cold, too much wind and too much direct sunlight too early, they may not make it through their vulnerable plant puberty and reach adulthood.

Many gardeners start their seedlings in a controlled environment, such as a greenhouse or even inside their home under a light to give them their best shot of making it through to adolescence. As the plants become accustomed to their warm, protected environment, the process of acclimating them to the outside world must be done with care. A small fan circulating the air around the seedlings will help them strengthen stems and better prepare for the potential windy days that Spring is known for, at least here in Northern California. You don’t want the fan blowing directly at the seedlings because it could dry them out too much but just enough to keep air circulating around the room and bring a little movement to their structure.

Consistent moisture for the seedlings is also very important for their early leaf development but again, they must not get saturated and risk getting root rot so a little spray bottle of pure water is a great way to evenly distribute moisture.

Although once they start growing, you will want to feed them a hearty brew of nutrients on the regular, resist the temptation to fertilize them before they are in their forever-home soil.

And as mentioned above, too much direct sunlight can also shock these little girls as the sun’s rays are so much more intense than any artificial lighting, so as you begin to transition them outside, you start with a shady area for several hours and after a couple days in shade, you can start introducing them to direct sunlight; start with an hour and then increase by an hour each day and after about a week (depending a bit on their variety) they should be adjusted enough to transition outside. If there are any signs of burning or wilting, than you might need to slow down the exposure time a little.

As mentioned above, California spring days can be wildly windy so it is also a good idea to give the seedlings a little wind block when you are hardening them off outside so they don’t get damaged by wind when their structure is still vulnerable.

With regard to temperature, nights in Springtime can also still be too cold for seedlings so it may be necessary to bring them back in each night until the overnight temperatures increase or the plants get a little bigger. It’s good for any type of gardening enthusiast to be aware of their ‘hardiness’ zone to know when they can expect average last frost dates to better protect their vulnerable young plants. Here is a link to one of the many online search engines to determine which hardiness zone you live in.

I usually transition my cannabis plants from a seedling pot to a larger 1 gallon pot (of a nutrient-rich soil mixture) for a couple weeks and then to their final container, which is ideally at least 20-25 gallon size. I used fabric pots, which are very popular, for the first few seasons (they have excellent drainage and are not as wasteful as plastic) but last year I grew them in old clawfoot tubs, two to a tub and they did nicely.

Some people prefer to stair-step up the pot size more gradually but I just did one transition and it worked well. Be very careful when you are transplanting to not damage the roots. Give the roots a little bit of a gentle ‘tease’ before transplanting. Make sure the soil is moist but not too dry and not saturated (aka, do not transplant directly after watering; rather water them in well just after transplanting them to their larger pot. Also, they will benefit from a ‘rooting tonic’ - a supplement that you dilute in water when you water them in to help them better root into their soil substrate. There are different rooting supplements out there, some are fungal-based to help them better establish mycelia, some are actual hormones to help the plants root better. If you are more of a hobby grower and don’t want to get too fancy, you could just use an epsom salts dilution to give the roots some support while they acclimate to their new substrate. Potassium and phosphorus are also nutrients that help to encourage roots to spread and strengthen.

And then, of course, there is the nutrition needs of the plants from transplant til harvest to consider, which are considerable. Cannabis, being the ‘weed’ that it is, can still thrive with just sunlight and water but it will be lanky and devoid of full foliage and its flowers will be minuscule and lackluster. To encourage these plants to pop out the voluptuous, crystal-caked flower buds that we worship them for, we must tend them and feed them well and keep them pest-free. That is way too much to get into in this article but there is no shortage of information online on what is the best way to feed your lovely green goddesses so that they produce high-quality flowers for you in roughly 4-5 months time. Let’s just say, it is a labor of love from start to finish to grow this beautiful plant if it is not for the purpose of financial gain but you will be rewarded if you put your time, love, and energy in, for as they say: you reap what you sow! Happy planting!