Common Problems Cannabis Growers May Encounter
It's amazing to see the explosion in intrest of growing quality cannabis, but getting that plant to the finish line is certainly a more complicated undertaking than watering your a houseplant. With that, there are a handful of common issues that new growers can encounter.
Typical Cannabis Problems Home Growers Might Face
Cannabis Plant Pests
Insects and other pests are likely to pop up at some point both indoors and out. They’re pretty skilled at sneaking their way in, hiding amongst the plant leaves, and then suddenly multiplying. Make sure to keep a close watch on your plants or they could become overrun with bugs in a matter of days!
Watching out for discoloration signs, holes in leaves, fine webbing, and swarming bugs can help you identify and treat the issue in a timely way. The earlier you catch it, the easier it is to beat with natural, chemical-free methods.
A list of the most common enemies to your grow:
Spider Mites
Aphids
Fungus Gnats
White Flies
Thrips
Cutworms and caterpillars
Leaf miners
Mice
Nutrient Deficiencies
Is your plant leaves looking a little funky? Discoloration? Spots? But no signs of insects or disease, and all other water and heat conditions are optimal, then you've probably got a nutrient deficiency on your hands.
Soil is a complex material full of millions of microbes and all sorts of different vitamins and minerals, but over time it can become depleted of these nutrients as your plants soak them up and water flushes them out. A soil test kit will tell you which nutrients are lacking from your soil so you can add them in with fertilizer or other amendments. While you can sometimes identify the required nutrient based on the type of discoloration you see in the leaves, oftentimes, the symptoms may look similar, so a soil test will clear up any uncertainty.
To avoid nutrient deficiency, obviously you'll need to use fertilizer. There are different fertilizer formulas depending on the growth stage of your plants. Before they start flowering, use a fertilizer with an NPK ratio of 20-5-10, and when it’s flowering, switch to a 5-30-20 formula.
Diseases
Plants release a lot of moisture, which increases the humidity in their environment. This can create ideal conditions for bacteria and fungus to breed. If you have a single plant in a room with good air circulation, you probably shouldn’t have any disease issues, but since many folks like to grow their plants in a small, enclosed space to control temperature, you might need to use a dehumidifier to keep the air from getting muggy.
Here are some plant diseases that could pop up:
Powdery Mildew (fine, white powder coating the plant)
Leaf Septoria (brown spots)
Bud Rot (mold growing inside leaf buds, usually a grayish or brown/copper color)
Algae (green, brown, black, red, or blue growth developing on the potting medium of hydroponic plants)
Verticillium wilt (greyish brown leaves, a brown stem base and wilting)
Fusarium wilt (yellow and brown leaves, curling upward)
Some diseases are easier to treat with organic methods, whereas other, more aggressive diseases need more heavy-duty fungicides. If you see any signs of disease, isolate your plant from any other nearby plants, and remove all affected plant parts using shears disinfected with alcohol. Dispose of all the infected parts in a sealed bag in the garbage so the disease won’t continue to spread, and then treat your plant with your choice of fungicide.
Environmental Stress
Temperature, light levels, and humidity are some of the trickiest parts to control when growing cannabis because the plant’s needs can change depending on its stage of development.
Seedlings and clones require high humidity and temperatures between 70°F - 80°F
The vegetative stage requires similar temperatures, and younger plants thrive on high humidity but will do better with moderate humidity as they mature.
When your plant begins to flower, keep it in an area with low humidity, and make sure the temperature never exceeds 80 °F. At night when it’s dark, it helps if the room is cooler than during the day, as this helps to facilitate better trichome production.
High temperatures and inadequate light can both lead to stretching””this is what happens when your plants’ stems become tall and skinny, making them weak and wobbly. The blue light it releases is great for strong stems, whereas red and orange light wavelengths can cause stretching.