The common misconception about growing weed yourself is that it can be way too complicated. You might find yourself asking if it’s even worth investing time and effort into something like this. But before you give up the idea altogether, you might want to learn a bit more about the practice. Who knows? Maybe you’ll feel inspired again! Here’s our comprehensive guide on how to grow weed at home and what to consider before you bring out your inner farmer.
WHERE GROWING WEED AT HOME LEGAL?
HOW MUCH WEED CAN I GROW AT HOME?
The map above shows the U.S. states where home growing is legal. Regulations where you live determine how many plants you can have in your home, and many states limit the number of mature plants or seedlings. And whether you are an adult use consumer or a medical patient matters for what is allowed. To be sure about what is legal where you live – always check your state’s guidelines.
WHY DO WOMEN LOVE GROWING WEED AT HOME?
- Mental Health. As many “plant parents” know, taking care of a plant increases a sense of purpose, which helps decrease stress and anxiety. An added benefit of a cannabis plant? Scents connect to our brain, and the aroma of the plant brings on therapeutic, relaxing effects.
- Save money. Growing weed at home isn’t without some fixed costs like lights and tools, but a DIY approach saves money on retail store markups and gives you easy access if there isn’t a dispensary near where you live.
- Medicine. While all cannabis sold in dispensaries is tested and regulated, growing at home ensures you know exactly what kind of plant food, fertilizer, and products touch your plants.
- Make friends. All the women growers we talked to love to share their bounty. Whether you turn your final product into weed butter, body balm, or bag it up for friends & family, sharing home grown weed is a special part of the experience. Just don’t forget to clearly label any cannabis gifts.
- Mind the numbers. Historically, growing cannabis has been a male-dominated role. There are still not a lot of professional women growers, so learning this new skill could set you on a trailblazing path. If you’re not ready to grow at home yet, we always encourage you to buy from & support women growers in legal states.
WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOW TO GROW WEED?
There are several steps to growing weed at home, and it takes a lot of dedication. Listen to How to Do the Pot’s Grow Your Own episodes to break down the process of how to grow weed into easy pieces so you can decide whether you’re ready to try.
These are some key questions to ask yourself:
How much money are you willing to spend on this project?
How much space do you have to grow?
How much time do you want to spend on it?
Next decisions to consider are whether to grow indoors or outdoors. If you decide to grow indoors, there will be some startup costs and gear-related decisions to make. We recommend books like Grow Your Own, Understanding, Cultivating and Enjoying Cannabis and Feminist Weed Farmer to dig into all the details. Then think about whether you want to start your plants from seed, from a clone, or from an autoflower plant. The pros of starting from seed are that you have a wide variety of strains to choose from and you can be sure you’re not bringing any bugs or bacteria into your garden, which can happen when you buy a more mature plant. One of the challenges with growing from seed is recognizing the sex of the plant. You only want to grow female plants!
What is a clone? It is a cutting from a cannabis plant that will have identical genetics to its mother plant. The root systems of clone plants tend to be more shallow than plants grown from seed. It can be a bit harder to start clones outside, so you might want to use a clone with an indoor growing system.
Another choice gaining in popularity is an autoflower plant. Autoflowering plants grow based on the age of the plant – it’s not based on light cycle. Strain choices can be more limited than seeds, but supply has been increasing as more people seek them out.
