The Cascade got an inside look into the green house of avid cannabis smoker, advocate, and grower, Chronic Ron. Ron has experienced the healing power of cannabis himself after Full Extract Cannabis Oil (FECO) cured his glaucoma and diabetic symptoms. He has been growing weed for almost 20 years and was gracious enough to pass on some knowledge to readers of The Cascade who are interested in growing their own.
Canadians over the age of 19 are able to grow up to four plants per household for personal consumption. You are allowed to have up to 30 cannabis seeds in your possession at one time; however, legal retailers will only sell seeds in packs of four to adhere to the federal limit of how many plants you can grow at one time. Ron is growing auto-flowering cannabis to allow for the fast cultivation and no-nonsense growing methods. If you’re new to growing cannabis, auto-flowering seeds are the way to go.
So, walk me through the process of growing one of these plants. Where should I start?
First, take the seeds and put them in a glass of water for a while. If you’re using tap water, let it sit out for at least 24 hours so the chlorine can dissipate. Leave the seeds in the water until they sprout a little root. Then, take them out of the water and place them three inches deep into a three-gallon bucket of soil. Use a pair of tweezers to do this, and make sure you’re putting it root-side down. I planted these (Ron points to three tall, bushy, healthy plants) rooting down, and this one (points to a lank, fairly thin looking plant) accidentally got planted the other way around, so it came up a week later than the other ones.
How fast does the plant grow?
They take about a week to sprout and are ready to harvest in about eight weeks.
Where do you buy the seeds?
The seeds I bought from Crop King Seeds. I also buy my seeds just from the local newsstand that carries them.
How do you look after the cannabis plant while it’s growing?
You want to feed and water them. I’ll leave milk jugs full of tap water sitting out for a few days to get all the chlorine out of it and mix the [plant] food into the water. Each gallon gets two tablespoons of Bloom, a special fertilizer that encourages the buds to flower; two tablespoons of this other fertilizer, Medi One, that I get from a store called Green Planet; then two tablespoons of molasses. The molasses is for energy, nutrients, and encourages good plant growth. I use this mixture to water the plants whenever they need it, usually every three days, but this depends on humidity and other factors. I’ll pick up the pot after it’s fed to see how heavy it is, then I’ll come back in a few days and pick it up again. If it’s about half the weight it was before then I’ll water it again.
You start a regime of bug control right away. Check for bugs at different sections on each plant, on both sides of the leaves, with a magnifying glass because you won’t be able to see spider mites with your naked eye — if you do, it’s too late. When the plants are about two weeks old you can spray them with 3-in-1 plant spray. Once they’re turning into buds, you can’t spray them anymore.
When you’re close to harvest, that’s when the bugs, especially spider mites, tend to come. I’ve had spider mites kill whole crops before so you have to be vigilant.
You’re always trimming off leaves. You go to the top of each bud you’re going to keep, count about three stems down, and cut off all the branches below that. You don’t want all the energy going into the leaves and the smaller buds and the useless parts of the plant; you cut all that away so the plant can direct its nutrients only to the best buds.
Tell me about how your greenhouse is set up to grow cannabis.
This is just a regular greenhouse that we insulated with fibreglass insulation covered with Styrofoam. These are 1000W LED lights that I bought for $140 each off Amazon (Ron points to the three lights hanging directly above the plants, giving off heat and a purple glow). I like to keep it around 75-80 degrees in here. You have to have a fan for airflow to deter spider mites and aphids. They don’t like windy conditions (Ron points to a rotating fan beside the plants).
How I’m doing this is wrong; it should be more clinical. We should not be walking in from the garden into this greenhouse like we’re doing now. It contaminates the plants and makes it easy for bugs to get carried in from our clothes. The guys who grow weed commercially are staunch on not contaminating their crops. They treat it like a clinic.
How do you know a plant is ready to be harvested?
The way you can tell a plant is ready is by the trichomes. All those little white sugary things you can see on the plant are trichomes, and if you zoom in with a magnifying glass they look like little mushrooms sitting on top of each leaf — hundreds of little mushrooms. They start off milky looking, then they start turning from white to amber, which kind of looks brown on the plant. That’s when you know the plant is mature and ready to come down. You don’t want to wait until all the trichomes are amber. You want to wait until the plant’s trichomes are about half white and half amber.
How do you harvest them? What is that process?
I pull the whole plant right out of the ground, roots and all, then I cut off the roots and hang the plant upside down in my garage to dry for a week. I let them hang until the branches can snap off. Then, the buds all get cut down and put loosely into jars that are stored in a dark, dry place for a month. While your buds are curing in the jars, you need to take the lid off of each jar to “burp” the jars every 24 hours.
How did you learn how to grow cannabis?
I learned what I know from books. The best one is The Cannabis Encyclopedia by Jorge Cervantes. That’s pretty much everything you need to know about growing cannabis; it’s known as the grower’s bible.
Any last advice for beginner cannabis growers?
Don’t buy weed killer instead of bug killer.
What?
I went to the store without my glasses, and I bought what I thought was bug killer. When I came home from work I sprayed the plant that I knew had bugs on it right away. I sprayed this plant so heavy it was dripping. Then I thought “okay, I’m going to have my shower and come back to water them.” When I came back the whole plant was dying and all the buds were drooping. I freaked out. My daughter is crying. The plant is literally dying right in front of us. I got the hose. I ripped the plant right out of the ground. I started spraying the buds with the garden hose to try and save them, but they were gone.
Wow, what a harrowing tale. Any last words for the readers of The Cascade?
I’ll give a shout-out to God, as this is my most successful crop ever. I credit it to playing worship music for the plants and praying for them for God to bless the crop.
Interview was edited for length and clarity.
Images: Andrea Sadowski/The Cascade
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.
