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You Started With The Wrong Genetics
No matter how talented a grower you are, you simply cannot produce stellar results with poor genetics. Poor genetics could mean low quality seeds, auto-flowering seeds, or weak and infected clones. The moral of the story is this; make sure you start off with strong genetics! This doesn’t necessarily mean high yielding genetics, but rather clones or seeds that are healthy, vigorous and are the actual strain listed – you’d be surprised how few times that’s the case.
If you are going to start from seed, make sure you select strains from a well-respected breeder who tests their seed lines before releasing them to the public. There are too many people claiming to be ‘breeders’ who really know nothing of the subject and are selling untested seeds with hermaphroditic tendencies. Because many breeders do not sell their seeds directly, you must purchase from a trusted seedbank, who’s the retailer of seeds for several breeders. Make certain that you purchase from reputable seedbank who delivers the seeds in sealed, tamper-proof packaging to ensure the seeds weren’t swapped – yes, this actually happens.
If you intend to start from clone, PLEASE make sure you acquire it from a trusted gardener or dispensary – you should be familiar with the integrity of their garden and cultivation practices. Without hesitation I can tell you that the fastest was to ruin your grow is to bring in outside cuts from other people’s gardens. You may finally get a shot at a strain you’ve wanted for years, but is it worth to acquire it only to find out you got russet mites a week later? Probably not. Be absolutely certain when bringing in outside genetics, and always be sure to keep them in quarantine for several weeks until you have treated them with routine IPM and verified cleanliness.
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Your Plants Were Only As Strong As Your Weakest Input
Growing cannabis involves a lot of variables; environment, genetics, grow medium, pruning, water quality, feeding regimen, integrated pest management…the list goes on – and it all needs to be perfect. There is a famous aphorism that says, “Growth is controlled not by the total amount of resources available, but by the scarcest resource.” This means you could have been doing EVERYTHING else right, but if you didn’t balance your soil, you’ll never grow top shelf cannabis.
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You didn’t have a mentor!
As the saying goes, there are multiple ways to skin a cat. If you had to guess how to proceed at any point during your last cycle, you inevitably made costly mistakes – both in terms of time and money. You may have even learned the hard way for instance, that you used too small a container – but by that point it’s far too late to remedy. Or you were left wondering why the leaves on your plant were yellow and it’s growth stunted. So how do you ensure all your future cycles will be successful? The answer is simple, work with a professional home growing consultant like myself. By implementing time-tested, sustainable growing practices with the help of a mentor, you’ll reduce your learning curve while increasing crop quality and yield.
