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We are going to take some time to delve into some much-needed information to further you understanding of the importance of humidity levels when growing marijuana plants.

What is humidity

what is humidity marijuana

Humidity is expressed as the quantity of water vapor in the air. Humidity plays a necessary role in influencing how much evaporation occurs in cannabis plants. Your plant will take in more nutrition and water when the humidity is low. If for any reason the evaporation strain get to be too much, marijuana plants will guard itself against scarcity by closing its stomata. So naturally this will stunt the growth of your plant due to the lack of water absorption.

This is why you must have the proper humidity levels in your marijuana factory. When the plant is in the growth stage, it will need high humidity, unlike the blooming phase. This is mainly because the roots of baby plants are much smaller. Measure the humidity using a hygrometer. In the first stages of growing your plant, the humidity can be about 70%, and you can reduce it by 5 every week until it gets to 40%. Included in this article is a helpful schedule to assist you with the right information on humidity levels for both indoor and outdoor growing.

Read the article Structure and function of stomata for more information about evaporation

Relation to temperature

humidity and temperature in your marijuana grow roomBefore we go any further, we have to discuss the connection between temperature and humidity. First you must understand that the percentage of absorbable water is determined by the temperature. At the temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit, air can take in up to 7.2 ml of water. In this case, air has a corresponding humidity of 100%. With temperatures and humidity such as that you are guaranteed to see absolutely nothing because the water vapor is very high. At 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the air will take in around 5 ml of water. For this reason, air is much drier during the winter time than the summer months.

Download my free marijuana grow guide at this link for more growing tips

Since you will be airing out your grow room quite frequently, you will end up releasing the humidity as well. So you have to be sure that your marijuana factory is always moist so the humidity level goes up. Later in the article you will be informed of options for adjusting the humidity levels.

Clones

Humidity and cannabis clones

At first your marijuana cuttings will have very small roots so they are not able to take in much water yet. At this stage, you want them to evaporate a very small amount of water. Cutting will only evaporate a small amount of water when the humidity is high, and require fewer roots. Another way to reduce the amount of evaporation is chopping the bigger leaves halfway from the cutting. A humidity of 70% is exactly what you want when putting the cuttings in your marijuana factory.

Your cuttings will begin growing roots in a clone box when the temperature is around 71.5 degrees Fahrenheit in a very humid environment and fluorescent lighting. I suggest the cuttings go beneath a 600-watt HPS lamp in an environment with 30% humidity for good results. For as long as the 2nd or 3rd week of blooming the roots are going to grow the size of the actual plant. The roots must be durable for proper water and nutrient absorption.

Read the article How to make marijuana clones for more information

Seedlings

Humidity and cannabis seedlings

Seedlings require a separate set of rules since they have a taproot at germination that takes in moisture and grows fairly quickly. Never clip the leaves of a seedling. The leaves are necessary for absorbing light and evaporating water. To help the seedlings take in water and nutrition through its leaves, have the humidity at high levels. Begin at 60% and slowly work your way down to 40%. Click this link to buy marijuana seeds

Flowering stage

Humidity in the cannabis flowering stage

As your plant start flowering, you can gradually decrease the humidity level. At this stage the roots are very mature, so the plant is able to take in the most nutrients and water. You will want to reduce the humidity level in the flowering stage since mold has a tendency to flourish in high humidity environments. With age, there is a higher chance of your marijuana plant getting mold. As a result of the high humidity, water gathers around the tops and that when mold has the opportunity to develop. Bud rot is the most frequent type of mold.

Read the article Flowering stage for marijuana plants for more info

Schedule and levels

Follow this schedule to ensure you give your plants the right amount of humidity for optimum growth. Notice there is a difference in clones and seedlings.

Clones humidity level

Growth Week 1: 70%

Growth Week 2: 70%

Flowering Week 1: 65%

Flowering Week 2: 60%

Flowering Week 3: 55%

Flowering Week 4: 50%

Flowering Week 5: 50%

Flowering Week 6: 45%

Flowering Week 7: 45%

Flowering Week 8: 40%

Flowering Week 9: 40%

Check this complete Marijuana Grow Schedule with temperatures, humidity, watering and nutrients tips

Seedlings humidity level

Growth Week 1: 60%

Growth Week 2: 60%

Flowering Week 1: 55%

Flowering Week 2: 50%

Flowering Week 3: 50%

Flowering Week 4: 50%

Flowering Week 5: 50%

Flowering Week 6: 45%

Flowering Week 7: 45%

Flowering Week 8: 40%

Flowering Week 9: 40%

How to raise

Raise cannabis humidity

So, you have a few options for raising the humidity in your grow room. For starters, you can try spraying water on the walls and flower. Also, try putting the lights further up so the temperature will go down a little near the plants. This way you won’t have to turn on the extractor fan as often. If you put bottles or buckets of water around the grow room, or even wet towels, this will raise the humidity level.

Now, the best way to accomplish your goal is using a humidifier. Humidifiers transform water into water vapor and shoots a constant mist consisting of high humidity into your room. Depending on which one you buy it may come with a humidistat (wiki) to monitor the humidity level and will even turn on if it goes beneath the value you set it to. Buy a humidifier at this link

How to decrease

Decreasing humidity in marijuana grow room

Once your marijuana plant starts flowering the humidity will need to be decreased, so it is necessary to dehumidify. Try using the extractor fan on a higher setting than usual or even you can even shoot cold air into the room. Dehumidifiers are most certainly your best option. It has the capability of taking moisture from the air and draining it or holding it in a reservoir. Make sure to get a larger humidifier because the smaller ones fill up quickly.

Preparing to Clone

Cloning is the most traumatic incident cannabis plants can experience, aside from harvest. Clones go through an incredible transformation when they change from a severed green growing tip to a rooted plant. Their entire chemistry changes; the stem that once grew leaves must now grow roots in order to survive. Clones are at their most fragile point in life just after being cut.

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Big, healthy growth like this makes excellent clones.

While rooting, clones require a minimum of nitrogen but increased levels of phosphorus to promote root growth. Sprays should be avoided during rooting, as they compound cloning stress. Given good instruction and a little experience, most gardeners achieve a consistent, 100 percent clone survival rate.

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All of these stems were cut on an angle so that more interior stem surface is exposed. This is where many roots will grow.

Large cuttings having large stems packed with starch will grow roots more slowly than small clones with small stems will. The excess starch in moist substrate also attracts diseases. Thin-stemmed clones have fewer reserves (accumulated starch), but they only need enough reserve energy to initiate root growth.

Small clones with a few leaves need less moisture and will root faster than big cuttings with many leaves. At first leaves contain moisture, but after a few days the stem is no longer able to supply enough moisture to the leaves, and the clone suffers stress. A small amount of leaf space is all that is necessary for photosynthesis to supply enough energy for root growth.

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These little clones were just taken and still need to get used to the new environment. When they grow roots, they will look much stronger.

Integrity in Parents

1. Maintain 18-to-24-hour day photo period

2. Keep plants healthy

3. Grow for 6 to 12 months

4. Report as needed

Average Root Growth in Cannabis Clone

Action

Cell division starts

First root nubs form

Roots start to grow

Enough roots to transplantCut From Young

Day 4

Day 6

Day 7

Day 14Cut From Old

Day 6

Day 10

Day 20

Day 28

This chart shows average times for roots to grow from the stem.

Note: Clones taken from younger growth root faster than those taken from older growth.

Easy-to-clone plants

Look for plants that dawn small (rootlet) nubs (primordia) near the base of the trunk. Such plants tend to strike roots exceptionally fast.

Most ‘Skunk’ and indica varieties grow roots easily.

Difficult-to-clone plants

Ruderalis crossed with indica or sativa varieties are autoflowering and do not make suitable mother plants.

Outdoor varieties with a slight tendency to pre-sex (designate sex) in an 18-hour photoperiod include: ‘Early Girl’, ‘Early Skunk’, and many others. Check with seed companies for details. But early flowering does not exclude them as mother plants.

Clones taken from weak, leggy mother plants most often produce weak, leggy clones. Harvested plants that have been induced back into vegetative growth can also produce weak clones if not fully reverted.

Precautions

Clones root well within a slightly acidic pH range of 5.5 to 6.6. Aeroponic clone gardens normally do best with a pH of 5.4 to 5.6. Most diseases grow poorly below these pH levels. Always make sure there is plenty of air in the rooting medium to stimulate root growth.

Do not kill clones with kindness and fertilizer. At best, giving clones an excess dose of fertilizer causes rooting to be delayed. In fact, a dose of ammonium nitrate, a common salt-based fertilizer, will actually stop root hairs from growing.

Inexperienced gardeners and diseased plants cause most clone-rooting problems. Weak plants that lack vigor provide slow-rooting, weak clones. Poor growing conditions also affect the strength of clones.

See “Dipping Clones in Miticide” in Chapter 7, Clones and Cloning. Watch out for dips that coat leaves too heavily. The dip should cover well enough to protect plants with insecticidal and fungal properties, yet allow stomata to breathe.

04-SS-2014-Jorge-Ch-07-Clone-MG-5521

Clean room: leaves on the floor are cleaned away three to four times daily.

If a spider mite infestation occurs, many gardeners destroy infested clones and start over with clean clones. Others spray with aerosol pyrethrum or another organic miticide. Remember, all pesticides—natural or not—are phytotoxic. Spraying cuttings is a bad idea in general, including antidesiccant sprays. Sprays clog stomata and can impair root growth in clones. If you must use sprays, use natural organic sprays, apply them when it is cool, and keep their use to a minimum. See “Spraying” chapter 24, Pests and Diseases.

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Transplant clones before they become rootbound!

The roots on this clone are circling the container and the roots near the center are already turning dark, signifying overwatering and pending death. Do not over water clones. Keep the medium evenly moist but do not let it get soggy. Any kind of stress disrupts plants and slows rapid growth. Different mediums need distinct watering schedules. Rockwool holds water for a long time, while peat pellets need watering more often. Clones are tender;they have a small developing root system and need extra vigilance now.

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Richard Lee, Oaksterdam University, inspects clones in a spotless clone room.

Introduction to Growing Cannabis with a Strong, Complex Smell

These days you can produce buds with very intense smells like diesel and skunk, but there are also strains that produce strong fruity and sweet smells like pineapple, blueberry or chocolate.

Unfortunately many marijuana growers, new and experienced, are unintentionally making mistakes that prevent buds from smelling their best by either preventing them from living up to their potential, or accidentally giving buds an unpleasant or unwanted taste/smell.

Each cannabis strain has its own unique smell, but you can increase this natural scent using the tips below!

How to Improve & Strengthen the Smell of Buds

Pink Bubba cannabis bud smells so sweet!As a grower, you have the power to dramatically improve the taste and smell of your buds by increasing the levels of terpenes and terpenoids they contain.

Learn more about the science of terpenes and terpenoids!

The “glitter” or trichomes on your buds contain a lot of these substances that give buds their scent, and your plant also produces terpenes in essential oils. By promoting terpene production in your buds during the growing process, you are encouraging your plants to produce the strongest scent possible!

Before You Get Started: Before you read this tutorial and start going crazy with new supplements or techniques, you should already be able to produce healthy plants without any bugs, mold or other major problems in the flowering stage, especially the crucial second half of the flowering stage. Extreme plant stress can make buds more harsh, and pesticides have the potential to get on buds and alter their taste/smell. Plus no one wants to smoke pesticides!

So as annoying as it probably is to hear, “Step 0” is to master the basics of growing!

1.) Specialized Nutrients & Supplements

Nutrients and supplements for growing marijuanaWhen it comes to nutrients and supplements, you have several choices that can help improve the overall scent of your buds. In fact, many products have been formulated specifically to increase and enhance the smell of cannabis buds.

Here’s what you need to keep in mind when it comes to nutrients and supplements…

Only Use “Bloom” (Low Nitrogen) Nutrients in the Flowering Stage

When your plant is in the flowering stage it’s important to make sure you only use specially formulated “flowering” cannabis nutrients, as these nutrients are made for the budding stage and will have lower levels of nitrogen and higher levels of potassium and phosphorous – exactly what your plant wants!

Avoid Chemical Nutrients

Try to avoid chemical nutrients and only use nutrients made from living sources (made from things like kelp, guano, bone meal, worm castings, etc).

Chemical nutrients are nutrient sources listed on the nutrient bottle with molecular compound names like Ammonium Phosphate, Magnesium Carbonate, Potassium Nitrate, etc.

Example of "chemical" nutrients listed on the label

Chemical nutrients have great qualities that make them attractive to a lot of growers. They increase the rate of vegetative growth and may possibly even contribute to greater bud potency. Using them won’t necessarily “hurt” the smell of buds, but these do not seem to contribute to smell as much as when the plant is using nutrients from living sources. The best smell-related results seem to occur when nutrients are getting broken down in the soil instead of being delivered directly to roots in their most simple chemical form.

Restrict Overall Nutrient Levels in Last 6 Weeks of Flowering

Cannabis plants do a lot of vegetative growth during the first several weeks of flowering and need a lot of nutrients to power that growth. However, around 6 weeks after the switch to flowering, they’ve mostly stopped growing new stems and leaves altogether and at this point their nutrient needs go down quite a bit.

Around week 6 of the flowering stage, your plants will mostly stop growing new stems and leaves, and needs lower levels of nutrients (especially Nitrogen) until harvest

Cannabis plants don't need as much nutrients after week 6 of flowering

Now, you don’t want to starve your plant of nutrients in the flowering stage because that will cause early leaf yellowing and ultimately hurt yields and bud appearance. If your plant already looks pale green all over, you don’t want to reduce nutrient levels further.

However, as far as smell is concerned, it’s important not to go overboard during the last 6 weeks of the flowering stage with nutrients, especially Nitrogen, as it can deposit a “green” or “chemical” taste/smell to buds. This is true whether you’re using chemical or organic nutrients, though it’s harder to over-fertilize with organic nutrients.

High levels of nutrients, especially the kind found in liquid plant food, can deposit extra nutrients into the buds themselves, possibly altering the taste and smell. After buds are fully formed you don’t want to overdo it with Nitrogen or other nutrients. In addition to hurting the smell, too much Nitrogen can also prevent buds from fattening properly!

Example of a fat young bud - don't give much Nitrogen after this point to prevent buds from getting a green or chemical taste

Smell-Boosting Supplements

Supplements can be a controversial topic when it comes to growing cannabis, and there are hundreds of options with new products frequently appearing on the market. It can be tough to cut through all the marketing speak and figure out what actually is going to make a difference in your grow. Here’s a list of the most common (and least controversial) supplements that improve smell:

Sugar Based Supplements

Many sugar or carbohydrate-based supplements claim to improve the smell/taste/sweetness of buds. A cheap alternative to expensive sugar-based bloom boosting supplements is blackstrap molasses. Giving this to your plants for the last few weeks before harvest can help them get bigger and smell/taste better.

It’s not specially made for plants; it’s the regular stuff you’ll find in your kitchen or at the grocery store). Blackstrap molasses adds sugars, amino acids and trace minerals. Unfortunately for hydro growers, anything organic like molasses is not suitable for a hydroponic reservoir! But molasses works great for soil and coco growers 🙂

For the last 2-3 weeks before harvest, give 1/2 tsp of Blackstrap Molasses per gallon when watering (for soil or coco coir)

Giving your cannabis plants a little bit of Blackstrap molasses for the last few weeks before harvest may improve both the taste/smell and density of your cannabis buds at harvest

Improve or Enhance Natural Bloom Processes