Cannabis growers have come a long way. From being criticized for growing their favorite plants to creating business opportunities in the fastest-growing industry, every cultivator has a story to tell.
But, at the end of the day, most growers share one common objective — maximizing the yields. No, it's not just about money. Instead, it's about the quest to excel. It's about discovering therapeutic potential, and the sheer satisfaction of achieving something most people wouldn't dream about.
Even for recreational users, a stash full of top-quality cannabis translates to enjoyable evenings filled with joy and laughter.
And, as cannabis growers, we are constantly looking for ways to get the most out of our cannabis plant, and to do so, we're ready to take the necessary measures.
But if you are new to growing cannabis or are looking for new ideas, what should you try? The internet is full of advice that sometimes works but sometimes doesn't, so instead of relying on that, it's time to rely on the best ways you can maximize the yield of your cannabis plant.
It boils down to a few things. First, you need to give your plant an ideal environment and light conditions to thrive in. Next, you need to push your cannabis plant like a coach pushes their athletes. Sometimes, you'll have to be a bit hard on your plant, but if you follow these steps, you can significantly boost your cannabis plant's growth.
Here are three ways you can maximize the yield of your cannabis plants.
1. Creating the Perfect Growing Environment
Before you begin planning anything, you must think about setting up the right growing environment if you want to be successful in growing cannabis. Yes, you should do this even before you think about purchasing equipment, seeds, etc. This is because a lot depends on where and how you're going to grow the plant. For instance, you can grow both indoors and outdoors, and there are pros and cons for each of them, but you should make sure that the plant grows in an appropriate environment.
Indoor Cultivation: Indoor growing grants you precise control over environmental variables. From manipulating the light cycles to controlling the temperature and humidity, you can grow throughout the year if you choose to grow in an indoor setup. This is especially advantageous if you live in a location that's too hot or too cold for growing plants. Of course, you should also consider factors like your budget and space.
Outdoor Cultivation: Growing cannabis outdoors has one major advantage where the plants receive natural sunlight. However, the climate won't be perfect at all times and you also have to think about whether you want to grow stealthily or out in the open. Outdoor cultivation is cheaper than growing indoors, but you won't be able to grow throughout the year as you don't have magical powers to control the weather.
2. Genetics
So, once you've decided where you want to grow, the next step is to consider the genetics. When it comes to cultivating cannabis, there's a balance between nature and nurture. The genetics of a cannabis strain are fundamental in determining the success of the plant. The same goes for us humans too. You can do everything from fitness to diet to cultivating the right habits, but if genetics isn't on your side, there isn't much you can do.
Similarly, choosing good genetics impacts the quantity, quality, and overall outcome of your harvest. Think of genetics as its DNA blueprint that guides the plant's life cycle. This blueprint determines how the plant grows.
As a grower, understanding these factors is critical to get the best out of your plants. Different strains have different tendencies when it comes to plant structure, branching patterns, and overall size. For instance, some strains naturally grow into gigantic plants while others tend to stretch tall and slender.
Some tend to expand horizontally with a thick canopy while other strains could exhibit an open structure with loads of internodal space. Want a plant that produces lots of trichomes? You should get a strain that aims to do just that. Want something that helps you relax and let go of stress? You should search for strains that have it in their genetics to do that.
The genetics of a strain come into play for everything you choose. If you want to grow outdoors, you shouldn't choose a strain that grows compact and bushy as it might do better in an indoor grow room. You can do everything for the plant, but it will still fall short of your expectations because it doesn't have it in its genetics to grow large and produce humongous yields. At the same time, a grower whose aim is to grow discreetly will not be able to handle a large plant in his closet as well.
The overall height and size of a plant are closely linked to its genetics. For example, Indica-dominant strains tend to be more compact in stature which makes them suitable for indoor grows where vertical space may be limited. Sativas are better suited for outdoor cultivation and you can expect them to grow large and tall.
As you can understand by now, you should choose strains that have the potential to produce massive yields if that's your goal. When researching for a strain, take a good look at how the strain originated in the first place. This is where you'll learn more about how it was bred and other characteristics that can help you get the best out of it. You will even know whether the plant is good to be trained, the type of light it prefers, and everything else that's necessary to get more yields.
Getting the right genetics is the very first step. However, note that it's just the first step; it's not the end of the matter. You still have to put in the effort to nurture the plant and provide everything it needs. But, if you get this first step in the right direction, your work is half done and you're well on your way to get great yields.
3. Temperature
If you're growing indoors, controlling the temperature is extremely important as it has a direct impact on the plant's metabolic processes and development. The plants prefer slightly different temperatures depending on their stage of growth. If you ignore this aspect, the plant will not grow as you expect it to, experience stress, and will ultimately reduce the yields — the very opposite of what you're aiming for.
Here's a quick overview of the appropriate temperature ranges you need to maintain for every stage of growth.
Typically, cannabis plants prefer temperatures that range from 20-28°C (68-82°F) with slight changes between the vegetative and flowering stages. They like it when the temps are higher during the daytime and slightly cooler at night.
- Vegetative Stage: During this stage, cannabis plants don't mind slightly higher temperatures. The ideal range is anywhere from 70°F to 85°F or 21°C to 29°C. When temps are a little warm, the plant produces lush leaves and establishes a strong root system.
- Flowering stage: During the flowering stage, it's ideal to maintain a cooler environment, with temperatures ranging between 65-80°F (18-27°C). This helps promote the development of buds while minimizing the risk of heat stress, which can negatively impact bud quality and potency.
As mentioned earlier, it's important to maintain this range. If you live in a hot climate, you'll need to invest in equipment like air conditioners, fans, or air coolers to reduce the temps. Conversely, heaters will help to increase the temperature if it's too cold where you live.
If you're growing outdoors, there's not much you can do to control the temperature. However, you can choose strains that adapt and grow well in your natural climate. You can also go for strains that are resistant to fluctuations in the temperature. As this is the only choice you have, research well and choose wisely.
Apart from choosing the right strain, you can also try and protect the plants from extreme temps. For instance, you can grow in containers rather than directly planting the plant in the ground. This way, you can move the containers inside for a bit when it gets too cold outdoors. You can also use shade cloth to shield the plants from extreme heat.
4. Train the Cannabis Plant
One of the most effective ways of improving your cannabis plant's yield is by training it, and this works for beginners as well. In its essence, training your cannabis plant refers to manipulating its growth and shape to improve the yield.
Some training methods involve eliminating the unnecessary branches and leaves from the plant, which helps the plant use its energy on the branches that will grow buds instead of wasting it on other branches. This leads to much better bud development during the flowering stage.
Training your cannabis plant offers various benefits for your plant. It ensures the branches on your plant do not bend or break under the weight of the buds, especially if your strain of choice is known for growing big buds.
Plus, training is an affordable — often free — way of increasing your cannabis plant's yields. And it also ensures your plant does not outgrow the space within which it is growing. Sometimes, it can even help you keep your plant discreet and hidden from your neighbors.
Here are some of the most effective training methods you can use.
It is exactly what it sounds like — low-stress training involves bending your cannabis plant's branches around the sides of the container to create uniform foliage on top. This improves the plant's exposure to light and air, but your plant won't grow like a Christmas tree.
This is called low-stress training because it does not stress out your plant much, and your plant won't need a lot of time to recover from it, either, unlike some other training methods that require a couple of weeks of recovery time. Plus, this is the perfect starting point if you are a beginner.
Remember, when you use LST on your cannabis plant, do not use metal wires or weights as some growers might suggest. Instead, use gardening ties that are soft and will not damage the soft tissues of your cannabis plant.
You must also plan your technique instead of randomly bending the plant around. Your goal must be to create a leveled canopy and ensure that major branches and leaves don't overlap with each other.
After LST, pruning is perhaps the most common cannabis training technique. Here, you must selectively prune off the unnecessary parts of the cannabis plant to improve its exposure to light and air.
Typically, pruning involves cutting off the lower branches, which usually end up growing popcorn buds. This also has a benefit as it improves your plant's nutrient efficiency — it no longer has to support buds that grow small, so it can divert its energy to bud sites with bigger flowers.
This is a fairly low-stress training technique but you still need to be careful. You must always use sterilized tools and be very selective of the parts you cut off. As a general rule, never cut off more than 60% of the growth — that can lead to your plant withering off or dying.
Topping is another popular training method where you basically have to cut the main cola of your cannabis plant. This main cola is known as the crown tip, and since the cannabis plant has apical dominance, the main tip develops the largest flower.
But if you break this apical dominance, the cannabis develops two main colas. Granted, this does reduce your cannabis plant's height but the results are surprisingly good.
While this is an easy tip, it does require utmost sanitation and a gentle hand. So, when topping your cannabis plant, use sterile gardening scissors, wear gloves, and ensure your cut is clean so it doesn't stress out the plant much.
To top your cannabis plant, you should wait until your plant has grown 5 to 6 nodes already and then cut the main step above the fourth node. Once the two main colas have grown, you can repeat the steps for as long as you want to make your cannabis plant grow multiple main colas.
Your plant will take over a week to recover, so don't rush it and allow enough time to recover. You can also compensate for this by extending the vegetative growth of your cannabis plant.
This is an advanced training method and it is high stress. Here, the grower breaks the inner walls of the cells of the branches using his fingers very carefully — you don't have to snap the branches. Even small mistakes here can cause major damage to your branch.
Essentially, when you supercrop your cannabis plant, it enters into a defense mode and starts reinforcing the damaged area. This can significantly boost the yield of your cannabis plant.
You can only supercrop your plant up to the final week of the growth stage as your plant will need around a week to recover properly. Some growers also supercrop the plant two weeks into the flowering stage, during the stretch phase, but this is only recommended for highly experienced growers.
ScrOG is short for screen of green and it is very similar to LST but more advanced. Here, you need to apply a screen over your plant's canopy and force the branches out of the screen to create a uniform canopy.
To get it right, it will take you around six weeks, so it is only recommended if your plant has a long vegetative phase and you have patience. Protip: ensure your screen is height adjustable so you can always move it up when your plant starts growing. It will make your job a lot easier.
5. Supplement CO2 to Your Cannabis Plant
Like any other plant, cannabis uses carbon dioxide from the air, absorbing it through its stomata to produce energy. It uses this molecule and the heat generated from sunlight to produce glucose and oxygen, the latter is let off into the air, and glucose is used as energy.
Typically, a cannabis grow room contains around 410 PPM of carbon dioxide, which is enough for the normal growth of the plant. But if you want to maximize the yield of your cannabis plant, you can add more CO2 so that your plant can produce more energy and thereby grow bigger.
There are a few considerations you must keep in mind when supplementing CO2 to your cannabis plant. For starters, you need to be an experienced grower and your plant must be healthy. You should also have experience in managing various plant issues like mold or pests. You should also have powerful grow lights since adding more CO2 requires more light, too.
Ideal CO2 PPM for Cannabis
As mentioned above, your plant will grow at 410 PPM without any additional CO2 supplied by you. However, studies have shown that plants experience continual growth until the PPM reaches 10,000.
However, you don't need to add 10,000 PPM CO2 to your grow room — anything over 3,000 PPM of CO2 is dangerous to breathe in, and over 5,000 PPM, can even be fatal.
So, it is recommended that you never exceed the 1,200 to 2,000 PPM mark while introducing cannabis to your grow room. This small introduction will easily boost your cannabis' yield by up to 20%.
When adding CO2, you can also increase the temperature to 85-90°F (29-32°C).
How to Add CO2 to Cannabis Grow Room
You can add carbon dioxide to your cannabis grow room in various ways, but a couple of options work better than others. So, pick one that suits your preferences, goals, and budget the best.
Here are some of the most popular ways of adding more CO2 to your cannabis grow room to maximize its yield.
These generators resemble a patio heater and are the easiest way to add more CO2 to your cannabis grow room. Typically, your CO2 generator will either use propane or natural gas, and a high-quality one will even come with automated switches and valves that control the flow rate of CO2.
On the downside, they are expensive and can be risky if not installed and maintained correctly. So, it is only suitable for experienced or commercial growers.
If you have a small grow room, you can even use compressed liquid CO2 that you'll find at home brewing stores, compressed gas facilities, or some hydroponic stores. This is the ideal way of introducing CO2 for most growers.
The benefit of using this method is that it allows you to control the CO2 flow rate with the help of emitter devices. Plus, this method does not produce any sulfur, humidity, or heat, unlike carbon dioxide generators.
You can purchase these CO2 cylinders in many sizes, ranging from 20 to 200 pounds. A pound of liquified carbon dioxide equals 8.5 cubic feet of gas. To use the cylinders well, you will need the following things:
- A pressure regulator
- A flow meter
- Solenoid valve with an automatic cut-off valve
- Fittings and pipings
One of the easiest but not so accurate ways of adding CO2 to your cannabis grow room is with the help of dry ice. Dry ice is nothing but frozen carbon dioxide, so you can leave a small cube in your grow room to melt and it will slowly release CO2 in the grow room.
Unfortunately, there is no way of testing how much CO2 dry ice will produce in a given time frame. But something is better than nothing, right? The same applies to the next method.
Similarly, compost can also be used. A compost pile constantly produces CO2 and a single bag of it can last up to three months. So, you can leave a small compost bag in your grow room and it will produce CO2 slowly — it might also smell a bit, though.
6. Optimize the Lighting Conditions
The next best way to maximize cannabis yields is by optimizing the lighting condition of your grow room. Remember, light is essential and the best light for your cannabis plant is natural sunlight, but if you are growing indoors, you need to use grow lights.
Using the right kind of light, especially during the growth stage and bloom stage will allow your cannabis plant to thrive, and if you play your cards right, it will also significantly boost your cannabis plant's yields.
When it comes to maximizing cannabis yield with light, you need to focus on the following factors.
The amount or intensity of light your cannabis plant gets is directly proportional to its growth and health. If your cannabis does not get adequate light, it will experience stunted growth and produce small buds since it won't be producing as much energy for healthy growth.
On the other hand, intense light will produce excellent results. But like Icarus, even you shouldn't fly too close to the sun, or grow lights, in this case. Too much light can cause light stress and light burns. So, you need to be tactful with the use of light.
You'll find many growers who will recommend using lights of this or that wattage, but don't listen to them. The wattage of light doesn't matter anymore, thanks to LED grow lights. For example, a 200W LED will produce a lot more light than a 200W HID or CFL light. Wattage only refers to the amount of energy the grow light consumes.
Instead, you need to focus on photosynthetic photon flux density or PPFD. Confused? Don't worry, we got you.
The first term you must keep in mind is PAR or photosynthetically active radiation, i.e., the number of photons that activate photosynthetic in cannabis plants. Think of it like the visible light spectrum that we use but for plants — it's the light spectrum your plant uses.
You can measure PAR in two ways: PPF or photosynthetic photon flux and PPFD. The former refers to the amount of PAR in the light whereas the latter is the amount of PAR light falling on your plant in a single second.
PPFD is the most sophisticated way of measuring how much light is falling on your cannabis plant, and you can measure it using a PPFD meter or lux meter, and an online converter.
For best results, you should aim for a PPFD reading of 300 to 600 μmol during the vegetative stage with an 18/6 light cycle and 450 to 920 μmol during the flowering stage with a 12/12 light cycle.
The next thing you need to focus on is the spectrum of light your grow lights produce for maximizing your plant's yield.
Light behaves as a wave and, in visible light, each color has a different wavelength. For example, purple has a wavelength of 400 nm. Unfortunately, light panels produce one dominant color.
For example, MH lights produce predominantly blue-colored light, although some LED grow lights offer spectrum configuration so they can produce any kind of color.
To maximize the yield of your cannabis plant, you need to use the right spectrum of light for the best results. This is because particular spectrums of light influence photosynthesis better than others, which can improve your plant's growth and bud development processes.
During the seedling and vegetative stages, you should stick to blue-dominant light, and during the flowering stage, you should stick to red-to-far-red light. MH lights are ideal for the first two stages since it produces blue-dominant light and HPS lights are ideal for bloom since they are warmer in tone.
Here, you should also keep Kelvin's degree in mind. It is a way of measuring the light's color temperature relative to a black backdrop. Some grow lights even display the Kelvin degree on the packaging box, so look for those. A warmer light is redder and will have a lower Kelvin reading whereas blue light is cooler and will have a higher Kelvin reading.
If you are serious about growing cannabis, consider investing in LED grow lights. They are the best grow lights currently on the market and are quickly becoming everyone's go-to choice for the benefits they offer.
LED grow lights are ridiculously efficient and don't produce a lot of heat, and they can last for over ten years with minimal maintenance. And some high-end LED lights also allow you to configure the color spectrum and intensity with a simple knob — they can be the only lights you use to grow cannabis.
You may have the best grow lights but if the light they produce doesn't fall on your cannabis plant, what's the point? So, one way to ensure the light reaches your plant is by preventing light wastage with the help of reflective materials.
All you need to do is place these reflective materials around your cannabis plant to redirect the light back to the plant, which will significantly improve the light penetration within the canopy and lead to much better growth.
Another benefit of preventing light wastage is that you are no longer wasting so much energy on light that does not reach your plant. In a way, this saves you a lot of money.
Here are some of the best reflective materials you can use to prevent light wastage in your cannabis grow room:
- Mylar, which has 97% reflectivity but is quite delicate and reflects heat too
- Foylon film, which is a more resilient version of mylar as it is reinforced with foil laminate
- Panda or orca films, have a reflectivity of up to 95% and are quite strong and some can even be mold-resistant
- Flat white paint that is up to 85% reflective and less prone to hotspots as it absorbs a lot of the heat
Avoid using aluminum foil, mirrors, or styrofoam. Aluminum foil isn't reflective enough, mirrors don't reflect the right kind of light, and styrofoam simply won't work.
Summary: How to Get the Best Yield from Your Cannabis Plant?
Cannabis plants are almost magical in the way they help us or get us high, but for whatever reason you are growing your cannabis plant, you'd be lying to yourself if you said you didn't want more yield from your plant.
If you want to maximize your plant's yield, you need to start with the basics, i.e., low-stress training methods. These should get you in the groove of working with your plant and pushing it to its limits, and then you can proceed to high-stress training methods.
Then, you can start supplementing more carbon dioxide to your cannabis plant. This is one of the best ways of boosting your cannabis plant's yield, and you'll be surprised by the results. Even something as simple as placing a block of dry ice can have a noticeable improvement.
Never forget to optimize the grow lights to your plant's liking in terms of spectrum, intensity, and penetration. Here, LED grow lights and reflective materials are your best friends. Try these and you will see a massive difference in your cannabis plant's yield.
