Guides

How To Grow Organic Weed: A Step-by-Step Guide

Your ultimate guide to growing organic cannabis.

By
Danny Danko

Danny Danko’s Magic Organic Mix for 5-gallon Buckets

  • 3 parts Canadian sphagnum peat mix, coco coir or Pro-Mix
  • 1 part large chunky perlite
  • 1 part worm castings
  • 1/2 cup greensand
  • 1/2 cup of dolomite lime
  • 1/3 cup of Peruvian seabird guano
  • 1/4 cup Epsom salts

Mix it all together and soak it all down for at least a day or two before you plan to use it. This is to get all the contents blended up and oxygenated. It should be wet throughout but not over-saturated. The first few waterings should be done with plain water as the fresh planting mix is fairly “hot” (nutrient-rich).

Let water sit out for at least 24 hours to evaporate chlorine that will kill off your beneficial microbes. Airstones at the bottom of the bucket with an air pump will speed up this process as well.

From then on, use compost teas and diluted liquid seaweed throughout growth and add some high-phosphorus bat guano tea during flowering. No need to flush towards the end, simply use milder tea for the last two weeks of flowering. Some natural yellowing will occur on fan leaves but this is a good thing, as nitrogen is leaching out of the plant’s cells.

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Danny Danko

Danny Danko is a writer, photographer and the Senior Cultivation Editor of High Times magazine. He has selected High Times’ annual Top 10 Strains of the Year since 2005 and is also the creator and founder of the High Times Seed Bank Hall of Fame, author of The Official High Times Field Guide to Marijuana Strains and the forthcoming book Cannabis: A Beginner's Guide to Growing Marijuana. He hosts the podcast High Times presents "Free Weed from Danny Danko."

View Comments

  • I just started growing organic,in the past I used synthetic chemicals and done very well. I now have all my plants in dire straits and trying desperately to save them. I don't know where I went wrong and will take any suggestions or advice at this time.

By
Danny Danko

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