Growing cannabis outdoors, if you have adequate space, can be an efficient and cost-effective option to produce your own harvest. Continue reading to learn about all of the tools need to grow cannabis outdoors.
What Exactly are Gardening Tools?
If you choose to start outside growing, bear in mind that while it may be less expensive than starting an indoor grow, you’ll have to deal with all of the challenges that come with an unpredictable climate.
To accomplish so, you’ll need to select your growing material based on your demands, as well as the appropriate gardening tools to help you have a successful outdoor growing experience.
Flowerpots and Propagators
The first thing your plants will require is a place to root and hold onto their substrate. The size of the flowerpot is critical, particularly for photoperiodic plants.
Begin with small flowerpots and gradually increase their size through transplanting until the flowering period begins; this stimulates root growth and increases the overall size of your plant. Propagators can be used to do this.
Small propagators and greenhouses can be extremely handy for the first several weeks of growth before you can transplant to a larger flowerpot while growing outside. You can use them in flowerpots, transplanting them as soon as the roots appear through the bottom.
Greenhouses help to regulate humidity and protect delicate saplings and seedlings from insects and birds, which can decimate them in a single sitting.
Outdoors, we recommend using white flowerpots since they reflect the sun and keep the roots from overheating. The flowerpots you use will be determined by the sort of plant you intend to grow:
We advocate planting germinated seeds directly into their definitive flowerpot (Max 25L) for autoflowering plants because they won’t have enough time to recover from the stress of transplanting.
When it comes to feminised or ordinary seeds, you can expand the size of their flowerpot from 5 to 11 L, being sure to stop transferring before they begin flowering.
The Smart Pot, a geotextile flowerpot with porous and flexible fabric made of synthetic fibre, is an excellent choice for your final flowerpot; plants will be able to grow roots as if they were in soil as a result of these qualities. Furthermore, they can be cleaned and stored folded up, taking up less space than a plastic flowerpot.
If you’re looking for information on when and how to transplant cannabis plants, you can read our full post.
Trays
You’ll also need circular or square trays for putting underneath your flowerpots to prevent water from running out onto the floor; this is especially crucial if you’re growing on a balcony; if the water drips down, it may bother your neighbours.
Watering Tools In addition to a house, your plants require water to exist, and this water may also serve as a source of nourishment for your plants if you follow a growing schedule that includes liquid and soluble goods. When it comes to feeding your plants, watering tools are really crucial.
Cans, wands, and tanks for watering
Cans and watering wands are the most basic watering implements. If you have a tiny grow, a few of watering cans should suffice (one for mixing nutrients and letting it mix, and the other for transferring the mixture and oxygenating the solution before watering).
Watering your cannabis plants correctly is essential for a successful harvest.
Watering cans may not be sufficient if your grow is larger or more compact, as you will have to mix your nutrients in repeatedly. In this instance, you can utilise a watering wand with a tank to effortlessly water all of your plants.
A 70 L flowerpot, a small electric motor, and a watering wand would be a helpful setup in this scenario. All of these tools are available at LTD Trimming in a single watering kit, allowing you to water a large number of plants while effortlessly reaching the entire growing area.
Pipettes, sprayers, and measuring jars
Other gardening tools, such as those that assist you add nutrients and preventive chemicals to your water and plants, are just as necessary as a decent watering can.
Sprayers can be used to administer nutrients directly to the leaves, as well as preventive products for fungi and insect infestations; we advocate using new sprayers rather than re-used sprayers, as residues from the sprayer might cause problems if they are not properly cleaned out.
Some helpful hints for keeping your sprayer clean: after using pesticides or fungicides, fill the sprayer with water and spray it to clean out the nozzle and micro-sprayer.
Plastic pipettes and measuring jars are extremely important for precisely measuring the amount of nutrients and additives to add to your water. They’re quite beneficial and considerably safer when utilising acidic products like pH adjusters.
Pipettes allow you to add materials in minute quantities, making them suitable for highly concentrated fertilisers and additives. Pipettes of various sizes, as well as measurement jars and cups, are available at LTD Trimming.
Meters for pH and EC
Another crucial consideration is the quality of your water and nutrient solution; wrong pH (acidity) and EC (electroconductivity) values will completely destroy your plants. Meters of various varieties are available to manage these parameters.
pH Tester
pH metres are used to determine the acidity of water and nutrient solutions. If your plants don’t get the appropriate pH levels, they won’t be able to absorb certain nutrients and will start exhibiting symptoms of deficiencies and nutrient blockage; each nutrient has a specific pH range to be absorbed.
A pH metre and, if necessary, substances used to alter pH such as pH+ or pH- can be used to test pH. The goal here is to employ water and nutrition solutions with the proper pH levels to ensure a good growth and flowering phase. There are several types of pH metres:
Reactive kits are simple to use; simply mix a few drops of the reactive liquid with some water and compare the results to the colour chart included with the kit.
Digital pH metre: these metres are significantly more precise than the previous ones, but they must be calibrated on a regular basis. This can be accomplished by immersing their sensor in a calibration solution and adjusting the buttons or screws as needed, depending on the model. Some pH metres employ a pH7 calibration solution, whereas others employ both pH7 and pH4. You should also store them with some maintenance liquid in the lid.
The EC Meter
Ec metres are used to determine the concentration of dissolved mineral salts in your water. mS is the most commonly used unit of measurement. EC metres can also be used to calculate the precise amount of nutrients required by your plants at each stage. You’ll need an EC calibration solution to calibrate your EC metre.
Keeping an eye on the EC in your water is critical for determining overall water quality. Water is categorised into three types based on its quality:
Water exceeding 1.2 mS is considered unfit for cannabis use.
EC and pH metres frequently incorporate a digital thermometer that measures water temperature; this is useful for watering at a consistent temperature of 20 – 23°C, which is the ideal temperature for highly oxygenated water.
If you test your tap water and it is hard or useless, you can use an osmosis filter to convert it to good grade water. Osmosis waters are extremely beneficial to farmers that reside in places or regions with poor water quality.
Water produced by reverse osmosis must be enhanced with calcium and magnesium until it reaches 0.4 – 0.5 mS. To accomplish this, combine 2/3 part calcium and 1/3 part magnesium. There are additives with the proper quantities of both elements that are specifically created for this purpose.
Other Resources
Aside from the tools required for day-to-day plant care, there is a vast range of accessories and tools that can help to make the outdoor growing process much easier, more efficient, and productive. Tags, for example, are quite useful if you intend to produce multiple strains or clones at the same time. The following are some of the most useful instruments for cultivating cannabis outdoors:
Microscopes
Microscopes are useful for a variety of reasons, including the ability to examine your plants up close in order to spot signs of insects, fungi, or other ailments. They’re also great for determining the best time to harvest by looking at the colour and form of your plants’ trichomes.
Trichomes are resin glands that occur primarily on cannabis buds and leaves during the flowering stage. This is where the majority of cannabinoids and terpenes, which are responsible for flavour, aroma, and impact, are concentrated.
The colour of your trichomes is the best indicator of when your cannabis plants are ready to harvest; when they become opaque and milky, with some becoming an amber colour, it’s time to harvest. This enables for stronger and more scented flowers.
If you harvest cannabis too early, it will have a lot smoother impact, less aroma and flavour, and a more mental influence. If you harvest too late, the effect will still be smoother, but more calming. It is critical to harvest at the optimal time to extract the most flavour, aroma, and benefits from your plants.
pruning shears, stakes, and shears
Best Cannabis Trimming Scissors are essential tools for a variety of tasks involving your plants; they can be used to prune carefully, remove cuttings from mother plants, and clip buds after harvesting.
At the end of the day, the distinction between good and bad Best Cannabis Trimming Scissors is fairly obvious. Bad Best Cannabis Trimming Scissors might cause discomfort in your hand for days if you spend hours pruning your blooms or harvesting your plants. The best cannabis plant Best Cannabis Trimming Scissors are:
Cannabis Scissors offer wide openings for your fingertips, making them more comfortable and easy to use for extended periods of time.
These Cannabis Scissors do not have finger holes; instead, they have a spring in the middle that allows you to handle them like tweezers.
Cannabis Scissors are better for pruning, whilst Cannabis Scissors are best for trimming the buds of your cannabis plants.
Stakes are used to support your plants in the event of high winds, breakage, or to lend a helping hand to branches with larger buds. They can also be used to influence the growth of your plants. LTD Trimming carries a variety of stakes as well as nets for growing in the SCRoG manner.
Netting in the Dark
On balconies and patios near the street, where you want to be as unobtrusive as possible, dark netting is really handy. They’re also great for shading your flowerpots and substrate, preventing them from overheating, which can harm your plants if not addressed.
If the sun is beating down on the tiles and heating up the floor surrounding your plants, it can be disastrous for their roots. In this instance, you’ll need to erect a shade net with pegs.
Upkeep of Tools
Tool care is critical when growing cannabis if you want to keep them around for your next grow. After each grow, make sure to keep them clean and disinfect and sterilise all of the tools you use. This keeps things clean and can prevent insects and pathogens away from your plants. It also allows you to save money so that you can buy insecticides, fertilisers, flowering items, and other gardening supplies. If you need more information on how to produce feminised and ordinary cannabis plants outdoors, see our blog.
