After the soil is adjusted, you are ready to prepare it for planting the seed. Sowing is an important process, since the post-germination or seedling stage is the most critical for Cannabis. You can increase the seedlings' chance of survival by sowing the seeds properly.
Most hemp-growing manuals advise that the seeds should be planted about two weeks after the last threat of frost, which is the same time that corn is planted. As a rule of thumb, you need not plant until this time in areas that have a growing season of five months or more. These areas include most of the United States, except for Zone One (see Figure 62) and mountainous areas of the country.
Growers in northern areas report that plant have survived light evening frosts with little or no damage. We think of marijuana as a tropical plant, experiencing no chills in its native climes. But the mountainous areas of marijuana cultivation in Mexico and Colombia often have frosts during the growing season. One grower, describing spring (April) conditions in Nebraska, reported "plants (from tropical seed) three and four inches tall were covered with snow in the evening. By midafternoon all the snow had melted, and those little sprouts were healthy as could be."
Early-season sprouts do face more risks than later-germinating plants do. A lingering freeze or chill can weaken or kill them. Sometimes seeds or seedlings get washed away be heavy rains or flooding, or become infected from wet soil. They are also prey to hungry herbivores, who savour the tender young shoots, especially in the early spring, before the native plants have sprouted. These predators include rabbits, groundhogs, rats, mice, and possibly squirrels and cats, as well as large animals, such as deer, cattle, and sheep. Birds frequently eat the seeds and young shoots, especially if the ground looks planted. Snails and insects, such as cutworms and leafhoppers, also eat seedlings. Don't let this impressive list of dangers dim your enthusiasm. Although these problems do occur, they can be controlled or prevented with a little but of planning (see section 16). {Figure 62. Average date of last expected spring frost for US.}
As you can see in the Spring Thaw map (Figure 62), the last date of expected frost varies from early February in parts of Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California, and Nevada to mid-June in the coldest regions of New England and the Midwest. Planting time varies locally, as well as regionally. Fields which receive direct sun warm faster than partially shaded ones. Fields covered with a layer of compost or fresh manure, or with black plastic sheets, retain more heat and are ready to plant sooner than other fields. Mountainous areas often vary considerably in planting time. Higher ground usually stays cold longer than low-lying areas. Since soil is dark, it heats quickly when exposed to sunlight. Soil is usually warmer in the late afternoon.
The time that the soil warms also depends on the weather. During severe winters, a deeper layer of soil becomes frozen than during mild winters; so it will take longer to thaw. Soil below this layer is insulated by the ice and remains unfrozen. Spring weather, rainfall, flooding, and cloud cover also affect the soil's temperature.
Actually, the only way to know whether or not a field is ready to plant is to feel it and look at it. Examine the soil in early morning. It should be easy to work, rather than hardened from ice. There should be no large frozen clods of soil or other organic matter. There should also be no fine crystalline ice particles which glimmer in sunlight.
For fall harvest, sow outdoors after March 21, the first day of spring and the turn of the Equinox, when there are equal lengths of sun-up and sun-down. There are an additional 20 to 30 minutes of light before dawn and after sunset, for a total of 13 hours of daylight. When plants are started earlier, they may flower prematurely because of the short days. The plants may also be subject to sex reversal, and more males may develop.
There is little advantage to starting Cannabis before April. Each plant has a certain genetically defined potential for growth and size. As long as the plants have enough time to grow and develop, usually five or six months, this potential is realised (some Colombian and Asian varieties may need longer to develop). Plants started before spring grow no larger in size than plants started during April. The younger plants are virtually indistinguishable from the older ones by harvest, and plants which are started earlier face more risks of detection and destruction. {Figure 63. Average date of earliest expected fall frosts for the US. Information about Australia can be found in an Atlas.}
However, if you are faced with a short growing season, you can get a head start by germinating the seeds a week to six weeks before the local planting time, and transplanting the seedlings outdoors at about the same time seeds would be planted in your area. You can also hasten planting time by covering the area to be sown or planted with a clear (or black) plastic sheet, which will warm the ground by the greenhouse effect.
Growers sue three basic techniques to sow marijuana: rows, hills, and broadcast. Each method is suitable within a certain range of conditions and has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Rows
Rows are convenient to use, especially for large areas. They are constructed easily using a how, plough, or tiller.
Rows facilitate the care of gardens and fields by setting up an organised space in which the plants and surrounding area can be reached easily by the gardener. Weeding, watering, thinning, pruning, and harvesting can be accomplished very quickly. Larger fields are planted in roes to accommodate ploughs, planters, and cultivators. They are essential when fields are flood-irrigated. Furthermore, they provide a way to use space in the most efficient possible manner. But rows make detection easier, since they have an orderliness that plants do not exhibit in nature.
On sloping and hilly ground rows are a major factor in soil conservation: such soil is easily carried away in windstorms and in the runoff after rain. For this reason, rows on hilly and sloping ground are contoured: curved to run perpendicular to the slope.
Space rows two to six feet apart; plant seeds every four to eight inches ((In any description of planting which we give, we refer to 100 percent viable seeds. In this case, for example, if seeds are tested (see section 3) and have a viability of 50 percent, sow the seeds two to four inches apart. If they have a viability of 33 percent, sow them one to two inches apart.)) (See Box H.)
To construct a row, break up any large clods on the surface of the soil. In a garden-size area this is easily done by striking them with the tongs of a rake. In larger areas a tiller or externally powered cultivator can be used. Then level the soil.
If you need to irrigate or have problems with excessive moisture, use a hoe to raise the soil in alternate rows of hills and trenches. Pat the crests of the hills with the hoe or a shovel so that they are an inch or wider at the top, and four to eight inches high than the trenches.
BOX H
Plant Size and Spacing
Plants vary tremendously in size and branching habits because of many factors, including variety, soil fertility, length of growing season, amount of light received by the plant, water, spacing, and pruning. As a result, one can have no firm rule about how far apart plants should be spaced.
An individual full-grown plant may have a diameter at its base as wide as ten feet or as small as 18 inches. Most conical-shaped varieties (Colombian and Jamaican) grow between seven and 12 feet tall, and have a width between four and six feet. Mexican plants are somewhat taller and thinner, with a base diameter of three to five feet. Some exotic Indian, Central Asian, and Central African plants may have a diameter only one or two feet across. The descriptions are generalisations; there are many varieties within each country, and much variation within each variety.
Pruned plants have a much wider base than unpruned ones. Plants pruned at the fourth internode and again a month later sometimes grow twice as wide as an unpruned plant.
In order to catch as much sun as possible, rows should be orientated along a north-south axis, perpendicular to the course of the sun. The advantage of lush rows is more pronounced in southern than northern latitudes, but the solar-energy differential in north-south versus east-west rows is significant at all latitudes in the United States, and becomes more important on steep slops. Another factor is the orientation of the garden as a whole. Plants sown in a square plot whose sides point northeast and southeast get about 10 percent more light than ones in a plot whose sides point due north and due east.
Hills
Hills and mounds are especially convenient for small plots. Low hills are often camouflaged to look like natural or wild stands, and are very useful in areas in which the land is too wet in the spring, because the hills drain above the ground level. They are easily adapted to meet unusual requirements. For example, a grower in New Mexico planted a doughnut-shaped hill eight feet in diameter and two feet thick, leaving a centre hole four feet in diameter. He placed a portable plastic tub in the hole after punching pinholes around the edges. To water he just filled the tub. In the swampy Everglades, two industrious farmers constructed a giant hill-row three feet thick and three feet high. The hill had such a good drainage that it kept the plant roots well-drained even during the rainy season.
Hills are usually constructed between two and five feet in diameter. Small hills are usually planted with 15 to 20 seeds, and large ones may be sown with as many as a hundred. The hills are spaced three to 10 feet apart, so that each groups of plants gets a maximum amount of light. Hills can grow more than you would at first suspect. For instance, if you were to grow a hill three by three feet, you could harvest six to nine large plants. Their foliage would extend two and a half feet beyond the hill, for a total of about thirty square feet of foliage space.
Broadcast Seeding
Broadcast seeding is the fastest and easiest way to sow, but is not an efficient way to use seed. Seeds are simply tossed or shaken onto the prepared ground, at the rate of about forty per square foot, and are then usually pressed into the soil with a light roller or by foot. This method is most effective in moist soils. Many of the seeds never germinate or die immediately after germination. The faster growing ones naturally stunt the others by shading them. This method is often used by guerilla farmers who want the stands to look natural and who wish to plant large areas quickly. An experienced grower can sow several acres a day by hand using this method.
Seed Count
There are approximately 2,300 medium-sized seeds in an ounce, or about 85 per gram. An acre is about 43,000 sq. ft., or a square 208 feet on side. To plant an acre in rows two feet apart with a seed every four inches requires about 90,000 seeds or 39 ounces (1,100 grams, or two pounds, seven ounces). At this rate, a ten-by-ten plot requires about 2.5 grams of seed.
A typical hill field has four-foot-wide hills spaced about seven feet apart. A typical hill and surrounding area accounts for approximately 100 square feet. There are approximately 430 hills in an acre. If each of these is planted with 100 seeds, the field requires about 43,000 seeds, which weigh about 18 ounces.
Broadcasting requires a lot more seed. At the rate of 40 seeds per square foot, a grower uses about 2.3 ounces in a ten-by-ten plot. An acre requires about 47 pounds, or 21 kilograms of seed.
How to Plant
Finally, after the soil is adjusted, and the rows or hills are built, it is time to actually plant the seeds and watch your garden begin to grow. If you are growing with clover as a cover or companion plant, dig it up to a depth of four inches and chop up the soil. Water the soil to the point that it feels almost wet. Drill a hole with a seed drill, stick, or pencil, then drop one seed into the hole, cover it gently, and pat the soil down again. Marijuana seeds are large enough to handle individually; so each one can be planted separately.
How deep one digs the holes depends on the kind of soil in which one is planting. Light woodsy or organic soils are planted 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep, so that the stem is held firmly in an upright position. Sands and light loams are planted 1/2 inch deep. Heavy loams and clay are planted 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep, so that the sprout's energy is not expended before it breaks through the soil.
If you are broadcast seeding, you can increase the germination rate tremendously by screening a layer of soil over the seeds to help keep them moist. Seeds that dry out weaken or die.
In a garden that has been mulched, lift away the mulch cover at each place you plant, and sow the seed in the underlying soil.
In soft-textured soils, instead of digging or poking holes, press each seed to the desired depth, and cover or pat the soil smooth.
The seeds need constant moisture in order to germinate. Therefore, the ground should be well-watered. Keep the soil moist by watering it with a light spray whenever it begin to feel dry. This may mean watering the immediate area once a day. You can keep the soil moist and hasten germination by covering the planted area with transparent glass or plastic. Most of the seeds should sprout in a period ranging from three days to two weeks. This variation depends on variety, age and condition of seed, and soil temperature; the warmer the soil, the faster the rate of germination.
Once they have germinated, the seedlings should be kept moist until the roots grow deep enough to absorb an adequate supply of water from the subsoil. If the ground is still moist from spring rains, as it is in many of the eastern regions, you may not have to water at all. On the other hand, there are sections of the West which are completely dependent on irrigation.
When the seedlings are only an inch or two tall, you can protect them from heavy rains or frosts by using drinking glasses, jars, or paper or plastic cups. You can protect larger plants with containers from which the bottoms have been removed. Transparent containers warm the soil by the greenhouse effect, capturing light and turning it into heat. In warm weather, use white or translucent containers, which prevent burn by reflecting some light and diffusing the rest. Containers also keep the soil moist, serve as plant markers, and protect the plants from some enemies. A grower in Berkeley, California, used cracked fish tanks to protect plants in the early spring. A guerilla farmer in the Poconos puts up four posts, one at each end of a row. She uses them as a frame for clear polyethylene covering, creating a small greenhouse.
Growers in Zone Five sometimes harvest a spring crop by transplanting indoor-grown, two-month-old plants outdoors right after the last frost date. The naturally short days and long nights trigger the plants into flowering. (See Transplanting below, and the discussion of the photoperiod in section 3.)
If started after May 15, marijuana may not have time to reach its full size or flower. This problem mainly affects growers in Zone One and in mountainous areas. But even if the plants do not grow to full size or flower, you can still harvest a potent crop of preflowering tops, which may be almost as potent as ripe buds. The harvest is not as large as a crop of buds, but it is more than worth the effort.
Seedlings and young plants are transplanted after the last threat of frost. If the growing season in your area is less than five months, you may want to start the plants indoors, or in cold frames, transplanting when the weather permits. A 10-by-four foot cold frame can easily hold 60 two-month-old plants. The cold frame can be constructed with two-by-two's or branches gathered at the site. Cover the frame with a double layer of six- or eight-mil polyethylene plastic or similar material. Attach the plastic to the frame with tacks or staple-gun tacks. If the area is unprotected from the elements, slant the roof so that rain will run off. If the area is windy, place rocks or branches along the frame to add weight. Orient the cold frame to face the south.
In areas with a growing season of six months or more, plants will not necessarily get larger if they are started earlier than normal. Plants started at normal planting time catch up to the older plants by season's end. It serves no purpose to start plants before about March 21, the spring equinox.
Where there is no threat of frost (in Hawaii, southern Florida, and parts of Texas, Louisiana, and California), growers can raise a winter crop. Grow the plants for two or three months under artificial light. Plant get off to a faster start under artificial lights than natural light during the winter months. Move or transplant them before the beginning of March. Most strains will flower because of the short days (less than 12 hours of light) and fill out to well formed plants by the end of May when they are ripe.
For the normal summer crop, seedlings should be transplanted after the last threat of frost. The best time to transplant is on a rainy or cloudy day, which allows the plants to adjust to the new environment without the strain of intense sunlight. Plants grown in a cold frame or sunny window adjust more easily than plants grown under fluorescent lights. Plants grown under artificial light usually show evidence of shock when they are moved to sunlight. Near sea level they may lose some of their green colour and appear pale or yellowed. At high altitudes, such as mile-high Denver, the leaves may actually burn, turn brown, and fall. Healthy plants usually recover quickly by adjusting the new growth to the changed conditions. However, plant can be conditioned to the new environment by being placed in a partially sunny area, preferably where they are shaded during the middle of the day and receive either morning or late-afternoon sunlight. The plants need about a week to adjust.
Seedlings grown in planting pellets for up to 10 days after germination can be placed directly in the soil. Peat pots should be scored with a knife so that the lateral roots can penetrate the pot more easily. Seedlings started in milk cartons or flower pots should be removed from the container so that the roots are disturbed as little as possible. Plan on using a pot size which is root-bound by the time that you transplant. (For the relationship between pot size and number of weeks, see Table 17.) To transplant, water the area to be transplanted and the plant. Then dig a hole a bit larger than the pot and loosen the surrounding and underlying soil. Place the plant in the hole, and pack the soil so that the stem base is at the same depth that it was growing at before. Firm the soil and water the area.
In areas where ripoffs are expected, such as parts of Hawaii and California, some guerilla farmers transplant individual plants (one to each site) to sites which are widely spaced over the countryside. In this way they may lose some, but at least not all, of their plants to ripoffs.
Each plant (one to three months old) is transplanted to a cone-shaped hole, two to three feet deep by two feet across the top. This strategy is well-suited to areas with poor soil. Since much of the hole is taken up by rootbound soil, it is easy to gather enough topsoil and sand to fill the hole. The gathered soil should also be mixed with organic or slow-release fertilisers which provide ample N and P.