Short, Sexed, Transplants: Cultivation Corner with Robert Stewart of the Weed Squad

As Missouri’s patient numbers continue to climb we at Greenway For Patients strive to continue educating and answering questions. We believe the best way to get answers is to ask experts, as such we have enlisted the help of Robert Stewart, COO of the Weed Squad,  to answer patient questions about home cultivation. Please email us or comment below with your questions to see them featured in the future.

When do I need to transplant and how do I go about doing it?

You can start seedlings or clones in a 16 oz solo cup. Once they reach about 6″ transfer to a 1/2 gallon pot. At 12″ transfer to a one gallon pot until about two to three feet tall. After that they should go into a minimum seven gallon pot for the remainder of their life cycle. Also, transplanting is easier when the medium is a little on the dry side. The entire root ball and all of the medium should be lifted out gently and be kept intact as much as possible to minimize transplant shock.

How do I “sex” my plants?

Take a cutting from the plant and start a clone using the medium of your choice. Immediately provide a light regiment of 16 hours darkness / 8 hours light. With in a few days the cutting will start to show its sex. A small flower will appear at the space where the leaf joins the stem. Females will have fine hairs growing from this location, while males will form little balls.

Does it matter what kind of water I use? Is tap water okay?

It depends on the tap water and the growing style you are using. If you are growing in soil and your tap water is not overly chlorinated, like St. Louis city water, then you are fine to water directly from the tap. If it smells of chlorine then it should be aerated by using an air pump connected to an air stone submerged in a bucket or reservoir for at least 24 hours. For hydroponics always use a reverse osmosis water system.

My plants seem stunted or short, what causes that, and how do I fix it?

This is generally not considered a problem unless there are other signs of stress going on with the plant like leaf curl or irregular pigmentation. Short stocky cannabis plants with tight node and internode spacing is ideal for producing big thick flowers. Especially so for indoor cultivating where there are height limitations involved.

This is the first time I’ve grown this strain and I haven’t seen the parent plant, how can I differentiate what is a plant trait and what is a problem?

If you know the strain you can find it on the internet for a general comparison. Otherwise, if you give the plant the proper environment and nutrients and do not stress it out in any other kind of way, then it will grow and produce exactly as its parent would.

Robert Stewart is the Chief Operating Officer of The Weed Squad LLC.  Stewart has been cultivating cannabis for over 12 years, his extensive plant knowledge and career background in construction and engineering make Stewart a trusted name in cannabis cultivation consulting.