Medical Marijuana

This article discusses growing cannabis in the AeroGarden for personal use. While cannabis for recreational use is illegal in most parts of the world, its use as a medicine is legal in a number of territories worldwide, including Canada, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Italy, Finland, and Portugal. In the United States, federal law outlaws all cannabis use, while permission for medical cannabis varies among states. See the Legal and medical status of cannabis Wikipedia article for information on its legal status in your area.

Details

• Days to sprout: 3
• Flower: 5 weeks
• Maturity: 12 weeks
• Compatible with Aerogarden? Yes
• Yield: A few grams per plant.

Cultivation and Care

Materials

• 24 Hour Light Timer - Used to set a light cycle of 12 hours on/12 hours off.
• Non-polarized Figure 8 Power Cord - You will be plugging this cord directly into your AG light hood and running it from your light timer instead of the AG timer.
• Nutrients - The stock ag nutrients are perfectly fine to use. The foxfarm trio is a recommended alternative.
• pH Testing and Adjustment Kit

Lighting Cycles

• Seedlings (week 0-2) - 20 hours on / 4 off
• Veg Period (week 2-5) - 18 hours on / 6 off
• Flowering Period (week 5-12) - 12 hours on / 12 off

Feeding/Nutrient Schedule

If you are using foxfarm or some other kind of nutrients, follow their schedule.

pH Level - You want your water's pH around 5.6-5.8, anything from 5.4-6.0 is acceptable, but the closer to 5.7 the better.

• Seedlings (week 0-2) - No nutrients.
• Veg Period (week 2-5)- One regular tab per week
• Flowering Period (week 5-12) - One large Master Gardener Kit tab per week or 1.5 regular tabs per week.

• Water level - Periodically check your water level and top it off with pH'd water or premixed nutrient/water solution at the same PPM as the initial batch.

• Change your reservoir water on a weekly basis, which is usually done with nutrient additions/changes.

Alternative Nutrients

Now that we've learned about the stock AeroGarden nutrients, let's take a look into the different nutrients available.

There are several different brands to choose from, including: General Hydroponics, FoxFarm Nutrients, Canna, Dutch Nutrient Formula, etc...

The differences between each brand vary, but for the most part, they all work well. Each brand will have different setups, such as three part systems and A&B systems.

• Three part systems allow for fine-tuning of nutrients for each strain, but require more work and research.
• The A&B systems are much easier to use, but don't allow for fine-tuning.

Each brand will also have a feeding schedule that you should follow to achieve the best results. Follow their recommended schedule.

Preparation and planting your seeds

• Decide how many plants you want to grow in your AG - Keep in mind you have a limited amount of root space in the reservoir, 2-3 plants is a reasonable number in a regular/pro model.
• Cover up holes you are not going to be using with Golf balls, opaque cups, coffee mugs, or other devices.
• Cut holes in your sponges for roots - Cut a small hole in the bottom of your grow sponge for the taproot to grow down into.
• If you do not have a master gardener kit, you will have to take the seeds out of the sponge and make a perforated plant label out of cardboard.
• Plant your seeds with the taproot facing down - If you germinate your seeds in a paper towel, make sure you have the taproot facing downward towards the hole you just cut.
• If you germinate your seeds in the AG, just make sure the taproot part of the seed pod is facing down.