Cannabis micro-cultivation: how to get high-performance plants in really small spaces

Nowadays, many people are starting to grow their own cannabis indoors. However, not everyone has the right place to do so. Fortunately, for every problem there is a solution, and that’s why we’d like to tell you about micro-cultivation, a growing technique that enables you to obtain high yields using the smallest possible space. Many newcomers to the growing scene may prefer to start this way to get an idea of the process before diving into a large indoor grow. So here’s our guide to start your own cannabis micro grow!

While our dreams of growing cannabis may involve vast fields of plants swaying in the breeze, or elaborate hydroponic systems that house numerous specimens, reality often limits us to micro growing. As the name suggests, this is a growing setup that only takes up a small amount of space yet leads to very high yields. Whether you’re limited by where you live, or need to grow discreetly, you need to be creative to transform an unconventional space into a growing environment.

Because micro-growing is an art form, and a technique that was developed to obtain great results in the most unexpected places. In addition, cannabis micro growing provides a greater degree of control over your plants, and it normally requires minimal maintenance throughout the whole growth cycle. Due to the nature of a small-scale setup, this method requires little equipment and attaches greater importance to the choice of space.

Everything starts by choosing the most suitable strain

Those who practise micro growing often look for varieties that develop discreet characteristics, including a compact size and a fast flowering time. These traits contribute to making these dwarf strains easy to handle and hide. Their small size enables growers to use incredibly hidden spaces, ranging from kitchen cupboards and cardboard boxes to fridges, or even old computer towers.

Therefore, the ideal choice would be an indica-dominant feminised strain, such as our Purple Kush or Hellfire OG, since indicas are still smaller than their sativa counterparts. For instance, an indica-leaning plant can stretch between 50 and 100% during the flowering phase, whereas sativa-dominant strains experience a 200 to 300% increase in height. And given that they are photo-dependent, you can trigger the flowering by suddenly shortening the number of hours of light from 18 to 12 per day, to give them a very short vegetative period and thereby contain their size.

Another excellent alternative is to use autoflowerings like Baby Boom Auto or Dream Sherbet Auto. These strains have a vegetative period of just 3 weeks. Whatever the growing conditions, they’re always smaller, and don’t depend on the photoperiod to start flowering. They can be exposed to 18 hours of light per day (or even 24 hours) throughout the whole cycle, and they’ll be as happy as can be!

Requirements for cannabis micro-growing

In addition to the specific genetics and the vegetative time that you give each strain, using the right equipment and keeping a good control of things will help your cannabis plants produce great yields, regardless of the space that they have available. Having said that, the following factors also need to be taken into consideration:

• Substrate and pots

Most micro growers use soil as their preferred growing medium, which makes sense considering that it’s much easier to use in a reduced space than a hydroponic setup. The less soil there is, the less the roots will grow and expand, so this plays a very important role in determining the size of the plant. It is usually recommended to use 3-litre pots or smaller, depending on your micro grow setup.

• Lighting

Lighting is the hardest part because it’s difficult to get enough distance between certain grow lamps and the plants. You could use compact fluorescent lamps, but the yields tend to be lower with these. LED lights are the most popular option, as they can easily provide the full light spectrum that’s needed and don’t produce as much heat, so they can be placed closer to the plant’s canopy. Remember that LED grow lights that have more blue in the spectrum tend to keep plants shorter, whereas lights with more of a red spectrum can help promote stretching.

• Water

While irrigation is obviously essential, it is especially imperative with cannabis micro growing because the less soil there is, the faster it will dry. Be aware of the need to water frequently: do yourself a favour and make sure you can water the plants comfortably and efficiently. A professional tip: the base of the plant is the only place that you need to water regularly. If you water the buds or leaves, you run the risk of mould forming in your weed.

• Air circulation

Strong cannabis plants require adequate air circulation. The way to air your micro grow ultimately depends on your setup. For example, if you’re growing cannabis plants in your shoe closet, you can simply keep the door open or make holes in it to allow air to circulate. Likewise, a small desktop fan produces excellent airflow, and its small size makes it ideal for micro-cultivation. Place the supply fan on one side and the outlet on the other side of the space: the input should always be as low as possible, while the output should be close to the top.

• Nutrients

Given that micro grows need to be watered more frequently, it is likely that you’ll have to adjust the amount of nutrients you give your plants with each watering. Therefore, you’ll need to be careful (and perhaps do a few calculations) to ensure that they don’t get too many or too few nutrients when you feed them. And don’t trust the dosages given by the manufacturers, as they’re designed for huge plants in ideal growth conditions. In micro growing, less is always more.

Training the plants is key

As your growing space will be limited, it’s almost certain that you’ll need to train your plants to control their size, which will in turn translate into higher yields. You can use two types of training:

• Low Stress Training

The first training technique that you can try is LST (Low Stress Training), which consists of tying the branches to control the direction of growth. When done correctly, the branches should grow outwards rather than vertically, ensuring that more flowering shoots are exposed to light.

Some other methods that you can try include Sea of Green (SOG) and Screen of Green (SCROG). SOG involves keeping many plants together in a small space and training them, so they quickly make it to harvest time. On the other hand, SCROG consists of placing a trellis on top of the plants. Not only does this control their height, but also opens them up to increased light and airflow.

• High Stress Training

There are several High Stress Training (HST) methods that can also work well with your micro plants. These techniques include Topping, Fimming, and Super Cropping. Topping involves cutting the top of the main cola above the fifth node so that the plant can develop more colas and, therefore, a higher yield.

Fimming is similar: in fact, FIM means ‘F**k! I missed!’, and consists of cutting about 75% of the apical bud, which is found on the top node of the plant. If successful, this should produce multiple colas.

Another HST method is Super Cropping, which consists of pinching and squeezing the apical stems of the plant to make them stronger so they can produce more buds. You can try just one or a combination of these training methods to obtain a great yield in your micro grow. The main thing is to experiment to see what works best for you.

Commercial micro grow systems

Micro growing is an extremely enjoyable pastime, especially when you don’t want to invest too much in practice. There’s a lot to learn, and you can experiment freely without worrying about destroying a whole crop of huge cannabis plants. However, if you don’t have much time to do it yourself (but you’ve got the cash for others to do it for you), perhaps you should opt for the various professional micro-growing systems that are available on the market.

These are called ‘grow boxes’, and they’re smart micro grow tents which have become popular in regions that are more forgiving with the cultivation of marijuana, such as the US or Canada. You can find brands like Seedo, Grobo, Leaf, or Linfa, which also enable you to control all the grow parameters from your mobile.
Mind you, they also cost an arm and a leg! So, if you want to make your own micro grow system, these pictures will hopefully give you a few ideas to help encourage you to enter this fascinating world of cannabis micro plants.