For your friends to thrive indoors, they need proper care. With the right fertilization, lighting, and an effective irrigation system, you can not only prevent mold growth. You can also optimize their development! In our blog post, you'll learn which equipment you can use for optimal nutrient supply, and why proper hydration and light supply play a crucial role.
Rich Foundation: The Growing Medium as the Basis
Proper care for every plant starts with setting up the foundation: the ideal growing medium. It's worth investing time in the setup: after all, a solid foundation is half the battle!
The best substrate for your crops and tops is a method proven by Mother Nature over millions of years: a living soil. With the StarterBox from BioTabs, you can easily create this living soil yourself. Right from the start, everything the hemp needs to grow is added to the substrate. The best substrates for the StarterBox are organic soil or low-fertilizer organic substrates.
Pro tip: Mix organic soil and coco substrate in a 50/50 or 70/30 ratio for maximum quality of the growing medium.
The growing medium of your choice is enriched with microorganisms. By breaking down nutrients, the bacteria and fungal cultures transform the growing medium into an entirely new habitat, improving the quality of the substrate and the supply to the roots. To provide all-around care for your plants, additional nutrition can be applied from above. The biological tabs and liquid fertilizers in the StarterBox offer a balanced supplement to the bacteria in the soil. Combining them with other organic fertilizers of your choice is also possible.
More about choosing the right fertilizer
Let It Flow: Using an Irrigation System
As an essential foundation for every plant, proper irrigation also determines the healthy growth of hemp. And yet, too much or too little hydration can cause irreversible damage. Overwatering promotes root rot and mold. Without sufficient moisture, on the other hand, plants cannot absorb the necessary nutrients they need for their growth and development.
The right amount of water supply is therefore the be-all and end-all of plant care.
Pro tip: If you're unsure whether the plant is sufficiently hydrated, use less water! The golden rule for watering is "Better once too little than once too much." Organic fertilizers in particular require significantly less hydration (10% of the pot volume), but at more regular intervals (consistent moisture content between 65% and 80%).
In addition to manual watering, there are irrigation systems that can lend you a helping hand. The AutoPot irrigation system pumps water, generated by the natural pressure in the water tank, into the plant pots. This way, your hemp is always hydrated in exactly the right measure. The control of water and nutrient supply prevents waterlogging or dryness of the growing medium, which in turn helps prevent rot and mold. Pots with drainage holes can additionally prevent too much moisture from accumulating at the bottom. The ingenious AutoPot system requires no power supply for operation, works without manual intervention, and without additional support from a timer. This means you can also use it outdoors and leave your plants in its care when you're on vacation or away.
Speaking of Mold
Mold can develop not only from overwatering but also from excessive humidity in the rooms. Your plants love an environment with a room temperature between 21 °C and 28 °C and a humidity level between 40% and 60%. To prevent unwanted mold spores from settling in this relatively warm and humid environment, adequate air circulation must not be forgotten in indoor growing! Regular ventilation can help prevent mold growth.
Let There Be Light: Lighting System for Your Garden
In addition to nutrient supply and irrigation, the light supply for hemp plays a central role in cultivation. On one hand, light serves as an energy source for the process of photosynthesis; on the other, it serves as the basis for developing leaves, stems, roots, and mass. Through specific light spectra, you can also influence the shape, structure, and quality of your plant.
During the vegetative phase, the hemp plant appreciates 18 hours of light per day, followed by 12 hours of darkness during the second half of its life. Especially in the darker seasons with shorter light cycles and longer periods of darkness, the recommended lighting intervals can often be difficult to maintain. Moreover, the intensity of conventional light sources is not sufficient for your indoor grow. To ensure your efforts are successful, you can work with a lighting system. The FLUENCE SPYDR from the SPYDER Series illuminates with LEDs that were specifically developed by growers. Targeted light spectra supply the plants optimally with light at every stage of development, from germination to a strong plant. Lighting duration and intensity can be controlled through integrated dimmability.