Row cover best choise for cannabis growing.
A row cover is a lightweight, transparent material that can be used to protect plants in cold weather. Let’s take a look at how to use row covers for cannabis planting.
Covers are widely used in the cannabis community, especially by growers who want to protect their plants from frosty nights. Here’s how to use row covers effectively.
Row covers are an effective cost-saving and space saver option for cannabis plants. Using these will not only help your plants grow better and faster, but it will also save you money by limiting the amount of fertilizer and water they use while allowing them to produce higher yields.
Use row covers for cannabis planting. Row covers are available in different sizes and materials, but the most common type is made of lightweight, clear plastic. Row covers provide weed control, by preventing light from entering the growing area and reducing the number of weed seeds that reach the soil. Covering your plants will also keep rabbits and deer away from them
The key to growing cannabis successfully is to clone or graft a healthy plant (called a mother) and then put the mother and its clones in the same container. An expensive alternative is to purchase clones and seeds, but this is not recommended. Excellent results have been obtained with organic potting soil, peat moss, and perlite. It is important to avoid over-watering. You should water lightly several times a week, ensuring that each new clone remains moist but not saturated. An alternate method that’s popular with growers who want to yield large harvests with minimal effort involves suspending a reflective cover for the plants. The cover reflects heat onto the plants, which allows them to grow more quickly without overheating. Most gardeners completely enclose their plants in wide row covers made from polypropylene fiber (peasants), but it’s possible to achieve excellent results using hoops covered with insect netting or blackout curtains suspended from lightweight PVC pipe supports from home improvement stores.
As soon as the temperatures consistently stay in the 50 to 55 degrees (F) range and night temperatures are cooler, it’s time to start planting seeds or seedlings in your garden if you want an earlier harvest. To protect young plants from cold nights, cover them with row covers made of a lightweight fabric such as cheesecloth or spun-bonded polyethylene. The fabric helps block light rain, so you can also grow some produce later in the season. Row covers give off 60 to 80 percent less heat in winter than surrounding air, so they’re good for cool climates or on days when daytime temperatures are mild but nighttime temperatures are chilly. They’ll also reduce evaporation and keep pests away—without hurting pollination by bees or other insects.
Row covers for the outdoor cannabis plants.
Outdoors, while your marijuana plants are still small and vulnerable, protect them with a lightweight, white, spun-fiber, polyester row-cover fabric specifically made for this purpose. Row covers are exclusionary devices that let in sunlight, air, and water, but keep insect pests out. Not only do they protect your plants from insect pests, but they also prevent insect vectors from infecting your plants with viruses, bacteria, or phytoplasmas. Keep in mind,
however, that when a row cover is in place, it also prevents beneficial organisms such as lady beetles, parasitic wasps, and pirate bugs from reaching your plants.
You can make a framework of PVC tubing, wood, metal, or another material to support the fabric and keep it off your plants. Alternatively, hoop houses are available at nursery supply stores. Cover the frame with fabric and weigh or pin down the edges along the ground to seal out insects. (Make sure no pests are lurking inside the cover before you seal it up!) When your plants grow taller and more resilient, remove the row covers so that beneficial organisms can visit your plants.
You can also cover individual plants in containers. Create a small frame that fits over each plant and its pot, and attach an insect-proof cover to the frame. Plant supports designed for flowers or tomatoes work well and are commercially available. Cover the plants with row-cover fabric, pieces of polyester window screening, or mosquito netting—any material weave that’s tight enough to keep insects out but open enough to let in sunlight, air, and water.