A Beginner’s Guide to Clones For Maryland Homegrown Cannabis

If you’re reading this, then we appreciate you for being open to learning more about home growing cannabis in Maryland! 

“We are proud to offer authentic and reliable genetics in the form of live plants for you to cultivate at home. Evermore Foundations genetics represent the legacy and passionate work of cannabis cultivators dating back decades. We are indebted to the resilient community that has provided them to us, so that we may now proudly share them with you.

-EVERMORE CANNABIS

Homegrow Survival Checklist

• • Know the Maryland Homegrow laws! Click here to see more from the Maryland Cannabis Administration
  • Check your plant everyday.
  • Maintain 18 hours of sunlight to help with vegetative growth, 12 hours of sunlight will get your plant flowering.
  • Put water on your plant with a safe fertilizer, water everything, but only when your plant is not wet.
  • Next you must re-pot in a 2-3 gallon container with your choice of media (soil, coco coir, etc). Allow for more vegetative growth and training(?) before moving to the flowering stage for a better harvest.
  • Veg and early flowering states should replicate the nature of spring and summer seasons, changing to fall as the flowers approach harvest.
  • If you choose a fertilizer, be sure to follow the specific instructions on the package. Do not over feed.
  • Remember: What you put in = what you get out. Weak Sunlight = Weak Flowers.

Beginner’s Guide to Growing

Growing Mediums

Growers most commonly work with plants potted in growing mediums composed of rockwool, coco coir, peat moss, perlite, lime or a variation. Growing mediums do not contain a ton of nutrients, which allows for you to better guide plant growth based on the fertilizer as you water the plant. Your genetics choice in addition to the overall environmental conditions will dictate the amount of fertilizer that is required. strains or cultivars require a different amounts of fertilizers. An example of this dynamic is stronger sunlight can tend to call for more fertilizer to keep the plant healthy as it deals with more energy to process.

Keep the Fertilizer Simple

It’s best to start with a one part, fertilizer program that is easier to monitor during your first time and will make it easier to quickly understand what might be happening within the plant and its medium. A good option, and one that will be good for even more experienced growers, is Jacks 20-20-20 for vegetative growth and 10-30-20 for flowering. These fertilizers are commonly available at your local hydroponics store (and probably Home Depot too).

• • Mix a gallon of water with the recommended amount of fertilizer salts and water directly over the soil surface.

• • When you water your plant you should water it thoroughly, with enough water volume that you achieve runoff of liquid from the bottom of the pot but not so much that you make your plant excessively wet and soggy.

• • Ensure that the soil is able to dry between waterings. The pot should become light weight, check by picking it up, but do not let it dry so far that your plant wilts or it may be damaged. Do not let the plants sit in standing water often or for long durations. 

“At Evermore, we do not and have not ever used any registered insecticides. This is why the quality of the concentrates and the flavor of the flower really shine through, as there’s never any residues. Our standards are such that we believe in control of pests vs. eradication and that this provides safer products for the consumers. Eradication requires constant spraying, only hoping for a total knockdown while really only offering control.“

– EVEREMORE CANNABIS

With the Evermore clones, beneficial bug sachets (little packets) will be included on each plant to help manage insects with beneficial ones instead of using sprays that may be natural but leave residues on your buds. Check the QR code on the sachets that will lead you to shop more of the bug sachets for your other growing needs.

Be mindful that all the plants produced in a commercial setting by any company may carry a risk to someone home growing in a setting where there are not any natural protections. A Maryland resident who is home growing should plan to quarantine and care for their plants applying their own chemicals or other plant maintenance preferences.

The Flowering Stage

Re-potting your plant into a larger one will be necessary as you move into the flowering stage. The recommended size is a 2 or 3 gallon container of a common potting mix such as Sungro Sunshine #4 or Promix HP, these will be found at your local garden centers and potentially at some department stores.

Start by filling the larger container with a moist potting medium. Create a hole in the center, just deep enough to accommodate your plant with its root ball at the same level as the surrounding soil. Make sure to water adequately to allow the soil to settle and fill in any gaps left from planting.

Let your newly transplanted plant go through a vegetative phase in its new pot for a minimum of one week, but it can extend to up to four weeks. During this period, initiate flowering by reducing the daily hours of light to 12 or less.

This is the ideal time to shape the plant’s structure for flowering. You can prune and train it to encourage more branching and exposure to light, ultimately increasing the yield of flowers.

After the change in lighting conditions, your plant will experience vigorous growth for two to three weeks and “stretch” to reach its final size, which is determined by its genetics but often ends up being several times larger than its initial size. Throughout the vegetative and early flowering stages, it’s essential to maintain environmental conditions that resemble spring and summer, providing warmth and higher humidity.

During this phase, it’s crucial to maintain temperatures of at least 75 degrees Fahrenheit and a humidity level around 60% for optimal growth. Adequate airflow and movement are also essential to ensure robust stem and foliage development.

If you’re growing outdoors in Maryland, flowering typically commences in August as daylight hours decrease. If your plant has been cultivated indoors under artificial lighting, it will need to adapt to the outdoor growing conditions and full sunlight. Begin this process by initially placing it in the shade or part sun and gradually increasing its exposure to sunlight each day.

Additionally, it’s important to provide your plant with extra hours of light during this transition. The abrupt shift from 18 hours of light in an indoor setting to potentially as little as 14 hours or more outdoors can be a shock and may occasionally trigger unwanted flowering responses.

Once the flowering stage begins, follow the recommended instructions and rates of your chosen fertilizer program. Generally, you’ll want to supply higher rates of fertilizer early in the flowering process and then gradually reduce this rate until, in the final one or two weeks of the flowering cycle, you’re only using plain water to encourage the full ripening of the flowers.

Furthermore, it’s crucial to maintain a drier environment, and if feasible, a cooler one towards the end of the flowering stage. This will reduce the risk of mold and fungal issues affecting the flowers and enhance the expression of terpenes, ensuring they are full and rich.