How to Grow Cannabis In Cape Town - A Simple, Practical Guide

Once again the earth has circled our solar source of light and spring has arrived in sunny Cape Town. And we all know what that means... It's time to plant our Cannabis!

Now, we know growing at home seems a little intimidating, but with recent laws legalising its propagation, and a flourishing of new grow shops, seedbanks and online support, there's never been a better time to grow your own dagga.

So, we've put together a really simple and practical guide to growing Cannabis in Cape Town, and we hope it helps this magnificent medicine flourish across our fertile lands! 

We should probably mention now that this is going to be an outdoor grow guide, as we at Cosmic Bazaar firmly believe that Cannabis should be grown naturally in the sunshine and soil. It's good for the planet, good for the plants and it's ultimately much easier for you.

So, we start with the soil. Although many areas of Cape Town are blessed with rich and abundant soils many terroirs do tend to contain an excessive amount of sand. 

To rectify our overly sedimenty soil we suggest getting a bakkie load of good compost from a local producer and mixing it through the first half meter of your growing bed to give your plants the best start in life.

For Compost Suppliers Check out Reliance Compost in Tokai, YWaste near Gugulethu or Soil for Life in Constantia.

The first few months of your little plant's life are the most precarious and energy-intensive, luckily we have some simple tips to make the process a breeze.

SPROUTING: This is where a lot of people fail before they've even begun. After experimenting with many sprouting methods over the years we recommend the use of Coco-Coir Inflatable 'Jiffy's' as the most reliable way to bring your seeds to life. Simply rehydrate the jiffy's, place your seeds inside, and keep moist for a few days. We get our Jiffy's from Hydroponics SA. Conscious Sowing Tip: Put the seeds in your mouth for a few minutes before placing in the jiffy to kick-start the germination process and impart your energy into them.

POTTING: Once your seeds have sprouted, transplant the jiffy's into small, aerated (with slits in the sides - find our favourites HERE) pots and grow them indoors for the first month, ensuring they get as much light as possible so they don't start stretching, but not so much they burn (hint: the babies can handle more direct light exposure as they age, avoid direct sun completely in the first few days).

TRANSPLANTING: Once the plants are about a month old, or when you can see the roots peeking through the pot, they're ready to be transplanted into the great outdoors. Take care to water them first, and give the pots a nice massage before tipping them out and into their new home. Also, try and make sure that you're putting them in a place with plenty of light, cannabis LOVES the sun.

Now comes the easy part... Once you've got semi-mature plants in rich and living soil the rest of the process is really a breeze, although there are a few things to keep in mind:

~ Water: Make sure to water your plants every day or two, about 1L each should be enough depending on the amount of sun they receive and whether they're in raised beds/pots or soil (raised beds/pots drain faster). A good indicator is, that if the soil is still moist, you don't need to water.

~ Nutrients: There are so many nutrients and fertilisers out there that the choice can be quite overwhelming. Just make sure that you're regularly feeding with an all-rounder NPK like SeaGrow and you'll be fine, although you can also supplement with super-nutrients like the BioGrow range or one of our favourite micro-nutrient boosters Ormus (from TransfOrmus). Our favourite supplier of nutrients is Hydroponics SA, although we will soon be stocking a few select cannabis nutrients ourselves, so watch out for that exciting event! (Just make sure everything is organic, obviously!). You will be able to identify a cannabis magnesium deficiency if your plant shows yellow spots on the edges or between the veins of its older leaves, while the veins themselves remain dark green. Here's a good article on this.

~ Pests: Make sure to regularly check your plants for any sign of disease/nutrient deficiency or pests.

There's an awesome blog on nutrient deficiency's HERE and one on pests HERE.

~ Love: Show those plants some love, prune off sad-looking leaves, regularly give them a good look-over, play them a little Mozart and take care to connect with these living beings, they can teach you so much about how they're fairing if you only take the time to listen.