Sour Diesel is a Sativa dominant hybrid known for its characteristic pungent smell balanced by hints of citrus. The strain is famous for medicinal and recreation applications due to its strikingly high THC content of 25%.
Essentially considered an outdoor strain, Sour Diesel can be a challenging experience for indoor growers. Here are five effective tips for growing the strain indoors.
1. Low-Stress Training Is Essential
Compared to most cannabis strains, Sour Diesel plants fill up indoor spaces quite rapidly in the initial stages, leaving barely any room for further growth. It also restricts light exposure to buds further down the plant. This is why most growers prefer growing it outdoors to offer more space for the plant to extend and grow freely.
Starting Low-stress training early in the growth stage is necessary when Sour Diesel hemp flower is grown indoors. LST refers to training techniques that encourage plants to grow in a specific form without requiring physical cutting and shaping processes. Simply equipment such as drills, duct tape, and plant ties can come in hand during this train. The results of a proper LST will expose even the buds located on the lower part of the plant to receive optimum light for optimal growth.
To LST your Sour Diesel plant, start by drilling holes on the lips of the pot. Bend the plant shoots slightly away from the stem and use plant ties through the holes in the pot to hold the shoots in place. Do not secure the branches to the floor, or you risk damaging them. If you accidentally wound a branch, use duct tape to hold it in its place. The branch will naturally recover in time as long as you did not shear it off completely.
Bending the secondary shoots becomes necessary as your plant grows. You can repeat the above process for the rest of the branches to expose maximum buds to light. Remember, starting early during the growth is crucial for the success of LST as matured plants are harder to train.
2. Get The Temperature Right
One of the most important factors that influence the proper growth of marijuana plants is the temperature in the growing area. Indoor growing offers more considerable liberty to control the temperature and moisture as required by individual species. Invest in a high-quality digital thermometer or hygrometer to monitor the two factors regularly.
Compared to other strains, Sour Diesel embraces a large temperature window without affecting the yield. Ensure the temperature falls within 72 – 80 degrees during the day and never falls below 15 degrees at night. Indoor lamp setups tend to produce a lot of heat that can cause rapid temperature changes. Use an extractor fan fitted with a filter to bring it back to the optimal levels. Also, the temperature might plummet to very low levels when the lights are off. So invest in a good space heater equipped with a thermostat to cope with this issue.
3. Balance The Humidity
Maintaining the humidity levels is a more significant challenge for most growers. Sour Diesel requires varying levels of humidity at different growth stages for good yield. Plants exposed to low humidity levels exhibit an increase in the rate of water absorption from the soil. Although it may continue to grow in such an environment, there comes the point when it closes its stomatal opening to retain the absorbed water. This process could cause stunted growth and low potency in yield.
Too much moisture is also harmful to the plant as the rate of water absorption from the soil reduces. It affects the nutrient uptake, leaving the plants short of essential compounds for growth. The ideal humidity levels for indoor Sour Diesel plants are about 70% during the vegetative state and around 55- 60 % during flowering. Make sure the levels never fall below 50% or peak above 80% for the best results.
4. Watch What And When You Feed
Sour Diesel is a heavily nutrient-dependent strain. It requires high concentrations of various nutrients at different stages of growth for the best yield. But the need for the external introduction of nutrients through supplements depends on your medium of choice.
For example, if you are growing Sour Diesel indoors with soil as a medium, it already contains a healthy balance of elements required by the plant. You might have to watch out for any particular deficiencies before adding supplements to avoid harming the plant with too many nutrients. Soil also serves as a good buffer between the plant and the chemicals, thus forgiving some nutrient imbalance errors. Therefore, new growers should choose soil over other mediums.
Young Sour Diesel plants will require nothing but good soil at the seedling stage. Starting at the vegetative stage, the plant needs high input of Nitrogen. A healthy NPK ratio for this stage would be 6-3-2, along with a hint of secondary nutrients like calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. The plant requires higher proportions of phosphorus during the flowering stage to exhibit high potency. Therefore, shift the ratio to 1:3:1. At this stage, adding secondary elements like manganese, calcium, and iron can improve yield quality.
5. Protect From Pests
Pests are the greatest threat to achieving good yield from Sour Diesel. These pesky creatures can easily sneak and infest your entire lot if you are not careful. Inspect the plants periodically to observe any infestation. You can choose good quality pesticides and insecticides to treat the problem immediately. These are pretty effective in protecting the plants. But if you would prefer organic and natural methods, some simple preventive measures using home remedies can be effective for pest management.
Use pieces of garlic or chili to eliminate insects from damaging your plants. The antifungal properties of garlic can further protect the plants from fungal infestations. Spraying a mixture of coriander oil with water can also work wonders to prevent Pythium, thrips, and spider mites from harming your plants. The scent of olive oil can keep away caterpillars and ants from chewing the precious leaves.
You can add a few drops of it to water and spray it on the plants on alternative days. Finally, make sure to sprinkle some cinnamon powder or oil near the roots to curb powdery mildew and whitefly problems. As a precaution, remove the infested plant from the growing area to reduce further spread.
Conclusion
These five effective tips can help you grow healthy Sour Diesel plants indoors and achieve a healthy yield.