HYDROPONICS IN DC
Using Hydroponics to Grow Marijuana in DC
The DC cannabis community is growing every day thanks to the revolutionary passing of Initiative 71. Even with the tremendous new freedoms that the law allows, we are all still restricted to six plants in our homes. With the housing crunch hitting our city as much, if not worse, we have less and less soil to utilize for growing than other parts of the nation. What should be a problem is actually an excellent opportunity to increase the yield size of individual plants, all through the magic of hydroponics.
What is Hydroponic Gardening?
We are used to seeing planted pots and gardens hugging fences all around DC during the warmer months. What if you could get the same quality of plant with a higher yield using nothing but a grow light and water? Hydroponics is the process of growing plants in nutrient-rich water instead of soil. Not only do hydroponic plants grow without soil, they often grow with higher yields and more decadent tastes. Best of all, they can grow year-round.
The hydroponic craze started years ago and quickly spread to colleges around the nation. Pretty soon, influential organizations like NASA were involved in trying to grow plants in their sustainability plans. The hobby hit a massive uptick in popularity around the 1970s when farmers and enthusiasts began growing fresh fruit and vegetables in climates of all kinds around the globe. It suddenly became possible to produce a fresh tomato in the middle of winter in Northern Maine!
Why Would I Use Hydroponics in DC?
Washington is known not just known for the political discourse. We are a vibrant city full of different people, all working on getting by the day-to-day pressures of life. Our population keeps growing, and the need for stress relief is potent. We all need a hobby that we can do cheaply, year-round, for a product we love. Growing in our tiny apartments used to be next to impossible, but now, with all the advances in LED natural lighting and hydroponic info being readily available on social media, anyone can grow their proud six plants.
The hard part about growing in DC isn’t the equipment. You can go to practically any hardware store and pick up everything you’d need to start growing hydroponically in a day. The real challenge is making sure you are staying compliant with the strange rules around cultivation. Remember to keep your plants at least 1,000 feet away from any public buildings.
How to Grow using Hydroponics?
Soilless growing is quickly becoming popular because it gives you the ability to control what kinds of nutrients are introduced into the water mixture without living on an organic farm far from the conveniences of city life.
Hydroponic growing requires feeding the plants with mineral salt nutrients through the roots. You do this by putting the seeds/seedlings into substrate materials that allow the roots to settle into the water while the top of the plant stays in the open air. You can test the water occasionally to make sure the mixture is precisely how you want it to be and increase the water level to fit your plant's intake.
LED growing lights have different spectrums that you can also experiment with to create new strands. There are so many potential tastes and refinements available to a hobbyist that you’ll have plenty of fun seeing what result you get when you dry and roll the leaves.
The more you learn about growing cannabis hydroponically, the more you’ll see how quickly your plants will mature with a higher yield. Growing cannabis hydroponically is just like making pizza or baking bagels; it's all about the water. Getting the right nutrient mix is what will determine the quality of your end product.
How Do I Get Started?
The Washington, DC area has turned into one of the country's most open cultivation scenes. There are always pop-up shops, swaps, shows, and clubs gathering together to share tips about their favorite strains. The best thing you can do is visit your local shop or keep in touch with what we do at Lucky Chuckie. Follow our social media to learn more about the growing community. Purchase some of our fine accessories to sample what is available on the market. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you become a connoisseur of marijuana culture.
The equipment you’ll need is pretty simple. You can get a small hydroponic growing kit at most hardware stores. The most significant expense will be the LED lights. There are many to chose from, but as long as you are purchasing a spectrum that encourages natural growth, you’ll be alright. You can do the rest on the cheap using a tote from Walmart and standard gardening gear. There are hundreds of videos like this one on YouTube that show you how to build a kit for really cheap.
Closing
DC is quickly becoming a mainstay in the growing community. There is a charm to cultivating your own specific hybrid in the same place that houses rich American history, even during the harshest of winters. With so few homes and apartments being available, space is a hot commodity. That doesn’t mean you cannot blend your love of cannabis with your favorite hobby of gardening. Experimentation leads to innovation, and that is no different for Marijuana. Try something new and build your own hydroponic system to grow cannabis today!
