How to Grow Cannabis Straight From a Colorado Cultivator

• Up your home grow game with the inside scoop from a top Colorado cultivator on how to grow cannabis.
• Hours of light and pruning are key.
• Take the guesswork out of when to harvest

10-minute read

Fred Woerner Of Southern Charm Organics On How To Grow Cannabis

If you want to know how to grow cannabis, there’s no one better to learn from than Fred Woerner of Southern Charm Organics. While you might not have heard of Fred before, you’ve definitely heard of one of his clients. Southern Charm was one of the original independent growers tapped by cannabis legend, Willie Nelson, for his premium cannabis company, Willie’s Reserve. Years of producing high quality, small batch cannabis make Fred the ideal expert to ask all your growing questions. So read on to up your home grow game. And, bonus, we also love that, other than Fred, Southern Charm is run by women.

How Did You Get Into Farming?

I was born and raised in a rural farming community in southern Alabama. My father and many of my extended family have been or are farmers. Because of that, I grew up farming vegetables. My dad had a crew of kids to do most of the harvesting. Once I got a driver’s license at 16, I started to lead the crew. But by the end of high school, farming was the last thing I wanted to do. So, I went to college, became a teacher, and settled down. But then I started planting a family garden, and I really enjoyed it. I continued teaching for 10 years and moved to Gunnison, CO. When the recreational cannabis industry started becoming a reality, I decided to pursue cannabis cultivation. After a couple of years of finding the right friends and family to invest, I was able to start Southern Charm Organics.

Living The Dream

It’s crazy how the universe works. So many things happened during the process to make Southern Charm possible. My wife always reminds me that, one day back in Alabama, she asked me what my dream job would be. You know, where your job doesn’t feel like work? I told her that it would be having a farm. But I thought that was a pipe dream because it’s nearly impossible to make a living on a small farm. I’ve always been told by my kinfolk, “the way to make a million dollars farming is to start with two million.” Luckily for me, the cannabis industry made it possible for me to make a living at farming and potentially grow our business into something substantial.

If You Were A Plant, You’d Be?

I’d have to be a cannabis plant. It’s done so many things for me and opened so many doors. It’s a magical plant that’s medicine for many. It’s also a recreational tool that helps people relax and unwind. Plus, it has industrial uses and nutritional benefits as a food crop for livestock. I consider myself a jack of many trades and that correlates with the beautiful cannabis plant.

Indoor Or Outdoor Cannabis?

Growing up in the South, there’s nothing like being outside. I love letting plants enjoy the natural world and seeing how much they thrive in that environment. That said, I’ve been in Colorado for over 10 years now, and I’ve learned to appreciate the challenge of producing the perfect indoor environment for your crops. I know it’s somewhat of a cop-out, but I really enjoy both indoor and outdoor cultivations—just for different reasons. The takeaway is to learn to love and appreciate what you have to work with.

How To Grow Cannabis With Just Natural Light?

If you want to go outdoor or greenhouse without supplemental light, choose a spot that gets good sunlight. Keep in mind that the light cycle triggers the flowering process, so you’ll likely only get one annual crop. When the days are longer during the summer (more than twelve hours), the plants will be in a vegetative stage where they grow without flowering. As you get closer to just twelve hours of light, that triggers the flowering stage and buds form. You can cover your plants after twelve hours to trigger the flowering cycle. But, if you do, you can’t miss any days. Light deprivation can give you an additional harvest before the one from the natural light cycle, sometime in September/October. Depending on your climate, you could get another harvest by adding small supplemental lighting (fluorescent) to artificially lengthen days and encourage vegetative growth.

Any Secrets For How To Grow Cannabis To Increase Yields?

Pull any male plants before your flowers are pollinated or you’ll get really seeded buds. We also constantly take off damaged leaves and small undergrowth during veg time. When we flip to flower, we do a major prune on day 1 and then again 3 weeks in. During these prunings, we take off all fan leaves and small undergrowth. As a general rule, it’s good to take off fan leaves and small branches that are in the interior and lower parts of the plant. That allows for better airflow, light penetration, and the plant to send more energy to the flowers with the most potential. When I first started as a home grower, I had trouble taking off branches and small buds. Then, a friend broke it down for me like this, “if you take it off in one place, the plant will add it back somewhere else.”

Eco-Friendly Tips For How To Grow Cannabis?

Unfortunately, indoor gardens are necessary for growing cannabis year round in most parts of the country. And the power required for lights and HVAC make indoor grows not-so-eco-friendly. So, first, try to make your cultivation area as energy-efficient as possible. Insulate your grow room to control the temperature as efficiently as possible. Also, maybe mix in some LED or CMH lights with HPS or Double Ended lights. To stop water waste, we use a wicking system that feeds from the bottom of the pots. But a simple, eco-friendly system for home grow is just to top water containers by hand—or with a pump and a timer. You want to get a little runoff when you water. But, if you monitor and limit it, this method can be pretty efficient.

Any Unconventional Methods For Helping Cannabis Grow?

I’m sure there’s research out there that could back up just about any music helping plants grow. I’d say, play whatever will keep you in the room hanging out with your plants the longest. The more time you spend tending your garden, the more likely you’ll be to catch problems. The beauty of a home grow is that you can give each plant as much love as possible. As for nutrients, to each their own. Research the nutrients you want to use. You might want to be completely organic and make guano teas and other beautifully smelly ingredients. Or load up on bottled nutrients to pack on weight. Whatever you decide to go with, keep records of what you do and how it goes. Also, be willing to tweak your feeding schedule or scrap it entirely if it’s not working.

Are There Any Strains That Are Easier To Grow Than Others?

Some strains require less attention than others, for sure. But all strains benefit from attention. Because of current US laws, strains can’t be shared across state lines. So, while strains might share names with strains in other states, they’re not exactly the same. That makes it tough to say what strains would be easy for everyone. In Colorado, Blue Dream and Red Headed Stranger produce well, even if conditions aren’t great. If you’re a new home grower, research the seeds and clones in your area. Some strains require more attention, but not so much that the average person can’t handle with a little time and research. A home grow is supposed to be enjoyable, so don’t put pressure on yourself. Expect a failed crop or two—it’s a learning experience. If you’ve always dreamed of growing Sour Diesel or Larry OG (both known to be finicky strains), go for it!

Harvesting Tips?

Time is our biggest indicator for harvest. It’s not perfect for every strain you might grow, but we use a middle ground number of 60 days from flowering to start our harvest. When you first learn how to grow cannabis, use that period to gauge when to harvest. After that, you can get more individualized for each plant. Use a jeweler’s loop to look at the trichomes (the little resin balls) on your buds. When the trichomes are all completely clear, it’s not time yet. When the trichomes start to get milky, you’re getting close. Trichomes will continue to turn milky and even brown as they mature. Many growers will tell you to harvest when about 10% of your trichomes are cloudy/milky. But document your harvests and see what works best for you. (Check out our guide for harvesting in 6 simple steps.)

Secrets To A Year-Round Crop?

To pull off a year-round crop, you’ll have to go indoors or use substantial supplemental lighting. For consistent harvests, designate a room just for plants in their vegetative stage. At Southern Charm, we have clones, young plants, and larger plants in the veg room at all times. Since the flower cycle is roughly 9 weeks, we harvest every 4-5 weeks. As soon as we harvest and clean the flower room, we move the larger plants from veg into the flower room and cut more clones to start the process over. For a home grower who has space and plant count limitations, this could be difficult. You might have to veg your plants in one room for a while before you change the light cycle. Whatever works for you, just remember that the process takes time. The longer a room sits empty, the longer it’ll be before you see finished buds.

How Much Water Do You Need For Cannabis?

The amount of water depends on your cultivation method. If you’re using a hydroponic setup that doesn’t recycle water well, your water usage would be higher than a soil setup where you water by hand every other day. Either way, you’ll need a good water source and will likely need some type of water filtration system to achieve the best results. If you’re on well water, check your PPM before adding any nutrients. If it’s too high, you might need an RO filter to lower the PPM so you can add your nutrients without getting concentrations that are too high. If you’re on city water, you’ll need a filter to remove the chlorine and other things that are added by the water treatment people. Doing water tests and researching the type of filter that fits your needs is key when you’re setting up a cultivation.

How Long Is The Average Production Cycle?

The flower cycle is roughly 9 weeks. We’ve found that, from the time we cut a clone to the time we put the plant in flower, it’s between 8 and 11 weeks, depending on the strain. Some strains need to be in the vegetative stage longer than others to achieve the yield we’re after. So, for the strains and processes we use—from cutting a clone to harvesting the flower±—can be 17-20 weeks. But, for many people who use a hydroponic system, this time is significantly shorter. The flowering time is the only constant (9 weeks). The veg time can be dictated by the farmer depending on the size of plants they want to flower.

Overall Advice For How To Grow Cannabis?

If you want to produce a killer product for your personal consumption, don’t get sidetracked by yield size. Just dork out on all the things you can do to make your grow the best it can be. If you’re looking to get into the cannabis cultivation business, research whatever you plan to do well. Many people come into this industry thinking it’s a cash cow and many of them fail. Talk to people in the industry to find a niche in your area. Start small! Luckily, we came in super underfunded, so we had to start small. Because of this, we were able to learn as we went, without standing to lose too much. There’s a huge learning curve from a small, closet grow to a commercial cultivation. The biggest thing to remember is, have fun with it. Be a constant learner, and be proud of whatever you produce.