Not all marijuana genetics are grown in the same way. Some have higher requirements than others, therefore, it is said that some varieties are easier or more difficult to grow. In this article, we are going to show you different tips so that you can grow successfully and produce great harvests with Sour Diesel, a mainly sativa variety that adapts well to indoor cultivation and has exceptional performance outdoors or in a greenhouse.
You will be able to use the cultivation techniques that you learn here in other types of plants, especially those that are sativas or mostly sativas because these types of varieties respond to certain common patterns. These include the vertical heading due to the great apical dominance they present, the flowering that tends to be a little more extensive than in indica or rudelaris genetics, among other details that make them unique. Now, let’s start with the tips!
LST
This old-school variety called Sour Diesel is a variety of medium difficulty to cultivate and offers great yields outdoors, reaching 700gr/plant. Indoors, you get 500gr/m2. As it is a mostly sativa variety, it tends to stretch or spike both upwards and to the sides during the first month of flowering, a process that lasts 70 – 75 days.
As a consequence, you may need to apply an LST if your indoor growth area is small. When the LST is done correctly, the tips of the lower and intermediate branches receive more light, which will increase growth and yield. The LST technique involves training your marijuana plants without cutting or pruning them. This way of growing weed plants is friendly because it does not require much equipment. With a few ties for the branches and wooden sticks to occupy them as tutors, you will have made an LST of great utility and quality.
It is important that you bend and stretch the branches of the plant outwards, away from the main stem. You can make holes in the edges of the pots to tie the strings that are going to stretch to those branches. If you break a branch, you can use adhesive tape to stick it to the dorsal or use a tie and a little soil from the substrate around the area of the break to help it heal. After about 2 or 3 weeks, you will notice how the branch has recovered naturally.
As the Sour Diesel plants grow, you will notice the power they have. This is particularly relevant to the central stem. You must tie it by stretching it downwards in order to avoid apical dominance, meaning spiking upwards. In this case, it is good to start with an LST before the plants are late blooming as at that point the plant stem and its side branches are too stiff to bend. When growing your weed plants indoors, it is best to use LST when the pot plants are in the growth cycle.
Temperature
It is essential for indoor growing to have a thermometer/hygrometer because it will help you control the temperature and humidity in your indoor growing system. In addition, having several fans is essential because they help move the air inside the growing system, cooling the Sour Diesel plants as they grow.
If you find that the temperature in the grow room is too high, then use an air extractor to remove the hot air from the interior and promote the entry of new fresh air that helps to cool the plants. On the other hand, be careful with the excess temperature that an HPS lamp can cause in a small grow room.
If the indoor temperatures fall too much, buy a home space heater to help you raise the temperatures in the culture in order to give the best possible conditions to your Sour Diesel.
Humidity
In the previous section, we shared that Sour Diesel grows well with a good temperature range. For this reason, you must make sure that it does not drop more than 15 degrees at night. This is important if we talk about humidity because temperatures can be controlled, mainly indoors, but humidity is complex and different.
It is necessary to have a balanced humidity in the crop because the plants take water from the substrate through the roots and capture the CO2 through the stomata in their leaves. If the humidity levels drop to very extreme points, the weed plants will no longer extract water as quickly. On the contrary, they lose it during the opening of their stomata, causing the plants to close their stomata which causes stress, slows growth, and impairs performance.
When plants are exposed to very high humidity levels, they consume soil water slower. This causes deficiencies and slower growth because plants do not absorb nutrients well. When growing Sour Diesel indoors, the ideal humidity levels range from 65-70% during the growth stage and for flowering, they should be lowered between 55% to 60%.
If plants are exposed to humidity levels of 80% or higher, the risk of bacterial, fungal, and viral infections increases. On the other hand, if the humidity drops more than 50% in the growth phase, the crops will be affected by the photosynthetic efficiency on which the plants depend.
Nutrients in soil and fertilizer
These genetics tend to eat a good amount of nutrients. The nitrogen levels you need are high during the vegetative stage, therefore, you can apply measured fertilizers according to what the nutritional plan of the products you use indicates. Always take into account that the substrate contains nutrients.
We recommend that you use high-quality soil as you will not need to add additional nutrients during the seedling stage. It is important to make sure that the roots of each plant grow strong enough and with optimal development so as to allow the plant to start its growth in a good way.
Now, we will tell you how vital nutrients are for each stage of the plant. For example; In the vegetative phase, fertilizers must be concentrated in nitrogen, together with phosphorus and potassium. Gardeners should ensure that Nitrogen is twice the level of Potassium and three times the level of Calcium at this stage. That is, the fertilizers that you use to feed your Sour Diesel plants or those of other genetics must have a mark on their packaging, proportions like these: 6-3-2 or 18-9-6. Other necessary and secondary nutrients for feeding the plant are sulfur, magnesium, and calcium.
During the flowering phase, the amounts of Nitrogen (N), potassium (P) and Calcium (K) must change because Potassium (P) must increase up to three times Potassium (P) and in the same proportions as Nitrogen ( N) and Calcium (K). It is important that the diet contains secondary nutrients such as iron, copper, and manganese. The best thing to do is to stop fertilizing at least 2-3 weeks before harvest and use only with purified water to remove salts and ensure that the buds do not have a bad chemical taste.
Grow Sour Diesel outdoors – The Best choice.
Sour Diesel is a fascinating strain that provides good harvests, but to get the most out of it, it needs a little extra help from the gardener. Therefore, we recommend having more than 1 plant of this variety indoors so you will never be short of tasty buds with that exquisite smell of diesel and gas.
Sour Diesel ⛽ growing outdoors in Colombia
Otherwise, it is best if you try to grow Sour Diesel outdoors so that it reaches its maximum size. Being a mostly sativa variety, this strain grows best in warm environments with a Mediterranean-type temperature such as California, Spain, or Chile. When you grow it outdoors, you can harvest it in October.
Sour Diesel in Action
We start by talking about the fact that the LST technique is good to be applied in a Sour Diesel because it helps to control the size of the plant, preventing heading. Another plus is that it helps to control the stretching of the lateral branches, allowing them to grow more evenly, making them better receive light in the flowering stage as shown in the photo.
Sour Diesel week 3 of flowering
In the image, it can be seen that only the satellite lateral branches (the largest of each plant) cover some tips with buds that are just forming. It is possible to lower those branches, hiding them under another branch so that it does not prevent the flowering tips from receiving good light. Some gardeners do not recommend cutting these side branches because they say that they are the fundamental ones with which cannabis plants photosynthesize. However, on the other hand, there is another group of growers who recommend cutting those leaves because they say that they take energy from the plant, especially in flowering. The final decision is in your hands and we recommend that you investigate in depth before making a decision.
Sour Diesel week 6 of flowering
In the previous photo, you can see Sour Diesel in week 3 of flowering. In this image that you see now, you can see the same strain but in week 6 of flowering. You can clearly see that the plant has advanced greatly with well-defined flowers and many pistils that continue to appear. It is good to note that some of the side leaves, especially the satellites, are taking on more yellow colors. This means that they are ending their life cycle and therefore can be pruned from the plant so Sour Diesel will concentrate all of its energy on the production of buds.
At this point, it is noticeable how the branches grow and also bloom uniformly thanks to the LST because they all maintain a certain size and are very similar to each other. This is important because it shows that Sour Diesel is a variety that can be worked on and adapted to the needs of the gardener without major problems, an issue that greatly simplifies the breeder’s work within the crop and is appreciated.
Sour Diesel week 9 of flowering
Finally, Sour Diesel’s incredible production of trichomes and resin is visible in this image. Here, you can see Sour Diesel from Blimburn Seeds in week 9 of flowering with an incredible layer of resin, intense and sticky, and very bright. This makes this sativa ideal for making extracts such as rosin, hashish, among others because its level of return is amazing.
Also, we tell you that some pistils are already taking on a more brownish colors which means that the plant is entering its final phase and has begun to mature. Another sign comes from the leaves around the bud, those with yellow tips. They are getting the last amounts of nutrients from these parts to feed themselves and thus continue with the flowering process that has been left in the last weeks.
It is worth remembering that Sour Diesel is ready in 9 – 10 weeks of flowering indoors and in October for outdoor gardeners. In this case, this plant has been grown indoors and only has 1 week left to live, although Blimburn Seeds Bank recommends giving it 1 or 2 extra weeks of life so you can do a good root wash and also so that the plant matures to its maximum potential.
You already know all the details of this great variety. Now, it is in your hands to start growing the seeds of Sour Diesel by Blimburn Seeds. For the moment, we say goodbye and wish you the best in the garden until the next blog.
