CBD is one of the most widespread chemical compounds in marijuana. CBD content has been shown to be helpful for various conditions, including insomnia and chronic pain. With so many people looking for high CBD strains, growers are trying to provide them with what they’re looking for. This article will discuss how the growing process affects the amount of CBD present in your cannabis plant, as well as some best practices on finding high CBD strains!
What Is The Key To Growing A High CBD Strain?
As with anything, several variables influence the outcome. There are some critical components to growing a high CBD strain that you will want to pay attention to ensure you end up with a plant that has what you’re looking for!
Seedlings
The seedling stage is where you want to make sure your plant gets what it needs. There are a few key variables during the seedling period that determine if your plant will have a higher or lower CBD content as an adult plant. First, you want to ensure your environment is free from any stressors. These include nutrient deficiencies, temperatures below 65 degrees Fahrenheit, too much sunlight, etc. By keeping your young seeds under optimal conditions, you’re doing them a favor!
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Plant Stage
During the vegetative stage, you want to ensure there aren’t any deficiencies in nutrients your plant might be getting. A simple nutrient deficiency can lower your CBD content significantly. Make sure you’re using a quality nutrient system and following their guidelines on feeding schedules. It’s also a good idea to make sure your pH levels are where you want them to be. You can test your pH levels with a pool testing kit or something similar!
Something that most growers don’t consider is the temperature during the vegetative stage. The optimal temperature range for cannabis plants in this stage is between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature drops below this, it could cause problems with both your plant’s growth and CBD content. Keep an eye on your temperature gauge to make sure nothing gets too hot or too cold!
Flowering Stage
During the flowering stage, you want to pay attention to two factors: temperature and humidity. The optimal temperature range for cannabis plants during this stage is between 65 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This is due to how your plant produces its flowers. If the buds stay too cold for too long, they will not fully develop! Keeping an eye on your temperature gauge is very important here!
As far as humidity goes, 60-75% humidity is optimal for cannabis flowers during their maturation period. Humidity swings may cause you to end up with both airy flowers that don’t contain much CBD – or mold if it gets too humid! Keep an eye on this factor as well, especially in the last two weeks before harvest time!
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Does The High CBD Cannabis Strains Reduce The Potency Of THC?
Another common question is whether CBD will reduce the potency of THC. The answer to this is no, but there are some caveats to consider! First, it depends on how much CBD you have in your cannabis plant. If you have a high CBD strain that has been bred specifically for its CBD content, then usually, there won’t be any effect on THC levels. However, if you’re using a high-CBD strain that was not bred for this purpose or doing an uncontrolled grow where different phenotypes may show up with varying amounts of CBD… This could affect the THC levels in your plant’s buds.
Secondly, keep in mind that when you are growing cannabis indoors under lights, the plant only naturally receives 12 hours of morning and 12 hours of darkness each day. This continuous light has an effect on both your plant’s growth and its cannabinoid levels. Many growers will mimic the natural cannabis growing environment by giving their plants 12 hours of complete darkness each night to help increase THC resin production in the buds!
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Why Are High CBD Strains So Rare?
CBD strains are rare because most marijuana plants have fairly balanced levels of THC and CBD throughout their lifecycle. This means that nearly all pot plants will have roughly equal amounts of both compounds at any given time. For example, let’s say you have a plant that is 70% finished flowering. The flowering time for most cannabis plants is anywhere from 2-7 weeks, depending on the strain. During this time period, the plant will only produce THC and CBD in certain parts of the flower. That means that your 70% finished flowering plant might not even have high levels of CBD at all, which is why it’s important to know what factors affect the production of both compounds!
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Best 3 High CBD Strains: Our Favorite Choices
High-CBD strains are becoming more and more popular as growers learn just how much of a difference they can make in the medical benefits that their plants provide. Luckily for us, there are now dozens of different kinds to choose from! Some are even high CBD auto-flowering breeds explicitly designed to have almost no THC, so you won’t get any psychoactive effects from your bud but still maintain the medicinal qualities! These three high CBD strains are our favorites so far…
1. Harlequin (THC 5% / CBD 8%)
Harlequin is one of the most balanced cannabis strains we’ve come across. It’s an award-winning strain bred by Soma Seeds and truly lives up to its name. It’s an excellent choice for those who suffer from a wide variety of medical conditions, including chronic pain, muscle spasms, seizures, and arthritis, because it provides a nice balance of both CBD and THC. Sometimes you can find this strain with as little as 5% CBD, but the average is usually between 7-10%. This makes it an ideal choice for beginners looking to grow their own medicine at home!
2. Cannatonic (THC 6% / CBD 8%)
This strain is another award winner from Soma Seeds. The breeders recommend growing this plant indoors under 600W HPS lighting, which gives you a boost in your yields. They also suggest the humidity low to avoid bud rot and to grow this plant at a temperature between 68-77 degrees Fahrenheit. The smell, as you would expect from an Indica dominant strain, is citrusy and earthy, with a hint of pine on the exhale. Cannatonic was bred specifically for its CBD content and has one of the highest ratios we’ve seen yet! If your doctor recommends a high CBD strain for your condition, there aren’t many better choices than this one…
3. AC/DC (THC <1% / CBD 10%)
AC/DC was created by breeder Aphrodite to be as close as possible to no THC but maximum strength medical benefits. It’s an auto-flowering strain, so it will flower regardless of the light schedule. Outdoors the plant stays short and compact to avoid hermaphrodite pollination problems, but indoors it will grow to about 4 feet. The breeders recommend cutting this strain back during the vegetative stage or at least tying down its main colas so that you get more of a “Christmas tree” shape with wider branch exposure for better light penetration.
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Wrapping it up,
It’s pretty clear that CBD-rich cannabis strains are definitely different than the average weed! If you’re ready to try growing your own CBD-rich bud, make sure you do plenty of research and also consider trying some high CBD seeds. What high CBD strain do you plan to grow? Let us know in the comments below, and we might add it to this list! If you enjoyed reading our article, please also leave us a comment down below.