Thin leaf blades like these are a sure sign of Sativa genetics.As we’ve discussed before in an article about Sativa and Indica cannabis, most marijuana strains are hybrids.
Authentic pure Sativa and Sativa-dominant cannabis gives you a stimulating, hallucinogenic high that’s way different from Kush and Indica cannabis.
For example, the breeder of a strain called Chocolope describes it as “95% Sativa and 5% Indica.”
But when I grew Chocolope, expecting a long bloom phase and very thin leaves (two characteristics of pure Sativa cannabis), it didn’t show those traits.
My Chocolope marijuana plants didn’t have the cultivation or psychoactive traits you’d expect from a 95% Sativa strain.
They were more like a 60-40 Sativa-Indica hybrid.
The more accurate option when describing Sativa and Indica is to talk about “dominance” and cannabinoid ratios, rather than just saying Indica or Sativa.
Whether you grow a true pure Sativa or a hybrid that’s Sativa-dominant, we’re giving you tactics and knowledge you can use to make your cannabis gardening easier, and your yields and potency higher.
Let’s dive into Sativa growing right now…
• Sativa strains need more vertical space.
They grow on average about 20-40% taller than Indica-dominant and strains.
Top them in the third and fifth week of grow phase.
• Because Sativa marijuana strains grow taller and put on most of their vertical growth when you flip them to bloom phase, plan your grow room and your grow and bloom phase schedules with that in mind.
I suggest limiting your Sativa veg phase to no longer than 5 weeks.
Or, you can use the guideline that when your marijuana plants are two feet tall, flip them to bloom phase.
The reason for this is a 2-foot-tall Sativa plant will probably end up being 5 feet tall or even taller at the end of bloom phase!
Many growers run out of vertical space and end up having to trim their plant canopy, bend or otherwise train their marijuana plants, or their plants are damaged by growing too close to the lights or ceiling.
• Sativa strains are often unstable, extremely sensitive to environmental factors, and especially reactive to problems with nutrients, water quality, and root zone pH.
Under stress, they tend to develop hermaphroditic (male-female) flowers, or their floral development is otherwise mutated or delayed.
The most successful growers of Sativa-dominant strains use reverse osmosis water, controlled environment agriculture, and only the finest hydroponics nutrients or organic soils.
Many growers believe Sativa-dominant marijuana isn’t able to handle heavy feeding, but this isn’t totally accurate.
It’s more accurate to say it doesn’t like inferior feeding with fertilizers that contain harsh compounds and weak pH buffers, such as General Hydroponics, Botanicare, Emerald Harvest, Heavy 16, Scotts Miracle-Gro, etc.
Look at part two of this article on growing dank, high-yielding, stimulating Sativa marijuana.
