8 Tips for Growing Blue Dream Cannabis: Grower’s Guide

Grow like a pro!

Blue Dream is a sativa-dominant (60%) hybrid with a THC content between 17% and 24%, along with a CBD level of 2%. It is one of the most famous marijuana strains to come out of California and is renowned for being among the best daytime smokes. Blue Dream is a cross of Super Silver Haze and a Blueberry Indica, and once you’ve tried it, you will adore the total body relaxation that it offers.

Now that weed is legal for recreational use in California, residents are flooding to dispensaries in search of Blue Dream. It’s popularity is partly because of its delightful aroma, taste, and effects, but also because of its relatively widespread availability.

Although you can pick up a gram of it for $4-5 in Portland, Oregon, expect to pay up to $16 per gram in Los Angeles. If you would prefer to grow your own Blue Dream, on the other hand, keep reading this guide as we offer eight useful tips for cultivating this invigorating strain.

1 – Blue Dream Grows Best Indoors

If you live in California – or a similar climate – Blue Dream is relatively easy to grow outdoors. However, everything changes if you live in an area with changeable weather conditions, because Blue Dream is sensitive to extreme changes in the climate. In other words, plan on growing Blue Dream indoors unless you live in a subtropical or Mediterranean climate.

The main issue you’ll have when growing Blue Dream indoors, however, is the height of the plant. It tends to grow into something of a monster! It isn’t unusual for a Blue Dream plant to reach the six-foot mark, in fact, without a great deal of effort.

There is something intensely satisfying though about cultivating a marijuana plant that’s taller than you are!

Regardless, when you grow indoors, try and make sure that you keep the plant straight and support the branches. The process of ‘staking’ is one of the best ways to achieve this. As Blue Dream is a tall and dense plant, it is crucial to stake it, or else the plants will lean or even fall over from the main trunk. Most growers use metal stakes in different lengths with a loop at the end to hook the branches.

Hook one of the stakes to the midway point of the Blue Dream plant’s main trunk, and make sure you position it in an upright position. Within 30 days, you’ll have to transfer your plant to a larger container; a 5-gallon pot should suffice. Make sure you place the Blue Dream in a room large enough to contain it; remember, it becomes very tall! It is also necessary to check and prune the plants at regular intervals.

2 – Keeping Pests at Bay

Unfortunately, pests are a significant issue if you elect to grow Blue Dream outdoors. They can ruin hundreds of hours’ worth of labor and destroy thousands of dollars’ worth of crops. Worst of all, there are some pests capable of doing significant damage in as little as 15 minutes. The biggest dangers, depending on where you live, include rabbits, deer, and raccoons. Then there is the small matter of red spider mites, sun damage, fungi, viruses, and much more.

You can opt for a store-bought remedy such as a 3-in-1 spray, which contains miticide, fungicide, and insecticide. It works best when used during the vegetative phase. There are unique products for plants that have reached the flowering stage. If you browse online, you will find a host of remarkable home remedies, although some are far more effective than others.

One solution involves growing tobacco and using it in a spray as an insecticide. If red spider mites are a problem and you don’t want to use a chemical spray, try an all-natural solution by introducing a predator. Ladybugs feast on red spider mites, but will leave your weed alone. If you have a large outdoor grow, you can also invest in a couple of zappers that should take care of any flying pests.

If you like gardening, consider growing a ‘companion’ plant. These are plants that naturally repel pests. Examples include marigolds and geraniums that work like a charm to ensure worms and leaf-eating insects stay away. Basil offers a gorgeous smell, and its strong scent works well to keep flies, aphids, and beetles away. Garlic is a natural fungicide that protects your cannabis from disease. While humans usually love the smell of mint, a significant proportion of garden pests hate it!

3 – Ensure Your Blue Dream Gets a Ton of Nutrients, Especially Nitrogen

We have a warning for anyone who wants to grow Blue Dream – be prepared to invest a lot of money in nutrients because this marijuana strain is notorious for its ravenous appetite. One technique used by advanced growers is the addition of mycorrhizae to the seeds. This fungus attaches to a plant’s roots and mines for nutrients.

It feeds your plant and, in return, the Blue Dream provides sugar and other carbohydrates. Another tip involves watering the plants during the vegetative stage using liquid seaweed and molasses mixed with reverse osmosis (RO) water.

In general, marijuana plants require fewer nutrients than commonly grown household plants such as tomatoes. If you elect to grow your Blue Dream in soil, you’ll need to invest in nutrients made explicitly for it. If you use high-quality soil, to begin with, though, you’ll need far fewer nutrients. If you decide to grow in a different medium, purchase hydroponic nutrients.

As is the case with all marijuana plants, Blue Dream needs nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur, with the first three nutrients classified as the most important. Other useful additions include copper, boron, cobalt, silicon, manganese, iron, and zinc.

Usually, you would decrease a marijuana plant’s nitrogen level as it moves from the vegetative phase into flowering. However, while most strains will suffer if you continue adding too much nitrogen, Blue Dream thrives because it can consume large amounts of it without burning.

4 – Maintaining the Right pH Level

Having the right level of nutrients available isn’t enough; you also have to ensure that the root environment’s pH is correct to ensure your plants can absorb the nutrients fully. The simplest way to maintain the ideal pH level is to test your water’s pH after adding the nutrients. Failure to test for pH means your marijuana plants could suffer from nutrient deficiencies.

Overall, the best pH when growing Blue Dream marijuana is between 6.0 and 7.0. If you use a hydroponic system, the range drops a little to 5.5 – 6.5. It’s essential to have a small range because different nutrients are absorbed in various pH levels. There are specialized solutions available in stores that help you adjust your growing medium’s pH up or down as necessary. One of the best combinations is imaginatively called “PH Down” or “PH Up.”

If you need the pH to fall by 1.0, use 1ml of PH Down per gallon of water. In contrast, the PH Up solution is nowhere near as powerful because you need to add 2-4 ml per gallon of water to increase the pH level by just 1.0.

If you are adjusting the pH for the first time, use a smaller amount than outlined above and slowly work your way to the right level.

Poor quality water affects your cannabis plant in a variety of ways. If the water you use to feed the plant has the wrong pH level, it will limit the plant’s ability to transport carbohydrates and nutrients. You have an advantage if using soil as your growth medium because the colonies of microorganisms that form in organic growing mediums act as filters and buffers, ensuring the pH remains between 6.5 and 7.0.

5 – Temperature & Humidity Settings

In basic terms, humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air, and it plays a crucial role in determining the level of evaporation in marijuana plants. When humidity levels are low, your plants take in more water and nutrition. Like all weed plants, the humidity and temperature requirements for Blue Dream change as it moves through its growth cycle.

In the vegetative stage, Blue Dream needs a high level of humidity, but it requires far less as it moves through the flowering stage. There is a clear relationship between humidity and temperature which all marijuana growers must understand. The percentage of absorbable water is dictated by the temperature.

For instance, air takes in 7.2 ml of water at a temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit and 100% humidity. At 32 degrees, the air takes in 5 ml of water, which explains why the air feels ‘drier’ during the hot months.

As seedlings, make sure you keep the Blue Dream strain in a temperature range of 72 – 78 degrees and a humidity range of 30-50%. You can slightly increase the humidity to around 55% after a few weeks, but this is still below the 70% humidity level recommended for other strains at the beginning of the vegetative stage.

By the time you reach flowering, begin to lower the humidity level by 5% per week until it is in the 30-40% range. Blue Dream thrives in warmer conditions, so bump the temperature up to around 80-85 degrees during the flowering stage. When growing indoors, you can adjust the humidity level in a variety of ways. A humidifier is the easiest option for increasing humidity, and a dehumidifier is the best way to lower the level.

6 – Adding the Correct Lighting

This is a tip specifically for indoor growers. Lighting is an essential element of marijuana growth, as it makes a substantial difference in the quality and quantity of the crop. If you are growing Blue Dream outdoors in the right climate, you should have no concerns. Just remember that it will flower in a subtropical or Mediterranean climate in October.

As an indoor grower, you can cultivate Blue Dream anytime as long as you have the right temperature, humidity, and light settings in your grow room. New growers often forget that it’s the darkness that makes all the difference in a plant’s growth cycle. The length of time that you expose Blue Dream to complete darkness will dictate when it transitions from vegetative to flowering stage.

As a rule of thumb, your Blue Dream seedlings should receive 16-24 hours of light, and clones need 18-24 hours a day. During the vegetative stage, make sure your plants are on an 18-6 light schedule, which changes to 12-12 during flowering. Your Blue Dream plants will not start to flower until you routinely expose them to the 12 hours of light, 12 hours of dark schedule. At this point, they respond as if the fall season is about to come and enters the flowering stage.

If you don’t provide adequate light, your Blue Dream plants will begin stretching upwards in a desperate search for blue light. This results in slender plants that lead to a small harvest. As a result, we recommend using grow lights with a full spectrum of UV rays. Poor lighting choices include high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights, as they don’t have the correct level of blue light (they only possess a maximum of 4% – one-third of the minimum requirement of 12%).

7 – Wait 9-10 Weeks for Blue Dream to Flower Indoors

Assuming you are growing Blue Dream indoors, you’ll want to wait 9-10 weeks for it to flower if you want the best possible harvest. Once your seeds germinate, transfer them to a small pot with a suitable growing medium. Make sure you store them in a room with the correct humidity, temperature, and lighting levels.

Be careful not to overwater the plant in the early stages. You will know if you’re guilty of this mistake if the leaves turn a pale or yellowish color. If this happens, put a fan on them to stop water stagnation and carefully mist or lightly water the plants until their leaves return to a healthy color.

In most cases, your Blue Dream plant should be ready for the flowering stage after 8-9 weeks of total growth. As we mentioned in tip #6, you must change the light cycle so that you expose the plants to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of complete darkness. After a couple of weeks, the buds should begin to pop up.

After a month of flowering, you can expect THC-laden trichomes to start showing on the buds.

You will know that it’s time to harvest when at least 70% of the pistils have turned an orange or light brown color. If you wait too long, all of the pistils will change color, and this impacts the potency. You can err on the side of caution and only harvest when 50% of the pistils switch to the right color, but your Blue Dream nuggets won’t be as potent. It is a delicate balancing act, and will probably take a few growth cycles to get right.

8 – How to Harvest Blue Dream Marijuana

There is little difference in yield whether you grow Blue Dream indoors or outdoors. It is capable of producing an incredible 15-21 ounces per square meter indoors. We have heard of growers generating over 20 ounces per plant outdoors too. Based on L.A. prices, you are looking at up to $9,000 worth of Blue Dream if you dedicate an entire square meter to the plant.

Once your plants are ready to harvest, it is time to cut them down. Please remember that Blue Dream is a tall and large plant, which means it is likely to be extremely bushy. As a result, you’ll probably have to spend a significant amount of time trimming it before the drying and curing processes.

If you’re in a rush to enjoy the fruits of your labor, you can dry and cure Blue Dream for a much shorter period than with many other strains. It is not unusual to spend just eight days drying and seven days curing. Admittedly, you will enjoy a much stronger, more flavorful experience if you wait a few weeks, but you’ll still enjoy the relaxing yet energizing effect, which ultimately transitions into euphoria.

Final Thoughts on Growing Blue Dream Marijuana

The Blue Dream marijuana strain is one of the biggest sellers in Colorado, California, and Washington, and has been the #1 seller in several states over the last few years. The main problem, coincidentally, with Blue Dream is its popularity – it is mass-produced to the point where it can suffer terribly in quality.

You can navigate this problem by growing your own. Follow the tips above, and you should enjoy a bountiful harvest. Once you have trimmed, dried and cured it, use Blue Dream to boost your level of creativity because it is one of the best strains around for those seeking inspiration.

Blue Dream is also very popular amongst women in need of relief from the pain caused by menstrual symptoms. It also acts as a bronchodilator and is said to be effective when used to treat depression, headaches, and anxiety. Once you get the hang of it, Blue Dream is one of the most straightforward strains to grow.