8 Tips for Growing Lemon Haze Cannabis [Grower’s Guide]

There are hundreds of marijuana strains to choose from, and in this series, we hope to provide you with a detailed list of growing guides complete with tips to successfully grow a variety of strains. This edition features the delightful Lemon Haze, a strain known for its gorgeous citrus taste and smell. It genuinely smells like a bunch of lemons, and the tangy taste is a real treat for the senses.

This sativa-dominant (70%) hybrid is a cross of Silver Haze and Lemon Skunk. With a THC content ranging from 15% to 25%, you should be careful when selecting Lemon Haze because it could provide you with more than what you bargained for. One of the benefits of Lemon Haze is that you enjoy relaxation without falling prey to couch-lock.

It should provide you with extra energy which makes it an ideal choice if you need to complete a task, and it is also the social smoke of choice for an increasing number of users. When you consume Lemon Haze, you can expect a balanced high where you feel euphoria, but it never threatens to overwhelm you.

Lemon Haze has become a popular medicinal strain and is used by individuals with mental health issues such as depression and social anxiety disorder. This strain is also said to be effective if you suffer from back pains or muscle spasms. If all of the above sounds good, keep reading to learn more about growing Lemon Haze.

1 – Should I Grow Lemon Haze Indoors or Outdoors?

Expert growers maintain that Lemon Haze produces the greatest yield when grown outdoors in a warm and sunny climate. As it is extremely resistant to pests and mold, novice growers may be able to take a chance with an outdoor grow. If you go down this route, expect your crop to be ready for harvest in the middle of October. It should produce up to 18 ounces per plant.

However, Lemon Haze is a versatile plant, and you may find it easier to grow it indoors. Although some growers report a flowering time of just seven weeks, 9-10 weeks is more likely for most individuals. It produces up to 15 ounces per square meter planted.

2 – The Right Way to Transplant Your Lemon Haze Seeds

Don’t underestimate the importance of proper transplantation of your seedlings! When you get the timing right, you can add several days of resin production to the final weeks of growth. It also ensures a lack of transplant ‘shock’, which means no time is wasted waiting for your Lemon Haze plants to recover from broken roots or pot binding.

After germination of the seeds, place them in a solo cup first to allow water to drain out of the bottom. Your seedlings should start showing signs of growth within a couple of days. Once they reach the point where their leaves have reached the edges of the solo cup, you have to transplant them to a new container. Otherwise, they will get wrapped around the outside of the soil, preventing the plant from using nutrients and water properly.

Rather than removing the whole plant, it may be possible to simply cut away the solo cup. Run a butter knife around the outside. This will loosen the soil, so when you turn it upside down it is easy to pat out the seedling and soil. Transfer the seedling into a new container (a one-gallon pot at the very least) and gently place it into a new hole. When you do it correctly, you won’t disturb the roots.

The process of moving your plants from one container to another can cause ‘shock.’ Wait until the plants’ roots have started to fill the container but transplant it before the roots begin wrapping around the edges. It is important to water your plants 24-48 hours before transplantation as it helps the growing medium stay together.

3 – Add Silica for Greater Yields

You will seldom find a marijuana grow guide that lists silica as an important plant nutrient, but it is certainly an underrated addition to your Lemon Haze crop. Silica is one of the most abundant components of the Earth’s crust; it comprises the sandy beaches we enjoy and is even used to create the glass products used in our daily lives.

Also known as silicon dioxide, silica is a compound formed when silicon comes into contact with oxygen. It is found in large quantities in soil and is also an essential component of plant tissue. The benefits of silica are manifold and include:

• Stronger cell walls which lead to larger stems
• Enhanced resistance to environmental stresses.
• Increased resistance to pests and pathogens.
• A boost in metabolic functions. In other words, silica enables your plants to use CO2 more efficiently.

It is best if you use silica throughout the life cycle of your Lemon Haze plant. Once a plant has absorbed the compound into its cellular structure, the silica can’t be redistributed to other parts of the plant. While plants grown in soil can take in the trace amounts of silica found there, hydroponically grown plants receive zero silica naturally.

When introducing silica, keep the level as low as 20% of the normal feeding rate at first, and increase the dose as the plants enter the bloom phase. There are silica products on the market which are applied as a spray or root feed. Silica is alkaline, which means it will raise the pH of your nutrient solution. When purchasing silicon dioxide, focus on brands with a minimum of 8% of silica.

4 – Speed Up Your Harvest with a Hydroponic System

If you decide to grow your Lemon Haze hydroponically, it means you are going to use an inert growing medium instead of soil. Although it is marketed as an easy way to grow, using a hydroponics system is tricky for the novice grower. It ensures you have total control of your crop, but it also means you are responsible for everything with little room for error.

Hydroponics Set Up

We believe you can get everything you need to set up a basic hydroponic system for a few hundred dollars. Equipment includes, but is not limited to:

• Lemon Haze seeds or clones
• Pots
• Growing medium such as Rockwool or coco coir
• A timer
• pH soil test
• Nutrients
• Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs)

Remember, your plants need light to grow properly which can present a problem for indoor growers. A lot of grow rooms are dark spaces where light gets absorbed rather than reflected. You’ll get the best bang for your buck by painting the walls of your grow room with glossy white paint. Mylar is an even better solution because its reflection rate of 90% means it reflects light and heat efficiently. Make sure you have proper ventilation in your grow room if you use Mylar.

If you elect to use a hydroponic system, here are a few quick tips:

• Use sterile tanks and equipment to prevent the development and spread of pathogens.
• Make sure you use clean water with a pH of 7.0 to circulate through your hydroponic system. Invest in a Reverse Osmosis (RO) system if necessary.
• Keep humidity levels between 60% and 70% during the early vegetative stage and lower it slowly as your plants grow. By the flowering stage, humidity levels should be down at 40%.
• Test the pH of your growing medium regularly. For a hydroponics system, it needs to be in the 5.5 to 6.0 range to ensure your Lemon Haze plants absorb the nutrients efficiently.
• Keep detailed records because it is impossible to improve what you can’t measure. Novices can get lucky, and experienced growers can have bad crops. By keeping notes, you understand what works and what doesn’t.

5 – What Is the Right Temperature to Grow My Lemon Haze?

The temperature in your grow room is essential for the photosynthesis of your Lemon Haze plants. As plants are unable to create their own heat, they are extremely dependent on their environment. In general terms, photosynthesis can occur without problems at temperatures between 60- and 85-degrees Fahrenheit. Your plants will create enough sugar regardless of the temperature, but if they grow in excessively cold or warm climates, they are less able to send the sugars to the areas in need.

The precise temperature of your grow room depends on the strain you’re growing, and whether you’re using a hydroponics system. Lemon Haze thrives in a moderately warm climate and prefers daytime temperatures of between 70- and 80-degrees Fahrenheit. You can slightly increase the temperature if the grow room contains an elevated level of carbon dioxide.

When using a hydroponics system, make sure the water flowing through is at 65 degrees to ensure a good level of nutrient absorption. It is also a good temperature to prevent algae buildup. A daytime temperature of 75 degrees will keep your Lemon Haze plants happy. At night, or when the lights are off, reduce the temperature by no more than 10 degrees.

We recommend investing in a digital thermo/hygrometer which makes it easy to measure and monitor the temperature and relative humidity in the grow room. Measure the temperature in the shade at several locations in the room. Add a few fans to facilitate high-quality airflow.

6 – Finding the Best Soil

As you’ll see in tip #7, we recommend growing your marijuana organically if possible. If you are a novice, you can still do your bit for the environment by spending around $20 a bag for a premixed super soil. These packages contain all the nutrients your Lemon Haze plants need. If you are an experienced gardener looking for a challenge, you can also try to create organic super soil.

Step one is to find a high-quality soil; we recommend loam. Next, you have to add soil amendments. Remember, plants require Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium as a basic starting point. Do your research to find out which amendments contain high levels of these nutrients.

For example, bat guano and worm castings are rich in Nitrogen. Rock dust and chicken manure will boost your soil’s Phosphorus levels, while kelp meal and compost add a shot of Potassium. There are also amendments which can change your soil’s airflow, capacity to retain water, and overall density. Peat moss is excellent for boosting water retention for example.

Tilling Your Soil

Once you have added your amendments, begin tilling the soil by using a rototiller or by digging. This is a time-consuming process because you must ensure the amendments are mixed properly, and that every part of the bed or pot has been reached. Water your soil every few days until it is cool. By now, it is ready for your clones or seeds.

You need to till your soil in year one, but there is some debate as to whether you need to repeat the process annually. Those who are against a yearly tilling claim it damages the beneficial organisms. However, when you decide to till the soil every year, you can add amendments and make sure your soil is ready for the next crop.

When in doubt, analyze soil samples at the start of the growing season, and again at the end. Compare the two samples to decide if tilling benefitted your Lemon Haze garden.

7 – Should I Use Organic or Synthetic Fertilizer?

At this stage, marijuana growers are spoiled for choice in almost every aspect of cultivation. You can choose between a variety of organic and synthetic fertilizers for your crop.

The synthetic version has been used by farmers since the late 19th century and is now the standard in almost every form of agriculture. However, as the environmental impact of using these chemical formulas has been made abundantly clear, we’re seeing a large number of gardeners revert to organics.

Synthetic Fertilizers

As you can probably guess, synthetic fertilizers contain chemical nutrients and are developed to include specific amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. You will see an N-P-K ratio on packages. Synthetics are absorbed faster than organics, which means you can quickly increase or decrease the level of nutrients in your soil.

Also, you have precise control over the levels of nutrients because they have a specific ratio. Therefore, it is easy to keep track of what you give to your Lemon Haze weed; whereas it is almost impossible to do so with organic fertilizers. Synthetics are cheaper and easy to purchase because every garden store sells them.

On the downside, synthetic fertilizers do not improve the quality of the soil over time. Indeed, they are more likely to reduce the quality which results in nutrient runoff. Therefore, your marijuana plants don’t get all the nutrients they need, AND the nutrient runoff damages the local ecosystem. As the soil quickly absorbs the nutrients, there is also a risk of overfeeding.

Organic Fertilizers

Although they aren’t as ‘quick and easy’ as synthetics, we recommend organic fertilizers because they improve the quality of the soil over time. As a result, you can continue to use the soil for future harvests. Organic fertilizers release nutrients on a slow and steady basis which reduces the risk of overfeeding.

When you use organics, you can expect improvements in airflow, water retention, and overall soil quality. They are less likely to cause nutrient runoff which is great news for the environment. A fertilizer is ‘organic’ if it contains nothing but vegetable or animal waste products. Examples include fish emulsions, compost, worm castings, and bone meal. Rockdust is also classified as organic even though it is not animal or vegetable waste.

As for downsides, organic matter takes a long time to break down which means your plants have to wait for their meal. It is particularly a problem in colder climates, so you need to watch your Lemon Haze plants to make sure they don’t show signs of nutrient deficiency. Organic fertilizers are also more likely to attract pests.

8 – How to Get Rid of Aphids and Other Pests

Aphids are a major problem faced by any marijuana grower regardless of the strain. They suck the sap from leaves, carry diseases, and bring other pests to the area. You should be able to spot aphids with the naked eye because they are usually 1-3 mm long and are green, black, or brown. These parasites have wings which enable them to hop from plant to plant with ease.

You can spot an aphid infestation on your Lemon Haze because they appear in large groups either on the underside of the leaves or around fresh stems. Aphids multiply at lightning speed and can destroy your crop if left alone to cause havoc. As a result, we recommend checking your crop for pests every few days.

Other common pests include thrips and spider mites. When it comes to pests, prevention is unquestionably better than cure. Along with routine inspections, you should maintain a clean and sterile growing environment if possible, a task that is much easier to achieve when growing indoors. Excess fertilizer use attracts pests, and they enjoy warm, dry temperatures in spring. Please note that aphid eggs remain dormant during cold seasons so make sure you clean your growing area after harvest to ensure you don’t suffer from another infestation next season.

Natural predators are a good way to handle pests. Ladybugs feast on aphids but won’t touch your Lemon Haze for example. We would ask you to steer clear of chemical insecticides if possible. Natural alternatives include sprays made from neem oil, insecticidal soap, tomato leaves, garlic, lemon, and vinegar. You can find ‘recipes’ online. Mix up the requisite ingredients, dilute with water and place into a spray can. Mist your leaves (and stems if necessary) with the solution.