8 Tips for Growing Lemon Kush Marijuana [Grower’s Guide]

If you enjoy the citrus aroma and taste of Lemon Kush and would love to cultivate it at home, you’re in luck! In this growing guide, we’ll tell you all you need to know about how to grow Lemon Kush.

First of all, if you’ve never heard of this strain, here’s a quick overview. Lemon Kush is an evenly balanced (50:50) hybrid that can contain up to a whopping 26% THC and 1% CBD. As you can tell by the cannabinoid content, Lemon Kush is not for inexperienced users.

There is some debate over Lemon Kush’s exact parentage. Cannabis breeders Alien Genetics say their version is a cross of Afghan Kush and Lemon G. However, there is reportedly another version of this strain, which is a cross of Lemon Joy and Master Kush.

What there is no doubt about is Lemon Kush’s uplifting, mood-enhancing effects. This strain is also nicely relaxing too, so many users consider it a feel-good strain.

The Lemon Kush strain is a popular choice among medicinal marijuana consumers, too. It reportedly can help to address mood disorders like depression and relieve anxiety and stress.

Keep reading to learn some helpful tips about how to grow Lemon Kush.

1 – Growing Lemon Kush – Indoors or Outdoors?

If you decide to grow outdoors, make sure you use premium quality soil. Do this, and you’ll benefit from a powerful lemon scent, not to mention a substantial yield. To grow Lemon Kush outdoors, you must live in a warm and dry Mediterranean climate. The crop usually is ready for harvesting by early October and typically yields up to 35 ounces per plant.

Although indoor growing is much easier, the downside is you end up with a significantly lower yield. Lemon Kush produces up to 18 ounces per square meter planted when grown indoors and has an average flowering time of 8-9 weeks. Please note that Lemon Kush grows better in organic soil than hydroponic growing mediums such as Rockwool.

2 – Bring Out the Lemon Scent with Compost Tea

The alluring scent of Lemon Kush, along with its potency, are among the most coveted aspects of this strain. You can boost both by adding compost tea to your soil. Its purpose is to add microorganisms that result in stronger, larger, and more potent marijuana plants.

Compost tea is easier to make than you think. All you need is:

• Compost (preferably with developed fungal colonies)
• A nitrogen dense organic product such as fish hydrolysate
• A product high in nutrients such as worm castings
• A source of food for the fungi such as kelp
• Food for bacteria such as molasses
• A large bucket (at least five gallons)
• An air pump with an aerator device at the bottom
• A mesh bag (400-microns is best)

You can also buy a ready-made compost tea brewer if you prefer. Overall, it would be best if you let your tea brew for around 36 hours. Dilute your tea so that it is one-part compost tea, 20 parts water, and add it to the roots of your plants. However, you can make the solution stronger if you wish because organic compost tea won’t damage the roots. (For a more detailed explanation of how to make compost tea, check out this article).

3 – Higher Humidity is Okay

Unlike certain marijuana strains, Lemon Kush handles higher humidity levels well. Your seedlings can deal with a humidity (RH) level of up to 80%. During the vegetative stage, you can lower the RH to 65-70%.

Once you force the plants into flowering, begin reducing the humidity level steadily. Reduce the RH to 50% within two weeks; however, you don’t have to lower it much more, unlike other strains.

If you need to reduce humidity, try the following:

• Increase the supply of cool air
• Water plants at first light
• Place a dehumidifier in the room
• Put your exhaust fan on the highest setting as it will push hot air that holds more water out of the grow room

If you need to increase humidity, follow these simple steps:

• Reduce the power emitted by your exhaust fan
• Purchase a humidifier
• Mist your plants during the vegetative stage. Please don’t do it in the flowering stage, or else you’ll increase the risk of bud rot.

4 – What About Temperature?

As a general rule, Lemon Kush enjoys a warmer climate. As a result, keep the daytime temperatures between 70- and 80-degrees Fahrenheit for as long as possible. Do not allow the nighttime temperature to fall by more than 10-15 degrees.

You must also be aware of the relationship between humidity and temperature. Your grow room’s temperature affects the amount of water vapor the air is capable of holding. Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air. Therefore, when you push temperatures up, you should push humidity down, and vice versa.

There is a difference between an RH of 70% at 77 degrees than at 68 degrees because the warmer air holds more moisture. Here’s a simple example:

If you cool a 77 degree grow room by just four degrees, the RH in the room will increase from 70% to 80%. As you are lowering humidity during the flowering stage, naturally, the temperature in the grow room should be increased slightly. For example, the daytime temperature should still be around 70-75 degrees by the late flowering stage.

5 – Why LED Lighting is the Best Option

If you’re growing cannabis for the first time, the sheer range of lighting and power options is overwhelming. You can choose from:

• Fluorescent lights
• LEDs
• Metal Halide (MH) lamps
• High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights
• High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting.

Choose a lighting type that provides a full spectrum of light similar to what is provided by natural sunlight. LED lighting is the choice of professionals because it provides dozens of spectra and can be fine-tuned to any wavelength.

LEDs are also cost-effective because they last for years and provide plenty of brightness without having to break the bank.

While other lighting types are high maintenance, LED lights seldom let you down. They don’t need replacement bulbs like Metal Halide and HPS lighting. Plus, their chips don’t dim for the duration of their lifetime, which can be up to 50,000 hours!

6 – Use Organic Fertilizers like Bat Guano

Are you against the idea of using chemical fertilizers and prefer organic options? If so, consider using bat feces, also known as bat guano, to give your soil a boost. As well as fertilizing the soil, bat guano acts as a fungicide and activates compost. Since it is organic, it provides you with a far better tasting crop than ones fed with chemicals.

Fortunately, you can buy it at a gardening shop, so you don’t need to go exploring in a cave to find some! You can also create bat guano tea by adding three tablespoons of guano pellets to 3.5 liters of water. Leave the mixture for up to two days. Stir it thoroughly, then add to your Lemon Kush plants’ soil three times a week.

Believe it or not, there are specific types of bat guano depending on the type of nutrients you need. For example, Indonesian guano is high in phosphorus and low in nitrogen. Jamaican guano is high in phosphorus, while Mexican bat guano is high in nitrogen.

7 – Other Fertilizer Options

As Lemon Kush grows best in the soil, we’ve decided to focus on tips for boosting soil quality in this guide. That’s why we’ve come up with a few more fertilizer options if bat guano doesn’t tickle your fancy! Animal manure improves growth during the vegetative stage and is cheaper than chemical fertilizers. Also, it is a whole lot better for the environment.

When choosing one of these options, it is essential to complete a process known as ‘hot composting’ (unless otherwise stated). Hot composting involves adding manure to a compost heap for up to eight weeks before adding it to the soil. You need to add water during this period and turn the heap every couple of weeks.

If you follow these instructions, you should be able to keep the compost’s temperature between 120 and 170 degrees. This warm environment kills parasites and other harmful organisms. It also eliminates any weeds that are in the form of seeds.

Animal Manure Options

• Chicken: This type of manure has almost 3% nitrogen in some cases and includes phosphorus and potassium. Therefore, chicken feces contain the important NPK trilogy of nutrients. It can take up to nine months to compost it, but it is light and easy to transport.
• Rabbit: You don’t need to hot compost rabbit manure. You can add it directly to the soil. It contains NPK, along with calcium, zinc, and magnesium. You will also enjoy the fact that rabbit manure doesn’t have much of an odor.
• Pig: Unfortunately, commercial farming has resulted in a different method of feeding pigs. While pig manure used to be a popular fertilizer, it now contains harmful bacteria. Hot composting solves the problem, and it is high in phosphorus.
• Horse/Cow: Both options have reasonable levels of potassium and nitrogen. Again, you need to hot compost to get rid of pathogens.
• Sheep: Sheep manure is odorless in pellet form and can be added to the soil right away. It is filled with potassium and also contains nitrogen and phosphorus.

8 – Final Lemon Kush Growing Tips

There are so many aspects to growing that it is impossible to fit everything into just eight tips. As a result, we added some bitesize tips to conclude.

• Prune young plants: Good pruning ensures all parts of your plant receive adequate light. Bear in mind that it is best to prune in the vegetative stage. Pruning causes mild shock to the plant and stunts growth for a few days. Allow ample time for the plants to recover before pruning again.
• Super cropping: This process involves bending the branches of the main buds. It ensures more nutrients reach the buds and makes them heavier. Place a branch between your thumb and index finger, and start squeezing gently at first. Keep applying pressure until you hear a cracking or snapping sound. When you do this properly, the branch will correct itself in a matter of hours.
• Get your container size right: If the pot is too small for the plant, it could stunt growth as the root system has nowhere to go. However, it can take the root system too long to find the soil and reach the nutrients it needs with a large pot. As a Kush strain, Lemon Kush needs a larger container than a Skunk strain because of its more extended flowering period.

We hope you enjoyed our Lemon Kush growing guide. Let us know in the comments how you got on growing the Lemon Kush strain.