How Do I Strengthen My Plant Stems?
If you are new to the growing marijuana hobby, its going to be important for you to know that you should try to ensure your weed plant stems are as big and strong as possible. It’s really not that big of a deal to do and luckily marijuana grows like a ‘weed’ so it will be super easy to accomplish as well.
Marijuana stems are strengthened by introducing a fan to the grow area. The plant will grow a thicker stronger stem to combat the wind. Introducing fertilizer during the vegetative phase is recommended to give the marijuana plants the nutrition it requires to grow bigger thicker stems.
As you can see, it is fairly simple to encourage your marijuana plants to grow some thick stalks. To help you with this process, in this article, I will explain why you would want to thicken/strengthen the plant stems as well as how to properly introduce a fan and fertilizer to the plant. There should be some other valuable information to help you with growing your marijuana.
How Do You Make Pot Plant Stems Thicker and Stronger?
If you want to do something that other growers are not doing, then including potassium silicate to your fertilizing schedule will help your weed plants grow bigger and stronger. I don’t hear anyone in forums talking about this very much and I am not sure why. Oh wait, it’s because nobody that knows is talking about it. I am talking about it though.
Potassium silicate will greatly increase the strength and size of your plant and its stems. I would recommend using it during the vegetative stage only, however, adding it every 3rd watering during flower won’t harm your plants.
Speaking of fertilizer, getting yourself a really good vegetative stage fertilizer is a wise choice and will guarantee your plant stems are good and strong. There are many on the market and most manufactured for marijuana will be just fine. This fertilizer on Amazon is a good place to start. Make sure to introduce it when your plant is about 10 days old.
Fertilizing doesn’t stop at the vegetative stage. In fact, fertilizing during flowering when the buds are growing is probably more important. Make sure you do it throughout the life of your weed plants.
Adding a fan strengthens the plant’s stems as the plant will grow bigger and stronger to combat the wind. A fan also helps to circulate oxygen and CO2 in the grow space which also improves plant growth. If you have a grow tent with an intake and outtake set-up, you might not need another fan, however ,it doesn’t hurt. A fan will also help to prevent mold forming in the space.
Root booster helps to encourage a larger root system which, in turn, provides more nutrients to the weed plants and that makes the plants stems and everything else stronger and bigger. Root booster will offer different nutrients than vegetative and flowering fertilizers. This means when you combine all of these you are going to end up with a strong plant producing huge yields.
Something that some growers might cheap out on is their lighting. I understand why because some lights can cost a small fortune and at first you might not really know what you should get. So, it seems like purchasing an affordable light and upgrading down the road is the right thing to do. It’s not, though.
The light intensity should mimic the sun as much as possible. You want your weed plants to grow to their maximum size.
If your goal when growing weed is to yield as much as possible then invest in your grow and spend as much as you can afford. It might not even cost as much as you think. I really like this LED grow light for two to three plants.
Something you might of never known or thought of is having the temperature in the grow space as consistent as possible
More consistent daytime to nighttime temperatures will promote more strength and size. Especially if you keep the temp on the warmer side. Experienced growers know that letting the grow space cool slightly at night helps plants grow and go through their natural process of producing and releasing oxygen.
In some regions of the world where marijuana is grown successfully outdoors, the temp stays extremely warm at night with no issues at all.
Grow in the biggest pots possible. If the plant’s roots are restricted it only makes sense that the plant’s growth will be limited. I would recommend not growing a pot plant in anything smaller than a 7-gallon pot. Go for a 10 gallon if you can make that happen.
Of course, it’s possible for a pot plant to grow in a small plant. You just won’t get the size of buds you’re looking for. This also means stem growth will be limited if the roots get root bound.
What Will Happen if the Stem of a Plant is Weak?
The biggest issue with having weak stems is when the plants are growing buds (flowering stage) you need that really strong stem and stalk growth to support the buds. Buds get huge and are very heavy.
Don’t ever discount the weight of multiple buds growing and how they can easily cause a plant to snap. Especially a weak stemmed plant.
The other issue is the plant with a weaker stem will most likely produce smaller buds than a plant with bigger stronger stems.
What Causes Weak Stems in Pot Plants?
Weak stems can be a genetic problem but when it comes to weed it is usually because the plants haven’t been given any fertilizer or been exposed to much wind, if any at all.
Of course, it could be from other reasons but the ones I offer in this article are the more common causes of weak stems.
An Alternative Fix for a Weak Marijuana Stem/Stalk
This might be too obvious but if you feel you are going to run into issues when your buds start growing, then put some stakes in your pots and tie the plants to them.
Another option is to tie the plant up to the top of your grow tent or something else taller than the plant, if you’re not using a tent.
You can also do some LST on your pot plants. When you do low stress training, you are essentially training the plant to grow horizontally. This allows all of the bud sites to grow at the same rate and size as they will all receive equal lighting throughout the life of the plant.
Whatever you need to do to ensure the buds don’t snap the plant, just take care of it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I just want to mention that ensuring your plants have the strongest stems possible is not a hard thing to do.
Genetically, you might run into the odd plant that’s just not cooperating but for the most part you should find that marijuana plants are very adaptable and will respond positively to most things you do to help them grow. They aren’t called “weed” plants for no reason.
Most importantly, make sure you are doing what you can to increase stem strength when the plant is very young. After 10 days, start applying everything I have given you in this article and you will have success. Good luck.
Related Growing Marijuana World Articles
Pruning Weed to Increase Yield – What You Need to Know
How Often Should I Feed My Weed Plants Nutrients? (For Bigger Yields)