Why Are My Plants Growing Slowly?
Even though marijuana grows like a weed most of the time, there are moments when a grower feels the plants just aren’t producing fast enough. The great thing about growing marijuana is that you should be able to notice some sort of growth or movement pretty much every day. So, if you don’t notice anything happening within a two to three-day period, then you may have a problem.
Why are your weed plants growing slowly? There are many reasons why a marijuana plant is growing slowly. These include (but are not limited to) old seeds, over watering, not enough heat, not enough humidity, poor lighting, poor drainage, plants need fertilizer, bugs. If you solve these issues promptly, then your plants will grow as they should.
As you can see, the reasons your weed plants aren’t growing very fast could be something as simple as adding heat to a grow tent or as complex as trying to get rid of pests in your soil. If you grow weed indoors, these issues are much easier to fix than if the plants are outdoors, as you have much more control over the plant’s environment when kept inside. In this article, I will go over each issue and what you can do to remedy the situation. Let’s get to it!
Reasons Your Marijuana Plants are Growing Slowly
Older Marijuana Seeds
Whether you grow indoors or outdoors, if you use older seeds, this can affect how fast the plants grow. Typically, however, it’s just the seedling stage that moves slower than usual and once you are in the vegetative stage for a couple of weeks, things should start to pick up. There isn’t anything you can do to fix this issue aside from getting newer seeds for your next grow.
Over Watering
Over watering can cause a weed plant’s growth to slow down. The plant starts to drown and then growth almost comes to a halt. Fixing this includes watering less often. You can check the soil to see if water is required by sticking your finger into the top inch or two. If damp, don’t water as, chances are, the soil lower down around the roots is probably wet enough.
Not Enough Heat
Marijuana plants enjoy heat. Their natural habitats are very warm regions. If you try to grow marijuana in cooler temperatures, the plants will grow much slower. A plant grown at a cooler temperature will not produce buds like you want it to.
The temperature your plants receive should be between 20 and 30 Celsius (68 Fahrenheit to 86 Fahrenheit) during the day and can be lower at night. During the flowering stage, you will want the daytime and nighttime temps to be at the lower range to mimic the fall weather. I have an article on the ideal temps and humidity you should check out after this article.
Not Enough Humidity Available
You would think that if you are watering properly and making sure the plants have the heat/warmth they need that everything will take care of itself. Not always. Sometimes weed plants need a bit more humidity. Again, I linked to an article above about this topic. Please check it out.
Marijuana plants will prefer a relative humidity of about 50% (if you can manage it). Having the humidity at around 60% is even better, but necessary. Do your best not to let the humidity drop lower than 40% or you will have problems with the growth of the plants.
Poor Lighting
One of the biggest culprits in how well your weed plants grow is dependent on the light they receive. If they are out in full sun every day, then you won’t have a problem. If you are growing indoors, it becomes more of a problem. Lights that aren’t strong enough will not produce the results you want.
I highly recommend you check out my article on 1000-watt lighting for marijuana and see if that can inspire you to try bigger better lighting. I know from experience that more powerful grow lights will give you more and bigger buds. Small lights will still grow a plant however, they could be hindering the speed the plant grows at and how much you end up harvesting.
Poor Drainage
Poor drainage can cause problems. The roots of your plants should not sit in pools of water. It will slow the growth or worse kill the plant. If you are using soil, only try adding perlite or coco coir. Another option is to use a cloth pot instead of plastic or clay. If you need to pop holes in the pot, that’s always another option. Place the pot up on a couple of pieces of wood or something to elevate it so any extra liquid in the pot can easily drip out between watering’s.
Plants Need Fertilizer
Marijuana plants do well when they are fertilized. On the other hand, if they aren’t fertilized their growth can slow down significantly. Fertilizer is food for your plants.
A couple of things to watch out for when fertilizing is: 1) use fertilizer specifically for the growing phase the plant is currently in whether vegetative or flowering, so it gets the nutrients it needs. 2) following the manufacturer’s instructions on the packaging for the recommended dosage is extremely important or you could end up causing the plants to have a chemical burn.
Bugs/Pests
This might be more of a problem, if you are growing outside in mother earth. It isn’t uncommon to have pests in indoor grows if the soil is old or bugs just have easy access to your pots. Having these little critters eating your roots or leaves will cause the plant to slow down it’s growth and possibly die.
It is important to visually inspect your plants leaves and stalks (top of the soil as well) to try and identify when a problem is starting to appear. It is vital to act immediately, as it doesn’t take very long for a bug infestation to destroy your plants.
Conclusion
As you can see, there can be many reasons your pot plants aren’t growing as quickly as you think they should be. I would consider all points listed above and go through each one individually, ensuring you are providing the plants with all conditions needed to grow quickly and produce large, juicy buds.
Good luck!
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