Bacteria’s Role in Flowering

Experienced growers know that cannabis has two primary stages of growth—vegetative and flowering (also called productive).

It’s in these stages that plants should experience an explosion of growth, first in roots and foliage (vegetative), and then in buds (flowering/productive). The transition is stimulated by a change in light, commonly switching from 18-hour light cycles (or more) to 12 hours, but there’s more that goes into a successful transition than flipping a switch.

Though the transition might seem like just another step in the growth process, it’s one that can have major implications on the ability of a crop to avoid complications and reach its full potential. And bacteria have an important role to play in each stage. Ary Molano, an agronomist and Vice President of Business Development at BluePlanet Labs, gives us a closer look at what’s going on before and after the shift to flowering, to help make sure your transition provides the greatest possible benefit to your plants and overall yield.

Developing Autonomy

Vegetative development depends on agroecological conditions and agronomic management and can have several phases. The flowering or production stage also has several phases until the point of harvest.

Once we know the different stages, we know the needs of the plants, and we can formulate specific bio-inputs for that stage of development, and achieve maximum efficiency of the plant. In the first stages of the vegetative phase, the main structure to develop is the root, which is why we have to guarantee the biological life of the soil and its biodiversity. Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria (PGPB), such as those in Blue Planet products, can play a big role in making sure key nutrients are more bioavailable to the plants, improving growth of roots and shoots and resistance to disease and mildew.

As their nutritional structures and immune systems develop, the plants gain autonomy to withstand the inclemencies of weather (if outdoors) and phytosanitary problems. This will ultimately allow them to produce more in quantity and quality with lower production costs by minimizing the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

Maximizing Flowering

There is not a single right time to transition cannabis from vegetative to flowering. The vegetative phase can take anywhere from a few weeks to more than a dozen, and flowering can last just as long. What is most important to understand is the capacity of your production system.

More growth means more required space, more nutrients, more oxygen, etc. Good flowering is the result of executing a good agronomic management plan, which focuses on the knowledge of the plant’s productive system in its own agroecosystem.

That also takes into account all of the bio-corrective measures for environmental maintenance. Successful flowering does not necessarily mean good production. If a nutritional need is not met, it can induce floral abortion, or affect the maturation of the bud, loss of quality, lack of uniformity in sizes, and low yields. PGPB treatments during the flowering stage will continue to promote better nutrient uptake, faster growth, and a larger, higher-quality yield.