GRODAN BASICS
Introduction to Crop Steering
Indoor cannabis cultivation has several benefits, including the ability to control our climate, light intensity,
and irrigation which plays a significant role in regulating the way our plants grow. Every action we take from
the adjustment of day/night temperature, humidity, light intensity, day length, irrigation volume and
frequency, to the timing and way we defoliate our plants, steers the plant’s physical and chemical growth
response. So, it’s essential to understand how these factors affect a plant’s development and how to use
them to your advantage. By taking regular measurements of climate and rootzone conditions in
combination with tracking plant growth you can determine how to get the best performance out of your
crop.
What is Crop Steering?
Crop steering is a method of managing
plant growth by adjusting irrigation and
climate to achieve a desired response from
the plant. By adjusting environmental and
root-zone conditions growers can steer
plant growth vegetatively or generatively.
Both vegetative and generative steering
can be use at every stage of growth to
keep the plants in balance throughout
its lifecycle. Vegetative Growth is when the Generative Growth is the
plant produces roots, leaves and development of fruits and flowers
stems for a strong structure
Crop Steering Using Irrigation
Crop steering can be achieved in part through irrigation. The volume, frequency, and timing of
irrigation events applied influences the plant’s response and steers the growth. Adjusting the irrigation
strategy specifically for the environment, genetics, and stage of development will optimize the plant’s
growth and maximize final product yield and quality.
+Chart shows examples of
Root Zone Vegetative Generative irrigation steering. These
are specific to certain
WC
crops and varieties so in
WC Decrease Night some cases something that
Start - Stop Time creates a generative action
Irrigation Frequency in one type of plant might
be a vegetative action for
EC
another. So, it’s important
Temp Substrate
to test them and measure
how the plants react.
If you want your plants to grow more vegetatively, you can implement a vegetative irrigation strategy by:
• Maintaining a higher overall WC in the rootzone
• Having smaller dry backs between day time irrigation events and overnight
• Using small shot sizes at a high frequency of irrigation
• Lowering the EC at the dripper and in the rootzone
• Maintaining higher rootzone temperatures.
These actions will help the plants grow and recover from transplant faster while maintaining vigor.
If you want your plants to be more generative, you might:
• Decrease the overall WC in the rootzone
• Increase the dry backs between each irrigation and overnight by delaying the first irrigation
of the day and stopping irrigation earlier before night
• Decrease irrigation frequency while increasing the volume of each shot
• Increase the dripper and rootzone EC
• Maintain lower substrate temps.
To figure out how each cultivar would react it’s important to try out these strategies while
performing regular crop registration of plant height, node spacing, root development, overall
plant development, and health. This will help determine how each cultivar will respond to the
irrigation steering.
Crop Steering Using Climate
Like irrigation, climate has a profound effect on how the plants grow and can be used as a tool to
steer growth. Climate steering techniques shown in the next chart should be tested to see how they
affect each cultivar. For some plants, switching the day night cycle to 12 hours on and 12 hours off
are used for inducing flower. Like the change in photoperiod, other climate factors can be changed
to steer the plant’s growth vegetatively or generatively. Having overall high temperatures is more
vegetative, keeping the plant more active while overall lower temperatures slows growth and
mimics the natural seasonal changes that plant would experience towards the end of its lifecycle,
thus steering it more generative. Changes in the difference between day and night temperatures
can potentially control stretching, with big differences increasing inter-node spacing and small
differences decreasing. The speed of the temperature changes from day to night / night to day,
increasing or decreasing humidity, the number of air exchanges in the room, and in greenhouses,
the heating temperature used (pipe temperature) also helps to steer the plant. So it’s important to
keep track of climate parameters in relation to crop development.
+Chart shows examples
Climate Vegetative Generative of climate steering. These
Temperature 24 hours are specific to certain
crops and varieties so in
Difference Tday-Tnight some cases something
that creates a generative
Speed Temp Change
action in one type of plant
Humidity Deficit (gr/m3) % might be a vegetative
action for another type.
Ventilation /
Air Exchange So it’s important to test
them and measure how
Pipe Temperature
the plants react.
Knowing How and When to Steer Plant Growth (Crop Registration)
Most every indoor gardeners know how much they grow per light and how good it was but knowing
how they got that result and how to repeat the result time after time is key.
“The more you know the better you grow”
Having a thorough understanding of how your plants develop is a critical step to growing a consistent
and quality crop time after time. Notes on how the plants develop and react to climate and irrigation
conditions will be critical in helping determine how your plants react to the different steering strategies
outlined above. At every stage of growth you should take detailed notes on the root development
speed, quality, plant height, stem diameter, leaf/stem color, and node spacing. You should also note
the time it takes flowers to develop and how they fill out, in addition to rootzone WC and EC
measurements in relation to climate conditions. All of these parameters will help you determine the
optimum irrigation and climate strategies to apply to your plants at the right time throughout the
plant’s lifecycle.
For more information about crop steering, contact your local Grodan account manager or contact us
via www.grodan101.com.
Disclaimer: Neither Grodan nor its employees are cultivators or manufacturers of cannabis. Neither GRODAN nor its employees advocate for or encourage the
cultivation of marijuana. GRODAN and its employees shall only engage with those state-licensed or state-approved marijuana business who maintain active licenses
and constant compliance with the respective state and local licensing authorities.
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