How Our Third Year Growing Rooftop Cannabis Plants is Going So Far

So far, it's going OK.

We picked up our cannabis clones about a month ago to embark on our third-year adventure of growing cannabis plants on the WW roof. Here's how we're doing so far.

We've been growing cannabis plants in our office since marijuana was legalized in 2015.

Last month, we set up the four clones under an indoor grow light and stashed them in an office crevice. We watered them every day, making sure to soak them until some water came out of the bottom, or until the plants started drinking slowly. Last week, we moved the baby cannabis clones to our rooftop garden, which strangely resembles a tiny house garden that might be featured on a TLC show. During last year's cannabis office grow, we figured out how to set up our cannabis plants for optimum rooftop growth, so we followed that same process this year.

Related: What We Learned In Our Second Year of Growing Weed in the Office

We started by carrying four clones up a ladder to the roof, along with a 6-gallon bucket. Then we took a rope, tied it around the hose, which is connected to a spigot outside our main entrance, and hoisted the hose onto the roof. We also set up a tent, because we know this sun isn't reliable. Each day, we climb a ladder to get to the roof and soak the plants, giving them enough water that a little bit starts to drip out the bottom, as suggested by our former accountant, Deadhead Chris, who had more marijuana growth knowledge than most of the office. This was backed up this year by the folks at Roots, who told us that a large plant in a 45-gallon pot can use 2½ gallons of water on a hot August day. Right now, our boxes are medium-sized, so we're soaking the soil until it starts to drip out the bottom, or about 2 gallons.

So far, they're looking OK. A long Memorial Day weekend may have contributed to the tallest getting dried out. But three are looking healthy, at about 17½ and 24 inches tall, and one is even starting to grow dense, bushy leaves. Within a week of bringing them out from their den with a grow lamp to the sunshine, they've shown major growth, both in height and density. The tallest one might be a goner, constantly falling down, unable to even support itself.

Our plan is to start the clones out in medium-sized cardboard boxes before moving them to 45-gallon Smart Pots. Last year, we got 20-gallon Smart Pots., which were pretty big, and our plants were pretty big, but they were far from the monsters we've seen our friends grow. Along with the four pots, we bought plenty of Roots Organics soil blend to fill them.

Culturally, the morale surrounding the rooftop grow has shifted significantly from last year, when staff was taking Instagrams and begging to help us water. This year, it took us two hours to set up the rooftop garden, and not a single person asked about it. If anything, this is a reminder that this year, we want to grow cannabis that's actually worth consuming. It's no longer cool to grow weed for the novelty of it, not when everyone's mom has a cannabis plant in her backyard. In the coming weeks, we'll be bringing out the big guns: fertilizer.

Follow WW's Office Cannabis Grow on wweek.com.

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