If you enjoy marijuana with a savory taste, then look no further than Blue Cheese. This indica-dominant (80%) strain dominates your senses with its cheesy aroma and delicious, creamy taste. It is a cross of Blueberry and UK Cheese and was developed in Europe.
Blue Cheese is a relatively potent strain with THC levels up to 20% and a CBD content that can reach 2%. It is a favorite among medicinal marijuana patients, who use it to address various health conditions, including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Chronic stress
- Pain
- Insomnia
It’s not just medicinal cannabis consumers who love Blue Cheese either. Recreational Blue Cheese consumers describe its effects as uplifting, relaxing, and ultimately sedating.
If you are interested in cultivating this excellent strain, keep reading our grow guide for some helpful tips.
1 – Where Should I Grow Blue Cheese?
Blue Cheese is a great strain for new growers because it is naturally highly resistant to mold. Unlike other strains from the same family, however, Blue Cheese prefers to grow in a slightly cooler environment. It is a versatile strain that grows well indoors or outdoors and also thrives in soil or a hydroponics setup.
It is a versatile strain that grows well indoors or outdoors and also thrives in soil or a hydroponics setup.
If you grow Blue Cheese indoors, you should find it easy to train. It averages a moderate to high yield of 18 ounces per square meter, and its flowering time is 7-8 weeks. If you grow it outside, make sure it is exposed to relatively low temperatures and is located in an area that enjoys regular, gentle breezes. It is normally ready for harvest by the end of September and yields approximately 19 ounces per plant.
2 – Be Wary During the Vegetative Stage
Rather than growing short and bushy, Blue Cheese may stretch when flowering, which causes it to triple in height. As a result, we recommend keeping this strain below 16 inches high during the vegetative stage.
We have heard from several growers who gave their Blue Cheese crop no more than 17 days of vegetative growth. Despite such a short growing period, the plants easily reached a height of 14 inches. During flowering, the plants grew to a whopping three feet tall! If you grow Blue Cheese outside, it could reach 10 feet in height.
3 – Manipulate Temperature to Attain the Coveted Blue Tinge
A mature Blue Cheese plant has gorgeous leaves and flowers that carry a bluish and purple tinge. To achieve this, you need to ensure that the nighttime temperature is 20 degrees Fahrenheit lower than during the day. The ideal daytime temperature is between 65 and 80 degrees. The main issue with reducing the nighttime temperature by so much is the risk of shock. Set the daytime temperature around 75-80 degrees so that the 20-degree drop keeps it in the mid-50s.
4 – Feeding Blue Cheese
Blue Cheese is a vigorous and robust plant because of its insatiable appetite. It has plenty of foliage and can handle large amounts of nutrients. Aside from the usual mix of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, Blue Cheese requires reasonable amounts of calcium and magnesium.
Also, don’t be afraid to add silica. Better known as silicon dioxide, silica is formed when silicon comes into contact with oxygen. It is found in abundance in healthy soil and is a significant component of a plant’s cells. Assuming you use a store-bought brand, make sure it contains at least 8% silica.
5 – What Is the Right pH Value for Blue Cheese?
The pH of the water and soil used by your marijuana plants dictates how well it absorbs nutrients. As a general rule of thumb, marijuana grown in soil needs a pH of between 6.0 and 6.8. This value falls to 5.5 to 6.5 in a hydroponics setup. Blue Cheese prefers the pH level to be on the higher side, between 6.3 and 6.5.
6 – Training Your Blue Cheese
When you train Blue Cheese correctly using a Low-Stress Training (LST) technique, you can increase yields without damaging the plant. The LST technique itself involves bending the Blue Cheese plant as it grows. You need to tie down branches that grow too long. If you pull the branch downward, an increased amount of the hormone auxin is released, encouraging the plant to grow upwards.
Use the special green tape you’ll find at gardening stores for this purpose. Eventually, you will expose a variety of bud sites at the same height. When your Blue Cheese plants enter the flowering stage, the colas grow upwards from the plant, and the result is multiple colas instead of a single large one. Another option is the Screen of Green (SCROG) method, which involves attaching a screen above the plants. Once their branches begin to grow through, tuck them back into the screen.
7 – What About Humidity?
In general, indica-dominant hybrids prefer drier regions, whereas sativas thrive in warm, subtropical climates. As Blue Cheese is indica-dominant, it prefers lower humidity throughout its life cycle. As a seedling, you should keep the humidity in the grow room at 65-80%.
Blue Cheese can handle a grow room with a humidity level as low as 30-35% as harvest time draws near.
Once your plants are in the vegetative stage, bring the humidity level down to around 60%. Decrease the humidity level by several percent each week. By the beginning of the flowering stage, the humidity level needs to be below 50%. Blue Cheese can handle a grow room with a humidity level as low as 30-35% as harvest time draws near.
8 – Storing Your Blue Cheese Seeds
Let’s say you bought Blue Cheese seeds but don’t have the time to grow them right now. What can you do? The answer is simple: Store them in a cool, dry place until you are ready! Did you know that it is possible to store cannabis seeds for up to five years in the right conditions?
If you need to store the seeds for only weeks or months, a grip-seal bag should do the trick. An alternative is a glass mason jar. In other words, find an airtight container. If you need to store the seeds for a year or longer, consider purchasing a vacuum-sealed package. It is also a good idea to add a food-grade desiccant to your container.
You must store cannabis seeds in a cold location; even a refrigerator will do! The key is to ensure the seeds aren’t exposed to rapid changes in temperature. Also, make sure the humidity level of the storage area is below 10%. By the way, it is possible to freeze your seeds, too.
We hope that you enjoyed our growing guide for the Blue Cheese strain. In the comments, please let us know how you got on growing this strain.