My little grow book for marijuana - 2nd Draft
Things you will need to grow your meds.
1 light
2 seeds
3 soil
4 nutrients
5 ventilation
6 PH
7 water
Seeds or clones are the one most important thing you don't skimp on.
I have been growing for over 17 years, and at first I could not find much on growing.
That was before the Internet, and there was not that much info to be found. Now, it's everywhere ... but what I did find was hard to understand. This little book has all you need to start and finish a nice garden in the privacy of your own home.
What I did find out through trial and error, was that I made all the mistakes you could imagine ... from not going 12/12 to flower (I did not no that was how you make them bud!) I started with a Phototron - the one you see in HighTimes - and bag of seeds. Boy, did have a lot to learn!
The first thing i learned about was lighting. I had bought two fluorescent shop lights to start ... they worked to veg my babies, but still some thing was missing ... looked like charley brown x mess trees. What was I doing wrong ? I knew I needed more light. Then, I read about high pressure sodium lights ... bingo! that's what I was missing: a good lamp just for growing. So I made a little grow box in the closet four by four by five foot high. The plants started to veg and got two feet tall. But still I did not understand how 12 hour of dark was so important to the budding. I was letting in light during the day so thay could get fresh air. Big mistake! My plants were getting light when they should have been getting 12 hours of dark: that means no light what so ever pich black. That's when I first got my plants to bud. The garden was small and so was the yield. That was my first attempt at growing.
Out doors was my second attempt at growing. I finally got a book and moved my motorhome to a friend's property by the river. I had lots of seeds from a friend, a place to grow and all the time in the world . This time I was going to have a good garden - I had about 100 seeds - I had babies all over the place in paper cups. I took the best babies and planted them in the ground - 60 or so. The soil was very good - there had been a veg garden in this place before so the soil was very fertile and the plants were growing like crazy. Now it was time to sex the plants - I found 26 girls. And boy was I happy I did not use any nutrients in this garden ... the weed was amazing: so tasty and a very good high. I was a happy camper! I only got 6 pounds, but it was of some of the best weed I ever smoked!
Next, I bought four 430-watt high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps and went hydro. Aeroponics was the next step I had read a lot about growing by this time and was ready to try my hand at hydroponics so I made an aero ponic system 6feet by 10 feet with 80 grow sites. This time I hade some good genetics: Silver Pearl from Sensi Seed Bank in Amsterdam. I vegged them out and cloned them - I started with 100 clones - wow did thay take off! I was on my way to becoming a farmer. I played with hydro for a few years but some thing was on organically so I went back to soil in 5 gallon pots. I used Black Gold soil from the hydro store .
I got a 1000-watt lamp with a light mover and four 430-watt HPS lamps and started 40 plants. I had changed my strain to White Rhino, and my grow room was 11 buy 12 feet. I grow some very good weed there.
Then a friend gave me some clones and one strain was called Lambsbread. She was a clone and I wanted to keep the strain going, so I crossed her with Trainwreck. She kept the lambsbreed genes - it is a nice cross, and I grow her outdoors now. She is a big yelder and easy to grow. The high will kick your ass! This Lambsbread is not the strain that Bob Marley made famous. She was a beautiful indica clone from a friend. Hard to say the genes originated - you know how names go, so I call her Lambs Wreck.
Okay, it's time to grow!
First thing you need is a small grow room and a 400-watt HPS lamp. You can grow 4 to 6 plants under this lamp every 90days - more if you have a veg room. The veg room does not have be that big and you can use fluorescent lamps for vegging, the 400-watt to flower, and never have to by weed again
Ok now it's time to grow let's start with the grow room You can make a small grow room out of black and white plastic - you can get it at any hydro store cheap. Hang the black and white plastic up, with black side out. The white side is a good reflector. Hang your 400W light in your grow room. Now you need air flow to exhaust the heat from the room. This room needs to be light tight when you go 12/12, but you can leave it open when the light is on .
Okay- so you have some good seeds. Now, its time to germinate the seeds. You can do this by soaking your seeds in a little water and then place them in a wet paper towel. Put them in a warm place and let them germinate for two days. When you check on them, you should see the seed split, and a little tall pop out. You can use a plastic cup for this - fill the cup with potting soil, wet the soil and place the seed tail down in the soil. Cover the root with about 1/4 inch of soil, keeping the soil moist. Don't let it dry out or the seedling will die. When the first leaf appears put them under the fluorescent light, about two inches above the seedling.
Let them grow for two weeks, then transplant them into one gallon pots and put them under the 400W lamp. Keep the light 18 inches away from the babies, enough distance so they don't burn. Let them grow until they are 1 to 2 feet tall, then switch the light to 12 hours ON and 12 hours OFF, to trigger the plants to start flowering. The plants will continue to grow, and will finish flowering at 2to 3 tall. You will need a gallon of soil for each foot of growth.
Nutrients.
I like to use Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil because it has all the amendments, which makes it very simple. For nutrients, I use Grow Big for the veg stage and Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom for the flowering stage. You can get these at any hydro store .
It is important that you have the right pH in your water. You will need a pH meter for this step. I like to keep my pH at 6.4 in soil (lower for hydro). It is very important to keep the pH low, as the nutrients will get locked out if pH is above 7.
Watering the temp should be in the low 70's, as water holds more oxygen at this temperature.
Too cold and you risk shocking them too hot and you risk damaging the roots. Don't over water your plants or you will drown them. Roots need oxygen to grow - they don't like to be soggy. Keep the soil moist - not wet. You can check the moistness of the soil with your finger. You can also check the pots by weight -lift them to see if are light or heavy. You will get the hang of it in no time at all.
I like to let a little water drain off when I water my plants. If you have good soil you should not have to worry about over watering. Some people let 10% more run off when they water. Let the soil dry out a little before you water again .
When you feed your plants start low about 300 ppm for the first few weeks then bump it up to 600 ppm when in full veg. By now your plants are 12 to 18 inches tall and are ready to trans plant into 5 gal pots to flower. Put them on a 12/12 cycle to bud, and they will start to flower in about two weeks. Change your nutrients to budding. The plants will continue to flower for 7 to 11 weeks,
depending on the strain, indica or sativa. Indica strains typically will finish in about 8 weeks or so - longer for sativa. Usually, the buds are at their peak when 60 to 70% of the hairs turn brown. When the glands (called trichomes) go from clear to milky (some amber), they are full of THC (the stuff that gets you high) and ready to harvest. That's when you know they are finished.
Identifying males and females is a little tricky when the plant is only a foot or so tall. The female has two little hairs that will develop at the branch next to the main stem, while the boys will grow little balls.
It's best to sex them before you trans plant them into 5 gallon pots. It's hard to sex them when they are that small. Cut the lights back to 12/12 and in two weeks it will be easy to tell the male from the female. When you find a male cut him down, as only the female has THC. If you don't get the males out of the garden you will end up with seeded buds
Male plants are only good for breeding, as they have little no THC.
Ok your plants are ready to harvest. Take a few branches off and trim off all the leaves. Hang them up on a string to dry harvest the whole plant. Let them dry for a week in a cool, dark room with fan to keep the air circulating. You will know when the bud is dry when you snap a stem. When the bud is dry place the buds in a mason jar to keep them fresh.
I like to keep my weed in the fridge. i hope this helps happy growing the Budman
Things you will need to grow your meds.
1 light
2 seeds
3 soil
4 nutrients
5 ventilation
6 PH
7 water
Seeds or clones are the one most important thing you don't skimp on.
I have been growing for over 17 years, and at first I could not find much on growing.
That was before the Internet, and there was not that much info to be found. Now, it's everywhere ... but what I did find was hard to understand. This little book has all you need to start and finish a nice garden in the privacy of your own home.
What I did find out through trial and error, was that I made all the mistakes you could imagine ... from not going 12/12 to flower (I did not no that was how you make them bud!) I started with a Phototron - the one you see in HighTimes - and bag of seeds. Boy, did have a lot to learn!
The first thing i learned about was lighting. I had bought two fluorescent shop lights to start ... they worked to veg my babies, but still some thing was missing ... looked like charley brown x mess trees. What was I doing wrong ? I knew I needed more light. Then, I read about high pressure sodium lights ... bingo! that's what I was missing: a good lamp just for growing. So I made a little grow box in the closet four by four by five foot high. The plants started to veg and got two feet tall. But still I did not understand how 12 hour of dark was so important to the budding. I was letting in light during the day so thay could get fresh air. Big mistake! My plants were getting light when they should have been getting 12 hours of dark: that means no light what so ever pich black. That's when I first got my plants to bud. The garden was small and so was the yield. That was my first attempt at growing.
Out doors was my second attempt at growing. I finally got a book and moved my motorhome to a friend's property by the river. I had lots of seeds from a friend, a place to grow and all the time in the world . This time I was going to have a good garden - I had about 100 seeds - I had babies all over the place in paper cups. I took the best babies and planted them in the ground - 60 or so. The soil was very good - there had been a veg garden in this place before so the soil was very fertile and the plants were growing like crazy. Now it was time to sex the plants - I found 26 girls. And boy was I happy I did not use any nutrients in this garden ... the weed was amazing: so tasty and a very good high. I was a happy camper! I only got 6 pounds, but it was of some of the best weed I ever smoked!
Next, I bought four 430-watt high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps and went hydro. Aeroponics was the next step I had read a lot about growing by this time and was ready to try my hand at hydroponics so I made an aero ponic system 6feet by 10 feet with 80 grow sites. This time I hade some good genetics: Silver Pearl from Sensi Seed Bank in Amsterdam. I vegged them out and cloned them - I started with 100 clones - wow did thay take off! I was on my way to becoming a farmer. I played with hydro for a few years but some thing was on organically so I went back to soil in 5 gallon pots. I used Black Gold soil from the hydro store .
I got a 1000-watt lamp with a light mover and four 430-watt HPS lamps and started 40 plants. I had changed my strain to White Rhino, and my grow room was 11 buy 12 feet. I grow some very good weed there.
Then a friend gave me some clones and one strain was called Lambsbread. She was a clone and I wanted to keep the strain going, so I crossed her with Trainwreck. She kept the lambsbreed genes - it is a nice cross, and I grow her outdoors now. She is a big yelder and easy to grow. The high will kick your ass! This Lambsbread is not the strain that Bob Marley made famous. She was a beautiful indica clone from a friend. Hard to say the genes originated - you know how names go, so I call her Lambs Wreck.
Okay, it's time to grow!
First thing you need is a small grow room and a 400-watt HPS lamp. You can grow 4 to 6 plants under this lamp every 90days - more if you have a veg room. The veg room does not have be that big and you can use fluorescent lamps for vegging, the 400-watt to flower, and never have to by weed again
Ok now it's time to grow let's start with the grow room You can make a small grow room out of black and white plastic - you can get it at any hydro store cheap. Hang the black and white plastic up, with black side out. The white side is a good reflector. Hang your 400W light in your grow room. Now you need air flow to exhaust the heat from the room. This room needs to be light tight when you go 12/12, but you can leave it open when the light is on .
Okay- so you have some good seeds. Now, its time to germinate the seeds. You can do this by soaking your seeds in a little water and then place them in a wet paper towel. Put them in a warm place and let them germinate for two days. When you check on them, you should see the seed split, and a little tall pop out. You can use a plastic cup for this - fill the cup with potting soil, wet the soil and place the seed tail down in the soil. Cover the root with about 1/4 inch of soil, keeping the soil moist. Don't let it dry out or the seedling will die. When the first leaf appears put them under the fluorescent light, about two inches above the seedling.
Let them grow for two weeks, then transplant them into one gallon pots and put them under the 400W lamp. Keep the light 18 inches away from the babies, enough distance so they don't burn. Let them grow until they are 1 to 2 feet tall, then switch the light to 12 hours ON and 12 hours OFF, to trigger the plants to start flowering. The plants will continue to grow, and will finish flowering at 2to 3 tall. You will need a gallon of soil for each foot of growth.
Nutrients.
I like to use Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil because it has all the amendments, which makes it very simple. For nutrients, I use Grow Big for the veg stage and Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom for the flowering stage. You can get these at any hydro store .
It is important that you have the right pH in your water. You will need a pH meter for this step. I like to keep my pH at 6.4 in soil (lower for hydro). It is very important to keep the pH low, as the nutrients will get locked out if pH is above 7.
Watering the temp should be in the low 70's, as water holds more oxygen at this temperature.
Too cold and you risk shocking them too hot and you risk damaging the roots. Don't over water your plants or you will drown them. Roots need oxygen to grow - they don't like to be soggy. Keep the soil moist - not wet. You can check the moistness of the soil with your finger. You can also check the pots by weight -lift them to see if are light or heavy. You will get the hang of it in no time at all.
I like to let a little water drain off when I water my plants. If you have good soil you should not have to worry about over watering. Some people let 10% more run off when they water. Let the soil dry out a little before you water again .
When you feed your plants start low about 300 ppm for the first few weeks then bump it up to 600 ppm when in full veg. By now your plants are 12 to 18 inches tall and are ready to trans plant into 5 gal pots to flower. Put them on a 12/12 cycle to bud, and they will start to flower in about two weeks. Change your nutrients to budding. The plants will continue to flower for 7 to 11 weeks,
depending on the strain, indica or sativa. Indica strains typically will finish in about 8 weeks or so - longer for sativa. Usually, the buds are at their peak when 60 to 70% of the hairs turn brown. When the glands (called trichomes) go from clear to milky (some amber), they are full of THC (the stuff that gets you high) and ready to harvest. That's when you know they are finished.
Identifying males and females is a little tricky when the plant is only a foot or so tall. The female has two little hairs that will develop at the branch next to the main stem, while the boys will grow little balls.
It's best to sex them before you trans plant them into 5 gallon pots. It's hard to sex them when they are that small. Cut the lights back to 12/12 and in two weeks it will be easy to tell the male from the female. When you find a male cut him down, as only the female has THC. If you don't get the males out of the garden you will end up with seeded buds
Male plants are only good for breeding, as they have little no THC.
Ok your plants are ready to harvest. Take a few branches off and trim off all the leaves. Hang them up on a string to dry harvest the whole plant. Let them dry for a week in a cool, dark room with fan to keep the air circulating. You will know when the bud is dry when you snap a stem. When the bud is dry place the buds in a mason jar to keep them fresh.
I like to keep my weed in the fridge. i hope this helps happy growing the Budman
every new grower should read this!!
Great info!
