Good Grow Information for all noobs FROM WEEDFARMER.COM

OVERVIEW

There are few things in life as good as your own herb, grown by yourself at home out in the garden and indoors in pots... Oregano, Dill, Basil, Sage and other herbs are all easy to grow.
Mint will take over the whole yard if you let it. Fresh mint and cilantro are incredible in salads and oriental dishes. But it all comes down to a truly motivational herb that is your
friend and mine, a great healer and teacher to those that know it well.
Most people think of gardens as a seasonal, yearly project, but it's actually less time
consuming and more rewarding to keep the garden going year round. If one were to attempt to
grow year round, indoor gardening techniques will be needed at least during winter to keep
the garden producing. You will have herb fresh at all times, there is no worry of mass storage
through the winter and spring, it requires less space, and once established, requires only
minimal attention every week to keep it producing at optimal levels.
The best part of being a gardener is it connects you to the earth. It connects you with nature,
and is spiritually enriching. Try giving your plants energy by beaming good thoughts and
energy at them every time you visit them. I find this helps me as much as it helps them; my
plants seem to respond to it favorably.

GENETICS AND THE PLANT

It's very important to start with good genetics. You should attempt to find seeds from local
gardeners that are acclimated and bred for local climate and best floral characteristics.
Potency, aroma, fast growth, early maturation, resistance to fungus and pests. All of these
factors are considered by the seasoned gardener and you will benefit enormously by finding a
friend to get you started on the journey that never ends...
Attempt to find an Indica/Sativa hybrid if possible, as this will have the best high and good
characteristics for indoor growth as well. Indica plants have a heavy, stony high that is
tiresome, and sativas' are hard to grow indoors due to high light requirements, and late
flowering traits, so a hybrid can be bread that will have the energetic, cerebral high of the
sativa and the early maturation tendencies of the Indica plant.
The Indica plant is easily recognized by its extremely broad leaves that are very rounded on
the sides. The Sativa has very narrow, finger-like leaves. A hybrid will have qualities of both
and have leaves that are a cross of these two types, thinner than an Indica, but much broader
than a Sativa. It is possible to recognize a good hybrid by the leaves once you know what to
look for.
Look for seeds that are dark brown or light grey. Some may have dark lines inset into these
colors, like tiger stripes. White, small seeds are immature and should not be planted.
INDOORS & OUTDOORS - CONSTANT HARVEST STRATEGY
One of the best solutions to energy verses output for most home gardeners is to use outdoor
light for flowering and use continuous light indoors for germination and vegetative growth.
This will take advantage of the natural light/dark cycle and cut your energy use in half
compared to the same operation indoors. A small greenhouse can be built of Filon fiberglass
or PVC sheets that is innocuous and looks much like a storage shed or tool shed so it's not
likely to raise suspicions.
In fact, a large shed of metal or plywood can be modified with a luminous roof of PVC, glass,
fiberglass or plastic sheet, and some strains that do not require a great deal of light will grow
well. Such a shed will discourage fly-by sightings and keep your business your own! It also
allows you to keep out rats and gophers, keeps out the neighbor kids, and can be easily locked
up. It will also give you an opportunity to actually plant in the ground if you desire, and this is
the best way to avoid root-bound plants (if your not using hydroponics), and get bigger
harvests.
In winter, indoor space is used to start new seedlings or cuttings to be placed outside in the
spring, using natural sunlight to ripen the plants. This routine will provide at least 3
outdoor/greenhouse harvests per year. If more space is available to constantly be starting
indoors and flowering 2nd harvest plants outdoors, harvests are possible every 60 days in
many areas, with a small indoor harvest in the winter as a possibility as well.
The basic strategy of year round production is to understand the plant has two growth cycles.
At germination the plant enters into a vegetative state and will be able to use all the
continuous light you can give it. This means there is no dark cycle required. The plant will
photosynthesis constantly and grow faster than it would outdoors with long evenings.
Photosynthesis stops during dark periods and the plant uses sugars produced to build during
the evening. This is not a requirement and the plant will grow faster at this stage with
continuous photosynthesis (constant light).
Once the plant is 12-18" tall, weather permitting, it can be forced to start flowering by placing
it outside in the Spring or Fall. (For Summer outdoor flowering, the night must be artificially
lengthened in the greenhouse to "force" the plants to flower. See FLOWERING chapter.)
Moving the plants to 10-13 hour light periods (moving it outside) with uninterrupted darkness
(no bright lights nearby) will force the plant to flower. It will ripen and be 2-3' when ready to
harvest. When a plant is moved from continuous indoor light to a 10-13 hour day outside, it
will start to flower in anticipation of oncoming winter. Vegetative starts moved outside March
1st, will be ripe by May 1. Vegetative starts moved outside on May 1 will be ripe by July 1.
Starts moved outside Sept 1 are picked by Nov. 1st. In Winter, operations are moved indoors
and a crop is planted for seed in anticipation of planting outdoors the next summer, or just for
some extra winter stash.
Keep in mind that the "man" is looking for plants in the Sept./Oct./Nov. time-frame, and may
never notice plants placed outside to flower in April. Be smart, make your big harvest in May,
not October!

PLANTING INDOORS

A small indoor space should be found that can be used to germinate seeds; these vegetative
starts are placed outside to mature in the spring after last freezes are over. The space can be a
closet, a section of a bedroom, a basement area, an attic or unused bathroom. Some people
devote entire bedrooms to growing.
The space must be light leak proofed, so that no suspicious light is seen from outside the
house. This could invite fuzz or rip-offs.
The space should be vented. Opening the door of a closet can be enough ventilation if the
space is not lit by big lights that generate a lot of heat. Separate exhaust and incoming air
vents are best. One at the top of the room to exhaust air into the attic or out the roof, and one
to bring in air from an outside wall or under-floor crawl space. Use fans from old computer
cabinets, available from electronic liquidators for $5 each. Dimmer switches can be used to
regulate the speed/noise of the fans. Use silicon to secure the fans to 4-6" PVC pipe pushed
through a round hole cut in the floor and ceilings. Use lots of silicon to damp the fans
vibrations, so that the walls do not resonate to the fans' oscillations.
Line the walls with aluminum foil, dull side out to diffuse the light and prevent hot-spots, or
paint the walls bright white to reflect light. Aluminized mylar, 1 mil thick is best.($20 for 25
feet of a 4' wide roll.) Mirrors are not good to use, since the glass eats light!
Line the floor with plastic in case of water spills, etc. Set up a voltage interrupt socket and be
sure the electrical wiring will handle the lamps your going to use. Always place ballast's for
HID lamps on a shelf, so they are above floor level, in case of water spills. Spacers place on
the floor under a ballast will work too.
A shelf above the main grow area can be used to clone cuttings and germinate seedlings. It
will allow you to double the area of your grow space and is an invaluable storage area for
plant food, spray bottles and other gardening supplies. This area stays very warm, and no
germination warming pad will be needed, so this arrangement saves you $.
Hang a light proof curtain to separate this shelf from the main area when used for flowering.
This will allow constant lights on the shelf and dark periods in the main grow area. Velcro can
be used to keep the curtain in place and ties can be used to roll it up when tending the garden.
Black vinyl with white backing works best.
Now you need light. A couple of shop lights will be fine if you just want to start plants inside
and then take them outside to grow in a small greenhouse. They can be purchased with bulbs
for about $10 each, or without bulbs for around $8. Try to find them on sale. Use one Cool
White and one Warm Light type bulb in each to get the best light spectrum possible for plant
growth. Do not use expensive Grow Lux type bulbs, as they do not put out as much light, and
therefor do not work as well in most situations (go figure). If Cool White is all you can find,
or afford, use them. They work fine, and are by far the cheapest.(About $1-2 each.)

SHELF GROWING

Shelf gardening with fluorescents may be the trend of the future, since the materials are so
inexpensive, and easy to obtain. Fluorescent lamps are great for shelf gardening. In this
system, many shelves can be placed, one above the other, and fluorescent lamps are used on
each shelf. Some shelves have 24 hour lighting, some have 12 hour lighting (for flowering).
Two areas are best, perhaps with one other devoted to cloning and germination of seed.
Shelf gardening assumes your going to keep all plants 3' or shorter at maturity, so all shelves
are 3-4 feet apart. Less light is necessary when you have plants that are this short and forced
to mature early.
One drawback to a shelf garden like this is that it is very time consuming to adjust the lamp
height every day, and it is harder to take a vacation for even a week with no tending of the
garden. This applies mostly to the vegetative stage, when plants are growing as much as an
inch per day. Lamps on the flowering shelves are not adjusted nearly as often.
Normally, the lamps should be kept within 2 inches of the tops of the plants, with the plants
arranged such that they get progressively taller as the end of the lamps go up, so that all plants
are within this 2" range. This is an ideal however, and if you do go on vacation, adjust the
lamps so that your sure the plants will not be able to grow up to the lamps within that length
of time. If enough flourecents are used to completely saturate the shelf with light, the spacing
issue will not create spindly plants. They will mearly grow a little slower if the lamps are not
very close to them.
An alternative is to use fluorescent lamps for cloning, germination and early seedling growth
on the top shelf of a closet, then switch over to HPS for heavy vegetative growth and/or
flowering in the main closet area.
Position the HPS such that it won't need adjustment, at the top most possible point in the
closet or room. Most HPS installations will not require lamp height adjustment. Just attach the
lamp to the underside of shelf or ceiling as high as possible, and if you want to get a few
plants closer to it, put them on a temporary shelf, box or table to get them closer to the lamp.
A shelf is all that is necessary with this type of setup, preferably at least 18" wide, up to about
24" maximum. This area must be painted a very bright white, or covered with aluminum foil,
dull side out to reflect light back to the plants. (Dull side out prevents hot-spots; diffuses light
better.) Paint the shelf white too. Or, use aluminized mylar, a space blanket, or any silvery
surface material. Do not use mirrors, as the glass soaks up light.
Hang shop lamps from chains and make sure you can adjust them with hooks or some other
type of mechanism so they can be kept as close to the plants as possible at all times (1-2"). If
the lamps are too far from the plants, the plants could grow long, spindly stems trying to reach
the lamp, and will not produce as much bud at maturity. This is due to internode length being
much longer. This is the length of stem between each set of leaves. If it is shorter, there can be
more internodes, thus more branches, thus a plant that provides more buds in less space at
harvest time.
Shelf gardening is sometimes referred to as Sea of Green, because many plants are grown
close together, creating a green canopy of tops that are grown and matured quickly, and the
next crop is started and growing concurrently in a separate area of continuous light. Clones
are raised in a constant light shelf, until they start to grow well vegetatively, then placed on a
12 hour per day shelf to flower.
LIGHT
Indoors, 2000 lumens per sq. ft. is about as low as you want to go indoors. If you get under
this mark, plant growth will certainly not go as fast as possible, and internode/stem length will
increase. Also, light distance to plants will be much more critical. Daily adjustments to the
lamps will be necessary, meaning you get no vacations.
2500 lumens psf should be a good target, and 3000 is optimal if your going to inject or enrich
CO2 levels (more on that later).
High Intensity Discharge lamps are the best solution for most indoor growers. HID lamps
come in 3 basic flavors: High Pressure Sodium (HPS), Metal Halide (MH) and Mercury
Vapor. Metal Halide is an improved spectrum, higher intensity Mercury Vapor design. HPS is
a yellowish sort of light, maybe a bit pink or orange. Same as some street lamps.
HPS lamps can be used to grow a crop from start to finish. Tests show that the HPS crop will
mature 1 week later than a similar crop under MH, but it will be a bigger yield, so it's better to
wait the extra week.
The easiest HID to buy, and least expensive initially are the fluorescent and mercury vapor
lamps. MV will put out about 8000 lumens per 175 watts, and 150 watts of HPS puts out
about 15k lumens, so HPS is almost twice as efficient. But the color spectrum from MV lamp
output is not as good. HPS is high in reds, which works well for flowering, while the Metal
Halide is rich in blues, needed for the best vegetative growth. Unfortunately, MV lamps
provide the worst spectrum for plant growth, but are very inexpensive to purchase.They are
not recommended, unless you find them free, and even then, the electricity/efficiency issues
outweigh the initial costs saved.
400 watt HPS will output around 45k lumens. For every 500 watts of continuous use, you use
about $20 a month in electricity, so it is evident that a lamp taking half the power to output
the same lumens (or twice the lumens at the same power level) will pay for itself in a year or
so, and from then on, continuous savings will be reaped. This is a simple initial cost vs.
operating costs calculation, and does not take into account the faster growth and increased
yield the HPS lamp will give you, due to more light being available. If this is factored into the
calculation the HPS lamp will pay for itself with the first crop, when compared to MV or
fluorescent lamps, since it is easily twice as efficient and grows flowers faster and bigger.
Lamp Type Watts Lumens per bulb Total efficiency
Fluorescent Bulb 40 3000 400 watts = 30k lumens
Mercury Vapor 175 8000 400 watts = 20k lumens
Metal Halide 400 36000 400 watts = 36k lumens
High P. Sodium 400 45000 400 watts = 45k lumens
Notice the Mercury Vapor lamps are less efficient than the fluorescent (FL), and can not be
positioned as close to the plants, so the plants will not be able to use as much of the MV light.
The light distribution is not as good either. MV lamps simply are not suitable for indoor
gardening. Use fluorescent, MH, or HPS lamps only. Halogen arc lamps generate too much
heat and not very much light for the wattage they use, and are also not recommend, even
though the light spectrum is suitable for decent growth.
There is a new type of HPS lamp called Son Agro, and it is available in a 250, 1000, and 400
watt range. The 400 is actually 430 watts; they have added 30 watts of blue to this bulb. It is a
very bright lamp (53k lumens) and is made for greenhouse use. These bulbs can be purchased
to replace normal HPS bulbs, so they are an option if you already own a HPS lamp. The
beauty of this bulb is that you do not give up most of the advantages of MH lamps, such as
minimal internode spacing and early maturation, like most HPS users do, and you have all
advantages of a HPS lamp. One bulb does it all.
Internodal length of plants grown with the Son Agro are the shortest ever seen with any type
of lamp. Plants grown under this lamp are incredibly bushy, compact and grow very fast. Son
Agro bulbs however, do not last as long as normal HPS bulbs. There is something like a 25%
difference in bulb life.
Metal Halide (MH) is another option, and is available in both a 36k and 40k lumen bulbs for
the 400 watt size. The Super Bulb (40k) is about $10-15 more, and provides an extra 4000
lumens. I think the Super Bulb may last longer; if so, that makes it the way to go. Halide light
is more blue and better than straight HPS for vegetative growth, but is much less efficient
than HPS. It is possible to purchase conversion bulbs for a MH lamp that convert it to HPS,
but the cost of the conversion bulb is more expensive than the color corrected Son Agro bulb,
so I would recommend just buying the Son Agro HPS. Even though it costs more initially,
you get more for your energy dollar later, and it's much easier to hang than 10 fluorescent
tubes.
If you have a MH 36k lumen lamp burning at 400 watts and a 53k lumen HPS burning at 430
watts, which is better efficiency wise? Which will provide a better yield? Obviously, the Son
Agro HPS, but of course, the initial cost is higher. Actually, the ballast will add about 10% to
these wattage numbers.
The Son Agro bulb will prove much better than the MH for any purpose. The MH bulb does
not last as long, but is cheaper. Compare $36 for a 400 watt MH bulb vs. $40 for the HPS
bulb. Add $15 for the Son Agro HPS. The HPS bulb life is twice as long. 10k hours vs. 21k
hours. The Son Agro is 16k hours or so. Still, longer bulb life and more light add up to more
for your energy dollar long term.
Horizontal mounting of any HID is a good idea, as this will boost by 30% the amount of light
that actually reaches the plants. Most HID's sold for indoor garden use these days are of this
horizontal mounting arrangement.
HPS is much less expensive to operate than any other type of lamp, but comes in the 70 watt
size at the home improvement stores. This size is not very efficient, but blows away FL in
efficiency, so they might be an alternative to FL for very small operations, like 9 sq. feet or
less. Over 9 sq. feet, you need more light than one of these lamps can provide, but you could
use two of them. 70 watt HPS lamps cost about $40 each, complete. Two lamps would be 140
watts putting out about 12k lumens, so it's better than FL, but a 150 watt HPS puts out about
18k lumens, the bulb life is longer, bulbs are cheaper and the lamp more efficient to operate.
The biggest problem is that the mid size lamps like the 150 and 250 watt HPS are almost as
expensive to buy as the larger 400's. For this reason, if you have room for the larger lamp, buy
the 400. If your going pro, a 1080 watt model is available too, but you might find there is
better light distribution from two 400's rather than one large lamp. Of course, the two smaller
lamps are more expensive to purchase than one large lamp, so most people choose the larger
lamp for bigger operations.
Heat buildup in the room is a factor with HID lamps, and just how much light the plants can
use is determined by temperature, CO2 levels, nutrient availability, pH, and other factors. Too
big of a lamp for a space will make constant venting necessary, and then there is no way to
enrich CO2, since it's getting blown out of the room right away.
Bulb Costs: the bulb cost on the 70 watt HPS is $24, the 150 is only $30, and the 400 is only
$40. So you will spend more to replace two 70 watt bulbs than you will to replace one 400
watt HPS. (Go figure.) Add that up with the lower resale value on the 70's (practically
nothing) and the fact that they are being modified and are not suited to this application, and it
becomes evident that $189 for a 250 HPS lamp, or $219 for a 400, might just be worth the
price. Keep in mind that for $30 more, you can have the larger lamp (400watt) and it puts out
20k lumens more light than the smaller lamp. Not a bad deal!

WARNING: Do not over-fertilize. It will kill your plants. Always read the instructions for the
fertilizer being used. Use 1/2 strength if adding to the water for all feedings in soil or
hydroponics if you are unsure of what your plants can take. Build up slowly to higher
concentrations of food over time. Novice soil growers tend to over-fertilize their plants.
Mineral salts build up over time to higher levels of dissolved solids. Use straight water for
one feeding in hydroponics if it is believed the buildup is getting too great. Leach plants in
pots every month. If your plants look REALLY green, withhold food for a while to be sure
they are not being over-fed.
PH AND FERTILIZERS
PH can make or break your nutrient solution. 6.7-6.2 is best to ensure there is no nutrient
lock-up occurring. Hydroponics requires the solution to be PH corrected for the medium
before exposing to the plants. Phosphoresic acid can make the PH go down; lime or potash
can take it up when it gets too acid. Buy a PH meter for $10 and use it in soil, water, and
hydroponic medium to make sure your not going alkaline or acid over time. Most neutral
mediums can use a little vinegar to make them just this side of 7 pH to 6.5 or so.
Most fertilizers cause a pH change in the soil. Adding fertilizer to the soil almost always
results in a more acidic pH.
As time goes on, the amount of salts produced by the breakdown of fertilizers in the soil
causes the soil to become increasingly acidic and eventually the concentration of these salts in
the soil will stunt the plant and cause browning out of the foliage. Also, as the plant gets older
its roots become less effective in bringing food to the leaves. To avoid the accumulation of
these salts in your soil and to ensure that your plant is getting all of the food it needs you can
begin leaf feeding your plant at the age of about 1.5 months. Dissolve the fertilizer in worm
water and spray the mixture directly onto the foliage. The leaves absorb the fertilizer into their
veins. If you want to continue to put fertilizer into the soil as well as leaf feeding, be sure not
to overdose your plants.
FOLIAR FEEDING
Folair feeding seems to be one of the easiest ways of increasing yield, growth speed, and
quality in a well vented space, with or without elevated CO2 levels. Just prepare a tea of
worm castings, fish emulsion, bat guano, or most any other plant food right for the job and
feed in vegetative and early flowering stages. It is not recommended for late flowering, or you
will be eating the sprayed-on material later. Stop Folair feeding 2-3 weeks before harvesting.
Wash off the leaves with straight water every week to prevent clogging the stomata of the
leaves. Feed daily or every other day.
Best times of day to Folair feed are 7-10Am and after 5 in the evening. This is because the
stomata on the underside of the leaves are open then. Also, the best temperature is about 72
degrees, and over 80, they may not be open at all. So find the cooler part of the day if it's hot,
and the warmer part of the day if it's cold out. You may need to spray at 2AM if that's the
coolest time available. The sprayer used should atomize the solution to a very fine mist; find
your best sprayer and use it for this. Make sure the PH is between 7 and 6.2. Use baking soda
to make the solution higher PH, and vinegar to make the solution lower PH. It's better to spray
more often and use less, than to drench the plants infrequently. Use a wetting agent to prevent
the water from beading up, and thereby burning the leaves as they act as small prisms.Make
sure you don't spray a hot bulb; better yet, spray only when the bulb has cooled.
Perhaps the best Folair feeding includes using seltzer water and plant food at the same time.
This way, CO2 and nutrients are feed directly to the leaves in the same spray.
Folair feeding is recognized in most of the literature as being a good way to get nutrients to
the plant later when nutrient lockup problems could start to reduce intake from the roots.
WARNING!: It is important to wash leaves that are harvested before they are dried, if you
intend to eat them, since they may have nitrate salts on them.
NOTE: One grower who reviewed this document comments: "Fish emulsion smells. Bat
guano could be highly unsanitary. Stick to the Rapid-Gro, MgSO4 (Epsom salts), hydroponic
trace element solution. Nitrate salts (The "N" in NPK) are unhealthy to smoke. Personally, I
never Folair feed."
Above is a great comment, and there is great wisdom in an organic, non-toxic garden.
Personally, I use only CO2 on my indoor hydroponic plants, and never Folair feed. It simply
does not seem to be necessary when using hydroponics.
CO2
Elevating carbon dioxide levels can increase growth speed a great deal, perhaps even double
it. It seems that the plant evolved in primordial times when natural CO2 levels were many
times what they are today. The plant uses CO2 for photosynthesis to create sugars it uses to
build plant tissues. Elevating the CO2 level will increase the plants ability to manufacture
these sugars and plant growth rate is enhanced considerably.
CO2 can be a pain to manufacture safely, cheaply, and/or conveniently, and is expensive to
set up if you use a CO2 tank system. CO2 is most usable for flowering, as this is when the
plant is most dense and has the hardest time circulating air around its leaves. If your strictly
growing vegetatively indoors, (transferring your plants outdoors to flower), then CO2 will not
be a major concern unless you have a sealed greenhouse, closet or bedroom, and wish to
increase yield and decrease flowering time.
For a medium sized indoor operation, one approach is to used CO2 canisters from wielding
supply houses. This is expensive initially, but fairly inexpensive in the long run. These
systems are good only if your area is not too big or too small.
The basic CO2 tank system looks like this:
20 lb. tank $100
Regulator $159
Timer or controller $10-125
Fill up $15-20
Worst case = $395 for CO2 tank setup synced to a exhaust fan with a thermostat.
CO2 is cheaply produced by burning Natural Gas. However, heat and Carbon Monoxide must
be vented to the outside air. CO2 can be obtained by buying or leasing cylinders from local
welding supply houses. If asked, you can say you have an old mig welder at home and need to
patch up the lawnmower (trailer, car, etc.)
For a small closet, one tank could last 2 months, but it depends on how much is released, how
often the room is vented, hours of light cycle, room leaks, enrichment levels and dispersion
methods. This method may be overkill for your small closet.
It is generally viewed as good to have a small constant flow of CO2 over the plants at all
times the lights are on, dispersed directly over the plants during the time exhaust fans are off.
Opportunities exist to conserve CO2, but this can cost money. When the light is off you don't
need CO2, so during flowering, you will use half as much if you have the CO2 solenoid setup
to your light timer. When the fan is on for venting, CO2 is shut off as well. This may be up to
half the time the light is on, so this will affect the plants exposure times and amount of gas
actually dispensed.
Environmentally, using bottled gas is better, since manufacturing it adds to greenhouse effect,
and bottled CO2 is captured as part of the manufacturing process of many materials, and then
recycled. Fermenting, CO2 generators, and baking soda and vinegar methods all generate new
CO2 and add to greenhouse effect.
CO2 generation from fermentation and generators is possible. A simple CO2 generator would
be a propane heater. This will work well, as long as the gases can be vented to the grow area,
and a fan is used to keep the hot CO2 (that will rise) circulating and available below at the
plants level. Fire and exhaust venting of the heat are issues as well. A room that must be
vented 50% of the time to rid the environment of heat from a lamp and heater will not receive
as much CO2 as a room that can be kept unvented for hours at a time. However, CO2
generators are the only way to go for large operations.
Fermentation or vinegar over baking soda will work if you don't have many vent cycles, but if
you have enough heat to make constant or regular venting necessary, these methods become
impractical. Just pour the vinegar on baking soda and close the door, (you lose your CO2 as
soon as the vent comes on). This method leaves a great deal to be desired, since it is not easy
to regulate automatically, and requires daily attention. It is possible however, to create CO2
by fermentation, let the wine turn to vinegar, and pour this on baking soda. It's the most cost-effective
setup for most closet growers, for whom $400 in CO2 equipment is a bit much to
swallow.
In fermentation, yeast is constantly killing itself; it takes a lot of space. You need a big bin to
constantly keep adding water to, so that the alcohol levels will not rise high enough to kill the
yeast. Sugar is used quickly this way, and a 10 pound sack will run $3.50 or so and last about
2-3 weeks. This is also difficult to gauge what is happening as far as amounts actually
released. A tube out the top going into a jar of water will bubble and demonstrate the amount
of CO2 being produced.
Try sodium bicarbonate mixed with vinegar, 1 tsp.: ~30cc- this will gush up all frothy as it
releases CO2. do it just before you close the door on your plants. A MUCH cheaper way to
provide CO2 is 2 Oz sugar in 2 liters of water in a bottle [sterilized 1st with bleach and water,
then rinsed], plus a few cc urine[!] or if you insist, yeast nutrient from a home brewing
supplier. Add a brewing yeast, shake up and keep at 25 deg Celsius[~70 F] . Over next 2
weeks or so it will brew up about 1/2 Oz CO2 for every Oz sugar used. Keep a few going at
once, starting a new one every 3 days or so. With added CO2 growth is phenomenal!!! I
personally measured 38cm growth in 8 days under a 250watt HPS bulb[tubular clear,
Horizontal mount.
A good container is a 1 gallon plastic milk jug, with a pin-hole in the cap. Also, the air-lock
from a piece of clear tube running into a jar filled with water will keep microbes out and
demonstrate the fermentation is working.
A variation is to spray seltzer water on the plants twice a day. This is not recommended by
some authorities, and receives great raves by people who seem to feel it has enhanced their
crop. It stands to reason this would work for only a small unvented closet, but may be right
for some situations. It could get expensive with a lot of plants to spray. Use seltzer, not club
soda, since it contains less sodium that could clog the plants stomata. Wash your plants with
straight water after 2 or 3 seltzer sprays. It's a lot of work, and you can't automate it, but
maybe that's good! Remember, being with the plants is a beautiful experience, and brings you
closer to your spiritual self and the earth. Seltzer is available at most grocery stores (I get it at
Lucky's @ .79 for a 2 litter bottle). Club soda will work if seltzer water is not available; but it
has twice as much sodium in it. A very diluted solution of Miracle Grow can be sprayed on
the plant at the same time. One factor of using seltzer water is it raises humidity levels. Make
sure your venting humidity during the dark cycle, or you could risk fungus and increased
internode length.
CAUTION: Don't spray too close to a hot bulb! Spray downward only, or turn off the lamp
first.
Even though CO2 enrichment can mean 30-100% yield increases, the hassle, expense, space,
danger, and time involved can make constant or near constant venting a desirable alternative
to enrichment. As long as the plant has the opportunity to take in new CO2 at all times, from
air that is over 200 PPM CO2, the plants will have the required nutrients for photosynthesis.
Most closets will need new CO2 coming in every two or three hours, minimum. Most cities'
will have high concentrations of CO2 in the air, and some growers find CO2 injection
unnecessary in these circumstances.
Some growers have reported to High Times that high CO2 levels in the grow room near
harvest time lower potency. It may be a good idea to turn off CO2 2 weeks before harvesting.
VENTING
You have to vent a lot with a HID lamp, less so for fluorescence. Also, humidity build up
requires that you vent at least a few times per day. For a room with a hot lamp that builds up
heat quickly, the best vent would be one that cleared the room in 5 minutes, then would stop
for 25 minutes before venting again, or similarly, vent 3 minutes, shut off 12 minutes, etc.
The trick is to find a timer that will do this sort of thing. Not easy to find and not cheap. Once
you need to regulate CO2 on and off inversely with the fan, your looking at a $100 climate
controller.
Alternatives are a thermostat that turns on a fan when a certain temperature is reached, and
turns it off when the temp recedes 4 degrees. But it is a bitch to coordinate CO2 release with
this one, since you don't know when the fan goes on. $39 for this thermostat, but to sync it to
CO2 with a voltage sensing relay is $100 for the ready-made switch, so then the environment
controller at $100 is cheaper. All you really want is a fan that clears the air in a few minutes, a
temperature switch that turns on and off the fan, and an inverse switch that turns off and on
the CO2. If you can vent the room really quick and the heat does not build up too quickly, the
CO2 could be run in a slow, continuous fashion, and would build up in-between the
occasional quick exhaust cycles.
Two timers synced can be used, but the only ones cheaply available are the 30 min interval,
48 trips per 24 hours. So I could have a fan run 30 mins on, then 30 mins off. I could also
sync it to the light so that I don't vent when the lamp is off. I can sync this to an identical
timer that will turn on CO2 during the time that the fan is not on, and vise versa. It would be
difficult to sync them closer that 5-10 mins, but at least there would be a possible inexpensive
solution. $20 for two of these timers.
Fans are expensive to buy for venting, but I just go down to the local electronic parts
liquidators and they have muffin fans for $5-10, so that's a real savings over the $50-70 these
fans cost new at the indoor garden stores. A good vent fan will keep the humidity and
temperature down, and distribute CO2 to your plants from new incoming air.
Internal air movement is very necessary as well. An oscillating fan should be used to circulate
air within the growroom, to help circulate CO2. It will also keep the humidity down, allowing
the air to absorb more moisture, and reduce risk of fungus. A wall mount oscillating fan will
not take valuable floor space. The best grow rooms have the most internal air circulation.
TEMPERATURE
Proper temperature is one highly variable factor. Most books state optimum grow temperature
to be 70-80 degrees, but many list extenuating circumstances that allow temperatures to go
higher. Assuming genetics is not a factor, plants seem to be able to absorb more light at
higher temps, perhaps up to 90 degrees. High light and CO2 levels could make this go as high
as 95 degrees for increased growth speed.* An optimum of 95 degrees is new data that
assumes very-high light, CO2 enrichment of 1500 PPM and good regular venting to keep
humidity down. It is not clear if these temperature will reduce potency in flowers. It may be a
good idea to reduce temperatures once flowering has started, to preserve potency, even if it
does reduce growth speed. But higher temperatures will make plants grow vegetatively much
faster, by exciting the plants metabolism, assuming the required levels of CO2 and light are
available, and humidity is not allowed to get too high.
With normal levels of CO2, in a well vented space, 90 degrees would seem to be the absolute
max, while 85 may be closer to optimum, even with a great deal of light available. Do not let
the room temperature get over 35 C (95 F) as this hurts growth. Optimal temperature is 27-30
C (80-86 F) if you have strong light with no CO2 enrichment. Less than 21 C (70 F) is too
cold for good growth.
Low temperatures at night are OK down to about 60 degrees outdoors, then start to effect the
growth in a big way. Mid 50's will cause mild shock and 40's will kill your plants with
repeated exposure. Keep your plants warm, especially the roots. Elevate pots if you think the
ground is sucking the heat out of the roots. This is an issue if you have a slab or other type of
cold floor.
As temperature goes up, so does the ability of the air to hold water, thus reducing humidity, so
a higher average temperature should reduce risk of fungus.
Contrary to many reports, high humidity is not good for plants except during germination and
rooting. Lower humidity levels help the plant transpire CO2 and reduce risk of molds during
flowering.
Studies indicate the potency of buds goes down as the temperature goes up, so it is important
to see that the plants do not get too hot during flowering cycles.
* D. Gold: CO2, Temperature and Humidity, 1991 Edited by E. Rosenthal.
PESTS
You really have to watch pests, or all your efforts could result in little or nothing in return.
Mites and Aphids are the worst; whiteflies, caterpillar and fungi are the ones to watch out for
long term. Pyrethrum bombs can start you with a clean slate in the room, and then homemade
or commercial soap sprays will do most of the rest. When bringing in plants from outside,
pyrethrum every broad leaf top and bottom and the soil too. Then watch them closely for a
week or two, and soap down any remaining bug life you find from eggs being hatched. This
should do the trick for a month or two, long enough it won't be an issue before harvesting.
Fungus is another obstacle in the path of a successful growing season. When the flowers are
roughly half developed they become susceptible to a fungus or bud rot. It appears that
growing conditions for the fungus are best when temperatures are between 60 and 80 degrees
and the humidity is high. The fungus is very destructive and spreads quickly. It is a spore type
of fungus that travels to other buds via the wind so it is impossible to prevent or stop if
weather conditions permit it to grow. If things should go badly and the fungus starts to attack
your plants, you must remove it immediately or it will spread to other areas of the plant or
plants.
Some growers will remove just the section of the bud that is infected whereas other growers
will remove the entire branch. Removal of the entire branch better insures that the fungus is
totally re- moved, and also enables the grower to sample the crop a few weeks ahead of time.
Fungi can wipe your crop quick, so invest in some SAFE fungicide and spray down the plants
just before flowering if you think fungus may be a problem. Don't spray the plants if you have
never had problems with fungus before. Keep humidity down, circulate air like crazy in the
grow space and keep unquarantined outdoor plants out of the indoor space. Don`t wait until
after flowering, since it's not a good idea to apply the fungicide directly to flowers. Instead,
flowers must be cut off when they are infected.
Most fungicides are very nasty, and you won't want to ingest them, so it is necessary to use
one that is safe for vegetables. Safer makes a suitable product that is available at most
nurseries; it contains only sulfer in solution.
Use soap solution like Safer Insecticidal Soap to get rid of most aphid problems. Use some
tobacco juice and chili pepper powder added to this for mites. Dr. Bronnars Soap can be used
with some dish detergent in a spray bottle if you want to save money.
Pyrethrum should only be used in extream circumstances directly on plants, but can be used in
a closet or greenhouse in the corners to get rid of spiders and such. It breaks down within a
week to non-toxic elements, and can be washed from a plant with detergent solutions and then
clear water. I find Pyrethrum to be the best solution for spider mites, if it is sprayed on young
plants up to early flowering. Into later flowering, the tobacco and pepper/soap solution is your
best bet, on a daily basis, on the under-sides of all infected leaves.
Spider mites are by far the worst offender in my garden. I have finally learned not to bring
plants from outside into the indoor space. They are always infected with pests and threaten to
infect the entire indoor grow space. It is much more practical to work WITH the seasons and
regenerate plants outdoors in the Summer, rather than bringing them indoors to regenerate
under constant light. Start a plant indoors, take it outside in Spring to flower. Take a harvest
or two, feed it nitrogen all Summer and it will regenerate naturally, to be flowered again in
the Fall.
Once a plant has been taken outside, leave it outside.
TRANSPLANTING
There will be little or no shock if you are quick and tender in your handling of the plants.
Make sure you only need to transplant twice, or better yet, once if possible, through the entire
growth cycle. Transplanting slows you down. It takes time, it's tricky, it's hard work, and
threatens the plants. Start in as large a container as possible, square is best. 16 ounce plastic
cups work OK, and 2 litter soda bottles cut down may be big enough for the first harvest
when growing hydroponically. One-gallon plastic milk or water containers (squarish) will
work too.
Or start seeds and rooted cuttings in 16oz plastic cups. It's better to have less seedlings than it
is to have many seedlings that need constant transplanting. These larger cups take only a little
more space, and allow you to transplant only one time before harvesting the first crop.
Transplant into a gallon water jugs (cut down to 3/4 gallon) before forcing flower growth. To
regenerate this plant after harvesting, transplant it into a larger pot after it goes into vegetative
growth once again, 5 gallon paint buckets work pretty well if you can spare the space, and a
2-3 gallon container would make this plant's 2nd harvest better than the first, given enough
vegetative regrowth first.
One more tip:
A Russian study showed that seedlings with at least 4" of soil to grow the tap root were more
likely to go female. The source I'm quoting says "This may be why some farmers get
female/male ratios as great as 80%/20%."
EARLY SEXING
It's possible to tell the sex of a plant early, and thus move male plants out of the main growing
area sooner by covering a plant's lower branch for 12 hours a day while it's in a constant light
vegetative state. Use a black paper bag or equivalent to allow for air flow while keeping out
light. Be sure to set up a regular cycle for these covered branches. If light is allowed to reach
them during the dark period, they may not indicate early at all.
Use a magnifying glass to look at the early flowers sex type. A male plant will have a small
club (playing card) looking preflower with a small stem under it. A female flower is usually a
single or double pistil, white and wispy, emerging from an immature calyx.
Some people like to pre-force plants when they are 8" tall, in order to weed out the males.
When growing outdoors, many growers do not wish to devote time, space or energy to male
plants. Just put the plants on a 12 hours light cycle for 2 weeks, separate the females from the
males, then revert the light cycle back to 18-24 hours to continue vegatative growth for the
females. Keep in mind, this is a time consuming process and can put the plants back 2 weeks
in growth. Don't pre-force plants unless you have lots of time. Just cover one branch per plant
with black paper (light tight, breaths air) 12 hours every day under constant light to force pre-flowers
and differentiate early.
REGENERATION
It is possible to harvest plants and then rejuvenate them vegetatively for a 2nd and even 3rd
harvest. A second harvest can be realized in as little as 6-8 weeks. Since the plant's stalk, and
roots are already formed, the plant can produce a second, even third harvest of buds in a little
more than half the time of the original harvest. When harvesting, take off the top 1/3rd of the
plant. Leave most healthy fan leaves in the middle of the plant, cutting buds off branches
carefully. On the lower 1/3rd of the plant, take off end flowers, but leave several small
flowers on each branch. These will be the part of the plant that is regenerated. The more buds
you leave on the plant, the faster it will regenerate. Feed the plant some Miracle Grow or any
high nitrogen plant food immediately after harvest. When you intend to regenerate a plant,
make sure it never gets too starved for nitrogen as it is maturing, or all the sun leaves will fall
off, and your plant will not have enough leaves to live after being harvested.
Harvested plants can come inside for rejuvenation under continuous light or are left outside in
Summer to rejuvenate in the natural long days. It will take 7-14 days to see signs of new
growth when regenerating a plant. As stated before, and in contrast to normal growth patterns,
lower branches will be the first to sprout new vegetative growth. Allow the plant to grow a
little vegetatively, then take outside again to reflower. Or keep inside for vegetative cuttings.
You now have two or three generations of plants growing, and will need more space outside.
But you will now be harvesting twice as often. As often as every 30 days, since you have new
clones or seedlings growing, vegetative plants ready to flower, and regenerated plants
flowering too.
Regenerating indoors can create problems if your plants are infected with pests. It may be best
to have a separate area indoors that will not allow your plants to infect the main indoor area.
An alternative to regenerating indoors is to regenerate outdoors in the Summer. Just take a
harvest in June, then allow the plant to regenerate by leaving some lower buds on the plant,
and leaving the middle 1/3rd of the plant's leaves at harvest. Feed it nitrogen, and make sure it
gets lots of sun. It will regenerate all Summer and be quite large by Fall, when it will start to
flower again naturally.
PRUNING
Plants that are regenerated, cloned and even grown from seed will need to be pruned at some
point to encourage the plant to produce as much as possible and remain healthy. Pruning the
lower limbs creates more air-flow under the plants in an indoor situation and creates cuttings
for cloning. It also forces the plant's effort to the top limbs that get the most light, maximizing
yields.
Plants that are regenerated need to have minor growth clipped so that the main regenerated
growth will get all the plant's energy. This means that once the plant has started to regenerate
lots of growth, the lower limbs that will be shaded or are not robust should go. The growth
must be thinned on top branches such that only the most robust growth is allowed to remain.
Once nice aspect of regenerating plants is that some small buds left on the plant in
anticipation of regeneration will not sprout new growth and may be collected for smoke. The
plant may provide much smokable material if it is caught before all the old flowers dry up and
die with the new vegatative growth occuring.
Try to trim a regenerated plant twice. Once as it is starting to regenerate, collect any bud that
is not sprouting with new growth and smoke it. Then later, prune again to take lower clippings
to clone and thin the upper growth so that larger buds will be produced.
If a regenerated plant is not pruned at all, the resulting plant is very stemmy, does not create
large buds and the total yield will be significantly reduced.
HARVESTING AND DRYING
Harvesting is the reaping of the bounty, and is the most enjoyable time you will spend with
your garden.
Plants are harvested when the flowers are ripe. Generally, ripeness is defined as when the
white pistils start to turn brown, orange, etc. and start to withdraw back into the false seed
pod. The seed pods swell with resins usually reserved for seed production, and we have ripe
sinse buds with red and golden hairs.
It is interesting that the time of harvest controls the "high" of the buds. If harvested "early"
with only a few of the pistils turned color, the buds will have a more pure THC content and
will have less THC that has turned to CBD and CBN's. The lessor psychoactive substances
will create the bouquet of the pot, and control the amount of stoneyness and stupidness
associated with the high. A pure THC content is very cerebral, while high THC, high CBD,
CBN content will make the plants more of a stupid, or hazy buzz. Buds taken later, when fully
ripened will normally have these higher CBN, CBD levels and may not be what you prefer
once you try different samples picked at different times. Don't listen to the experts, decide
yourself based on what you come to like yourself.
Keep in mind, a bud weighs more when fully ripe. It is what most growers like to sell, but
take some buds early for yourself, every week until you harvest, and decide how you like it
for yourself. Grow the rest to full maturity if you plan to sell it.
Most new growers want to pick early, because they are impatient. That's OK! Just take buds
from the middle of the plant or the top. Allow the rest to keep maturing. Often, the tops of the
plants will be ripe first. Harvest them and let the rest of the plant continue to ripen. You will
notice the lower buds getting bigger and fuzzier as they come into full maturity. With more
light available to the bottom portion of the plant now, the plant yields more this way over
time, than taking a single harvest.
Use a magnifier and try to see the capitated stalked trichomes (little THC crystals on the
buds). If they are mostly clear, not brown, the peak of floral bouquet is near. Once they are
mostly all turning brownish in color, the THC levels are dropping and the flower is past
optimum potency, declining with light and wind exposure rapidly.
Don't harvest too late! It's easy to be too careful and harvest late enough potency has declined.
Watch the plants and learn to spot peak floral potency.
Do not cure pot in the sun, it reduces potency. Slow cure hanging buds upside down in a
ventilated space. That is all that is needed to have great sensi. Drying in a paper bag works
too, and may be much more convenient. Bud tastes great when slow dried over the course of a
week or two.
If your in a hurry, it's OK to dry a small amount in-between paper sheets or a paper bag in a
microwave oven. Go slow and check it, don't burn it. Use the defrost power setting for a
slower, better drying. It will be harsh smoking this way though.
A food dehydrator or food preserver will dry your pot in a few hours, but it will not taste the
same as slow-dried. Very close though. And this will speed your harvest time (which can be
nerve-wracking, with all this pot hanging around drying.)
Dry buds until the stems are brittle enough to snap, then cure them in a sealed tupperware
container , burping air and turning the buds daily for two weeks.
Once experienced grower told me to dry in an uninsulated area of the house (like the garage)
so that the temperature will rise and fall each night, as the plant is drying. If you treat the
plant as if it were still alive, it will use some of it's chlorophyll while it is drying, and the
smoke will be less harsh.
CLONING
Cloning is asexual reproduction. Cuttings are taken from a mother plant in vegatative growth,
and rooted in hydroponic medium to be grown as a separate plant. The offspring will be
plants that are identical to the parent plant.
Cloning preserves the character of your favorite plant. Cloning can make an ocean of green
out of a single plant, so it is a powerful tool for growing large crops, and will fill a closet
quickly with your favorite genetics. When you find the plant you want to be your "buddy" for
the rest of your life, you can keep that plant's genetic character alive for decades and pass it
on to your children's children. Propagate and share it with others, to keep a copy, should your
own line die out. A clone can be taken from a clone at least 20 times, and probably more, so
don't worry about myths of reduced vigor. Many reports indicate it's not a problem.
Cloning will open you to the risk of a fungus or pests wiping out the whole crop, so it's
important to pick plants that exhibit great resistance to fungus and pests. Pick the plant you
feel will be the most reliable to reproduce in large scale, based on health, growth rate,
resistance to pests, and potency. The quality of the high, and the type of buzz you get will be a
very important determining factor.
Take cuttings for clones before you move plants from vegetative grow area to the flowering
area. Low branches are cut to increase air circulation under the green canopy. Rooted clones
are moved to the vegetative growth area, and new clones are started in the cloning area using
the low branch cuttings. Each cycle of growth will take from 4-8 weeks, so you can constantly
be growing in 3 stages, and harvesting every 6-8 weeks.
Some types of plants are more difficult to clone than others. Big Bud is reported to not clone
very well. One of my favorite plants, Mr. Kona, is the most amazing pot I ever smoked, but it
is hard as hell to clone. What a challenge! I noticed other varieties that were rooting much
quicker, but it was the stone I was after! Once you find the psychoactive, almost
hallucinogenic properties of some Indica/Sativa hybrids, you never want to smoke a pure
Indica again. Indica is however, great medicinally, so I like to grow a few pure strains too.
If a plant is harvested, you can sample it, and decide if you want to clone it. Pick your favorite
2 or 3 distinctly different types of plants to clone, based on trying the harvested plants. The
plants you want to clone can be regenerated by putting them in constant light. In a few weeks,
you will have many vegetative cuttings available for cloning and preserving your favorite
plants. Always keep a mother plant in vegatative mode for any strain you want to keep alive.
If you flower all your clones, you may end up killing off a strain if you don't have any plant
devoted to being a mother. I killed off a sacred strain accidentally this way; my harvested
plants failed to regenerate and the strain would have died completely had not previously igven
it to friends to grow it as well. I was in luck, and a buddy set me up with another clone of this
strain to grow as a mother plant for a new crop of clones.
After two months, any marijuana plant can be cloned. Flowering plants can be cloned, but the
procedure may take considerably longer. Its best to wait, and regenerate vegetatively plants
that have been harvested. A single regenerated/harvested plant can generate hundreds of
cuttings. Before taking cuttings, starve the plant for nitrogen for a week at least, so that the
plant is not extreamly green, as this will make rooting take longer. Take cuttings from the
bottom 1/3 of the plant, when doing ordinary pruning. Cut young growth tips from a
vegetative stage, mature plant 3-5 inches long with a stem diameter 1/5-1/10 inch. Cut with a
sterile razor blade or X-acto knife (flamed) and immerse the cut end of the clone into a tub of
distilled water mixed with 1/4 tspn Peters 5-50-17 per gallon. Next, cut the bottom .2 inch off
the end while it is submerged, using a diagonal cut. Remove the clone from the tub and dip
into a liquid cloning solution following instructions on the label. Dust with RootToneF and
place in cloning tray or medium. Flowering plants can be cloned too, but may take longer, and
may not have as high a success rate.
Cloning goes quickest with the liquid rooting solutions, in a warmed, aerated tray, with
subdued lighting and high humidity. Placing cuttings into 1" rockwool cubes in a covered tray
works great too. In a closet, you can make space above the grow area so that the heat of the
lamp warms the tray (passive collecting) and spare the expense and hassle of the aquarium
heater ($24) or agricultural heating pad w/ thermostat (pricey). A double 4" fluorescent lamp
will be perfect. Leave lamps on for 24 hours a day. Cuttings should root in 2-3 weeks.
I found only one liquid rooting hormone solution that was not over $10. (Olivia's Gel was $12
for a 1.6 ounce bottle. Geez, what is this stuff, gold?) I found some dipNgrow for $9,
considered myself lucky, and got a tray and clear cover for $7. A clear tray cover or
greenhouse encloser is needed to bring up humidity to 90% (greenhouse levels). Liquid
rooting hormone seems to be much more effective than powders. Some types available are
Olivia's, Woods, and dipNgrow.
Mix a weak cloning solution of high P plant food (such as Peter's 5-50-17), trace elements,
and epsom salts and then dip plants in rooting solution per instructions on label. All of the
above nutrients should be added in extremely small amounts, 25% of what would normally be
used on growing plants. Or use a premade solution such as Olivia's Rooting Solution. Corn
syrup has been reported to supplement the sugars needed by the plant during cloning, since it
consists of plant sugars.
Use a powder fungicide too, like RoottoneF to be sure you don't spoil the clones with fungus.
This is important, since clones and fungus like the conditions you will be creating for good
rooting:
mild light, 72-80 degrees, high humidity
In rockwool, there is no need for airating the solution, just keep the cubes in 1/4" of solution
so they wick and stay moist at all times. Try to keep clones evenly spaced, and spray them
with water once a day to keep them moist and fresh. Pull out clones if they are diseased and
dying, to keep them away from healthy starts.
Another method is to float cutings in a tray full of solution on polystyrene disposable plates,
or styrene sheets (shipping/packing material) with holes punched, so the tops and leaves are
out of the water. Take off all large leaves, leaving only smaller top leaves to reduce demand
on the new rooting stalk. Aerate the tray solution with an air pump and bubble stone. Keep
solution at 72-80 degrees for best results. Change the solution daily if not using an air stone
and pump, so that oxygen is always available to the cuttings. A week later, clip yellowing
leaves from cuttings to reduce water demands as the cuttings start to root.
Buy a tray with a clear cover made for rooting at an indoor gardening supply house. You must
keep humidity very high for the clones. Put cuttings in an ice chest with cellophane over the
top and a light shining down if you don't want to pay for the grow tray and cover.
It's also possible to directly place a dipped cutting in a moist block of floral foam with holes
punched, or vermiculite in a cup; be sure to root cuttings in a constantly moist medium. Jiffy
peat cubes are not recommended, as published reports indicate results were not good for
rooting clones. Place starter cubes in tray of solution. Check twice a day to be sure cubes are
moist, not drenched, and not dry. After about 2-3 weeks, rootlets will appear at the bottom of
the pods. Transplant at this point to growing area, taking care not to disturb any exposed
roots.
One grower writes us:
I have had virtually all attempted clones root with the following scheme:
0. Prep cutting by removing large leaves on tip to be cut, allow to heal.
1. While holding underwater, take final diagonal cut on stem to be rooted.
2. Dip in Rootone, then spear stem about 2" deep in 16 oz. cups of 1/2 vermiculite, 1/2 perlite,
which are kept in a stryrofoam cooler. 3. Spray cuttings with a VERY mild complete fert.
soln.
4. Cover top of cooler with Saran Wrap, then punch holes for ventilation.
5. Keep cooler in relatively mild temps, low light, and spray cuttings daily.
6. Cuttings should root in about 3 weeks.
Cloning is not as easy as starting from seed. With seeds, you can have 18" tall plants in 6
weeks or less. With clones, it may take 6 weeks for the plant to sprout roots and new growth.
Seeds are easily twice as fast if you have empty indoor space being wasted that needs to be
put to use quickly. Always breed a few buds for seeds, even if you expect to be cloning most
of the time, you could get wiped out, and have nothing but your seeds left to start over.
Cloning in rockwool seems to work great, and no airpump is needed. I paid $9 for 98
rockwool starter cubes. A plastic tray is available ($.95) that holds 77 cubes in pockets
allowing the cubes to be held in a tray of nutrient solution. They are easily removed and
placed in a larger rockwool growing cube when rooted.
BREEDING
It is possible to breed and select cuttings from plants that grow, flower, and mature faster.
Some plants will naturally be better than others in this regard, and it is easy to select not only
the most potent plants to clone or breed, but the fastest growing/flowering plants as well. Find
your fastest growth plant, and breed it with your "best high" male for fast flowering, potent
strains. Clone your fastest, best high plant for the quickest monocrop garden possible. Over
time, it will save you a lot of waiting around for your plants to mature.
When a male is starting to flower (2-4 weeks before the females) it should be removed from
the females so it does not pollinate them. It is taken to a separate area. Any place that gets just
a few hours of light per day will be adequate, including close to a window in a separate room
in the house. Put newspaper or glass under it to catch the pollen as the flowers drop it.
Keep a male alive indefinitely by bending it's top severely and putting it in mild shock that
delays it's maturity. Or take the tops as they mature and put the branches in water, over a
piece of plate glass. Shake the branches every morning to release pollen onto the glass and
then scrap it with a razor blade to collect it. A male pruned in this fashion stays alive
indefinately and will continue to produce flowers if it gets suitable dark periods. This is much
better than putting pollen in the freezer! Fresh pollen is always best.
Save pollen in an air tight bag in the freezer. It will be good for about a month. It may be
several more weeks before the females are ready to pollinate. Put a paper towel in the bag
with it to act as a desecant.
A plant is ready to pollinate 2 weeks after the clusters of female flowers first appear. If you
pollinate too early, it may not work. Wait until the female flowers are well established, but
still all while hairs are showing.
Turn off all fans. Use a paper bag to pollinate a branch of a female plant. Use different pollen
from two males on separate branches. Wrap the bag around the branch and seal it at the
opening to the branch. Shake the branch vigorously. Wet the paper bag after a few minutes
with a sprayer and then carefully remove it. Large plastic zip-lock bags also. Slip the bag over
the male branch and shake the pollen loose. Carefully remove the bad and zip it up. It should
be very dusty with pollen. To pollinate, place it over a single branch of the female, zipping it
up sideways around the stem so no pollen leaks out. Shake the bag and the stem at the same
time. Allow to settle for an hour or two and shake it again. Remove it a few hours later. Your
branch is now well pollinated and should show signs of visible seed production in 2 weeks,
with ripe seeds splitting the calyxes by 3-6 weeks. One pollinated branch can create hundreds
of seeds, so it should not be necessary to pollinate more than one or two branches in many
cases.
When crossing two different varieties, a third variety of plant will be created. If you know
what characteristics your looking for in a new strain, you will need several plants to choose
from in order to have the best chance of finding all the qualities desired. Sometimes, if the
two plants bred had dominant genes for certain characteristics, it will be impossible to get the
plant you want from one single cross. In this case, it is necessary to interbreed two plants
from the same batch of resultant seeds from the initial cross. In this fashion, recesive genes
will become available, and the plant character you desire may only be possible in this manner.
Usually, it is desirable only to cross two strains that are very different. In this manner, one
usually arrives at what is refered to as "hybrid vigor". In other words, often the best strains are
created by taking two very different strains and mating them. Less robust plants may be the
result of interbreeding, since it opens up recesive gene traits that may lead to reduced potency.
Hybrid offspring will all be very different from each other. Each plant grown from the same
batch of seeds collected from the same plant, will be different. It is then necessary to try each
plant separately and decide it's individual merits for yourself. If you find one that seems to be
head and shoulders above the rest in terms of early flowering, high yield and get buzz, that's
the plant to clone and continue breeding.
In depth genetics is beyond the scope of this work. See Marijuana Botany; Smith, for more
detailed info in this area.
SINSEMILLA
When the female plant is not allowed to pollinate, it grows full of resin that was intended to
make seeds. False seed pods swell with THC laden resin and the pistils turn red and orange
and withdraw into the pods. Then the plant is harvested.
Seeds are not part of the bud when the flowers mature. This is called Sinsemilla, and simply
means "no seeds".
FEMINISED SEEDS
It is possible to cross your favorite two female plants to create a new strain of seeds that will
produce all female plants. Preferably, these two plants will be different types of plants, not
from the same mother's seeds.
This will create the best offspring, since it will not lead to inbreeding. It is easier to gauge the
quality of female plants than male plants, since the smoke is more potent and easier to judge
it's finer qualities. Plants from seeds created in this fashion will be all female plants since
there will be no chance of male chromosomes from female parents.
Use Gibberellic Acid on one branch of a female plant to induce male flowers. Gibberellic
Acid is sold by nursery supply houses for plant breeding and hybridizing. Spray the plant
once every day for 10 days with 100 ppm gibberellic acid. When the male flowers form,
pollinate the flowers of your other target female plant you have selected. Just pollinate one
branch unless you want lots of seeds!
Once the branch has male flowers, cut the branch and root it in water, with glass under it to
catch the male pollen when it drops. Use a rooting solution similar to the above cloning
solution.Collect the pollen with a plastic bag over the branch and shake it. Use a razor blade
to scrap up fallen pollen and add it to the bag too.
It is also possible to pollinate the flowers of the plant you create the male flowers on, crossing
it with itself. This is used to preserve a special plants characteristics. Cloning will also
preserve the plants characteristics, but will not allow you to store seeds for use later. Crossing
a plant with itself can lead to inbreeding problems, so it may not be the optimum solution in
many cases.
I once tried using Gibberellic Acid, sprayed on a healthy female, every day for over a week.
No male flowers appeared on the plant. Your milage may vary.
ODORS AND NEGATIVE IONS
Negative ion generators have been used for years now to cut down on odors in a grow room,
but reports are coming in that a negative ion generator will increase growth speed and yield.
No true evidence to support this, however it does make sense, due to the fact that people and
animals seem to be altered in a positive way by negative ions in the air, so plants may "feel"
better too. Try putting one in the grow room. You may notice the buds don't have as much
scent when picked, but that may be desirable in some cases.
A negative ion generator can be purchased for $15 to $100 depending on the type and power
involved. Some have reversed cycles that collect the dust to a charged plate. It is also possible
to use grounded aluminum foil on the wall and shelf where the ionizer sits, to collect these
particles. Just wipe the foil clean once a month. It should be grounded to an electrical outlets
ground wire. If you don't cover the wall and shelf with paper or foil, the wall will turn dark
with dust taken from the air, and you will have to repaint that wall later.
OXYGEN
O2 to the roots is a big concern, since the plant requires this for nutrients to be available, and
to rid itself of toxins, etc. One of the easiest things to do is use food grade hydrogen peroxide
in the water to increase the availability of oxygen in the water. H2O2 has an extra oxygen
atom that will easily break away and can be used by the plant. Oxygen Plus is a plant food
that contains 25% hydrogen peroxide and is perfect for this use.
Using a planting medium that allows for plenty of aeration is also really important. Be sure
you have good drainage by using Perlite, sand, or gravel in your mix and at the bottom of
pots. Don't use a medium that holds too much water, or you may significantly reduce the
oxygen available to the plant. More on that in the section on hydroponics.
Aerating the water before watering is also a good idea. In the case of soil potted plants, use an
airpump to aerate the water overnight before watering your plants, or put the water in a
container with a cap and shake it up real good before giving to the plants.
SAFETY AND PRIVACY
Utility companies can tell your bill is way off from the same time last year, and police are
finding growers this way. More than 500 watts in the family home running constantly will
show up as a regular monthly increase in electricity use. You can claim space heaters, more
people living on the premises, too many television sets, and late hours, if they happen mention
it to you (innocently). If the police knock and ask you about it, don't let them in, and move
your plants to another location during the wee hours in a vehicle not your own.
Upon moving into a new place, it may be desirable to immediately establish high electricity
use, so that your electrical use history won't reveal your activities in the future...
Light leaks, open windows, heat expelled from rooms that would normally be cool, and rip-offs
are all serious issues to be concerned about. Don't use a burglar alarm on when your away
from the house. People are busted this way when the kids try to rip off the garden and the
police come. Lock the house up well, and let them take it if they need it so bad. It's not worth
getting busted for a burglary...
Think ahead to any situation that will require outsiders to visit sensitive areas of the house.
Repairmen, solicitors, meter readers, neighbors, appraisers, and pets should all be considered
and contingency plans made in advance.
DISTILLED WATER
Some growers report purified or distilled water helps their plants grow faster. Perhaps due to
sodium and heavy metals found in hard water that are not present in purified water. Hard
water tends to build up alkaline salt deposits in soil that lockup trace minerals, and cause iron,
copper and zinc deficiencies. There are several types of purified water, but many are not free
of minerals that could be causing salt buildup over an extended period of time.
Tap water comes in two flavors. Hot and cold. The cold pipe has less calcium and sodium
buildup in it, and should be freer of sediment once the water has been turned on and allowed
to flow for 30 seconds. Hot water will have rust, lead deposits, and lots of sodium and
calcium, so much so, you will see it easily. Use only the amount of hot water needed to make
the water the correct temperature (70-80 F). Tap water filtered through a carbon (charcoal)
filter will be free of chlorine and most large particles, but will still contain dissolved solids
such as sodium and heavy metals (lead, arsenic, nickel, etc.).
Purified bottled water will be either Reverse Osmosis or some form of carbon/sediment
filtered water. When purchasing water at a store, unless it says RO or Distilled, don't bother
buying it. It could still have the same dissolved solids and heavy metals your tap water has.
BIRTH CONTROL PILLS
A solution of one pill to one gallon of water has been reported to cause increased growth
speed in tomato plants. It is possible this will help herb plants too. One treatment
administered before flowering and one administered a few weeks before harvesting might
help the plant mature faster.
One grower told a story of the same type of plants, one administered the estrogen grew to 20
feet, while the other was 7 feet. This may be purely anecdotal, but it may work. Try it and
report back to us on results.
SEED AND BUD STORAGE
Use a seal-a-meal to hermetically seal the bag with no air inside. Freeze or refrigerate, and
bud and seed can be kept for years this way.
Rap seeds in a paper towel to absorb moisture. Keep them in the freezer, and pull out only as
many seeds as you need, then pop them back in the freezer quickly.
A FINAL COMMENT
Good results can be had even in what appear to be rather marginal situations. (i.e.: a four inch
pot in a room with a skylight.) With the minimum of: well drained medium, good light with
ventilation, regular application of a complete fertilizer, pest control, and avoidance of
detection, anyone can take a viable seed to maturity.
One need not have a lot of money, or even know-how to grow good plants.

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