NEW WITH 2 MILLION QUESTIONS

First thing to know is, it's just a plant pretty much like any other. What you do with an indoor grow is try to create an environment inside that mimics nature outside. Thanks to all the rain plants grow like crazy in Washington and if you grew this plant outside, they usually would get to 15-20 feet tall. Sounds extreme but the sun makes them grow like mad. You won't get such growth inside, but you can get 6-7 feet or taller if you let them grow. After awhile of growth you can trim the top so it will grow out rather than up. Some people make alot out of growing this plant only to kill it. They'll try various fertilizers in different strengths without really knowing what they're doing. This is going to make me seem like a jerk, but many of them are use these forums for help. The point I'm trying to make is, keep it simple unless you are certain you know how to grow with a complex method like the various hydroponic methods available. Some people here do hydro well and if you want to learn, you should feel free to ask as this is what these forums are for, however alot of bad advice is given too. For example, there was a poster perhaps yesterday, who had some problems and somebody else told him to pay attention to his pH level and use vinegar to get it down. He did this and wrote later that his plant was worse, then criticized the solution as being bad, which it was. Start off in potting soil and be careful what you do and who you listen to.

About growing - it's easy. Here's a method for a simple soil grow that works great. In your area you should be able to find an indoor grow shop that has Foxfarm powder fertilizer in boxes. There are several different kinds and they have one call "Fruit and Flower" in a yellow box that is good. Foxfarm also make a potting soil which is also good, or you can use Promix or Sunshine mix, or any of the good-quality potting soils available. I would suggest you avoid Miraclegrow products as I think they are loaded with ferts and too hot. One thing you can also try if you want, is to go to your local Fred Meyer store and you can get Black Gold all purpose potting soil and a box of Whitney Farms organic fertilizer in the light blue box, or the all purpose fert in the dark blue box. Doesn't matter much. You'll also need 5 gallon containers to grow in; buckets work great. You might want to drill holes in the bottom to let water out, or you can get containers at a grow shop that will work. You'll also need indoor lighting if growing inside and I'll get to that.

You fill the bucket about halfway with potting soil and mix in about one half to one full cup of powder fert. One half cup should suffice, but I like to use a little more in the bottom of the bucket. For a kicker, you can put in one teaspoon of Maxicrop seaweed powder, not liquid, in the bottom half of the container and mix the seaweed and fert in real well. Then fill the rest of the bucket with potting soil and add one half cup or so of fert and mix that good too. Now your soil is ready. What's happening here is that these powdered ferts come with a high bacteria and fungi content that work to break the ferts down to a molecular level that the roots can absorb. There are plenty of ferts on the market to dazzle the eye and spark the imagination with fancy names and labels, but that's just marketing to get your money. Chances are good, for the average home grower, if you don't know what you're doing, you're going to screw it up pretty bad. I see alot of people come to these forums complaning that their plants are dying and it's no wonder.

For lighting, you want to use either high pressure sodium or metal halide, which you can buy in a grow shop. You can also use fluorescent light, like shop lights or compact fluoro, just keep the bulbs close to the plants. HPS and MH need to be about 18-24 inches above young plants, or perhaps a little lower as they grow. You need to put a small fan on the plants to move air and knock them around a little to strengthen the stems. That way they won't fall over. One interesting thing you can do is check out youtube for various growing tactics. There's a ton of videos on there showing people how to do things. One thing you're going to want to do later is grow with cutting, or clones as they're called, and not from seed. Since the female of this species is the one that makes the THC you want to remove male plants from the grow area before they pollinate the females or you'll end up with a bunch of seeds in your buds. You can't smoke or eat seeds. Well, you could but they explode when heated and might explode in your belly for all I know. Kidding. Anyway, the males develop little balls of pollen as they mature and females develop white wispy hairs. That's usually how you tell the difference. Keep the females, trash the males.

One more thing - you don't need to buy the best, most expensive stuff to make this work. Be careful when you go to a grow store as many of them prey on those who don't know and let it show that they have money to spend. Research online before doing much else. You can even buy online and get things shipped to you. Sometimes the best thing to do is to walk into a grow shop and pick their brains, provided they know what their talking about, and return later with a decision. Don't impulse buy a 300 dollar light if you don't really need to. Once you get the light you want, you can also set up a light mover, which is a rail and motor to move the bulb over a line of plants. That way you cover more plants with fewer bulbs and it saves a little money. For plants, you might try a growers co-op kind of store for your area. If seeds don't arrive, it's probably because they got stopped in customs and you'll get a note in the mail saying, "we've stopped this package." You can try Gypsy Nirvana, in England, search the name on the web. They use stealth packaging cuz seeds in the states is illegal. If you could get cuttings (clones) from a care-giver or shop that support med plants, that would be best. Use the web. NORML
Marijuana Law Reform - NORML

I've been criticized by some here for this fert method, but unfortunately for the naysayers, it actually works. The companies go out of they're way to make the best products they can. Otherwise the stuff wouldn't sell. Letting nature's bacteria do the work is a good way to grow. You just water when the soil looks dry and wait. I wouldn't bother with mylar. Waste of money, in my opinion. I guess that's enough for now.