Originally Posted by NeuroGheist
Put lights above your grow if you're not already. Even if you've got nothing, put lights above the soil. It helps them sprout out, faster. Untill you see a sprout, keep the light regimine at 24/0. That's 24 hours of light, 0 hours of darkness. Keep the light on.
Make sure you're using a proper light, as well. A CFL works wonders during this stage, and can even be used throughout the entire process, and still will still offer a decent yield of about 2-3 ounces.
Also, always keep the surface of the soil moist. Not saturated, just moist enough to make the dirt soft enough, so the seedling can come out. Try to never let the surface of your soil dry out.
Once you see the sprout, just water daily. No nutes. And keep the light relatively close to the plant. Switching off to an 18/6 regimine. That's 18 hours of light, 6 hours of darkness.
If you're using a heat lamp, or a high wattage bulb, keep the light about 8-10 inches away from the sprout. It'll still grow, but it may stretch. So be prepared to prop and tie your stem up, to some sort of stick. But don't poke the stick into the roots when doing this. And when tying the stem to the support, do it lightly. Making sure not to squeeze the stem. Just tie enough to support it.
At about 3 weeks, your plant should look like an actual cannabis plant. And now you can introduce a fan to your grow. Keep the fan on the plant at all times, as this will encourage stem streingthening to support the oncoming buds. Keep the lights at 18/6 during this.
Once you see white hairs growing out of your plant, switch your light regimine to 12/12. That's 12 hours of light, and 12 hours of darkness.
At this point, you need to MAKE SURE that the 12 hours of darkness happens. When I say 12 hours of darkness, I mean 12 hours of pure uninterrupted darkness. Not even a spec of light should be on your plants. Why this is so important, is because the white hairs, signify that your plant has begun it's flowering cycle. The point in which buds start forming. So it's crutial you don't fuck this part up, because even a little bit of light during the dark period, can delay the flowering cycle by days, and possibly weeks.
Furthermore, get a high Phosphate nute during this stage. Because Phosphate helps encourage rigerous flower growth on your plants.
When it comes time to harvest (when 70% of the hairs are redish in color, or when most of the trichomes (crystals) are amberish in color), cut the stalk at the base, and remove the large fan-leaves. And do your best to remove any smaller leaves as well. If you can't without damaging the bud, then keep them there.
Hang your buds in a dark room on clothes-lines upside-down (to promote flushing out of the nutes), with a fan on high, for about 1-2 weeks. Sometimes, it only takes a few days. But I def. suggest 1-2 weeks. After this is done, your buds should be dry. Make sure to check on them daily though. To make sure they're not growing mold.
Now simply clip the stems off, cure the rest of the excess leaves off that you may have left on, and enjoy your weed.
Also...germinating is good to do, before planting. Because if you don't germ your seeds first, you can't be sure they'll even grow into anything. So it's best to germ first.
Personally, I suggest starting your grow in peat pellets. Germ them till the seed pops. Plant the seed root down in the pellet. Let the plants grow for about 3 weeks. Then transfer to large pots. Then, every 2nd watering, mix the proper amount of nutes into your water. Then feed untill you see hairs.
The rest is explained above.
