Couple (more) Newbie Questions

[piercedweed420]

Is it possible to grow some plants outside right now? (its cold)

if not what kind of light do I need to grow them indoors?

when can i start smoking and selling my bud? after how long after I planted the plant?

what does "flowering" mean?

piercedweed420 Reviewed by piercedweed420 on 01-07-2005. Couple (more) Newbie Questions Is it possible to grow some plants outside right now? (its cold) if not what kind of light do I need to grow them indoors? when can i start smoking and selling my bud? after how long after I planted the plant? what does "flowering" mean? Rating: 5

[Garden Knowm]

seriously..? no offense... but you should get a book... You will learn so much....
Your questions are tuff to answer.. its like asking..... where does water come from?
The questions are good.. SHoot..we all started with these questions.... but if you read a little about WEED... you'll see that these question have to many variables to give answers to...... but I will try anyway... : )

Outside now... uh... no... unless you are south of the equator... plants need 16-24hours of light in the early (vegetation) part of their life.. kinda like when your a baby, you need milk and lots of sleep and love.. or you die or end up a deformed....

Light...indoors....uh...you should get a High pressure sodium (hps) set up.... but you really should read some about these lights 'cause these bulbs can be dangerous...

Selling... Smoking... how long....?.... uh.... If you go get a book and a coffee and sit down and read the book for 10 hours ...then the next day you can go to the store and buy some stuff and start growing and then if everything goes perfect....you could be puffing some buds in.....uh......calculating.....uh.... ummm.......wait a minute... I almost got it......uh..........

12 to 20 weeks... wait...

it could take longer ..cause you got to wait for the buds to dry.. fuck it.. just nuke 'em heehheheehhehe...

you got a get a book or a DVD!!!! Seriously.. it will make the growing expeience that much better.. the more you know the more you will really appreciate the whole process...

good luck... : )

[Garden Knowm]

oh yeah... Flowering.... that's when you change the light cycle from 18+ hours of LIGHT and 6 hours of DARK to 12 hours LIGHT and 12 hours DARK.... this 'causes the plant(female) to think that winter is coming so it trys to produce seeds 'cause it knows it is going to die... but since their is NO male plant around to fertilize the female plant.... the seeds never form and YOU are left with KIND BUD......

[magicdragon]

IN MY 1ST GROW, I ONLY DONE 1 PLANT, IT WAS FEMALE AND IT BUDDED, BUT THERE WAS SHIT LOADS OF SEEDS, WHY?, IT WASN'T A HE/SHE LOL

[llamaman666]

it was a hermie

[The Student]

Hello,

1) Is it possible to grow some plants outside right now? (its cold)

It is not possible to grow any plants outside until the last frost. When you start to see people in your community begin their flower and vegetable gardens, then you can start growing outside. Until that point your plants will not be able to take the stress of the freezing nights.

2) If not what kind of light do I need to grow them indoors?

There are two main types of lighting that you can use in order to grow strong healthy plants.

One variety is fluorescent lighting. Many people use fluoros for their veg cylcles. Fluoros put out a lot of usable light for the plants to take in. However, the light rays can only penetrate so far into the canopy your plants will create.

The other variety of lighting is HID lighting. This can be broken down into two catagories, Metal Halide (MH) and High Presure Sodium (HPS). The MH light puts out a white/blue spectrum that mimics the light rays and spectrum that plants need to grow during their veg stage. The HPS light puts out a red/orange light spectrum that works extremely well for flowering your plants.

Both types of lights can be bought in set wattage increments. The three most common wattages are 400, 600, and 1000 watts. The 400 is the single most common light for indoor growers.

3) When can i start smoking and selling my bud? After how long after I planted the plant?

This question is a bit harder to give an answer to. The issue at hand has several variables. I would suggest that you purchase seeds of an early maturing strain. Here is an example of how long that it can take.

[align=center]-Sample Grow-
From Seed Through Curing[/align]

Day one - You germinate the seeds

Day three - Seeds are showing tap roots, they are planted into rockwool cubes.

Day five - The seedlings are starting to pop above the rockwool.

Day seven - The seedlings have all shed their seed shells and are working on their first set of leaves.

Day fourteen - The plants are all about 5-6 inches tall and have several sets of leaves growing on them. They are transplanted for the first time. The plants are also topped at this point.

Day thirty - The plants are all around the one foot mark. They are transplanted again now into three to five gallon containers.

Day fourty - The plants have all had time to rejuvinate themselves from the last transplant, the roots should be growing out into the new soil now. They are set into flowering.

Day fifty - (10 days into flowering) The plants are all starting to really show sex at this point. All of the males are identified and chopped down. The remaining plants, all female, are situated in the grow area so that they now take advantage of the extra space. The plants are all growing quite rapidly in size during the ten days since the begining of veg.

Day sixty - (20 days into flowering) The ladies are all starting to develop buds at this point.

Day eighty - (40 days into flowering) The buds on all of the ladies have really started to fill out at this point. You can't help but grin every time you look at your plants.

Day eighty-nine - (49 days into flowering) Your buds are at the end of a good little growth spurt. Most if not all of the hairs have turned to the familiar red/brown color that maturity brings. The plants are one week away from harvest. On this day you flush the plants with a lot of clean pH balanced water. This removes any nutrient build up that may have occured. You will give the plants at least one more thurough flushing before harvest. Any remaining nutrients (salts) left in the plants and soil can cause the buds to end up having a harsh taste.

Day ninety-six - (56 days into flowering) Today is the magical harvest day. You pull out your trusty 30x jeweler's loop and check the trichome colors on your plants. They are just as you suspected about 20% clear 70% cloudy, and 10% amber, right where you want them for a nice even high.

[align=center]The drying stage[/align]

You cut down your ladies at the base of each plant and hang them upside down in a dark cool space.

leave the plants for the next two days.

Day three - At this point go in and cut off all of the fan leaves, and some of the other leaves. Then close them back up.

Day five - Today you go in and start cutting the plant down into individual branches. Once done hang them back up and continue to let them dry.

Day seven - Go in and see if you can bend one of the large stems. If it bends leave the plants to dry, if it snaps and breaks then go on to trimming and curing.

[align=center]Trimming and Curing[/align]

At this point you break out your small trimmers and you trim off all of the remaining leaves and excessive stems, cutting the brances into individual colas and buds.

Once all of the buds have been trimmed they are placed into glass jars and closed up.. Fill the jars, but DO NOT pack them at all. The buds need air to breathe.

Day one - Open the jars after 24 hours of them being closed. Take all of the buds out, they will have re-moistened, and set them on news paper or paper towels for thirty minutes. Then place them back into the jars, tightening the lid.

Day two - Repeat the exact same method as the day before, except only leave them out for 15 minutes this time.

Day three - Open the jars, leaving the pot in them, and let them air dry for 15 minutes.

Day four - Continue to follow the method for day three until you can no longer tell a differance in the moisture level of the buds. It should take around one week to 10 days total.

Once you can no longer tell a differance in moisture levels the true curing stage begins. You leave the buds in the jars, in a cool, dark, dry area for as long as you can stand. The longer the better. It is like a fine wine, the longer you wait the better your product. Most people probably cure for around three weeks. This brings out all of the great aroma and taste that you experience with quality herb.

In Summarization:

For veg cycle ------ 40 days (includes germination time)
For flowering cycle - 56 days (8 week strain)
For Drying --------- 10 days (until they go into the jars)
For Curing --------- 28 days (from the time they hit the jars till they are bagged)

For a total of 134 days from seed to bag. This grow could be done faster or slower, their are several variables that I did not even touch on. But this is a good all around example.

4) What does "flowering" mean?

HID â?? High Intensity Discharge.

HPS - High Pressure Sodium.

MH â?? Metal halide.

VEGETATIVE GROWTH STAGE â?? The stage in the life cycle of the marijuana plant that occurs before flowering and after the seedling stage.

FLOWERING STAGE â?? The peak period of development of a plant, is when the cannabis plant displays its sex and produces flowers and bud.

pH â?? A measure or the acidity or alkalinity or a solution, numerically equal to 7 for neutral solutions, increasing with increasing alkalinity and decreasing with increasing acidity. The pH scale commonly in use ranges from 0 to 14.

TRICHOMES â?? A hair-like or bristle-like outgrowth, as from the external surface of a plant, resin glands.

I hope all of this helps.

Peace

[llamaman666]

great post student, but thought i should add some info to make it more complete, many strains go longer, and I would suggest trimming before drying, and leave covered leaves on the plant. trimming now will be easier than cutting dry plants.

[The Student]

Hello,

My thinking on the trimming is that you want to extend the drying time for as long as posible (within reason), the longer the drying time the smoother your end product. I do agree with you about the crystal covered leaves, those should be left on.

Peace

[Garden Knowm]

I hate drying....... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..

: )

[piercedweed420]

one more really noob question:

I just plant one seed in one growing pot or do I plant more?