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GROWING YOUR OWN AT HOME HOW TO GROW WEED INDOORS Growing Your Own At Home – How to Grow Weed Indoors Written by Vincent Press Published by the Vincent PRess With the price of good pot being what it is, doesn’t it make sense to grow it yourself? It’s easy, doesn’t take up too much room or time and you’ll have a reasonable priced supply of pot. Most people fail when attempting to grow their own weed. Pot plants are hardy yet particular about how they are treated and it’s easy to lose the whole crop to disease, bugs or improper use of nutrients or water. Take advantage of my experience and you’ll have growing success your first time My grow room is an unused room on the second floor of a house. It has electrical outlets on three walls, one window, one small closest and measures 8’ by 10’. I have grown as many as 40 plants at one time. More is not necessarily the right way and for the lights I have along with the room size; my best yields have been with 12-15 plants. I’m not trying to start a business. I just want to grow my own weed. Need a reason to start growing? How about: you’ll know for sure pesticides weren’t used on your plants and save a few bucks along the way. Without question, the least expensive way to grow weed is outdoors. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area where that’s permitted, and you can protect/hide your crop, that’s the way to go. Your plants will be larger, the buds bigger, the yield much heavier and you’ll have no electric bill. You just can’t beat free sun light. If you are forced to grow secretly, you have no choice but to find a spot inside your home or apartment. My grow method uses a soil mix. I do not use hydroponics to grow weed; too complicated for me plus I don’t like hydroponic vegetables. Vegetables grown in soil taste twice as good.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER The information included in this Book is for entertainment purposes only. By purchasing this Book, you certify that you are over 18 years of age and live in an area where it is legal to grow Marijuana. We do not offer legal advice. Check the laws of your state/country concerning growing Marijuana. The author and publisher do not suggest or recommend anyone (including the readers of this Book) break the laws of the state/country they live in and to only use this book as entertainment or to grow Marijuana when it becomes legal to do so.

The Ignorance About Pot Is Astounding Politicians are making rules and laws concerning marijuana based on ignorance or are using biased information published by prohibitionists and the competing industries; alcohol and pharmaceuticals.

For example, in Strongsville, OH, a suburb of Cleveland, their council just voted to ban all medicinal marijuana retail stores as well as growing, manufacturing and anything else associated with medical marijuana. They cite and I’m not kidding: because it’s still illegal on the Federal level and these businesses can’t use banks, there will be too much cash which constitutes a safety hazard for the citizens of Strongsville. I guess banks, the local credit union, the check cashing store, Walmart, Giant Eagle and the mall in Strongsville don’t keep much cash around on a daily basis? The two worst addicting and problem causing drugs in the world, alcohol and cigarettes, are sold freely in Strongsville but the representatives on the Strongsville council voted to ban something safer and more useful based on the inaccurate propaganda they read published by either prohibitionists or competing industries such as alcohol or big pharma, who spend hundreds of millions of dollars demonizing marijuana. It’s like when city councils ban the Pitbull dog breed. They were bred to baby sit. They were called Granny Dogs, I’m not kidding. They are one of the sweetest/smartest breeds in the world yet banned in many cities by people who have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about.

The State of Ohio finally legalized medical marijuana but you can’t grow or smoke it. I’m embarrassed for the people who actually wrote the law. And the fees to get into the business are so high, only people with great wealth will be able to open a business and you can’t even grow your own. Ironically, that was the reason Issue 2 failed in Ohio 3 years ago. That would have legalized it for recreational use too. Voters against were angry because the wealthy individuals who put up the money for petitions and bringing the issue in front of the voters would be the only ones permitted to grow in the beginning. Like that matters or what the hell is the difference? So in Ohio, we are stuck with what we have and it will probably be years before it comes up for a vote again. For all the people who never smoked pot and really have no idea what marijuana is, here are some facts. Medical and recreational marijuana are basically the same. There are no real studies, just anecdotal evidence that one strain or another will help with one problem or another. I use it for insomnia myself. I’d rather smoke pot and fall asleep in 5 minutes than take a pharmaceutical to fall asleep. Do you know why there are no studies about pot? Because it’s illegal, everyone interested has their hands tied behind their backs while the idiots in D.C. refuse to actually do something the majority of citizens want. Just like a tomato, you plant a marijuana seed, a plant grows, in about 16 weeks you pick the flowers (buds), dry them for a couple of weeks and they are ready to smoke. There is nothing added, no mad science; the strength of the marijuana is based on the genetics of the strain and your ability as a gardener. Over forty years ago I would smoke a joint and get a buzz. Today I smoke a half joint and get a buzz. It’s a myth that the pot today is ridiculously more potent than 40 years ago. Is it better? Yes, mainly because of sinsemilia (growing all female plants) but it’s not dangerously more potent. What’s the worse that will happen if I smoke a whole joint of this modern mad science weed? You mean besides wasting a half a joint? Nothing; for the most part you get a high and that’s it. You don’t keep getting higher and higher like you do drinking one, then two, then three beers for example. Trying to push prohibition because the pot of today is stronger than the pot back in the day is just a prohibitionist smokescreen designed to confuse the real issue at hand; personal freedom. When I smoke marijuana, I get a nice high, similar to drinking a little wine or beer. Sometimes I’ll get a little buzz and just lay around and sometimes I’ll get a buzz and go to work, cut the grass, write this book etc. It puts me in a better mood. I’m more creative with a buzz. It makes my life more enjoyable. I developed a web based APP higher than a kite. I drive high all the time. The notion that someone high on pot is a dangerous nuisance on the road is a complete myth. It’s a myth that marijuana users are pot heads who sit around all day eating cookies doing not much else.

I laugh out loud when I read that a Doctor has to prescribe marijuana before you can use it. To all on Earth; if you have a medical problem helped or not helped by modern medicine, try some pot. You won’t get hurt, I promise. If you eat it in some type of food, be careful. This happens to just about everyone; eat a cookie or gummy bear etc. and after 30 minutes, you don’t feel anything so you eat another and maybe even more. You’ll feel dizzy, nauseous, almost like motion sickness if you eat too much. All you have to do is lay down. You’ll be fine in a very short while. You don’t have to call the rescue squad or go to the emergency room. I did it myself on purpose last year eating cookies I made. I ate three and felt just as describe. I layed down for a couple hours and felt fine and I learned my lesson. In fact, I’m so convinced that weed is safe, I hereby prescribed marijuana for everyone in the World. How do I know it’s safe? I’ve been smoking it for over 49 years. I’m 66 and still going. Is pot perfect? Hell no; if you allow it to happen, it can turn you into a couch potato but that’s as far as it goes; a couch potato. Not a stumbling drunk who gets into fights, car accidents or causes all kinds of problems for society or a junkie who has to steal to pay for their habit. Ask a cop; would he/she rather respond to a call about drunken people or a call about people smoking pot? If they tell you the truth, they want nothing to do with drunks; especially if it’s a domestic situation. I’m an adult; I can make choices for myself. If alcohol is legal because most people can use it responsibly, then so should marijuana. Is it dangerous? No one knows because it’s never studied. All I can tell you is this; in recorded history, there are no mentions of death from cannabis. I’ve been smoking pot for 49 years and I’m doing fine thank you. It makes my life better. I’m not going to discuss the different strains of marijuana; indica or sativa. There is plenty of info out there if you’re interested but in a nutshell; indica is more of a heavier, lounge out on the couch high and sativa a more of a go out and about high. There are also hybrids so you really need to try different strains and find out what you like. I like an indica myself (who am I kidding, I’ll smoke anything). If I’m going out and about, I’ll just take a couple of hits and I have a wonderful day. If I want to veg out on the couch, I’ll smoke more. Everything I write about is taken directly from my experience growing and using weed. I didn’t try to reinvent the wheel, just tried to be as good a grower as possible. If you can provide the right soil, water, CO2 level, temperature, humidity, lumens and nutrients while controlling the light timing and pests, you will maximize the potential of the strain you’re growing. Thanks for reading my book. To your success!

Table of Contents PLANNING YOUR GROW ROOM ............................................................................................................... 8 Convenience of Location .................................................................................................................. 8 Walls, Floor and Ceiling.................................................................................................................. 10 Electrical ........................................................................................................................................ 12 Window or Ventilation................................................................................................................... 14 Top Five Grow Room Tips .............................................................................................................. 15 VEGETATIVE CYCLE ................................................................................................................................ 16 FLOWERING CYCLE ................................................................................................................................ 18 SOIL MIX................................................................................................................................................ 19 NUTRIENTS ............................................................................................................................................ 21 For the Vegetative Cycle ................................................................................................................ 22 For the Flowering Cycle.................................................................................................................. 23 SEEDS OR CLONES ................................................................................................................................. 24 SEEDS .................................................................................................................................................... 25 Starting from seed ......................................................................................................................... 26 How to tell a male pot plant from a female plant ........................................................................... 28 TRANSPLANTING ................................................................................................................................... 31 Transplanting Seeds ....................................................................................................................... 31 Transplanting Clones ..................................................................................................................... 31 WATERING ............................................................................................................................................ 32 PEST CONTROL ...................................................................................................................................... 33 MOLD .................................................................................................................................................... 35 LIGHTING .............................................................................................................................................. 36 T5 .................................................................................................................................................. 36 CFL ................................................................................................................................................ 36 HID ................................................................................................................................................ 38 Important tips about HID grow lights ............................................................................................. 39 LED ................................................................................................................................................ 40 LIGHTS TO USE FOR THE VEGETATIVE AND FLOWERING CYCLES ............................................................ 41 If you are using HID (high intensity discharge) lights....................................................................... 41 If you are using LED lights .............................................................................................................. 42

GAS LIGHT ROUTINE .............................................................................................................................. 43 MIXING MH HPS AND LED LIGHTS .......................................................................................................... 44 TOPPING THE PLANTS ............................................................................................................................ 45 HARVESTING ......................................................................................................................................... 46 CURING ................................................................................................................................................. 47

PLANNING YOUR GROW ROOM Convenience of Location

If you go the soil mix route and you're using around six, (most states will allow personal grows in this neighborhood when it's legal) 6 gal pots (you can go smaller if you need to), you'll need about 40 gallons of soil mix and about 25 pounds or so of amendments. You want to be in a convenient location with easy access to haul the soil in and out. Note about number of plants: Trying to squeeze more plants into a grow room defeats your purpose because you won’t get the full light needed to maximize the potential from each plant plus you’ll have double the work watering, pruning etc.

Watering (don’t miss the watering chapter) is something else to think about and over watering is probably the number one mistake newbie growers make. For each 6 gal pot, of course depending on the soil mix you're using, you'll need from about 1 to 2 gals of water (8.8 lbs. per gallon) every 1 to 3 weeks.

This is a pretty wide window and there are many considerations so follow the advice for making the soil mix. This mix; ProMix HP and Black Gold along with extra Perlite hold moisture superbly and will grow great plants. Your grow room should be close to or have access to water. I have well water and don’t have to worry about chlorine. If you have city water, I strongly suggest you research how to get chlorine out of your water before using. It’s not a deal breaker and your weed will grow but unchlorinated water is better. I have a shower down the hallway and remove the shower nozzle when water is needed. Using the pipe fills a one gallon jug in a few seconds. I fill as many jugs of water during one filling as I can because it’s one of the pains growing inside and we can’t let our girls go dry. A window is important in a small room but it must be completely blacked out with very small openings for fan exhaust and ventilation. The heavy construction black trash bags work very well. Cut them to size and tape them around the window. If you're using HID (high intensity discharge) lamps like MH (metal halide) or HPS (high pressure sodium) heat buildup will be a problem so ventilation is needed. It's suggested only to run HID lighting when you are in the building. A good time for me for example is; flower cycle lights on from 7 PM until 7 AM. I know for sure I’m home during these hours most of the time and don’t have to worry about having hot lights drawing a lot of electricity without any supervision. For the veg cycle I use the GLR (gas light routine). It's cooler in the evening and it's easier keeping the grow room between 75-85 degrees. Also keep fans running 24 hours per day. Fan and ventilation are must haves. Read the GLR chapter coming up.

Walls, Floor and Ceiling

You’ll be hanging lights from the ceiling so a normal type drywall or plaster ceiling works great. Use anchors and screws for lighter loads or toggle bolts to handle the heavier LED lights. If you can’t get all the way through your plaster or drywall ceiling you won’t be able to use toggle bolts but you can use molly bolts or a larger anchor (read weight limit on package). HID lights are fairly light and a decent sized anchor and hook work fine for them.

The LED lights are heavy; and either a toggle or molly bolts are needed for drywall/plaster and a heavier gauge screw hook if you’re screwing into some type of wood or material that will accept and be able to hold a threaded screw along with the weight of the load. Don’t skimp and try to save 50 cents on hardware. You won’t like it if your anchor lets go and your light falls to the floor. It’s a good idea to have a few extra hooks in the ceiling to help keep wires out of the way. To get the most bangs for your buck lumen wise, reflective material attached to the walls and laid on the floor would be money well spent. The material comes in rolls (we use 4’ x 25’ rolls of reflective bubble insulation) and we staple it to the walls and lay it on the floor. It’s quick and easy and simple to cut with a scissors if needed. It does slide around on the floor a little but that’s worth the hassle. It’s fairly cheap and available at your local home improvement store for about $40 a roll. It’s sturdy enough to stand up straight on its own and gives you an instant grow tent for about 40 bucks. Hang your lights from the ceiling and you’re ready to grow.

Electrical

DISCLAIMER: get electrical advice from an electrician. We are not electricians; this is not electrical advice but our opinion. Use our opinion at your own risk.

It’s easier and safer if you have electrical outlets on all sides of the room but it’s not a deal breaker. Even better are having two separate circuits in the room. It’s best not to use extension cords on HID lights and if you must, they must be heavy enough to handle the load, DO NOT skimp here. Our electrical circuit is 20 AMP and has a maximum load of 2400 WATTS. It’s best to stay at around 80% of max load. We keep our electrical usage around 1500 watts per circuit using HID lights. If you have a 15 AMP electrical circuit, the maximum load is 1800 WATTS and it’s best to stay under 1500. Why take a chance and tax your electrical circuits, especially in buildings with outdated electrical wiring and circuit breakers; you’re only asking for trouble. NOTE: 1000 WATT HID lights are ruled out for small rooms. They’re too hot and must be kept so far away from the plants, the extra wattage is wasted and not worth the extra cost for energy and problems because of heat. Thus we strongly suggest not using HID lights higher than 600 WATTS unless you have a room large enough with proper cooling/ventilation to accommodate them. When I first started, I used 2x4’s spanned across shelves and a ladder on either side of the grow area to hang lights. In the beginning while you're setting everything up and learning, this cheap set-up will work .

When you're more experienced and know the lights you're going to use, the best way to set up the lights is hanging them from the ceiling using an adjustable rope ratchet hanger versus some type of chain. Chains are a pain. The adjustable hangers work well and are worth the extra expense. We Are Not Electricians, YOU MUST get professional ADVICE about your electrical circuits in your grow room before installing your lights and other electrical devices.

Window or Ventilation

Plants need air thus ventilation and air flow is a must one way or another. A window in the room makes it easy to get fresh air in and exhaust heat and odor out. For sure, run a fan 24/7. It keeps the plants moving helping them grow strong and keeping mold at bay. It’s imperative that the window be blacked out. Construction type plastic waste bags block light, are easy to cut and tape over the window or you can use the same Panda poly film you’re using on the walls. Particularly if you’re using LED lights as they are really bright and cast a purplish shadow and could possibly bring attention to your window. How many houses do you notice purplish light coming from windows? None right? If your grow room is reasonable in size, you may not need to vent out; bringing in fresh air through the window or the door to the room may be all you need. Use another fan in the room to keep the air constantly moving. If you are concerned with the odor in your house, venting to the outside plus using a filter may be necessary. I don’t worry about odor because I don’t let anyone in my house during the months I’m growing and I vent out of a 2nd story window. Why take chances? If you’re growing in a closest or grow tent, exhaust is a necessity to move out the heat and using a HID light fixture with exhaust hook up is the way to go. The fixture has a mount just like a clothes dryer vent making it easy to install the flexible ductwork. If your main room is large enough, you can exhaust the air from the closest or grow tent into that. If your main room is small, you’ll have to exhaust the air directly outside through the window or vent.

Top Five Grow Room Tips

 Convenient location: you'll be bringing in a lot of grow medium and water.  Enough electrical circuits: you'll be using lights, fans and timers.  Window or a way to ventilate your grow room.  Ceiling and walls that allow for fasteners rated strong enough to hold up your lights and allows reflective material.  Closet or another small close by room for seedlings and/or clones

VEGETATIVE CYCLE Because you’re growing inside, the vegetative cycle will be from about 30 to 60 days. You can choose to end the veg cycle anytime you want, even switch to flowering right off the bat if you want. The point to consider when deciding on long to veg; how much height do you have in your grow room. When the plants start flowering, they will grow taller/larger. It’s hard to say exactly how tall because strains have different characteristic s but I estimate you’ll get 4-6’ more in height after you start flowering. For example; if your plant grows 4’ tall during the veg cycle, it could reach 10’ tall by the end of flowering. If you do run out of room at the top, bend the top of your plant over using string tying or clipping it to the side of the pot. NOTE: Any time I give an amount of time, it’s not exact. It’s about because it depends on the strain of the plant, your light set up, what you want, your skill etc. If you veg too long your plants may become too tall and will be difficult to properly light them during the flowering cycle. If you’re growing outside, you don’t have to worry as Mother Nature will take care of the vegetative cycle and the flowering cycle for you. The veg cycle is the time when you can run your lights using the GLR method; 12 hours on, 5-1/2 hours off, 1 hour on and 5-1/2 hours off. The GLR method saves from 5 to 12 hours of electricity use every day which is substantial. Remember, your highest cost to grow your own indoors will be electricity. If you prefer, you could run your lights 24/7 during the veg cycle. I’ve done it and really didn’t see a difference in yield or timing. Or you can run your lights 18 hours on and 6 hours off. A few years ago, everyone ran their lights 24 hours per day. Now evidence shows that giving your plants a rest every day results in superior plants. Some growers are using a 12/12 flowering light cycle from the beginning. The yield is less and the plants are smaller but they’ll be ready to harvest sooner.

As your plants grow, you’ll want to trim the large fan leaves at the stem. Be careful and don’t strip your plant of all its foliage. Take a few then wait allowing the plant to start some new shoots. Then take a couple of more; so on and so forth. The plants need some leaves so be careful. It’s kind of hard to see in the image but basically I’m reaching in and putting my thumbnail at the base of the leaf stem and the plant stalk and pinching it. It’s quicker than using a scissors when you’re just pinching off a couple.

I completely disagree with severely defoliating your plants as is prescribed by some growers. In fact I’ll go as far to say its complete bullshit. I have experimented with drastic defoliating of plants. Plain and simple; it hurts the plants, not helps them. Trim and remove large leaves and thin your plants out a little but don’t strip them of their leaves. Great things happen in the leaves. When your plants are about 3-4’ tall, (measuring from the floor) it’s time to start to flower. If you have a lot of head room allowing you to raise your lights, you can let your plants grow higher while being in the vegetative cycle. If your plant does grow too tall, you cantrim the top which will pretty much stop any more upward growing

FLOWERING CYCLE This is when the fun begins because you start to see the fruits of your labor.

When we commence the flowering cycle, we start with lights running 12 hours on and 12 hours off. Then every 2 weeks we increase the off time by 30 minutes. Doing it like this is trying to mimic the end of summer/fall sunlight. If you don’t know the sex of your plants, you will once the flowering starts. The females have very wispy thin white hairs growing. You can’t miss them. Some plants will fool you though as even some males will show a white hair or two so don’t make a decision to keep or toss until you are about 2 weeks into the flowering cycle and sure of the sex. The males will start to form little balls and you’ll spot them right away. Once you see a male, get it out as fast as you can. The male will start producing pollen soon and if you leave them with your females, you’ll have plants full of seeds instead of buds. Your plants should be in the flowering cycle about 50 - 60 days depending on the strain. Watch your buds looking for any signs of morphing. That’s when your buds start turning into seed pods. If it happens, it would occur late into the flowering cycle. If you see them forming it’s time to harvest. The most potent weed occurs when the plant is allowed to properly mature. Decide on the proper harvest time by looking at the trichomes. They’ll start turning an amber color from clear/white. Generally they all don’t turn amber but when you see a good amount of them turning, it’s time to harvest. Whether or not you harvest when 25% of them are amber or 50% really won’t make that much of a difference for home grown. You will get ripped no matter. If you have a problem getting seeds, think about sacrificing one female to make seeds. Once you have flowers showing, take the female to another room with the male. Sprinkle some pollen from the male over the female’s flowers. That female’s buds will start to produce seeds. Grow her in another room using a 12/12 light cycle. There is no guarantee that the seeds from a female will become a female and the 50-60% female rate will apply here.

SOIL MIX For plants, seeds or clones, we use this mix 1. 2.8 cubic feet size bag of Pro -Mix Mycorrhizae 2. 32 quarts (2 large bags) of Black Gold (worm compost) 3. About 4 quarts of Perlite We tried using another famous name brand mix for our soil but we are still fighting the bugs that came with it. We lost one complete grow to wingless thripes and they are still around. We added a new nutrient containing higher levels of silicon and potassium which gives us a tougher leaf making it hard for the pests to bite into the leaves.

Thankfully the bugs are under control and our plants are fantastic. We started using Black Gold by accident. We wanted to order organic worm castings from a worm guy in Southern Ohio but didn't want to wait to have it shipped so we had to use Black Gold, an organic compost and available in most stores. Many people comment about it; not 100% worm castings or its not organic etc...But they are wrong. Black Gold is organic and it has worked out so well there is really no reason to change. We have absolutely no nutritional problems with our plants using this soil mix along with our nutrient schedule. Previous to the soil and nutrient mix we use now, we always had deficiencies one way or another and we could tell by looking at our leaves. Now all our plants are lush, green, and full with dense, heavy buds that are as sticky as glue. I don’t even include leaf deficiencies in this book. Use my soil mix along with Dyna-Gro and you won’t any.

Mixing your soil indoors can be a challenge so try some of these tips      

Start with spreading a small tarp on the floor. Open your bag of Pro-Mix and slowly empty the bag in the middle of the tarp. Use a spray bottle to spray water to keep the dust down. Add about 4 quarts of perlite then add 16 quarts of Black Gold. Mix it up and it's ready to use. Optional: hang a few, yellow, sticky pest strips above your open mix for a day or two to catch pests just in case you have some.

This mix along with our nutrients can be used to start seeds, clones or transplanting. In fact, our clone success rate is up from 65% to near 100% since we’ve evolved into using this mix and the nutrients.

NUTRIENTS Besides over or under watering, using too much nutrient is second on the list of preventable mistakes new growers make when growing weed indoors. Less is always better than more when it comes to stuff you add to your soil. Be sure and follow the directions on any product you buy. For example; if a nutrient mix calls for 1/2 tsp in one gallon of water, don't think 1 tsp will work 50% better. You're wasting your money and probably killing your plant as well. We have tried most of the popular names in the nutrient industry with our soil mix and have come to the conclusion that Dyna-Gro products are the best in the business. Using them along with Pro-Mix, Black Gold and Perlite has given us the best plants we've ever had. Nutrients are applied when your girls are thirsty. Using empty gallon jugs from the spring water I buy for personal use, I fill them with water from a nearby shower nozzle and a plastic syringe is used to transfer the nutrient from the bottle to my jug of water. Doing 4 gallons at once just takes a few minutes, give them a good shake and you’re ready to water and feed your plants. I have done foliar feeding before and never really noticed the difference in plant growth. What I did notice is the mess and smell from spraying. I do spray water on the leaves from time to time but have stopped foliar feeding.

For the Vegetative Cycle

The worst thing you can do for your plants is believe all the mumbo jumbo about nutrients and marijuana plants. You need 16 micro and macro nutrients for your girls and that's it. What's more, many of the formulations sold don't or can't provide all 16 so you have to combine 3 different products to get them and there will be a very good chance the proportions will be incorrect; which is the exact reason we use DYNA-GRO for our girls. In our opinion, they are the only company with the correct proportional formulas for optimal cannabis growing. Look how simple it is: We use a 1 tsp of Pro-TeKt and 1 tsp (5 ml) of Foliage-Pro. Pro-TeKt gives us a tougher leaf and overall stronger and heartier plant to help it withstand bugs and the weight of the buds. Foliage-Pro has the most complete vegetative cycle nutrition formula of any product sold. Note about Pro-TeKt: it can increase your PH so be sure to test your soil; especially when you re-use it for subsequent grows. When reusing this soil mix, if the PH is high, add 1 tablespoon of lime in a gallon of water and use this for your first watering without any other nutrient. This should take care of any PH issues for the remainder of the grow.

This nutrient mix should be used for seedlings and clones. If you follow our soil mix and nutrient recommendations, you will grow the best plants you've ever had. Two weeks before starting the flowering cycle, add 1 tsp (5 ml) of Mag-Bloom to your nutrient mix and add it in every other week thereafter.

For the Flowering Cycle

We use a 1 tsp of Pro-TeKt and 1 tsp (5 ml) of Foliage-Pro per gallon of water. We also add 1 tsp of MagPro every other watering commencing two weeks before the start of flowering. Mag Pro is a sulfur and magnesium booster that helps the plants form dense and large buds. We watch closely and try to calculate the harvest date so we have an idea when to stop feeding nutrients. Your reefer will always taste better if you go the last couple weeks of their growing life nutrient free only watering with plain water.

SEEDS OR CLONES There are 2 growing methods; starting from seed or from a clone. Using a female clone is by far the fastest way to start growing weed, especially if you can buy them ready to transplant. I prefer to use regular seeds over auto flowering or feminized seeds. My two experiences with auto/fem seeds were not good. IMO, auto/fem seeds produce smaller plants, smaller buds and plants that morph too easy if they have a little bit of stress. You can sprout regular seeds, grow them for 60 days with 18-6 light then switch the light to 12-12 to start flowering. In about 10 days, you can pick out and get rid of the boys and continue on with the girls for another 60 days. Or you can sprout regular seeds, grow them for 2 weeks under 18-6 then switch to 12-12 and start flowering. In about 2 weeks you’ll see little flowers growing on some plants and you’ll see little ball sacks growing on the other ones. Toss the boys and change the lights back to 18-6 reverting them to the veg cycle. Clones will grow out to be exact replicas of the donating mother. I like to take clones that are around 4” long or so from the bottom of the main stem. You can take smaller ones too; give them special attention.

SEEDS It’s okay to use bag seed if you come across any and the pot is good. In lieu of bag seed, you’ll have to be careful and buy some online. The first time I bought seeds, I got them from the Amsterdam Marijuana Seed.com website. Not only was it a pain in the butt to pay them (money had to be wired); they screwed up the order and out of 20 seeds received, not one germinated. And they gave me a hard time about it too. It is not recommended to use Amsterdam for seeds. Over $140 was thrown right into the garbage. Another group of seeds were purchased from the BreedersBoutique.com. They had a 98% germination success rate and out of the 23 plants grown, 12 (that’s good) were female. They are recommended because I’ve made two purchases, both went without a hitch, they were easy to pay, they sent free seeds to try, and most germinated. I really loved the Cheese Surprise strain (huge buds with a great high) and wanted to order some more seeds but they were out of stock and unfortunately are not going to carry it anymore. I’m sorry I didn’t make more seeds. I needed more seeds so I decided to try another company, Robert Bergman’s, I Love Growing Marijuana website. Since I didn’t know them, I only purchased five, AK-47 Auto Flower seeds. I’m happy to say, they were delivered in about 10 days and all five germinated. They have a good reputation and I’m satisfied so I recommend them. I’ve grown with auto flower seeds before and didn’t like them but wanted to try and save growing time so I decided to try them again. This latest batch didn’t change my opinion. The plants are smaller, some morph right away, they all morphed by the end of the grow. I don’t recommend using Auto Flower and/or feminized seeds. It’s probably just me but I’ll never grow with feminized/auto flower seeds again. Plus you can’t clone the plants which is the real deal breaker. There are no hard and fast rules about how many seeds will germinate and how many females you'll get out of a group of seeds. I’ve always had between a 50-65% female plant success rates from regular seeds. I’m happy with 50% myself because I’m going to clone immediately and will have as many plants as I want anyway. I use peat rings to germinate the seeds because I want to handle seeds/plants as little as possible. The peat ring allows me to pick up the plant without touching it. It also makes it easier moving your plant into its final pot.

Starting from seed

Seed starting kits are available that include the peat rings, plastic pan and a clear plastic cover. The cover turns the plastic pan into a little greenhouse. Jiffy is one brand name. Place your peat rings into the pan with water. You want the peat ring to expand to their full height and width. Depending on the size you get, they should be from 2 to 4 inches tall and about a 1 to 1-1/2 inches or so wide. You want them wet and fully expanded. Once your peat rings are fully moist and expanded, make a little hole in the top and drop a seed in. You want one seed per peat ring; scrape a little mix to cover the seed. Place the peat rings in a plastic tray and place the tray on a heating pad, no light needed at this time. Using heat will speed up the germination process by at least 2 days (no pad? No biggie). Depending on the seed strain, you'll see little sprouts popping up between the 3rd and 10th day. There is no hard and fast rule on this so be patient and remember all strains are different. Keep checking the peat rings and make sure they stay wet. Not dripping wet and not sitting in water wet; just moist. Once the sprout grows a little I’ll also spray a water mist on the leaves too. Check often for mold. If there is no air flow, it will/can start growing. You’ll notice something like a furry/fuzzy growth on the wet peat ring. If you spot that, IMMEDIATELY wipe the mold off and stop using the cover and allow the tray to dry out a little. It’s not a deal breaker if you get rid of it fast. If you let it grow, forget about it. When your sprout gets to be about a strong four inches tall or so, you can transplant the peat ring and sprout into it’s final pot.

I keep them out of direct light from the time I place them in the peat ring until they are about 1” above it. After that point, I use a low watt CFL bulb in a clamp light holder for another couple days and watch how they progress. If they look good, I’ll switch to LED. It’s ok just to use CFL while they’re sprouting. Keep the peat rings on the heating pad and moist during this time. They should start forming leaves and stretch. Depending on the strain etc. your plants will be ready to transplant into a larger pot within about 1-3 weeks. Because I want as little touches as possible; I’ll transplant the peat ring into a 6 gallon pot as soon as it’s ready versus using a 1 gal pot for a while then transplanting again. Anywhere from 3-10 days you’ll see teeny weeny sprouts. I’ve had seeds take even longer so don’t give up yet.

Se v

Don’t be afraid to use seeds you find in the bottom of the bags of weed you’ve had over the years. If it was good weed, your plants should be good too .

Seedlings Seven Days Old

How to tell a male pot plant from a female plant

Part of growing from seed is figuring out the males from the females when you’re growing from seed. We’ve been growing weed for a long time and still can’t tell the difference until they have been in the flower cycle for a while. If we want clones when we grow from seed, we have to allow the seedlings to grow for a while in the vegetative cycle than start to flower them (switch from 18 hours of light to 12 hours of light) for a short while until we can see the difference. We do it this way because we want female clones from vegetating females immediately. First we flower, find the females and then revert back to the vegetative cycle. After another couple of weeks, we’ll start taking clones. If you’re not worried about clones or this is your first time, grow your plants in the vegetative cycle for about 60 days depending on strain/room height then switch to the flowering cycle. Within one or two weeks you’ll see the difference in the plants. Remove the males and finish growing your females for around another 60 days. To tell a male from a female, look for the little balls (male plants) that start to form and get rid of the plants, (we do save one to pollinate 1 female for seeds). Sometimes the little balls start forming in a couple of days and sometimes it takes a week or two. Some males show little white wisps so wait for the balls to develop before tossing the plant. Once we have our girls (they have white wispy hairs) figured out, we change the flowering light cycle back to the vegetative cycle. We start with 24 hours light for as long as it takes the girls to revert back to veg. You’ll notice weird looking leaves growing, mostly single leafs, right up through the little buds. Don’t worry about them; trim them off if they make you nervous. We change the lights to 18 hours light on for another week than change to the GLR (Gas Light Routine) for the remaining time in the veg cycle. We use the GLR because it saves a ton of money on the energy bills and the plants will start flowering a few days quicker after making the switch to the flowering light cycle of 12 hours on and 12 hours off. Even though the plants initially look a little weird, they grow out into normal looking plants in a short while. Once you have a group of female plants growing in the vegetative cycle, you can start taking clones when the lower branches get to be around 4″ long or so. All in all it can take around 3 weeks to differentiate the boys from the girls so it makes a lot of sense to keep a mother plant growing so you can take female clones anytime you need them.

CLONES

Using clones from nice plants is a great way to grow weed; even if you have to buy them. A clone of a female marijuana plant in the vegetative cycle is taken off the lower part of the main stem. Use clones at least 4” long for your highest success rate. I have used clones as small as one inch but it was a pain and not recommended. I did it just to see if I could and in fact I can. Clones taken from flowering females that you continue to flower will be smaller plants with smaller buds. They grow decent and are worth using if you don't have much room and time but the buds will be small and you’ll have a lighter yield. The clones taken from plants that are in the veg cycle should have about a 98% success rate depending on your ability following the steps outlined while using our soil mix and nutrient advice. The clones taken from plants that are in the flowering cycle will have about a 65% success rate. Clones from known females in the veg cycle are by far the best way to start growing. Take your clones from the lowest part of the main stem. Use a clean razor blade or scissor, cut the clone off as close as possible to the stem; be careful. Stick the tip of the blade into the end of the middle of the clones stem. It’s not easy to do because of the size, but split the last ½” or so of the clone stem to give us twice the surface for the clone powder to stick on. Spray the end of the clone with water then dip it in the clone powder and give it a good coating. Because the end of the clone is delicate, tip the jar to one side, put your damp clone in the other side and tip the jar back. Do this versus jamming the clone directly into the powder to protect the fragile sliced stem. Poke a large hole in your peat ring or small pot filled with your soil mix and water the hole. Place the clone in the hole and push the soil in and around it squeezing it but don’t compress to tight.

You should have about 1-2" of stem in the peat ring/small pot and about 2-3" of stem above the peat ring (shorter measurements if your clones are smaller). Put them under CFL lights for 24 hours on and keep them like that until transplanting into a larger pot. You can switch to LED if desired but CFL work fine. The clone should be ready to transplant into a larger pot in about 2 weeks. Once transplanted, run your lights 24 hours on for a week, switch to 18 hours on and 6 off for another week then either keep them on that schedule or switch to the GLR schedule. The most amazing thing about the GLR is how fast the plants start to flower when changing to 12 on and 12 off (flowering schedule). I have used both 18 on and 6 off and 24 on during the vegetative cycle. I found no difference except in my electrical bill. Check out the GLR lighting schedule. I use it all the time and think it’s the way to go.

TRANSPLANTING I have tried a few different methods of handling seedlings and clones and in my opinion, it’s best to use peat rings for seeds and they can work well for smaller clones too. I want to handle the seeds, sprouts and clones as little as possible and once the seed or clone is in the ring, it’s easy to transplant it into a larger pot. Transplanting Seeds

To avoid transplanting twice, I transplant the seedling deeper into the final pot. Fill your pot half way with the soil mix. Thoroughly moisten the soil, carve out a space in the middle, pour in a little extra water and place your peat ring in. Press it down a little and back-fill with soil completely covering it while keeping the seedling leaves from touching the soil. If needed, trim the leaf a little bit. Then, as the plant grows taller, trim the shoots on the lower stem as they grow and add more soil. You can take clones too. Continue adding soil as needed as the plant grows stopping when the soil reaches about 2 inches from the top of the pot. You want to leave a couple of inches at the top of the pot to make it easier and not so messy when you stir the soil and clean out dead leaves etc. By the time your plant is ready to flower, you’ll have a main stem strong enough to hold up a Volkswagen.

Transplanting Clones

Small clones grown in the peat rings can be transplanted the same way as the seeds. For your larger clones grown in the bigger pots, have a watered hole ready in your final pot, place one hand over the top of the pot and turn the pot upside down. Give it some taps if necessary; the little ball of soil and root system should slide out. Place it into the final pot, back fill with soil and give it a good watering. Be as gentle as you can.

WATERING Watering could be the toughest thing to figure out when you’re a newbie growing your own weed.

If you have city water, fill your gal jugs a week or so before you need the water and let it them sit with the cap off so the chlorine can leach away. I think the best way to determine when to water is by the weight of the pot. Get a good feel for the weight of the pot full of your dry soil mix. It should feel fairly light. Use a scale if you have to. Water your dry soil mix until the water starts coming out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. Pour the water slowly and mix it in for the most accurate feel. Remember how much water it took (really important) and get a good feel for the weight of your pot after it’s watered. For example; we use 6 gal pots and it takes from 1 to 1-1/2 gals of water for each plant. Pour it in until the water starts draining from the bottom. Water is heavy, about 8.8 pounds per gal so you’ll feel the weight of the water. You’ll know when to water again when the pot is much lighter but don’t let it get as light as the pot with just the dry mix. You could even keep a pot with just dry mix and use that to compare the weight of your plants. Pot plants are pretty hearty and can overcome getting too dry. You’ll notice your leaves drooping and the pot will feel really light. Water immediately with the usual amount and the plants will perk up very soon. They seem to recover without a problem but IMO, letting your plants dry out to the point of drooping hurts your overall yield as they will stunt for a short while until they do recover. The leaves will droop if you over water too and you’ll notice this when they droop soon after watering. You have to get rid of that excess moisture or risk rotting your root system and killing your plant. Place the over watered plant in an extremely dry room in front of a fan. Keep rotating the pot as the fan blows air on it. If it’s in the summer, take the plant outside and watch it closely as it will dry pretty fast. One of these methods should work for you and it must be done or you’ll lose the plant. Water is a very crucial element when growing and this is where most rookies get it wrong. Too much or too little could destroy your plants in a very short time. Do a foliar spray of water on your plants in between the full watering if your humidity level is low in your grow room (my worst problem). If you're using HID lights, be very careful when spraying. It is strongly suggested that you spray before the lights turn on and gently wipe the bulbs when done with a clean soft cloth if mist floated to the bulbs. You won’t like the additional expense or mess if a bulb breaks.

PEST CONTROL Bugs are a pain and if they move in and you leave them alone, they’ll wipe you out in no time. Most come in the potting mix. I have found that mixes that are moist out of the bag are a HUGE problem and is exactly why I use Pro Mix. It’s as dry as your mouth after a few hits from Girl Scout Cookies and I have never ever found a pest in one of the bags or bales I’ve purchased in over 6 years. Bugs can also enter from your windows, pets, clothes, shoes etc. I always have a few yellow sticky strips hanging from the ceiling in my grow room. We recommended two ways to control pests if you’re unlucky enough to get them. If you do use a soil mix that is moist, before you fill your pots, spread the mix out on a tarp and hang a few yellow sticky fly strips above it. Agitate the soil a few times each day trying to get any pests to jump up or take flight. They are attracted to the yellow strips. You also can use sticky yellow sheets placing them on top of the soil in the pots. Scrape the surface of the soil with a fork once every once in a while and get the buggers jumping or flying directly into your sticky strips too. Start this when your plants are babies and you’ll put a dent in the population. If you are having trouble controlling the pests with the sticky strips, use natural Neem Oil from Dyna Gro. One or two applications a couple of days a part should take care of your pest problem. Neem Oil is wonderful, it’s natural and I’ve used it with great success. Follow the directions on the bottle. I spray it on. It doesn’t have the greatest smell but it’s not a deal breaker and it works like a charm. I spray it on top and underneath all the leaves. I’ll do it 2 days in a row starting just before I’m ready to water. If the pest situation doesn’t improve, spray them every day. Neem oil is all natural and you can use it proactively as often as needed. It’s not a bad idea to use it on new plants even if you’re not showing signs of pests yet. Under no circumstances should you use any type of spray insecticide. Remember, you’ll be smoking, vaping or cooking with your pot. I have killed/got rid of everything with Neem Oil. If you have something that Neem Oil doesn’t work on, I suggest you dispose of your plants and soil and wash all of you pots and tools outside. Clean your grow room and try again.

I also encourage Lady Bugs to hang around my grow room. They eat all kinds of bugs and after years of having them around, they have never damaged one of my plants. Don't let any dead leaves or any other organic material from your plants lay around. That will attract bugs so remove it immediately. And don't use anything on top of your soil like mulch when growing indoors. You'll just get more bugs and mold.

MOLD Mold can be a HUGE problem because of the humidity and heat if you don’t have enough air flow in the grow room and you don’t take care of it. The mold that grows on the soil, seed, sprout or peat rings looks kind of furry or fuzzy. It’s pretty obvious and when you see it wipe/scrape it off and dispose of it immediately and wash your hands. Take a little of the underlying soil with the scrape. Let that area dry a little before watering again and keep your eyes on it. Continue to scrape away the soil if you see more. The mold that grows on the leaves looks almost like powder and will wipe off if you rub it. If you catch it fast enough on just a couple of leaves, cuts those off immediately and get them out of your grow room and wash your hands. Continue to watch closely and remove any leaves showing signs of mold growth. If you inspect your plants several times each day (not when they’re sleeping though) you’ll notice any new mold growth and you can take care of it right away. If you let the mold grow, you’ll crop will be ruined. Do not let a moldhill turn into mountain.

LIGHTING Lighting can be as complicated as you want to make it. If you need the complicated info to make your lighting decision, check out the 420 forum and search out posts on lighting. They go into great detail about lumens and colors etc. For what I do, the info I provide in this chapter is really all you need.

T5

T5 is a fluorescent fixture and light. When I first started with T5’s, I used cheap and even a few free fixtures because they were easy to find. The tubes are easy to buy and because they last so long are relatively inexpensive. Energy use is reasonable and the lights run cool too. Of course the plant, from the leaves to the bud were smaller but all in all, T5 lights are okay for a newcomer’s initial growing experience or if you have no choice. I would use CFL myself instead of T5.

   

Use T5 first; make sure you enjoy growing before investing in more expensive lights Plants will be smaller Buds will be smaller Vegetative and flowering cycles could be slightly longer

CFL

CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) work great in clamp light holders and are another inexpensive way to start growing without making the investment in HID or LED lighting. As for T5, the energy use is reasonable and the lights run cool.

Use 6400k lumens CFL bulb for the vegetative cycle and a 2700k lumens bulb for the flowering cycle. Place the lights as close as possible to the plants without burning the leaves. CFL’s are easy to set up and handle and in our opinion, for just a couple of plants, they are perfect for a first grow or a grower on a strict budget. The same bullet points for T5 apply for CFL too. You can get something to smoke with T5 or CFL then decide if you want to move up to the more expensive HID or LED lighting for your next grow.

HID

HID or high intensity discharge bulbs were the light source of choice for most growers but that is starting to change as LED’s are becoming less expensive. HID lights need a ballast, are hot and use quite a bit of electricity. Always wear cloth gloves when handling HID bulbs so you don’t leave fingerprints. MH or Metal Halide bulbs are used for the vegetative cycle of growing and come in various WATTS. HPS or High Pressure Sodium bulbs are used for the flowering cycle of growing and also come in various WATTS. Clamp Light Holder

HPS Bulb

MH Bulb

Super HPS bulbs have a wider spectrum and include bluish light which promotes more vegetative cycle growth and can be used for both the vegetative and the flower cycle but they do cost a little more. If you’re using HID lighting we suggest using electronic switchable ballast that will run both MH and HPS bulbs. It will also allow you to run the bulbs at 50, 75 or 100% of power if necessary. This is important because for new or young small plants, I don’t want to blast them with 100% of 600 WATTS. I’ll use 50% power for a day and 75% power for another day before going 100%.

Important tips about HID grow lights

Never touch the bulbs when they’re hot and never touch the bulbs with your bare fingers. Use a soft cloth or even better wear a pair of cotton work gloves when handling the bulbs. Never water or spray/mist your plants when the bulbs are on or hot. Even a slight mist can cause them to explode. Wipe your bulbs with the soft cloth after spraying your plants. Some ballast have a built in fan that aid in cooling. They do make some noise but nothing unusual or annoying and we recommend using ballast with fans to help with heat. Make sure the ballast is in a location with a little space around it for ventilation and is not touching anything except a flame retardant surface like a wire rack or a flat stone. We have used both; they work well for cooling. Use the appropriate bulb wattage for your room size. If the bulb must be keep too far away from the plant because of temperature, the benefit from high wattage is negated by distance and your better served with a lower bulb both in wattage and closeness to plant. Change your bulbs for every grow you have.

LED

LED lights have been around for a while now and as anything, there are various opinions on which light spectrum they produce/ to use. But the verdict is in; LED’s work great, the plants love them, stretch less during the veg cycle, grow a little bushier, the lights run cooler and use half of the electricity HID lighting uses. We have added LED lights and use them alongside of our HID lights and are having fantastic results. Let me say that again; we use LED, MH and HPS lighting all at the same time now. Doesn’t matter if we are in veg or flower, we now mix the lights and strongly suggest everyone try it. IMO, using only LED lights during the flowering cycle produces SMALLER buds. I don’t really weigh or measure anything (never keep a scale or plastic bags around if you grow-if busted they’ll throw in a dealing charge too) but my eyeballs are pretty accurate. HID lighting produces larger buds than LED lighting. But, when you mix them together during the flowering cycle, you’ll get a tighter, heavier bud than just plain HID. Roughly speaking, to run about 1500 WATTS of HID lighting will cost approximately $175.00 per month. Running 3300 WATTS of LED lighting is costing about $80.00 per month. Of course these amounts depend on your local energy cost. We now run 1000 WATTS of HID and 3300 WATTS of LED for the vegetative as well as the flowering cycle. Some LED manufactures, namely in the US, claim the LED’s from China are using the wrong spectrum and that the lights are of lower quality. The US manufactures charge a lot more money for an 800 WATTS LED versus $159.00 for a King LED you can find on Amazon. We’re fairly certain the US lights are in fact better but their price point is nuts. Since we have been using LED’s from China for over two years with good results, we will continue to use them until the US manufactures lower their price. For a large commercial grow, I wouldn’t hesitate buying high wattage American made LED lights though. Make sure you keep sunglasses in your grow room as you will definitely feel the LED’s in your eyes if you don’t wear protection.

LIGHTS TO USE FOR THE VEGETATIVE AND FLOWERING CYCLES If you are using HID (high intensity discharge) lights

Metal Halide, also known as MH, are the best lights to use during the vegetative cycle of your grow (the first 30-60 days). Without getting technical, they provide the light that falls into the blueish spectrum which promotes the type of beginning growth you want for the awesome buds you’ll have coming later.

If you buy dual ballast (handles both MH and HPS), it’s easy to use the MH bulb for the veg cycle than switch the bulb to a HPS (High Pressure Sodium) when changing to the flowering stage. You can also get dual wattage ballast so you can switch between 400 and 600 or 600 and 1000 WATT bulbs; of course you have to use the appropriate bulb wattage, you cannot switch between wattages using the same bulb.

High Pressure Sodium, also known as HPS, are the best lights to use during the flowering stage of your grow. They provide the light that falls into the reddish spectrum. It’s important to read and follow the suggestions on handling these bulbs as they get very hot and can be fragile and dangerous.

There is a lot of mumbo jumbo about lighting but it boils down to what we are including in the sections here. If you want really technical stuff, go to the 420 Forum and look up lighting: www.420magazine.com/forums/

If you are using LED lights

If you are using LED lights, some have vegetative and flowering switches which will change the spectrums. If your LED light doesn’t have the switch, use it for both the vegetative and flowering cycle as it is. LED are powerful. Wear proper eye protection every time you enter the room. I wear sun glasses but check out what’s best for your eyes. Your room will be cooler using LED’s but they still generate some heat and continue using fans. Growing indoors during the winter time works the best because of the heat the HID bulbs generate. In the summer, a small room really gets hot and you’ll have to use a small window air conditioner. Running the lights all night makes a lot of sense too. It's cooler and you're probably home. It’s not recommended to be away very long when running HID lights. That’s a lot of juice and heat in your grow room unattended. Use a digital timer to run the lights; they are precise and trustworthy. You can also use an electric/mechanical type timer. Use the daylight savings time change program on your timer so the light remains the same when daylight savings kicks in. Electric/Mechanical Timer If you use a mechanical type timer that plugs in to electricity, you have to push down the little tabs for the complete time period you want on and leave the tabs up for the time period you want off. It can be difficult to get the exact time set and suggest using digital timers if possible. We now use 1000 WATTS of combined MH and HPS along with 3300 WATTS of LED for both growing cycles and are having the best results ever. And, the absolute best way to grow is outside with the natural sun; nothing beats the sun and Mother Nature never sends us a bill.

GAS LIGHT ROUTINE We don't care where the name came from but we do know that the GLR will save money on energy bills and encourage your plant to start flowering a little bit faster. This light routine is a little different with three objectives: 1. Giving the plant the light it needs for vigorous root and foliage development 2. Save energy resulting in a lower energy bill 3. Encourages the plant to flower faster The GLR is used only for the vegetative cycle. Its purpose is for running the lights fewer hours during the veg cycle by interrupting its lights off time with one hour of lights on. The normal vegetative light schedule is either running your lights 24 hours on or:  

18 hours of light on 6 hours of light off

The GLR light schedule is as follows:    

12 hours of light on 5.5 hours of light off 1 hour of light on-this interrupts lights off keeping the plant in the veg cycle. 5.5 hours of light off

Your lights will be running 13 hours each day resulting in a significant savings and when it comes time to start the flowering cycle, your buds will start forming sooner. NOTE: some strains will flower using GLR so watch for that. If you do see the flowering cycle commence, just revert back to your regular vegetative hours; you can’t use the GLR.

MIXING MH HPS AND LED LIGHTS Your heard it here first; I get heartier plants with larger buds running MH, HPS and LED lights at the same time during the vegetative and flowering cycles.

Not sure if the commercial guys have figured it out yet but they should make the switch immediately. I was only growing a few plants, had a ton of lights lying around with all the hooks mounted in the ceiling already and thought what the hell; I’ll run MH and HPS along with my LED’s and I’ll run them for the vegetative and flowering cycles and see what happens! It wasn’t really surprising to me that it worked so well because Mother Nature provides a wide variety of light spectrums that change from hour to hour day to day month to month for the complete growing season. They won’t reach the size of a Mother Nature grown bud but it’s still pretty impressive. I set up my LED’s like I usually do then around the edges; I set up my HID lamps. I drop them to about the same height as the LED but instead of using both mounting holes to hang them, I only use the front hole on both sides. Because it’s off centered, the light will hang at a slant throwing it’s lumens onto the sides of your plants under your LED’s.

You do have to rotate your plants but for a small grow, it’s no big deal. It’s less work and much easier growing fewer plants, at least in my case/opinion. Remember, I’m not trying to start a mail order business; I only want to save money growing my own at home.

TOPPING THE PLANTS If you top while the plant is just a few weeks old, you’ll get multiple stems which is very desirable. Grown correctly you’ll have a number of big fat buds at the top of each stem. If you top because your plant is getting too tall for your room, it will pretty much stop growing upward. To handle tall plants, you can also tie a string near the top of the plant, pull the string and bend the plant over a little then clip the other end of the string to the pot. If you keep the area around the bottom of your main stem clean by pinching off little sprouts, your plant won’t waste its energy growing tiny buds which really aren’t worth the time and you'll have denser and larger buds higher up the stem. It is recommended to have a plant with at least 2 nice vertical branches; Top once for 2 branches or top twice for 3 or 4 extra branches. If you have room and a 30 gal pot, you could grow a 5 foot tree by topping every branch and keeping the inside of the tree fairly clean of shoots etc... Your yield could be huge and I plan on trying that one of these days. If you top, you want to cut the little shoot growing in between a pair of larger shoots. Hard to explain, the picture is worth a thousand words. You can also only cut 1/2 of the new shoot and this will add even more growth. There is another method called Scrog. I don’t do it but you can search that term and you’ll see how others use it. In a nutshell, you mount a screen above your plants with about one inch square openings. As your plant grows, pull the stems into the square openings. This will train those stems to grow straight up toward the lights giving you many flowering stems at the top of a plant. You’ll end up with a larger yield but getting the amount I get is plenty for me so I don’t bother with Scrogging.

HARVESTING When your plants pass the trichome test, they are ready to harvest. The top image is an example of trichomes on a plant that is NOT ready for harvesting. Wait until they start turning amber in color. Waiting to turn amber While the plant is still in the pot, I’ll start trimming off the large leaves. Keep your thumb nail long, pinching works great too. Then I cut the plant branch by branch and trim all the leaves protruding from the buds and trim or pull off all other leaves and shoots growing from the stem. You can choose to trim after they have dried if you prefer. Hang your branches upside down in a dark closest or other such enclosure so they can start drying out. They will be ready to cure in sealable glass jars in about 10 to 21 days. When a regular size branch snaps when you bend it, your buds are ready to go in jars for curing. If you decide to grow 30 or 40 plants, you’ll have your work cut out because that will take a hell of a lot of trimming.

CURING Cut the buds off the branch; place those in a clean glass jar that seals. A jar with a rubber gasket like a canning jar works well. Use cleaned sauce etc. jars too. Every day open the jar for a couple of minutes and let the moisture escape. Curing process takes about another 2 weeks or could be even longer.

If you really want to fire something up fast, take a bud and dry it out using oil filled space heater. Don’t lose track of time or your buds will be dryer than your mouth after a few hits of Girl Scout Cookies.

Place another piece of paper on top of the buds and cover it up with a newspaper. If you have dried buds that don’t crumble the right way to roll a joint, they’ll be ready to roll in 10 minutes. If you have fresh picked buds, it will take much longer but you’ll have weed ready to smoke in no time; around 40 minutes or so.

Set an alarm so you don’t forget about your buds. If they do get too dry, pick a few leaves and throw them in a plastic bag along with the dried out buds. They’ll absorb some moisture in a short while.