ElBarto
Well-Known Member
Here's a selection of books (in no particular order) which I've found helpful in my growing career.
The Marijuana Grower's Guide
by Ed Rosenthal & Mel Frank
Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible
By Jorge Cervantes
Cultivating Exceptional Cannabis: An Expert Breeder Shares His Secrets
by DJ Short
Buds for Less
by Seymour Buds
Dank: the Quest for the Very Best Marijuana: A Breeder's Tale
by Subcool
Please feel free to comment on these books or recommend others, but let's try to keep this thread as useful as possible by staying on topic. Thanks!
The Marijuana Grower's Guide
by Ed Rosenthal & Mel Frank
I think this was the first grow book I ever read back in the mid-seventies. It was a classic for its time but it contained a large number of pretty nutty sounding ideas. I'm not going to pick fault with the two of the fathers of the cannabis cultivation movement, but let's just say there's some stuff in this book that I would never try. On the other hand, I think this book covers all the basics fairly well and if you use a bit of common sense it might be a good place to start. It's available hard-copy or for free online.
Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible
By Jorge Cervantes
The bible. 512 full color pages and 1120 full color photographs and illustrations. There are chapters on the cannabis life-cycle; vegetative growth; flowering; indoor growing; outdoor growing; growing in soil; growing in hydro; lights & electricity; water & nutes; ventilation; diagnosing and treating pests, fungi and diseases; hash making. The chapter on breeding, written by Chimera, is a particular stand-out.
Sometimes the book reads a bit awkwardly and there is quite a lot of repetition, but there is an incredible amount of useful info in here. You can sit down and read it chapter by chapter and the comprehensive index also makes it useful as a reference.
If you only buy one cultivation book, then make this the one.
Sometimes the book reads a bit awkwardly and there is quite a lot of repetition, but there is an incredible amount of useful info in here. You can sit down and read it chapter by chapter and the comprehensive index also makes it useful as a reference.
If you only buy one cultivation book, then make this the one.
Cultivating Exceptional Cannabis: An Expert Breeder Shares His Secrets
by DJ Short
This is a collection of legendary breeder DJ Short's columns in High Times. The book is in two parts. The first part is a cultivation guide with enough info to get you started. Even if you've read through the Cervantes book, this section is well worth going through for DJ Short's own thoughts on cultivation. In the second part of the book, the author discusses breeding, seed making, and lists some of the heritage strains he has worked with. This second section is what makes this book special and a must have IMO.
Buds for Less
by Seymour Buds
A little love for Seymour Buds, AKA RIU's own Garden Knowm. "Buds for Less" gives day by day, step by step instructions on how to grow 8 ounces of chronic using CFLs. The book includes pictures from every single day of the GROW! it says here.
This book is basically an 80-some day grow journal. It's nicely produced and very inspirational but not much hard info. I think most readers will be left with the same impression that I got: the author was pretty lucky to get half a pound from three plants (one mango seed and two blue dot clones) under half a dozen cfls, MG soil and no additional nutes. On the other hand, the author does a good job of demystifing the growing process and if you follow his method, you might not yield half a pound, but you should end up with some decent smoke.
This book is basically an 80-some day grow journal. It's nicely produced and very inspirational but not much hard info. I think most readers will be left with the same impression that I got: the author was pretty lucky to get half a pound from three plants (one mango seed and two blue dot clones) under half a dozen cfls, MG soil and no additional nutes. On the other hand, the author does a good job of demystifing the growing process and if you follow his method, you might not yield half a pound, but you should end up with some decent smoke.
Dank: the Quest for the Very Best Marijuana: A Breeder's Tale
by Subcool
This book is not a cultivation guide and there's not much in the way of nuts and bolts "how to"--hopefully, that will be sub's next book. I guess one way to look at this book is as a catalog of TGA strains, past and present. In a perfect world, it would be marketed with a blister pack of seeds. *sigh* maybe one day.
The text offers some interesting insights into how each strain was developed and some tips on how to get the best out of growing each strain but for me the first couple of times I've browsed through it, it's difficult to tear my eyes away from those beautiful buds. I have never seen such gorgeous bud shots in my life. They seem to pop off the page.
One for the coffee table, not the grow room.
I believe personalized/autographed copies are still available from the author at time of writing.
The text offers some interesting insights into how each strain was developed and some tips on how to get the best out of growing each strain but for me the first couple of times I've browsed through it, it's difficult to tear my eyes away from those beautiful buds. I have never seen such gorgeous bud shots in my life. They seem to pop off the page.
One for the coffee table, not the grow room.
I believe personalized/autographed copies are still available from the author at time of writing.
Please feel free to comment on these books or recommend others, but let's try to keep this thread as useful as possible by staying on topic. Thanks!
