Growing information
Section 1 Water
Section 2 Growing medium
Section 3 Plant Details
Section 4 Advanced growing techniques
Section 5 Harvesting and curing
Section 6 Fertilizing
Section 7 Microbiological organisms
Section 8 Electricity usage and suspicious power consumption
Section 9 Lighting and yield
Section 10 FLIR or Forward looking infrared radar
Section 11 Ventilation
Section 12 Final words
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S1 Water
Water is a very important part of growing a healthy plant obviously so it is best to go with reverse osmosis filtered water, the reason for this is that it is almost completely pure. Using spring, tap, or well water untested is not a good idea because many sources of this water have a high number of Total dissolved solids.
TDS
Total dissolved solids are particles that are in the water and can be anything from fertilizers in well water, to high concentrations of minerals or salts, that may seriously effect your plants health.
Total dissolved solids - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PH is a measurement of acidity to alkalinity and is a very important part of growing healthy plants, I'm not gonna go into in to details here, but i will provide a link that better explains it and a chart that shows nutrient absorption points for hydro and soil growers.
http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/567829-ph-what-means-your-plants.html
video
http://youtu.be/wh3mnwnFwIQ
Watering schedule
Over watering is one of the number one killers of beginner growers plants, due to their wanting to mother and nurture their young plants. This is very bad for a plant, plant roots need oxygen just as much as they need water... It is advisable to keep a watering schedule, you should water every 3-4 days from start to finish. The general rule of thumb is to water when the top inch or so of the soil is dry this will keep your soil from becoming water logged and killing your plants. Plants can recover much better from under watering than they can from over watering for this reason you should always under water as opposed to over watering.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S2 Growing Medium
I would recommend any grower just starting out check out Vic's super soil just to get the hang of things, it can be a bit costly to put it together but its a water only mix which means you don't have to worry about killing your precious first crop by over fertilizing or under fertilizing.
Vic's super soil recipe
1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix (3.8 cu ft)
8 cups Bone Meal - phosphorus source
4 cups Blood Meal - nitrogen source
1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source
3-4 cups powdered dolomite lime -calcium source & pH buffering
1 tsp fritted trace elements
4 cups kelp meal.
9kg (25 lbs) bag pure worm castings
- Mix thoroughly, moisten, and let sit 1-2 weeks before use.
DWC/Hydro
After you have a grow or 2 under your belt you should check out DWC it is second only to aeroponics in growth rate and yield, and wont kill your plants in hours if equipment fails, DWC is truly a simple and awesome form of hydroponics. Here is a DIY thread on making a single plant DWC system and a recirculating DWC system for multiple plants.
DIY single plant system
http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/121335-lets-build-bubble-bucket-step-step.html
DIY R-DWC multiple plant system
http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/600352-budslingers-recirculating-bubble-buckets.html
Dwc explanation
http://youtu.be/CEXW8wb7jeY
Cloning made easy, here is a DIY thread to help you construct a bubble cloner it can be constructed for under $50, and offers almost a 100% success rate something any soil or hydro grower should have.
http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/504667-budslingers-bubble-cloner.html
http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/444974-lets-build-clone-machine-*step-step*.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S3 Plant Details
Number of plants
The number of plants is more less insignificant its really all about finding an even keel, whether you grow 20 small plants or 4 huge plants its all about having the best lighting coverage over your canopy, the more light hits the bud sites the more bud you get.
Potting
Plant growth is directly proportionate to root growth, so you can see how this is connected to the amount of plants you are growing, if you want 4 huge plants you would have 4 huge pots if you want 20 small plants you want 20 small pots. The general rule of thumb is 1 gallon of potting space per 1 foot of height, this rule applies to hydro as well.
Plant height
Obviously in indoor grows height is a concern and specially when you take into consideration the space your reflector, your growing medium, and the foot or so between your HID and your plants take up. As you can see your 6 foot growing height was quickly reduced by about 30 inch's leaving you 42 inch's of grow space. Once you switch from veg to flower your plants will usually double or triple in size and some Sativa strains can even quadruple in size during flowering. For this reason its always best to flower at approximately 1/3 the height you want the plant to be by harvest time, a lot of people tend to flower at about 1 foot unless they are using advanced techniques.
Transplanting
Most people transplant in stages to promote healthy strong root growth the trick is to transplant just before the plant becomes root bound so you fill the pot with roots but transplant just before growth is stunted. I personally transplant when i can see roots coming out of the drainage holes and when the diameter of the plant is the same as the pot its in, i also start my seedlings in 16 oz beer cups then go from 1 gallon to 3 gallon to 5 gallon pots. Here is a guide on how to transplant.
http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/574364-stress-free-transplanting.html
video
http://youtu.be/zdkta4XFcmI
Drainage
As i previously stated in the water section plant roots need oxygen just as much as they need water, so if you are growing in soil you need to do all you can to make sure drainage is up to par. First make sure the planter you are using has adequate holes for drainage, the second thing you can do is cut your soil with 25% perlite to improve water retention as well as drainage.
Sexing is simply identifying male or female plants once they come of age.
http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/454814-sexing.html
Video
http://youtu.be/0QLx_obi3-E
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S4 Advanced growing techniques
There are many advanced growing techniques but the main principle of all of them seems to be getting better lighting coverage on your plants.
LST
In lst you tie down your plants to control height & to allow the best possible horizontal lighting coverage.
http://forum.grasscity.com/plant-training/122936-how-lst-low-stress-training.html
video
http://youtu.be/ADFp8CG-lD0
SCROG or screen of green
The purpose of scrog is very much the same as LST, except the hieght of the plants is controlled by a screen mounted above them.
http://forum.grasscity.com/plant-training/48363-scrog-method.html
video
http://youtu.be/Inr4k2kotkA
SOG or sea of green
Sea of green is the theory of harvesting lots of small plants, matured early to get the fastest production of buds available.
SEA OF GREEN Weed (Cannabis) Growing Guide:
video
http://youtu.be/wO1hWAYWFSw
Supercropping is a term given to a group of techniques that, when used in conjunction, will produce greatly improved yields over untreated plants.
Supercropping - a tutorial - 420 Magazine
video
http://youtu.be/2FmXHhKFA5U
Topping and fimming
The purpose of topping a plant is to take the main stem which will become 1 large cola at the end of flowering and turn it into two colas for a better yield and a bushier plant, fimming is simply topping multiple times for multiple tops.
http://forum.grasscity.com/plant-training/122559-how-fimming-topping-made-easy.html
video
http://youtu.be/chMcJE8n8QU
Cloning
At its simplest cloning is cutting off a branch from your weed plant and growing it in to a genetic copy of the plant you cut it off of.
http://forum.grasscity.com/advanced-growing-techniques/320391-advanced-cloning-techniques-hard-root-valuable-plants.html
Video
http://youtu.be/HWUiFZG37Do
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S5 Harvesting and curing
When to harvest
http://youtu.be/A_r0_2ohTjk
Standard drying and curing
There are as many techniques to drying and curing weed out there as there are growers, but I'm gonna keep this simple and tell you about the standard technique and an advanced one. Drying is pretty basic you want your weed to dry out slowly over time in a cool dry area with good air circulation so that your buds don't dry out to much crumble, and burn like shit or mold. The purpose of curing is to draw out the inner moister and chlorophyll from your bud to make a smooth quality smokable product.
http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing-marijuana/424138-simple-harvest-cure-step-step.html
Videos
Drying
http://youtu.be/YrBQvEnVhzc
Curing
http://youtu.be/eNKtryPnXvo
Making bubble hash
http://youtu.be/QLgEvfNCv_M
Water curing
The advanced technique I'm going to explain is called water curing and although it may sound a bit strange it has multiple advantages over the standard drying and curing technique and some disadvantages as well. The first advantage is drying and curing time, it takes about 3-5 days to do a water cure the general rule of thumb is that when the water stops turning green it should be ready to be dried which will only take a few hours. So while all these air drying suckers are waiting 2-4 weeks for there drying and curing to be done you will be tokin up in under one week with the smoothest smoke ever.
The second difference in this from of curing could be considered a pro or a con it depends on what your objective in growing weed is. Water curing actually increases the % of THC in your buds by quite a bit the unfortunate thing is the way it does this is by leeching out water soluble chemicals from the buds so it actually decreases the weight of the buds. The 3rd difference could also be considered a pro or a con, water curing effects the smell and taste of the marijuana because the aromas in the cannabis are water soluble much of the smell of the marijuana is swept away with the water. However with those smells the harsh chemicals that make you cough are also swept away so when you take a hit you would be much less likely to cough it all out before your lungs absorb all of the THC.
The final advantage of water curing for me is created out of my lack of a carbon filtered drying room, water curing is perfect for me because i can simply fill up a cooler or 2 with reverse osmosis water put my whole crop in and not have to worry about mold or the smell escaping while drying. I cant have my house wreaking like weed when I'm drying a harvest, and i don't want to stop production to dry out my weed in my filtered tent so water curing works great for me.
http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing-marijuana/267599-water-curing.html
video
http://youtu.be/nnOYT4yuctE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S6 Fertilizing
Over fertilizing is one of the worst things you can do to a plant for this reason it is best to under fertilize as opposed to over fertilizing. For the first 2-4 weeks of growing your plant you should not fertilize, if you do decide to fertilize work your way up from 1/8 the recommended dose to see what your plants threshold is, if you notice brown spots on your leaves tips back off immediately and then flush if it progressively gets worse.
General info
http://forum.grasscity.com/advanced-growing-techniques/330991-fertilizing-wisely.html
Hydro info
Lucas formula
Grow Marijuana FAQ, Cannabis cultivation - marijuana growing tips & photos
video
http://youtu.be/d09RUCkO3LU
Soil and soil less mix guide
http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/564150-growing-soil-soilless-mixes-guide.html
Organic info
http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/650139-organic-higher-learning-lumperdawgz.html
video
http://youtu.be/nlqTUzIUWJ8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S7 Microbiological organisms
In soil microbiological organisms play a crucial role in plant health and in nutrient availability.
Microbiological organisms under a microscope
http://youtu.be/msCO6xs0S2Q
Mycorrhiza
Mycorrhiza - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://youtu.be/2hYAYfc3mrQ
Black strap molasses
http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-marijuana-growing/202743-molasses-our-plants.html
video
http://youtu.be/crfr_VAf0Ec
Organic tea brewing
http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/333940-post-your-organic-tea-recipe.html
Video
http://youtu.be/V_E_S8Lfzgg
Dr Elaine Ingham talks Soil Microbiology
http://youtu.be/GEtl09VZiSU
http://youtu.be/rVLF5XGxOnU
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S8 Electricity usage and suspicious power consumption
Never steal power it is the quickest way to get caught!
Power company's bill by the (KWH) kilowatt hour a kilowatt is 1k watts a KWH is of course 1 hour of using 1k watts. So to calculate your bill all you have to do is take the amount of power being used and multiply it by the amount of hours you will be using them once you know how much your power company charges for a KWH, the price for a KWH can usually be located on your power bill.
A lot of people will tell you to watch your power bill because the power company will turn you in if it seems excessive, Whether or not this is true i do not know, what i do know is that it is more less irrelevant to the average closet grower. A good rule of thumb is 1 KWH of usage for every bed room in the house so if you have a 3 bed room house 3 KWH would be about the avg power consumption for the avg family. Also there are a few things that can be done to bring your power bill down significantly some power company's have cheaper rates at night if this is the case for you, you should probably run your lights at night. You can also use CFL lighting threw out your house in place of incandescents to bring down your bill. CFLs are much more efficient than incandescents 90% of the power used by incandescent lights is converted to heat rather than light so not only do they save u money by consuming 1/4 the power of the incandescents but they allow your air conditiong to stop working so hard to keep your house cool.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S9 Lighting and yield
To start off i would like to let it be known that lighting is the most important factor in growing high quality marijuana in quantity if you can't invest money here don't expect great yields... The avg grower can expect .5 grams of weed per month of flower per watt of electrical lighting they use if they are running an efficient grow under HID, you can expect more or less depending on your experience, your growing techniques, your growing medium, and your plants genetics. Here is a very informative thread on lighting,
http://forum.grasscity.com/lighting/263178-all-about-lighting.html and a very informative thread on how to best maximize your light.
http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/165331-getting-most-your-lights.html
Here is a chart that shows the peak light spectrum absorption points for photosynthesis,
http://forum.grasscity.com/attachments/advanced-growing-techniques/32373d1138497723-chart-thread-hortgraph-chlorophyll-activity.gif and here are two charts that show how much light diminishes over distance with MH & HPS lamps.
MH
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x140/earlon3rd/Foot-CandlesMHDoneNow.jpg
HPS
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x140/earlon3rd/Foot-CandlesHPSDoneNow.jpg
Magnetic ballast vs digital ballast info.
http://youtu.be/OAQjB57owJk
Lighting coverage
Jackerspackle's Lighting Coverage Primer - 420 Magazine
A 250 watt HID will illuminate a 2' x 2' garden.
A 400 watt HID will illuminate a 3' x 3' garden.
A 600 watt HID will illuminate a 3.5' x 3.5' garden.
A 1000 watt HID will illuminate a 4' x 4' garden.
Lighting schedule and veg/flower chambers
There are 2 lighting schedules for growing marijuana there is vegetative which is anywhere between 24/7 and 16/8 and flowering which is 12/12, it is essential that you make sure no out side sources of light interrupt your plants dark cycle this can cause stress and cause your plants to Hermie. When constructing your set up its a good idea to have a veg chamber and a flowering chamber because it can greatly improve your production via turn around time, having a separate veg and flower room allows you to keep a mother plant which will eliminate the need to sex and grow from seed, and it allows you to veg new plants while you are flowering. Veg rooms are also very very cheap to make if you use CFLs, they put out no where near the amount of heat so they require no where near the amount of ventilation and they are cheap to purchase and operate.
CFLs
http://forum.grasscity.com/lighting/321592-thinking-about-using-150w-hps-dont-bother-heres-why.html To save some money on your power bill and equipment cost you can use 5500k to 6500k CFLs to veg your plants they do a pretty good job for there cheap price, and you can easily DIY a quick mounting system for them out of a corded light socket, some y splitters, and a few bulbs as seen here.
http://forum.grasscity.com/attachments/absolute-beginners/480163d1287912349-shopping-list-beginners-other-useful-information-2184.jpg
Light movers are mechanical devices that, as the name implies, move an HID in a fixed pattern over a garden, the advantage is much more light is available to the plants when the light is in motion. With a stationary light, all that is shaded will remain in the shade, but with a mover the light will hit from different angles giving better coverage and therefore increasing the efficiency of your light.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S10 FLIR or Forward looking infrared radar
FLIR is another one of those things that your avg closet grower really doesn't need to concern them selves with, FLIR does not give the police x-ray vision or allow them to detect your growing marijuana plants.... All FLIR does is detect heat leaking or being exhausted from a house the avg closet growers set up does not put out enough heat to require it to be exhausted from the house you can simply route the exhaust air into the rest of the house and every thing should appear normal. Should you produce enough heat that you must exhaust it you can exhaust the hot air under your house where it will be dispersed and appear normal or you can route it out of your house via a dryer out let. There are some growers that do need to be cautious about FLIR those are the spare bed room growers, the attic growers, and of course the large scale grow ops. As previously stated FLIR detects heat leaking or being discharged from houses, as we all know windows and uninsulated areas of your house are great conductors of thermal energy. Hid lights put out lots of radiant energy for this reason it is best to insulate and board up any windows in your grow room making sure they look normal from the out side. I would also avoid attics entirely they are easily detectable by FLIR, they are usually poorly insulated and they are most often the hottest area of a house because heat rises. I believe the avg attic temperature in the summer can get up to 140 i wouldn't want to contend with that while trying to grow my plants.
Over all your best defense against FLIR is common sense, your best weapon against FLIR detection is right out side your house every day, if you are really that worried about FLIR run your lights in the day time...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S11 Ventilation
The most important factor in controlling odor and heat in your grow room is negative air pressure, it is a very simple concept and worth having a good understanding of for any indoor grower. The way you create negative air pressure is by always having more air being pushed out of the room than being pushed in, for this reason there is virtually no reason to ever use fans to push air into your grow space, unless you are growing in a huge grow room. Here is a link that will help you calculate the ventilation needs of your grow room,
http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/685042-calculating-ventilation-needs-room-volume.html and an FAQ that will help answer some of your other questions on ventilation.
http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/594150-ventilation-faq.html
Ozone generators can be a great alternative to a carbon filter they have very little drag so they reduce your need for huge ventilation fans, and they eliminate all odor produced by marijuana plants if used properly. However there are some down sides there is a bulb that would need to be replaced every so often and high concentrations of ozone can be toxic to living creatures, so it is not a good idea to use ozone unless you are venting directly to the out doors, and have a good handle on ventilation. There are 2 different types of ozone generators there are ozone generators that are built into ducting to eliminate the odors being exhausted from your house and there are room purification systems. I would only recommend ducted systems to avoid contact with concentrated ozone, also DIY at your own risk the bulb used to produce ozone will blind you if you see it while its turned on. Here is some more info on ozone and safety.
Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners | Indoor Air | US EPA
Hydroponic Ozone Generator - Is it Safe For an Indoor Grow Room? Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners | Indoor Air | US EPA
C02 is the absolute last upgrade you should be adding to your system, adding c02 can improve your systems efficiency drastically but you have to make sure you can hold it in and that you have taken care of all your plants other needs first...
I made a couple of diagrams showing the best ways to set up a grow room ventilation system.
The first is for your standard closet grower on a limited budget a very simple system air is exhausted threw your air cooled reflector and your carbon filter reducing heat controlling odor and bringing in fresh air from your intakes.
http://forum.grasscity.com/attachments/absolute-beginners/464697d1285289748-shopping-list-beginners-other-useful-information-ventilation1.jpg
The second is for a grower who wants a bit more of an advanced room with c02 but has not sealed up there room yet, this room has a separate ventilation system for the lights and one for climate and odor control which is controlled by a thermostat and humidity controller.
http://forum.grasscity.com/attachments/absolute-beginners/464703d1285290427-shopping-list-beginners-other-useful-information-ventilation2.jpg
The third is for a grower who has completely sealed up there grow room to allow for maximum co2 and climate control, the light again has a separate ventilation system and the temperature and humidity are controlled by an air conditioning unit and a dehumidifier.
http://forum.grasscity.com/attachments/absolute-beginners/464704d1285290580-shopping-list-beginners-other-useful-information-ventilation3.jpg
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S12 Final words
Here is a link to a very informative thread on electricity and safety,
http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/349438-electricity-usage-wiring-saftey-you.html here is a link that will help you identify and take care of nutrient deficient, toxic, or sick plants,
The Complete guide to Sick Plants,pH, and Pest troubles! - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums and last but not least a gigantic compilation of questions and answers sourced 420mag.
How to Grow Marijuana - Everything You Need to Know! - 420 Magazine
If this thread was helpful to you and it took some digging to find please bump the thread so that others can learn from it as well...
