Full Marijuana Growing Guide

Reading Time: 52 minutes

Introduction

Welcome to Amsterdam Marijuana Seedbank. Congratulations on your excellent taste in the subject matter. This article is a straight-out compilation of the collective experience of a successful co-op of Seattle-area growers known as the Snohomish County Cannabis Creators (S.C.C.C.).

Founded with the planting of a seed in 1991, the S.C.C.C.’s mission is to make information and high-quality clones available to anyone interested so that they can have the know-how and the genetics to produce world-class sensimillia. Membership is then gained by selling this product well dried for a reasonable price so that it will always remain widely available for the sick, the stressed, and the silent lovers of the cherished herb.

This guide is intended specifically for people who wish to grow cannabis indoors using lights for personal or commercial use. It will also be useful for small-scale or large commercial scale growing. The guide focuses more on the novice or unsuccessful. If you are experienced and successful, you will gain more knowledge on what works for you. 

Every information and process here is recommended for everyone in the industry. I have known too many happy growers that made the mistake of buying 300-pages plus grow textbooks. They excelled in growing cannabis for a while but were later discouraged and horrified when they discovered that the 300 pages “official” book criticized everything they did. According to the book, every step they were following in growing marijuana was utterly wrong.

 

Many Ways Of Growing Marijuana

The methods described here are certainly not the only way to create large amounts of high-quality cannabis. It seems to me that there are as many ways of growing cannabis as the growers in the industry. What it all boils down to in this school is how to achieve tremendous success, productivity, and satisfaction while spending the least amount of time, energy, and money in the process. It also boils down to efficiency.

Also included is my favorite part; the dispelling of an endless list of local tell tales that cause many current cannabis creators unnecessary stress or confusion and cause some people not to grow at all.

If you do grow but are not producing the quality or quantity of cannabis that you desire, or if you have been unsuccessful in the past, I suggest that you read on with an open mind, as if you hadn’t ever attempted to grow before. Without change, things will only remain the same. 

 

Starting Afresh And Dispel Those Fears

The first rule that still applies for high chances of success is for you to start afresh. Forget about what you know and start afresh. Don’t try to improvise with your old supplies, methods, equipment, or anything else if it compromises the quality and quantity of production. 

If you follow the descriptions given, you will succeed. Be aware that extensive gardens are a full-time job. A large garden is also not a guarantee that your crop will produce more buds than a small garden. You must spend enough time tending to your gardens to achieve a bumper and quality yield.

Vast amounts of information have been left out for simplicity’s sake. Cannabis is undoubtedly one of the most complex subjects that one could hope to ponder. You will find your career as a cannabis creator to be a continuous learning experience for however long you pursue it.

 

Forget What You Know

The first and most damning mistake a novice cannabis creator can make is stubbornly sticking to anything you think you already know about creating cannabis. Many people who decide to grow do so after years of being what I call “cannabis enthusiasts.” 

That is to say, you have already had much experience with cannabis, seeing, smelling, distributing, and of course tasting, and thus, of course, it probably has been the subject of many animated conversations in your life. 

But talk is cheap. Ask yourself this- “Have any of my friends confided in me that they were producing large amounts of high-quality cannabis, and did they let me assist in the process from start to finish?” If the answer is yes, then you don’t need this book. 

 

Ridiculous Cannabis Stories

If your friend grows and trusts you that much, have them set you up. If the answer is no, I implore you to forget everything that you have ever heard about it because 99.9% of all stories circulating about successful cannabis creators are entirely false. The reason for this is simple: successful cannabis creators don’t talk about their operations.

 I cannot count the number of ridiculous stories that I have heard from people. After a few drinks concerning this mysterious grower-friend and their even more mysterious methods, those are usually at a party or bar after a few drinks. 

Familiar tall tales include the guy with 500 (or more!) eight-foot-tall Christmas trees in his basement. Hopefully, nobody with 500 plants would tell this blabbermouth, and by my calculations, this basement would have to be about 50 x 100 feet. 

Even more ridiculous is the guy who hung his plants or buds upside down. The resins would ‘drain’ into the buds” (resins don’t ‘drain,’ period). Their friend also sprayed the buds with (pick one) water, fruit juice of any kind, sugar water, or anything else. The liquids gave the buds’ crystals or made them look, taste, or smell better.

The next time someone tells you, “this is 39th generation bud!” ask them what a generation is. I still hear about Mylar on the floor and ceiling, or multiple layers of Mylar to avoid infra-red detection. 

Such stories are spread by a narc that happened to have a business selling Mylar. My personal favorite is the amazingly common story that someone is growing their plants in upside-down buckets in the air and lights on the ground. (“Uh… whatever.”)

 

Misinformation

For our purposes, for the regular Joe or Jill who just dreams of smoking the kind freely (as in for free), or maybe slightly bigger dreams of quarters and pounds available, these kinds of stories represent total ignorance, whether or not they are based on truth. Furthermore, anyone who alleges to be growing “the U.W.” is probably misinformed, at least. 

The University of Washington did have a medical research program, but only for two years, in1978 and 1979. Then came the war on drugs, and any independent non-government laboratories banned research. (Hmmm). I am highly suspicious of “U.W.” stories because I have seen every different kind of bud referred to as “the U.W.,” no two ever alike.

As far as the person who got busted when the power company or the police helicopter “detected” their grow lights, most of these tales are ones that the fascists would be happy to have you believe. As for power consumption, many residences use lots of electricity for many different reasons, including cannabis creation. 

There is no way that anyone can detect anything through the power lines. As far as the Infrared thermal imaging (heat-sensing) technology, a minority of law enforcement have that available. This device can only measure the temperature of an outside surface like the roof or a wall.

High-powered lights get pretty hot, so they tend to make warm spots. If your lights are in any well-insulated space like a basement, they may not even show up at all. 

 

Heat Sensing Device

Also, if there is attic space above the grow-room, the outside roof temperature would not be affected because the air in the attic acts as an insulator. One notable exception to this rule would be any warm exhaust air flowing out of the room directly to the outside. 

On a heat-sensing device, this would appear as a large fountain. This can be avoided by exhausting into another room (attic, garage, etc.) or up a chimney instead of directly outside.

But listen carefully students; this is the twist that they want you to miss; in either case, it is a moot point because if they are using these techniques on you, you are already under investigation. If you are already under investigation, it probably wasn’t anyone who you don’t know that “detected” you, get it?

I think that this concept is the underlying point and theme of this whole book. It cannot be stressed or understood enough that your main problem as a smart grower will not be law enforcement figuring it out by them.

 

Law Enforcement

Jails are chocked. They are full of people who would give up their mothers to get out. Police forfeitures generate lots of money that they can use to encourage criminals on the outside to be narcs. The cops can tip lines ring off the hooks, deluged with calls from people. They brainwash people with drug-war hysteria who think they heard a rumor or smelled something just slightly out of the ordinary. 

Cops bust naive kids with a pipe or a bowl and then threaten them with anything that will get them to squeal. These are just a few of the ways that modern law enforcement tries to deal with cannabis. That’s their responsibility; having to find and imprison normal Americans for something as common and benign as eating donuts. 

The fastest ways, least expensive, and the easiest way; this is another good. Anyone who claims to have the best pot doesn’t. So don’t believe what you’ve heard.

 

Cannabis is a Plant

The concept of cannabis creation can be understood most easily by keeping one simple fact that cannabis is a plant. It is also a very highly involving plant, for that matter. Plants were not designed to grow indoors. To have a happy, thriving garden indoors, you must fool the plants into believing that they are outdoors. 

It is your job to re-create or simulate to the last detail the sun, wind, rainfall, climate, and soil conditions of the perfect outdoor plot in, say, northern California, Thailand, or Hawaii. In this environment, cannabis is the fastest growing plant on the planet. It processes the sunlight (photosynthesizes) more efficiently than any other fast-growing plants such as bamboo, corn, or kenaf.

 

General Information About Cannabis

Cannabis is a dioeciously woody herbaceous annual. Dioeciously means that each plant will have distinct male or female characteristics. Woody refers to the consistency of the stem, and herbaceous means the pot is an herb. 

Annual means that if the plant is grown outdoors and left to grow wildly, it will complete its entire growth cycle. The growth cycle means the plant will grow from seed to maturity in a single season and then die. This is perfectly normal.

The main active ingredient in cannabis is T.H.C. or delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol. The T.H.C. is concentrated in the resins of the mature female flowers and to a much lesser degree in the leaves and male flowers. These parts of the plant are simply dried and then smoked or eaten to obtain the desired effect.

There are over 5000 years of documented medical history. From the ancient Chinese and Babylonian cultures right up to today in the United States, there has never been a reported overdose or death from ingesting this substance. It has been estimated that one would have to consume at least seven pounds of medium quality cannabis in a short period just to produce a “toxic effect” in the human body. 

Even the modern governmental study in the world convened to examine the issue, including studies by the U.S. Army, the Jamaican Coptic study, Nixon’s 1968 La Guardia Commission, and more recently, the Republican governor of California, George Dukemajens’ Shaffer Commission, have all recommended decriminalization. 

 

Jury Rules Out Cannabis Is Not Toxic

In 1988, the drug enforcement agency’s (D.E.A.’s) owned administrative law judge, Francis L. Young wrote, in an over 60-page long-ruling that “it has been clearly shown [in this court] that cannabis is far less toxic than many foods that we commonly consume” (like potatoes) and that “it is unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious” that this substance is placed in “schedule one,” the United States federal governments’ category of drugs that includes P.C.P. and heroin, not even available for prescription by doctors.

 

The Cannabis Varieties

There are three essential varieties of cannabis that you should know about. Cannabis Indica is generally a short (two to six feet) bushy plant well suited to indoor growing with chunky ripened flowers that can range in potency from okay to mind-blowing.

Cannabis Sativa is generally an unruly wild vine indoors and outdoors. It has been acknowledged to reach heights of 16 feet or more, yielding pounds of slender, flavorful buds. Sativa can range in potency from okay to mess with the space-time continuum.

The majority of good seed stock and clones available to today’s indoor growers are pure Indicas. Many Indica and Sativa hybrids, also called crosses or blends, usually lean towards the Indica side.

 

Cannabis Hemp

Cannabis hemp is by far the most important variety of cannabis. Its flowers would not interest you. They have earned this plant the nickname “ditch weed” and are very useful for extracting CBD. CBD is known for its medical benefits to reduce anxiety and depression. 

It acts by interacting with the serotonin receptors in the human brain. The receptors in the human brain are responsible for regulating mood. Whether it’s a ditch weed or not, the flower is going to hold your dump mood to vibrancy.

The most impressive part of the hemp plant is its stems. When you hear about stem cells, the first thing that will pop in your brain is stem cells. You probably know the importance of stem cells. 

Let me take you through medical jargon a little bit. Your body is made up of organs. The organs are made up of tissues which are then made of trillions of cells. Cells mature from stem cells. Now you got it. 

Without stem cells, your organs will cease to grow. To boost or restart growth, you need some stem cells harvested from another organ. That’s where hemp’s stem cells help. The stalk of the plant is rich in cells that fight free radicals and prevent premature aging. 

The hemp’s stem cells rejuvenate your skin and remove all stressors making your skin young again. The hemp stem cell stimulates hair growth too. Another importance of the hemp plant is that it can provide a stunning array of essential and biodegradable products. 

 

Other Uses Of Hemp

The plant is used as a natural fiber for papermaking, textiles, and to replace timber products. It is known for clear-cutting and cellulose and an industrial feedstock used to make plastics, chemicals, and fibers. 

Hemp products are also used to make non-toxic fuels for heating and generating electricity. They make clean-burning ethanol to run cars. Its edible weed seeds are also impressively a highly nutritious food. They contain critical unsaturated fatty acids as well as more edible protein than soybeans. 

The hemp seed uses are diverse. Its extracts can be used for producing high-grade biodegradable oils that can form the base for paints or lacquers or be used for lubrication. For endless information on this subject and enlightenment on the meaning of life on earth, I highly recommend reading “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” by Jack Herer.

For today we will concern ourselves with only the first two varieties of cannabis; Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Sativa. Cannabis hemp deserves a book of its own. I will diversify its usage and growth patterns there. For now, let me get you hooked to these two canna giants.

 

Cannabis Hybrids

Although there are technically only these two classifications of high T.H.C. varieties, Indica and Sativa, cannabis must be considered on a much broader scale. An easy way to think of the countless different pure and hybridized strains of cannabis is to compare them to dogs.

When talking about dogs, hybrids are called mutts, but everyone knows that mutts can have more character and charm. Like dogs, pure lines can only come from pure parents. Also, a dog may be a German Shepherd or a Chihuahua. Just because a dog fits into a category like that, it doesn’t mean that every German Shepherd or Chihuahua is the same as the next. It’s just the opposite.

All living things have D.N.A., which helps determine all of their physical characteristics. D.N.A. is what ensures that no two people, dogs or cannabis seedlings, will ever be alike. Even identical twins are different. For our purposes, D.N.A. is the code that contains every bit of information as to how a plant will grow. It is the code of how it will look, its potency, and every possible trait that it could ever have. 

The D.N.A. and thus all physical features come half from the female parent and half from the male parent, resulting in offspring (marijuana seeds or seedlings) to further the dog analogy. The offspring should somewhat resemble their parents.

 

Cloning Cannabis

Unlike dogs, cannabis can be cloned. It is very important to understand the simple essential difference between a seedling and a clone. A seedling is a plant sprouted from a seed that was the product of sexual reproduction between a male and a female. Approximately one-half of these cannabis seeds or seedlings will be female, and about one-half male. Everyone, regardless of their sex, will be different.

A clone was never a seed. A clone starts as a growing tip of a larger established plant. It is a seedling or a clone that was cut off, treated with a rooting hormone, and put into its small container. It sprouted roots and is now a separate plant, although potentially identical in every way to the plant that it was taken from. 

As its name implies, it is an exact genetic duplicate. As far as the plant is concerned, it is the same plant. It never died; the D.N.A. stayed intact, so that clone will always be the same sex and have the same growth traits as well as the same potential potency, flavor, and high.

This is very handy for the cannabis creator because all you have to do is obtain one good clone, and every bit of cannabis you create can be the same. It is technically, the clone is never meant to increase or decrease in potency. 

Any potency variations in a mono-clonal or one clone sinsemilla are seedless, have no boys, and no pollen at all. That means the offspring will not produce seeds. Successful and seedless gardens are related to environmental factors and conditions, maturity, drying techniques, and the presence of a discerning, consistent, hard-working grower. (Or the lack thereof).

 

Risk Factors In Cannabis Growing

There are innumerable risks involved in growing marijuana, especially in areas where it is illegal.

 

Rip-Offs, Tip-Offs, And Your Big Mouth

Reading a chapter entitled “risk factors” of cannabis cultivation in the United States, one might automatically assume that the subject of that chapter would be law enforcement. After all, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year by various anti-plant life agencies around the country on the ferocious war to exterminate this harmless and helpful species. 

However, despite the normal paranoia, the marijuana movement is winning big time. Almost all the states are legalizing the stuff since November 2020 elections. Though the systems are falling into their proper place, the byproduct of the current system, law enforcement, only represents about 2% of the problems that face modern American freedom fighters.

Law enforcement techniques like reducing mandatory sentences for squealers are still present. They are still placing anti-cannabis ads with 1-800-GROW police hotlines. That is vivid proof of exactly how clueless these people are when it comes to where to start looking for the cunning grower. 

The federal government is still relentless in the fight against a highly beneficial plant, which cannot hurt a fly. U.S. authorities should be busy fighting junk foods, threatening the average American population with obesity and life-threatening lifestyle diseases.

Any estimate given by the authorities relating to the percentage of cannabis seized in a particular period or area is fabricated. The truth is that they have no idea how much of the crop was uncovered because the remainder went undetected. And this goes on with the majority of governments of the world.

 

Cannabis Smugglers Are In Abundance

By far, the number one risk facing the modern cannabis creator is thieves. This point cannot be emphasized enough. Rip-offs don’t answer anybody. They don’t care about your civil rights, and they don’t follow any rules at all.

In my opinion, people who steal are really at the bottom of the food chain, period. But people who steal cannabis, especially from the growers, endangering their freedom, have got to be the saddest, lowest, most pathetic. They are the most thoughtless (devoid of thought) individuals on this earth. The pests are abundant, and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so you have to be careful.

 

Nosey Neighbors

The number one way to get busted is when the rip-offs come to steal your crop, and somehow the cops get called. This may be simply the concerned neighbor who calls when they see prowlers or a concerned passer-by. Whether they are concerned about your welfare or not, keep them off your affairs. They will get you in trouble.

Your nosey neighbor only witnessed you violently pummeling a would-be intruder with a bat, or someone who heard gunshots when you shot the scumbag (not recommended) or the shots of the scumbag shooting you (less recommended). Remember that it is a serious legal complication to have a gun at the marijuana growing location. It is even a more serious offense to be caught with a firearm.

 

Keep Youth Mouth Shut

The second most common way to get busted is through your girl/boyfriend or your roommate/grow partner, or anyone else who knows. Love, money, and marijuana are by nature de-stabilizing. 

No matter how much you trust someone, they might end up telling just one other person who “they trust.” This person has nothing to lose and will undoubtedly tell just one other person who “they trust” and who you might not even know. 

The cannabis creators’ credo should be “for every one person you tell, that’s too many.” It can be good to have a partner if you have a large garden because cannabis creation can be a lot of work. The person you tell your dirty secrets should have just as much to lose as you do. This is the best incentive for both of you to keep your mouths shut.

Realistically, a small commercial operation (5KW or less), in a good location, with a good odor control system that only two trusting people know about is virtually unbeatable. You peek out of your blinds for months, always expecting to see the cops, but the bust only comes when a Cessna has engine failure and crashes through your roof. 

In my experience, I have never seen any cannabis creator get busted because the police figured it out alone. The slightest hint may indeed get them on your trail, but it is inversely true that without that, you should be getting away with your wildest dreams.

 

Number Of Plants

Under the law, a cannabis creator is judged by one factor and one factor only; the number of plants in a single residence. A plant is defined as having roots, so unrooted clones do not count. 

A serious cannabis creator must also learn to distinguish between state and federal law. Washington state has some of the most lenient cultivation laws in the country, but this country has some of the harshest, most evil, and draconian penalties on planet earth. 

According to state law, the categories are 1-99, 100-299, and 300 or more. Federal law adds a new category, from 50-99. It is hard to say what determines whether a given case will go to state or federal court. Most points below 100 plants go to the state because theoretically, the feds only want the big fish. This simplistic analogy cannot explain the arbitrary methods of our warped and corrupt federal government. 

The whole theory of saying that a large number of plants equal a large amount of cannabis is fundamentally flawed. 300-plus plants could potentially fit under a 400-watt lamp and yield 6 or 8 ounces of dried product, or 300 plants. 

That could fill a vast outdoor plot or greenhouse and yield one or more pounds per plant, a considerable difference. We find that living in this state of unreasonable and illogical laws. People learn to turn the laws around and use them against their oppressors. 

A case in point is that a first-time offender with no prior felony convictions will rarely receive jail time in a Washington state court. That is on a case of 1-99 plants, and certainly no more than 30 days. 

The maximum penalty is 90 days. This is very good to know, considering that in an average-sized basement, converted to a 3 to 5KW grow facility, 99 plants or less can easily yield two to four or more pounds of dried, manicured cannabis each month. 

When you have achieved that and still aren’t meeting your economic goals, you can easily afford to rent another house or apartment. In there, install 99 more units to stay within the one-hundred or less prosecution category. 

 

Odor Control

There are many common ways to reduce the fragrance of aromatic cannabis flowers. That includes ionizers (negative ion generators), charcoal filters, air scrubbers, and chemical sprays. Unfortunately, reducing odor is the keyword here. 

None of these methods will eliminate any smells except the smallest room or the least stinky garden. Some strains of cannabis are known for their lack of the trademark pot smell and are perpetuated for that reason.

I realize that you’re more likely to find a charcoal filter than any particular clone. I am trying to emphasize that you should be prepared to deal with the beautiful smell of fragrant cannabis flowers. If the weed fragrances find their way to a nosey neighbor or passer-by cops’ friend, you might end up in dingy prison cells for 30 days or more. 

Here are few odor control measures you can take to keep the fragrance of the entire compound:

 

Ionizers For Odor Control

These will come in handy to be on the safe side. You need to know how they work before ordering them. Here is a brief overview of how these devices work. Ionizers work by generating negatively charged ions and dispersing them into the air. 

When the negative ions come in contact with positively charged particles floating in the air like dust or pollen, they change the particles’ charge to negative. That causes the particles to precipitate or to fall to the ground. The result is cleaner odorless air and dirtier floors, walls, and ceilings. I bet it is easier for you to deal with the dirt than the fragrance that attracts rippers to your house.

Another kind of ionizer is called a collector ionizer. These incorporate some disposable filters and a positively charged surface that attracts the ionized particles or a small fan that moves the air through the filter. The filter usually also contains activated charcoal, which injects the ions into the outgoing airstream. 

Activated charcoal filters are similar to these but use only the fan and activated charcoal and are usually slightly more heavy-duty. They seem to work about as well, as long as you keep the charcoal fresh by changing the filter regularly.

 

Air Scrubbers For Odor Control

Air scrubbers consist of a large barrel of water with your exhaust piped into it. It looks like a giant bong inside and outside. Pine cleaner and/or liquid smoke is added to the water to taint the smell. I have never personally built one of these, but the theory makes sense, except that it seems awkward, and I don’t think it would work with high-powered exhaust blowers.

 

Chemical Sprays Odor Control

Chemical sprays are used in hospitals and kennels to deal with very harsh odors. They work, but I find the artificial, chemical odor overwhelming to the point of nausea. I do not recommend these sprays because they are impractical to use continuously. Honestly, if it’s going to stink, I’d rather have it stink like green bud.

Urinal Or Car Deodorizers Work

If you can’t find or afford any of the above, a simple trick is to buy a box of urinal deodorizers from a janitorial supply store. You can try out car deodorizers. Put one or two next to your exhaust blowers’ intake.

 

Ozone Generators  

Now aside from the above-described odor reduction devices, there is another thing that I will recommend for this task. An ozone generator can suck all odors from your grow room. This mighty device generates ozone, an unstable oxygen molecule that changes the molecular structure of stinky particles that they come into contact with. This results in total odor elimination. 

The proper way to use an ozone generator is piped into your outgoing exhaust. The generator has its small blower built-in. Of course, like everything, there are trade-offs for this amazing performance. Ozone can be harmful to plants, animals, or people in too high of a concentration. 

The only way to use it safely is by using it to treat the exhaust that is going outside. Also, ozone generators are quite expensive. The three models that I am familiar with a run around are $750, $1350, and $2600. 

When you acquire the most expensive model, it is quite adequate to remove odors from a 5000 C.F.M. exhaust of a large warehouse (25KW) full of cannabis odor. (Yummy!) It seems to most people like a lot to spend, but it can be your saving grace in some situations. 

I recommend ozone for all commercial growers. If you are interested in this device, try calling indoor grow supply stores with ads in the little nickel or yellow pages.

 

Exhaust Systems

The second, most practical, and most effective method of odor control is your exhaust system itself. You will learn later in this book that a good exhaust system is just as important to happy plants as light or water. Although this won’t make the outgoing airless stinky, it allows you to control where the foul air goes.

For example, let’s say you live in a third-floor corner two-bedroom apartment. One bedroom is your bedroom; the other is your grow room. A properly installed exhaust system can solve two odor problems at the same time inside the living space of your apartment. 

By leaving your exhaust blower running 24 hours a day, there will always be “negative pressure” inside the grow room. This simply means that air will constantly be flowing into the grow room through every possible crack and opening. When fresh air is constantly flowing in, no smell gets out. 

Outside your apartment, you can cleverly route the exhaust pipe into your unused chimney pipe or out of the far back corner of your attic. The smelly air will end up where there are no noses to smell the odors. 

You can do that either on four stories off the sidewalk or parking lot heading up in the chimney pipe example, or on the backside of your building where there are no stairs and where nobody hangs out. If a bud reeks in the city, but there are no noses to smell it, did it ever really smell at all?

 

Apartment Cultivation May Not Be Risky As Such

Another thing to consider in apartment cultivation is that even if you can smell the weed out in the parking lot, there is no way to tell which apartment it is coming from. It sounds crazy, but round these parts, it happens all the time. Weed smells pretty good, too.

 

1. Power Consumption

 

I was reluctant to even include a section about power consumption because I thought that it would just breed paranoia. Residences all around use large amounts of power for all kinds of things, including cannabis cultivation. There is no way for grow lights to be “detected” by the power company. However, I do have a list of power-saving tips for the power conscious. Have a look;

 

1. Turn Off The Water Heater

 

The number one power sucker in your home is the water heater. Most of these water heater units consume between 3500 and 7000 watts. Turning off the unit at the circuit box will dramatically reduce your power bill, not to mention the length of your showers, haha. 

 

2. Turn Off Your Baseboard Heater

 

Number two would be your baseboard heaters. These are the most wasteful power suckers. A 4-foot long baseboard unit can draw 1000 watts or more. A small apartment usually has several of these. Turn them off at the box. 

 

3. Plug-Out Electric Space Heaters

 

Plug-in electric space heaters usually consume 1000 to 1500 watts. If it is cold, hang out with the ganja. I have seen electric internal forced-air heating systems in large homes that consume as much power as ten or more 1KW grow lamps. These are ideal grow houses because by turning off the heat, your bill may not be any higher than the previous residents. 

 

4. Washing Machine And Dishwasher

 

It is unbelievable that dishwasher and clothes washer is on the list. Believe it or not, both of these units use lots of hot water, and the dishwasher even super-heats the already hot water. The clothes dryer is also a major culprit. Use paper plates and go to the Laundromat. 

 

5. Refrigerator

 

At number four, we have the refrigerator and freezer. Most people won’t want to try and live without these, but try putting gallon jugs of water in the empty spaces (if any) of both. Water retains its temperature more efficiently than air, so your fridge will use less energy. 

 

6. Put All The Lights Off During The Day

 

Also, many people seem to have this thing about leaving all the lights in the house on all the time. Remember to turn off lights you’re not using. Use low wattage bulbs. If no one is living at the grow facility, all of these appliances should be turned off at the box, and you should be growing a lot of weed.

 

1. Where To Start

 

1. Choosing a space

 

Any space is a good space to create cannabis. Ceilings should be a minimum of about 6 feet. Attics, crawl spaces, alcoves, closets, sheds, barns, and extra bedrooms are good. Basements are the best unless you own property. They are also perfect if you happen to have a backhoe and an extra school bus or storage container to bury. Anything underground is very good. 

 

You can be a little bit innovative. If you need to maximize your square footage in a small bedroom, take the closet doors off and use that space just like a part of the room. Growing space will need a good power supply off for 2kWs or more. The range or clothes dryer plug will provide 240v power. You also require sufficient access to water. 

 

Trash barrels are excellent. Fill them with water using a garden hose are common in spaces that don’t have a nearby bathtub or work sink. You also have to vent your exhaust. Space should be adequate to fit the boxes where you intend to grow your weed.

 

2. Lighting

 

The cannabis plant thrives in different light intensities depending on the growth stage. If you don’t provide your plants with sufficient light, the plant will grow thin, tall, and weak. The yield quantity and potency will also be less. 

 

Since cannabis is a photoperiodic plant, it requires 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. Anything less than that will lead to poor growth and development. There are several sources of lighting for your plants.

 

1. A.C. Primer

 

If you don’t know anything about household electricity, relax. You also don’t want to learn by, say, checking a book out from the library on basic household wiring. I recommend trying to stay under about 2KW (two thousand watts) of power to minimize the risk of fire. You also want to minimize electrocution. 

 

Always keep extension cords off the ground and keep cord runs as short as possible. Wrap cord connections in duct tape. If you can’t plug your 1KW lamps directly into the wall socket, use extra heavy-duty cords, and never ones over 25 feet long.

 

Never use splitters or power strips on outlets or cords running 1KW lamps. Never run more than one 1KW lamp on a single household circuit (15 amp breaker). Only run circuits at 70 percent of their rated amperage for a safety margin. The formula to calculate amperage is watts divided by volts, which equals amps. (Example: 1000 watt lamp at 120 volts = 8.33 amps). (120 volts is standard American household wall socket voltage).

 

Power Breaker Box

 

If you plan to use more than 2KW, you should use a “power drop” or “power board.” This is essentially a breaker box that wires directly into a heavy-duty (240 volt) power source in your residence and is installed nearby or in the grow room so that you can safely power multiple 1KW lighting systems. 

 

Boxes designed specifically for this purpose are available at indoor grow supply stores and incorporate a heavy-duty timer that will put up to 8 1KW, 240 volt systems on a timed cycle of your choice. They can also provide stout supplies of 120-volt power if necessary for high amperage, low voltage accessories such as exhaust blowers, fans, or heaters. These outlets can be on the timer also or can be wired for continuous power. 

 

Good indoor grow supply stores will custom make the board that you want. These boards should have “pigtails” (short fat cords with molded 240-volt plugs adaptable to your dryer or range outlet). 

 

Alternatively, the board can be purchased without the pigtail and “hard-wired” to a compatible plug or directly to the circuit box with a heavy gauge Romex cable (10 gauge solid copper wire) by someone who surely knows what they are doing. It’s not too complicated, but it can be very dangerous. Be smart.

 

1. H.I.D.

 

H.I.D. stands for High-Intensity Discharge. H.I.D. Lamps commonly used for cannabis creation include metal halides (M.H.), high-pressure sodium (H.P.S.), sodium conversions, balanced spectrum sodium, and fluorescents.

 

Metal halides are the most common variety of H.I.D. Lamp for indoor horticulture. They also have the shortest service life. Their light output will drop to 50% of new in only about 6-9 months of regular use, and your yields will drop accordingly, so only new metal halide lamps are suitable.

H.P.S. lamps are substantially brighter than M.H.’s and last longer but emit most of their light in a narrow red-orange color band instead of the M.H.’s full spectrum (all colors), sun-like light.

 

Sodium conversions are a retro-fit replacement lamp that runs in an M.H. system but uses slightly less power and emits light in a more balanced color spectrum than regular H.P.S. lamps. They also retain their intensity about ten times longer than the M.H. lamp but are quite expensive.

 

Balanced spectrum sodium was developed by the Dutch specifically for their world-renowned greenhouses. They started with an H.P.S. to achieve maximum efficiency and service life and then tweaked the ingredients in the lamp to increase the amount of blue light in the light spectrum. 

 

The 430-watt son-agro lamp by Phillips was the first balanced spectrum sodium to hit the market in the U.S. They remain the most efficient (most light per watt) 400-watt class lamp available. 

 

Recently, I have seen Dutch 600 watt balanced spectrum sodium systems available to American growers. Although they are incompatible and unfamiliar, these systems warrant a very close look. They claim to produce 90,000 to 100,000 lumens or about 80% of the output of a new 1000 watt M.H. The systems use only 60% of the electricity. In a large garden, this efficiency increase could increase yields significantly.

 

Fluorescents 

 

Fluorescents are bulky and relatively inefficient, but do provide a good color spectrum, generate very little heat, and have soft, even light distribution. These characteristics make them very suitable for rooting clones or growing very small plants (under 12 inches). They are also amazingly inexpensive. 

 

A four-foot, the two-tube shop-light fixture is only about ten dollars at your local hardware store. Many different kinds of tubes are available to put into these fixtures. Some fancy models cost up to 15 dollars or more per tube, claiming better growth, but they aren’t any brighter, and that is what the cannabis plant cares most about. 

 

Cool white tubes are the smart choice if using fluorescents. They are the most common, very inexpensive, usually less than a dollar each. They have a similar color spectrum to the M.H., good for vegetative growth. The “watts per square foot” theory applies to fluorescents also. You can have a look at the lighting requirements below.

 

Fluorescents use about ten watts per foot per tube. A four-foot two-tube unit would consume about 80 watts. That would be suitable to light four square feet at 20 w.p.f.2, the minimum vegetative requirement. These lights do not even compare to the light output of M.H. or H.P.S. lamps. 

 

You should not try to grow tall plants with fluorescents because the lower branches will be dark due to the lack of light intensity over about one foot away from the tubes themselves. M.H.’s, sodium conversions, and balanced spectrum H.P.S.’s are the choice of serious cannabis creators for their flowering rooms.

 

H.I.D. Principle

 

All H.I.D. Lights work on the same principle. They all have “ballasts” that plug into the wall and transform the low voltage household current. That is, 120v or 240v if you are using a power board into the high voltage of 480v to run the lamp. 

 

When you turn it on, a capacitor in the ballast builds up a huge bolt of energy, sent to electrodes at either end of a gas-filled tube inside the lamp itself (the arc tube). This burst of energy causes an arc of electricity to jump through the gas. The arc is then maintained by the high voltage, generating intense light as a reaction, thus their name, High-Intensity Discharge.

 

M.H. and H.P.S. lamps come in various wattages. Still, I mostly only recommend 1KW (1 Kilowatt, or 1000 watt) lamps for flowering rooms or the occasional 400 watts for a very small space. Smaller ones such as fluorescents or 150, 250, and 400-watt H.I.D. Systems can be utilized in vegetative areas with young plants, but if you plan on growing them above about 14 inches tall in the vegetative room, I still recommend using 1KWs for best results.

 

These systems consist of a power cord, which plugs into wall or power board supply ballast with low voltage 120 or 240VAC (Volts A.C.) ballast. Essentially, a transformer converts the low voltage to the high voltage lamp cord. This is a long non-detachable cord that carries the high voltage from the ballast to the socket assembly. The socket assembly is where the clamp screws in and also where the hood attaches. 

 

The hood is a large reflective piece that focuses the light downward. Its lamp is a vacuum-sealed glass sphere that contains the gas-filled tube which emits the light. All of this usually comes in a package deal for around $250.

 

There are two main types of hoods; vertical and horizontal. Both refer to the orientation of the lamp. A vertical hood holds the lamp vertically, with the socket side up and the tip of the lamp pointing downward. 

 

A horizontal hood holds the lamp horizontally, with the socket on one side and the lamp sticking out sideways. Vertical systems seem to be more practical because they are less expensive, less complicated to assemble, and, as long as all the walls are lined with Mylar, they distribute more direct light more evenly.

 

1. Mylar

 

After you have gone to considerable trouble and expense to achieve proper lighting in your space, it only makes sense to be aware that to get the maximum light levels (i.e., fat buds) out of your system; the plants need to be surrounded (four sides) with a highly reflective surface. Other things have traditionally been used, such as tin foil or space blankets, but these are ineffective, even compared to flat white paint, which is a better alternative.

 

Mylar is a highly reflective plastic sheeting used to bounce light back onto the plants. Using Mylar is the most effective and economical way to increase the critical light levels in any indoor garden. It is by far the most reflective material available to line your grow area. 

 

With a Mylar, your precious light is directed onto and absorbed by your plants and not the surfaces of the area surrounding them. It comes in rolls that are generally about 4 feet wide, in thicknesses of 1 or 2 mils, which is a thousandth of an inch. 

 

Mounting The Mylar

 

Two mils are about 40% more expensive, and both thicknesses reflect equally, but the one mil tends to be hard to work with and wrinkles easily. The two mils go up more like a mirror and are easier to re-use. 

 

The Mylar should be hung on all walls that face the plants, and lightweight, movable barriers can be made for the sides that open to the room using foam insulating board, cardboard, or frames built from 1×2’s. Cover them using duct tape and staples. 

 

To prevent staples from tearing the Mylar, it is a good idea to put a piece of duct tape over the spot where you are going to staple it, then staple through the tape several times. Adhesive caulk can be used to hang it on concrete or brick surfaces.

 

1. Lighting Requirements

 

As far as lighting requirements for a given space, try to think on a watts-per-square-foot basis. If you learn to do this from the beginning, you will be good to go. You will find that it is an easy and consistent way to relate the relative brightness of any grows area. 

 

Also, yield-per-square-foot is a good way to track production. You will also find a direct link between this brightness and your plants’ growth habits, bud density, and overall yield. To calculate the square footage of your area, multiply (L) length times (W) width. Then divide the square feet into the total watts of all the lamps. 

 

The figure you get is your watts per square foot (w.p.f.2). A minimum of about 20-30 w.p.f.2 will be adequate for the vegetative area, and 30 to 40 w.p.f.2 or more is recommended for the highest yields and vigorous growth during flowering.

 

3. Ventilation

 

 Outdoors, plants are exposed to constant fresh air, supplied with an unlimited amount of carbon dioxide. Indoors, the air mostly stagnates, so the cannabis creator uses high-powered exhaust fans to simulate the outdoor fresh air environment. 

 

The grower’s ventilation system serves many purposes. By constantly removing hot, humid air out of the grow space. The exhaust serves to reduce high humidity levels caused by water evaporation [from wet soil or reservoirs] in the room and to control the substantial heat created by 1KW H.I.D. Systems. 

 

As the stale air is removed, fresh air flows into the room to take the place of the old air, which will be depleted of carbon dioxide by fast-growing cannabis plants. This fresh air contains lots of fresh carbon dioxide for the plants to breathe. 

 

Also, as discussed earlier, your exhaust system is the most obvious and effective means of odor control. These are reasons why for the serious indoor horticulturist, ventilation is not an option! It is mandatory. Ventilation is just as important as adequate light or water.

 

This means that you not only need to exhaust a lot of air out of the room but vigorously circulate the air inside the room as well. 16-inch oscillating fans and 20-inch box fans are good to place inside the room for blowing fresh air around the plants. 

 

Except in the case of very young plants that are not yet established or not growing quickly, generally more is better, especially in flowering. Plants that have been exposed to vigorous air circulation grow much sturdier and more vigorously than plants that have not.

 

Exhaust blowers (also called squirrel cage fans) are rated by C.F.M. (cubic feet per minute). Good ventilation means having a blower that will keep your average temperatures around 78 degrees and your relative humidity at about 50%. 

 

If you have no idea what to get, start with about 150 to 250 C.F.M. per 1KW H.I.D. Lamp and ballast. Common sizes include 100, 265, 465,745 and 980 C.F.M. The fart fan in your bathroom is usually rated at about 55 C.F.M.

 

A four-inch dryer duct is only adequate for up to 100 C.F.M. Above that, you should use 7, 8, or 10-inch aluminum flex-duct for up to 1000 C.F.M. Keep the run as short as possible and avoid sharp turns for maximum airflow.

 

Connecting exhaust blowers to the ducting used to be a labor-intensive task involving razor blades, several cardboard boxes, and an entire roll of duct tape. Today, your local hardware store carries an amazing new product called spray insulating foam. Try some. Apply liberally.

 

4. Soil Medium And Buckets

 

 Although any pre-packaged potting soil will do, for production purposes, I recommend Pro-Mix. It comes in bales, is fairly easy to find, and consists primarily of Canadian peat moss and perlite. This provides proper ph levels, does not pack down easily, and won’t remain soggy, allowing the roots to “breathe” (healthy roots need a good balance of oxygen and water) and therefore also allowing you good control over the watering/fertilizer regimen. It is also very inexpensive as compared to other options.

 

Although the hand watering and appearance of the media may make you think that this is a soil-based system, it is a quasi-hydroponic set-up. The medium provides the optimum water-to-oxygen ratio and not the nutrients to the roots (plant). All nutrients are provided by regular fertilization with a high-quality, full-spectrum, hydroponic formula that is dissolved in the water at watering time.

 

Normal potting soils and other heavier soils can be amended with about 2 or 3 parts peat moss and perlite and/or vermiculite to one part soil to decrease water retention. Heavy, soggy soils create unhappy root conditions. 

 

You can perform a simple test for any soil. Take a handful of wet soil and squeeze it into a ball in your fist. When you open your hand, it should fall apart or fall apart with a slight poke. If it becomes a solid ball after you squeeze it, it is probably not suited for your purposes. 

 

When filling the buckets, do not pack the soil down. Break up any chunks. The consistency of dry soil should be light and fluffy. As far as buckets go, a simple rule of thumb is about 2 gallons of capacity per foot of the height of the finished plant. 

 

Too small of a container can restrict growth and cause watering problems. Most growers I know transplant rooted clones into 2-gallon containers for vegetative growth and then transplant them into 7-gallon containers for flowering.  

 

Grow bags are convenient and better. They get stealthily in or out, as they make a much smaller package than a stack of buckets. Their squat, square shape is also well suited for indoor growing.

 

5. Hydroponics

 

 Hydroponics is Latin for “working water.” The concept is very simple. Instead of growing plants in soil that is naturally rich in organic nutrients (like compost or various poop), the plants grow in a media that provides the roots (plant). The medium gives the plants physical support and a supply of oxygen to the roots that is unachievable in normal soil-based systems. 

 

Rockwool is the most popular hydroponic medium. Its near-perfect oxygen to water retention capabilities has been the home of some of the healthiest, fastest-growing, most vigorous plants I have ever seen. Rockwool provides the nutrients solely when the media is periodically flushed or soaked in water. 

 

The water already has the necessary nutrients dissolved in it. This is usually accomplished with a simple set-up of pumps and sequence timers. Those deliver the solution out of a reservoir to each plant using drip-emitters that water each container individually or ebb and flow techniques that fill and drain trays or tables. 

 

The system is called active hydroponics, where the water is actively moved around. The Pro-mix-based system described in this book is essentially passive and has no pumps, no timers. The hydroponic system media doesn’t provide the nutrients; they are provided dissolved in the water at watering time.

 

Unfortunately, with many simple concepts, hydroponics doesn’t necessarily translate easily to reality. Most hydroponic media leave little room for error, and one mistake can spell disaster. I recommend full-blown hydro set-ups only to the experienced grower who has a keen sense of all of the needs of his or her plants.

 

Risk Factors In Hydroponics Set Up

 

1. Nutrients Control

 

All crops require nutrients, and so is marijuana. It requires reasonably controlled nutrients to grow healthy and produce quality stones for you. Unlike soil-grown marijuana, hydroponics requires lots of regulations of nutrients. You must keenly watch this artificial environment to succeed. It does not only involve Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium also other nutrients crucial for your plants’ health.

 

To prevention nutrient, issues get a nutrients guideline to know specific requirements for your hydroponics. Be sure not to get these from a dump store that has no credibility. They will illustrate for you ratios of N-P-K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and, Potassium) for the system. Interpret those well to avoid mishaps.  

 

2. pH Fluctuations And Imbalances

 

pH fluctuations and imbalances can destroy your crop. The perfect pH for hydroponics ranges from 5.5-6.5. Highs or lows will wipe away your crop; fortunately, you can heal that. Before you do anything, just remember that pH and nutrients go hand in hand. 

 

Over-fertilization is terrific. It can add or reduce pH than required. Wilting and discoloration are the tale signs. Just get a pH pen to avoid guesswork and seek to balance your hydroponics’ pH professionally.  

 

3. Overwatering/Under-watering

 

Both are dangerous to hydroponic systems. The roots will suffer and lead to stunted. The first symptoms will be drooping and chlorosis. The leaves begin will then begin to fall off when you are overwatering or under-watering your plants that expose them to infections and pests. Under-watering leads to dehydration and death. You can identify if your plants are under-watered by checking with your fingers. The medium is dry and crackly. 

 

Contrary, if the system is overwatered, it will be soggy. The smell is also awful due to stagnant water and traces of algae. 

 

Just reduce the water at the inlet and stick to the professional guideline provided by your hydroponic supplier regarding the water supply. As I said, hydroponics requires full-time monitoring to avoid losses.

 

4. Lighting Spectrum Imbalances

 

Balancing light is recommended in all indoor rowing systems. Novices tend to forget that this is crucial. Cannabis requires that you provide the right light spectrum at different stages. This may seem like a repetition, but hydroponics is not an exception. 

 

As long as your plants are indoors, you must regulate the light and give your plants the right spectrum. That includes the intensity and duration. I will cover the light spectrums in detail when I am expounding the photoperiod section. It is important to master this procedure to avoid missing out on details. Less light means a slender and weak plant with unhealthy buds and flowers.

 

5. Chocked Piping System 

 

Hydroponics systems get chocked regularly. Drip and spray systems will give you more trouble because their pumps use a high-pressure pump to push nutrients through the minute holes. Sometimes, these holes get blocked by algae and debris. How to fix this? 

 

Get pre-filters installed before you plant your buddies. Maintain proper hygiene throughout the growing period to prevent choking. I bet you know choking kills. Whenever the filters are clogged and can no longer suck more, replace them! It’s a pricey thing to do but worth your every piece of effort.

 

6. Leaking System

 

Leaks happen due to low-quality plumbing. High pressure requires an intact plumbing system. The leaks are not only messy and but uneconomical. If the plumbing system was done well, but the problem persists, check and trim excess root growth of your hydroponic system. You may end up with a highly dehydrated crop. 

 

The damage may get to an irreversible point where the plant dies out. You do not want that to happen to your buddies so, get low pressured D.W.C. or N.F.T. when setting up the system. Also, set up an extra-large reservoir for nutrients. A hydroponic professional will tell you to use wide pipes as they are not prone to blockage. Lastly, be a keen grower. Your indoor plants are like incubator babies. They require full-time monitoring.  

 

7. Algae Infestation

 

Algae are a serial plant killer. When it attacks, be sure of hefty losses, yet they are common in hydroponics. What’s the cure? Firstly, these are parasites. They suck your plants’ nutrients and eventually kill them through deprivation. The bad news is that it is very difficult to control once your systems are attacked. That tells you to prevent the infestation. 

 

To keep off this dreaded parasite, strive to keep your hydroponics’ nutrients in a pitch dark place. Algae hate dark areas and will die a natural death if you keep them in the dark. 

 

4. Growth Cycle

 

1. Photoperiod

 

 Photoperiod is the part about how you make your clones or seedlings grow into plants with big, fat, juicy buds. That is to say, small young plants that consist only of stems and leaves.

 

In the wild, male and female cannabis plants sprout in the spring and grow side by side throughout the summer. At some point in the summer, they begin their flowering cycle. Shortly after that, the males’ flowers start to mature, shedding their pollen into the air, pollinating the females’ adolescent flowers, which then grow multitudes of marijuana seeds. 

 

When the frost comes, the plants die, and the cannabis seeds are scattered around the surrounding area. Some marijuana seeds may be eaten by birds or other animals and may be passed through the animal and dropped in another location, nature’s way of spreading it around. 

 

Then comes winter, the rain and/or snow come, and some of these pot seeds get covered with a layer of composted leaves and/or soil or dung, in the animal case, and soon the cycle begins again. When spring comes, the sun shines, and behold, a seedling or a whole generation of seedlings sprout.

 

Pitch Dark Nights Are Important

 

When the cannabis seeds sprout, it is early in the spring. The days are much longer than the nights. You will be more careful to provide the much-needed darkness. The advanced cannabis plant can measure the length of each night, thus, photoperiod or a determinate photoperiod plant. 

 

As long as the nights are short enough, the cannabis plant will grow only stems and leaves, which is the vegetative stage. About halfway through the summer, there comes the point where the days and nights are equal lengths (equinox), and it is about this time that most varieties of cannabis begin their flowering cycle. 

 

First, stem and leaf production will suddenly accelerate; some varieties will double in size during the first ten days or two weeks. Then upward growth slows, in some cases, stopping altogether, and the tedious, slow process of flower production begins. 

 

Budding And The Dark Cycles

 

This process continues, buds building on buds for the rest of the summer until they are ripe. If the males are removed before they shed their pollen, the females will continue to flower, hoping for some pollen to float by. As long as it doesn’t, you will eventually have a crop of ripened with sinsemilla buds.

 

Indoors, this cycle is very simple to replicate. You must have two separate areas for growth. A vegetative area with 24-hour continuous or 18 hours on, 6 hours off shorter night light for clones, seedlings, and plants is sufficient. The plants are still too small to put into flowering. A larger space requires lights that are on a timer (12 hours on and 12 hours off every day).

 

 It is important that during the dark cycle, you do not interrupt your plants’ “sleep.” That is because your buddies need time to sleep just like you. Even a small amount of light reaching the plants for a short period during the dark cycle can substantially interfere with the flowering cycle. It can cause the plants to be set back a week or more by causing what is known as photoperiod shock when a plant can’t figure out what season you are trying to duplicate.

 

Get The Grow Room Pitch Dark  

 

The grow room should be pitch dark in the flowering room for 12 or even 13 hours every night and then damn bright for the rest of the time. Usually, after 45 to 60 days of this, if you have all females, you will be able to recognize your goal. You will have a vibrant grow full of life. Your pocket should be heavy with dollars in a few days if you planted auto flowers.

 

Most indoor varieties will double or triple in size from the time when you put them on this 12-hour cycle until the time they are done. For example, a plant that is put into flowering when it is one foot tall may only reach a finished height of two or three feet. 

 

Contrary, a plant that is two feet tall when you begin flowering could grow to be four to six feet tall and quite a large bush. Larger plants yield more buds but take up proportionately more space and take a longer time to grow to the desired flowering size than small plants.

 

This is why I say that your yield is based more on the amount of light in your room, not the number of plants, their size, or the amount of space they are in. Light is usually the limiting factor in indoor growing.

 

Be Extra-Keen During Flowering Stage

 

An easily achievable goal should be 1 pound per 1KW per crop cycle. One pound may come from two monsters that each take up half the space under a 1KW light and yield a half-pound each. Alternatively, one pound might come from 32 1-foot tall plants that each yield only ½ ounce each. It will finish in a relatively shorter time and also take less time to grow in the vegetative stage to the desired flowering size, perhaps only 6 or 8 inches.

 

Larger yields can easily be achieved per crop utilizing certain varieties with longer flowering periods (up to 90 days or more), but over time, your total yields will probably be about the same. That is because you could have had two crops of a faster, lower-yielding variety at the same time. It is a trade-off no matter how you do. The outcome depends upon your ideas about what you want.

 

It is important just to remember that assuming all environmental factors are as described, your overall yield will be determined primarily by the amount of light and also, to some extent, the variety or strain you happen to have.

 

1. Sprouting and Cloning

 

 I assume you have already read the section entitled “Cannabis is a Plant.” If you have not, then do so now!

 

Sprouting cannabis seeds is a simple matter. Before you plant your marijuana seeds in the soil, you should germinate them by placing them between two paper towels soaked with distilled water. Place them on a plate and cover them with plastic wrap. 

 

Keep them in a warm, dark place; the cannabis seeds should sprout in about 3 to 7 days. Gently put the seedling, sprout-end up, about one-half to one inch below the pre-moistened soil.

Cloning is a much more complicated matter. It requires either some skill, or a green thumb, or fanatical attention to detail, or a lot of trial and error, or possibly all of the above. I think of cloning as an incubation process and have decided that maintaining a constant warm temperature (75-80) is the key factor.

 

Cloning Concept

 

This is the concept. Cut a small piece from an existing plant that is in the vegetative growth stage or one that has been in flowering for less than two weeks. The key here is that it should not have any flowers on it, about 3 to 4 inches long. This piece must be a growing tip of the plant, not a leaf, though a clone may have several leaves on it. 

 

A piece on that new growth has to be at its tip. This does not mean that it has to come from the top of the plant. That is because, on any healthy, well-established plant, there should be many, or perhaps dozens of growing tips all over it. Handle this piece gently, and using a new razor blade, cut a small piece, just about 1/16th of an inch from where the first cut was made, at a 45-degree angle. 

 

The process exposes the moist, tender inner portion of the stem. For larger clones, you may want to cut off one set of the lowest leaves also, leaving approximately 1/16th-inch stubs of the leaf stems. The razor blade can also be used to very gently scrape some of the outer skin of the lower portions of the stem that will be under the soil. We do this to expose the tender inner portion of the stem. This should all be done as quickly as possible. 

 

Then using rooting hormones, such as Rootone Powder or Dip-n-Gro liquid (diluted 13 parts water to 1), dip the lower part into the hormone. This is the part that has been cut and scraped, and it is the part that will be under the soil. Dip the part of the clone into the hormone and then carefully place it into a hole that was pre-poked in the media using a nail or toothpick.

 

Readily Available Materials

 

You can use paper, plastic, or styrofoam cups, or small buckets less than a one-half gallon to hold the soil. You can use Jiffy-7 peat [moss] pellets, which are small discs that when soaked in water. Expand into a cylinder that has peat moss in a tiny nylon sack. Always poke holes in the bottom. These work well for larger batches because of their small size. 

 

Place the whole unit inside of some kind of humidity tent or dome, maybe a plastic Ziploc bag for one or two clones in party cups, or an 11×21 inch propagation tray for larger batches, for example, to retain the moisture. Small pots evaporate quickly, and since the clone has no roots with which to draw up water, it needs to be kept in a high humidity atmosphere, or it will dry out and die promptly.

 

The most important factor is not to over-saturate the soil. It should barely feel moist to the touch. Remember that for roots to grow; they need oxygen just as much as they need water. It is as easy to kill a clone with too much water as it is to kill it by letting it dry out. Spray bottles work well to mist the clones. 

 

Place the newly planted clones under fluorescent lights on a continuous 24-hour per daylight cycle. The fluorescents should be kept within and about a foot or less from the clones for maximum effectiveness. “Cool white” tubes work very well and are very inexpensive. They generate very little heat and have soft, even light distribution. 

 

A 4-foot “shop-light” fixture can be purchased at the hardware store for less than $10, and two tubes to fit it should run about $1 each. This is sufficient light for two 11×21 inch (standard size) propagation trays. Each tray can hold up to about 25-30 clones in Jiffy-7 pellets. 

 

Keep the temperature steady and warm, and after about one week, if you are doing well, or two weeks if you need improvement, roots will suddenly sprout directly out of the stem, and the clone will start to grow. As soon as this happens, it should be taken out of the dome, transplanted if necessary, and moved into the vegetative area, not too close to the light, not too close to the fan.

 

1. Sex And Sexing

 

 The only way to tell the sex of a cannabis plant is after it has been flowering for at least two weeks. Examine the internodes or the place where two stems meet. Two little white hairs in a “V” are a female flower, while strange-looking bunches of grape-like flowers indicate a male. 

 

Make sure to cut the males as soon as they show their sex unless you want a batch of marijuana seeds with your female buds. In this case, cut all the males except for the best one (you judge) and then cut it as soon as the little grapes (pollen sacks) start to pop open. 

 

The branches of these males can be placed in water and put in a sunny window. The pollen sacks will continue to pop open for several days, and you can carefully collect and apply the pollen to just the females you want to seed. 

 

Remember that there is enough pollen in a single male flower to pollinate thousands of female flowers. If you grow only females, the results will be sinsemilla (the Spanish word for seedless or without seed).

 

1. Limiting Factors To Plant Growth

 

There are five limiting factors to plant growth. Any green plant needs all five of these things to be available to it, or growth will slow or stop. Each one is just as important as the others, and more or too much of one will not make up for lack of any other. Limiting factors are each a link in the chain. The weak link is the one that is slowing the plants down. If you think you have a problem, it is most likely one of these five things.

 

1. Water

 

Plants need water. All residential water supplies are treated with chlorine which is not good for plants. Evaporate the chlorine out of the water by leaving it in open containers such as milk jugs or barrels for 24 to 48 hours before using it.

 

The proper way to water an established plant is to saturate the soil. Do not water again until the soil feels dry at the tip of your finger poked into the soil, and the container feels light. You can tell just by watching the plants. 

 

Experienced growers who are intimate with their plants can tell that they will need to be watered two or even three days before they do simply by looking at them. Lower leaves may lose their turgidity, and the whole plant, though seemingly unaffected, may seem to shrink. The moment they start to droop, you have waited too long. 

 

Overwatering is a most common mistake. Usually, the plant is not growing satisfactorily due to another limiting factor, and the hapless cultivator tries to give it more and more water and/or fertilizer, essentially drowning the roots and killing the plant.

 

1. Light

 

 People who are not familiar with the 1KW lighting systems that are commonly used in northwestern grow rooms are often shocked at the blinding light intensities that they can generate. Sometimes I like to turn the lights off and point out to them how dark it is without them. No man-made light source will ever match the intensity of the sun. 

 

Without adequate light or light in the correct [color] spectrums, green plants will not grow. Cannabis is arguably the most light-loving plant species on the planet. A cannabis plant that does not get enough light will be sad and spindly with small leaves and buds and a lot of stems. 

 

If you follow the directions here under ‘lighting,’ you should not have a problem. Don’t be surprised if it seems bright; it’s supposed to be. I have taken to wear mountaineering sunglasses with side panels and U.V. protection whenever I am in my grow rooms. That is because I have noticed my vision deteriorate over the years, undoubtedly from constant exposure. These types of shades also have rubber hooks that go around the backs of your ears to keep them on your head when you are looking down all the time.

 

1. Nutrients

 

 Chemical fertilizers are the easiest way to maintain the nutrient needs of a large garden. These should not be associated with strange tasting or “chemical” tasting buds. Many of the best soil growers use high-quality, mass-produced, full-spectrum nutrient formulas to produce top-quality cannabis. 

 

Also, the vast majority of all hydroponic gardens use full-spectrum chemical fertilizers due to a lack of completely water-soluble organic liquids. The only thing you can do to blow it is to over-fertilize. Follow directions, especially if you are using hydroponics. Your plants will tell you when they need fertilizer. Excesses mean that your plants will be oversupplied and can get adverse side effects like wilting. If you undersupply, that may mean malnourishment.

 

A well-fertilized plant will be dark green and vigorous, while a plant that needs fertilizer will be slightly pale green and have yellowing leaves and slow growth. You know you fertilized at the right time if they are back thriving in the next few days. Always remember that more fertilizer won’t help if any of the other limiting factors are not taken care of.

 

However, there is another group of people that insist that only organic nutrients, such as various guanos (a.k.a. turds), blood meal, bone meal, various seaweeds, or organic composts, etc. be used to provide the nutrient needs for the very most premium flower production. I have experimented with organics and had great results, with increases in resin production (not necessarily T.H.C. production). The overall health was excellent and also slightly more pungent smells and sometimes slightly enhanced taste.

 

I believe that, for the most part, these differences are extremely subtle and noticeable only to the connoisseur. For production purposes, I always end up coming back to the “grow juice,” as it’s called, just because it’s easier. It smells better too.

 

1. Oxygen

 

Only the plant’s roots need oxygen. They absorb it in the same way that leaves absorb carbon dioxide and use it to build sugars and carbohydrates to grow. 

 

Oxygen is the main component of the air we breathe. This is the reason why overwatering is a problem. As the soil dries out, the roots are exposed to oxygen. If the soil remains saturated, the roots are starved of oxygen, suffocating, basically drowned. Supply enough oxygen to your roots to avoid stunted growth.

Lack of oxygen will be revealed by wilt, where the leaves will be distorted and look smaller than normal. Chlorosis and prematurely dropping is another symptom of stressed leaves.

 

1. Carbon Dioxide

 

 The leaves of all green plants absorb carbon dioxide out of the air, use the carbon, and transpire the leftover O2, or oxygen, into the air. This absorption is the equivalent of our breathing, except that humans and animals absorb oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide as a byproduct. 

 

One theory of why plants like you talk to them is that they are being bathed in a stream of carbon dioxide-rich air. For cannabis, this must be similar to a pro athlete breathing from an oxygen tank.

 

If the air in the room is stagnant, the plants will quickly use up the carbon dioxide and stop growing. Adequate carbon dioxide levels can be maintained with good ventilation and by having vigorous air circulation around the plants. 

 

Carbon dioxide enrichment systems are available, but they were the first thing to go when I edited for simplicity. I’ll leave them to the adventurous. I think that if mother nature doesn’t need it, neither do I. However, I should mention that if you are using a hydroponic rock wool-based system, by adding CO2 enrichment, you have essentially eliminated four out of five of the limiting factors, water, nutrients, oxygen, and CO2. Using extremely high light levels in addition to this set-up can result in what can only be described as “super-charging.”

 

6. Potency, Maturity, Harvesting, And Drying

 

1. When To Harvest

 

The single most important factor in the potency of your crop of cannabis is the plants themselves. Any given clone or seedling has a pre-determined, genetically set, potential potency in its D.N.A. Once you have finished, dried, and sampled a certain healthy, mature bud, a clone of that plant will only vary about 5 to 10 percent in potency no matter what techniques are used to grow it. Good buds are born, not made.

 

The second factor is the maturity or ripeness of the buds. As the buds get bigger and bigger, you will notice that some of the hairs (pistils) on the buds, which were all white to begin with, will start to wither and turn red. When about 65 to 75 percent of all the hairs on the buds have turned red, and new growth seems to slow (usually after about 45 to 60 days in the flowering cycle for most pure Indicas and 50/50 hybrids), the buds should be ripe for harvest.

 

Checking Out For Potency

 

Something else to watch is the crystals, which should appear under a magnifying glass like tiny clear mushrooms of resin. If they begin to tint amber or yellow, it is a sign that the T.H.C. (which is concentrated 95 percent in these crystals) is starting to degrade into two less psychoactive byproducts: CBD and CBN. 

 

If you notice this happening, the plant has already reached its maximum potential and should be harvested unless it is very large, possibly in which case individual parts of the plant may ripen before others. Once again, every one of the infinite numbers of cannabis varieties is different, and with “faster” strains (that is, varieties that finish sooner. 

 

You have to be more careful about this over-ripening, whereas some strains seem to continue on flowering forever without ever ripening, as it is described here. You just have to watch and use your good judgment. If you aren’t sure, then wait. The last few weeks is the time when buds are bulking up the most weight-wise, and with a good-sized crop, days can turn into extra ounces. When you have waited this long, you can wait a little longer.

 

1. Harvesting, Manicuring, and Drying

 

 Harvesting is easy. Cut the plant into manageable sections and trim all the large multi-fingered leaves off of the buds. Single-fingered leaves that stick out of the thick part of the buds should be trimmed to the circumference of the bud. These trimmings, when properly dried, make good joint-rolling material.

 

Manicuring

 

When you are manicuring, you may find yourself with an unbelievably sticky coating on your fingers and scissors. This is almost pure resin, otherwise known as finger hash. If you start with clean hands and clean scissors, you can collect this substance by gently rubbing your fingers together in small circles.

 

 Do not try to use heavy pressure between your fingers. This stuff is so sticky I have seen it take the skin off. You might not mind losing a bit of skin, but smoking is no fun. Instead, gentle circles will produce little tiny pieces that look like the dust from a pencil eraser. These pieces can be rolled together into small BB-sized balls. Scissors can help you scrap the stuff a lot, like pipe scraping. 

 

All of these little pieces together can add up to hours of quality entertainment for a room full of stoners, if you know what I mean. It is best to use a small piece of bud underneath these resin balls (a green screen) because, like pipe resin, it melts when a flame touches it and will go right through a screen. Extra stickiness comes off your fingers effortlessly with a little butter or margarine (don’t try to smoke this).

 

Manicure Buds In Drying Rooms

 

Hang the manicured buds on some hemp twine (like clotheslines) in the drying room. The idea of hanging is to facilitate even, thorough drying. Although they can be laid out on newspapers, I found that this leaves unsightly flat spots on the buds, and they can remain wet for longer because the air cannot circulate all sides. 

 

Keep temperatures moderate, around 75, and around 50% humidity. You may need to use a ventilation system to reduce humidity if your drying room is particularly crowded (I hope you have this problem!) or a heater if it is too cold. I recommend placing a small fan in the room to circulate the air, especially if using a heater. 

 

Usually, in about seven days, your buds will be ready to smoke. Do not be fooled if, after three or four days, the buds feel dry to the touch. If put into bags, the moisture that remains on the inside will transpire into the dry outer parts and will result in an unacceptable degree of wetness.

 

Drying The Buds

 

There is no way you are going to make money illegitimately by selling wet cannabis. Dry your buds well using these methods;

 

1. Sun-Drying 

 

Even though you have grown your weed indoors, it’s illogical to say that you can’t make sundry. It is the cheapest and easiest way of drying your stones. It is also the oldest method. It works but certainly not the most effective method to dry your cannabis. It is this simple; direct sunlight degrades your ganja quality. Spread your buds under a shade and toss them when they are completely dry. That will prevent potency loss. In a week, your buds will be crispy dry.

 

Dhydra Technology 

 

Dhydra is a sophisticated technology. It is similar to vacuum technology. Dhydra adopts a few aspects of the technology. Assuming that your indoor grow a large-scale farmer, the Dhydra technology will come in handy. The technology allows you to process your weed by drying the buds without losing any potency. It is one of the best technologies in the marijuana industry. Large-scale processing guarantees superior output without waste of time and energy. 

 

The Dhyra technology is perfect in that it preserves all the profiles and active ingredients required from marijuana. That includes flavor and texture. The oils are maximally preserved, and the system’s energy controls automatically prevent your weed from heating up.  

 

The technology is automatic, performing both the drying and curing processes in the shortest time possible. In an hour, the technology process 150 lbs within. This has overturned the marijuana industry by phasing out the unhygienic drying methods. It has brought in a clean environment that meets all the food and safety standards in the world. Investing in this industrial-scale technology will solve all your drying issues. BUT, it doesn’t cost pennies!  

 

1. Powered Heater

 

A home electric or gas-powered heater can do the trick if your harvest is not enormous. If it is them, I’m sorry, you have to invest in a large and robust heater. The room has to be super dry and well ventilated. Again, the roving eye might catch you. Invest in ionizers to suck the odor before you get into hot soup.

 

When you embark on using powered heaters, monitor the progress as you did in your grow rooms and hydroponic system. I suppose you do not have a chick incubator in your room, but if you have one, you don’t keep your eye drowsy. The power might go off, and you lose your 50 grand chicks tender. With wet buds around, stay focused. Inspect your buds like you would for a 50 grand chick tender. You don’t want to lose your buds in their final stage of processing. Check regularly for molds and turn them to dry evenly. 

 

Molds are rippers. They multiply super fast. They will rip you off your hard grown buds by making them a waste. When you use your heater rightly, your weed will dry quickly and effectively.  

 

2. Brown Paper Bags

 

When you have an undersupply, you may have to be extremely innovative. Your customers are waiting, but your harvest is all wet. Get brown paper bags to help shorten the buds’ drying period. Spread those newly harvested buds on the brown bag and leave them there for up to six days. It has to be a dark cook place. 

 

On the sixth day, remove the buds. They will be dry and crispy. The buds will be ready for packaging and consumption. The longer they stay in there, the better, but since you have run out of supply, send out this batch first as you wait for the slow drying process of the other harvest.  

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You can also put your buds in a brown paper bag and place it on your laptop when it is on. The vent where your laptop’s heat is dispensed will dry your buds within an hour. Turn the bag after every 10 minutes to make sure that both sides are heated. 

 

When you repeat the process several times, your weed will be dry. Like the electric/gas heater, the laptop heater can cause a tour weed to turn harsh and have a nasty flavor and taste.

 

3. Oven-Bake Your Weed

 

Baking is not restricted to pastries and pizza. Use it to dry your buds. It is not only fast but efficient. The process is known as de-carboxylation. To decarboxylate your buds, spread your weed on your cookie sheet and set the heat at 125°F up to 140°F between. 

 

Leave your buds in there for approximately 10 minutes. Remove and flip the weed for five minutes. Return into the oven and repeat the process. Don’t go beyond the recommended temperature range, which we just discussed above. That will burn your weed and make it very harsh. 

 

Baking the weed makes it harsh, but it is a fast and perfect method if you are a Mr. Fix it fast. The buds’ potency will still be great because baking only dehydrates without destroying the active ingredients. But you will have to cope with the harsh smoke; that’s why I said that if you burn it, you won’t smoke it.

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4. Try A Boiler Room

 

That boiler room in your mansion is a great place to dry your canna buds. It is primarily warm with warm water, the perfect that cannabis requires to dry perfectly. Go in and place your buds on a sheet, preferably brown paper, in the boiler room. Leave your consignment there for a weak. It will dry out efficiently and maintain its potency and all the sweet flavors. 

 

If your buds are many, hang on strips to benefit every part of the warmth. You will pay electric bills with this method. Don’t worry; that will be compensated by the crispy dry, and sweet ganja that comes out of the boiler room. It is a slow drying process that gives the best outcomes.

 

5. Use A Microwave

 

A simple kitchen appliance like a microwave can help dry weed within minutes. The oven will help out if you intend to dry small amounts only. A sack of marijuana buds will take 24 hours to dry. Your nosey neighbor will have to know that something is roasting in your condo. If you don’t want that to happen to you, only use your microwave sparingly. For better results, set it at 50% power to dry your weed effectively.  

 

Leaving your buds to rotate in there is not enough. Turn them after every 20 minutes, get them out, and let them cool for another two or so minutes. When you repeat this process several times, you will get the desired results; dry and crispy buds ready to use.  

 

There is a disclaimer here with microwaving weed marijuana; higher temperatures can spoil potency. Your focus is to have high CBD and T.H.C. levels and the best flavor ever. To achieve that, microwave your buds with a toaster type. It’s has temperatures range from 150° F and 500° F and de-carboxylation your marijuana perfectly.

 

6. Dark Heated Room Are Superb

 

Just like you have been growing in dark rooms, spread your weed in a dark heated room to dry quickly. Set up the heat at 92°F and monitor your weed regularly. Make any necessary adjustments if required. 

 

Check out for temperature, airflow, and humidity. The temperature should be constant at 92°F. Turn the weed regularly to heat it evenly.

 

Your heated room should be free from other growing crops for superb results. The conditions required for the stages are different. Growing rooms are more humid than dry ones. That can make your weed get molds and fungi. If that happens, they will lose potency and critical profiles. 

 

Now, I’ve tried to keep the commentary to a minimum here, and pot knows, it’s hard when you are the writer, editor, and publisher. But, this rant I must have. Improperly dried pot is unacceptable for smoking and useless for enlightenment purposes. 

 

One of the reasons that pot is commonly sold wholesale, to smiling customers, for as much as the going rate for gold is because the grower has had to dry it out before selling it. 

 

The drying process cannot be viewed as losing money. No one should ever have to pay this amount of money for water. Drying is merely the process of evaporating water, purifying the buds down to just the essence of their remarkable existence.

 

As the buds dry, chlorophyll breaks down into more simple, easy-burning sugars. Harsh smoking characteristics such as a green or shakey taste diminish. The true unadulterated flavor can come through. The T.H.C. itself evaporates a water molecule, making the T.H.C. psychoactive, giving the high a greater feeling of spaciousness, enhanced perception, and appreciation of beauty, as well as seemingly miraculous medical benefits.

 

The buds attain a level of combustibility such that you will be able to crumble them into a firm, lip-smacking, even burning spliff of Rasta revelry. You have to receive a prompt flow of thick, cool, flavorful smoke from your favorite water pipe as soon as the flame touches the bud.

 

Needless to say, the disappointment to the consumer of not being able to get stoned after finally acquiring the desired object, a bag of weed, at great time and expense to all, is severe. This is compounded when you are one of the ever-growing numbers of people who use this substance to relieve pain and to suffer incomprehensible to healthy people. Dry pot is the balm of the sick, a miracle cure-all. Ask them.

 

Every stoner knows that kind, and dry buds are probably the single greatest gift to mankind ever. You must plan on thoroughly drying the buds you grow with every bit as much care as you took growing them. If not, then you shall not be worthy of the title “cannabis creator,” and I should now beg and implore you to (A.) give this guide to someone who will, or (B.) burn this guide. 

 

Why? Because I wouldn’t want anyone thinking that I was associated with you. Selling semi-dry buds, even at wholesale prices, is a definite karma no-no, and smoking them is defeating the purpose.

 

I know there are money-hungry people out there. It’s even considered normal in our materialistic consumer-based society. That’s the greatest thing about this occupation; you can set your salary by growing as much pot as you want. Contrary, the way for a righteous non-greedy cannabis creator to estimate yields (and therefore profits) is simply, only on a dried basis. Thank you.

 

This concludes Amsterdam Marijuana Seedbank, everything you ever wanted to know about cannabis creation but was afraid you would be detected by the power company. Good luck and a happy high!