I put together this little primer for those aspiring new growers who have 1000 questions, just like I once did. This is to be a beginner’s guide to going from seed to weed. This is not meant to be the “end all, be all” grow guide, but instead it is intended to serve as a beginning reference for those looking to grasp the very basics.
Most growing dilemmas that new growers find themselves in can be attributed to a few basic mistakes. You’ll make more advanced mistakes later ;~). Lol But by avoiding the basic mistakes, you can at least harvest high quality, smoke-able buds.
Mistake number one: “I don’t really have my closet set up very good, but I’m gonna throw some seeds in there anyway and see what happens.”
Marijuana is a living thing, and as such it has certain environmental variables that must be met in order for it to survive, let alone flourish. DO YOUR HOMEWORK HERE!! I cannot stress enough how important the proper environment can be. The sweat you put in here will pay big dividends in the form of fewer hassles, being able to leave your house for days at a time instead being glued to your grow, and of course healthier plants.
Temperature and Humidity
Temp:…It is generally accepted that a range of 65*F-85*F will allow MJ to grow well. However, if one narrows this range to 70*F-75*F, your plants will flourish instead of survive. Remember also that temperature fluctuates (oftentimes greatly) between lights-on, and lights-off. Plan your cooling and ventilation accordingly.
Humidity:…As temperature increases, Relative Humidity decreases (assuming no other variables have changed). So, as you begin to lower the temperature of your grow space, it is a natural phenomenon for the Rh to climb. “What should mine be?” For vegetative growth (18/6, 20/4, or 24/0 light schedule) the generally accepted range for Rh is 60-70%. However, once you flip the timer and begin a flowering light schedule of 12/12, you need to try to keep Rh around 40-50% to avoid mold/bud-rot. Need more info on the Rh/temperature relationship? http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/8c.html
Light: Some like to say that you can never have too much light, however that depends on the source of that light. When using fluorescent lighting, generally one cannot apply too much. But in the case of HPS, plants (depending on strain) can get a little sensitive. I won’t pretend to know exactly why this is. Possibly a form of radiation from the bulbs? What I DO know is that when in the early stages of the vegetative state, most strains don’t care for a 400-1000Watt HPS being closer than 12 inches from them. This becomes less of an issue as the plants mature. “So how much light do I need?” The truth is you need all the light that you can get, while maintaining the ideal temperature range stated above. The trick is how you apply that light that counts. Do not make the mistake of using more light than you can adequately cool. Also, remember that light diminishes by the square of the distance—read that again. It means that as the distance increases, the light diminishes twice as much for each incremental increase in distance from the plant. The short version…the closer the light source is to the plant, the more intense the light becomes. So, for young plants, back that HPS way up from those tender seedlings or you’ll fry them by means of light poisoning. As the plants begin to acclimate to the light, you can move it closer a couple of inches at a time over the course of the grow. “So, what height should I hang my light?” Depends on how many watts your light is rated at. If you have a 400watt HPS, begin with the light 3-4 feet above the young plants. If you are using a 1000watt HPS, I’d start my plants under fluorescents. Trade out the floro’s for your 1000 after about two weeks or so. Then mount the HPS at a height of four feet above the plants, following the above advice for inching it closer. There are other schools of thought on this, but this a safe bet, and that is what you want on your first grow(s) is to stay away from unnecessary risks.
Fertilization:This is a big one. There are more problems directly attributed to over-fertilized plants than any other reason. Why? Because people are under the false assumption that they can “push” a plant with more ferts. Sorry, but it just ain’t so! Given a completely stress-free life, with all the plants needs being met, a cannabis plant will reach it’s genetic potential—nothing more. There is no “magic formula”, or “secret recipe” that will change this. “Then why is my buddy’s plant bigger than mine, when we are both running identical clones?” Simple…most of us never quite reach a plants maximum genetic potential. It’s just that some growers get closer than others, therefore their yields are bigger. He may have his environment dialed-in better than yours. He may watch his pH closer than you. There are many reasons why you may see this. But rest assured, it is not because he is "pushing" a plant past what it is genetically capable of. “So how much of each fert do I use?” It’s not as complicated as it sounds. Start with the label instructions. When starting young plants on their first regimen of ferts, look at your label(s) and use no more than ¼ of the full strength as stated on the bottle(s). For instance your bottle may say: 2Tbsp Grow per gallon. If that is the case, multiply 2 by 25% …or…2 x .25=.5…..so ½ Tbsp per gallon of water. Then adjust your pH accordingly after all ferts have been well mixed. That is what you start with. And as long as you continue to have nice lush green growth, stay with that. Once the plant begins to get slightly pale or just a tad yellow, increase the amount by another 25%. Keep reading your plants and adjusting every 6-7 days. Usually, most strains (except for real fert-hogs) will be best kept below the maximum amount shown on most labels. Remember…you can’t “push” a plant with ferts! This is what I feel is the most common approach to starting plants on their first ferts. There are other growers who will do things a bit differently. But this will help you to avoid many problems new growers create for themselves and may just save your grow. As you get your first grows under you, you will gain experience, and as such, all this information will come naturally to you.
Security: No intro grow guide would be complete without a section on security. It cannot be overstated!! Many growers have had to choose growing over their friends. I’m one of them. I made the mistake of attempting a partnership with a person I had spent my whole childhood and youth with. I would have (mistakenly) trusted my life to this guy…and did. Ya see, when someone knows you grow, you instantly become their “get out of jail free card”, so you really are putting your life in the hands of another. The Story…I brought this guy into a previous operation I had been running. Not two weeks later, he stole money and started running his mouth in an effort to take the heat off of himself directly. Needless to say THAT DIDN’T WORK. As a result, I had to tear down everything I had and lost thousands of dollars and almost a year’s worth of work. I only tell you this so that hopefully you can learn from my mistake. If you cannot keep a secret from everyone you know or ever will know, then don’t grow. You can trust NO ONE.
As a new grower, you are beginning a journey. Ed Rosenthal once said in an interview, when asked if Marijuana was addictive …”Smoking marijuana is not addictive, growing it is.” Most find this to be complete truth. You will gain much more skill by growing, than by reading about it. However, like all good undertakings, one should research a project well before starting. Growing MJ is no different. The more you know, the more ya grow. Enjoy your journey!!
Written in a racy narrative style, avoiding being dictatorial or condecending. I would defiantly recommend it to a friend (but is says I'm not supposed to have any)..Well coincidently I don"t agree with having them anyways, so aint we all content?
I found that easier to summarly digest than that Jorge Cervicall"s bible anyway..
Can"t help thinking I was the point of reference though 1000, questions?
For the next installment in the New Growers Primer I'll attempt to break down some of the more popular grow mediums. There are a nearly infinite number of mediums and combinations thereof. Here, we'll try to give a brief summary of the more common types, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as where one can find them. Remember, everything that you see above the grow medium (the plant itself) was built by complex processes and reactions that occur(ed) in the substrate below. Therefore, it is my belief that this is NOT the place to skimp, but instead is where you should begin designing your grow style. Your choices here will ultimately determine some of your equipment necessities, how much labor you must put into your grows, as well as how much attention to detail you have to pay in order to maximize your results.
This first installment will attempt to cover the most important aspects of soil.
Soil: This may sound obvious at first, after all it's just dirt right? Well yes and no. One "could" use dirt from the backyard, and some do. However, there will be undesirables in that soil in the form of pathogens, possibly disease, and most likely BUGS. So if you choose to use "dirt" from the yard, you should sterilize it in a 250 degree(F) oven for a couple of hours before putting it in pots to use. And B.T.W....this process is a stinky affair. Oftentimes the better choice of soil growers is to buy your soil. Here one will find many choices. From peat-based mixes, to coir-based mixes, to homemade recipes, there is much information to consider. "Well, which one is right for me?" If soil is to be your choice of medium, one might find it useful to apply the KISS principle. Keep It Simple, Stupid; meaning here, that one might find it useful to choose a soil type that has not been amended with two dozen ingredients. This type of soil mix will not typically burn delicate seedlings, which is a very common problem. If your mix will support a mature plants' needs without your adding nutes, then it is generally too hot for seedlings. One may find it better to choose a lighter mix, then add your choice of ferts in between waterings. This way, the seedlings will not suffer nute-burn in the beginning, and as you begin to see mild deficiencies, you can add the necessary ferts to correct them.
The other school of thought on soil seems to be to create a "complete soil" in the beginning so that all one needs to add throughout the grow is water---no ferts. This might sound like a great idea to a new grower. "Hmmm just add water, huh? Sounds like the way to go." However, in creating a custom soil mix, it is a real benefit to know what each of these elements are bringing to the table, so to speak. In other words, there are many possible additives that, when used together, can give you too much of a good thing. Perhaps you choose to use kelp meal, Mexican bat guano, fish meal, and earthworm castings in your mix. Sounds great on paper, but this mix will likely be too high in Nitrogen for everything except really large plants, depending upon the amounts of each that you add of course. A good soil must also contain a balance. One must not only consider which ingredients to add, but in what proportion. In short, as a new grower, just keep it simple. Research the types of soil available to you, then choose wisely. Advantages and Disadvantages:
When compared to other common types of mediums used for growing MJ, soil is likely the most common. We'll start with the advantages...
1. Availability...Literally everywhere!! 2. Ease of use...soil is fairly basic when it comes to use. Typically, one fills the pots, plants the seedlings/rooted clones, then waters thoroughly. Pretty basic huh? The one potential caveat to using soil is that once the grow is over, it's time for new soil. 3. Price...Although soil prices can get somewhat expensive, it is your biggest expense in a soil grow (with the exception of nutes). In other grow systems as you'll see below, this relationship can become reversed. Most hydroponic systems use water as the basic medium, but the necessary equipment cost is always much higher than the cost of soil. 4. Disposal...With soil, all you have to do to get rid of it when the grow is over, is to throw it out in the vegetable garden, flower bed, or simply broadcast it out into the yard. Although some growers re-use their soil, it is again advisable as a new grower to just start over. Soil "holds" onto most nutrients really well and will contain these nutrients in varying amounts at the start of your new grow. Do you know how much Nitrogen is really left in it? How about Potassium? Is there enough Potassium to lock out Calcium and therefore make it unavailable to your plants?......For now, just start over with new soil. This does bring up the next soil advantage Cation Exchange Capacity. 5.Cation Exchange Capacity or C.E.C for short, is the degree to which the substrate can absorb and release positive ions, or cations-- (NH4+, K+, Ca2+, Fe2+, etc...). All this means to us is it's ability to hold onto nutrients, and then pass them on to a plants roots. C.E.C. in soil is very high. This is a good thing for feeding a plants roots, since it allows a more steady diet, if you will, for the plant to feed from.
6.potential Hydrogen...or more commonly known as pH. Defined...pH is the acidity or alkalinity of an aqueous liquid (for our purposes, water). This is of utmost importance because nutrients are best absorbed by a plant's roots at very specific pH levels. However, all you really need to know is the proper range to maintain for your particular medium. For soil, a generally accepted range for the water or nute mix is 6.5 to 6.8, although there can be exceptions. This is being listed as an advantage because many growers have water sources (tap, or well water) that allows them to be within pH specs once they add nutrients without further adjustments being necessary. Your mileage will certainly vary. 7. Taste...most bud grown in organic soil has subtleties in taste that just cannot be achieved in most other grow mediums. What your goals are really come into play here. If you are growing solely for yourself, this quality may be very high on your list.
Disadvantages... 1. Buying new medium with every cycle. 2. Less yield. Some will argue this, and for them it may not be true. But for most of us that aren't dialed in perfectly, soil plants will yield slightly less. However, as stated above, most feel that the wonderful taste of organically grown soil buds far exceeds that of bud grown any other way. So, the ever-so-slight decrease in yield may be a good trade in your mind. It's up to you. 3. This one is related to number one. If you live in a large apartment building in a city, finding a place to dispose of your medium may not be possible without attracting the wrong kind of attention. 4. How much of each macro and micro nutrient is in the soil to begin with? This is not a very sizable disadvantage, since one can get a relative reading of the overall nutritional value of a substrate by testing it with a runoff test and a TDS or EC meter. However, some of us prefer to start with a clean slate, so to speak, and add only what we want, when we want it. Again, just food for thought.
Where to find soil supplies: Almost every home improvement center, hardware store and most large discount stores sell at least one type of soil, typically called potting soil. Obviously there are also dozens of choices online as well. Don't forget about shipping charges from online shops. They can get really expensive, and sometimes even eclipse the price of the product itself. One might seek out those retailers who offer free shipping with any order over a certain amount...usually 200 USD. Otherwise, most growers buy there soils locally.
Coco: “What is coco?” The grow medium known as coco, is not actually the pulp inside a coconut, but instead it is a product of the coconut husk. In the process of harvesting the pulp of the coconut for the food market, the husk shavings build up oftentimes in large mounds. For many years there was no sizable market for the husks. Then the agriculture industry discovered it was a great grow medium.
"So if it's so great, why isn't everyone using it?" Coco use gains in momentum every year. However there are a few points to remember with coco, just as there are with any other medium. Coco is a passive form of hydroponics. If it's treated just like soil, your plants will suffer. Therefore, some growers don't want to take the coco "plunge". Some growers though, find coco a near perfect compromise between soil and active hydro (such as DWC, NFT, etc...). Let's take a look at some of the pros and cons of coco.
Advantages: 1. Growth Rate...Coco offers a slight increase in growth rate over most soils. There are many reasons for this. Each reason taken individually do not amount to much, however once they come together, they make a noticeable difference. The first of which is oxygen availability.
a. Coco is a light, fluffy, type of medium. Therefore unless one intentionally pushes down on the coco to compact it, it stays light and fluffy. This fluffiness is useful for our purposes because this tells us that there is air between each particulate, or strand of coco. This air has great significance in the root zone. Roots must have a small amount of oxygen to allow plant processes to continue. The more oxygen to the root zone, the bigger the plants can grow. This is in large part, why DWC (Deep Water Culture) and Aeroponics is so effective. This is a somewhat delicate balance though. If it were simply a "more is better" type of situation, we'd be putting inline fans in our pots. But dry by air by itself, quickly dries and kills roots. So don't get too many wild ideas here.
b. A second reason that coco helps to stimulate growth as a grow medium is the fact that it is a hydro process. With coco, one waters and feeds the plants at the same time until there is a runoff out of the bottom of the pots, usually a 10% minimum. This is often referred to as fertigation. This process of fertigation is a key player in the increased growth typically seen in coco since we fertigate daily. Not weekly, or a couple of times per week, but daily. Some growers have been known to fertigate more than once per day. However once a day is the typical rate. Done daily, it is easier to see that fresh nutes are being “washed” over the roots every 24 hours or so. The roots dry just a bit, and then get washed with nutes all over again. This steady supply of fresh nutes is one of the key elements of faster growth in coco. c. C.E.C. is another reason for great growth in coco. Cation Exchange Capacity is the ability of a medium to hold and release positively charged ions. In short, coco has a high C.E.C. so it can hold nutrients well, and make them available to plants when the plants need them. 2. Reuse. Coco has the wonderful characteristic of being reusable. It must be rinsed THOROUGHLY in order to release all the nutrients it contains. Remember coco’s high C.E.C.? This is why it is best to flush it with 6-10 times the volume of water to the volume of medium. This will ensure that the coco is returned to it’s original inert state.
Disadvantages: 1. Coco does have a few potential drawbacks, though most find them to be minimal. The first on this list is availability. Most “big box stores” such as *ome Depot, do not stock coco. So that leaves some to have to buy their coco online and suffer shipping charges if they do not have a hydro store close enough to drive to. 2. The runoff that occurs with coco is not always easy to dispose of or fitting in all grow operations. For instance, in a large SOG (Sea of Green), the runoff may not have a way to get to a floor drain, making it a less appealing choice as a medium. 3. Price is sometimes an issue if one is on a strict budget. Coco is typically more expensive than soil. This is usually a small difference, but in some situations this difference may warrant another choice in medium. In conclusion, coco is a strong choice if one wants to move from soil to hydro, but doesn’t want the added equipment costs of active hydro. Weigh your choices well. Research will help one determine the best choice for their particular choice of grow style, environment, and budget.
Thanks Zoo! I'm just trying to get a few little articles written for the new growers to reference when they're trying to decide on the very basics. If it helps just one person, I'll be happy.
New growers, start your engines!
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