AOH :: HERB.TXT
An incredible collection of botanical information about MJ.
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The Joys of an Herb Garden at Home; v.2
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by Legal Lie Zitt
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Statement of Intent: GROW POT!
REMEMBER, it's up to you to inform your friends, family, neighbors and
co-workers that we have been lied-to, cheated, relieved of
freedoms, happiness, privacy, civil rights and liberties by the WOD.
Hemp prohibition is a political issue driven by big business interests
and it's damn well time we turn these policies around through
extreme civil-disobedience. Grow it everywhere, they can't get it all...
Stop political prison sentences in our time.
Stop the promotion of poisons and the prohibition of medicines.
Stop the lies.
Tell the truth.
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Legalize It!
- Bob Marley
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
OVERVIEW
GENETICS AND THE PLANT
INDOORS & OUTDOORS - CONSTANT HARVEST STRATEGY
PLANTING INDOORS
SHELF GROWING
RECYCLING
LIGHT
SEA OF GREEN
GERMINATION
VEGETATIVE GROWTH
FLOWERING
HYDROPONICS
PLANTING OUTDOORS
GUERRILLA GARDENING
SOIL GROWING
SECURITY
PLANT FOOD AND NUTRIENTS
PH AND FERTILIZERS
FOLAIR FEEDING
CO2
VENTING
TEMPERATURE
PESTS
TRANSPLANTING
EARLY SEXING
REGENERATION
HARVESTING AND DRYING
CLONING
BREEDING
SINSEMILLIA
SINSE SEEDS
ODORS AND NEGATIVE IONS
OXYGEN
SAFETY AND PRIVACY
DISTILLED WATER
BIRTH CONTROL PILLS
SEED AND BUD STORAGE
REVIEW
_______________________________________________________________________
OVERVIEW
There are few things in life as good as your own herb, grown by yourself at
home out in the garden and indoors in pots... Oregano, Dill, Basil, Sage
and other herbs are all easy to grow. Mint will take over the whole yard if
you let it. Fresh mint and celantro are incredible in salads and oriental
dishes. But it all comes down to a truly motivational herb that is your
friend and mine, a great healer and teacher to those that know it well.
Most people think of gardens as a seasonal, yearly project, but it's
actually less time consuming and more rewarding to keep the garden going
year round. If one were to attempt to grow year round, indoor gardening
techniques will be needed at least during winter to keep the garden
producing. You will have herb fresh at all times, there is no worry of mass
storage thru the winter and spring, it requires less space, and once
established, requires only minimal attention every week to keep it
producing at optimal levels.
The best part of being a gardener is it connects you to the earth. It
connects you will nature, and you will have a wide variety of species to
choose from and include in your garden. This helps keep things
interesting.
GENETICS AND THE PLANT
It's very important to start with good genetics. You should attempt to
find seeds from local gardeners that are acclimated and bred for local
climate and best floral characteristics. Potency, aroma, fast growth,
early maturation, resistance to fungus and pests. All of these factors
are considered by the seasoned gardener and you will benefit enormously
by finding a friend to get you started on the journey that never ends...
Attempt to find an Indica/Sativa hybrid if possible, as this will have the
best high and good characteristics for indoor growth as well. Indica
plants have a heavy, stony high that is tiresome, and sativas' are hard
to grow indoors due to high light requirements, so a hybrid of this
type can be bread that will have the energetic, cerebral high of the
sativa and the early maturation tendencies of the Indica plant.
The Indica plant is easily recognized by its extremely broad leaves that
are very rounded on the sides. The Sativa has very narrow, finger-like
leaves. A hybrid will have qualities of both and have leaves that are
a cross of these two types, thinner than an Indica, but much broader
than a Sativa. It is possible to recognize a good hybrid by the leaves
once you know what to look for.
Look for seeds that are dark brown or light grey. Some may have dark lines
inset into these colors, like tiger stripes. White, small seeds are
immature and should not be planted.
INDOORS & OUTDOORS - CONSTANT HARVEST STRATEGY
One of the best solutions to energy vs. output for most home gardeners is
to use outdoor light for flowering and use continuous light indoors for
germination and vegetative growth. This will take advantage of the natural
light/dark cycle and cut your energy use in half compared to the same
operation indoors. A small greenhouse can be built of Filon fiberglass
sheets that is innocuous and looks much like a storage shed or tool shed
so it's not likely to raise suspicions.
In winter, indoor space is used to start new seedlings or cuttings to be
placed outside in the spring, using natural sunlight to ripen the plants.
This routine will provide at least 3 outdoor harvests per year. If more
space is available to constantly be starting indoors and flowering 2nd
harvest plants outdoors, harvests are possible every 60 days in many
areas, with a small indoor harvest in the winter as a possibility as well.
The basic strategy of year round production is to understand the plant has
two growth cycles. At germination the plant enters into a vegetative state
and will be able to use all the continuous light you can give it. This
means there is no dark cycle required. The plant will photosynthesis
constantly and grow faster than it would outdoors with long evenings.
Photosynthesis stops during dark periods and the plant uses sugars produced
to build during the evening. This is not a requirement and the plant will
grow faster at this stage with continuous photosynthesis (constant light).
Once the plant is 12-18" tall, weather permitting, it can be forced to
start flowering by placing it outside. Moving the plants to 12-14 hour
light periods (moving it outside) with uninterrupted darkness will force
the plant to flower. It will ripen and be 2-3' when ready to harvest. When
a plant is moved from continuous indoor light to a 10-14 hour day outside,
it will start to flower in anticipation of oncoming winter. Vegetative
starts moved outside April 1st, will be ripe by May 30. Vegetative starts
moved outside on May 30 will be ripe by July 30. Starts moved outside Aug 1
are picked by Oct. 1st and so on. Operations are moved indoors and a winter
crop is planted for seed in anticipation of planting outdoors the next
summer, or just for some extra winter stash.
Keep in mind that the "man" is looking for plants in the Sept./Oct./Nov.
time-frame, and may never notice plants placed outside to flower in April.
Be smart, make your big harvest in June, not October!
PLANTING INDOORS
A small indoor space should be found that can be used to germinate seeds;
these vegetative starts are placed outside to mature in the spring after
last freezes are over. The space can be a closet, a section of a bedroom, a
basement area, an attic or unused bathroom. Some people devote entire
bedrooms to growing.
The space must be light leak proofed, so that no suspicious light is seen
from outside the house. This could invite fuzz or rip-offs.
The space should be vented. Opening the door of a closet can be enough
ventilation if the space is not lit by big lights that generate a lot of
heat. Separate exhaust and incoming air vents are best. One at the top of
the room to exhaust air into the attic or out the roof, and one to bring in
air from an outside wall or under-floor crawl space. Use fans from old
computer cabinets, available from electronic liquidators for $5-10 each.
Line the walls with aluminum foil, dull side out to diffuse the light and
prevent hot-spots, or paint the walls bright white to reflect light.
Aluminized mylar, 1 mil thick is about $20 for 25 feet of a 4' wide roll is
best. Mirrors are not good to use, since the glass eats light.
Line the floor with plastic in case of water spills, etc. Set up a voltage
interrupt socket and be sure the electrical wiring will handle the lamps
your going to use.Always place ballasts for HID lamps on a shelf, so they
are above floor level, in case of water spills. Spacers place on the floor
under a ballast will work too.
A shelf above the main grow area can be used to clone cuttings and
germinate seedlings. It will allow you to double the area of your grow
space and is an invaluable storage area for plant food, spray bottles and
other gardening supplies. This area stays very warm, and no germination
warming pad will be needed, so this arrangement saves you $.
Hang a light proof curtain to separate this shelf from the main area when
used for flowering. This will allow constant lights on the shelf and dark
periods in the main grow area. Velcro can be used to keep the curtain in
place and ties can be used to roll it up when tending the garden. Black
vinyl with white backing works best.
6" square containers will allow for 4 plants per square foot. You may also
gauge by the size of your growing tray (for passive hydroponics); I like
kitty litter boxes. ($.80 each, on sale.) Planted 4 per square foot, a 12
sq. ft. closet will be enough space for 48 plants if you have all floor
space available. Planted 1 per squ. ft. in 12" containers, a 12sqft closet
will hold 12 plants. If you grow more, smaller plants in the same space,
the time to grow will be shorter, and the harvest larger. However, you may
find 48 plants to be too many for this size area.
Now you need light. A couple of shop lights will be fine if you just want
to start plants inside and then take them outside to grow in a small
greenhouse. Shop light fixtures waste some light, so some growers mount 4
lamps on a piece of plywood, with individual reflectors made of curved
aluminum sheet bent into a U shape to focus all the light downward from
each lamp.
This is for advanced gardeners that have run out of other projects in the
garden and I recommend just using the shop light fixtures as is, at least
to start with. They can be purchased with bulbs for about $10 each, or
without bulbs for around $8. Try to find them on sale. Use one Cool White
and one Warm Light type bulb in each to get the best light spectrum
possible for plant growth. Do not use expensive Grow Lux type bulbs, as
they do not put out as much light, and therefor do not work as well in most
situations (go figure). If Cool White is all you can find, or afford, use
them. They work fine, and are by far the cheapest.(About $1-2 each.)
SHELF GROWING
Shelf gardening with fluorescents may be the trend of the future, since the
materials are so inexpensive, and easy to obtain. Fluorescent lamps are
great for shelf gardening. In this system, many shelves can be placed, one
above the other, and fluorescent lamps are used on each shelf. Some shelves
have 24 hour lighting, some have 12 hour lighting (for flowering). Two
areas are best, perhaps with one other devoted to cloning and germination
of seed.
Shelf gardening assumes your going to keep all plants 3' or shorter at
maturity, so all shelves are 3-4 feet apart. Less light is necessary when
you have plants that are this short and forced to mature early.
One drawback to a shelf garden like this is that it is very time consuming
to adjust the lamp height every day, and it is impossible to take a
vacation for even a week with no tending of the garden. This applies mostly
to the vegetative stage, when plants are growing as much as an inch per
day. Lamps on the flowering shelves are not adjusted nearly as often.
An alternative is to use fluorescent lamps for cloning, germination and
early seedling growth, then switch over to HPS for growth and flowering.
This may be the best solution for the average home grower, since it will
allow you to go on vacation if you don't have new starts to attend to.
Start new plants when you get home, and position the HPS such that it won't
need adjustment for several weeks. Most HPS installations will not require
lamp height adjustment. Just attach the lamp to the underside of shelf or
ceiling as high as possible, and if you want to get a few plants closer to
it, put them on a box or table to get them closer to the lamp.
A shelf is all that is necessary with this type of setup, preferably at
least 18" wide, up to about 24" maximum. This area must be painted a very
bright white, or covered with aluminum foil, dull side out to reflect light
back to the plants. Paint the shelf white too. Or, use aluminized mylar,
space blanket, or any silvery surface material. Do not use mirrors, as the
glass soaks up light.
Hang the lamps from chains and make sure you can adjust them with hooks or
some other type of mechanism so the lamps can be kept as close to the
plants as possible at all times. If the lamps are too far from the plants,
the plants will grow long, spindly stems trying to reach the lamp, and will
not produce as much bud at maturity as a normal plant. This is due to
internode length being much longer. This is the length of stem between each
set of leaves. If it is shorter, there can be more internodes, thus more
branches, thus a plant that provides more buds in less space at harvest
time.
Shelf gardening is sometimes referred to as Sea of Green, because many
plants are grown close together, creating a green canopy of tops that are
grown and matured quickly, and the next crop is started and growing
concurrently in a separate area of continuous light. Clones are raised in a
constant light shelf, until they start to grow well vegetatively, then
placed on a 12 hour per day shelf to flower. Of course, sunlight is free,
and the wise grower understands the meaning of the word: subterfuge.
LIGHT
Indoors, 2000 lumens per sq. ft. is about as low as you want to go indoors.
If you get under this mark, plant growth will certainly not go as fast as
possible, and internode/stem length will increase. Also, light distance to
plants will be much more critical. Daily adjustments to the lamps will be
necessary, meaning you get no vacations.
2500 lumens psf should be a good target, and 3000 is optimal if your going
to inject or enrich CO2 levels (more on that later).
High Intensity Discharge lamps are the best solution for most indoor
growers. HID lamps come in 3 basic flavors: High Pressure Sodium (HPS),
Metal Halide (MH) and Mercury Vapor. Metal Halide is an improved spectrum,
higher intensity Mercury Vapor design. HPS is a yellowish sort of light,
maybe a bit pink or orange. Same as some street lamps.
HPS lamps can be used to grow a crop from start to finish. Tests show that
the HPS crop will mature 1 week later than a similar crop under MH, but it
will be a bigger yield, so it's better to wait the extra week.
The easiest HID to buy, and least expensive initially are the florescent
and mercury vapor lamps. MV will put out about 8000 lumens per 175 watts,
and 150 watts of HPS puts out about 15k lumens, so HPS is almost twice as
efficient. But the color spectrum from MV lamp output is not as good. HPS
is high in reds, which works well for flowering, while the Metal Halide is
rich in blues, needed for the best vegetative growth. Unfortunately, MV
lamps provide the worst spectrum for plant growth, but are very inexpensive
to purchase.They are not recommended, unless you find them free, and even
then, the electricity/efficiency issues outweigh the initial costs saved.
400 watt HPS will output around 45k lumens. For every 500 watts of
continuous use, you use about $20 a month in electricity, so it is evident
that a lamp taking half the power to output the same lumens (or twice the
lumens at the same power level) will pay for itself in a year or so, and
from then on, continuous savings will be reaped. This is a simple initial
cost vs. operating costs calculation, and does not take into account the
faster growth and increased yield the HPS lamp will give you, due to more
light being available. If this is factored into the calculation the HPS
lamp will pay for itself with the first crop, when compared to MV or
fluorescent lamps, since it is easily twice as efficient and grows flowers
faster and bigger.
Lamp Type Watts Lumens per bulb Total efficiency
Fluorescent Bulb 40 3000 400 watts = 30k lumens
Mercury Vapor 175 8000 400 watts = 20k lumens
Metal Halide 400 36000 400 watts = 36k lumens
High P. Sodium 400 45000 400 watts = 45k lumens
Notice the Mercury Vapor lamps are less efficient than the fluorescent, and
can not be positioned as close to the plants, so the plants will not be
able to use as much of the MV light. The light distribution is not as good
either. MV lamps use more wattage for a given lumen output, but are easier
to hang than six 40 watt florescent bulbs.
There is a new type of HPS lamp called Son Agro, and it is available in a
250, 1000, and 400 watt range. The 400 is actually 430 watts; they have
added 30 watts of blue to this bulb. It is a very bright lamp (53k lumens)
and is made for greenhouse use. These bulbs can be purchased to replace
normal HPS bulbs, so they are an option if you already own a HPS lamp. The
beauty of this bulb is that you do not give up most of the advantages of MH
lamps, such as minimal internode spacing and early maturation, like most
HPS users do, and you have all advantages of a HPS lamp. One bulb does it
all.
Internodal length of plants grown with the Son Agro are the shortest ever
seen with any type of lamp. Plants grown under this lamp are incredibly
bushy, compact and grow very fast. Son Agro bulbs however, do not last as
long as normal HPS bulbs. There is something like a 25% difference in bulb
life.
Metal Halide (MH) is another option, and is available in both a 36k and 40k
lumen bulbs for the 400 watt size. The Super Bulb (40k) is about $10-15
more, and provides an extra 4000 lumens. I think the Super Bulb may last
longer; if so, that makes it the way to go. Halide light is more blue and
better than straight HPS for vegetative growth, but is much less efficient
than HPS. It is possible to purchase conversion bulbs for a MH lamp that
convert it to HPS, but the cost of the conversion bulb is more expensive
than the color corrected Son Agro bulb, so I would recommend just buying
the Son Agro HPS. Even though it costs more initially, you get more for
your energy dollar later, and it's much easier to hang than 10 fluorescent
tubes.
If you have a MH 36k lumen lamp burning at 400 watts and a 53k lumen HPS
burning at 430 watts, which is better efficiency wise? Which will provide a
better yield? Obviously, the Son Agro HPS, but of course, the initial cost
is higher. Actually, the ballast will add about 10% to these wattage
numbers.
The Son Agro bulb will prove much better than the MH for any purpose. The
MH bulb does not last as long, but is cheaper. Compare $36 for a 400 watt
MH bulb vs. $40 for the HPS bulb. Add $15 for the Son Agro HPS. The HPS
bulb life is twice as long. 10k hours vs. 21k hours. The Son Agro is 16k
hours or so. Still, longer bulb life and more light add up to more for your
energy dollar long term.
I tried to find lamps that were not so expensive. While MV is cheap, it's
not very efficient and costs a lot to operate several lamps. It is more
difficult to hang several lamps. Horizontal mounting of any HID is a good
idea, as this will boost by 30% the amount of light that actually reaches
the plants.
HPS is much less expensive to operate, but only comes in the 70 watt size
at the home improvement stores. This size is not very efficient, but blows
away MV in efficiency, so they might be an alternative to MV for very small
operations, like 9 sq. feet or less. Over 9 sqr. feet, you need more light
than one of these can provide, so you go to 2. 70 watt HPS lamps cost about
$40 each, complete. Two lamps would be 140 watts putting out about 12k
lumens, so it's better than MV, but a 150 watt HPS puts out about 18k
lumens, the bulb life is longer, bulbs are cheaper and the lamp more
efficient to operate. The biggest problem is that the mid size lamps like
the 150 and 250 watt HPS are almost as expensive to buy as the larger
400's. For this reason, if you have room for the larger lamp, buy the 400.
If your going pro, a 1080 watt model is available too.
Heat buildup in the room is a factor with HID lamps, and just how much
light the plants can use is determined by temperature, CO2 levels, nutrient
availability, PH, and other factors. Too big of a lamp for a space will
make constant venting necessary, and then there is no way to enrich CO2,
since it's getting blown out of the room right away.
Bulb Costs: the bulb cost on the 70 watt HPS is $24, the 150 is only $30,
and the 400 is only $40. So you will spend more to replace two 70 watt
bulbs than you will to replace one 400 watt HPS. (Go figure.) Add that up
with the lower resale value on the 70's (practically nothing) and the fact
that they are being modified and are not suited to this application, and it
becomes evident that $189 for a 250 HPS lamp, or $219 for a 400, might just
be worth the price. Keep in mind that for $30 more, you can have the larger
lamp (400watt) and it puts out 20k lumens more light than the smaller lamp.
Not a bad deal!
Here is the breakdown on prices (from memory):
Type Complete Cost Bulb Cost Bulb Life Lumens
HPS 400 $219 $40 18k hours 50k
MH 400 $175 $37 10k hours 36k
Son Agro400 $235 $55 15k hours 53k
Super MH400 $190 $45 ?? 40k
MH 250 $149 $32 ?? 21k
HPS 250 $165 $36 ?? 27k
HPS agro250 $180 $53 ?? 30k
MH 150 $139 $25 ?? 14k
HPS 175 $150 $30 ?? 17k
SEA OF GREEN
Sea of Green is the theory of harvesting lots of small plants, matured
early to get the fastest production of fruit available. Instead of growing
a few plants for a longer period of time, in the same space many smaller
plants are grown that mature faster and in less time. Thus, less time is
required between crops. This is important to you when the electricity bill
comes each month. One crop can be started while another is maturing, and a
continuous harvest, year round can be maintained. 9 plants per square foot
will be a good start for seedlings, and perhaps even maturity. 4 plants per
square foot will allow plenty of room for each plant to grow a large top
area, but will not allow for much bottom branching. This is OK since
indoors, these bottom branches are always shaded anyway, and will not grow
very well unless given additional light and space. Cut these bottom
branches and use the cuttings to start new plants. This creates more air
flow around the plants and helps avoid fungus and humidity problems.
The plants, if started at the same time, should create what is called a
"green canopy" that traps most of the light at the top level of the plants.
Little light will penetrate below this level, since the plants are so close
together. The gardener is attempting to concentrate on the top of the
plant, and use the light and space to the best advantage, in as little time
as possible. Use of nylon poultry fence or similar chicken wire laid out
over the green canopy will support the plants as they start to droop under
the weight of heavy fruiting tops. Stakes can be used too, but are not as
easy to install for plants in the middle and back of the room, where reach
is more difficult.
It's easy to want big plants, since they will produce more yield per plant,
but it's usually better with limited space to grow smaller plants that
mature faster and pack into smaller spaces. This is called Sea of Green,
and was developed in Holland. Instead of fitting 4 large plants in that
small room, fit 12 small ones on a shelf above 12 other small plants. These
plants take only 3-4 months to mature, and harvesting takes place
constantly, since there is both a vegetative and flowering area devoted to
each, with harvests every 45-60 days.
It's not the size of the plant, but the maturity and quality of the product
that counts, and it's a sure bet you can fit many smaller plants into a
small space with less wasted area than 4 large ones. You can also grow them
twice as fast, so harvests take place twice as often. The key here is to
get good at picking early flowering plants, and to propagate only those
that are of the best quality. Get good at cloning, and your monocrop will
be incredible.
It's good to avoid "topping" your plants if you want them to grow as fast
as possible. It's better just to grow 2 or 4 times more plants, since they
will produce more, faster, in the same space. Sea of Green entails growing
to harvest the main cola (top) of the plant. Bottom branches are trimmed to
increase air flow under the "blanket" of growing tops. Use these cuttings
for clones, as they are the easiest part of the plant to root. It's also
the fastest part of the plant to regenerate after flowering has occurred.
Don't pre-force plants so you can discard males early. This takes a lot of
time. Just cover one branch per plant with black paper (light tight,
breaths air) to force pre-flowers and differentiate early. How many plants
to grow indoors per square foot? You will have to experiment, and I would
venture the optimum is somewhere between 1 and 4 per squ. foot. If you
subdivide one square foot, 6" square containers would allow 4 plants per
square foot. This is about the size of a 1 gallon rectangular water jug,
cut-down to make a 3/4 gallon plastic growing container.
GERMINATION
Germinate seeds in sterile soil (for planting outdoors) or a hydroponic
medium of vermiculite. DO NOT (!) use a Jiffy cube #7 to germinate seeds
in. Informal tests and experience show these peat cubes do not work well
and stunt the plants growth. Planting in vermiculite gives the seedling so
much oxygen, the plants looks large at 1 week after germination!
Keep them moist at all times, by placing seeds in vermiculite filled 16oz
cups with holes in the bottom, placed in a tray of weak nutrient solution,
high in P. Rockwool cubes also work extremely well, but PH is an issue for
these (more on that later). When the seed sprouts, place the rockwool cubes
into larger rockwool cubes. No repotting or transplanting, and no soil
mixing!
You can germinate seeds in a paper towel. But DONÕT DO IT! It's easy to
ruin roots if they dry out, or are planted too late. Paper towels dry out
REAL FAST! Always transplant as little as possible by germinating in the
same container you intend to grow the plant in for a significant period of
time. Just plant in vermiculite or rockwool. You will be amazed at the
results! 90% germination is common with this method, as compared to 50% or
less with Jiffy Cubes.
5-55-17 plant food such as Peter's Professional will stimulate root growth
of the germinating seed and the new seedlings. Use a very dilute solution,
in distilled water, about 1/3 normal strength, and keep temperatures
between 72-80 degrees. No light is necessary and may slow germination.
Place seedlings in the light once they sprout.
Plan on transplanting only once or twice before harvest. Use the biggest
containers possible for the space and number of seedlings you plan to
start. Plants will suffer if continuously transplanted and delay
harvesting. You will suffer too, from too much work! 13 liter sized plastic
coke bottles filled with vermiculite will fit in a cat box tray, and will
not require transplanting for the first harvest, if you intend to grow
hydroponically. Transplant them for a second regenerated harvest.
Cut holes in the bottom of containers and fill the last few inches at the
top with vermiculite only, to start seeds or accept seedling transplants.
Since vermiculite holds water well, wicks water well, but does not hold too
much water, roots always have lots of oxygen, even if they are sitting in a
try full of water. A hydrogen peroxide based plant food is used to get
extra oxygen to the plants when the pans are kept continuously full. The
water can be allowed to recede each time after watering, before new
solution is added. This allows the plants roots to dry somewhat, and make
sure they are getting enough oxygen.
Use SuperSoil brand potting soil, as it is excellent and sterilized. If you
insist on using dirt from the yard, sterilize it in the microwave or oven
until it gets steamy.(NOT RECOMMENDED) Sterilize the containers with a
bleach solution, especially if they have been used a previous season for
another plant.
VEGETATIVE GROWTH
Once sprouted, the plant starts vegetative growth. This means the plant
will be photosynthesizing as much as possible to grow tall and start many
grow tips at each pair of leaves. A grow tip is the part that can be
cloned
and propagated asexually. They are located at the top of the plant, and
every major internode. If you "top" the plant, it then has two grow tips
at the top. If you top each of these, you will have 4 grow tips at the top
of the plant. (Since it takes time for the plant to heal and recover, it
is usally faster to grow 4 smaller plants and not top them at all.)
All plants have a vegetative stage where they are growing as fast as
possible after the plant first germinates from seed. It is possible to grow
plants with no dark period, and increase the speed at which they grow by
15-30&. Plants can be grown vegetatively indefinitely. It is up to the
gardener to decide when to force the plant to flower. A plant can grow from
12" to 12' before being forced to flower, so there is a lot of latitude
here for each gardener to manage the garden based on goals and space
available.
A solution of 20-20-20 with trace minerals is used for both hydroponic and
soil gardening when growing continuously under lights. Miracle Grow Patio
or RapidGrow plant food is good for this. A high P plant food such as
Peter's 5-50-17 food is used for blooming and fruiting plants when
beginning 12 hour days. Epsom salts (1tsp) should be used in the solution
for magnesium and sulfur minerals. Trace minerals are needed too, if your
food does not include them. Miracle Grow Patio includes these trace
elements, and is highly recommended.
Keep lights on continuously for sprouts, since they require no darkness
period like older plants. You will not need a timer unless you want to keep
the lamps off during a certain time each day. Try to light the plants for
18 or more hours, or continuously at this point. Later, if you want to
mature the plants indoors, you will need to cut back light to 12-13 hours
with strict, regular uninterrupted darkness to get plants to produce
flowers.
Bend a young plantÕs stem back and forth to force it to be very thick and
strong. Spindly stems can not support heavy flowering growth. An internal
oscillating fan will reduce humidity on the leave's stomata and improve the
stem strength as well.
HYDROPONIC VEGATATIVE SOLUTION, per gallon:
Miracle Grow Patio (contains trace elements) 1/2 teaspoon
Epsom salts 1 teaspoon
Lime (if not added to medium) 1 teaspoon
Human Urine 1/4 cup
Oxygen Plus Plant Food (OPTIONAL) 1 teaspoon
This mixture will insure your plants are getting all major and minor
nutrients in solution, and will also be treating your plants with oxygen
for good root growth, and potassium nitrate for good burning qualities.
Another good GROWTH PHASE mix is 1/4 tsp Peter's 20/20/20 fertilizer per
gallon of water, with trace elements and oxygen added.
FLOWERING
The the plant will be induced to fruit or flower with dark cycles of 11-13
hours that simulate the oncoming winter in the fall as the days grow
shorter. As a consequence, it works out well indoors to have two separate
areas; one that is used for the initial vegetative state and one that is
used for flowering and fruiting. There is no other requirement other than
to keep the dark cycle for flowering very dark with no light interruptions,
as this can stall flowering by days or weeks.
Once a plant is big enough to mature (18"-18 feet), dark periods are
required for most plants to flower and bear fruit. This will require
putting the lamp on a timer, to create regular and strict dark periods of
uninterrupted light.
Give flowering plants high P plant food and keep them on a strict light
regimen of 12 hours, with no light, or no more than a full moon during the
dark cycle. 13 hours light, 11 dark may increase flower size while still
allowing the plant to go into the flowering mode. Use less light, longer
dark periods to speed maturity toward the end of the flowering cycle.
Two shelves can be used, one identical to the other, if strictly indoor
gardening is desired. One shelf's lights are set for 12-13 hours, and one
is lit continuously. Plants are started in continuous light, and are moved
to the other shelf to flower to maturity after several weeks. This
flowering shelf should be bigger than the "starting" or "vegetative" shelf,
so that it can accommodate larger plants. Or, some plants can be taken
outside if there is not enough space on the flowering shelf for all of them
near harvesting.
A light tight curtain can be made from black vinyl, or other opaque
material, with a reflective material on the other side to reflect light
back to the plants. This curtain can be tied with cord when rolled up to
work on the garden, and can be velcroed down in place to make sure no
light
leaks in or out. If the shelf is placed up high, it will not be very
noticeable, and will fit in any room. Visitors will never notice it unless
you point it out to them, since it is above eye level, and no light is
being emitted from it.
Flowering plants like very high P level foods, such as 5-50-17, but
10-20-10 should be adequate. Nutrients should be provided with each
watering when first flowering.
Trace elements are necessary too; try to find foods that include these, so
you don't have to use a separate trace element food too.
HYDROPONIC FLOWERING SOLUTION, per gallon:
1/2 strength high P plant food, such as 4-12-6, or 5-50-17, etc.
1 tspn epsom salts
1 tspn lime (if not part of the medium)
1 tspn Oxygen Plus Plant Food (Optional)
1/2 tspn Trace Element food
I cannot stress enough that during the FLOWERING PHASE, the dark period
should not be violated by normal light. It delays flower development due to
hormones in the plant that react to light. If you must work on the plants
during this time, allow only as much light as a VERY pale moon can provide
for less than 5 minutes. Keep pruning to a minimum during the entire
FLOWERING PHASE. Bring the dark period down to 10 or 8 hours to hasten
maturity after flowering for 4-6 weeks.
A green light can be used to work on the garden during the dark period with
no negative reactions from the plants. These are sold as nursery safety
lights, but any green bulb should be OK.
Flowering plants should not be sprayed often as this will promote mold and
rot. Keep humidity levels down indoors when flowering, as this is the most
delicate time for the plants in this regard.
Early flowering is noticed 2-3 weeks after turning back the lights to 12
hour days. Look for 2 white hairs emerging from a small bulbous area at
every internode. This is the easiest way to verify females early on. You
can not tell a male from a female by height, or bushiness.
4-6 weeks after turning back the lights, your plants will be covered with
these white pistils emerging from every growtip on the plant. It will
literally be covered with them. These are the mature flowers, as they
continue to grow and cover the plant. Some plants will do this
indefinately
until the lights are turned back yet again. At the point you feel your
ready to see the existing flowers become ripe ( you feel the plant has
enought flowers), turn the lights back to 8-10 hours. Now the plant will
start to ripen quickely, and should be ready to harvest in 2-3 weeks.
Look for the white hairs to turn red, orange or brown, and the false seed
pods ( you did pull the males, right?) to swell with resins. When most of
the pistils have turned color (~80%), the flowers are ripe to harvest.
DonÕt touch those buds! Touch only the large fan leaves if you want to
inspect the buds, as the THC will come off on your fingers and reduce the
overall yeild if mishandled.
HYDROPONICS
Most growers report that a hydroponic system will grow plants faster than a
soil medium, given the same genetics and environmental conditions. This may
be due to closer attention and more control of nutrients, and more access
to oxygen. The plants can breath easier, and therefor, take less time to
grow. One report has it that plants started in soil matured after
hydroponic plants started 2 weeks later!
Fast growth allows for earlier maturation and shorter total growing time
per crop. Also, with soil mixtures, plant growth tends to slow when the
plants become root-bound. Hydroponics provides even, rapid growth with no
pauses for transplant shock and eliminates the labor/materials of
repotting.
By far the easiest hydroponic systems to use are the wick and reservoir
systems. These are referred to as Passive Hydroponic methods, because they
require no water distribution system on an active scale (pump, drain, flow
meter and path). The basis of these systems is that water will wick to
where you want it if the medium and conditions are correct.
The wick system is more involved than the reservoir system, since the wicks
must be cut and placed in the pots, correct holes must be cut in the pots,
and a spacer must be created to place the plants up above the water
reservoir below. This can be as simple as two buckets, one fit inside the
other, or a kiddie pool with bricks in it that the pots rest on, elevating
them out of the nutrient solution.
I find the wick setup to be more work than the reservoir system. Initial
setup is a pain with wicks, and the plants sit higher in the room, taking
up precious vertical space. The base the pot sits on may not be very stable
compared to a reservoir system, and a knocked over plant will never be the
same as an untouched plant, due to stress and shock in recovery.
The reservoir system needs only a good medium suited to the task, and a pan
to sit a pot in. The pots are filled with lava/ vermiculite mix of 4 to 1.
This medium will store water, but has excellent drainage and air storage
capacity as well. It is also reusable to the extent it can be recaptured
from harvested plants. Use small size lava, 3/8" pea size, and rinse the
dust off it first. Wet the vermiculite (dangerous dry, wear a mask) and mix
into pots. Square pots hold more than round. Vermiculite will settle to
bottom after repeated watering from the top, so only water from the top
occasionally to leach, and put more vermiculite on the top than the bottom.
The pan is filled with 1 1/2 - 3 inches of water and allowed to recede
between waterings. Every two weeks the plants are watered with no nutrients
from the top to leach out mineral deposits. If you go away, reservoirs made
of 2 liter soda bottles inverted into a container to fit, and hosed over to
the pans with a water level mark and position similar to a pet watering
dispenser can be made to keep the plants watered for 2-3 weeks at least.
One really great hydroponic medium is floral foam. Stick lots of holes into
it to open it up a little, and start plants/clones in it, moving the cube
of foam to lava/perlite later for larger growth stages. Foam rubber, or
most types of porous foam, as well as rockwool will be good for this as
well. Many prefer floral foam, as it is inert, and adds no PH factors. It's
also pretty cheap if you buy the generic brands.
Planting can be made easier with hydroponic mediums that require little
setup such as rockwool. Rockwool cubes can be reused several times, and are
premade to use for hydroponics. Some advantages of rockwool are that it is
impossible to over water and there is no transplanting. Just place the
plant's cube on top of a larger rockwool cube and enjoy your extra leisure
time.
Some find it best to save money by not buying rockwool and spending time
planting in soil or hydroponic mediums such as vermiculite/lava mix.
Pearlite is nice, since it is so light. Pearlite can be used instead of or
in addition to lava, which must be rinsed and is much heavier.
But rockwool has many advantages that are not appreciated until you spend
hours repotting; take a second look. It is not very expensive, and it is
reusable. ItÕs more stable than floral foam, which crunches and powders
easily. Rockwool holds 10 times more water than soil, yet is impossible to
over-water, becuase it always retains a high percentage of air. Best of
all, there is no transplanting; just place a starter cube into a rockwool
grow cube, and when the plant gets very large, place that cube on a
rockwool slab. Since rockwool is easily reused over and over (with
sterilization), the cost is divided by 3 or 4 crops, and ends up costing no
more than vermiculite and lava, which is much more difficult to reclaim,
sterilize and reuse (repot) when compared to rockwool. Vermiculite is also
very dangerous when dry, and ends up getting in the carpet and into the air
when you touch it (even wet), since it drys on the fingers and becomes
airborne.
RockwoolÕs disadvantages are relatively few. It is alkiline PH, so you must
use something in the nutrient solution to make it acidic (5.5) so that it
brings the rockwool down from 7.7, to 6.5 (vinigar works great.) And it is
irritating to the skin when dry, but is not a problem when wet.
Hydroponics should be used indoors or in greenhouses to speed the growth of
plants, so you have more bud in less time. Hydroponics allows you to water
the plants daily, and this will speed growth. The main difference between
hydroponics and soil growing is that the hydroponic soil or "meduim"is made
to dry quickly, and drain well so that there are no over-watering problems
associated with continuous watering. Also, hydroponically grown plants do
not derive nutrients from soil, but from the solution used to water the
plants.
Hydroponics allows you to use smaller containers for the same given size
plant, when compaired to growing in soil. A 3/4 gallon pot can easily take
a small 3Õ hydroponically grown plant to maturity. This would be difficult
to do in soil, since nutrients are soon used up and roots become cut-off
from oxygen as they become root-bound in soil. This problem does not seem
to occure nearly as quickly for hydroponic plants, since the roots can
still take up nutrients from the constant solution feedings, and the medium
passes on oxygen much more redily when the roots become bound in the small
container.
Plant food is administered with most waterings, and allows the gardener to
strictly control what nutrients are available to the plants at the
different stages of plant growth.
Passive hydroponics is easy with a reservoir system. Only a pot filled with
the correct low-moisture medium and a water tray to sit it in are needed.
No pumps, hoses or other apparatus is required. The pot is placed in the
pan, and watered from the top or directly into the pan. Holes in the bottom
and side near the bottom of the pot allows water into the pot, and is
wicked up to the roots by the vermiculite. A pot filled with lava and
vermiculate should be moist at the top after water is added to the pan.
Kitty litter pans can be purchased at five and dime stores on sale for as
little as $1 each, and make great water pans. 12-16 cut-down paper milk
cartons will fit in each pan. A small closet can easily hold a hundred
plants at a time when starting, and can hold 12-48 for harvesting.
Watering can be automated to some degree with simple and cheap drip system
apparatus, so take advantage of this when possible. Hydroponics will hasten
growing time, so it takes less time to harvest after planting. It makes
sense to use simple passive hydroponic techniques when possible.
Hydroponics may not be desirable if your growing outdoors, unless you have
a greenhouse.
CAUTION: it is necessary keep close watch of plants to be sure they are
never allowed to dry too much when growing hydroponically, or roots will be
damaged. If you will not be able to tend to the garden every day, be sure
the pans are filled enough to last until next time you return, or you can
easily lose your crop. Plants in soil are much easier to care for in this
respect, since moisture storage crystals can be added to the soil to buffer
water for long periods between watering. If you need to, it is possible to
automatically regulate the water level in hydroponic pans by toilet bowl
float in a master reservoir, or using a gurgle bottle that holds water and
adds it as the level recedes, like a pet watering bottle used for dogs and
cats. Also, a pump can be put on a timer to add water to the pans.
If your watering every day hydroponically, you may be able to water twice a
day if you increase ventilation and make sure the plants don't build up too
much humidity. You can water more often (and thus increase plant growth) if
you have slightly warmer temperatures, less water retention in your medium,
and better drainage, or all of the above. What counts is that your watering
more often, but still allowing the medium to dry between waterings.
Change the solution every month if your circulating it with a pump, but the
reservoir system does away with this problem. Just rinse the medium once a
month or so to prevent salts build up. Change plant foods often to avoid
deficiencies in the plants. I recommend using 2 different plant foods for
each phase of growth, or 4 foods total, to lessen chances of any type of
deficiency.
Change the solution more often if you notice the PH is going down quickly
(too acid). Due to cationic exchange, solution will tend to get too acid
over time, and this will cause nutrients to become unavailable to the
plants. Check PH every time you water.
Watch out for alga and higher humidities in hydroponics when watering
plants. A layer of gravel at the top of the pot may help, since it will dry
very quickly. Make sure your not over-watering the plants. Allow them to
almost dry out after each watering.
RECYCLING
Use pots made from squarish containers such as plastic water jugs, etc.
More plants will fit in less space and have more rooting area if square
containers are used. This makes your garden a recycling center, and saves
you tons of money.
As previously mentioned, liter soda bottles work great, but are not square.
13 will fit in a kitty litter box, and these will take a 3 foot plant to
maturity hydroponically. If you can get 4 litter boxes in a closet, you can
grow 52 plants like this.
Old buckets, plasic 3-5 gallon containers (food and paint industries, try
painters and resturant dumpsters), paper paint buckets, old plastic
garbage cans of all sizes, and garbage bags have all been used
successfully
by growers.
Do not use paper milk cartons and juice cartons for resivoir hydroponics,
since these are difficult to sterilize, and they introduce fungus into your
resivoir trays. Inert matierials, such as plastic is best.
Be sure to sterilize all containers before each planting with a clorine
bleach solution of 2 tbspn. of bleach to one gallon of water. Let
containter and meduim such as rockwool soak for several mins. in the
solution before rinsing thouroghly.
PLANTING OUTDOORS
Outdoors growing is the best. No light leak problems. No dark periods that
keep you out of your grow room. No electricity bills. Light tends to reach
more of the plant outdoors, if your growing in direct sun. Unlike growing
indoors, the bottom of the plant will be almost as developed as the top.
Outdoors, outside of a greenhouse, there are many factors that can kill
your crop. Deer will try to eat them. Chipmonks and rodents too. Bugs will
inhabit them, and the wind and rain will wipp your little buds to pieces
if they are exposed to such storms. For this reason, indoor pot can be
better than outdoor, but the best smoke I have ever had was outdoor pot,
so that tells you something. Nothing beats the sun.
Put up a fence and make sure it stays up. Visit your plot at least once
every two weeks, and preferably more often if water needs demand.
It's a good idea to use soil if you don't have a green house, since
hydroponics will be less reliable outside in the open air, due mostly to
evaporation.
Light exposure is all important when locating a site for a greenhouse or
outdoor plot. In the winter, you need to know where the sun shines for the
longest period in your yard, and privacy and other factors will enter in as
well. Try to find an innocuous spot that gets full winter sun from mid
morning to mid afternoon, at least from 10-4, preferably 8-5. This will be
really asking for a lot if you live north of 30 degrees latitude since days
are short in winter. Since most gardeners will not want to use the
greenhouse in the middle of the winter, you can still use winter sun as an
indicator of good spring and fall lighting exposures. Usually the south
side of a hill gets the most sun. Also, large areas open to the sun on the
north side of the property will get good southern exposures. East and West
exposures can be good if they get the full morning/afternoon sun and
mid-day sun as well.
Disguise your greenhouse as a tool shed, or similar structure, by using
only one wall and a roof of Filon, and using a similar colored material for
the rest of the shed. Try to make it appear as if it has always been there,
with plants and trees that grow around it and mask it from view while
allowing sun to reach it.
Filon (corrugated fiberglass) sheets can be used outside to cover young
plants grown together in a garden. Buy the clear greenhouse sheets, and
opaque them with white wash (made from lime) or epoxy resin tinted white or
grey and painted on in a thin layer. This will pass more sun than white
Filon, and still hide the plants. Epoxy resin coats will preserve the Filon
for many more seasons than it would otherwise last. It will also allow you
to disguise the shed as aluminum, if you paint the clear filon sheets with
a thin layer of expoxy resin tinted light grey!
Dig a big hole, don't depend on the plant to be able to penetrate the clay
and rubble unless your sure of the quality of topsoil in the area. Grassy
fields would have good top soil, but your back yard may not. This alone can
make the difference between an average 5' tall plant, and a 10' monster by
harvest time.
You may want to keep outdoor plants in pots so they can be easily moved. A
big hole will allow the pot to be place in it, thus reducing the height of
the plant, if fence level is an issue.
ItÕs always best to put a roof over your plants outdoors. When I was a lad,
we had plants growing over the fence line in the back yard. We started to
build a greenhouse around them, and a cop saw us hauling wood, thought we
were stealing it (which we were not) and looked over the fence, at us and
our lovely plants. We were busted, because he saw them. If he had seen a
shed, there would never have been a problem. Moral of the Story: build the
roof BEFORE the plants are sticking over the fence!
When growing away from the house, in the wild, water is the biggest
determining factor, after security. Water must be close by, or close to
the soil surface, or you will have to pack water in. Water is heavy and
this is very hard work. Try to find an area close to a source of water if
possible, and keep a bucket nearby to carry water to your plot.
GUERRILLA FARMING
Guerrilla farming refers to farming away from your own property, or in a
remote location of your property where people seldom roam around. It is
possible to find locations that for one reason or another are not easily
accessable or are privately owned.
Try to grow off your property, on adjacent property, so that if your plot
is found, it will not be tracable back to you. If itÕs not on your
property, nobody has witnessed you there, and there is no physical evidence
of your presence (footprints, fingerprints, hair, etc.), then it is
virtually impossible to prosecute you for it, even if the cops know who it
belongs to.
Never admit to growing, to anyone. Your best defence is that your just
passing thru the area, and noticed something you decided to take a look at.
Never tell anyone but a partner where the plants are located. Do not bring
visitors to see them, unless it is harvest time, and the plants will be
pulled the same or following day.
Make sure your plants are out of sight. Take a different route to get to
them if they are not in a secure part of your property, and cover the trail
to make it look as if there is no trail. Make cut backs in the trail, so
that people on the main trail will tend to miss the cut-back to the grow
area. Don't park on the main road, always find a place to park that will
not arouse suspicion by people that pass on the road. Have a safe house in
the area if you are not planting close to home. Always have a good reason
for being in the area and have the necessary items to make your claim
believable, (i.e., a fishing pole if you claim your fishing).
Briar and poison oak patches are perfect if you can cut through it. Poison
Oak must be washed away before an allergic reaction takes place. Teknu is a
special soap solution that will deactivate poison oak before it has time to
create a reaction. Take a shower with Teknu immediately after contact.
Try to plant under trees, next to bushes and keep only a few plants in any
one spot. Train or top the plants to grow sideways, or do something to
prevent the classic christmas tree look of most plants left to grow
untrained. Tying the top down to the ground will make the plants branches
grow up toward the sun, and increase yield, given a long enough growing
season. Plants can be grown under trees if the sun comes in at an angle and
lights the area for several hours every day. Plants should get at least 5
hours of direct sun every day, and 5 more hours of indirect light. Use
shoes that you can dispose of later and cover your foot prints. Use
surgical gloves and leave no fingerprints on pots and other items that
might ID you to the fuzz...in case your plot is discovered by passers by.
Put up a fence, or the chipmonks, squirrles and deer will nibble on your
babies untill there is nothing left. Green wire mesh and nylon chichen
fencing net work great and can be wrapped around trees to create a strong
barrier. Always check it and repair every visit you make to the garden.
When growing away from the house, in the wild, water is the biggest
determining factor, after security. Water must be close by, or close to
the soil surface, or you will have to pack water in. Water is heavy and
this is very hard work. Try to find an area close to a source of water if
possible, and keep a bucket nearby to carry water to your plot.
Carry water in a backback in case your seen in-route to your garden, you
will appear to be merely a hiker, not a grower.
SOIL GROWING
Use Super Soil brand in California, as this is the only known soil on the
West Coast that is guaranteed to be good. Many other brands are mostly wood
products and have very few nutrients, are too moist, etc. Add vermiculite,
pearlite or sand to Super Soil to increase it's drainage and aeration.
Organic gardeners use thier own compost prepaired from a mixture of
chicken, cow or other manure and household food waste, leaves, lawn
clippings, dog hair and other waste products including urine, which is high
in nitrogen. Dog hair is not recommended for guerilla gardeners planting
off thier property where police could find it. DNA tests could prove it was
YOUR dogÕs hair!
Use P4 water crystals in the soil to give the plants a few days worth of
emergency water reserves. This substance swells up with water and holds it
like a sponge, so that roots will have a reserve if harsh drought makes
constant watering necessary. Go real easy on this stuff though, it tends to
sink to the bottom of the pot and suffocate bottom roots (new growth roots)
and stunts the plant. Use in extreme moderation, let it swell up for at
least 45 mins, preferably and hour before mixing with other soil.
Plant size in soil is directly related to pot size. If you want the plant
to grow bigger, put it in a bigger pot. Usually, 1/2 gallon per foot of
plant is sufficient. A six foot plant would require a minimum of a 3 gallon
pot. Remember, square containers have more volume in a square space (like a
closet).
SUBTREFUGE
Its interesting that pot plants really do blend in with other plants to the
point that they are unidentifiable by all but the most observant. I
remember a relative of the family on a visit to Texas showed me his corn in
the garden and I was standing 12" from several pot plants before I
recognized them for what they were.
Plants started outdoors late in the season never get very big and never
attract the least bit of attention when placed next to plants of similar or
taller stature. Even tall plants grown among several trees will be almost
invisible in their camouflage.
Outdoors the object is to control access to an area, and not to arouse
suspicion. Tucking them here and there, never in a recognizable pattern.
Space them out, and fit them in to the existing landscape such that they
get full sun, but they're hidden or blend in.
Visit the plants at night on full moons, and if your visible to neighbors,
appear to be pruning a tree, mowing the lawn, or doing something in the
yard that looks makes you invisible.
Dig a hole and put a potted plant in it. The plant's height will be reduced
by at least a foot, maybe 2 or 3 feet if it's a big hole.
Some growers top the plant when it is 12" high, and grow the 2 tops
horizontally along a trellis. The plant will never be over 3 feet tall, and
never arouses suspicion from neighbors. This type of plant can even be
grown outdoors in full view if you don't arouse suspicion by your being in
the area (like your own back yard, or land near your home).
PLANT FOOD AND NUTRIENTS
Plant foods have 3 main ingredients that will be the mainstay of the
garden, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. These 3 ingredients are
usually listed on the front label of the plant food in the order of N-P-K.
A 20-20-20 plant food has a Nitrogen level of 20%.
Secondary nutrients are Calcium, Sulphur and Magnesium. In trace
quantities, boron, copper, molybenum, zink, iron, and manganese.
Depending on stage of growth, different nutrients are needed at different
times. For rooting and germination, levels of high P nutrients with less
N/K are needed. Vegetative growth needs lots of N, and human urine is one
of the better sources, (mix 8 ounces to 1 gallon water), although it is not
a complete fertilizer unto itself. 20-20-20 with trace elements should do
it; I like Miracle Grow Patio food. Watch for calcium, magnesium, sulfur
and iron levels too. These are important. One tablespoon of dolomite or
hydrated lime is used per gallon of growing medium when a hydroponic medium
is first brought on-line, to provide nitrogen, calcium and magnesium. Epsom
salts are used to enhance magnesium and sulphur levels in solution.
Tobacco grown with potassium nitrate burns better. Plant foods with PN
(P2N3) are foods such as Miracle Grow. This is an excellent fertilizer for
vegetative growth, or through the flowering cycle as well. Consider
however, potassium nitrate is also known as Salt Peter, and is used to make
men have less sexual desire or impotent, such as in mental institutions. So
if certain plants are destined for cooking, you might use Fish Emulsion or
some other totally organic fertilizer on these plants, at least in the last
weeks of flowering.
"Pumping" is when you use more waterings to make the plants grow faster.
This is dangerous if you proceed in a reckless manner, due to potential
over-watering problems. You must go slowly and watch the plants daily and
even hourly at first to be sure your not over-watering the plants. Use
weaker plant food mixtures than normal, maybe 25%, and be sure your
leaching once a month and running straight water through the plants at
least every other time you water.
Use of light strength Oxygen Plus plant food (or Food Grade Hydrogen
Peroxide) allows the roots to breath better and prevents problems with
over-watering. Check soil to be sure there are no PH anomalies that might
be due to Hydrogen Peroxide in the solution. (One experienced grower told
me he would not use H2O2 (HP) due to possible PH problems. This should not
be a problem if your checking PH and correcting for it in watering
solutions. Until further experience verifies use of HP as not a problem, we
will consider it an optional measure if your worried about over-watering
problems.)
Be sure your medium has good drainage. At this point, if your watering soil
based plants once a week, you can water every 3-5 days instead if you plant
them in a medium with better drainage. Pearlite or lava rock will greatly
increase the drainage of the medium and make watering necessary more often.
This will pump the plants; they will tend to grow faster because of the
enhanced oxygen to the roots. Make sure the plant medium is almost dry
before watering again, as the plant grows faster this way.
An alternative is to use a standard plant food mixture (stronger) once
every 3 waterings. The nutrients are suspended in the medium and stored in
the soil for later use. The nutrients are washed out by 2 straight
waterings afterward and there is no salts build up in the soil.
Stop all plant food 2 weeks before harvesting, so that the plants don't
taste like plant food.
WARNING: Do not over-fertilize. It will kill your plants. Always read
the instructions for the fertilizer being used. Use 1/4 strength
if adding to the water for all feedings and 1/2 strength for hydroponics.
Use as recommended if adding to water 1 out of 3 times you water in soil.
Novice growers tend to over-fertilize their plants.
PH AND FERTILIZERS
PH can make or break your nutrient solution. 6.7-6.2 is
best to ensure there is no nutrient lock-up occurring. Hydroponics
requires the solution to be PH corrected for the medium before
exposing to the plants. Vinegar can make the PH go down, and potash
can take it up when it gets too acid. Buy a PH meter for $10 and
use it in soil, water, and hydroponic medium to make sure your not
going alkaline or acid over time. Most neutral mediums can use a
little vinegar to make them just this side of 7 ph to 6.5 or so.
Most fertilizers cause a ph change in the soil. Adding fertilizer to the
soil almost always results in a more acidic ph.
As time goes on, the amount of salts produced by the breakdown of
fertilizers in the soil causes the soil to become increasingly acidic and
eventually the concentration of these salts in the soil will stunt the
plant and cause browning out of the foliage. Also, as the plant gets older
its roots become less effective in bringing food to the leaves. To avoid
the accumulation of these salts in your soil and to ensure that your plant
is getting all of the food it needs you can begin leaf feeding your plant
at the age of about 1.5 months. Dissolve the fertilizer in worm water and
spray the mixture directly onto the foliage. The leaves absorb the
fertilizer into their veins. If you want to continue to put fertilizer into
the soil as well as leaf feeding, be sure not to overdose your plants.
FOLAIR FEEDING
Foliar feeding seems to be one of the easiest ways of increasing yield,
growth speed, and quality in a well vented space, with or without elevated
CO2 levels. Just prepare a tea of worm castings, fish emulsion, bat guano,
or most any other plant food right for the job and feed in vegetative and
early flowering stages. It is not recommended for late flowering, or you
will be eating the sprayed-on material later. Stop foliar feeding 2-3 weeks
before harvesting. Wash off the leaves with straight water every week to
prevent clogging the stomata of the leaves. Feed daily or every other day.
Best times of day to Foliar feed are 7-10Am and after 5 in the evening.
This is because the stomata on the underside of the leaves are open then.
Also, the best temperature is about 72 degrees, and over 80, they may not
be open at all. So find the cooler part of the day if it's hot, and the
warmer part of the day if it's cold out. You may need to spray at 2AM if
that's the coolest time available. The sprayer used should atomize the
solution to a very fine mist; find your best sprayer and use it for this.
Make sure the PH is between 7 and 6.2. Use baking soda to make the solution
higher PH, and vinegar to make the solution lower PH. It's better to spray
more often and use less, than to drench the plants infrequently. Use a
wetting agent to prevent the water from beading up, and thereby burning the
leaves as they act as small prisms.Make sure you don't spray a hot bulb;
better yet, spray only when the bulb has cooled.
Perhaps the best foliar feeding includes using seltzer water and plant food
at the same time. This way, CO2 and nutrients are feed directly to the
leaves in the same spray.
Foliar feeding is recognized in most of the literature as being a good way
to get nutrients to the plant later when nutrient lockup problems could
start to reduce intake from the roots.
WARNING!: It is important to wash leaves that are harvested before they
are dried, if you intend to eat them, since they may have nitrate salts on
them.
NOTE: One grower who reviewed this document comments: "Fish emulsion
smells. Bat guano could be highly unsanitary. Stick to the Rapid-Gro,
MgSO4, hydroponic trace element solution. Nitrate salts (The "N" in NPK)
are unhealthy to smoke. Personally, I never foliar feed."
Above is a great comment, and there is great wisdom in an organic or non-
toxic garden.
CO2
Elevating carbon dioxide levels can increase growth speed a great deal,
perhaps even double it. It seems that the plant evolved in primordial times
when natural CO2 levels were many times what they are today. The plant uses
CO2 for photosynthesis to create sugars it uses to build plant tissues.
Elevating the CO2 level will increase the plants ability to manufacture
these sugars and plant growth rate is enhanced considerably.
CO2 can be a pain to manufacture safely, cheaply, and/or conveniently, and
is expensive to set up if you use a CO2 tank system. CO2 is most usable for
flowering, as this is when the plant is most dense and has the hardest time
circulating air around itÕs leaves. If your strictly growing vegetatively
indoors, (transferring your plants outdoors to flower), then CO2 will not
be a major concern unless you have a sealed greenhouse, closet or bedroom,
and wish to increase yield and decrease flowering time.
For a medium sized operation, one approach is to used CO2 canisters from
wielding supply houses. This is expensive initially, but fairly
inexpensive in the long run. These systems are good only if your area is
not too big or too small.
The basic CO2 tank system looks like this:
20 lb tank $100
Regulator $159
Timer or controller $10-125
Fill up $15-20
--------------------------------
Worst case = $395 for CO2 tank setup synced to a exhaust fan with
a thermostat.
CO2 is cheaply produced by burning Natural Gas. However, heat and Carbon
Monoxide must be vented to the outside air. CO2 can be obtained by buying
or leasing cylinders from local welding supply houses. If asked, you can
say you have an old mig welder at home and need to patch up the lawnmower
(trailer, car, etc.)
For a small closet, one tank could last 2 months, but it depends on how
much is released, how often the room is vented, hours of light cycle, room
leaks, enrichment levels and dispersion methods.This method may be overkill
for your small closet. Another solution is a small alcohol lamp in a safety
enclosure, or even a single candle. If the closet is closed, with no
ventilation during the daylight period, this method will work, since CO2 is
produced very slowly this way. It does work however.
Make a candle or lamp enclosure from materials that will not burn. Make
sure ventilation is adequate for the rising heat from the flame. BE
CAREFULE! Think about earthquakes, or any other factor (cats) that might
turn a flame over on it side, and take proper steps to minimize this risk.
Never burn a flame unattended if your not home. Leaving it for hours
unattended is safe only if you trust your enclosure to keep out falling
dead leaves and not tip over. For a larger space, an alcohol lamp will work
better than a candle.
It is generally viewed as good to have a small constant flow over the
plants at all times the lights are on, dispersed directly over the plants
during the time exhaust fans are off. Or have an internal oscillating fan
spread the rising hot gas from a flame around the room for you.
Opportunities exist to conserve CO2, but this can cost money. When the
light is off you don't need CO2, so during flowering, you will use half as
much if you have the CO2 solenoid setup to your light timer. When the fan
is on for venting, CO2 is shut off as well. This may be up to half the time
the light is on, so this will affect the plants exposure times and amount
of gas actually dispensed.
Environmentally, using bottled gas is better, since manufacturing it adds
to greenhouse effect, and bottled CO2 is captured as part of the
manufacturing process of many materials, and then recycled. Fermenting, CO2
generators, and baking soda and vinegar methods all generate new CO2 and
add to greenhouse effect.
Other alternatives are CO2 generation from fermentation and generators. A
simple CO2 generator would be a propane heater. This will work well, as
long as the gases can be vented to the grow area, and a fan is used to keep
the hot CO2 (that will rise) circulating and available below at the plants
level. Fire and exhaust venting of the heat are issues as well. A room that
must be vented 50% of the time to rid the environment of heat from a lamp
and heater will not receive as much CO2 as a room that can be kept unvented
for hours at a time. However, CO2 generators are the only way to go for
large operations.
Fermentation or vinegar over baking soda will work if you don't have many
vent cycles, but if you have enough heat to make constant or regular
venting necessary, these methods become impractical. Just pour the vinegar
on baking soda and close the door, (you lose your CO2 as soon as the vent
comes on). This method leaves a great deal to be desired, since it is not
easy to regulate automatically, and requires daily attention.It is possible
however, to create CO2 by fermentation, let the wine turn to vinegar, and
pour this on baking soda. It's the most cost-effective setup for most
closet growers, for whom $400 in CO2 equipment is a bit much to swallow.
In fermentation, yeast is constantly killing itself, and takes a lot of
space to do right. You need a big bin that you can constantly keep adding
water to, so that the alcohol levels will not rise high enough to kill the
yeast. Sugar is used quickly this way, and a 10 pound sack will run $3.50
or so and last about 2-3 weeks. This is also difficult to gauge what is
happening as far as amounts actually released. A tube out the top going
into a jar of water will bubble and demonstrate the amount of CO2 being
produced.
Try sodium bicarbonate mixed with vinegar, 1 tsp: ~30cc- this will gush up
all frothy as it releases CO2. do it just before you close the door on your
plants. A MUCH cheaper way to provide CO2 is 2 Oz sugar in 2 liters[3
pint~] of water in a bottle [sterilized 1st with bleach and water, then
rinsed], plus a few cc urine[!] or if you insist, yeast nutrient from a
home brewing supplier. Add a brewing yeast, shake up and keep at 25 deg
celsius[~70 F] . Over next 2 weeks or so it will brew up about 1/2 Oz CO2
for every Oz sugar used. Keep a few going at once, starting a new one every
3 days or so. With added CO2 growth is phenomenal!!! I personally measured
38cm growth in 8 days under a 250watt HPS bulb[tubular clear, Horizontal
mount].
A good container is a 1 gallon plastic milk jug, with a pin-hole in the
cap. Also, the air-lock from a piece of clear tube running into a jar
filled with water will keep microbes out and demonstrate the fermentation
is working.
A variation is to spray seltzer water on the plants twice a day. This is
not recommended by some authorities, and receives great raves by people who
seem to feel it has enhanced their crop. It stands to reason this would
work for only a small unvented closet, but may be right for some
situations. It could get expensive with a lot of plants to spray. Use
seltzer, not club soda, since it contains less sodium that could clog the
plants stomata. Wash your plants with straight water after 2 or 3 seltzer
sprays. It's a lot of work, and you can't automate it, but maybe that's
good! Remember, being with the plants is a beautiful experience, and brings
you closer to your spiritual self and the earth. Seltzer is available at
most grocery stores (I get it at Lucky's @ .79 for a 2 litter bottle). Club
soda will work if seltzer water is not available; but it has twice as much
sodium in it. A very diluted solution of Miracle Grow can be sprayed on the
plant at the same time.
CAUTION: Don't spray too close to a hot bulb! Spray downward only, or turn
off the lamp first. Wash leaves with clear water before harvesting leaf for
cooking, since nitrates are not healthy to be smoking or ingesting.
VENTING
You have to vent a lot with a HID lamp, less so for fluorescents. Also,
humidity build up requires that you vent at least a few times per day. For
a room with a hot lamp that builds up heat quickly, the best vent would be
one that cleared the room in 3 minutes, then would go for 27 minutes before
venting again, or similarly, vent 3 minutes, shut off 12 minutes, etc. The
trick is to find a timer that will do this sort of thing. Not easy to find
and not cheap. Once you need to regulate CO2 on and off inversely with the
fan, your looking at a $100 climate controller.
Alternatives are a thermostat that turns on a fan when a certain
temperature is reached, and turns it off when the temp recedes 4 degrees.
But it is a bitch to coordinate CO2 release with this one, since you don't
know when the fan goes on. $39 for this thermostat, but to sync it to CO2
with a voltage sensing relay is $100 for the ready-made switch, so then the
environment controller at $100 is cheaper. All you really want is a fan
that clears the air in a few minutes, a temperature switch that turns on
and off the fan, and an inverse switch that turns off and on the CO2. If
you can vent the room really quick and the heat does not build up too
quickly, the CO2 could be run in a slow, continuous fashion, and would
build up in-between the occasional quick exhaust cycles.
Two timers synced can be used, but the only ones cheaply available are the
30 min interval, 48 trips per 24 hours. So I could have a fan run 30 mins
on, then 30 mins off. I could also sync it to the light so that I don't
vent when the lamp is off. I can sync this to an identical timer that will
turn on CO2 during the time that the fan is not on, and vise versa. It
would be difficult to sync them closer that 5-10 mins, but at least there
would be a possible inexpensive solution. $20 for two of these timers.
Fans are expensive to buy for venting, but I just go down to the local
electronic parts liquidators and they have muffin fans for $5-10, so thatÕs
a real savings over the $50-70 these fans cost new at the indoor garden
stores. A good vent fan will keep the humidity and temperature down, and
distribute CO2 to your plants from new incoming air.
Even though CO2 enrichment can mean 30-100% yield increases, the hassle,
expense, space, danger, and time involved can make constant or near
constant venting a desirable alternative to enrichment. As long as the
plant has the opportunity to take in new CO2 at all times, from air that is
over 200 ppm CO2, the plants will have the required nutrients for
photosynthesis. Most closets will need new CO2 coming in every two or three
hours, minimum.
Internal air movement is very necessary as well. An oscillating fan should
be used to circulate air within the growroom, to help circulate CO2. It
will also keep the humidity down, allowing the air to absorb more moisture,
and reduce risk of fungus. A wall mount oscillating fan will not take
valuable floor space. The best grow rooms have the most internal air
circulation.
TEMPERATURE
Proper temperature is one highly variable factor. Most books state optimum
grow temperature to be 70-80 degrees, but many list extenuating
circumstances that allow temperatures to go higher. Assuming genetics is
not a factor, plants seem to be able to absorb more light at higher temps,
perhaps up to 90 degrees. High light and CO2 levels could make this go as
high as 95 degrees for increased growth speed.* An optimum of 95 degrees is
new data that assumes very-high light, CO2 enrichment of 1500 ppm and good
regular venting to keep humidity down. It is not clear if these temperature
will reduce potency in flowers. It may be a good idea to reduce
temperatures once flowering has started, to preserve potency, even if it
does reduce growth speed. But higher temperatures will make plants grow
vegetatively much faster, by exciting the plants metabolism, assuming the
required levels of CO2 and light are available, and humidity is not allowed
to get too high.
With normal levels of CO2, in a well vented space, 90 degrees would seem to
be the absolute max, while 85 may be closer to optimum, even with a great
deal of light available. Do not let the room temperature get over 35 C (95
F) as this hurts growth. Optimal temperature is 27-30 C (80-86 F) if you
have strong light with no CO2 enrichment. Less than 21 C (70 F) is too cold
for good growth.
Low temperatures at night are OK down to about 60 degrees outdoors, then
start to effect the growth in a big way. Mid 50's will cause mild shock and
40's will kill your plants with repeated exposure. Keep your plants warm,
especially the roots. Elevate pots if you think the ground is sucking the
heat out of the roots. This is an issue if you have a slab or other type of
cold floor.
As temperature goes up, so does the ability of the air to hold water, thus
reducing humidity, so a higher average temperature should reduce risk of
fungus.
Contrary to many reports, high humidity is not good for plants except
during germination and rooting. Lower humidity levels help the plant
transpire CO2 and reduce risk of molds during flowering.
Studies indicate the potency of buds goes down as the temperature goes up,
so it is important to see that the plants do not get too hot during
flowering cycles.
* D. Gold: CO2, Temperature and Humidity, 1991 Edited by E. Rosenthal.
PESTS
You really have to watch pests, or all your efforts could result in little
or nothing in return. Mites and Aphids are the worst; whiteflies,
caterpillar and fungi are the ones to watch out for long term. Pyrethrum
bombs can start you with a clean slate in the room, and then homemade or
commercial soap sprays will do most of the rest. When bringing in plants
from outside, pyrethrum every broad leaf top and bottom and the soil too.
Then watch them closely for a week or two, and soap down any remaining bug
life you find from eggs being hatched. This should do the trick for a month
or two, long enough it won't be an issue before harvesting.
Fungus is another obstacle in the path of a successful growing season. When
the flowers are roughly half developed they become susceptible to a fungus
or bud rot. It appears that growing conditions for the fungus are best when
temperatures are between 60 and 80 degrees and the humidity is high. The
fungus is very destructive and spreads quickly. It is a spore type of
fungus that travels to other buds via the wind so it is impossible to
prevent or stop if weather conditions permit it to grow. If things should
go badly and the fungus starts to attack your plants, you must remove it
immediately or it will spread to other areas of the plant or plants.
Some growers will remove just the section of the bud that is infected
whereas other growers will remove the entire branch. Removal of the entire
branch better insures that the fungus is totally re- moved, and also
enables the grower to sample the crop a few weeks ahead of time.
Fungi can wipe your crop quick, so invest in some SAFE fungicide (Safer
makes a good product) and spray down the plants just before flowering if
you think fungus may be a problem. Don't spray the plants if you have never
had problems with fungus before. Keep humidity down, circulate air like
crazy in the grow space and keep unquarantined outdoor plants out of the
indoor space. Don`t wait until after flowering, since it's not a good idea
to apply the fungicide directly to flowers. Instead, flowers must be cut
off when they are infected.
Most fungicides are very nasty, and you won't want to ingest them, so it is
necessary to use one that is safe for vegetables. Safer makes a suitable
product that is available at most nurseries.
Use soap solution like Safer to get rid of most aphid problems. Use some
tobacco juice and chili pepper powder added to this for mites. Dr. Bronnars
Soap can be used with some dish detergent in a spray bottle if you want to
save money.
TRANSPLANTING
There will be little or no shock if you are quick and tender in your
handling of the plants. Make sure you only need to transplant twice, or
better yet, once if possible, through the entire growth cycle.
Transplanting slows you down. It takes time, is tricky, and threatens the
plants. Start in as large a container as possible, square is best. 16 ounce
paper or plastic cups work OK, and 2 litter soda bottles cut down may be
big enough for the first harvest when growing hydroponically. One-gallon
plastic milk or water containers (squarish) will work too, if you want to
work around the handle (really not a problem if you don't mind cutting them
up when you transplant later for second harvest).
Or start seeds and rooted cuttings in 16oz plastic cups. It's better to
have less seedlings than it is to have many seedlings that need constant
transplanting. These larger cups take only a little more space, and allow
you to transplant only one time before harvesting the first crop.
Transplant into a gallon water jugs (cut down to 3/4 gallon) before forcing
flower growth. To regenerate this plant after harvesting, transplant it
into a larger pot after it goes into vegetative growth once again, 5 gallon
paint buckets work pretty well if you can spare the space, and a 2-3 gallon
container would make this plantÕs 2nd harvest better than the first, given
enough vegetative regrowth first.
One more tip:
A Russian study showed that seedlings with at least 4" of soil to
grow the tap root were more likely to go female. The source I'm
quoting says "This may be why some farmers get female/male ratios
as great as 80%/20%."
EARLY SEXING
It's possible to tell the sex of a plant early, and thus move male plants
out of the main growing area sooner by covering a plant's lower branch for
12 hours a day while it's in a constant light vegetative state. Use a black
paper bag or equivalent to allow for air flow while keeping out light. Be
sure to set up a regular cycle for these covered branches. If light is
allowed to reach them during the dark period, they may not indicate early
at all.
Use a magnifying glass to look at the early flowers sex type. A male plant
will have a small club (playing card) looking preflower with a small stem
under it. A female flower is usually a single or double pistil, white and
wispy, emerging from an immature calyx.
REGENERATION
It is possible to harvest plants and then rejuvenate them vegetatively for
a 2nd and even 3rd harvest. A second harvest can be realized in as little
as 6-8 weeks.
Harvested plants come inside for rejuvenation under continuous light. It
will take 7-14 days to see signs of new growth when regenerating a plant.
As stated before, and in contrast to normal growth patterns, lower branches
will be the first to sprout new vegetative growth. Just make sure when
harvesting, you leave most healthy fan leaves and a few lower branches of
the plant, or even just a few grow tips will do. Since the plantÕs stalk,
and roots are already formed, the plant can produce a second, even third
harvest of buds in a little more than half the time of the original
harvest. Allow the plant to grow a little vegetatively, then take outside
again to reflower. Or keep inside for vegetative cuttings. You now have two
or three generations of plants growing, and will need more space outside.
But you will now be harvesting twice as often. As often as every 30 days,
since you have new clones or seedlings growing, vegetative plants ready to
flower, and regenerated previous crops flowering too.
HARVESTING AND DRYING
Harvesting is the reaping of the bounty, and is the most enjoyable time you
will spend with your garden.
Plants are harvested when the flowers are ripe. Generally, ripeness is
defined as when the white pistils start to turn brown, orange, etc. and
start to withdraw back into the false seed pod. The seed pods swell with
resins usually reserved for seed production, and we have ripe sinse buds
with red and golden hairs.
It is interesting that the time of harvest controls the "high" of the buds.
If harvested "early" with only a few of the pistils turned color, the buds
will have a more pure THC content and will have less THC that has turned to
CBD and CBN's. The lessor psychoactive substances will create the bouquet
of the pot, and control the amount of stoneyness and stupidness associated
with the high. A pure THC content is very cerebral, while high THC, high
CBD, CBN content will make the plants more of a stupid, or hazy buzz. Buds
taken later, when fully ripened will normally have these higher CBN, CBD
levels and may not be what you prefer once you try different samples picked
at different times. Don't listen to the experts, decide yourself based on
what you come to like yourself.
Keep in mind, a bug weighs more when fully ripe. It is what most growers
like to sell, but take some bug early for yourself, every week until you
harvest, and decide how you like it for yourself. Grow the rest to full
maturity if you plan to sell it.
Do not cure pot in the sun, it reduces potency. Slow cure hanging buds
upside down in a ventilated space. That is all that is needed to have great
sensi. Drying in a paper bag works too, and may be much more convenient.
Bud tastes great when slow dried over the course of a week or two.
If your in a hurry, it's OK to dry a small amount in-between paper sheets
or a paper bag in a microwave oven. Go slow and check it, don't burn it.
Use the defrost power setting for a slower, better drying. It will be harsh
smoking this way though.
A food dehydrator or food preserver will dry your pot in a few hours, but
it will not taste the same as slow-dried. Very close though. And this will
speed your harvest time (which can be nerve-wracking, with all this pot
hanging around drying.)
CLONING
Cloning preserves the character of your favorite plant. Cloning can make an
ocean of green out of a single plant, so it is a powerful tool for growing
large crops, and will fill a closet quickly with your favorite genetics.
When you find the plant you want to be your "buddy" for the rest of your
life, you can keep that plant's genetic character alive for decades and
pass it on to your children's children. Propagate and share it with others,
to keep a copy, should your own line die out. A clone can be taken from a
clone at least 20 times, and probably more, so donÕt worry about myths of
reduced vigor. Many reports indicate itÕs not a problem.
Cloning will open you to the risk of a fungus or pest wiping out the whole
crop, so it's important to pick plants that exhibit great resistance to
fungus and pests. Pick the plant you feel will be the most reliable to
reproduce in large scale, based on health, growth rate, resistance to
pests, and potency. The quality of the high, and the type of buzz you get
will be a very important determining factor.
Take cuttings for clones before you move plants from vegetative grow area
to the flowering area. Low branches are cut to increase air circulation
under the green canopy. Rooted clones are moved to the vegetative growth
area, and new clones are started in the cloning area using the low branch
cuttings. Each cycle of growth will take from 6-8 weeks, so you can
constantly be growing in 3 stages, and harvesting every 6-8 weeks.
Some types of plants are more difficult to clone than others. Big Bud is
reported to not clone very well. One of my favorite plants, Mr. Kona, is
the most amazing pot I ever smoked, but it is hard as hell to clone. What
a challenge! I noticed other varieties that were rooting much quicker, but
it was the stone I was after! Once you find the psychoactive, almost
hallucinogenic properties of some Indica/Sativa hybrids, you never want to
smoke a pure Indica again. Indica is however, great medicinally, so I like
to grow a few pure strains too.
If a plant is harvested, you can sample it, and decide if you want to clone
it. Pick your favorite 2 or 3 distinctly different types of plants to
clone, based on trying the harvested plants. The plants you want to clone
can be regenerated by putting them in constant light. In a few weeks, you
will have many vegetative cuttings available for cloning and preserving
your favorite plants.
After two months, any marijuana plant can be cloned. Flowering plants can
be cloned, but the procedure may take considerably longer. Its best to
wait, and regenerate vegetatively plants that have been harvested. A single
regenerated/harvested plant can generate hundreds of cuttings. Cut young
growth tips from a vegetative stage, mature plant (bottom branches are
best) 3-5 inches long with a stem diameter 1/5-1/10 inch. Cut with a
sterile razor blade or X-Acto knife (flamed) and immerse the cut end of the
clone into a tub of distilled water mixed with 1/4 tspn Peters 5-50-17 per
gallon. Next, cut the bottom .2 inch off the end while it is submerged,
using a diagonal cut. Remove the clone from the tub and dip into a liquid
cloning solution following instructions on the label. Dust with fungicide
and place in cloning tray or medium. Flowering plants can be cloned too,
but may take longer, and may not have as high a success rate.
Cloning goes quickest with the liquid rooting solutions, in a warmed,
aerated tray, with subdued lighting and high humidity. In a closet, you can
make space above the grow area so that the heat of the lamp warms the tray
(passive collecting) and spare the expense and hassle of the aquarium
heater ($24) or agricultural heating pad w/ thermostat (pricey). A double
4" fluorescent lamp will be perfect. Leave lamps on for 24 hours a day.
Cuttings should root in 2-3 weeks.
I found only one liquid rooting hormone solution that was not over $10.
(Olivia's Gel was $12 for a 1.6 ounce bottle. Geez, what is this stuff,
gold?) I found some dipNgrow for $9, considered myself lucky, and got a
tray and clear cover for $7. A clear tray cover or greenhouse encloser is
needed to bring up humidity to 90% (greenhouse levels). Liquid rooting
hormone seems to be much more effective than powders. Some types available
are Olivia's, Woods, and dipNgrow.
Mix a weak cloning solution of high P plant food (such as Peter's 5-50-17),
trace elements, and empsom salts and then dip plants in rooting solution
per instructions on label. All of the above nutrients should be added in
extremely small amounts, 25% of what would normally be used on growing
plants. Or use a premade solution such as Olivia's Rooting Solution. Corn
syrup has been reported to supplement the sugars needed by the plant during
cloning, since it consists of plant sugars.
Use a powder fungicide too, like RoottoneF to be sure you don't spoil the
clones with fungus. This is important, since clones and fungus like the
conditions you will be creating for good rooting:
mild light
72-80 degrees
high humidity
Float the cuttings in a tray full of solution on polystyrene disposable
plates, or styrene sheets (shipping/packing material) with holes punched,
so the tops and leaves are out of the water. Take off all large leaves,
leaving only smaller top leaves to reduce demand on the new rooting stalk.
Aerate the tray solution with an air pump and bubble stone. Keep solution
at 72-80 degrees for best results. Change the solution daily if not using
an air stone and pump, so that oxygen is always available to the cuttings.
A week later, clip yellowing leaves from cuttings to reduce water demands
as the cuttings start to root.
Cover the plants with cellophane, or buy a try with a clear cover ($4) made
for rooting at an indoor gardening supply house. You must keep humidity
very high for the clones.
It's also possible to directly place a dipped cutting in a moist block of
rockwool, floral foam with holes punched, or vermiculite in a cup; be sure
to root cuttings in a constantly moist medium. Jiffy peat cubes are not
recommended, as published reports indicate results were not good for
rooting clones. Place starter cubes in tray of solution. Check twice a day
to be sure cubes are moist, not drenched, and not dry. After about 2-3
weeks, rootlets will appear at the bottom of the pods. Transplant at this
point to growing area, taking care not to disturb any exposed roots.
One grower writes us:
I have had virtually all attempted clones root with the following scheme:
0. Prep cutting by removing large leaves on tip to be cut, allow to heal.
1. While holding underwater, take final diagonal cut on stem to be rooted.
2. Dip in Rootone, then spear stem about 2" deep in 16 oz. cups of
1/2 vermiculite, 1/2 perlite, which are kept in a stryrofoam cooler.
3. Spray cuttings with a VERY mild complete fert. soln.
4. Cover top of cooler with Saran Wrap, then punch holes for ventilation.
5. Keep cooler in relatively mild temps, low light, and spray cuttings
daily.
6. Cuttings should root in about 3 weeks.
Cloning is not as easy as starting from seed. With seeds, you can have 18"
tall plants in 6 weeks or less. With clones, it may take 6 weeks for the
plant to sprout roots and new growth. Seeds are easily twice as fast if you
have empty indoor space being wasted that needs to be put to use quickly.
Always breed a few buds for seeds, even if you expect to be cloning most of
the time, you could get wiped out, and have nothing but your seeds left to
start over.
Cloning in rockwool seems to work great, and no airpump is needed. I paid
$9 for 98 rockwool starter cubes. A plastic tray is available ($.95) that
holds 77 cubes in pockets allowing the cubes to be held in a tray of
nutrient solution. They are easily removed and placed in a larger growing
cube when rooted.
BREEDING
It is possible to breed and select cuttings from plants that grow, flower,
and mature faster. Some plants will naturally be better than others in this
regard, and it is easy to select not only the most potent plants to clone
or breed, but the fastest growing/flowering plants as well. Find your
fastest growth plant, and breed it with your "best high" male for fast
flowering, potent strains. Clone your fastest, best high plant for the
quickest monocrop garden possible. Over time, it will save you a lot of
waiting around for your plants to mature.
When a male is starting to flower (2-4 weeks before the females) it should
be removed from the females so it does not pollinate them. It is taken to a
separate area. Any place that gets just a few hours of light per day will
be adequate, including close to a window in a separate room in the house.
Put newspaper or glass under it to catch the pollen as the flowers drop it.
Keep a male alive indefinitely by bending it's top severely and putting it
in mild shock that delays it's maturity.Or take the tops as they mature and
put the branches in water, over a piece of plate glass. Shake the branches
every morning to release pollen onto the glass and then scrap it with a
razor blade to collect it. A male pruned in this fashion stays alive
indefinately and will continue to produce flowers if it gets suitable dark
periods.This is much better than putting pollen in the freezer! Fresh
pollen is always best.
Save pollen in an air tight bag in the freezer. It will be good for about a
month. It may be several more weeks before the females are ready to
pollinate.
A plant is ready to pollinate 2 weeks after the clusters of female flowers
first appear. If you pollinate too early, it may not work. Wait until the
female flowers are well established, but still all while hairs are showing.
Turn off all fans. Use a paper bag to pollinate a branch of a female plant.
Use different pollen from two males on separate branches. Wrap the bag
around the branch and seal it at the opening to the branch. Shake the
branch vigorously. Wet the paper bag after a few minutes with a sprayer and
then carefully remove it. Large plastic zip-lock bags also. Slip the bag
over the male branch and shake the pollen loose. Carefully remove the bad
and zip it up. It should be very dusty with pollen. To pollinate, place it
over a single branch of the female, zipping it up sideways around the stem
so no pollen leaks out. Shake the bag and the stem at the same time. Allow
to settle for an hour or two and shake it again. Remove it a few hours
later. Your branch is now well pollinated and should show signs of visible
seed production in 2 weeks, with ripe seeds splitting the calyxes by 3-6
weeks. One pollinated branch can create hundreds of seeds, so it should not
be necessary to pollinate more than one or two branches in many cases.
SINSEMILLIA
When the female plant is not allowed to pollinate, it grows full of resin
that was intended to make seeds. False seed pods swell with THC laden resin
and the pistils turn red and orange and withdraw into the pods. Then the
plant is harvested.
Seeds are not part of the bud when the flowers mature. This is called
Sinsemillia, and simply means "no seeds".
SINSE SEEDS
It is possible to cross your favorite two female plants to create a new
strain of seeds that will produce all female plants. Preferably, these two
plants will be different types of plants, not from the same mother's seeds.
This will create the best offspring, since it will not lead to inbreeding.
It is easier to gauge the quality of female plants than male plants, since
the smoke is more potent and easier to judge it's finer qualities. Plants
from seeds created in this fashion will be all female plants since there
will be no chance of male chromosomes from female parents.
Use Gibberellic Acid on one branch of a female plant to induce male
flowers. Gibberellic Acid is sold by nursery supply houses for plant
breeding and hybridizing. Spray the plant once every day for 10 days with
100 ppm gibberellic acid. When the male flowers form, pollinate the flowers
of your other target female plant you have selected. Just pollinate one
branch unless you want lots of seeds!
Once the branch has male flowers, cut the branch and root it in water, with
glass under it to catch the male pollen when it drops. Use a rooting
solution similar to the above cloning solution.Collect the pollen with a
plastic bag over the branch and shake it. Use a razor blade to scrap up
fallen pollen and add it to the bag too.
It is also possible to pollinate the flowers of the plant you create the
male flowers on, crossing it with itself. This is used to preserve a
special plants characteristics. Cloning will also preserve the plants
characteristics, but will not allow you to store seeds for use later.
ODORS AND NEGATIVE IONS
Negative ion generators have been used for years now to cut down on odors
in a grow room, but reports are coming in that a negative ion generator
will increase growth speed and yield. No true evidence to support this,
however it does make sense, due to the fact that people and animals seem to
be altered in a positive way by negative ions in the air, so plants may
"feel" better too. Try putting one in the grow room. You may notice the
buds don't have as much scent when picked, but that may be desirable in
some cases.
A negative ion generator can be purchased for $15 to $100 depending on the
type and power involved. Some have reversed cycles that collect the dust to
a charged plate. It is also possible to use grounded aluminum foil on the
wall and shelf where the ionizer sits, to collect these particles. Just
wipe the foil clean once a month. It should be grounded to an electrical
outlets ground wire. If you don't cover the wall and shelf with paper or
foil, the wall will turn dark with dust taken from the air, and you will
have to repaint that wall later.
OXYGEN
O2 to the roots is a big concern, since the plant requires this for
nutrients to be available, and to rid itself of toxins, etc. One of the
easiest things to do is use food grade hydrogen peroxide in the water to
increase the availability of oxygen in the water. H2O2 has an extra oxygen
atom that will easily break away and can be used by the plant. Oxygen Plus
is a plant food that contains 25% hydrogen peroxide and is perfect for this
use.
Using a planting medium that allows for plenty of aeration is also really
important. Be sure you have good drainage by using Perlite, sand, or gravel
in your mix and at the bottom of pots. DonÕt use a medium that holds too
much water, or you may significantly reduce the oxygen available to the
plant. More on that in the section on hydroponics.
Aerating the water before watering is also a good idea. In the case of soil
potted plants, use an airpump to aerate the water overnight before watering
your plants, or put the water in a container with a cap and shake it up
real good before giving to the plants.
SAFETY AND PRIVACY
It has been reported utility companies can tell your bill is way off from
the same time last year, and police are even finding growers this way, so
more than 500 watts in the family home running constantly will show up as a
regular monthly increase in electricity use. You can claim space heaters,
more people living on the premises, too many television sets, and late
hours, if they happen mention it to you (innocently). If the police knock
and ask you about it, don't let them in, and move your plants to another
location during the wee hours in a vehicle not your own.
Upon moving into a new place, it may be desirable to immediately establish
high electricity use, so that your electrical use history won't reveal
your activities in the future...
DISTILLED WATER
Some growers report purified or distilled water helps their plants grow
faster. Perhaps due to sodium and heavy metals found in hard water that are
not present in purified water. Hard water tends to build up alkaline salt
deposits in soil that lockup trace minerals, and cause iron, copper and
zinc deficiencies. There are several types of purified water, but many are
not free of minerals that could be causing salt buildup over an extended
period of time.
Tap water comes in two flavors. Hot and cold. The cold pipe has less
calcium and sodium buildup in it, and should be freer of sediment once the
water has been turned on and allowed to flow for 30 seconds. Hot water will
have rust, lead deposits, and bough-que sodium and calcium, so much so, you
will see it easily. Use only the amount of hot water needed to make the
water the correct temperature (70-80 F). Tap water filtered through a
carbon (charcoal) filter will be free of chlorine and most large particles,
but will still contain dissolved solids such as sodium and heavy metals
(lead, arsenic, nickel, etc.).
Purified bottled water will be either Reverse Osmosis or some form of
carbon/sediment filtered water. When purchasing water at a store, unless it
says RO or Distilled, don't bother buying it. It could still have the same
dissolved solids and heavy metals your tap water has.
Reverse Osmosis filters will drastically reduce the amount of dissolved
solids in the tap water. When installed and maintained, it will reduce the
heavy metals and salts to minuscule levels, which are then probably safe to
drink. While (RO) systems can provide sodium free water, it is not as good
as distilled water. If filters and membrane are not changed at least once a
year, the system will be drastically reduced in effectiveness.
RO systems are expensive initially, but since a large garden alone can take
up to 10 gallons of water a week, it will pay for itself in a year or two,
compared to buying bottled water. It pays to shop around for these systems,
prices vary widely.
Distilled water is produced through boiling and steam run-off. It isolates
the O2 to its pure form. It contains no pollutants, heavy metals, dissolved
solids or chlorine that can react and build up in soils. It is expensive to
purchase, but the bottles can be used as plant containers (get the
squarish, tall styled plastic bottles) so the expense can be justified for
a period of time. Purchasing a distiller is an option. It will have to be
maintained (emptied of salts) on a regular basis, and carbon filter
changed, but it is a good item to consider if you believe your water to be
very hard. Very hard water is very hard on an RO system and a distiller may
be the best option if you desire drinking water as well. Drinking distilled
water will help your body flush toxins and reduced problems with kidney
stones.
An alternative to using distilled water is to run the water thorough a
sediment/charcoal filter combination to reduce dissolved solids and
chlorine, and use a vinegar mix to lower PH in the water and prevent
alkalinity buildup. This should make mineral available to the plants, even
if salts begin to build up from the wet/dry regimen over an extended time.
BIRTH CONTROL PILLS
A solution of one pill to one gallon of water has been reported to cause
increased growth speed in tomato plants. It is possible this will help herb
plants too. One treatment administered before flowering and one
administered a few weeks before harvesting might help the plant mature
faster.
One grower told a story of the same type of plants, one administered the
estrogen grew to 20 feet, while the other was 7 feet. This may be purely
anecdotal, but it may work. Try it and report back to us on results.
SEED AND BUD STORAGE
Use a seal-a-meal to hermetically seal the bag with no air inside. Freeze
or refrigerate, and bud and seed can be kept for years this way.
REVIEW:
1) Light - lots of it, but not too close or you burn leaves.
2) CO2 - if you can stand the hassle; or ferment in an unvented
closet.
3) Vent - More air the better. Both in and out of the room and
internal.
4) Oxygen - Use H2O2 in solution, and aerate water by shaking and
air pump, use Pearlite or lava for increased drainage and oxygen
storage.
5) Hydroponics - This will increase both yield and speed of growth
over soil.
6) Temperature - The hotter the better if you have enough light and
CO2; 70 up to 95 degrees with lots of light and CO2.
7) Nutrients - Make sure your giving the plant what it needs when
it needs it. Watch for deficiencies.
8) PH - 6.7 - 6.2 is ideal. Make sure you check the soil/nutrients;
match up.
9) Pests - Don't let all the above effort go to waste. Be vigilant.
10) Sea of Green - grow more plants, smaller, faster, with less
wasted light and space, using both indoor light, and forcing/
flowering outside where possible.
11) Transplanting - Make sure you only have to transplant 2 times
or less through the growth cycle, and do it early.
12) Grow smaller plants on shelves, increasing square footage
growing space by 2 or 3 times.
13) Harvest often and sooner with fast maturing clones.
14) Negative ions are good, and make the plants feel better.
15) Purified (RO only) or distilled water may solve chlorine problems and
make nutrients more available to the plant. This will insure pollutants and
heavy metals are not in the water. Most growers do not go to this much
trouble, so donÕt worry about it, but itÕs an interesting science
experiment.
16) Security - make sure your plants are not detected. Don't admit cops
into the yard or house without a warrant.Never step off your property if
asked to do so, unless your being placed under arrest with a warrant.
A final comment:
Good results can be had even in what appear to be rather marginal
situations. (i.e.: a four inch pot in a room with a skylight.) With the
minimum of: well drained medium, good light with ventilation, regular
application of a complete fertilizer, pest control, and avoidance of
detection, anyone can take a viable seed to maturity.
One need not have a lot of money, or even know-how to grow good plants.
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