The Beginners Guide to Get You Started in Growing Cannabis

THE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO A SIMPLE, YET PRODUCTIVE CANNABIS GROW

A couple years ago I decided I was tired of calling up random people that I hardly knew, pretending to be their long lost friend and asking the notorious question, “Hey man, can I get some bud from you?” What if my ‘friend’ didn’t have any? Would I call someone I knew even less? Would I go without bud for an indefinite amount of time? After two years of doing this, I decided enough was enough. The endless quest to get bud from unknown origins was over. I wanted to grow my own. I vowed I would never get into the business of growing and selling, that it would be only for personal consumption and for friends when they came over to have a toke or two. Two years later, I have not bought a single gram of weed off the black market in that time, and I have not sold a single gram to anyone. I always have weed, and plenty of it. I smoke when I want to, as much as I want to, and with whomever I want. No one knows I grow, so no one asks for bud from me. It’s perfect. Now maybe you want to do the same. You’ve always stared at those seeds from your bag of mids and wondered, “Can I actually grow my own weed from this seed?” Believe it or not, the simple answer is yes. But if you are anything like I was, you know nothing about marijuana other than it’s a lot of fun to smoke. So where the hell do you start? The amount of information on the net can be painfully overwhelming, occasionally incorrect, and is often geared toward people who already have some growing experience. Books are a great way to start (search Amazon), but here I have attempted to boil everything down into as few details as possible while not over simplifying it. My guide is geared toward people who live in their own apartment or house, have a spare closet that would be ideal for growing a plant or two at a time, and have a couple hundred dollars to spend on a simple, yet very productive and safe setup. Although a couple hundred dollars may sound like a lot, the end result will justify the means. In other words, your couple hundred dollar investment will yield you thousands and thousands of dollars worth of marijuana over the next year that you won’t have to buy. Keep in mind that I will not discuss hydroponics (because I know almost nothing about it), cloning, LST’ing nor any other advanced techniques. Simplicity is key. This guide will first discuss some basic background information you should know about the cannabis plant before you try to grow it. We will then dive into the finer details and show you a simple grow from start to finish. Before we even start, the most important thing you must know before you consider growing marijuana is this:

DO NOT TELL A SINGLE PERSON THAT YOU ARE GROWING!

This means absolutely no one. If no one knows about it, then they your chances of getting caught are enormously reduced. I cannot stress this enough. It is so tempting to show your friends your creation, especially given how proud you are of them. But you cannot give in, ever. Tell no one and you’ll be safe.

Background:

1. The life cycle of the cannabis plant When you smoke marijuana, you are burning the flowers of a mature, unfertilized (hopefully) female cannabis plant. Cannabis is an annual plant, which means it is typically planted in the spring when the days are long and bright, and the sun is directly overhead. During these long summer days, the plant grows tall and vigorously. Things change when fall comes along, however. As the days become shorter and cooler, the cannabis plant begins its flowering process. By the end of flowering, the plant will have produced many mature buds, which are ready to dry, cure and smoke. To grow indoors, we must mimic this natural process as closely as possible.

2. How to mimic the outdoors indoors Now that we know a little about the cannabis life cycle, we want it all to happen inside our little closet. As you may have already guessed, we will be very concerned about the “light cycle” as this is how we ‘tell’ the plant what to do when we want to do it. There are two main light cycles. The first light cycle is called vegetative growth. Once the plant has gone through sufficient vegetative growth, the second light cycle begins, called flowering. However, we must first germinate the seed of course.

. a. Germination: To germinate your seeds, it is best to soak two paper towels in

distilled water and put the seeds in between them. Put the wet paper towels in a plastic zip lock bag to prevent evaporation, and put the zip lock bag on something that is slightly warm, like the top of refrigerator or a DSL modem. Once the seeds begin to crack and show their tap root (anywhere from 24-96 hours), place the seed, with the tap root down, about ¼ inch into the soil. Keep the soil moist with water, and within a week they should sprout. Never dig up the soil to check on the progress of the seed as this will damage the seed and potentially cause it to not sprout.

b. Vegetative growth: Vegetative growth starts when the seeds first sprout, and can last as long or as little as you like. Typically, 2-5 weeks is normal for simple closet grows. The longer you let the plant grow, the bigger it will be and the more bud it will produce. There are three main aspects of the veg cycle that you must pay attention to.

i. Light cycle: The light must be kept on at least 18 hrs per day (commonly referred to as 18/6). Some choose 24 hrs of daylight per day for faster growth (24/0). I prefer 18 hrs because it lets the room cool down overnight, there is less potential for the random 3am light

leaks that could make the neighbors suspicious, and I think it helps the plants transition to the flowering cycle quicker.

ii. Light spectrum: During vegetative growth, cannabis performs best with blue/white colored light. Ideally, you should do this using a Metal Halide (MH) bulb. Blue spectrum Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL’s) will also work. To determine if your CFL is right for veg growth, look for a temperature rating around 3500 – 6500 K (often referred to as "bright white," "natural" or "daylight" bulbs). More on lights and how much you’ll need will be discussed later.

iii. Nutrients: Cannabis does not need nutrients until they are about 3-4 weeks old. However, all plants eventually need nutrients. Nutrient solutions come with an NPK ratio, which stands for Nitrogen:Phosphorus:Potassium, and are the three major nutrients that plants need. For vegetative growth, you’ll want a nutrient solution that is higher in nitrogen than phosphorus and potassium (i.e. 6-4-4). Make sure the nutrient solution also has micronutrients in it as well, such as magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, copper, iron, boron, calcium, sulfur and zinc. What kinds to use, how much to use and when to use it will be discussed later.

c. Flowering:

Flowering starts as soon as you decide you have vegged your plant long enough. You should expect your plant to double in size when you start the

flowering process. There are five important things to keep in mind.

i. Light cycle: To simulate the onset of fall, you must switch the lights to 12 hours of light/12 hours of dark. Using a timer to control the light cycle is critical, and will make your life much easier (see section of light timers for more information). The 12 hr dark period must be entirely dark; no light leaks from anywhere. As tempting as it is, do not check on your plants after the lights have gone out.

ii. Light spectrum: You will want a yellowish/orange colored light for flowering. This is most effectively done using a High Pressure Sodium (HPS) setup. Yellowish/orange CFL bulbs can also be used; often called “soft” or “warm” light. These will have a temperature rating around 2700 – 3000 K. Again, I will discuss more about lights later.

iii. Sexing: It is typically within the first week or two of flowering that you can determine the sex of the plant. Remove all males as soon as they are spotted because they will pollinate your females, causing them to produce less THC. Remember our goal is to get unfertilized

female buds, so get rid of those males! See the section on sexing for more information on how to spot females.

iv. Nutrients: You will want a nutrient solution that is high in phosphorus relative to nitrogen and potassium (like 2-6-4). As with veg, make sure the nutrient solution has micronutrients in it. Growers typically feed their plants nutrients once per week interspersed between water feedings (see section 7). Adjust the pH of all nutrient solutions to be between 6 and 7 before feeding your plant, and continually monitor the pH of the soil (see section 7f for more information on pH). Specific types of nutrients and how much to use will also be discussed later section 7.

v. Length of flowering: Each plant will require a slightly different amount of time to flower before they are ready to harvest. Typically this process takes about 8-12 weeks. How to tell exactly when to harvest is discussed later in section 8.

3. Lights

a. How much light do I need?

This is a tricky answer, and no two people will agree exactly. However, every experienced grower will agree that you’ll need more than you think. Cannabis loves light. Some general rules that often get passed around:

1. At least 100 watts of light per plant, or 2. At least 35 watts of light per square foot of plant

A very rough approximation of the wattage needed for a given number of moderately sized (3-4 ft tall) plants is: 1-2 plants: 250 watts 3-4 plants: 400 watts 5-6 plants: 600 watt 7-10 plants: 1000 watts The more you can spread the light between multiple bulbs the better. In other words, it is to better to light your closet with 3x400watt bulbs than either a 1x1000watt bulb or even 2x600 watt bulbs. Also, be careful when purchasing CFL’s as they are often listed as ‘equivalent watts’, which is different than ‘actual watts’. Base your purchases on the actual wattage. High Intensity Discharge (HID) bulbs like MH and HPS are reported in actual wattages.

d. What kinds of lights do I need?

You will need two colors of bulbs: one that emits a blue spectrum for vegetative growth, and one that emits a yellow/orange spectrum for flowering. As mentioned before, there are two general types of bulbs you can buy to accomplish this: CFL’s and HID’s. i. CFL’s: You will need two types of bulbs, one for vegetative growth

and the other for flowering. For vegetative growth, you’ll want to look for a temperature rating around 3500 – 6500 K (often referred to as "bright white," "natural" or "daylight" bulbs), which give off a blue colored spectrum. For flowering, you’ll want yellow/orange CFL bulbs, often called “soft” or “warm” light. These will have a temperature rating around 2700 – 3000 K. You can buy these at your local Home Depot or Lowes.

ii. HID’s: Many will argue that HID’s are by far the best types of lights to use for cannabis growing as they often result in the most vigorous growth and highest producing yield. The downsides are they produce a good amount of heat, they require a separate ballast to operate, and they are more expensive than CFL’s. In my opinion, they are worth the extra cost and effort. There are two types of HID’s: Metal Halide (MH) and High Pressure Sodium (HPS). MH emits a blue-ish spectrum, making it ideal for vegetative growth. HPS emits an orange/yellow spectrum, making it ideal for flowering. All HID bulbs require a separate ballast to operate. Because of their unique electrical needs, they cannot simply be plugged into any light socket. In short, a ballast is a small box that controls the electric current to the bulb. All ballasts plug directly into a standard household electrical plug, which will then connect to the bulb socket. Historically, MH bulbs required a separate MH ballast to properly ignite and control the electricity flow to the MH bulb. Likewise for HPS bulbs. Therefore, if one wanted to use both MH and HPS bulbs for the grow they needed to get two separate ballasts, which is expensive. Today, there are two ways to get around buying separate ballasts: first, you can buy an HPS ballast, an HPS bulb and a MH

conversion bulb. Conversion bulbs are designed to operate on the opposite type of ballast. For example, a 250w MH conversion bulb will work great on a 250w HPS ballast. The second option is to buy a switchable ballast. This type of ballast can operate in either MH or HPS mode, and can be changed with the flick of a switch. This allows you to purchase both regular MH and HPS bulbs for a single ballast. Also be aware that ballasts come rated with a certain wattage. A 400 watt ballast can ONLY run a 400 watt bulb in it. A 600 watt ballast

can ONLY run a 600 watt bulb in it. Never mix and match bulb wattages and ballast wattages. Picture of an HPS and MH conversion bulb:

iii. How high should I put my lights above my plants? If you’re using CFL’s, keep the lights within a couple inches of the plant to maximize the amount of light that hits the leaves. Because HID’s are much brighter and hotter than CFL’s, you should keep your plants at least 6 inches from the light, more if you have a high energy HID. A good rule of thumb is if it’s too hot for the back of your hand, it’s too hot for the plant. In other words, put the back of your hand up to the light at the same distance as your plant. If your hand starts to sizzle, so will your plant. If you can keep your hand there all day without troubles, your plant will be happy. Be sure to keep an eye on your lights because the plant can easily grow up into the bulb and burn itself. You will have to remember to keep raising the lights as the plant gets bigger.

4. Strains

What strain do I want? There are two main types of cannabis strains: Indica and Sativa. Indicas tend to be shorter and bushier, and produce more dense buds. They also are known for their couch-lock types of highs (popular examples include Northern Lights and Kush). Sativas are quite the opposite: they grow taller and thinner than indica’s, produce less dense

buds and give a much more energetic and uplifting high (examples include Haze and Jack Herer). There are also many hybrids of indica and sativa which will give a combination of highs depending on the relative ratio of indica and sativa. Because indica’s are shorter, they (and indica-dominant strains) are preferred by beginning indoor growers. Sativas, on the other hand, grow taller, have a much longer flowering period, and in general are more finicky than indica’s. As a result, sativas (and sativa-dominant strains) are often grown by more experienced indoor growers. The strain of your choosing is readily available from online seedbanks. Bag seed will also work, and is recommended for your first attempt, however you won’t necessarily know what strain it is and therefore how long to expect flowering to take.

5. Males and Females

To every grower’s annoyance, cannabis plants can be either male or female. For the purpose of this guide, males are useless and should be thrown out as soon as they are identified. Females are what we all strive to get. In particular, unfertilized females are best because they produce the most THC, which is why you must remove any males as soon as they are identified. How do I know if I have a female or male? At each node (where two branches diverge), sex organs will appear. Females will display small white pistols emerging from the top of an oval shaped pod as indicated by the red arrows in the picture below. Males, on the other hand, will begin to grow several “ball sacks” from these same spots rather than white hairy pistols. In the picture below also notice the two small, green pointed objects emerging directly from the main stem of the plant. These are not sex organs, and appear in both males and females. Beginners often mistake these for female parts, which they are not.

When will I know the sex? You will know within a week or two after changing the light cycle to flowering (12/12). However, if the plants are grown well, you might be able to pick out small pre-flowers on plants that are still in the vegetative state and are as young 3-4 weeks old. There is no way to tell the sex of the plant simply by the seed unfortunately.

6. Watering

Like all plants, cannabis needs water (duh!). However, they also don’t like to live in a swamp either. Always make sure the pot has drainage holes at the bottom so that any excess water is allowed to drain out when you water them.

How often should I water?

When the seed has just sprouted, keep the soil moist at all times by dripping a little distilled water on the soil surrounding the plant once or twice a day (distilled water helps to ensure you don’t have contaminated water or water with high salts in it, which baby plants are very vulnerable to). As they grow older, you’ll need to feed them more water but less often. After each watering, make sure the soil dries completely. To test if the soil is dry, stick your finger into the soil about an inch deep. If it still feels at all wet, wait another day. If it is totally dry, feed the plant some

more water. Typically growers will water their plants twice per week, where one watering contains nutrients (see section 7). This can vary quite a bit, however. Can I use tap water? Yes, but make sure your water is has a neutral pH of 6-7 (more on pH in the section 7) and does not have large amounts of chlorine or salt as this can have adverse side effects on your plant. High chlorine content can be fixed simply by allowing the water to sit in an uncapped container for a day or two, which allows the chlorine to evaporate out. If your water supply is severely inadequate in other ways, you’ll either have to buy distilled water from the grocery store, find a friend who has good tap water, or invest in a reverse osmosis (RO) system to purify your water. Needless to say, RO systems can be rather expensive.

7. Nutrients, soil and pH:

a. Important warning about nutrients:

One of the most popular mistakes beginners make is giving the plant nutrients too early. Before we even talk about what nutrients are, don’t bother feeding your plant any nutrients until at least the 3rd week of growth. Also make sure the soil you use has no pre-added nutrients to it, or has ‘time-release’ fertilizers. These are not good for cannabis, and will likely result in the death of your plant at an early stage. The second most common mistake beginners make with nutrients is over feeding. More on this below.

b. Soil

The type of soil you chose is important. Typically Miracle Grow soil is not ideal because it contains time release fertilizers which will burn the plant, especially as a young seedling. Most other types of soils will work if they do not come with pre-loaded nutrients. Growers often recommend adding Perlite to the soil to help ensure proper drainage and aeration. I like to add 1 part Perlite to 4 parts soil. The most commonly used type of soil is Fox Farm’s Ocean Forest, however there are many others that work well too. How much soil do I need? The bigger the pot size, the larger the plant can grow. A very general rule of thumb is that each gallon of soil provides room for the plant to grow a foot. For example, a 3 gallon pot can sustain a 3 ft plant. Growers often start their seeds in very small

pots or cups, and then once big enough they will transplant to a larger pot that can hold 3-5 gallons of soil.

c. Nutrients: The NPK ratio The NPK ratio stands for Nitrogen:Phosphorus:Potassium, which are the

three most important nutrients a plant needs. Every nutrient solution or mix will have this ratio listed somewhere on the label. As you may have already guessed, the NPK ratio we are looking for depends on the growth stage.

Vegetative growth: Look for a nutrient mix with higher N than P or K.

Something like 10:5:5 or 6:4:4 is good. Flowering: Look for something with higher P than either N or K.

Something like 2:8:4 or 10:30:10 is good.

d. Micronutrients

NPK aren’t the only nutrients plants need. They also need magnesium

(Mg), Boron (B), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Calcium (Ca), Molybdenum (Mo) and Sulfur (S). Finding a good nutrient mix that contains these along with NPK is your best bet. Your local hydroponics store will have a nice selection of these nutrients.

e. How much do I use?

Ah yes, the infamous question. Another common beginner mistake is to use too much nutrients. Never use the manufacturer’s recommended

dosage. If you chose to use Miracle Grow nutrients, start with as little as 1/10th the recommended dosage, and work your way up to about ¼ . More specialized nutrient mixes, like the ones you’d find at a hydroponics store, are much more gentile on your plants. In this case, use ¼ to ½ the recommended dosage. Most often growers will feed their plants once per week, followed by a watering later in the week. The bottom line is that there is no correct answer, but always start little and work your way up.

f. pH

pH is a measure of acidity. The pH of your nutrient solutions and soil is very important!!! Why? Because the ability of the roots to absorb nutrients depends to the soil pH. If the pH is too high or too low, the roots will not be able to take in any nutrients, and slowly the plant will die. Keep in mind that the pH is a logarithmic scale, meaning a pH of 6 is 10x’s more acidic than a pH of 7, and a pH of 5 is 100x’s more acidic

than a pH 7. This is why having the soil pH off by as little as 0.5 units can have very adverse side effects. More often than not, most problems with cannabis growth are the result of improper pH. Luckily, there are several things you can do to ensure the proper pH is maintained.

Nutrient solution pH: The soil in which the cannabis grows needs to

be between pH 6 and 7. The best way to maintain a proper soil pH

throughout the whole grow to ensure that every solution you give to the

plant is pH balanced in this range. There are two ways to test the pH of your water and nutrient solutions before feeding them to your plant. First is simply an electronic pH meter than you dip into the solution and it reads out the pH. So long as they are calibrated properly, pH meters are by far the most convenient and accurate method to measure pH, however they can be moderately expensive. The other alternative is to use a pH indicator solution, like the one shown below.

This works by simply adding a drop or two of the indicator solution to a

small volume of your nutrient solution or water. The dye will change color depending on the pH of your solution, and you can match this color with the color wheel on the manual sheet provided with the indicator dye.. If your pH is above 7 or below 6, buy pH down or pH up solutions at your local hydroponics store and adjust as necessary before you feed your plant. Again, if you give your plants a pH balanced diet each time you feed them, the chances of running into pH issues are significantly reduced. Taking the extra time to do this is very much worth it.

Soil pH: Even if you feed your plant a pH balanced solution every time,

it is also a good idea to check and ensure the pH of the soil is within the proper range. To determine the pH of your soil, bring your plant into the shower. Add a gallon of pH 7 water to the soil and measure the pH of the water that runs out the bottom. If the pH is below 6, you will need to increase the soil pH until the runoff solution is between pH 6 and 7. If it

is above pH 7, you will need to lower the pH. To increase (or decrease) the soil pH, I recommend using something like Earth Juice’s all natural pH up (or down) because it is a buffered solution made from potassium bicarbonate (I won’t get into the chemistry reasons, but buffered solutions are always better than unbuffered solutions). Dissolve some potassium bicarbonate (approximately a tablespoon) into a gallon of water and add it to the soil of your plant. Check the pH of the runoff water. Repeat until the runoff pH is between 6 and 7. When the pH of the flow through is appropriate, run several more gallons (3x’s the container volume) of pure water through to flush out the pH solution and other salt build up. This pH adjustment procedure and flushing is a great way to solve many cannabis problems. Once the soil has dried in a couple of days, you can continue your feeding schedule again.

g. Nutrient deficiencies and overdoses Many plant problems manifest themselves as some sort of leave discoloration. Some discoloration patterns can be identified very obviously as the result of a particular type of deficiency (i.e. nitrogen, magnesium, etc). Others can be rather enigmatic. Even more frustrating is knowing whether your plant is nutrient deficient or nutrient

overdosed. Alternatively, the problem can be pH, which will result in what appears to be a nutrient deficiency even though there are plenty of nutrients in the soil. I cannot go through, nor am I particularly well versed in all the different types of deficiencies and how they can be identified. However, more often than not the problem is either a nutrient overdose or improper soil pH. In both cases, a good flushing along with

a pH adjustment (as described in the above paragraph) will fix the large

majority of nutrient related problems.

g. Molasses You may have come across several areas on the internet that recommend the use of molasses as a nutrient. What does molasses do? I’m not convinced anyone really knows the right answer to this, but common explanations suggest that it benefits the microbes in the soil (which help the plant), that the roots can absorb some of the sugar to help the plant grow, and that it helps produce a sweet smell in the bud. Regardless, I have used it in my grows and it seems to have helped some. What type of molasses do I get? Unsulfured, black strap molasses is recommended. When and how much do I feed the plant molasses? People typically recommend that you start feeding the plant molasses around the 4th week

of flowering at about 1-2 tsp per gallon. If there does not seem to be any clear or obvious adverse side effects, you can increase this to 1-2 tbsp per gallon towards the end of flowering.

8. Harvest: Flowering typically takes 8-12 weeks, but can last as long as 15 weeks if the strain is sativa or sativa dominant. a. How do I know when to harvest? The best way to tell when to harvest is to buy a small microscope (60-100x) from Radio Shack for 10$ (see picture below).

Cut off a very small piece of a leaf on the bud and inspect the trichomes (the trichomes are the small white things that give the buds a sugar-like look to them, and contain most of the THC). Looking under the microscope, inspect the heads of the trichomes. If they are mostly clear, you’ve got a little while before the plant is ready to harvest. After the trichome heads are clear they will begin to turn cloudy, which, if harvested at that point, will yield a high that is more uplifting and energetic. After the trichomes are cloudy, they will begin to turn amber, which, if harvested at that point, will give a more sedentary, couch-lock type of high. Depending on which type of high you prefer, harvest when the trichomes are either cloudy, amber or a mix of the two. Here is a picture of clear trichomes:

Here is an example of cloudy trichomes:

Once you have decided it is time to harvest, simply take a sharp pair of scissors and begin to trim all the leaves around the bud. Hang the bud by the stem in a dark and well ventilated area until it is thoroughly dried (up to a week). To know if it is properly dried, try to snap the stems. If they snap cleanly, the bud is likely dry enough. If the stem doesn’t snap, but instead just bends or creases, give the bud another couple of days to dry. One the bud is dry, it can be smoked; however curing the bud will improve the smoke significantly. Curing: Once the buds are dry, cut the stems and place the buds into an air tight mason jar for curing. Open the lid and let the jar air out for about 10 minutes twice a day. This curing process helps break down some of the harsh chlorophyll

in the bud, as well as improves the smell and taste. Do this for 2 weeks or longer. After that, just keep the bud in the jar in a cool dark place. .

9. Miscellaneous: a. Timers: A timer is your best friend. Plug all lights into a timer (or multiple

timers) that will automatically turn your lights on and off at the desired time. Don’t count on being home at the exact time every single day to turn the lights on and off. Timers are cheap and can be bought at Home Depot or Lowe’s for less than 10$. Besides saving you a major hassle, timers are also essential to maintain a very regular light cycle for your plants, which will minimize the chances of stressing your plants. Ensure that the wattage rating on the timer can handle all the wattage hooked up to it though!! A picture of a good timer is shown below:

b. Carbon filters: Absolutely necessary! The odor of cannabis plants is very distinctive, very strong and, if left uncontrolled, can become a very serious risk factor for growers. It only takes one suspicious neighbor to get a small whiff of something leaking from your house to make things very ugly for you! These carbon filters, also referred to as carbon scrubbers, are fantastic at removing the smell produced by cannabis plants. While some of them can be a bit pricey, they are a lot cheaper than lawyer fees. If you cannot afford one, or do not have the know-how to build one for yourself, I don’t recommend growing. Nevertheless, you can buy very effective ones online (ebay for example) or at your local hydro store for about $150. Make sure the CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating is large enough to filter your closet space several times an hour to reduce odors. Simply hang it above your plants for adequate filtering. Below is a picture of a good carbon filter:

c. Electricity: People often ask if their electricity will go up substantially when they start the grow room. This of course depends on the size of your grow, but for a small closet grow with a couple of plants and 400watts of lighting you might expect your power bill to go up by 20-30$ per month. This small increase in your electricity is not likely to bring suspicion to your grow.

d. Reflection: Every grower wants to maximize their light efficiency by using

reflective material on the walls. The best material to use is called mylar, and can significantly increase your light efficiency. Simple white paint is also very effective. Aluminum foil is not recommended though because it does not distribute the reflected light evenly, which can cause ‘hot spots’ that will burn your plant.

10. A typical grow from start to finish:

Here I will show pictures of a plant from seed to harvest under a 250w MH for vegetative growth and a 250w HPS for flowering. For soil, I used Fox Farm’s Ocean Forest mixed with perlite (4 parts soil to 1 part perlite). For nutrients I used Fox Farm’s Grow Big (6-4-4) during vegetative growth and Fox Farm’s Tiger Bloom (2-8-4) for flowering. Both nutrient solutions contain micronutrients and were used at ½ the recommended dosage. These nutrients significantly lowered the pH of the water, so I adjusted the solutions using potassium hydroxide (“pH up”) to pH 6.5 prior to feeding every time. At 4 weeks flowering, I began to use molasses at 1 tsp per gallon, eventually working my way up to 2 tsp per gallon.

Vegetative growth: Day 1:

1 week old:

2 weeks old:

3 weeks old:

4 weeks old:

5 weeks old:

Flowering: Week 1: (notice the change in the color of light!)

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

Week 5:

Week 6:

Week 7:

Week 8:

Harvest: