The Cannabis Grow Bible PDF

1 THE CANNABIS GROW BIBLE © Copyright 2001, Greg Green All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author. 2 The Cannabis Grow Bible 4th edition By Greg Green 3 Acknowledgements My thanks to my family and friends for making this book possible. This book is dedicated to growers all over the world. I would also like to say thank you to the members of www.cannabisX.com and www.overgrow.com with a really big thank you going out to X, ~shabang~, The Penguin, Kryptonite, Strawdog, Slowhand, Chimera, BushyOlderGrower, Ralpheme, RealHigh, Clone, cannabisX and Vic High. This is a book about growing cannabis, written by people who grow cannabis. 4 DO YOU WANT TO LEARN HOW TO GROW POT LIKE THIS? 5 Picture by BushyOlderGrower. 6 OR MAKE HASH LIKE THIS? 7 Picture by BigIslandBud. 8 THEN CONGRATULATIONS BECAUSE YOU HAVE BOUGHT THE RIGHT BOOK! 9 PREFACE This book has been written under adverse conditions. In most countries it is illegal to own seeds, grow cannabis or use cannabis. Maybe it will change for you one day if you make the effort to have your voice heard. Until that day comes it is recommended that you consult your local authorities to see what is your countries legal status with regards to growing cannabis. This book does not want you to break the law nor is it here for that purpose. This book is about cannabis and how it is grown around the world. Even though the contents of this book may show you how to acquire seeds and grow very potent plants, you are responsible for your own actions. We would like to see you grow cannabis however we would not like to see you break the law. I would also like to say that many countries have permitted medical users to grow cannabis in their home. If they have in your country then this book will be of massive benefit to you and your health. The Cannabis Grow Bible is part of a foundation series and is a developing project. We listen too and talk with 100's of growers every single year. It is with their advice that we can offer you the latest updates on growing techniques and strains. The Cannabis Grow Bible is an information system. We hope that you stick with us and learn more about how to grow BIGGER BUD! 10 CONTENTS PREFACE FOREWORD Chapter 1 : THE CANNABIS PLANT: A BRIEF HISTORY OF CANNABIS AND THE BASICS OF USING CANNABIS. -HOW CANNABIS IS USED -SPECIES -THC -ZERO ZERO -RESIN -THE HIGH Chapter 2 : SEEDS - SEEDS - HOW TO GET SEEDS - CHOOSING A SEED-BANK - WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN CHOOSING SEEDS - GROWING FACTORS - THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE MARIJUANA PLANT 11 - FLOWERING NON-POLLINATED FEMALES (SINSEMILLA CROP) - CYCLE TIMES Chapter 3 : PROPAGATION -WAYS TO GERMINATE YOUR SEEDS -DANGERS WHEN PROPAGATING SEEDS -TRANSPLANTING -GERMINATION SOIL -INDOOR AND OUTDOOR GROWING -GENERAL INDOOR GROWING -GENERAL OUTDOOR GROWING AND GUERRILLA FARMING -GARDENING TOOLS -MALE POTENCY -SCUFFING SEEDS Chapter 4 : SECURITY -SECURITY -INDOOR SECURITY -OUTDOOR SECURITY -GUERRILLA GROWING SECURITY 12 Chapter 5 : THE INDOOR GROWING OF CANNABIS -LIGHTS -LIGHT BANDS -POOR LIGHTING SYSTEMS -AVERAGE LIGHTING SYSTEMS -BEST LIGHTING SYSTEMS -HORTICULTURAL LIGHTS - HID -WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A LIGHT -WATTAGE AND LUMENS -LUMENS AND MARIJUANA GROWING -LIGHTING FACTORS AND HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM YOUR LIGHT -SOIL -pH -NUTRIENTS -SOME COMMON SOIL TYPES -POTS -CONTINUING YOUR INDOOR SOIL GROW -INDOOR VEGETATIVE GROWTH -WATERING -ADJUSTING YOU LIGHTS 13 Chapter 6 : THE BASICS OF INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL -SOIL CONTROL -ph CONTROL -SOIL FLUSHING -NUTRIENT CONTROL -FEEDING -AIR -HUMIDITY -TEMPERATURE -FANS Chapter 7 : PRE-FLOWERING AND FLOWERING -THE END OF VEGETATIVE GROWTH -PRE-FLOWERING -EARLY SEXING METHODS -WHEN TO FLOWER -THE ALL IMPORTANT 12/12 -PROBLEMS WITH 12/12 -HOW TO SEX YOUR PLANTS -HERMAPHRODITES -FLOWERING 14 Chapter 8 : ADVANCED INDOOR SOIL BASED GROW METHODS -SOG -ScrOG -CABINET GROWING -ADVANCED SET-UPS -PERPETUAL GROW CYCLE Chapter 9 : BASIC HYDROPONICS - THE GROWER AND THE GROWING MEDIUM - HYDROPONICS SET-UPS -HYDROPONICS NUTRIENTS -HYDROPONICS GROWING MEDIUMS -CANNABIS AND HYDROPONICS -THE BUBBLER Chapter 10 : OUTDOOR GROWING -THE GROWER AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS -CARING FOR OUTDOOR PLANTS 15 Chapter 11 : THE BASICS OF PLANT CARE -THINNING -LIGHT BENDING -PRUNING -BUSHES -TRAINING -INCREASING YIELD Chapter 12 : PREDATORS AND PESTS -INDEX OF PESTS -CLEANING THE GROW ROOM Chapter 13 : PROBLEM SOLVER - PLANT PROBLEMS AND HOW TO SOLVE THEM - POT-BOUND AND ROOT-BOUND -LOCKOUT -BAD GENETICS 16 Chapter 14: HARVESTING AND CURING YOUR BUD - INDICA HARVEST -SATIVA HARVEST -FAN LEAVES, LEAVES AND TRIM -CURING Chapter 15: BREEDING - MAKING SEEDS -POLLEN -SIMPLE BREEDING -HOW TO CONTINUE A STRAIN THROUGH SEED -HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLE HYBRID -AN INTRODUCTION INTO BASIC GENETICS -GENE PAIRS -DOMINANT AND RECESSIVE -MODIFYING GENES -PARTIAL DOMINANCE -HARDY-WEINBERG EQUILIBRIUM -THE TEST CROSS -HARDY-WEINBERG EQUILIBRIUM PART 2 17 -HOW TO TRUE BREED A STRAIN -CUBING AND BACKCROSSING -SELFING Chapter 16: STRAIN INDEX Chapter 17: HOW TO MAKE HASH - HOW TO GATHER THE STALKED CAPITATE TRICHOMES -SKUFF -BASICS OF SCREENING -PROPER SCREENING METHODS -HOW TO PRESS SKUFF INTO HASH GLOSSARY OF TERMS INDEX 18 FOREWORD The book is a grow bible. There is still much work that needs to be done to provide something that is truly of bible size, but that will come in time. The reason why I know this is because cannabis suppression has suspended cannabis information gathering over the past 60 years. I can safely say that you can find books on Roses that are 10 times thicker than this book with heaps more information. Roses are not illegal in most countries, so scientists are free to explore the Rose. Sadly the same can not be said for cannabis......until now. The Cannabis Grow Bible (CGB for short) is new. New, in that the book is one of a kind. Those who are willing to take serious risks in getting you this information have discovered most of what you will read and learn here. It is fine and easy for me to compile the book and write it. I am not at risk by printing this book, but those who grew out hundreds of plants in their basement to provide me with raw data on this subject matter are at risk. It is with their help that they have been able to help me parse what is real and what is not in the world of growing cannabis. They have helped take facts and figures and use these to put together a book that would truly help someone grow bigger buds. The results have been outstanding and I am very thankful for what they have done. In this book you will learn a number of things. Probably too many to remember all in one go if this is your first time growing. That 19 is why I have broken the book into easy step by step portions. The book runs from start to finish just like a growing plant would. So you can imagine the life cycle of the cannabis plant being the foundation for the style and layout of this book. This is what makes the book work. It is part essay / part science. Too many books do not cover the science very well and others do not cover the practical side very well. Here you will meet both worlds as one. There are some simple things you need to grow a cannabis plant and this book will explain all those things to you, but there are other things you need to know to grow a super cannabis plant and this is where the book helps too, but it does not cross the two elements over which can sometimes confuse the reader. The book will clearly define what you can or can not do, but most of the time this has nothing to do with your growing experience. It has more to do with how much money you are willing to spend, what cannabis strains you have, and where you are growing. A grower is not limited by their growing experience. A grower is limited by law, space, money, information and good genetics. We can not help you with money, space and the law, but we can help you with growing information and we can tell you where to obtain good genetics. Don't ever let bad results hamper your new hobby. That is part of the process of learning. However, this book will point out some mistakes that people have made so you don't have to repeat them and 20 learn the hard way. Glance over this book and flick through the chapters. Get an air of what is going on. Then read it all from start to finish. By the time you turn the last page you will probably have a bit of your own home grown bud in a pipe. If you can do that then tell people about this book. It is our goal to get everyone participating in growing the great herb. This is not the final book on the subject either. This book has been designed in such a way that the book will grow on a yearly basis. We will be adding new chapters, new pictures, new methods and new theories every year. That is why the cannabis grow bible has become the growers handbook of choice. We hope that you stick with us and we hope that this book will help you to get where you want to go. Happy growing and most of all remember to...........HAVE FUN! Greg Green. 21 The Cannabis Grow Bible By Greg Green "Since it's inception marijuana is natural, given by God for all living creatures to use. Let peace and sanity prevail. Let the herb grow free. There is no finer hobby on this planet than tending to a garden that gives such delightful rewards." - Greg Green. 22 Chapter 1 THE CANNABIS PLANT: A BRIEF HISTORY OF CANNABIS AND THE BASICS OF USING CANNABIS This picture is of a young female Skunk#1 plant developing her flower cluster. This picture is from Strawdog. Cannabis plants have been living on this planet for thousands, maybe millions of years, and have been doing so for quite some time before man’s intervention and after. Cannabis can grow nearly everywhere and anywhere as long as the temperature is not too low and there is enough sunlight and food present for the plant to flourish. In Asia, one can travel to the various regions around Mongolia and visit the cannabis plant naturally growing on the hillsides and across the vast plains, sometimes covering entire hill faces and spreading down onto the valley below. The Cannabis plant is a very adaptable plant and can grow both in and outdoors. The Cannabis plant has managed to travel across the globe 23 without the help of man. The seed has been carried by the wind, in bird droppings and has attached itself to animals that can, and do, trek over long distances. As you can see Mother Nature has distributed this plant in many ways. The origins of the Cannabis plant are not entirely clear but today it is generally recognized by most biologists and cannabis researchers that it began its life somewhere in the Himalayas (Figure 1.1). Figure 1.1 - This is section of the map of Asia. The area in the square is where scientists believe cannabis started its Life. Today, human intervention has caused the Cannabis plant to grow under more controlled conditions and in areas where the plant would not have had a previous history. It is estimated that in most countries there must be at least 2 - 12 different cannabis strains growing wildly. 24 Wild Cannabis plants are rare in countries that have tried to eliminate the plant by burning fields and conditioning woodlands. In certain countries the Cannabis plant has been identified as a dangerous drug and has been killed off by human beings and law enforcement officials. It is treated as a weed and as a plant that causes social, mental and physical problems. None of these reasons for removing the plant are well founded but the cull of cannabis has occurred anyhow. The Cannabis plant was used for many things other than the extraction of THC (to be discussed later). Our ancestors, up until the late 1800’s early 1900’s, used the Cannabis plant to create clothing and other materials. The Cannabis plant or ‘hemp’ as it is called in the textile industry is a very strong material and will withstand large amounts of stress applied to it. Hemp material is widely regarded as one of the best possible materials for producing fabrics. A pair of trousers made from hemp, or a shirt made from hemp will withstand the test of time. It is a far more superior material than cotton. This should give you some clues as to why the fabrics industry wanted to put a stop to the cultivation of marijuana in the late 1800’s. Hemp fabric products will last longer than cotton fabric products thus the buyer buys less over longer periods of time. This is the first instance of the Cannabis plant being subjected to ridicule for capitalist gain. The Cannabis plant has been subjected to a number of stereotypical formats. The first one is that the resin produced by the plant is physically addictive. This is not true and I will explain why. In psychiatry there is a list of classifications for addictions of all abusive 25 substances. It is contained in a paper called - ICD-10 (classifications of Mental and Behavioral Disorders) which you can read on-line here. http://www.who.int/whosis/icd10/ Medical doctors are not informed clearly about the use and abuse of cannabis. This is because cannabis research is illegal in most countries or if research is allowed most of the results are suppressed. The only way a medical doctor can help a person with a cannabis problem is by having some experience with people who have had cannabis problems in the past. There are no special books to turn too. There are no references which explain clearly what to do or IF cannabis is physically addictive. There are no pills for cannabis addiction (there are for alcoholism). The only place a doctor can go is to the archives of what other countries have said about the drug and its abuse. As a doctor, one would maybe try Holland and read up on some of the material there, or Belgium or Switzerland. There can be found medical research papers that relate to cannabis dependence and all of them say the same thing. (A) Can it be abused? YES. (B) Can it be addictive? YES. (C) Is cannabis abuse or use life threatening? NO, but mental side effects such as depression can be, but only a small percentage of addicts (NOT USERS, BUT ADDICTS) go through this. (D) Has anyone ever died of cannabis use? ONLY 1 PERSON in the history of cannabis has died from its use, but read on. Bruce Lee, the martial arts expert died after taking cannabis, but the death certificate was later changed too 'death by misadventure' because of another medical herb that he took which he did not know he was allergic too. So the correct answer is 0 people 26 have died from using cannabis. (E) How do you treat cannabis addiction? Psychotherapy is the only answer. In fact there are absolutely no reasons for the prohibition of cannabis, other than: 1) It is hard to tell if someone is under the influence of cannabis. Driving/working with machinery is a problem here. 2) People might smoke too much and become a little lazy. 3) Many governments have prohibited it for over 70 years and it would seem very stupid if they told everyone that they where wrong about it. Now let us look at these points for a moment. 1) Yes it is hard to tell and make no mistake - if you drive after smoking cannabis then you are just as stupid as if you where driving under the influence of alcohol. It is never advised to use cannabis and then perform a procedure, like driving, which requires your total attention. As of yet there is no on the spot breathalyzer test for cannabis use, but there are tests to determine if someone has used cannabis recently, in the last few hours, in the last few days, weeks or months. However, alcohol is not banned in a lot of countries but cannabis is. 2) It happens. Some people do smoke too much pot and they become docile to the point where they just want to watch television and eat. However, if there is no money about, and the person needs to survive or live somehow, you will soon find that person can restore their life 27 back to the way it was before they started their cannabis binge by simply - Not smoking for a few days. A few days of not smoking is all it takes to rid cannabis of any effects it has had on the human body. There may be residual cannabinoids left in the system but this does not pose any problems and will soon wear away. This is not that easy with alcohol or heroin user. They will have to go through a long period of detoxification before they can resume a normal life. A cannabis user does not have to go through the detoxification period because there simply is none. Not only does the alcohol user have to spend a few days getting it out of his/her system but they will also have to deal with the withdrawal symptoms. This can last for months. With cannabis, it is simply, stop smoking cannabis and resume operations as normal. (Note: Pharmaceutical firms would love to sell a pill to cure cannabis addiction, but as of yet can not. They can not prove that their pill does anything because there are no cannabis withdrawal systems to observe. Thus the pill would be deemed a fraudulent product if put on the market.) Also many homeless people's living standards in most cases are attributed to alcohol dependence/addiction and rarely, IF ever, is their low living standard attributed to cannabis dependence. Cannabis dependence is psychological. Treatment of cannabis addiction is done by psychiatrists and psychologists and GP's. Heroin and alcohol is treated by psychiatrists, psychologists, GP's and doctors of internal medicine for the somatic systems of addiction. 3) This is a major problem because the government may have to set people free from prison and radically change their justice department’s 28 stance on cannabis which means that jobs will be lost and revenues (billions of this - $$$) will be lost if cannabis was decriminalized. Cannabis prohibition is a booming industry that creates jobs and capital. However if cannabis was decriminalized then these lost profits could be derived from a new cannabis industry. Probably one of the best sites for medical information is www.cannabisx.com, www.lycaeum.org, or www.overgrow.com One other thing to mention is that street cannabis may contain other added drugs. In most clinical cases, a person who complains about cannabis addiction and shows physical signs of addiction is not actually addicted to cannabis. They are addicted to the other drug substances that the supplier has added to his produce to make it stronger. 100% home grown clean cannabis does not contain physical additive properties. People who add other drugs to cannabis are not doing the cannabis community a favor. This is a good reason to grow your own pot. *** There are many strains or versions of the Cannabis plant alive today. Most strains are the result of human intervention and these are the types you will most likely come across or even smoke. Breeders try to produce strains that are tasty, smell good and give the user different types of highs. These are the strains that are best looked out for 29 because you can be guaranteed that the plant has got a ‘grow history’ behind it and that the seller of the seeds will know a good bit about the plant and how it ‘works’. This ends our brief look at the history of Cannabis. There is much more to it than just this and many other books that discuss the legal aspects of Marijuana go into great detail about the history of Marijuana. In fact the history of Marijuana is so interesting and deep that a dozen chapters here would not cover the vastness of this plant’s background. HOW CANNABIS IS USED Whenever we hear the word Cannabis we think of the famous leaf shape like the one on this book’s cover. Many magazines show joints being rolled thick with leaves. Leaves are in fact the lesser potent part of the plant next to the stem and the roots. The cannabis plant can be divided into 6 main sections (Fig 1.2.). Bud, Stem, Branches, Nodes, Leaves, and Main Cola. 30 Fig 1.2 - This is a picture by BigIslandBud. Each of the parts of the plant have been Indicated. The 3 horizontal lines on the right show 3 Node levels of branching and where they occur. 31 The next thing to know is that plants have a gender. The genders are male and female and sometimes a mix gender called the hermaphrodite condition. Now listen to this closely. 1) The male plant is not used for smoking because it contains low levels of THC and does not taste very good, but it can get you high. 2) The female plant when pollinated does produce THC but also produces seeds which prevent larger quantities of bud from being produced. 3) A non-pollinated female (sinsemilla) plant will produce more flowering buds with no seeds and will produce more quantities of THC than the male plant or a seeded female plant. The buds produce resin, which contain THC, and can drip down onto the leaves. When she is fully mature she should produce a very pleasing high depending on the grow method, the strain of plant and when it is harvested. To put it plainly, males can be smoked but are not very good and are considered vastly inferior to the female plant. The female plant when pollinated produces seeds and can be smoked but is vastly inferior to a non-pollinated female plant (sinsemilla) that produces more bud. It should be the goal of every Cannabis user to grow non- pollinated female plants with big buds. The goal of a cannabis breeder is too produce quality seeds and plants. How both these things are done 32 is what this book will help you to understand. At the end of the Cannabis plant’s life cycle the plant is harvested. This means one of two things. The plant can be completely uprooted and treated (called a complete harvest) or the plant can be harvested a small bit and used again for a second flowering term (this is called re-veging (Figure 1..3) and re-flowering). Figure 1.3 - A plant that is being re-veged. Picture by Vic High. When Cannabis is harvested the harvester concentrates on the best part of the plant, namely the top cola and the buds. The leaves are 33 the last thing to worry about and the stem and roots are normally thrown away. There are many ways to harvest a plant and we will explain it in detail, later. Once the grower has selected the parts they want, they then set about curing their harvest (Figure 1.4). Curing your harvest is important. It helps one to produce a finer product. After the curing has been done the grower can then choose how he/she wants to finally produce their smokable mix (figure 1.5). They can use the cured plant as it is and smoke it dry or they can produce hash or oils from the curing process. Figure 1.4 - This is a picture of some cured buds. 34 Figure 1.5 - This is the result of a good indoor harvest. Both Pictures by Kryptonite. 35 Figure 1.6 - This is a picture of an indoor garden from Kryptonite. SPECIES The next thing one should know about are the different types of Cannabis species. There are 3 main species of Cannabis plants. These are Sativa, Indica and Ruderalis. Each species has its own group of strains which are many. Each species has different characteristics and each strain of each species has its own special identity. 36 Figure 1.7 - Picture of Sativa leaf by Slowhand. SATIVA: Height - Can grow tall. Averages anywhere between, 4 - 15 feet. Nodes - Has long internodes between branches, 3 inches to 6. Leaf - Pointy leaves with no markings or patterns. Figure 1.8 - Indica Leaf picture by Kryptonite. 37 INDICA: Height - Small plants. Averages anywhere between 6 inches - 4 feet. Nodes - Short internodes between branches. 3 inches and less. Leaf - Rounded leaves with marble like patterns. Figure 1.9 - This is a picture of some Ruderalis / Indica hybrids from Sensi Seeds. www.sensiseeds.com RUDERERALIS: Height - Small plants. Averages anywhere between 6 inches and 4 feet. Nodes - very short internodes with much branching. Leaf - Small and thick. 38 THC Cannabis plants produce psychoactive ingredients called cannabinoids. The main ingredient of the cannabinoids that gives the high effect is called - delta 9 THC. All strains vary in THC levels that come in different percentages. Some plants may contain 100% THC but the "levels" of THC may be low. Other plants have only 60% THC, but the "levels" of THC may be very high. A good potent plant will have both levels and quantities very high. Cannabis plants also produce something called - delta 8 THC. This ingredient is in low levels but does contribute to the high. When we mention THC levels, we are talking about both delta 8 and 9 THC. There are also other ingredients that add to the high such as CBD, CBN, THCV, CBDV, CDC and CBL, but are only very minor compared to THC. The difference between THC levels and THC quantities is that THC levels are genetic. They are not under the influence of the grower. THC quantities on the other hand are. This is to do with bud mass and how much resin can be generated in that bud mass. Some bud may only contain 20% THC, with a THC level of 5. The same plant grown under better conditions and light will produce 70% THC, with a THC level of 5. The ‘5’ is genetic. The quantities of 20% and 70% are under the grower’s control. When examining a strain in a seed-bank catalogue one is guided to check for the THC levels of that plant to understand how potent the plant is. Many seed sellers and breeders measure their 39 plants THC levels and give accounts on how much THC their plants have. Of course many breeders like to exaggerate on how much THC their plants produce, but some do not. If you wish to know more about THC levels it is best to consult your seed-bank or breeder for details. No complete study of cannabinoids has been made public since this book’s publication. This is because cross breeding produces so many different results that it is hard to keep track on what is happening. Some 'old timer' strains are still around and have been tested. This information can be obtained from the larger seed production companies in Holland. THC testing is also an expensive process that requires heavy amounts of research. The other interesting factor is that some plants do not produce any THC at all. These plants have been genetically engineered (GM) to produce very low levels of THC and are mainly used by farmers in some countries who have permission to grow cannabis for hemp production ONLY. It is best to keep away from these seeds and strains. They will not get you high. There is project called the PMP (potency monitoring project) that is carried out by some government-funded agencies, but the results are questionable. ZERO ZERO The other thing that may interest you is that Cannabis can be cured in various forms and one of these popular forms is HASHISH 40 (Figure 1.10). Figure 1.10 - This is some raw hash extraction by Kryptonite. This hash is pure without any additives. Hashish can also be graded and one of the most famous grades of Hashish is called Zero Zero. Hashish making (Figure 1.11) can improve (but sometimes degrade) the overall potency of marijuana. 41 The grades of Hashish are as follows. 00(zero zero), 0, 1, 2, 3. Zero Zero is by far the most purest form of Hashish on the market today and comes from plants that have high levels of THC in conjunction with a good Hash making technique. Sometimes the technique may be good but the levels of THC in the plant are low. This may produce a grade such as a 2 or a 3. It is wise to note that the Potency of a plant depends on a number of factors. It should be the goal of every grower to produce a potent, high grade, product. Zero Zero is also a 'western' concept derived from hash types that come from Morocco. Figure 1.11 - This picture shows some hash being made. The powder- like substance is the collection of trichomes from the plant. This 42 powder will eventually be solidified to make a bar of hash. Photograph by Chimera. RESIN Female plants produce resin glands (Figure 1.12 and 1.14). Some of these glands may have lots of resin but are not very potent. Other plants may have little resin but are very potent. Optimal growth gives rise to a plant that has lots of resin and is very potent. Resin glands are produced all over the female flowers and new leaves. They can be seen clearly with the use of a magnifying aid. These resin glands are correctly called Trichomes. Figure 1.12 - This picture is a macro shot of some trichomes as they look on the plant. Notice the ball shaped tips. These contain 43 cannabinoids. Photograph by Joop Jumas. Figure 1.13 - This flowering female is covered in Trichomes. That is what gives this bud her frosty look. Picture by Chimera. 44 Resin can be rubbed off the bud using the fingers and then rolled into the palms to create small balls of hand rubbed hashish. It is within these glands that one is to find the main concentration of produced cannabinoids and THC. When a plant is in full flowering the resin gland can explode or break dropping resin down onto the leaves below. This can also give the leaves their shiny frosty potent look during flowering. Towards the bottom of the plant are located the fan leaves. These leaves are generally large and collect most of the light for plant growth. Because these leaves are far away from the top of the plant, which produce the most amount of resin glands and buds, they collect the least amount of resin and are not very potent. It is best to consider separating these fan leaves from the rest of the plant after harvest because these leaves will not give you the best quality high. Figure 1.14 - Trichomes Photograph by Joop Jumas. 45 THE HIGH We should now have an idea as to what we are looking for in terms of a good quality smoke. We are looking for non-pollinated female plants that have flowered, producing lots of buds with resin glands that contain high levels and amounts of THC. We are also looking for plants that have been well cured and processed in a way that allows us to sample the full flavor, smell and taste of the plant. One must also be aware that some plants are very potent and can literally knock one’s socks off. This is where taste comes into play. Some people like plants that give a head high but do not cause one to fall asleep. Other people like plants that give a down effect and cause the body to become less responsive to stimuli. The body down is called ‘The couch-lock effect’. The head high is simply called ‘The head high.’ Now another thing must be considered here. Remember that we talked about Species of Cannabis - Sativa, Indica and Rudereralis? Well Rudereralis is hardly used much today. Sativa and Indica are extremely common and these 2 species will be the main focus of this book. Also both species have two different forms of high. The high type of each species can also be controlled depending on the time at which you harvest. Not only this but the species can be crossed to produce Indica/Sativa type plants or Sativa/Indica type plants. This may sound all very confusing at first, but it is in fact all quite simple. We will explain more about this in our next chapter. 46 Chapter 2 SEEDS Figure 2.1 - Some cannabis seeds by Kryptonite. At the moment there are approximately 450 seed varieties of Cannabis on the market today. Out of the 450 seed varieties, 200 are worth looking at and out of the 200 varieties about 50 or so are outstanding. Each strain is either a pure species type (taking 2 plants of the same species and crossing them) or a crossbreed of two or more species (taking 2 plants from different species and crossing them). Out of the 450 seed varieties we said that 200 where good. This leaves 250 left. Those 250 are usually very unstable crossbreed strains. These complete hybrids plants are mixed so much that they can not be classified at either Sativa or Indica. They are classified in a different way and we will explain this in the strain format table below. 47 Most hybrids do not last long on the market and are primarily found only among breeders who are experimenting with their plant’s genetics. Seed producers tend to only produce the following strain categories. Some Hybrids can be excellent though! PURE SATIVA (This is a pure species) SATIVA (This is a mostly Sativa species with some Indica) PURE INDICA (This is a pure species) INDICA (This is a mostly Indica species with some Sativa) INDICA/SATIVA (This is a 50/50 cross between a Sativa and an Indica species) They also produce: RUDERALIS (This is a pure species) And some other Ruderalis mixes. However Ruderalis is a problematic plant. It does not produce large quantities of THC, nor does it flower like the other varieties. Ruderalis is considered sub- standard by most growers because it flowers according to age and does not flower according to the photoperiod. We will explain what the photoperiod is in a moment. Now remember that we said an Indica/Sativa cross would produce two different highs. Well we lied a little. If they are both 50%/50% crosses then the high will be a 50%/50% mix. Indica/Sativa and Sativa/Indica is really the same thing. 48 Pure Sativa is a total ‘Head High’. Pure Indica is a total ‘Body Stone/couch-lock’. A 50/50 cross will give a 50% ‘Head high’ and a 50% ‘Body Stone’. If an Indica plant is crossed slightly with a Sativa plant it will give a 60% ‘Body Stone’ and a 40%‘Head High’. A Sativa plant that is crossed slightly with an Indica plant will give a 60% ‘Head High’ and a 40% ‘Body Stone’. The 60/40 ratio is most common but some breeders can change that ratio. When choosing a seed, check to see if it is pure or if it has a ratio. Most seed sellers will have this listed along with their seed type. So when we look at some strains that are crossbreeds we must understand which species the plants are leaning towards. Along with the cross you can expect that the plant will look different. Some Sativa plants may be shorter because of the Indica breeding in them and some Indica plants may be taller because of the Sativa breeding in them. This is okay though because later on we will find that as a grower we have control over how a plant will look and grow. As a grower we can influence height and plant features. We can also harvest the plant in such a way that we can produce a different high type. The later you harvest the plant the more you will help produce a couch-lock effect. Harvesting just before peak will induce a cerebral high. If you are working with strains that are for either cerebral or couch-lock highs then you can harvest early or later and help produce some of these ‘high type’ properties. 49 Figure 2.2 - This is a wonderful harvest picture by GIYO. 50 Hopefully with the knowledge you have been given so far you are equipped to choose a plant that fits your needs in terms of height, potency and high type. There is no point trying to grow an 8-foot Sativa Bush indoors if you do not have the space for it. 2 foot Indica plants outdoors may not survive if other plants compete with it for light. As a rule we can always shorten the plants lengths through pruning, but rarely can we double the plants height if the strain's genes only allow the strain to grow 2 or 3 feet. Figure 2.3 - A small grow room by Mr.Zog. 51 HOW TO GET SEEDS The best way to get seeds is from a friend who has grown a type of plant that you enjoyed to smoke. This, by far, is the best way because, (1) You will get the seeds for free and (2) you know what the high type will be because you have already tasted it. The next best way is the Internet. The Internet is full of seed- banks that wish to sell you seeds, but there are a few problems that you may encounter. The first problem is that some of these seed-banks will rip you off. The second is that some of these seed-banks do not ship worldwide. The third is that some of these seed-banks misrepresent their stock. The fourth is that seeds can be very expensive. Some seed- banks sell seeds anywhere between (US Dollars = $, UK Sterling = £) $80/£70 and $300/£290 for 10 - 16 seeds. There are rip-off artists out there, but then again some of these seeds are worth the money because the strain is excellent in vigor and production. So how do we choose our seed-bank and how do we really know what seeds to pick? CHOOSING A SEED-BANK As a rule if you find a classy seed-bank then you will find classy breeders using that seed-bank to sell their seeds. If you find a seed-bank then the first thing you should do is to examine what people have to say about that seed-bank. The best way to find this out is to check one of the more popular websites on the net like 52 www.cannabisx.com or www.yahooka.com. Some web sites give listings and ratings on seed-banks. You can also do a search on the net using a search engine like AltaVista or Yahoo. Find a good web site that is used by a number of people and not a web site that is used by one person. A community of users is a good place to go for message board forums and chat. Also check to see that the site has a registered URL, like a.com site. If they use a free web site service then consider staying clear of it because it can disappear without trace overnight. Once you have found a web site then run a search on 'seeds'. A listing may appear of all known seed- banks that deal over the Internet. It is best then to check out the reviews on each seed-bank by the public. A good one is www.yahooka.com or www.cannabisx.com. This gives the latest update on each seed-bank and gives them a review out of 5. Find the URL of each seed-bank and check out the prices. Some seed-banks do deals on seeds and you will find that prices do change from bank to bank. The next thing you do before buying anything is to send the web master an E-mail. Ask him/her about their services, what seeds you like, how they delivers, security arrangement, and if they can deliver to your country. In some countries seeds are legal. In others they are not. Wait until they give you a reply. If you do not get a reply then do not use that seed-bank. These people are salesmen and should communicate with you and answer all your questions. Also ask how the money should be sent and ask about postage and packaging. Most seed-banks sell their seeds in batches of 10 - 20. This means that you will get 10 - 20 seeds in the post. Anything can happen. A misplaced 53 foot in the postal office can kill the seeds, making them not viable. Good seed-banks provide good packaging. Ask about it. If your seeds do not arrive send an E-mail to the seed-bank and ask them what happened. If they do NOT reply or if your seeds are lost write them a complaint and then post that complaint in one of the web boards like yahooka.com. The more people complain the better the chances of indicating seed-banks that are ripping people off. Also if you get your seeds in good condition then it is always wise to post a good review of that seed-bank. This will also improve your communication with that seed-bank the next time you buy seeds (you may get discounts). If you do not have access to the web then you will have to get addresses for these seed-banks and send them a letter asking for further information. Some seed-banks have even advertised in the back of this book. WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN CHOOSING SEEDS Okay, so now you have an idea of what type of plant you want and the seed-bank that you are going to use. The next step is too check if the seeds are for indoor or outdoor use. There is a saying that all cannabis seeds can be grown indoors and outdoor. This is true, but that is not what the breeder had intended. If the breeder had created a plant that does well indoors then it is suggested that you only grow these seeds indoors. If you grow outdoors and the plant does not produce that well, then you know that you should have followed the breeder’s advice. Next time take that advice. There is nothing stopping you from 54 experimenting, and some growers have produced excellent results by putting outdoor seeds indoors or putting indoor seeds outdoors, but it is best if you follow the advice you are given, especially if you are new to growing. Figure 2.4 - Outdoor Sativa. 55 Figure 2.5 - Indoor Sativa. Both of these pictures, figure 2.4 and 2.5, show a mostly Sativa strain growing outdoors and indoors. As you can see this would probably be labeled an outdoor strain because of its size. The grower, mullummadman, has been able to grow it both ways though. You may also find that a number of similar strains have been produced by different breeders. When you look at the seed-bank list you may see 1 - 4 types of the same plant. What is going on here you ask? Well, let us take Skunk#1 for example. Skunk#1 is a mostly Sativa plant but there are about 7 breeders who have provided a certain 56 seed-bank with these seeds. Each seed breeder tries to develop the best plant possible for that strain type. You will find that some breeders are good and others are not so good. Make sure that you check with the seed-bank to see which breeder's strains are the best. Always choose the best. The reason for choosing the best is that later you can PRODUCE YOUR OWN SEED from that strain! Welcome to the wonderful world of Marijuana growing. Search for Serious Seeds and Paradise Seeds on the internet. They are both Dutch seed companies. The next thing to look for is flowering times. Each strain is a bit different on flowering times. In a nutshell flowering is the next cycle after your plant shows its sex. There are 3 main stages in plant growth. Germination, Vegetative growth and Flowering. It is towards the last days of flowering that you should begin your harvest. If the seed-bank says, Skunk#1 Flowering time: 7-9 weeks then you should be able to know roughly when your plant will be ready for harvest (in this case it will 7 - 9 weeks from the time your plant starts to flower). Some plants have shorter flowering times and others have longer. This is a guide to help you understand how long it will take, after vegetative growth is complete, before you will have a chance to savior your plant’s delights. The last piece of advice is this. Always consult someone about your strain type. Who knows, they may be able to recommend something better.... Or maybe even have a private seed stash of their own. 57 Figure 2.6 - This is some Skunk#1 by Strawdog. 58 Figure 2.7 - Seeds enough to grow a 1000 plants! Picture by Kryptonite. 59 Figure 2.8 - This is another great picture of some female bud by Kryptonite. 60 GROWING FACTORS This is important to bear in mind before you grow your weed. Have you got the time to take care of your plants? Are you going to be taking long holidays? Have you got someone you trust to take care of your plants? And if you do how secure is your grow area? How do the people you live with feel about this? Can you hide the smell when the plants start to flower? Are you prepared to pay money on lights and other grow items? Are you prepared to pay the costs of a higher electricity bill? Are people going to see your grow room? Are people going to walk past your grow site outdoors? Is the meter man going to see your grow room? Is the gas man going to see your grow room? Are you sure that you really want to do this? Figure 2.9 - This is an example of how some outdoor plants can get 61 really big and tall. Sometimes they can be hard to hide. Picture by Mullummadman. If you are negative on any of these points above then I suggest that you resolve those issues before you move on. The next thing I am going to tell you is the most important thing you will ever hear when growing marijuana. People have lived their whole lives growing cannabis and have never had an encounter with the law. It is so simple, but very hard to do. If you can do it then you are halfway to being an expert grower. Are you ready for it? 62 NEVER TELL ANYONE THAT YOU ARE GROWING CANNABIS! 63 If you do this then you will never have a problem other than someone accidentally walking into your grow area. NEVER EVER TELL ANYONE ANYTHING, EVER. If you can do this then you will have more security than a castle equipped with guard-dogs henchmen and the works. Loose lips cause 99.9% of all security related issues being breached. 00.1% is caused because you did not take the time out to conceal your area well enough. Loose lips sink ships. If you plan to share your crop with your friends then do it by another means, like - ‘Hey guys look what I just bought’. The only people who should know that you grow are the people who live with you. If your husband/wife has loose lips, then maybe you should consider guerrilla growing outdoors (explained later.) Other than that, these are the most important factors you need to consider. Never grow at home if other people are not going to know about it. This is bad and always causes problems in the end. So what does that say? Growing on your own is the best way. Growing with other people is a problem unless you know they are okay with it. You will have to figure some of these things out for yourself. The next factor is bugs and pests. Always, always have a bottle of pesticide that kills SPIDER MITES. Spider Mites can reduce your plants to garbage within a couple of days. NEVER EVER BRING A PLANT INSIDE THAT HAS BEEN OUTSIDE. People who have done this have managed to kill nearly every plant in their house because they brought a plant indoors that had spider mites. Marijuana plants are very vulnerable to mite attacks 64 because the spider mites love to suck marijuana plants dry. They are tiny, about half the size of this dot --->>. I can not stress how important this is. We will talk more about pests later. The next thing we will talk about is what we expect our seeds to do before they become full flowering plants. Figure 2.10 - This is example of what pest damage can do to your crop. Notice how the leaf has been eaten away. Picture by Slowhand. 65 THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE MARIJUANA PLANT Figure 2.11 - Another wonderful bud shot from Chimera. We said before that a plant would grow in three main stages. Germination, Vegetative growth and flowering. Plants actually grow in 6 stages. Here is the life cycle of the cannabis plant. 66 Germination: This is the initial stage of growth and occurs when your seed’s embryo cracks open and the seedling produces a root. This root fixes itself into the soil and pushes the newborn seeding up and over the soil surface. Following surface contact two embryonic leaves open outwards to receive sunlight, pushing the empty seed shell away from the seedling. It takes anywhere between 12 hours to 3 weeks for seeds to germinate. Once the plant has reached this stage it goes into the seedling stage. Figure 2.12 - This is a great picture of an Indica seedling by Strawdog. Seedling Stage: After the first pair of embryonic leaves are receiving light (Figure 2.12), the plant will begin to produce another small set of new 67 leaves. These leaves are different from the last and may have some Marijuana characteristics such as the three-rounded finger shaped points. As the seedling grows, more of these leaves are formed and bush upwards along with a stem. Some stems are very weak at this stage and need the support of a small thin wooden stake tied to the seedling with some fine thread. The seedling stage can last between 1 and 3 weeks. At the end of the seedling stage your plant will have maybe 4 - 8 new leaves. Some of the old bottom leaves may drop off. Figure 2.13 - Here is a picture of a cannabis plant in vegetative 68 growth. This picture is from GIYO. Vegetative Growth: The plant now begins to grow at the rate which its leaves can produce energy. At this stage the plant needs all the light and food it can get. It will continue to grow upwards producing new leaves as it moves along (Figure 2.13). It will also produce a thicker stem with thicker branches and with more fingers on the leaves. It will eventually start to show its sex. When it does this it is time for the plant’s pre- flowering stage. It can take anywhere between 1 and 5 months for the plant to hit this next stage. Pre-flowering: At this stage the plant slows down in developing its height and starts to produce more branches and nodes. The plant fills out in the pre-flowering stage. During this phase of the plant cycle your plant will start to show a calyx which appears where the branches meet the stem (nodes). Pre-flowering can take anywhere between 1 day to 2 weeks. (See last page of this book for pre-flowering/calyx illustration) 69 Figure 2.14 - This is a great picture of a flowering plant. It should be indicated here that this plant is a female. Picture by GIYO. 70 Flowering: During this stage the plant continues to fill out. The plant will show its sex clearly. The male plant produces little balls that are clustered together like grapes. The female plant produces little white/cream pistils that look like hairs coming out of a pod. Each of the plants will continue to fill out more and their flowers will continue to grow. It can take anywhere between 4 to 16 weeks for the plant to fully develop its flowers (Figure 2.14). During this time the male’s pollen sacks would have burst spreading pollen to the female flowers. 71 Figure 2.15 - Seeded bud picture by Shecky Greene. 72 Seed: The female plant will produce seeds at this point if she has received viable pollen from a male plant. The seeds grow within the female bud and can take anywhere between 2 weeks to 16 weeks, to grow to full maturity. The female pistils may change color before finally bursting the seedpods, sending them to the soil below. (Breeders like to collect their seeds before the seedpods burst.) These are the six stages of the life cycle of a cannabis plant. It is important to know that if the males are separated from the females and killed off then the females will not become pollinated. Let us go back a step and describe what happens here. 73 FLOWERING NON-POLLINATED FEMALES (SINSEMILLA CROP) Figure 2.16 - This is some bud by Giyo. The picture is upside down because it is freshly harvested bud strung up. During this stage the plant continues to fill out. The plant will show its sex more clearly. The female plant produces little 74 creamy/white pistils. The plant will continue to fill out more and its flowers will continue to grow. It can take anywhere between 4 and 16 weeks for the plants to fully develop. During this time though there are no males to pollinate the female plants. The buds will grow larger and develop more resin glands. Resin may drop down onto the leaves and the plant becomes very sticky. The pistils on the buds begin to get thicker and cluster into balls. The reason for the high increase in bud growth is that the female plant is trying her best to attract male pollen. Towards the last days of flowering the pistils will change color Indicating that the plant is ready for harvest. CYCLE TIMES Given the above data it can take anywhere between 10 weeks and 36 weeks for a plant to grow to maturity. That is, again, anywhere between 2.5 months to 9 months. The most common grow time is 3 to 4 months. All this is dependent on the strain that you choose. Pure Sativa can run anywhere into the 6 - 9 month bracket. Indica can flower in 6 weeks. As you can image a Sativa/Indica plant will fall into the 2 - 4 month flowering period. 75 Figure 2.17 - Seeded bud picture by Shecky Greene. 76 Figure 2.18 - Great bushy plant picture by X3n0. 77 Chapter 3 PROPAGATION What is propagation? Propagation: 1 The action of breeding or multiplying by natural processes; procreation, generation, reproduction. 2 The action of spreading an idea, practice, etc., from place to place. 3 Increase in amount or extent; enlargement; extension in space or time. Propagation is 'The Grow'. However most people treat propagation as the actual events occurring between the planting of the seed and the transplant of that seedling to the main grow environment. Here we will treat propagation as the entire process of growing from seed to harvest. Propagation also includes the logistics of the grow. So what are you going to do? Are you going to buy a batch of 10 seeds and grow them all in one go? Are you going to then kill the males and just smoke the females? Are you going to keep the males and produce more seeds from the females? How many seeds can a female plant produce? Should I plant my 10 seeds in one go? What should I do to guarantee that all my seeds will grow? These are the questions that you should be asking before you begin to grow and this is where propagation logistics comes into play. The answers depend largely on the size of your grow area and what your budget is. Let’s say we have about $200/£180 to spend on seeds. We can 78 buy an expensive strain like a G13 cross and then we can grow the G13 and produce more seeds from it. We can get anything between 100 and 2000 seeds depending on plant size and grow conditions. If we grow this season for 4 months and at the end produce a lot of seeds then we may never need to buy seeds for this strain again. There is something else we can do called - CLONING. Figure 3.1 - Here are some clones by Slowhand. This is a technique whereby we can grow a number of plants and select a good female. Then we can take cuttings from that female mother plant and grow these cuttings into new plants. Clones always keep the same sex and vigor of the mother plant. It is also possible to 79 create a garden of plants that will last for decades through cloning from a single female mother plant. Cloning is discussed in detail in a later chapter For the new grower it is advised that you buy 10 seeds and only germinate 3 the first time followed by another 3 the following week followed by the last 4 in two weeks after that. This will allow you some degree of experimentation as you may fail on your first attempt to germinate the seeds because of lack of any previous cannabis growing experience. For people who have germinated seeds once before in the past, it is advised that you germinate 5 followed by another 5 the next week. If you are a long time grower with a good amount of growing experience then you can germinate all 10 in one go. Again you do not have to do it this way. It just helps reduce the risk of failing all the seeds because of bad germination methods. During your plants growth you may decide that you want to pollinate ONLY ONE of your females. This means that you need to have two grow areas. One for growing all your female plants and another for growing a single or more females mixed in with some males. As we said before this depends on how much grow space you have and how much money you want to spend. It is important that your pollination room is kept well away from your female grow room. Pollen can travel by air and it is advised that the two areas are kept well apart. Also bees and other insects can spread pollen. Not only that but you can too. Always wash your hands and face after handling a male plant. This saves problems of pollen from a male plant getting 80 onto a female that you wish to keep for sinsemilla. Figure 3.2 - Pollen from the male plant can be collected by shaking it over a clean surface such as a sheet of glass. The pollen can then be swept up by using a credit card. If you gather it in a piece of paper like this then you can........ 81 Figure 3.3 -.....Store male pollen in a test tube like this. If kept out of the light pollen can keep for a long time. You can use this pollen to make seeds from a female plant by sprinkling some of the pollen onto the female flowers. Photography film canisters also make great pollen storage units. Both picture by Slowhand. 82 Figure 3.4 - This is a great picture of an indoor grow room by GIYO. The light hanging down over the plants is a HPS light. It gives off an orange glow to the grow room. 83 So being logical we can see that we have paid a bit of money for 10 seeds and that we want to get 100% germination results. The following passages will tell you how to achieve that success rate. WAYS TO GERMINATE YOUR SEEDS Seeds can be germinated in a number of ways. Some ways guarantee more success than others. It is recommended that you consider the 'rockwool SBS propagation tray' method. Figure 3.5 - Germination picture by BushyOlderGrower. 84 Seed soil propagation: This is a method whereby the seeds are placed down in moist soil about 3mm or the length of the seed from the surface. The soil is kept moist (Not soaking wet) by sprinkling water over it once a day. This has a moderate success rate. Out of 10 seeds only 7 - 8 may germinate. Seed towel propagation: Figure 3.6 - This is an example of some seeds that have germinated. This method is the towel germination method. Picture by Kryptonite. This is a method whereby the seeds are placed either on a damp towel or on a damp piece of cotton wool. Cheesecloth may also 85 be used. The seed is then covered with more damp wool or a damp towel. The towel/wool must be kept moist at all times. If the material dries out it may damage the seeds. Everyday check to see if the seeds have started to produce any roots. If they have then immediately transfer the seedling to a grow medium (such as soil) using a pair of tweezers. Do not touch the root. This has a moderate to high success rate. Out of 10 seeds 8 - 9 may germinate. The problem with this method is that sometimes the transplant can cause the seedling to go into shock. This can kill the germination process leaving you with nothing. With practice you can get all your seeds to germinate. Propagation kits: This is a method whereby the seeds are placed in small unit, called a seed or clone propagator, which is designed to help plants germinate. One such kit is called a rockwool SBS Propagation Tray. Some of these kits can be heated and look like a miniature greenhouse. At the bottom of the tray is a small area where water, or even better ‘some germination hormone’ is poured. Small grow cubes called rockwool cubes are placed into slots in the tray, which automatically dips the rockwool into the solution (Figure 3.8). The seeds are placed into tiny holes in the cubes and the cover is then put back on the unit. 86 Figure 3.7 - Propagation kit and Clones by Strawdog. This has a very high success rate. All the seeds can sometimes germinate and in most cases often do. The disadvantage to this method is that you need to spend money on the tray, rockwool and grow fertilizers. The price of the tray is about $10/£10, the rockwool cubes $5/£5, the grow fertilizers $5/£5. If you have spent $50/£50 on seeds then why not spend the extra $20/£20 on getting a small kit together like this. The other advantage is that you can use this same tray to help root your clones. 87 Figure 3.8 - Overhead shot of some seedlings germinating in rockwool. Picture by Shecky Greene. DANGERS WHEN PROPAGATING SEEDS Drafts are a killer and will stunt germination. Always make sure that you keep your germinating seeds away from any open windows or fans. Also make sure that the room is kept warm. A cold room can inhibit your germination rates. The other thing to look out for when using germination fertilizers is to make sure that your mixture is correct. Do not use high doses of fertilizers with seedlings. 88 In fact water is all seedlings should need. You do not need to add anything. Some people do use germination solutions though, but make sure that you keep these solution strengths down low. An incorrect mixture can burn your seedlings and cause them to fail. Another thing to do is to leave your seeds alone to grow. Do not go fiddling with them, hence the term ‘digging up your seeds’. Some people tend to disturb the soil to see how their seeds are doing. This is a bad move and can break or even damage the seed and root. The other thing to keep in mind is that some strains produce seedlings that have weak stems. This means that the seedling may tend to lean, sometime more than 90 degrees, to the left or right. If you find that your seedlings need support then use a small stick to hold your seedling up. Tie the stem to the stick using a piece of thread. Never tie the thread above a growing shoot or the seedling will push up against the thread and rip itself. You may continue to use a stick to support your plant as it grows. If your plant still has a weak stem during vegetative growth it is recommended that you give the base of the stem a little shake every morning and evening. This will help the plant to develop a more solid stem. Outdoors the wind shakes a plant and causes it to develop this solid stem. You can fake the wind by doing this mildly every morning for two or three seconds. However if you read on you will find that indoor fans help do this. (Note: Never bring a stick from outdoors indoors for support as the stick may have some bugs on it. Some bugs such as spider mites can go undetected in their incubation nests inside the wood.) 89 Seeds must also be viable if they are going to germinate. Never use white seeds. These are immature. Find seeds that have white and grey markings or another color apart from white. Crushed seeds will also not germinate. Old seeds may have trouble germinating. Always try to use the best seeds you can find. TRANSPLANTING During the stages between germination and vegetative growth the grower may find that he/she needs a bigger pot. Transplanting is done nearly always as early as possible. One example of a transplant is when the seedlings are ready in their rockwool SBS tray. The seedling is lifted from the tray along with the rockwool cube and placed in another grow medium such as soil, or maybe even a hydroponics set- up (more about hydroponics later). That is called a transplant. There is not much of problem when transferring the cube and seedling to the soil. Just dig a small hole in the soil for the cube and place it in. Cover the cube with soil. The cube will not effect your plant’s growth and will add support if anything. If you have started your seedlings in soil then you may want to transplant the plant to a bigger pot. The problem with transplanting is that people like to move the soil and roots along with the plant from one pot to another. This means that the plant must be lifted out with the soil in place. How is this done? Well there are two ways. The first way is that one does not need to remove the plant from the smaller pot at all. All you have to do is cut away the base of the small pot and 90 place this pot into the bigger pot of soil. The roots will grow down through the bottom hole of the old pot and into the new one. The roots will always find their way down. The other way is too make sure that the soil is very dry. Delay watering your plant for a couple of days and let the soil settle hard. Then you can use a clean knife to cut around the inside of the pot. Cut deep, but do not damage the roots. When you have done this push your fingers down into the side and lift the plant and soil out. You will have some breakaway soil but this does not matter as long there is not too much of it lost. Quickly place the plant into the larger pot and fill with soil. Give your plant some water so that it will take to the new soil. Never ever try to lift your plant by the stem. Even though the stem may look safe and strong this nearly always causes problems down the line. You should always have a firm grip of the soil when transplanting. Some people like to clean the roots, but I would not recommend it for cannabis. If your soil is very compact you may be able to turn the pot upside down and tap the whole medium out as one solid mass. During some transplants the cannabis plant may go into shock, even if your transplant was clean and perfect. If you have kept your plant well it should survive. If the plant has not been looked after it may fail quickly. A good grower always takes care of his/her plants. Transplant shock is caused by a disturbance of the roots. If the roots are cut or fall down, the plant does not respond well to this. This is why you must always make sure that you keep a firm hold of the soil during transplants. Also refrain from feeding them for 1 week if you can. There are some transplant feeding products that work as 91 hormones out there and you may wish to have a look at those. GERMINATION SOIL There are many soils out there that advertise themselves as germination soils. They basically are the same as any other soil except they contain micronutrients and are kept somewhat 'clean' (the soil is sifted and no compost is added). Ordinary loam soil with a pH of 7 and an NPK of higher or equal amounts of N than P or K is good for starting seeds in. Even the ratios of NPK @ 5:1:1 or 8:4:4 are good. Just make sure that the N is equal too or higher than the P and K factors on the label. More about soil later. INDOOR AND OUTDOOR GROWING We are now coming to the first core divide in growing marijuana. At this stage you should now know something about the History of Cannabis, How it is smoked, Cannabis Species, The Cannabis High, Seeds, How to choose and obtain seeds, Grow factors, The life cycle of the plant, Propagation, Germination and Transplanting. Now all these things are generally pre-production methods except for Transplanting. You are about to take your seedling and put it into your main grow area. This means that for the next 3 - 9 months your plant is going to be located in a certain environment. That environment is either indoors or outdoors. So let us talk about 92 each in brief for a moment. GENERAL INDOOR GROWING Figure 3.9 - Indoor Grow room picture by Shipperke. Light is the most important factor next to choosing your strain that you must consider. There are two main ways to light your plants indoors - Natural light and artificial light. Both ways have advantages and disadvantages. The first thing you should know is that indoor lights produce bigger flowers (more bud) than natural window light. This means you get more THC quantity with artificial lights than you will with natural sunlight indoors. Even in countries that have hot sun for 6 months of 93 the year you can still find it hard to produce big buds indoors under natural light. Some people have grown plants under an attic window that they open during the dry days. This will grow you bud but not as much as you would get using an artificial light system. The other side of the coin is that natural light is free, electricity is not and grow lights are a little bit expensive to buy and use. They are definitely not as expensive as it is to run an electric cooker 24 hours a day but they are little expensive to use all the same. Figure 3.10 - The Sun. Picture by Inf3cted. 94 When using a window grow try to place your plant near a window that gets the most sunlight. Sun comes up in east and sets in the west. It travels more north or south depending on which side of the equator you are. Think about it for awhile. Also remember that you have the seasons to think about. If you plan on a window grow try to establish when you want your plant to receive most of its light. You want your plant to get most of its light during flowering. If July is the best month for sunlight then you may consider producing your seedling back in April or May or even as early as late March. Try to guess when you will get the best weather. Coordinate this with the flowering times directed by the breeder and you will be able to foresee your harvest time. Also remember that people can look up and see your plant if they are sitting near the window. Do people come to wash your windows? Also remember that if you have a Sativa plant then they will get big. Take all these factors into consideration when you are growing your plants with natural sunlight indoors. If you are growing indoors then you may have a room or part of a room that you wish to use such as an attic, closet, basement, spare bathroom or hot press. These locations nearly always need artificial light. You may even decide to build a cabinet yourself. There are many ways to set-up an indoor grow room. We will discuss this later in detail. 95 Figure 3.11 - Indoor Grow room. Picture by Kryptonite. GENERAL OUTDOOR GROWING AND GUERRILLA FARMING Outdoor growing is growing on your own property outdoors. Guerrilla farming is growing away from your property in public areas or on someone else’s property. For this part we will talk a bit about both. 96 Figure 3.12 - Outdoor Grow. Picture by Mullummadman. The biggest problem with outdoor growing is keeping your grow area secure and private. Some people will rip-off your plant in a second if they see what you have (Figures 3.13 and 3.14). Others will just create trouble for you. Security is vital. I once heard about a small hippy community who lived near a forest here and grew their marijuana near a stream. They eventually had to stop growing as their plants where being ripped-off by the locals in the town nearby. It also must be understood that the thieves where not just teenagers either. Adults will do this too. In some cases where the cannabis industry is booming, rippers are professionals and this is their main source of financial income. 97 Figure 3.13 - This is a picture of an Outdoor grow that has been ripped off. The smaller image shows a picture of the plant before it was ripped off. Picture by Slowhand. 98 Figure 3.14 - This is another shot of a grow area that has been ripped off. As you can see rippers are without mercy. They would not even leave a little bit of branching so that the grower could take cuttings from his plant. Picture by Slowhand. 99 The best way to conceal an outdoor garden is to grow the Cannabis plants among other plants that will mask the cannabis. The other way is too grow the plants is inside a brick cubicle with a sheet of glass on top. Some of you may have the advantage of living out of town and have gardens in which this kind of stuff can be constructed. Hide your crop well. Everybody does not easily spot marijuana but someone who is trained to watch out for this plant will see it right away for what it is. If you feel that unwanted people may see your grow area then you might want to invest in some form of a greenhouse that has the windows painted white but the top glass left clear. The white walls will help reflect the direct sunlight coming down around your plants. Guerrilla growing is hard work and most often prone to rip- offs. By planting in a forest or in someone else’s field you are not in any danger of being caught with the plants ON YOUR PROPERTY. Having said that the person’s property that you planted on is at risk. Be a nice grower and do NOT plant on someone else's property. It is not a nice thing to do and looks bad on the cannabis growing community. Find a public area such as a forest or a hill slope. Look for an area that is away from the public eye. Look for an area that will receive plenty of light. There are lots of places for this sort of thing. You have just got to spend time finding them. This is the key to guerrilla growing. Find a good patch and you will have good bud. 100 Figure 3.15 - Photograph by Mullummadman. Your grow patch, whether on your own property or public property, must be treated. Leaving seeds in the soil and coming back four months later is generally not going to get you good results. Two main things must be done to the patch to begin the grow - weeding and digging. 101 Figure 3.16 - A night shot of an outdoor grow by Slowhand. Some guerrilla farmers keep it simple. What they do is start their seedlings in small plastic pots indoors. When the seedlings have developed the grower cuts the bottom of the pot away. A small piece of cardboard is taped to the bottom of the pot. The plants, in their pots, are then taken to the grow patch. A hole is dug in the ground and the pot and plant is placed in the earth. The cardboard is removed and the hole is filled in with soil. That way you have germinated your plant and only need to worry about secondary factors such as light, security and pests. The roots will find their way out of the bottom of the pot and into the soil below. Don't worry about the roots not finding a way 102 out of the pot. They always do, that is their job. Figure 3.17 - Picture by Slowhand. Most outdoor growers favor this method. A patch near a river is ideal. Easy access to water helps if there is a short draught. 103 Figure 3.18 - This is another picture of some great colas by MullumMadman. 104 GARDENING TOOLS Here is a list of the basic items that are used to grow cannabis plants indoors and out. - Seeds. - Soil. - Propagation tray. - Rockwool cubes. - Pots. - Support sticks. - Thread. - Watering can. - Water spray bottle. - Spider Mite spray. - Other bug sprays. - A pair of scissors. - A sharp knife. - Grow nutrients. - Rooting gels. - Growth enhancing fertilizers. - Large pitchfork. - Small shovel. As we advance to the latter stages of this book we will see that 105 the grower can equip himself/herself with much more items that can help them on their quest for bigger buds! MALE POTENCY The male plant is not a good smoke (Figure 3.19). This however may not always be the case. Some strains have male plants that produce more THC than other males of a different strain. Sometimes the male can be stronger than a female from another weak strain. Most male plants from good genetics are stronger than the Ruderalis female. Males can be smoked or made into hash oil. Simply wait until the plant is flowering and then clip the top 6 to 12 inches of the plant away and remove the leaves. Throwaway any stems and branches. Cure these leaves and then find out for yourself if the male is any good or not. You may be in for a surprise. 106 Figure 3.19 - This is a good example of what a male plant looks like. Instead of pistils we have small round pollen sacks. The picture is from The Penguin. 107 SCUFFING SEEDS Most seeds that fail to start germinating do so because their shell is too hard to break open and allow water to seep in. At the end of your germination period you may have found that 25% or more of your seeds have not managed to pop out. You can help these seeds to grow by using a method known as Scuffing. Simply get a small box, like a matchbox. Line the inside of the box with sandpaper. Place the seeds into the box. Cover the seeds with more sandpaper. Close the box and shake the seeds in the box for a few minutes. Now the seeds are scuffed and their outer shell should be easier to pop open. Plant these seeds in soil and they should be able to germinate. 108 Chapter 4 SECURITY Before we go any further we should really address this topic because it crops up so often. Security is always an issue whether you are an outdoor or indoor grower. We have learned before that the best way to secure your grow area is too prepare yourself fully for any event that may occur in the foreseeable future. Pre-production security arrangements are very important. A sudden peak in your electricity bill may attract unwanted attention from certain authorities that look for these things. This may seem odd to you, but it does happen. It is now common practice that most countries who still have prohibition on cannabis plants set up special task squads to track down growers. The most often used technique by these agencies is tracking purchasing orders. Many agencies keep a tab on certain grow shops and look through the items that are being sold to outside customers. This tracking requires a special court order but the police can obtain this with ease. If someone has been identified as buying suspicious grow products, then the agency will also try to find out what other things have been bought using the same credit card or another electronic money transfer medium. Many a grower have been caught out this way. The best way to avoid this system is to PAY CASH. Seed-banks are also sometimes tracked by certain agencies that watch for incoming mail with certain stamps and envelope 109 headers. Sometimes it is not the agency that do the tracking but people themselves in the post office who want to rip you off. IT DOES HAPPEN, and quite a bit as well. To get around this most seed-banks do not head their mail anymore. If your seed-bank does head their mail with their company address it is best to keep away from that seed-bank in the future. If you have done the right thing then you should have all your growing tools and kits bought via cash and your seeds purchased from a good seed-bank that has good seeds and a safe secure way of sending you their product. Many seed-banks use great stealth to get you your seeds. It is advised that you never have seeds sent to your grow area. INDOOR SECURITY When growing indoors try to consider certain factors cropping up in the near future. Like visits from repairmen or gasmen. Some growers have a grow room which they can sweep clean in under 1 minute. This means that they have a closet near by where they can quickly move their plants too, if any visitors do pop up. Always keep your security closet near your grow area. It is no good walking around your house with five or more plants in your arms. It is a bad idea to use your toilet for the backup security area unless you have another one that the guest can use. Apart from this backup area the other thing you must consider with indoor security is the smell. Now Super Skunk and Skunk#1 are very smelly plants. When the plant is in flowering she 110 begins to stink.....Hence the name ‘Skunk’. If you live in an apartment complex then there is no way you will be able to hide the smell unless you have some form of an EXTRACTOR FAN or an OZONE GENERATOR (Figure 4.1). Figure 4.1 - This is a home made Ozone Generator. Picture by Shipperke. In some indoor set-ups a fan can be used to extract any unwanted smell away from the corridor outside. It can be pumped through a window or filter to another area where the smell will not be noticed. Not only that but plants love fresh air and wind, so the fan can do two things at once for you. An ‘Ozone Generator’ is a device that can be purchased from most grow shops. It helps to get rid of cannabis odor problems. 111 Apart from the smell problem the other problem you will have is with fires. Now this is a very important thing to know about. Some people growing indoors tend to use very shoddy lights with even shoddier fixtures. NEVER EVER USE ANY LIGHTING KIT AND FIXTURES THAT ARE DAMAGED OR NOT SUITABLE FOR INDOOR GROWING. Many people have lost their homes because of this problem. Taking short cuts with lighting and electricity is a big no no. I have heard off and met many people who have come home only to find a fire brigade outside who have just finished putting out the fire which engulfed part of the house. The same thing happens in every case. The grower gets closer and sees a number of police officers looking around the room. The fire officer points to the cause of the fire - a half melted light fixture with burnt out sockets. The officer looks around and sees the plants all crispy and black. They both know what this is all about. Why do they know? Because they have seen it a hundred times before. New Marijuana growers nearly always make the mistake of creating inferior lighting set-ups. Needless to say that this is because of three things. (1) They don’t have the right information because of government censorship laws. (2) They do not have the money to invest in a proper lighting system. (3) They just want to grow their pot quick and fast and cheaply. We will discuss proper lighting systems in 112 another chapter. OUTDOOR SECURITY As we have said before the best way to secure your outdoor garden plants is via a shelter. One must also remember that some outdoor plants do smell and this can carry over a short distance given the right wind and the right climate. Most people would not know what the smell is but some DO! Many growers get around this problem by growing cannabis plants that have very little smell during flowering. These types of strains are listed by most seed-banks. Again you should ask about strains that have low smell levels. All Cannabis plants smell to some degree during flowering. 113 Figure 4.2 - Nice Bud picture from RealHigh. 114 Figure 4.3 - An outdoor Haze plant by Slowhand. The other thing to do is to make sure that during harvest time you have harvested as quickly and as privately as possible. Standing 115 over a small shelter putting cuttings of cannabis into a big black bag is not exactly the most secure way to go about this. Some people go out to their garden with black plastic bags and drop the bag over the plant before pulling it up. This way you will not expose your crop to anyone. Some people do their harvesting at night. This is not recommended though as it can draw unwanted attention to you. If you are growing your plant outdoors in the open without a shelter and away from the general public then you may want to create a pen for your plants. A pen made from chicken wire will prevent any unwanted predators such as deer or rodents from eating your plants. Predators are a big problem with outdoor growing. We will talk about pests later. GUERRILLA GROWING SECURITY Tracks left behind from your ventures too and from your grow area are the worst give-away for any guerrilla farmer. People just love to walk through the woods and say "oh look a nice track, I wonder what is down there?". Try not to create a track when you go to your grow area. Even by visiting the same spot once every two weeks you will leave a trail that some hikers might see and use. Try to access your grow through several different routes if you can. 116 Figure 4.4 - This is a picture of a guerrilla grow deep in the woods. The cannabis is hidden low down in the foreground of this picture by Mullummadman. As a guerrilla grower you should try to keep away from hacking through 100 feet of brambles to get to your grow site. When choosing a spot find an area that is not too dense but not too sparse either. Some Guerrilla growers have even created small grow baskets 117 that they hang from trees away from the public eye. If the baskets are well camouflaged then you can get away with loads! As a guerrilla grower you should always wear gloves when handling your work. If you have buckets near by do not leave fingerprints on any of these. Also you will want to consider having a good reason for being in your grow area. Imagine that you are walking back from your path, with no crop on you, and someone jumps out of the bush. He says - “What are you doing here?”. Of course you know that there is a river near by so you show him your fishing rod or your binoculars and bird spotting book. There are many things you can take with you on your trip to make you look more like somebody else other than a cannabis grower. Many grow sites have been staked-out by people you would not like to meet. Always check the area around your grow site for any people who may look suspicious. The worst security time for any guerrilla grower is during harvest time. This is when you must go from your grow area to your home with your growing rewards. Always do this as early as possible in the morning just as the sun rises. Always double-check the area for any suspicious looking people. Pack your buds and plants into black plastic bags (brown paper bags are better) and then put these into a backpack. Walk towards the edge of the forest /woods/clearing and quickly drop your bag down against a bush and cover it up. Walk towards your car and look around again. Drive your car for about five minutes and look around to see if you can see anything. If you see anything suspicious, or anything following you leave the bag and go to 118 town (not home - leave that until the situation is under control again). If things look okay, drive back to where you left your bag. Pick up your bag and put it in the boot or trunk of the car. Drive home carefully. Some people can get away with guerrilla farming lots of pot. This is commercial growing on a risky scale but can still be found in various parts of the world where cannabis is still banned. The growers usually live deep in the forest miles away from the nearest town. They may spend up to 7 months out there on their own, cultivating the crop. Recent grow busts by the police have identified some several tons of bud being grown by as little as 3 people living squat in some unknown region of British Colombia. There is not much more to outdoor growing than this. Most of the elements that you need to complete your outdoor grow are in the indoor growing chapter of this book. Read through this and it should give you ideas about how to treat your outdoor grow patch. 119 Chapter 5 THE INDOOR GROWING OF CANNABIS There are many ways to grow your cannabis plant indoors. The two core methods of indoor growing are soil growing and hydroponics. There is a separate chapter for hydroponics, and so this chapter will deal with soil growing. Figure 5.1 - Indoor Grow room. Picture by RealHigh. There are many ways to grow an indoor soil garden. The most common indoor set-ups are: 120 1. Bench growing, 2. SOG growing, 3. ScrOG growing 4. Cabinet growing. We will discuss these methods in a moment but let us first see what they all have in common. LIGHTS Lights come in all shapes, sizes, wattage and type. A full indoor grow lighting kit should contain the following items. Bulb, reflector, ballast, timer and electrical inputs/outputs. Figure 5.2 - Regular HID Bulbs. 121 Figure 5.3 - A reflector with bulb and ballast. Figure 5.4 - This is a picture of a timer. Most lighting kits are open, meaning that no hood or glass will cover the bulb. It hangs directly under the reflector. The bulb is fixed into a socket that is attached to the inside of the reflector. That socket is connected to the ballast. The ballast can be internal or external. If external there will be a cord leading to the ballast from the 122 bulb's socket. The ballast plugs into a domestic light socket like the one you have in your home. Some ballast types even have a built-in timer. When buying a lighting system it is recommend that you buy a complete system and an extra bulb. Check to make sure that the lighting system meets safety regulations and has some sort of guarantee with it. Figure 5.5 - This is an example of what an external ballast looks like. You might be able to see the timer on top of it. LIGHT BANDS Light can be separated into a spectrum, which form the colors of the rainbow. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Each of these lights mix down to give white light. Artificial lights, because of their nature, tend to lean towards a tint of one of these colors when they mix down to form white light. The electro-magnetic spectrum is a term used in lighting to 123 describe the distribution of electro-magnetic radiation by reference to energy. This table roughly gives wavelengths, frequencies and energies for parts of the spectrum. There is also the color part of the spectrum that is very important for plants. Plants are green, which means that Plants absorb light at the middle of the spectrum (Orange to Indigo). Cannabis plants need this part of the light spectrum to reach full growing potential. The intensity of the light is also important. A light that feeds the full bandwidth with all light spectrums will work very well - like sunlight. When dealing with artificial lights it is better to choose a light that concentrates its intensity on the top part of the spectrum. The most common indoor light systems are called HID lights. We will discuss the full range of lights that you may come across in some grow rooms. 124 POOR LIGHTING SYSTEMS Domestic Lights: Figure 5.6 - A domestic bulb. Also called an incandescent light source. These are the lights you find in use around your house. These lights come in all sizes and wattage - 15 watts to 150 watt. These lights are not suitable for growing because of their low light intensity and bad color spectrum. 125 AVERAGE LIGHTING SYSTEMS Fluorescent Tube Lights: Figure 5.7 and 5.8 - These are examples of some fluro fixtures and bulbs that can be bought in most hardware stores. 126 These lights are the long industrial lights that are found in many a school and work place. These lights come in nearly all lengths and sizes. 2 to 10 feet are the main sizes that are out there. They also run between 10 watts and 300 watts. These lights are okay for growing but they provide little light and are hard to set up properly. They also are not in best light spectrum for Cannabis plants to grow in. Halogen Lights: Figure 5.9 - A Halogen light. Halogen lights are the small lights that can be seen on the outside of factories for flood lighting the grounds during the night. They are usually small and black. These lights can range anywhere 127 between 75watts and 4000watts. Halogens get extremely hot and can provide an unsuitable condition for growing Cannabis under. They are not recommended because they are dangerous to use indoors for growing. They are also not in the best light spectrum for growing Cannabis. Fluorescent White Tube Lights: These are not in use much and are very similar to the Fluorescent lights except they are in the correct growing spectrum. These lights are not very strong and do not range much above 100watts. They are only recommend for growers who do not want to grow full flowering cannabis plants. Figure 5.10 - White Tube Light. 128 BEST LIGHTING SYSTEMS Horticultural Lights: These lights are professional horticultural lights. They are developed by horticultural lighting companies and are tested to suit growing plants indoors. These lights are commonly called HID (High Intensity Discharge). Like the former lights these also come in kits with bulb, reflector, ballast and timer. They also come in different wattage and different shapes and sizes. If you want to grow good bud then you need a HID. A HID is the second most important purchase you will make next to choosing your strain. Metal Halide (MH) and Mercury Vapor (MV): The lights are HID lights and are used for the seedling and vegetative growth stages of your plant. They can also be used for flowering and are quite good too. They come in all shapes and sizes and range from 75W - 4000watts. These lights are very common and are a good kit for the indoor Cannabis grower. Mercury Vapor is not as common as it used to be. It has almost been replaced by Metal Halide now. If you have a choice between the two it is best to stay with the new MH kits. MV also has a tendency to be slightly out of the optimal spectrum range. 129 High Pressure Sodium (HPS): This is the lighting choice of many a Cannabis Cultivator. These lights come in all shapes and sizes and have a range of 75watts - 4000watts. These lights are in the perfect spectrum for growing cannabis and come highly recommended. Figure 5.11 - This is an example of a HPS and also a MH Light system. There is nothing at face value to Indicate that the light is a HPS or a MH. To check this out we need to look at the ballast and the bulb and read what is says about the type of light system that it is. MH lights tend to give off a blue tone, while HPS tend to give off an orange tone. 130 WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A LIGHT The first thing to say is that some growers have a MH set-up for seedlings and vegetative growth and a HPS for flowering. The HPS is a better flowering lamp, while the MH is a better veg lamp. If we can only afford one we should get a HPS. Both MH and HPS can be used for vegetative growth and flowering. However since we are growing for bud, we should try to get the best HPS we can. The next thing they look for is the light kit itself. Check to see that the light is certified and is in good shape. Then check to see if the light is air-cooled. Some of these lights have a fan built in which keeps the light cool. If you see this then you know that you are going to need somewhere to vent your air. This may mean that you need to adjust a wall in your grow area so that the air is extracted from the light. 131 Figure 5.12 - This picture shows two air-cooled hoods attached to their respective air ducts. This photograph is by Chimera. Lights that are air-cooled (Figure 5.12) tend to last longer and do not heat up your grow area that much. Most expert growers like to keep a room at a stable controllable temperature and use these air- cooled lights to achieve that. If your light is not air-cooled then you will have to build an air vent and fan in your grow room wall to keep the temperatures under control. Cannabis leaves will burn if placed too close to a HID light. 132 Figure 5.13 - This is a water-cooled light system. These inventions have been around for awhile but have not caught on that much because they require a good bit of work. A constant pump of cool water must be circulated into and out of the light system. The next thing to check is how the light is supported. Does it require a light stand or does it require to be hung from the ceiling. In most cases you will be able to make your own stand if you feel that you are not willing to fasten a few hooks and chains to your ceiling. Also check to see if the electrical fittings suit your needs. Will they plug straight into your system at home or do you need an adapter? Maybe you might require an extension cord with your purchase. Most HID kits can only take a specific wattage of bulb and a certain type of bulb. If you have a 600W HPS system, then you should only use 600W HPS bulbs. Some lighting kits have something called a 'switchable ballast' (Figure 5.14). This means that you use both MH and HPS lights with the system. Check your kit for further details. 133 Figure 5.14 - This is a picture of what the switch looks like on a ballast that can take 2 HID types. The next thing to look for is the guarantee. Check to see what the manufacturer has said about this light and how long the guarantee is for. Last but not least is the most important part of your light. The wattage and lumens. WATTAGE AND LUMENS HID Lights can range anywhere between 75W and 4000W. In general the stronger the wattage the more light that bulb will produce. However we must also consider another factor and that factor is called Lumens. Lumens are the correct way of measuring how much light per square foot a bulb emits. Lumens and wattage do go hand in hand but can vary a large amount between systems. The better the lighting kit, the better the lumens it will cast. Lumens have more to do with the design of the light than the wattage of the light itself. Some 600W lights may give the same lumens as a 400W light. Have a look at this 134 chart: LAMP TYPE WATTS LUMENS M.V 175 8000 M.H 400 36000 H.P.S 600 45000 H.P.S

The Cannabis Grow Bible PDF

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