Marijuana Cultivation Bible

Chosing Your Desired Strain

It's very important to start with good genetics. What are good genetics? You tell us. Do you enjoy that hard hitting, sedative stone that puts you to sleep? Maybe you like the soaring euphoric cerebral qualities that will leave you in a hazed fluster? Or perhaps a little of both? There are three distinguished variations of the marijuana plant. These three variations include Cannabis Sativa, Cannabis Indica, and Cannabis Ruderalis.

Cannabis Sativa

Cannabis Sativa is a hard plant to grow indoors due to high lighting requirements, tall stature, and late flowering traits. Sativas come from equatorial regions, thus the neccesity for high ammounts of lighting and a warmer tropic-subtropic climate. You can identify a Sativa by its long, slender, finger-like leaves. A Sativa will typically produce a euphoric, energetic, cerebral high. Despite the Sativa's climatic limitations, they are truly a reward to obtain, grow, and smoke. A pure Sativa will take 2 to 4 months to finish flowering.

Cannabis Indica

Cannabis Indica is a great plant to grow indoors as well as outdoors due to its low lighting requirements and tight internode spacing, also offering resistance to fungus and pests, early maturation tendencies, and dense flower production. Indica's come from colder climates exhibiting the traits described above by acclimating to the environment from whence they came. Their stout stature and extremely wide leaflets make them easy to identify. An Indica generally produces a hard hitting, tiresome, sedative stone, and will take around 45 to 60 days to finish flowering.

Cannabis Ruderalis

Cannabis Ruderalis is not a very good choice for flower production, indoors or out. Despite maintaining a short stature, growing only one to five feet tall, and maturing rather quickly, Ruderalis just doesn't produce the yield or quality one looks for in their flowers. A slight light cycle reduction can trigger a sprout with as little as 2 to 3 leaf sets to flower. Ruderalis spontaneously initiates flowering a few weeks after sprouting, and will not produce decent flowers unless the photoperiod provides around 18 to 19 hours of light. Even then, the yield and quality are less than desirable, incomparable to that of the Sativa or Indica sub-species.

Hybrids

You didn't think we'd forget to mention Hybrids, did you? Hybrids can carry the best of both worlds regarding high and growth patterns in their genetic makeup, some will not. A Hybrid has potential to exhibit every good trait one looks for when breeding. A rather common Hybrid is hard hitting, euphoric, energetic, dense, and stout, making that particular hybrid the perfect all around plant for someone looking for that particular high, growing indoors, as well as out. It all comes down to your growing conditions and personal preference.

Obtaining Your Desired Strain

Attempt to find seeds from local gardeners that have been acclimated to the local climate conditions, and carry the best floral characteristics—potency, aroma, flavor, vigorous growth, early maturation, resistance to fungus and pests. Look for seeds that are dark brown or light grey. Some may have dark lines inset into these colors, like tiger stripes. White, small seeds are immature and should not be planted. All of these factors are considered by the seasoned gardener. You will benefit enormously by finding a friend to get you started. However, some of us are not fortunate enough to find these "friends" to aid in our seed need, so we go international. Ordering your seeds from an online seedbank becomes ideal in this scenario. Seedbanks are a great place to search for specific breeds you've grown rather fond of, as well.

Lighting

Light is needed by a plant for using nutrients and manufacturing food. It has a great influence on chlorophyll production, growth rate, leaf size, and flower and seed production. Light will be one of the most important aspects of your grow operation. For the purposes of growing marijuana, there are two basic types of lights: fluorescent's and high intensity discharge (HID), including MV (mercury vapor), MH (metal halide), and HPS (high pressure sodium). HID vs. Fluorescent The main difference is that fluorescent's create light by passing electricity through a gas vapor under low pressure and HID creates light by passing electricity through a gas vapor under high pressure. HID lights are much brighter and while initially more expensive, are more cost efficient to operate and will grow a much nicer crop. Therefore, they are the light of choice for most indoor growers.

Fluorescent

Fluorescents come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. There are compacts, twist bulbs and circle bulbs. They all work the same way. They have a starter and ballast which help provide a steady and regulated amount of electricity to the light. Before HID lights were available indoor growers used fluorescent lights. While fluorescents can be used for an entire grow from seedling to harvest, it is generally not advised to use them in this way. To grow effectively with fluorescent's, think small. These lights are better suited for starting seedlings, rooting clones and small plants, maintaining moms for cloning purposes, and providing sidelight for the undergrowth. These situations do not require a high intensity of light to run their course. The light emitted by fluorescents is gentler and more diffuse, it doesn't release a lot of heat, and doesn't make the plant work as hard. For this reason they can be kept closer to the plant. One or two inches is sufficient, but this also means that the lights must be adjusted almost daily to accommodate growth which can be troublesome. High Intensity Discharge There are basically three types of HID lights. Mercury vapor (MV), metal halide (MH), and high pressure sodium (HPS). These lights also require a starter and a ballast.

Mercury Vapor

Mercury vapor is the type of lights that were used for streetlights many years ago. Not very good for growing because it doesn't provide enough of the right kind of light spectrum. While they do provide a littleof the blue spectrum, MV also produces too much heat to get very close to a plant, and are very inefficient to operate.

Metal Halide

The metal halide is a very good source of the white/blue spectrum of light that is ideal for vegetative growth. Many growers use MH during the vegetative phase. MH is bright and cost efficient to operate, but not as efficient as HPS lights. Most commonly used sizes are 400 watt and 1,000 watt. Works best when used in combination with HPS lights. High Pressure Sodium The best light available today for growing marijuana. High pressure sodium lights are very bright and very efficient. This light has a red/orange spectrum that is ideal for the flowering phase. With enough of these kind of lights you too can grow those centerfold buds. HPS comes in a wide variety of wattages from 70 watts up to 1,000 watts.

Lighting Forumlas

To correctly determine the best lighting for your space there are several things that you have to know. At this point, a couple of definitions are in order. The amount of light emitted by one candle that falls on one square foot of surface one foot away is called a lumen (lm). The amount of electricity flowing through a wire is measured in watts. Watt (W) hours measure the amount of watts used in one hour. A kilowatt/hour (kWh) is 1,000 watt/hours (Wh).

Operating Costs

Find your kWh charge on your electric bill. Assume you have a 1,000 W light and your kWh charge is $.05/hour. A kilowatt (kW) equals 1,000 W, therefore it will cost you $0.05 cents per hour to run that light. Here's another example. Say you have a 400 W light and your kWh charge is $0.03. Since 400 W is not a kilowatt, you must divide 400 by 1,000 (0.4 kW) and multiply that by the kWh rate from your electricity bill (0.03 kWh), leaving you with a cost of $0.012 cents per hour.

Lumens Per Square Foot

To determine how many lumens per square foot you have, find out the square footage of your space by multiplying the width and depth. Divide the lumens available by your square footage. This will give you lumens per square foot. For example, say your space is 3 feet deep by 4 feet wide, for a total of 12 square feet. The total lumens available from your light(s) is 45,000 lumens, which means you have 3,750 lumens per square foot.

How Much Light Do I Need?

Technology has advanced so much in the last 15 years that we are constantly refining the process and updating what we know works best for growing. Current theory holds that the minimum amount of lighting needed to sustain growth is around 2,000 lumens per square foot. Mid range is around 5,000 lumens per square foot. Optimal is 7,000 to 7,500 or higher lumens per square foot. How Many Watts Do I Need? The general rule of thumb for providing light for an area is a minimum of 30 W per square foot. 50 W per square foot is optimal. You can determine the proper lighting for your area by using this formula:

Watts x Square Feet

For example, say you have an area of 10 square feet and a 30 W. That would mean you have a 300 W per square feet minimum. Also, remember that fluorescent's are weaker and emit less light than an HID. This means you will need 5 times the amount of wattage to equal the output of an HID. So, 30 W of HID would equal 150 W of fluorescent's. This is why it is advised to provide a minimum of 30 W per square foot for HID lights and a minimum of 150 W per square foot for fluorescent's. This is all important because the light intensity will directly affect the quality and yield of your crop. If you have less than optimal lighting your yield and potency will be reduced and buds will not develop as dense. This point can not be stressed enough. You must have the right amount of light for your space to grow high quality bud.

Can I Have Too Much Light?

The basic answer is no. According to the law of diminishing returns, you could theoretically reach a point when your plants just couldn't absorb any more light, but it would be impossible to have that many lights in your space. Heat from the lights would become a problem long before you ever reached that point. So use as many lights as you want, just control the heat. Experimentation is the only sure method to determine the best solution for each plant. If plants are not receiving enough light, they begin to grow tall and spindly as if stretching for the light and foliage becomes pale green. Or, if they need to be moved closer to the light, or given a longer light exposure period. Too much light may lead to bleaching of leaves and flowers, browning and shriveling. Leaves would become overly compact and curl under at the edges.

Photoperiod

Your plants should be started and taken through vegetative growth with a 24/7 or 18/6 light regimen. The reason for an 18/6 regimen is to give the plants a short dark period to breathe and to reduce your electric bill a little bit. Most plants thrive with at least 16 hours of light a day. Adjustments should be made according to individual plant requirements. For flowering 12/12 is the norm. Again, adjustments may need to be made. A minimum of 12 hours of darkness is required to trigger the flowering process.

Lighting No-No's

Don't burn your plants by getting them to close to the light(s). Fluorescent's do not put out much heat and can be as close as one or two inches. HID lights get much hotter and will need to be farther away. A good test is to put your hand between the light and the plant. If your hand gets too hot for comfort, the light is too close. There are some common lights that may induce a seed to come up, but are worthless for growing purposes. These lights include; Any incandescent (regular) light bulb, halogen lights, black lights and heat lamps. Don't waste your time trying to grow with these lights, you will only be disappointed.

Germination

So, you have your beans in your hand. Now you are wondering what you are gonna do to get these to start growing. If you have purchased seeds from a reputable seed bank then you can be sure that they are all fit to attempt to germinate since they have been through a screening process already. However, if you have obtained your seeds from a bag then you need to do some simple checks to see if the seeds are viable or not. One way to test yourself is to lightly squeeze the seed between your index finger and thumb. If it gets crushed, then it's no good. Usually white, dried up seeds are immature and will crush. Dark green, green or brown seeds are more apt to germinate well. You can't tell the sex of a plant by looking at the seeds. The are some theories here but there are no physical signs that one can use to distinguish male from female seeds. Some people like to germinate the seed using methods such as the paper towel method before they grow the plant. This is to ensure that the seeds get off to a good start. But it is not really necessary to do this unless you have a large amount (50 ore more) of seeds for your area. If you only have a few seeds then you can plant them right in the soil.

Paper Towel Method

To germinate in a paper towel simply place the seed between to dampened pieces of the paper towel. Next, place the seed/towel combination into a Tupperware container or plate. Set the container on top of a computer monitor, refrigerator or propagation pad and wait until the seed cracks and you see a tiny white root tip start to emerge from the seed.

Planting The Seed

After you have germinated the seed you will see a little white root sticking out of the split shell. Dig a small hole in the soil. The end of a pencil works great for making a hole. When planting the seed or sprout be sure to only go down 1/4" to 1/2" and drop the seed in. Make sure that the root or pointy side of the seed is pointing down when inserting into the soil. Fill over the whole with soil, then keep the soil moist but not damp/wet with some water. You should provide at least 4" of vertical space for the tap root to grow down. Place one seed each in a 20 ounce cup, or a one gallon pot, then place your pot under your lights. Start with a 24/7 light cycle, meaning twenty-four hours on, seven days a week. You should see sprouts within 2-14 days depending on your individual conditions and the method you used. For quickest results try and keep the temperature in the mid to high 80's (F). You will see slower germination rates but lower temperatures are acceptable as well (70s), this will simply increase the amount of time it takes to germinate the seed.

What To Look For

The sprout will emerge first with the two seed leaves. These leaves are small, smooth and round followed by a set of single bladed, serrated leaves known as the first leaves. The height of your light from the sprout will depend on what kind you are using. If using florescent lights, they usually run cool enough to put them within 1-2 inches of your sprouts. If your going with a HPS or MH type of light, they get hot, so you won't want them too close. A good way to test a light is to put your hand between the plant—or in this case soil—and test how hot it is with your hand. If it's uncomfortable for your hand, it's too hot. Raise the light up until you reach a good temperature. These type of lights will also dry your soil out fast, so keep your eye on it. Once your light is set and the leaves start coming in you now are on you way to growth stage. Once you see the plant break though the top of the soil—it should take from 1 day to 1 week—you will see two small round leaves. Your plant will grow up a few inches with the two leaves getting a bit bigger and new leaves starting between the two round ones. Your stem will probably look white, green or even purple at this stage. The color depends on what strain of plant you have.

What To Avoid

It's advised that you refrain from giving your plant fertilizer during the first stages of growth. These stages are quite delicate, it doesn't take much to make a fatal mistake. Remember though, that throughout the whole life span of your plant, like most other things in life, the more things you have going on at one time, the more likely for a problem to arise. Your best bet is to keep things simple.

Vegetative Growth & Flowering

Once your new sprout starts producing leaves, you are in the vegetative growth stage of the plant. Only water when the soil is dry all the way to the bottom of the container it is growing in. You can check by sticking a finger through one of the drain holes in the bottom of the pot to feel how wet the soil is, or by using a water meter. Perhaps the best method, however, is to wait for the plant to tell you it needs water. The leaves will start wilting slightly and the plant generally looks "thirsty." The reason this method is preferable to others is twofold—one, you are assured of not overwatering, and two, allowing the soil to dry out completely stimulates the roots to grow as they search for water. $MoreRoots=BiggerPlant=MoreBuds$ Probably the most common error for new growers is overwatering. Over watering will cause the plant to grow poorly, and if continued will lead to root rot and eventual death. Be careful if you are starting out with a large pot. If you water a small plant too much in a large pot, the plant may not be able to soak up all that water. It may look dry on top, but you might end up having mud on the bottom of the soil. This will cause root rot on your plant and is very unhealthy. A plant that is not watered enough is much more healthy then a plant that is watered too much. It's also harder to recover from over watering then under watering. As a rule 1/2 inch of gravel or another suitable, high draining mixture at the bottom of the pot will help to prevent this problem and will also stop the plant from drowning if it�s over-watered. It's a good idea to have a fan hooked up and ready to go once the plant breaks though the soil. Having a fan blowing on the stem from the start of growth will insure a good strong stem so the plant will be able to hold it self upright during its life span. Simulating wind by providing a gentle breeze will help your stem grow strong to support the weight of the leaves and buds as the wind will cause small tears in the plants stem walls, tears that are repaired as the plant grows and provide strength to the main stem. Bigger, stronger stems = bigger, stronger plant = more & better buds. $BiggerStems=BiggerPlant=BiggerBuds$ The temperature can be anywhere from the low 70s to the high 80s with no damage to the plants. For soil, the desired pH range is between 6.3 and 6.8 generally speaking. Anything in that range will be safe for your plant. The humidity should be around 60% for vegetative growth. During the vegetative cycle feed your plants a high Nitrogen (N) food. There are many kinds of products that carry high Nitrogen content. It's generally best to start the mixture out at 1/4 the recommended dosage and increase the strength whilst the plant grows and develops in both foliage and root size, overdoing the nutrients at this point will not make the plant grow faster, but will most likely burn it. For vegetative growth, look for a fertilizer with a NPK ratio of roughly 2-1-1. NPK is the number found on fertilizer packages that signifies the amount and ratio of the three major nutrients needed by plants: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K). For this stage, then, look for a fertilizer that has roughly twice as much N as it does P and K. Now that your plant is around the 12" mark or 4-6 weeks old, you might notice the leaves sets start to alternate. When the top branches start to alternate this is the sign that your plant has reached maturity and are ready to be flowered. Since you have your plant in the 24/7 cycle let the plant grow for as long as you like. A plant may double, triple even quadruple its' height when flowering. Sativas can stretch up to 4 times there height and Indicas generally double in height. Some strains call for up to 8 weeks of vegetative growth. Your height, yield and potency will all depend on the strain and the way it was grown. As our aim is for bud, and lots of it, we will try and avoid massive plants unless we have the light to provide them with, otherwise we get a plant with huge stems, and only bud at the top 9 or 10 inches.

Remember, you can only get "bud" from a female plant. So you want to focus your efforts on the female plants. In order to find the sex of the plant, get a light timer and put the lights on a cycle of 12-hours on and 12-hours off. Having a light timer is much easier then doing it manually and is much more accurate. Make sure your plants get the complete 12hours of darkness during this stage. Any light interruption may prolong your sexing results for days or even weeks. Your flowering stage may take 2-3 months. You need to keep them on a constant cycle and remember to have complete darkness during the 12 hours of no light. Any interruption may cause reduced yield, potency, or extended harvest. During the flowering cycle feed your plants need a high Phosphorous (P) food. There are many kinds of products that carry high amounts of Phosphorous. Generally start out the mixture at 1/2 the recommended dosage. The humidity should ideally be around 40% to 55% for this stage.

After a few days to usually 14 days of your 12/12 cycle, look for little white hairs (indicating a female) or little balls (which will be male) starting to grow at the base of each internode. The hairs will grow to about 1/4" long or so. They will be easily visible. Expect to see a pair of these hairs at each site. The balls may also grow at the base of each branch. They will grow in bunches and look a little like horns before forming. These balls contain pollen. As soon as you have identified what sex your plant is (male or female) then cull the males (remove them from the area) to give the females more room and more light. This is the start of the buds forming. As time goes on the buds will get bigger and bigger and they will use more and more fertilizer. It is advised that you stop using ferts 2 weeks before your harvest to ensure that all chemicals are out of the plant. If chemicals are in the plant when you harvest, the smoke will be very harsh. To prevent harshness, flush the plants heavily with fresh water 2 weeks prior to harvesting them. Ensure you flush at least 3 times the capacity of your pot. So a 4 gallon pot would be flushed with 16 gallons of fresh water.

You can smoke male plants, but the main focus is the female bud. This is rich with THC and can be very enjoyable to smoke. Soon you will be harvesting your plant once it has grown to the point where it stops, and begins to swell and become ripe.

Harvest

The harvesting, drying, and curing of a mature cannabis plant is the climax of the growing experience, it is the final step in claiming cultivation independence.

Although these are the last steps of the cultivation process, they are of the most critical to the final product. The harvest, for example, depending on the cultivators ability to judge maturity, can greatly increase or decrease the levels of THC, as well as the levels of CBN and CBD.

Cannabis is harvested when the flowers are ripe. The best indicator of ripeness is the color of the flower's pistils. Over the course of the flowering period, these pistils begin to die and, depending on the strain, turn different shades of brown, orange, and so on. Many cultivators choose to harvest when 60-75% of the pistils, or "hairs" have changed colors. Optimum harvest times will vary widely with each Cannabis strain, so the best way to find that perfect harvest time is to experiment! Try cutting buds off during different times of flower (one at 6 weeks, then one at 7 weeks, etc.) to determine which time period suits you best. When picked early and immaturely, Cannabis flowers will contain a lower concentration of CBN and CBD while maintaining a high amount of THC content. For some, flowers that have been picked a bit early are desirable, as the higher level of THC produces a very 'up' and cerebral high.

When Cannabis buds are picked in a more mature state, the levels of THC drop and the levels of CBN and CBD increase. This fluctuation is cause for a more 'down' and stoney high. Sit back and have some food already prepared! The final yeild of the plant will depend greatly on your chosen harvest time, nutes you have provided over the course of the plants life, time given for the plant to vegetate, soil mixture/hydro solution used, and many more variants. Keep in mind, a bud weighs more when fully ripe and freshly picked. After a proper dry and cure, the average loss of weight is around 75 percent.

Because of impatience, most novice cultivators want to pick flowers early. That's OK! Be sure, however, to take buds from the middle of the plant or the top. Allow the rest to continue maturing. Often, the tops of the plants will be ripe first. Harvest these and let the rest of the plant continue to ripen. You will notice the lower buds getting larger and more resinous as they come into full maturity. The overall yeild can be increased with a staggered harvest as the lower branch buds are receiving higher amounts of light and more attention from the plants internal chemical processes.

Use a magnifier and try to see the capitated stalked trichomes (tiny THC crystals on the buds). If most are clear, not brown, the peak of floral bouquet is near. Once most of these trichomes have reached a brown color, the THC levels are dropping and the flower is past optimum potency, declining rapidly with light and wind exposure. Don't harvest too late! Watch the plants and learn to spot peak floral potency.

Manicuring tends to be the most tedious of the cultivation processes. It is the point when you remove all the excess fan leaves and unwanted foliage from your flowers. This stage can be executed in one of two ways, either wet or dry. A wet manicure tends to be much cleaner, as the leaves are still moist and will not create too much of a mess, whereas a dry manicure can leave quite a sticky mess!

Use a pair of clean, sharp scissors or clippers to remove the excess. Work your way from the largest leaves to the smallest to make the process much easier. Many people clip around the bud as if they were giving it a hair cut, snipping the outer extremities of the bud, leaving a clean, beautiful nugget.

Do not dry Cannabis flowers in the sun, as this process has shown to reduce the potency of the buds. Slowly drying buds by hanging or laying them in a ventilated area is all that is needed to ensure great sensi. Bud is much more pleasing to the taste when it has been slow-dried over the course of a couple of weeks, depending on the density of the flowers. Leafier bud will take less time, as heavier bud will take much longer.

Although you may want your bud to taste premium when fully completed, sometimes impatience gets the best of you. If your in a hurry, it's fine to dry a small amount in-between paper sheets or a paper bag in a microwave oven. Be sure to watch the bud and not let it get over-dryed. As convenient as this is, the end result will be a very harsh smoke with a most unpleasant taste as the chlorophyll has not had the chance to convert into starches and sugars.

A good indicator of a properly dried bud is actually its stem. If you are able to bend the stem a bit before it snaps in half, it is ready to be cured. This is another critical part of the cultivation experience. A bud that has been properly cured can be much more potent than one that has not. Following a simple process will ensure a great-tasting, mind-blasting smoke.

Glass jars, metal coffee tins, or tupperware, amongst other items, can be used to cure your buds. Place the well-dried flowers in the container of your choice and leave it in a relatively cool, dark place. Remove the lid from the container daily and turn the buds, allowing carbon dioxide to escape. Repeat this process for at least two weeks, or until you achieve the desired taste and/or potency. Lastly, make sure to keep the dried and cured bud in a container away from heat or light exposure as much as possible and you will be pleased with the long shelf-life of your very own harvest!