Growing Marijuana

Introduction: Growing marijuana is illegal, except in Holland, where you are allowed to have 5 plants per house. But growing is something you can do in the privacy of your own home, without having to deal with someone you don't know or don't trust. The best reason for growing your own marijuana is the enjoyment you will get from smoking your home-made pot. In this document we will explain the basic elements of growing marijuana. If you would like more information on a certain subject, you will find some links below.

Everyone can grow marijuana in 4 basic steps:

1. Get the seeds. If you don't already have some, you can buy them for a very low price in this shop:

Dutch seedshop
Shayanashop

2. Germinate the seeds. You can simply drop a seed into moist soil, but by germinating the seeds first, you can make sure that the seed will indeed produce a plant.

3. Plant the sprouts as soon as a seed cracks open and begins to sprout, place it on some moist soil and sprinkle a little soil over the top.

Germinate

A wet tissue, napkin or sponge is placed in a container or on a plate, and is covered with a plastic wrap. The seeds are checked on germination every 12 hours. As soon as the root cracks the skin, the seedling is planted with the emerging point downwards.

Soil

Your main concern, after choosing high quality seeds, is the soil. Use the best soil you can get. If you use non-sterilized soil, you will almost certainly find parasites in it, probably when it is too late to transplant your marijuana. You can find excellent soil for sale at your local plant shop or nursery and even some grocery stores. The soil you use should have the following properties for the best possible results:

1. It should drain well
2. The ph should be between 6.5 and 7.5
3. The soil should also contain humus for retaining moisture and nutrients.

Containers

After preparing your soil, you will need some kind of container to plant in. It's best to use just one size container so you don't have to transport the plant. Make sure the container is about 20 cm high. (6 inches)

Fertilizer

Marijuana enjoys many nutriments, but you can do damage to the plants if you are too zealous. Some fertilizers can burn a plant and damage its roots if used in too high concentrations. Most commercially sold soil will have enough nutrients in it to sustain the plant for about three weeks of growth, so you don't need to worry about feeding your plant until the end of the third week. The most important thing to remember is to gradually put the fertilizer concentration into the plant. Start with a fairly diluted fertilizer solution and gradually increase the dose.

Light

To maintain a fast growing garden, a minimum of 20 watts of fluorescent light per square foot is required. As long as the plants' other needs are met, the more light the plant receives, the faster and bushier it will grow. The plants' buds will also be heavier and more developed. Standard straight-tube fluorescent lamps use 8-10 watts per linear foot. To light a garden, 2 tubes are required for each foot of width.

Gro-Lux lights are probably the most common fluorescent plant lights. Personal experience has shown that they are extremely effective. They range in size from 1 to 8 feet in length so you can set up a growing room in a closet or a warehouse.

Once the seeds germinate, the light is kept on for 18-24 hours a day. A week after germination the light is cut back one hour so that the regimen consists of 17-23 hours. The following week the lights are cut back again, to 16-22 hours of light. Each week thereafter, the lights are cut back another hour until the light is on only 12 hours a day. Using this method the plants are ready to harvest in about 3 months.

Temperature and Humidity

The ideal temperature is 68 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 25 degrees Celsius). Night temperatures should be a few degrees lower than daytime temperatures. Temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius) slow down the growth of most varieties.

Cannabis grows best in a mildly humid environment: a relative humidity of 40 to 60%. Plants growing in drier areas may experience chronic wilt and necrosis of the leaf tips. Plants growing in a wetter environment usually experience fewer problems.

Ventilation

Proper ventilation in your growing room is quite important. The more plants you have in one room, the more important good ventilation becomes. If you are planning to grow more then 10 plants, you have to think about this.

Watering

To discover when to water, touch the soil with your finger. If you feel moisture in the soil, you can wait to water a day or two. The soil near the top of the pot is always drier than the soil further down. You can drown your plant just as easily as you can let it get too dry, and it is more likely to survive a dry spell than it is to survive a torrential flood. When you water the plants, do it well and do not water them when they don't need it.