how to grow cannibis indoors

8/7/2019 how to grow cannibis indoors

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how to grow cannibis indoors

Indoor Garden Security

DO NOT TELL ANYONE: You've got to keep your plantation a secret. If you tellone person, they tell another person, then they tell someone and so on. Prettysoon a ton of people know what's going on. This can lead to the wrong people

knowing, like thieves or the authorities. KEEP QUIET!

STAY INCOGNITO: Hide your actions around your grow room or garden. Don'tlet anyone see you carrying in bags of dirt or buckets for planting. Do you supply

lines in the dark or when you know people will not be around.

UNEXPECTED VISITORS: Don't open the door for any strange visitor. Deny anywrong doing or unusual smells. Act like you don't know anything.

LIGHT LEAKS: Go outside your home and see if you can see any intense lightleaks that may lead passers by to believe something is going on. Do this once amonth or so. Use heavy drapes or curtains, and duct tape them to decrease any

chance of light escaping outside.

KILL ALL RECEIPTS: Throw away any and all receipts you get from buyingsupplies for your grow rooms. Always pay in cash.

NO SMELL: Try to vent your grow room into as many areas as possible.Anything too smelly or too much heat in one spot can be detected. There are

room ionizers that can take away the intense odors before they get outside fromexhaust fans.

KEEP DOORS LOCKED: You don't need some little nephew checking out yourgarden and telling his friends or getting light fingered.

Marijuana Germination

Experience is the best thing for marijuana germination. Here's some advice andtips on how to get good growing, healthy, flowering plants you'll enjoy smoking.

Rockwool Plugs

A very good medium for germinating marijuana. Make sure to move the rockwoolplug to a block or soil in a matter of 2 to 3 days. This gives the taproot a good

shot at developing fully. It's cool to directly sow into the bloc to prevent less work.


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Rockwool Blocks: Great for the large scale grow ops. Flush blocks well to lowerthe pH and stack the rockwool on top each other. Water draws away from the topto prevent saturation. Make sure you regulate your humidity. Place your blocks in

a Duma tray and fill the holes with germinating soil. Sow your seed .5 to 1 cm.deep. Cover so dry out doesn't occur and keep in a warm place. Make sure the

tray gets lit after 2 days. For a temperature around 23 degrees Celsiusgerminating should take place in 2 days. The plants won't lose growing potentialwhen you put your blocks on the slabs after 12 to 14 days.

Jiffy Pots

A more expensive method for germinating marijuana seeds. The pots dry outquickly and are only suitable for soil growing. Molds develop very quickly when

too humid. It's a pretty good medium but you have to take care closely everyday.Make sure you move your germinated seedlings into bigger mediums quickly.

Not great for large scale grow ops.Pots With Soil

The most natural and easiest medium to germinate marijuana seeds. Use pre-fertilized potting soil. Fill your potters about 3/4 with this soil and the remaining

1/4 fill with germinating soil. Gently press down so you have a little ridge toprevent water from getting over the edges. Plant seeds .5 to 1 cm. deep. It's best

to use disposable pots you can cut the bottom out to allow an easy transfer tobigger pots. A plant releases it's waste in the top layer of the medium and it's nota good idea to flush this waste back into the drinking roots every time you water.

Fix drippers at the back of the slab and not in the pot.

Here are the main things to keep in mind when using colloidal silver:

* Make sure you spray the cannabis with a strong enough colloidal silversolution (at least 30 PPM of silver)

* Spray the cannabis thoroughly to almost drench all the parts you want to turninto pollen sacs

* Spray the cannabis regularly, at least once a day for 10-14 days, startingwhen you change the lights to 12-12

* Spray the cannabis with colloidal silver every day until you see signs of malepollen sacs forming. Some hardy strains may need over 2-3 weeks spraying

before they 'turn'.

Grow Light Guide

Marijuana grow light systems allow you to extend the growing season byproviding your plants with an indoor equivalent to sunlight. This is a great

advantage for those of you who appreciate having a year-round supply of freshflowers, veggies and herbs. Artificial lighting is also a great way to jump-start

spring by starting your seedlings months ahead of the last frost. There are three


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main types of horticultural lighting systems.

HID (High Intensity Discharge) Lighting

HID lighting is the most efficient way to convert electricity into light that is

available to the consumer. There are two types of HID grow lights used forhorticultural lighting:

HID Light Efficiency

Comnparison of Marijuana Grow LightsOne 1000 watt HPS bulb puts out as much light as 111 incandescent 100 wattbulbs. One 400 watt MH bulb puts out as much light as 20 fluorescent 40 watt

tubesMetal Halide - MH

Metal halide bulbs produce an abundance of light in the blue spectrum. This colorof light promotes plant growth and is excellent for green leafy growth and keepingplants compact. It is the best type of light to be used as a primary light source (if

no or little natural sunlight is available). The average lifespan is about 10,000cumulative hours. The bulb will light up beyond this time but due to the gradualdecline of light, it is not worth your while to wait for the bulb to finally burn out. If

you compare their lumen (brightness) per unit of energy consumed, metal halidesproduce up to 125 lumens per watt compared to 39 lumens per watt with

fluorescent lights and 18 lumens per watt for standard incandescent bulbs.High Pressure Sodium - HPS

High pressure sodium bulbs emit an orange-red glow. This band of light triggershormones in plants to increase flowering/budding in plants. They are the bestlights available for secondary or supplemental lighting (used in conjunction with

natural sunlight). This is ideal for greenhouse growing applications.

Not only is this a great flowering light, it has two features that make it a moreeconomical choice. Their average lifespan is twice that of metal halides, but after18,000 hours of use, they will start to draw more electricity than their rated wattswhile gradually producing less light. HPS bulbs are very efficient. They produceup to 140 lumens per watt. Their disadvantage is they are deficient in the bluespectrum. If a gardener were to start a young plant under a HPS bulb, she/hewould see impressive vertical growth. In fact, probably too impressive. Most

plants would grow up thin and lanky and in no time you will have to prune yourplant back before it grows into the light fixture. The exception to this is using aHPS light in a greenhouse. Sunlight is high in the blue spectrum which would

offset any stretching caused by HPS bulbs.


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HID Light Output

Primary Growing Area

Supplemental Growing Area

100 watts

2' x 2'

3' x 3'

250 watts

3' x 3'

4' x 4'

400 watts

4' x 4'

6' x 6'

600 watts

6' x 6'

8' x 8'

1000 watts

8' x 8'


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12' x 12'

HID Lighting Helpful TipsHanging height: Due to the heat that is emitted from these types of fixtures, you

should hang them according to size. Smaller wattage systems (100 and 250)

should be hung about 2 to 3 feet from the top of the plants. Medium wattagesystems (400 and 600) should be hung around 4 feet from the top of the plants.High wattage systems (1000 and up) should be placed at least 4 to 6 feet from

the plant tops.How long should lights run? This depends on the type of plant. Most plants and

vegetables need about 10 to 12 hours of light to promote growth. Plants thatproduce fruits or flowers will show improvement with up to 16 hours a day of

supplemental light.Fluorescent Lighting

This type of light is perfect for starts and seedlings. They are also popular for

growing low-light plants like herbs and African violets. Fluorescent lights are lowintensity and need to be placed within 8" (up to 15" for shade loving plants) of theplants to be effective. They are a poor light source for flowering and budding

primarily because of their low lumen output.Incandescent Lighting

These lights are also good for starts and seedlings and provide an inexpensivealternative to HID lights, because they do not require a ballast. These lights are

only good for individual plants or small groups of plants because of their lowlumen output and limited range.

The Cost to Run a Lighting SystemTo get the operating cost per hour for a light, take the lights combined wattage,and divide it by 1000 to get the kilowatts used. Then multiply that number by theamount your electric company charges per kilowatt hour. HID lights will use thenumber of watts it emits per hour, ie; 600w system will use 600 watts per hour

(regardless of spectrum).(light wattage output / 1000) x electricity cost per kilowatt hour = Operating cost

per houroperating cost per hour x hours used per month = Operating cost per month

How the Sunlight Effects Plant Growth

200 - 280 nm UVC ultraviolet range which is extremely harmful to plantsbecause it is highly toxic.

280 - 315 nm Includes harmful UVB ultraviolet light which causes plantscolors to fade.

315 - 380 nm Range of UVA ultraviolet light which is neither harmful nor


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beneficial to plant growth.

380 - 400 nm Start of visible light spectrum. Process of chlorophyll absorptionbegins. UV protected plastics ideally block out any light below this range.

400 - 520 nm This range includes violet, blue, and green bands. Peakabsorption by chlorophyll occurs, and a strong influence on photosynthesis.(promotes vegetative growth)

520 - 610 nm This range includes the green, yellow, and orange bands andhas less absorption by pigments.

610 - 720 nm This is the red band. Large amount of absorption by chlorophylloccurs, and most significant influence on photosynthesis. (promotes flowering

and budding)

720 - 1000 nm There is little absorption by chlorophyll here. Flowering andgermination is influenced. At the high end of the band is infrared, which is heat.

Harvesting Marijuana! When To Harvest Marijuana

There are several important points to consider when choosing the optimum timeto harvest your marijuana crop. There are different factors to consider betweenindoor and outdoor marijuana plants. There is the difference between Sativas

and Indicas in bloom duration and final effect.

There is the difference between early and late harvest to encourage head tobody high respectively. There is the issue of chemistry because what we arereally considering in terms of the ripeness relates directly to the chemical natureand state of the plant at harvest. Last, but not least, is the concept of the window

for marijuana harvest, where I will begin.Window For Harvesting Your Marijuana Crop

This term indicates the period during which the plant is at its optimum state ofripeness. The window opens when the plant is first ripe. Somewhere along theline the plant becomes over-ripe which signifies the closing of the window of

harvest.

For most Indicas grown indoors, the window of harvest is about two weeks longgive or take a couple of days for various strains. Indoors, if going directly from an18/6 hour vegetative light cycle to a 12/12 hour bud cycle, most indicas take

about eight weeks to fully mature.

As to outdoors I can only speak from experience at the 45th parallel and thebloom times there. At the 45th parallel I've found most Indicas to be at peak

harvest starting at the beginning of October, sometimes very late September,


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and running until the end of October, sometimes running into November duringmild years or in a greenhouse. My favorite time to harvest a nice Blueberry Indica

outdoors is in the second to third week of October.

For Sativa grown either indoors or outdoors, the window may be open much

longer. Some Sativas take up to thirteen weeks to mature indoors. Outdoorsmany will go well into November and even December, if conditions are right(again, this is near or at the 45th parallel). Head High or Body Stone?

An important consideration has to do with one's preference for a head high ormore of a body high. A good head high can positively influence one's mentalstate much like a psychedelic; whereas a good body high is more similar to a

narcotic effect. Generally, head highs tend to be more up and body highs tend tobe more down. Suffice it to say that a good healthy mix of the two is a fine goal to

achieve.

Sativas and early window harvests tend to be more of a head high, whereas

Indicas and late window harvests tend to be more of a body high. Given this ruleof thumb you can pretty much come up with what you want. That is, if you prefera very psychedelic head high, then an early harvested Sativa might do best.

If a very narcotic body high is desired, then a late harvest indicas would probablydo best. For that best-of-both worlds high, experimentation with late harvested

sativas and early-to-mid harvested indicas usually proves interesting.Magnify Your Buds

When we speak of various highs experienced by different products, we arenoting variations in plant chemistry. The chemicals we enjoy are produced withinthe glandular stalked trichomes, along the surfaces of the bud flowers (calyxes),

bracts, leaves and stems, starting in or around the fourth week of the bud cycle.More and more of these trichomes develop as the plant matures.I highly recommend that the serious cannabis student acquire a 30X power,

illuminated magnifier. These can be found at most local electronics stores, oftenfor under fifteen dollars. With the aid of the magnifier one can learn more about

the detail of trichome development and ripeness.As far as trichomes are concerned, the tall ones with swollen, clear, bulbousheads are what to shoot for. The denser the concentration, the greater the

potency.The Cycle Of Marijuana Plant Maturity

Starting in the third or fourth week of the flowering light cycle, glandular stalkedtrichomes will begin to form along the surfaces of leaves, flowers, bracts and

stems. At the same time, more and more flowers (also called calyxes) developinto densely-packed floral clusters.

The pistils of the young flowers are bright white and turn reddish brown with age.The pistils and flowers develop from the bottom of the bud to the top. The older,

lower pistils are the first to turn reddish brown. For most basic indicas this usuallyhappens by the sixth week in the flowering cycle. It is about this time that the


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calyxes begin to swell.Calyx swelling is a major indicator of peak maturity. The lowest, oldest calyxesswell first and the swelling works its way up to the highest, youngest flowers oneach bud. At peak maturity about 90% of the calyxes will almost look seeded,

they are so fat.

Three quarters to 90% of the pistils will have turned reddish brown as well. For abasic Indica this takes well into the seventh week of the flowering cycle.By the end of the eighth week most of the calyxes will have swollen and a surge

of trichome development has coated most of the buds. It is now that thedevelopment of a very discerning palate comes into play to determine the finest

harvest time. Remember - patience is a virtue and often a discipline.The ripening signs for most Sativas are highly similar, except extended over a

longer period of time. Occasionally, some Sativas have windows of peak harvestthat actually open and close. That is, for a week or so the plant may exhibit signs

of peak ripeness.However, a week later the plant may have a growth spurt, which lowers the

trichome-to-fibre ratio and overall potency for a little while. Usually a fibrousgrowth spurt is accompanied by a corresponding trichome increase. Again, timeand experience are the key elements in this regard.

Changes In Marijuana Chemistry

As the plant matures through its window of harvest its chemistry changes. As thewindow closes, the more desirable compounds begin breaking down into less

desirable ones. Primarily it is THC breaking down in CBNs and CBDs.Which particular combination of chemicals is the most desirable is purely a

matter of taste and choice, developed over time and with experience. Set andsetting also play an important role in determining which type of product is best

appreciated.Pleasant head highs are often desirable for social occasions, whereas a narcoticlate-window Indica may work better as an evening medicinal herb. The mainpoint is that these differences are chemical in nature and more research is

needed to more fully understand this phenomenon.Another important point is that much can be done to further enhance the

chemical process, especially in regard to bouquet, aroma and flavour, given theproper curing process.

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how to grow cannibis indoors