This is to help novice marijuana growers, grow nice, fat marijuana plants. We will start from the beginning and work our way to the end. * Read both the grow guide and the SUMMARY/TIPS/TRICKS below the guide to get a better hold on how to grow properly and to gain better yields(more buds).
First you need to know which are good seeds and which are not. White seeds are not good. They are immature and that also goes for green seeds. Dark brown to almost black are pretty much good seeds. As long as you can see the veins on them. You can either buy seeds from a seed bank if you want some HIGH quality herb or use seeds from your best bought smoke. Either way, you'll end up with something to smoke. (hopefully right)
Germination: Germination is a pretty easy step in growing marijuana. This is the part of the process where you all the seed to become active by the use of water. To do this you can use Method #1 or Method #2.
Method #1
You'll need seeds, a bowl, and two paper towels. Wet one paper towel till farely moist and place it at the bottom of the bowl. Now, place the seeds on top. And put the other paper towel on top of the seeds to allow the moisture from the other paper towel to get into the dry one. Put this into a nice dark area that's nice a warm and check them everyday and moisten them when the towels began to dry out. Once you start to see little white shoots coming from the seeds you can plant them into a pot or the ground.
Method #2
You'll need seeds, some pots and some good soil. Take the soil and put it into the pot. Pack it down gently but with enough force that it's not loose but spongy. Now, push a hole in the center of the soil and add one seed. Water this and wait. It will take about 10 days to sprout. You should mist this whenever the soil become dry.
This is when the first two bladed leaves appear. This is the beginning of the seedling growth. They usually start out with one pair of leaflets and then three up to eleven depending on the variety. Most form up to 7 or 9 leaflets. The stage is complete when the plant reaches its maximum blade per leaf which is about 4-6 weeks.
*Remember to water your plants ONLY when the soil is barely moist to the touch. Usually about every 2 days or more.
If planting indoors then you should set up your grow room with Metal Halide lights for the tops of the plants and fluorescent tubes on the sides of the plants for a better source of light for the undergrowth. There is a golden rule for not burning plants with the lights as Metal Halide's do get hot. If You put up the lights and put your hand where the top of the plant should be and your hand is uncomfortably hot, move the light up more. Fluorescents do not become as hot and can be as close as 2-6 inches away from the plant.
You will also need to add some kind of reflectors to your grow room walls. Whether it be silver reflector tape, mirrors, or foil. This will add more light to the whole plant and allow it to grow more.
Another thing that is a must have is a timer for the lights. This is because marijuana plants know the difference between light and dark and understand that when it is dark for a certain amount of time, then it's time to bud. You should set the timer on 22/2 for its seedling and vegitative stage and 12/12 for its flowering stage.
Add a fan to the grow room also to ensure that the stem will be strong enough to hold up the plant and buds. This will also cool down the plant from the heat of the light.
The place to grow marijuana in the outdoors is at the equator. It has the best lighting and the climate doesn't fluctuate as much. But not everyone has that opportunity. So we grow it where we can.
You can grow marijuana anytime after the last frost of the year. This is usually about March or April in temperate zones such as Maryland, USA and parts of China or about May to June in colder Climates like Canada and Russia. The only problem with this is that by the time harvest comes around, you're left with a 20 foot plant with tiny, small buds.
If you want a small plant with large, heavy buds with lots of resin then the best time to grow your reefer is 21 days before the longest day of the year(Be sure to germinate before the 1st and atleast have seedlings/sprouts). This is usually June 1st. The longest day of the year is June 21st. I would suggest that you start your growing in a closet horticulture leaving the lights on a set timer for 22/2 or 24/0(You don't have to but it will allow the plants to grow to atleast 8 - 12 inches). On the 22nd of June, take your little beasts outside. Marijuana is a plant which calculates it's light times against it's dark times. Once you take the plant out to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark, it will begin it's preflowering process and began to move to it's flowering process. Under these conditions your plant will grow 3 - 6 feet tall making it less suspicious to narcotic teams, explorers(helicopters, airplanes, hot air balloons...), and your neighborhood theives.
Placement is essential to growing nice buds. Placing your plant next to a stream, creek or brook in an open spot is nice because you probably won't have to worry about watering it but you need to make sure it's moist soil but not wet. An open field such as a crop field is nice as long as the bud has enough light. Also, I would suggest to keep the crops spaced so it would be even less suspicious.
When transplanting your plant to your designated area look for these main characteristics/questions of the area:
->Lighting: Will there be atleast 12 hours of light and 12 of dark?
*Answer should be: yes.
->Visibility: Can someone see it from a near-by road or on a hike in the woods?
*Answer should be: Never.
->Soil: Is there visible clay? Are there worms and other bugs?
*Answer Should be: NO. Yes.
->H20: Is there a water supply or will I have to do it myself?
*Answer should be: This is your own preference.
->Landscape: Is it at the top or bottom of a hill?
*Answer should be: At the bottom because the more nutritious soil is at the bottom after running off the top.
When transplanting you will need: All-purpose planting soil, your plants, and a shovel(optional some old fruit like banana peels and apples to created a more healthy soil or vermaculite so you won't have to water it as often). When you get to the area you want to put your plants down for good, dig each plant a hole 2 foot by 2 foot. Add some soil and, if you chose to, chop up the fruit and add that and vermaculite. Add more soil and then make a hole for your plant to fit into. Water, watch them grow and pray for females.
The hardest and most complicated process if you're a beginner. After your plants vegetative growth(when the lighting becomes 12/12 vege growth will begin to stop), your plant will begin it's preflowering stage. This is when you will begin to see small, elongated bulbs begin to form where the stem and branch meet. These will either turn into male or female plants.
The Male plant's preflowers will look like a fat man with a needle like head. There will be several of them on a branch forming where the stem and branch meet. They will eventually open up to reveal 5 elongated pollen sacks hanging from little tiny threads. DO NOT ALLOW YOUR MALE TO GET THIS FAR. This will harm your females by pollinating the buds which will immediately turn them from sensemilla to seed sacks which will ruin your crops.
The Female plant's preflowers will look similar to the males at first. The only difference in the beginning is that the male will have the stem with the pollen pods and the female will have no stem and instead of flowering like the male will begin with two white pistols coming out of the pods. Eventually, the plant will become covered with little white hairs coming out of the pods. This is the buds. You have two different times you can pick the buds depending on the high you want. If you want a light high without the laziness, harvest the buds when they become 50% colored(brown, red, gray, green) and 50% white. If you want a hard stoney high which usually will keep you on your ass, harvest when they are 70 - 80% colored and 30 - 20% white.
For pictures go to:
Male Plant
A male plant in full flowering. colored photo.
Male Plant
A male plant. Leaves, seeds, flowers.colored illustration.
Male/Female Plant
A male and Female plant. Flowers, nodes.Black/White illustration.
Female Plant
A female plant. Preflowers. colored photo
Male Plant
A male plant. Preflowers. colored photo.
First of all, NEVER TOUCH THE BUDS! while in flowering process. This could damage the THC resin pods. Now, when the buds are ready to harvest, you will want to cut your plant off at the base with a clean pair of scissors or a knife or you can just cut off the buds. Lay them on newspaper allowing the larger shade leaves to wrap around the buds so that you do not damage the resin pods.
Take your plant or buds to a dark, dry place such as a closet and hang it upside down for about three days. This should dry some of the plant. After this is done, take your buds and put them into paper bags. Leave them in this for a week to two weeks.
Once your buds are dried and cured, all you will need to do is trim off the shade leaves and excess stems, package and smoke or sell. You could however, harvest yearly. And if you had 365 plants, daily. But most of us do not have this many plants. This is by either planting plants at different times or cloning your mother plant.
Pruning is an act whereas you cut off the top of the plant so that it will grow two stems instead of one. You can clone the top if it is long enough. When you prune or clone, ALWAYS make sure it is during vegetative growth and not seedling or during it's preflowering/flowering.
When pruning or cloning, use sterile scissors or a sterile knife. Take the scissors and cut off the new growing top in between the branches beneath it. In 3 to 10 days, you will see the two new growing tops growing from between those branches. I suggest pruning every other top. This means cut off the top allow it to grow 4 new leaves(per branch) and then prune again.
Many people clone using rockwool. I find that too hard for me and go straight back to the old germination method exept I use a slightly different approach. When cloning the cutting, I take a towel and wrap it around the base of the cutting. Then place it into a cloud of towels, inside a bowl, so that it will stand up right. I moisten the towels and wait till I see roots. Then I plant it into a pot.
* Cannabis tends to grow faster under continuous light during its first 2 months of growing.
* Fluorescent light is one of the most effective source of artificial light used to grow marijuana. Although, Metal Halides are much more effective, fluorescents are cheaper.
* You should have at least 20 Watts per square foot of light going to your plants.
* Using Aluminum reflectors on the walls of the grow room increase the amount of light that gets to the plant.
* Using a small fan in the grow room will help the stem become stronger and cool down the grow room.
* By carefully bending your plants stem back and forth everyday, you will also help the stem become stronger.
*Allowing Light to leak onto the plants during their dark periods will reverse the plant back to vegetative growth during preflowering or flowering. It will also make your plant grow poorly.
* Remember to give your plants 24/0(24 hours of light, 0 hours of dark) or 22/2 in their seedling/vegetative growth and 12/12 or 10/14 for their flowering periods.
* DO NOT overwater. That is how most plants die. This will drown your plants by not giving them enough oxygen and/or create root rot. Water every 2 days or whenever the top of the soil becomes dry.
*When plants are smaller, they transpire less and do not need as much water unlike larger plants.
* If you water your plants in the morning instead of the evenings, they will grow better.
* To balance acidic soil, use Calcium in the water. Acidic soil can be caused by fertilizers and tap water.
* Rain water is a good source of Nitrogen for your plants.
* It's a theory that if you limit the amount of water to a flowering plant, you can positively influence the potency of your plant.
* The element Nitrogen is used for a faster, lusher growth. Using Nitrogen will enable your plant to grow faster. Too much Nitrogen though will become poison.
* Phosphorus is usually needed during the Seedling stage and the flowering stage.
* Potassium is needed for a nice, sturdy stem.
* Calcium isn't needed unless the soil is too acidic.
* Marijuana loves nutrients but doesn't need it every day. Use them every time you water or every other time you water. Also flush the soil out with water for about a week after using fertilizers for two weeks to leach the soil so it doesn't become too acidic.
* Carbon Dioxide can be used to increase growth during the vegetative periods of your plants life.
* Unless you have poor soil, a young seedling shouldn't require fertilizing in it's first few weeks of sprouting.
* Using Organic fertilizers rather than Chemical will allow of a better chance of your plant living as chemical fertilizers are more concentrated and can toxify the soil.
* Always delute fertilizers with water prior to giving plants nutritients.
* It will take less nitrogen than any other element to toxify the soil.
* Pruning marijuana is an easy way of fixing uneven growth without harming it much.
* Don't prune a seedling. Wait till the first five bladed leaves form, the start of vegetative growth, before pruning tips.
* Many growers prune the growing tips after four to five weeks growth to develop lower branches which will quickly fill all the horizontal space.
* Severe pruning WILL harm a growing plant.
* ONLY PRUNE during vegetative stage and not during seedling, pre/flowering stages.
* After you prune a tip, the plant will take a few days to recover before it starts to grow more branches.
* It's better to prune plants during the beginning of their vegetative stage rather than the end.
* It's better to prune every second or third node rather than every node.
* If your plant's health is declining(wilting, yellow leaves) do not prune.
* It may be tempting to prune young female buds during flowering but it will reduce your harvest greatly.
* Sometimes you may not even need to prune a plant. Use your own judgement.
* The upper most growing tip of an unpruned plant will always be more potent than the upper most buds of an unpruned marijuana plant grown in similar conditions.
* To grow sensemilla(seedless marijuana) remove the males by pruning the stem directly above the ground and removing them carefully so they do not desseminate pollen.
* Pruning a good marijuana plant can be great for further development in hydroponics or aeroponics.
* Pruning is good to limit the height and allow your plant to grow outward rather than up, limiting detection.
* By pruning the buds at harvest time, you may be able to harvest it a second time.
* Marijuana is a very strong plant and will endure a lot of harm to it's leaves and stems before it dies.
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