[OmniscientOnus]

Sounds like you have a good handle on things for a new guy. I'm not exactly an expert myself when it comes to growing the stuff seeing as how I'm going through my first grow at the moment, but I have smoked it for a long... what was I talking about? No, j/k, but I have been smoking for a long time. With that said,

Don't know anyone that smokes? That's hard to believe. The more likely explanation is that you don't know that anyone smokes. Try bringing it up in a conversation with a few of your friends. Maybe just make mention of the war on drugs and see how he responds. If it's all F-this and F-that, or at least some form of negative attitude, then you may have just found yourself a closet pothead (closet to you at least). Not always true, some people just agree with stoners, but don't partake. Either way, if they don't seem to have anything against the stuff, they probably won't have a problem with you smoking it. In fact, they may even sell you some, or at least point you in the right direction.

Everyone knows a pothead, just not everyone knows that they know a pothead.


STRAIN: I'd have to agree with you, strain is pretty much meaningless when you first start smoking. Often it's pretty much meaningless through the first half of your smokin' "career". Weed gets you high, that's it. Now, there is a difference between strains, especially between indica and sativa, but other than that... well, lets just say that I've never met anyone who could tell you what they were smoking just from the effects. Odds are you aren't going to smoke a joint and say "That's White Widow!".

Also, on a personal note, I'm partial to the indica strains myself. They're more of a body high rather than a mental high. Personally I have higher tendencies toward paranoia (still very low, but higher with sativa) with mental highs because I feel like I can't get a complete grip on my ideas, which I don't like. With an Indica high though I can sit down and read a book for hours and hours on end. Sativa high's always end up with me under a blanket "watching" a movie and constantly going from "man this couch is comfy" to "why am I even watching this movie?".

If you're looking for something close to alcohol, 70/30 indica/sativa is actually probably your best bet. Maybe even a 50/50... but it's still going to be a lot different (and a lot better).

Grow Style: 10 plants all growing on SoG will produce more than a "modest" amount of weed, especially for a newbie. If you're smart about it, you'll learn how to control how high you get (from "am I high?" to "where am I?" (the answer to the first is always yes by the way; if you have to ask, then you're high)). I can make 3.5g (1/8 ounce or an eighth or an eighter as it is often referred to) last as long as 3-4 weeks. And that's while getting REALLY high. All it takes is a pipe (or bong) a lighter, and a little know-how. Usually an 1/8 technically lasts me about 6 weeks because I like to get what I call "concentrated high" which means that the weed makes me only be able to think about 1 think at a time, but I can think about it very, very intently. Basically, I like to get high and read or watch movies. When I first got heavy into marijuana I went through about an ounce a week, darn near by myself though. So, I know how it goes both ways. Frankly it's cheaper and smarter to do it my way... but my way doesn't allow for joints (joints waste a lot and are harder to control how high you get. Who doesn't finish a joint after all?), and cheap isn't an issue when you're growing your own.

If you get the 50/50 ratio nailed in your seeds, which is possible, then you're going to have 5 females. Even at 1/2 an ounce per plant that's still 2 1/2 ounces, or at least a years worth of smoke to the conservative smoker like myself. And yes, I smoke just about, if not, every day.

Not that there's anything wrong with that amount of weed, I just wouldn't want you thinking that you're growing enough for a few tries with a couple pals, or something to that effect. 2 1/2 ounces (and from what I understand that's underestimating what 5 plants can do even for a newb) is a decent amount for any smoker, even the heavy ones. Unless you plan on smoking a lot, either save some of those seeds for later so you can have a constant supply of fresh weed instead of having to dig through your fridge/freezer every few days when you need more.

Also, one last quick tip about having lots of weed: Try and keep it in one bag, and don't get a scale. Having your weed separated into multiple bags, and/or owning a scale (a small scale, not a bathroom scale) puts you into the category of "possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute" which carries much heftier legal ramifications than just plain old "possession of a controlled substance". Even if it's just for you, it's going to look like you're planning on selling, the law states that having it separated is automatically considered intent to distribute.


You may also want to consider cloning instead of creating mothers. When you make your own seeds you are wasting the potential for extra THC from your plants. If you're going to do a lot of growing, it's more beneficial to waste some THC in a few plants than to constantly buy seeds after you can't clone anymore, but seeing as how you can clone plants over and over and over again (I've heard of 1 plant being cloned as many as 20 times successfully) that shouldn't be one of your concerns on your first grow.

GROW LOCATION: There's nothing wrong with either a cabinet or a closet. Personal preference is all that matters really here. However, 5 or so plants in a cabinet is going to equal one fairly large cabinet, in which case it may be just as easy to regulate a closet's environment as it is to regulate the environment of a closet sized grow box/cabinet.

GROW MEDIUM: Once again, personal preference, but if you have the stuff, I'd just go with soil. After all, they grow in nature in the soil, and mother nature has a damn good idea on what she's doing. She has had millions of years of practice after all! But, mankind is pretty smart too.

I wouldn't bother buying smaller pots. From what I understand you're going to get about a foot of growth for every gallon your pot is. However, since your plant isn't a goldfish (goldfish's growth is determined by the size of their home) my guess is that it will continue to grow and the roots will begin to tangle and run out of room after about 4 feet in the pots you currently have. Unless you start flowering early to compensate (which means less bud, less potency, but also less time) I think you'd be better off keeping the ones you have. Also, I've heard it said that farmers who grow outside with deeply tilled soil have a higher female to male ratio (as high as 4:1, or 80% female), though I don't see how that can be true seeing as how the sex of the seed is predetermined. Perhaps they meant that less turned hermie on them.

The girl at the hydroponics store shouldn't be an issue either. Either she's clueless or she doesn't care. Otherwise she probably wouldn't work in a store that's geared towards growing plants indoors. Her job is to help people grow plants indoors, and it would make for a very tiring workday to get suspicious of every guy who walked in and wanted to buy a product from her. If she was selling wedding dresses and you went up to her with bloodshot eyes, eating funyons asking her about growing tomatoes in your bathroom and peas in your kitchen, she might be suspicious, but a person who sells hydroponic equipment doesn't usually call the police because someone bought... well, hydroponic equipment from her, lol.

LIGHTING: CFL's, HPS's, Fluro's... it's all essentially the same. Each one has it's benefits for different situations.

CFL's are nice in small area's because the heat is minimal. Also CFL's don't spike your electric bill. Low heat emissions with little change in electric bill means a lot less chance of Uncle Sam using his X-Ray Specs to see what you have under your nighty.

Personally I like the CFL's, but I've never used the others. Well, I should say I'm not using them seeing as how this is my first grow.

THEE biggest tip I can give you though is to make sure you have something to check the pH in your soil, and that you don't get soil with time released ferts. I am going through a nightmare of a case of fert burn due to a case of fert burn and high pH combined. It's making for one strenuous grow, that's for sure. After that, the plant is a weed, and it usually will grow - as it's been said before - almost in spite of you.

Good Luck with your grow, and I hope smoking weed grows on you.

That was a terrible pun. I should actually hit the delete key instead of putting in this apology, but frankly, I just don't wanna.