GrowFAQ:Newbie grow guide

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by Jack Burton, Sep 29, 2004.

  1. here is a great grow guide i found skimming thru overgrow the other day. if you go to overgrow, show STICH some love for doing this guide.

    JB



    GrowFAQ:Newbie grow guide WIth ALOT of information just about everything!

    Hi, I have done so much reading here on OG, that I wanted to make a guide helping other new growers as easy as possible……
    This will be kinda long and will be updated as much as I can so bare with me J.

    I am still new myself, but I have learned a lot and want to share with others on my experience. First off I want to start out in order from germination to curing and drying and pros and cons on as much stuff as possible…..
    Since a lot of new growers do not read the Grow Faqs I will put in a lot of things here from the grow faqs and make it a lot easier for others [​IMG]

    1 Germination and growing mediums.

    So I want to start out by one of the best ways to germinate seeds
    There are several different methods to germinate seeds…
    The most common you will see is taking a cloth and a bowl of water.. and a heating pad and putting your seeds onto the cloth… Before getting water its best to test the PH of your water, because to high or to low will make your seeds not germinate properly when they pop open. If you are going to be growing hydroponicly you want a pH of 5.0-5.5 for soil grow you want a pH of 6.0-7.0. Some people will argue that 7 is to high… its neutral.. I grow and use 7.0.The best way to test your pH is to get a pH meter. You can get them at a local Hardware store or garden place. Wal-Mart also sells them for about $11. Now make sure the cloth is saturated but not submerged in water, then place your seeds onto the cloth in your bowl. Now take a heating pad and place it underneath your bowl and put your seeds into a dark place…. Turn your heating pad on the lowest setting and let it set for 15 or 24 hours…. Make sure you check in on your seeds to make sure the water is not evaporating. When your seeds do germinate use tweezers to pick up your seedlings and then place them in whatever medium you are going to use… Example
    Rockwool, pot, peat pellet or other hydro growing mediums.


    1) A side note that I have noticed also, is that people like to or tend to use paper towels…. I have noticed a lot people have had problems with using paper towels… why? Because paper towels have a lot of dye and other chemicals in them that can be harmful to seedlings… so it's best to stay away from using paper towels.
    A clean cloth or hand rag that hasn't been used in fabric softener is good enough.


    Another way people use to germinate seeds is by using peat pellets.
    Peat pellets tend to have a pH of 6.5 which is just right where you want it.
    Taking your peat pellet and your water place the pellet into the bowl of water and wait for it to absorb….. a lot of people will add one drop of superthrive to help boost seed germination rate! That will work and I recommend it if you are having problems with seeds germinating, However using to much will cause the seedling not to grow so use with caution its very strong stuff. You can buy superthrive at Wal-mart or your local Hydro shop. Now you have your peat pellet all absorbed making sure your hands are clean before picking up your peat pellet… you want to squeeze out the excess water carefully… NOT to much you still want it to me very moist. Now take 2 toothpicks and make a hole about 2 cm deep and then take your seed and place it in the hole and cover a small bit of the dirt over it .

    Also if you are going to grow hydroponicly and use Rockwool you want to make sure you soak your Rockwool cubes in water for 24 hours to adjust the pH of the cubes!
    Then taking a nail putting a hole in the middle is good enough take your plant and seedling and place it in the Rockwool!

    2 Seedling to Vegetative Stages and Lighting

    We have our germination method and growing medium and have our seeds sprouting out.
    Now we need to put the seedling under Lighting. !!!!BEFORE CHOOSING LIGHTING MAKE SURE YOU READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS AND SAFETY ISSUES TO INSURE SAFETY!!!!!
    Now we have lots of choices to make here.

    Fluro Tubes
    We have fluro tubes that work very well for seedlings. The pros to using fluro tubes for seedlings is you can put them about 2 cm away from the seedlings and they will not burn!
    Therefore getting max amount of lumens possible., cons on doing this is there is many types of fluros that do different jobs for how you want your plant to grow! Sneakatokes Fluro Guide is a excellent example of what kinda of fluros grow what kind of plants!
    http://www.overgrow.com/growfaq/1539

    Compact Fluros
    Another Lighting you can use for seedling Stages is Compact fluros…
    These are another excellent choice for people who are on cash flow problems and want the best lighting for the buck! Again Sneakatoke's Compact Fluro guide is excellent for this topic!
    http://www.overgrow.com/growfaq/1477

    Metal halide
    Another lighting people use for seedlings vegging and flowering is what's called
    A Metal Halide or MH. MH is great also for vegging but also used for seedlings
    The pros to using a MH during seedling stage is it makes a very strong stem and makes the plant grow bushy and not so tall.
    The con to using it is the amount of heat it produces and I recommend it not being used for seedling stage. Its really great for being used as a Veg and flowering lighting!

    High Pressure Sodium (HPS)
    These are awesome lighting and are the most popular for growing in flowering.(use of a reflector comes recommended for new growers)
    People also tend to use these for veg growth, but I have seen that you grow bigger plants with compact fluros, because HPS tends to be the incorrect spectrum. Vegging plants like the blue spectrum then the orange spectrum like the HPS gives off.
    When your plants get into the flowering stage there need for different color spectrum changes to Orange to. But its best to use an HPS for flowering as it gives off the most lumens. You can use a mix spectrum where you use MH HPS combo. Or you can use HPS and compact fluros! Compact fluros work great with HPS!! I myself use compact fluros and a HPS for flowering. The cons of using an HPS is they run VERY HOT!!!
    You can't keep them as close as you would compact fluros or fluro tubes! And having a ventilation system is a must!!!!! You want your grow to be under 80 degrees F if you find yourself having difficulty keeping them.. then maybe you should invest in compact fluros for now or beef up your cooling in your grow room!

    Alright! Now we have our lighting we want and medium and now is ready to grow!


    Alright we now have our seedling and lighting!
    Now this is one of the most important things you could ever remember!
    For the first 2 weeks of your seedlings life you NEVER want to give it nutrients at all!!!
    For it will burn them very easily…. Just giving it water is enough along with your medium you are using weather it is from Rockwool cubes to peat pellets.
    Also make sure your pH stays normal… don't let it go past 0.2 of where you have it, because it can cause problems with your seedlings and will lock out much needed nutrients your seedling needs for the first 2 weeks.
    For the first 2 weeks you also want your lighting on 24/0. After that then you can choose your lighting period, most people will argue 24/0 is best the whole time. I say that is only true for the first 2 weeks, Why? If your plant was outdoors… there would be a dark period regardless, not only that your plant only absorbs so much energy and then shuts down for a few hours… so its better if you can take on the 20/4 period after the first 2 weeks. Say you want to have your plant veg for 5 weeks….. during the last week of veg stage you would want to cut the lighting down to 18/6 and then after that week go into 12/12. I have seen this and have experienced this , because by going from a 24/0,20/4 and 18/6 periods your plant gets ready as if it is going to flower soon therefore getting your plant ready for 12/12 …. Also I say not getting your plant ready for flowering can stress the plants. What ever photo period you what to choose its all up to you… but giving your plants down time will let them grow in the dark period and save on lighting!
    Also makes it faster for your plants to show sex! I am right now growing blueberry and this time I changed the photo period from 24/0 from my last grow to 20/4 and all 4 showed sex compared with my first grow where I kept lights on 24/0 they didn't show sex. So in my honest opinion give your plants a break  we all need one!!



    3 Vegetative growth and What Nutrients you have to choose from.

    This will most likely be the longest part of this whole thread for there is many nutrients to choose from!

    Alright now we are getting somewhere!! WE got the seedling past 2 weeks and our lighting picked out and what period we are going to choose, now we need to pick out what nutrients we are going to use!
    There is a number of nutrients on the market from miracle grow to pure blend products to fish emulation and guanos! Nitrogen is one of the biggest nutrient your plant will take for veg growth! So you want to make sure you supply your plant with good amount of nitrogen! And then give a normal amount of p and k

    Here is a list of what you have to choose from for nutrients for Vegetative growth!
    And then at the bottom will be a list of micronutes also known as secondary nutrients like zinc mag and potassium.

    SOIL
    First if you want to go Chemical feeding here is a list of what you have to choose from and what is best and what strength
    [color=#b00c0]FOR ALL CHEMICAL USAGE NEVER USE WHAT THE BOX RECOMMENDS AS THE CANNABIS PLANT BURNS VERY EASILY!!! PROCEED USING THESE WITH CAUTION AND USING NO MORE THEN ½ STRENGTH OF WHAT IT SAYS ON BOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/color]


    [1] Miracle grow Tomato plant food NPK 18-18-21 has
    2ndary nutrients are: Mag .50, Copper .05, Iron .10, Man .05 and Zinc .05
    Draw back to this is it does not have Calcium and Sulphur supplement with Dolomite lime also known as garden lime.

    [2] Miracle grow All purpose plant food NPK 15-30-15
    2ndary nutrients are: Boron .02, Copper .07, Iron .15, Man .05 and Zinc .06%
    Draw back no calcium or Mag.. best one to use is Epsom salts or dolomite lime
    Use dolomite lime if having a PH problem to bring it back to desired level.
    Or use 1 teaspoon of Epsom salts per gallon of water for Mag.

    [3]Peters All Purpose plant food NPK 20-20-20 not sure about the 2ndary nutrients but it's a good pick over Miracle Grow products, because Peters uses less metals in there mix.

    [4]Canna Terrra Series
    Terra Vega… this is made for cannabis plants and has everything in the mix and is very good for new growers! http://www.bghydro.com/page/BHOS/PR...0003E5E00000000

    FoxFarm Products:Used for soil and hydro

    Tiger Bloom (2-8-4) is an ultra potent, fast acting, high phosphorous fertilizer that also contains a good supply of nitrogen for growth and vigor. It is formulated with a low pH to maintain stability in storage and keep micronutrients available. Tiger bloom can be used for both hydroponic and soil applications. When used as directed Tiger Bloom encourages abundant fruit flowering and multiple bud set. Use Tiger Bloom at the first signs of flowering through harvest. Fox Farms recommends that Tiger Bloom product be mixed with Big Bloom to correct the low PH. Tiger Bloom's starting PH is 5.4

    FOXFARM GROW BIG HYDROPONIC CONCENTRATE 3-2-6 USED ONLY FOR HYDRO potent fast acting, water soluable fertilizer specifically formulated for hydroponic use. It is then blended with premium select earthworm castings


    Organics

    [1] Blood meal 12-0-0 ------|------ these 2 are GREAT for mixing in with your soil mix

    [2] Bone Meal 6-12-0 ------| add 1 cup of bone and blood meal per 5 gallons… you might want to use more blood meal because its Higher in Nitrogen for vegging stage we are in now!

    [3] Guanos

    Mexican Bat guano: 10-2-0and adds active micro-organisms to soil. These tiny organisms unlock nutrients bound up in the soil and break down the compounds in the guano

    Super Tea (5-5-1) fertilizer which features high-nitrogen Mexican bat quano with worm castings, seabird quano, and soluble seaweed.

    Seabird guano 9-9-2
    Hi P Fossilized Seabird guano 1-10-1
    All purpose Millennia Seabird guano 9-9-2
    Orginal Seabird guano All Purpose 13-8-2?
    All Purpose Pelleted Peruvian Sea Bird Guano 12-12-2.5
    Peruvian Seabird guano 11-13-3

    [4] Castings

    Worm Casting 1-0-0 source of calcium, magnesium, and nitrogen

    Crabshell organic source of NPK, Calcium (23%) and Magnesium (1.33%).

    Seaweed extract lots of 2ndary nutrients

    [5] Earth Juice Products ------ can be used with Hydro also

    Earth juice grow 2-1-1 EARTH JUICE a simple plant tea or a fish based fertilizer EARTH JUICE will not burn your plants or harm the soil. In fact, it'll encourage the microbial activity in the soil, thus improving it.

    Earth Juice Bloom 0-3-1 same ass grow

    Earth Juice Mircoblast THIS is a must because it has LOTS of 2ndary nutrients ! a must buy!!

    Earth Juice Catalyst this is add on also like for missing 2ndary nutrients!

    Earth Juice Meta-K Natrual source of potassium

    [6] Fox Farm Products ----- can be used with Hydro also!

    Grow Big 12-7-7 A complete, organic-based liquid plant food blended from blood meal, earthworm castings, and Norwegian kelp

    Big Bloom .01-.3-.7 It is made from premium select Earthworm castings and bat guano

    Those are some of the most popular Nutrients! If I left anyout im sorry there is a lot to cover! If someone thinks I missed something please feel free to let me know and I will add it to the list with your name [​IMG]
    Well that's all I will write for now until tomorrow!
    I will go back through and find good mixtures to use for each type and what is good to use! Or I may skip it for now for this is the longest process and will take time! So I may skip that part for now and go right into veg stage [​IMG]



    4 Temps, Humidity, Reflectivity and Watering

    Now we have our plants, nutrients lighting and photo period, we now need to choose what is best Temperatures and humidity For Vegging…For Vegging you want to have the temperatures around the 70's 70-75F works best….You can have it to 80F, but no more , because you are risking heat stress to your plants. Most strains grow best around the 75F mark, where it's nice and cool… but not too chilly.
    Always have fans in your grow room for they love the swaying of the wind it produces, it always produces stronger stems from the swaying motions.
    Having a fan blowing on them is great to but you don't want it to where its blowing your plants all over the place lol. Keeping a fan in your grow keeps the temperatures down considerably and are one of the most important part of your grow equipment for it keeps fresh air going in your grow.
    At night if you like you can keep the temperature in the 60's but any less will cause stress to the plants. For having this temperature difference, people do this so they can get different colors on there buds and plants. By reducing the temperature at night during flowering when they are in the dark period they rend to change into a purpler or bluish tint, then resuming normal temps during the normal light period. IF you wish to do this you need to make sure you can get them temps at night either with the climate you live in or by artificial means such as fans and air conditioning. Always make sure you keep it normal and steady.. Not by keeping the temps at 60F one dark period and then the next dark period go to 75. That will stress out your plants and can cause problems. So make sure if you choose to do this keep it steady temps for dark and lighting… choose one temp for lighting and the other for dark period.
    Now for the humidity. Humidity is important for the first 2 weeks and gets a little less important during veg stage.. But still needs to be within range.
    The humidity for seedlings- veg ranges from 50%- 40%
    I use 55% humidity for seedlings… it seems they sprout faster with a bit over the range… 60% seems to be too high for seedlings. Vegetative growth humidity needs to be around 47 to 50% which works best for most strains. I use 42% humidity for veg growth. Some strains are susceptible to mold so staying with in the 50-40% range will keep you save for veg growth. Your better off having the humidity low then high… for causing the worst problems like bud rot during flowering or sweating out its nutrients… or root rot. The best way to monitor your temp and humidity is to get a Thermometer. The best ones to get are digital, they have a very accurate one from radio shack that I like and for not much money. If your low on money and need one… there is a neat gadget that highway gas stations sell that is used to tell inside and outside temps and humidity for cars. And gives warning for when it gets to cold or to hot. They sell for about 15 dollars!! And worth every cent!
    Now this part is a option for your grow room… the best setup is to have flat white walls in your grow, because it reflects most of your light back on your plants, therefore getting the most out of your lighting. Using white walls gives you a lot of advantages for 1 you will not get hot spots like foil use… I don't recommend using foil , because it will cause more hot spots and doesn't reflect light as efficiently as Mylar and white walls.
    Also flat white walls will absorb radiant heat that mylar will reflect back on to your plants meaning you will have to have a better cooling and ventilation system in your grow. Your plants need the light not the heat! If you are wanting to use Mylar besure to apply it flat without creasing or crumpling it. It comes in many different types and colors. The most popular is aluminized and reflects 94% of the light, and is the best for reflectivity other then white walls, if applied correctly will not cause hot spots. Other colors of Mylar come in white,black, metalized and aluminum. You can choose what best suits your growing needs.

    Now for the watering part. My great friend Lucky Leaf has been so kind to let me use his thread that he made with reguards to watering practice and when and when not to water your plants! I couldn't of made a thread as good as his as its very detailed with most questions already answered. So here is the link! Read on!!
    http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showthread.php?t=448871

    5 Cloning

    I am really not going to say much about this, because there are so many grow faqs on cloning that it will be a waste of time.
    I will provide the link that will take you to about 10 different ways to clone on.
    Cloning is basically taking cuttings from your selective female or male plant and getting the cuttings to grow roots so it will produce the same features as the plant you took the cuttings from and the same sex of the plant you took cuttings from.Most people clone females, because it seems like females are harder to come by, not only that when you know you have females you don't have to go around sexing them until flowering time when you have to worry about hermie plants.Also used for when you want to keep the type of pheno plant also known as type of plant weather its bushy or tall or a heavy yielder.Cloning is very important for it will help cut the production time in half and keep you wasting light on males that will end up having to be chopped anyways.
    So if you want a steady flow of bud coming in, cloning is a must. So if you want to clone you will have to have a selected mother plant and keep her vegging and taken care of and you can keep taking cuttings from them. Mothers can live for a very long time as long as you keep transplanting them when needed… when they get into a 5 gallon bucket you will need to trim some of the soil off the bottom and sides to keep the root production clean… you don't want your mother to become to big if you don't have enough space to keep her in…. by cutting the soil and roots off the sides and bottom.. it will help keep the growth of the plant down but will till grow cuttings. Taking the lower branches off first are the easier to clone because of less Nitrogen and more carbohydrates in them… you want less nitrogen in your plant before you take cuttings so you wont have as much problems getting your cuttings to root. Carbohydrates are energy, a clone with more energy will be able to sustain longer and have more strength to grow roots.
    When you read some of the links and pick out the methods that appeal to you there are a few things that they forgot to add. NOT ALL CLONES ROOT IN 7 to 10 days!!!!Factors being this is because if you take a clone from flowering the plant will have to revert back to veg growth before it grows roots. Thus taking longer to root!Another factor is some strains are more stubborn then others to clone, so please do not get discouraged if you can't attempt to clone on your first try. If not succeed try try again!! Also even in vegging clones can take longer then others so be patient and don't go puling the clones out of its medium to check for roots [​IMG]
    Being patient always pays off!
    So enough of my babbling here is the clone links! Hopeful grower was kind enough to make this thread for multiple cloning links! So have your reading cut out for you [​IMG]
    http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showthread.php?t=359350

    6 Flowering, transplanting your crop and Harvesting

    Well now we are just about done! WE have put our plant(s) into flowering now which means the lighting should be changed from whatever you had in veg to 12/12. Its very important that you all realize how important this lighting schedule is…. While the first few weeks of flowering is very important in keeping your plant as stress free as possible… Meaning NO LIGHT LEAKS… any light leaks will cause the plant to either stretch more, slow flowering stage down, can almost revert back to veg state, and cause hermies. SO its very important that your flowering room is COMPLETELY light leak free. So now after the first few days of flowering you will want to switch over to bloom Nutrients … stuff that has high in P and K…. more P then K though. Now during the first 3 weeks the plant will double or triple in size.. so make sure you have enough grow space to flower them or put some screws on your pot and get some string and tie the plants down a bit. Doing this will maximize yield and keep your plants a lower profile, therefore saving room in your grow space. Also going into flowering or 1 week after flowering it is wise to make sure your plant will have a big enough pot to grow in through the whole process of flowering. A general rule is 12 in of plant to 1 gallon size pot.
    I use 5 gallon size pots for flowering. It is NOT wise to transplant in the middle or late flowering UNLESS you know your plant will not finish. I just had one of those myself.I had a sativa grow indoors in a 5 gallon pot. If I did not transplant her into a 10 gallon pot she would of just stayed at the same stage she was in. Rootbound during flowering can cause a huge problem. Decreased yield, small bud size, and a complete halt in the plants growing. And the plant can not take in its nutrients properly and can lead to many deficients. So its best to plan now before you have to do what I had to. Transplanting in late flower can stress it if your not carefull. My advice for transplanting is get ahold of some superthrive, thrive alive, or a b11 vitamin supplement… it helps ease transplant shock and helps promote a nice healthy root system!!
    Now we have passed the first few weeks and your plant has started to bud out nicely… now is the time you want to keep an eye out for your plant becoming a hermie…
    Any stress in form of overwatering, to much nutrients or nute burn can be added to cause the plant to hermie. It can be very hard to spot the ball sack with the bud so you will have to look very hard and carefull. Sometimes the whole plant doesn't hermie, just a few branches or maybe just one. So if that is the case than you can just cut the branch off or cut all the pollen sacks off. One pollen sack broke open from a hermie plant will ruin your sinsimea crop!! So be very carefull!!
    SO now we are getting very close to harvesting our crop..
    Now is the question. When is the best time to cut her down? The best way to find out when your plant is ready is by the color of the trichomes. The chart in here will tell you what color of trichome head will produce what kind of high. The only real and best way to look at the trich's is to get a hold of a microscope that has a 30x magnification on it.
    You can pick one up at most places that carry electronics or a garden shop. Radio Shack carrys a nice one for 15 bucks! If you get one that has anymore then 30x your really wasting money unless you need one stronger. So now you got your microscope and your chart. The place to look at the trichs is on the leaves around the frosty part of the bud..
    Now depending on what kind of high you want you can chop when you have half and half or mostly cloudy and some amber, it all depends on how you like it.
    Sometimes the upper plant will be more potent then the lower half, so some people only harvest half of it and then let the bottom half become like the top. Most times the lower half will have different color trichs so its best to check the upper,middle and lower plant depending on the size of it.
    So now we are ready to chop her! Manicuring while after cutting in my opinion is bad because while the plant is dying it still has sugars and starches still coming from its leaves which can contribute to a much taster buds. So its just best to cut the plant hang it and manicure it after it is ready. You can tell when your plant is ready to be manicured and stored away to cure by taking a branch and bending it. If it still has some bend to it, its just about ready to be manicured and jared! Before you manicure your crop you will notice there are leaves that have more trichomes on them. If you want to save the leaves for making hash,oils or cannabuter from, its best to keep the trim in certin piles. Like the fan leves in one pile, smaller trim in another, and the smaller trim with a lot of trichs in another. The best way to cure your crop is take some jars with some seal tight lids. Pref those jars they store jelly in. Not sure what the name is though lol. Either that or a nice seal tight Tupperware container. The process of curing your bud is kinda long. So therefore by jarring them and opening them up a few times a day for about 15 min for 2 weeks or more is important. You can cure your bud for a long time, curing will make a much smoother smoke and the taste can be a lot better.
    By opening up and storing process, you let the buds and or moisture out of the jar that was left over from the buds. If you don't cure your buds right they will decompose and rot. So its just best to open them up a few times a day for a bit.



    http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showth...15&pagenumber=1
     
  2. sticky that bro
     
  3. Um, that's just plagerism. You copied and pasted the text from that site. If this is to be a sticky I'd hope the mods remove all the copied text and just keep the link, otherwise that's kind of shady.

    Signed,
    Someone who hates seeing his work ripped off.

    PS I didn't write that article or anything.
     
  4. that has very very nice info tho but i see where your comming from astro.. but before he copied it he put at the top a guide from OverGrow.. so i could be on both sides...
     
  5. come on,he said he copied it at the beginning

    he isnt trying to take credit for anything
     

Share This Page