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How to Grow Marijuana – Chapter 4 – Flowering and Curing Marijuana

Mon, 27 Aug 2018 05:01:11 +0000

Marijuana is a wonderful herb that grows naturally all over the planet. Unfortunately it is still illegal to grow marijuana in many countries. Please check your local laws before growing marijuana. With that said, let’s get growing!

It’s been a month and a half and you are finally ready to flower! The first thing to understand is that some of your plants may be male plants. The female plants flower, yielding herb to smoke. The male plants grow pollen sacks which impregnate the female plants, creating seeds. Unless you want seeds for future grows it is important to pick out the male plants as soon as they show signs. The first step to flowering is changing the light pattern. Your plants are used to either 18 or 24hrs of light a day. In the wild, plants flower when the light of day shortens, so to stimulate flowering, change your lighting to 12hours on and 12hours off everyday. Also flush your nutrients and switch to flowering measurements. In the first week you have to keep a very close eye on the sex of your plants. Male plants grow little balls that eventually open up with pollen. Female plants grow flowers. You can detect a female plant early because it will have hairs growing out of the calyx located on flowering branches.

Flowering time varies depending on the strain. Typical times fall somewhere between 8 and 12 weeks. Make sure to routinely flush the water and keep your PPM’s according to the schedule on your nutrients. Your herb will be ready for harvest when at least 30% of the pistils (hairs) turn from clear to red/orange. If you have a microscope, take a look at the trichomes. These look almost like little mushrooms under magnification of 50x. Just as the hairs turn orange, the tops of the trichomes turn from clear to white. A count of 30% + white-top trichomes also signifies the readiness to harvest. It is also important to note that harvesting early leads to more of a head high, whereas harvesting late with more orange hairs makes for more of a couch lock effect.

In the last week before harvest it is also important to flush out all nutrients. It is optional to keep watering during this time. The plant will have an excess of nitrogen as well as several other elements and the halt of nutrients causes the plant to use up all the excess. This makes for a tastier and smoother final product. It has also been theorized that keeping the lights off for the last 3 days of the plant’s life increases thc content. This theory makes sense because plants stress out whenever something unnatural or threatening happens. Thc is the natural defense mechanism for cannabis so it really couldn’t hurt to give it a try.

Its harvest time so first cut each of the flowering branches close to the stem. Discard the leaf branches and main stem. Take your collection of flowering branches and cut all fan leaves out. Get a nice pair of clippers and trim down the leaves to where the flowers are mostly exposed. Hang these trimmed branches upside-down in the dark, in a well ventilated area for 3-5 days. Wait until the plants have exhausted most of their water before removing them from the room.

Now that the herb is cut and has been dried for a few days, it’s time to cure. This is the most important step in the entire thing. Any shortcuts here will undermine your months of patience so don’t get too ahead of yourself. Your herb is good but still has an excess of chlorophyll and amino acids. Curing brings out the full flavor and helps the herb actualize its potency. Thc is the chemical that gives you desired effects, but before the herb is cured, the thc exists coupled with amino acids. The more time you cure, the more cannabinoids detach them self and become active thc.

Collect your herb and trim to your liking. Put the herb in a sealed jar for one month. Every day you should open the jar three times for about 20 minutes. In a month you will have some killer herb.

How To Grow Medical Marijuana From Start To Finish

Sun, 11 Oct 2015 07:45:32 +0000

Odds are you have your medical marijuana card and have gone to the collectives a few times and spent decent amounts in donations. While collectives offer a medical marijuana patients the ability to choose from various medication there usually comes a price which most cannot really afford especially if their medical needs are higher that average.

Below is a simple yet proven growing style that will allow you to get started inexpensively while producing top shelf medication without a ton of hassles that complicated nute regiments tend to be for new med growers.

Step 1.

You need to get started by realize what type of setup you are wanting to go with. Many will go with hydro however this simple setup uses ffof or you can also use coco or other medium of your choice. I would suggest going with a 430 watt led grow light setup and a grow tent simply because it is decent enough lighting and size to give yourself plenty of medication. Here is a list of what I would suggest getting to make this go smoothly for you.

Grow Tent

led grow light

ffof soil

perlite

1 or 2 gallon grow bags

carbon scrubber (I wrote an article on how to build a carbon scrubber for dummies you can check out by clicking my profile link and locating it.)

Lucas Formula (Flora Micro and Flora Bloom)

Inline Fan (some might need a/c or heating additions so that is dependent on your temps)

Seeds or Clones ( I always suggest getting medical marijuana seeds over clones)

Ph down (never really needed to use my ph up unless I overdosed the ph down)

ph/ppm meter (having estimates on ph and ppm is always helpful

Step 2.

You can follow my "How To Germinate Medical Marijuana Seeds" article to get your seeds to germinate quickly. You can use cfl's or other smaller wattage lighting while they are in veg. I ususually run them on 24 hours light from seed up until they are ready to flip to the flowering cycle. Once they have germinated and have been placed in your soil mix you can do one of two things. Some will allow their plants to veg for 3-4 weeks and sometimes longer however the best method is to simply setup a perpetual medical garden. Once the plants have grown 3-4 sets of leaves and are in the 6" to 8" range you will want to transplant them from the beer cups (I use the beer cups for seeds/clones because they are easy and cheap) to either 1 gallon or 2 gallon grow bags. The grow bags are very inexpensive and last a long time. If you are going perpetual then I would suggest flipping them to flower once they have had at least a week in the new grow bag to allow the roots time to get used to their new home.

Step 3.

Once you have the plants in their grow bags and have been enjoying it for a week then it is time to flip them to the flowering cycle. During this time the FFOF soil will usually have more than enough nutrients to last during a short veg cycle however if you see any yellowing or deficiencies then it would be time to start your feeding regiment.

Here are the veg and flower feeding schedules:

Veg Feeding: (Only use IF you see deficiencies or are vegging for longer than 3-4 weeks)

Mix 4ml flora micro to 1 gallon of water

shake then

Mix 8ml flora bloom into the above mix and shake again

Flower Feeding: (Plants can sometimes be bigger eaters than others so sometimes starting with less than suggested and working your way can be best however most that we have grow are fine with this feeding schedule all the way through from week 1 to week 8 or 9 of flower.)

Mix 8ml flora micro to 1 gallon of water

shake then

Mix 16ml flora bloom into the above mix and shake again

** Every time you water you will want at least 10% run off coming out of bottom of the grow bags themselves. This lets you know that there is no salt build up or other obstructions not allowing proper water drainage. **

Step 4.

With the above feeding schedule you will want to feed them once or twice a week with nutrients and one feeding with just plain ph'd water (prefer 6 to 6.5). Some plants will be happy being fed week in and week out however some clean h2o in there once a week does wonders for the overall health of the plant and its roots.

Step 5.

Now some people suggest using the flowering feed schedule from start to finish however there are a couple things you should keep in mind. Some, like myself enjoy a good flush and to allow med plants the ability to yellow up a bit and finish up whatever nutes are still within them. I tend to stop feeding the "flora micro" at about week 4 or 5. The micro contains the nitrogen which we won't need anymore especially once you are more than halfway done with the flowering cycle itself.

Step 6.

At about week 7-8 of the flowering cycle you will see the plants start to finish off their food resources, fan leaves dropping and the bud weight itself starting to pack on. This bud swell is very important to allow it to finish since most growers tend to pull far too early. The best way to see where your girls are as far as finishing time is to get yourself a small microscope and check the "trichs". All those pretty crystals that give up our medication will start out clear then go cloudy then amber. When you see mostly cloudy and some amber colored trichs then you should be pretty much done.

Step 7.

At week 8+ (some strains take longer than others) you will want to start giving them nothing but water for the last week and left to dry out some. Letting it dry out some and preferably in a dark area can help with resin production as well as helping it dry and remove possible mold issues.

Step 8.

After the week of flush you simply cut them at their main stocks and hang them in a dark area that isn't too humid but also isn't completely dry. The point here is to allow them to hand dry for a good 5-10 days. This allows them to dry fully but not too quickly which can give your meds that terrible hay smell which we all have dealt with i'm sure.

Step 9.

After they are dry on the outside but still have some moisture you will want to do a trim job to remove any excess leaves and then simply toss them in mason jars to cure. This part is usually left out of a med growers arsenal and it is by far one of the best things if you are looking for potency, flavor and smell so don't leave this step out. For the first week that they are in the jars you will want to open them up to allow them to release the moisture for an hour or so. I do this once or twice a day the first week but make sure they don't get too dry before putting the lid back on.

After the first week you can then simply medicate as needed and the curing process will simply continue from then on out. The best meds will usually have a 1 month PLUS cure on it so keep that in mind when you get impatient.

Step 10.

This is what I call the bonus portion, remember that perpetual grow that I was talking about earlier in this article? Well think about how simple it can be to simply cut a clone from your mother plants and put in 4-5 a week. If you have a 30+ plant count you will then be able to cut new meds WEEKLY simply by making sure to cut new clones and toss them in your tent each week.

With the above article you will be able to start from seed, grow, cure, dry and smoke your own medication without the many hassles that do come with beginner med growers trying to attain their green thumb.

How To Germinate Medical Marijuana Seeds

Wed, 26 Aug 2015 07:23:53 +0000

If you have your medical marijuana card you really should look into being able to provideyourself with your own medication versus donating at local collectives. While there is a small learning curve that is needed for you to get your "green thumb" and actually produce decent medication, the cost savings and knowledge itself will allow you to remain self sufficient with medication for a lifetime.

When deciding to start growing your own medical marijuana medication you need to decide whether you want to grow from seed or clone. While there are plenty of patients in california, colorado and other states who prefer clones, you should realize that those clones or "cuts" as they are called have been in everyones garden already. If you are looking for medication that isn't just the same ol' same ol', then growing from seed is the only way to go.

After you have decided on which seeds to get from our review site the next step is to start germinating the seeds. There are plenty of methods that medical marijuana growers use however the below method is one that has worked for many med patients up and down cali AND around the world for that matter.

Step One

Take a shot glass and fill it 3/4 with water and add a half a cap full of hydrogen peroxide (helps open up stubborn shells and improve germ rates) and then place your seeds in the water/hydrogen peroxide and tap the seeds so they go under the water a couple times. This makes sure they are moist on the entire shell.

Step Two

After leaving the seeds floating in the shot glass for 24 to 48 hours give them a tap and see if they sink to the bottom. If they sink to the bottom, it means that the seeds are ready for the next step. If they are still floating, give them a tap or two with your finger and let them soak until they too drop to the bottom.

Step Three

After the seeds have all sunk to the bottom of the shot glass they are ready for the next step. You can use a sealable plastic bag or a tupperware that is sealable to put the seeds in once you have prepped them which is explained next. I take a 1/4 piece of a paper towel and soak it so it is wet. I squeeze the excess water off and then place the seeds in a line in the center. Simply fold the papertowel over a few times and then place that either in a plastic bag OR tupperware.

Step Four

After you have your seeds wrapped in a papertowel and in either a sealed plastic bag or sealed tupperware container you want to make sure they get some heat. I accomplish this by placing the plastic bag/tupperware container on my cable box for 1-4 days. You can use a cable box, tv, v.c.r. or anything that gives off ABOVE room temp heat but not HOT temps. You are looking for something that can keep your beans warm and in a perfect germable environment.

Step Five

You will want to check daily on your seeds, make sure that the paper towel remains wet but not saturated. The seeds need moisture but cannot be saturated with water or mold issues could arise. After 24 hours some of the seeds will start growing their taproots. After a seed has grown a decent 1/4" to 1/2" taproot you can then place them in your medium.

Full Spectrum 430W LED Grow Light For Medicinal Marijuana Plants

The above germing method will allow you to keep a higher ratio of your medical marijuana seeds to germinate and go onto the veg and bloom stages. This germing method is far better than simply putting a seed in the soil and crossing your fingers. Try it out and see why so many medical marijuana growers use this method above most others.