Marijuana
Cannabis Growing Guide Part 2
A Marijuana Garden At Home
Table of contents
[Overview] [Genetics And The Marijuana Plant] [Germination] [Growth Stage] [Flowering Stage] [Grow Lights] [Male And Female Plants] [Sinsemilla] [Growing With Hydroponics] [Soil Growing Indoors] [Shelf Growing With Soil Indoors] [Soil Growing Indoors And Outdoors] [Growing Outdoors] [Guerrilla Growing] [Harvesting] [Storage] [Security] [Odors] [Pests] [Nutrients] [Foliar Feeding] [pH] [Carbon Dioxide] [Temperature] [Venting] [Transplanting] [Pruning] [Cloning] [Breeding] Grow Lights
When growing outdoors the sun provides light but when growing indoors artificial light is required. Fluorescent light is ok for beginners to learn with but the final product will not be something to be proud of.
Metal Halide (mh) and/or High Pressure Sodium (hps) are the lighting systems you need to grow high quality marijuana indoors. They can be found at any hydroponic store.
The sun emits light energy that spans from the red to the blue end of the light spectrum. As far as marijuana plants are concerned, in spring-summer when plants start to grow (vegetative growth) there is more blue spectrum energy and that promotes plant growth.
In summer-fall when plants produce flowers there is more red spectrum energy (and shorter days) that cause hormones in plants to increase flower and THC production.
Metal halide light fixtures produce large amounts of blue spectrum energy and are best for vegetative (beginning) growth. The light produced looks similar to the 'cool' fluorescent light found in schools, offices, stores, and other high traffic areas.
A single 400 watt metal halide bulb delivers about as much light energy as twenty 'cool' fluorescent 40 watt bulbs. What that means is that fluorescent bulbs use about twice as much electrical energy to produce the same amount of light as metal halide bulbs.
High pressure sodium light fixtures produce large amounts of red spectrum energy and are best for flowering (later) growth. The light produced looks similar to the 'warm' incandescent lights found in most homes but has a deeper orange-red color. The street lamps in many cities are hps lights.
A single 400 watt high pressure sodium bulb delivers about as much light energy as about forty 'warm' incandescent 100 watt light bulbs. What that means is that incandescent bulbs can use as much as ten times as much electrical energy to produce the same amount of light as high pressure sodium bulbs.
What light should you get?
In a perfect world both metal halide (mh) and high pressure sodium (hps) would be used during both the vegetative and flowering stages of growth.
For example, a garden with 15 plants or less would use a 250 watt hps and a 250 watt mh lighting fixture. A garden with 25 plants or less would use a 250 watt hps and a 400 watt mh lighting fixture.
This is not always possible because the cost of two light fixtures will be more that of a single fixture. Two lights will also use more electricity, take up more space, and produce more heat than a single unit.
You can run
- hps light through both stages of growth (ok).
- mh light through both stages of growth (ok).
- run a mh light through the veg phase of growth followed by hps light through flowering (very good).
- run both mh and hps light through both stages of growth (best).
When grown with hps light only, the marijuana plants I grew were taller and thinner than when grown under mh only. That meant a smaller harvest. Plants grown with mh light only, tended to take longer to flower but the harvest was larger.
However, many growers I've asked said they have had better results using hps, if only given the choice of using one type of light. This is something you can experiment with yourself, if you are interested.
You can't use a standard high pressure sodium bulb in a metal halide fixture, but you can use a metal halide bulb in a high pressure sodium fixture of the same wattage.
The list below gives an approximate idea of the area covered and how many marijuana plants can be grown with a certain wattage light system in a dark room. Any sunlight you can give the plants will increase the number of plants you can grow, and will help the plants grow faster.
The number of plants is based on growing fairly bushy indica strains that take up a larger area than some slender sativa strains. If you know the strain you will be growing is slender, you can grow more plants in the same size area.
- A 250 watt fixture will supply enough light to cover a 2.5 foot by 2.5 foot grow area. (6 plants or less)
- A 400 watt fixture will supply enough light to cover a 4 foot by 4 foot grow area. (12 plants or less)
- A 600 watt fixture will supply enough light to cover a 5 foot by 5 foot grow area. (18 plants or less)
- A 1000 watt fixture will supply enough light to cover a 6.5 foot by 6.5 foot grow area. (30 plants or less)
If you use two fixtures, you can grow a few more plants than adding the values in the list above. A single 250 watt fixture will produce enough light for about 6 plants. Because the light is spread over a larger area with two fixtures, you can grow up to 15 plants.
In order for the heat produced by a light system not to harm the plant, a 250 watt light system should be started 18 to 30 inches above the tops of the plants, a 400 watt light system should be started 3 to 4 feet above the tops of the plants,
A 600 watt light system should be started 4 to 5 feet above the tops of the plants, a 1000 watt light system should be started 5 to 6 feet above the tops of the plants.
The light should be lowered a few inches everyday until the light is as close as it can be without harming the plant. You will have to figure out the optimal distance yourself because it will vary depending on things like the bulb efficiency, quality of reflector, and other things. Whatever your light source, replace bulbs after 6 to 12 months of use (6 months if they are on 24 hours a day, 12 months if they are on 12 hours a day).
One note about replacement bulbs, they can be divided into three categories: vertical, horizontal, universal. Vertical bulbs have to be used with fixtures in the vertical position. Horizontal bulbs have to be used with fixtures in the horizontal position.
Universal bulbs can be used in a horizontal or vertical position. If you aren't sure what to buy, make sure you get a universal bulb. It will work in either type of fixture.
If you want to build your own metal halide light fixture to grow marijuana, plans are located here. By adapting the plans you can also build a high pressure sodium fixture by getting an hps ballast and socket.
If you decide on buying a light expect to pay $225.00 to $500.00 for a single 250, 400, 600, or 1000 watt lighting system designed for growing plants.
An alternative to a single large fixture is two smaller fixtures that add up to a wattage similar to the single large fixture. For example, instead of a single 400 watt fixture, use two 250 watt fixtures (one mh fixture - one hps fixture).
Instead of a single 1000 watt fixture, use two 400 watt lighting fixtures (one mh fixture - one hps fixture) and a single 250 watt hps, the 250 watt hps fixture can run a mh if necessary.
This will allow you to spread light more evenly over a larger area. It also enables you to use both metal halide and high pressure sodium light at the same time.
It will reduce the ceiling height needed since a smaller wattage bulb can be placed closer to the plants. The drawback is the higher cost of two or more fixtures compared to only buying one.
Here are some mid-priced grow lights broken down into wattage values. There are cheaper and more expensive grow lights available but a mid-priced light is a good place to start for someone on a budget.
400 watt hps (high pressure sodium) grow light
400 watt mh (metal halide) grow light
250 watt hps (high pressure sodium) grow light
250 watt mh (metal halide) grow light
Using 400 watts as an example. You can find 400 watt lighting systems that range in price from about $250 to $500. More expensive units usually last longer, are more efficient, and come with better bulbs than cheap models. If you have the money, get the best light system you can afford to grow marijuana. If money is limited get a mid-priced model to start.
It is suggested you consider a 400 watt light and grow 8-12 plants the first time you grow marijuana (force flowering when the plants are about 12 inches tall). You could grow more small plants than this with a 400 watt light supply, but for personal use 8-12 plants should be adequate.
In many areas, drug trafficking charges are determined by the number of plants being grown. In these areas a plant that produces two ounces (about 56 grams) at harvest time is considered the same as a plant that produces one-eighth of an ounce (about 3.5 grams) at harvest time.
Even if you had a permit to produce medical marijuana for yourself, once you grow more than a set number of plants in certain jurisdictions, you are considered to be cultivating with intent to traffic.
So growing 10 fairly large plants that will produce an ounce or more per plant is a better idea than growing 40 smaller plants that will produce a quarter ounce per plant.
When using a 400 watt light supply to grow 8-12 plants, each plant yields me about a half ounce (about 14 grams) to an ounce (about 28 grams) of premium marijuana every 3 to 4 months (if flowering is started when the plants are 12-18 inches tall).
The harvested amount depends on the strain being grown. If grown in the same conditions, some sativa strains will yield as little as a half ounce and some indica strains will yield an ounce per plant.
If you wish to produce a lesser amount of marijuana, a 250 watt light can be used to grow a smaller number of shorter plants. The amount you produce per plant won't be as large as it would be when using a 400 watt light supply.
But for many users who consume small amounts of marijuana, 250 watts of light is all that is required to produce enough marijuana for their particular needs.
Male And Female Plants
Flowering is noticed 1-2 weeks after reducing the amount of light to force flowering in an indoor garden. Outdoors, the plant will start to flower when the hours of light available are reduced to a point where they trigger flowering. Assuming all the seeds are of the same strain, the male plants will probably start to flower before the females.
To distinguish male and female plants, look for the development of pollen sacks on the male plants and white hairs (pistils) on female plants. This is the easiest way to determine if a plant is male or females early on. Do not try to distinguish a male from a female based on height or bushiness.
Sinsemilla
Sinsemilla is a name for female marijuana plants that have not produced seeds. Not producing seeds allows the plant to use more energy producing THC and other chemicals that users enjoy.
An ancient tradition for cannabis growers, sinsemilla is the result of removing male plants from the grow environment before they have a chance to fertilize the females. People who grow hydroponic marijuana indoors always grow sinsemilla. Growing sinsemilla outdoors is harder.
A single male plant can fertilize females within an area of a few hundred feet. You will have to separate the male plants from the female plants before the male plants flower and produce pollen unless you wish to produce seeds. There is approximately a 50% chance a seed will be either male or female.
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Books Grow Great Marijuana:
An Uncomplicated Guide to
Growing the World's Finest Cannabis
If you find instructions and books about growing hydroponic marijuana overly technical and hard to follow, this book is a very good choice for simple and accurate instructions. It does not cover advanced techniques so if you already know how to grow, this book would be of little value. But if you are a first time grower with no experience, this is the first book to look at.
It will explain the steps involved from start to finish (with text and images). Includes information on where to grow, type of hydroponic system to use, selecting a seed strain, lighting, fans, nutrients, security, clones, vegetative growth, flowering, harvesting, stress, pests, and more. Recommended for beginners only, this will show you everything you need to raise a hydroponic marijuana crop.
Grow Great Marijuana Marijuana Horticulture:
The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible
Over 500 pages with more than 1000 color images. If you were only going to get one book about growing, this book would be the best choice. Describes growing marijuana outdoors and indoors (with hydroponics or soil).
Also provides information that you can refer back to when things go wrong. A very comprehensive reference book for anyone interested in growing marijuana, either indoors or outdoors. Recommended for beginners and more advanced growers.
Marijuana Horticulture The Cannabis Grow Bible:
The Definitive Guide to Growing Marijuana
for Recreational and Medical Use
A very good source of information covering all aspects of growing, from seed selection to harvest, curing and more. Over 300 pages with almost 200 color and black-and-white photographs, charts, and tables. Recommended reference book for indoor and outdoor growers.
A great marijuana growing and breeding guide. Includes chapters on seeds, propagation and germination, growing indoors, growing outdoors, hydroponics, pre-flowering and flowering, predators, pests and plant fungi, breeding, and more.
The Cannabis Grow Bible
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