The Beginners Guide To Get You Started in Growing Cannabis

The Basics

Ok so I get a lot of the same questions from NOOBS or Beginners on how to start growing cannabis. So im going to try to compile a write-up on
whats needed to get a grow started. Now this will just cover the basics to get you on your way to growing nice plants.

First is a list of items that are a must to have to start a grow. Ill list the items 1
st
then described them in detail later.

Items:
1. Viable seeds.
2. Medium to grow them in
3. Lights
4. Pots/containers
5. Ventilation
6. Thermometer/Hydrometer
7. Ph testing equipment
8. Nutrients/Supplements

The 1
st
thing you need to start growing cannabis is of course SEEDS. Viable seeds should be dark in color w/ darker spots or stripes, & should have
no cracks on them. Non-viable seeds will be light green to white in color & if they have cracks in the shell, most likely they are no good. For
beginners it is a good idea to use Bag Seed for your 1
st
attempt at growing, why?, because: bag seeds are free, & if your grow fails or you
encounter a lot of problems your not out any money spent on higher quality genetics, & gives you the experience to grow quality genetics next
round. I do get people asking What are bag seeds & where do I get them? Well just like it sounds, bag seeds are seeds you find in a bag of weed
you have bought, weather its schwagg or dank.

1. Viable seeds should look like these:

Non-viable/immature seeds look like this:


2. Growing Mediums: Rock Wool Cubes, J iffy Cubes, Soils (organic, or Non-Preferted Soils), Perlite & Vermiculite, & Hydroponics are the most
common. Rock Wool & J iffy Cubes are mainly used to start seeds in or used in hydroponic systems. If you plan to use soil to grow in, I suggest a
organic soil, you do not want to use Pre-ferted soil mixes, as this can cause many problems down the road. Now depending on where you live & the


access you have to stores, & your budget, you have many choices. Fox Farm Ocean Forest is probable the #1 used organic soil, Black Gold Natural
Organic is another top quality soil to use if you can find it in your area or order online. For those who have limited access to soils, I recommend Garden
Safe Natural Organic, & Miracle Gro Organic, which can be found at most of your local home improvement /garden centers. When growing in soil its
recommended to add 20-25% perlite to your soil mix for extra drainage & O2 retention. Next you could grow Hempy Style, which is using the
medium perlite & vermiculite to grow in Hempy Buckets, using them in a 4:1 ratio, 4 parts perlite to 1 part vermiculite. Next is hydroponics, pretty
self explanatory, but a little on the advanced side of growing.
For soil grows you want your soils ph to be between 6.3-7.0 (this is where a ph testing kit is needed, a digital ph meter is recommended). To measure
your soils ph, you check the runoff water., to get a good reading & to flush out any old fert salts, always water till you get 30% runoff, eg: 1 gal in,
1/3
rd
gal runoff. This is the water that drains out of the bottom of the pot, & will tell you your soils ph. Optimum soil ph is 6.5-6.8, but letting it drift
between the correct range will allow for optimal nutrient uptake. You adjust your soils ph by adjusting your plants water ph. Eg: if soil ph is too low, use
a higher watering ph & vise versa. A good water ph should be around 6.5-6.8 IF the soils ph is in the correct range. Never add ferts/nutes to your soil if
the ph is out of range, correct the ph 1
st
, then start/restart your ferts/nutes. Improper ph will cause nutrient lockout & stunted growth & unhealthy plants.
Hempy grows ph should be around 6.2. Hydroponics ph range needs to be between 5.5-6.1, with 5.8 ph is optimal, & also letting the ph drift between
the correct range will give you the best nutrient uptake.

Ph Nutrient Chart:


3. Lights: The rule of thumb is 50-100 watts per plant or a minimum of 3500-5000 lumens at maturity (about 2wks old). There are 2 main type of lights
to grow with besides sunlight, & they are: HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights, which come in 2 major types: Metal Halide (MH) & High Pressure
Sodium (HPS). MH lights are used for the vegetation cycle (if u can find & afford it, look for 6500k & 5500k daylight MH bulbs) & HPS are used for
the flowering cycle, all though HPS can be used for the entire grow cycle. The 2
nd
type of light to use is fluorescent lighting, weather its the tube type or
the screw in type also know as CFL (compact fluorescent light), keep your fluorescent lighting between 2-4 away from plants. This is where you need
to pay the most attention to when buying fluorescent lights. Plants photosynthesis happens best at the color spectrum 6500k & 5500k for vegetation
cycle & 2700k & 2200k for flowering cycle. When buying fluorescent lighting you want to look for these #s on the package also known as Kelvin.
6500k & 5500k can be called full spectrum or daylight bulbs & 2700k are called warm white bulbs, 2100k is found in HPS bulbs, not fluorescent
lighting.

Chlorophyll Activity:
Notice the spikes at 6500k, 5500k & 2700k & 2200k.

4. Pots & Containers: The rule of thumb is 1 gallon pot per foot of plant, eg: 2ft tall plant =2 gallon pot. It is recommended to start your seeds/plants
in small pots/containers & work up to bigger pots as the plants grow. Starting in small pots (Party Cups are common) & working up as the plant grows


allows the roots to fill up the pot/container & use up all the soils nutrients & space will help prevent voids in the soil, & bigger root balls/mass =bigger
yields. Keep in mind that once a plant is put into flower they can double or triple in size, so keep that in mind when doing your final transplant.
Container size for hydroponics is related to the method of hydroponic growing, & #of plants.

5. Ventilation: This includes air movement, exhaust & intake fans. Air movement in the grow room is important for many reasons. You want
preferable a oscillating fan blowing on your plants & lights to help keep them cool, & for the plants it helps to strengthen their stems & overall health.
Exhaust & intake fans are used to keep the environment in the grow room & optimal levels, by exchanging out the old O2 for fresh CO2 & to cool down
lights.


6. Thermometer/Hydrometer: These are necessary so you can help control your grow rooms environment. For the vegetation cycle optimal
temperatures & humidity levels are: 75-78F (lights on) & 5-10 degrees lower when lights off, & 50-70% RH. For Flowering the optimal temperatures
are 75-78F during early flowering, & 80-83F for mid-late flowering to help stimulate trich production, & The RH for flowering needs to be around 40%,
& lower as you near harvest..

7. Ph testing equipment: This is a must have item if you want to grow nice healthy plants. There are several different kinds of ph testing kits out there,
but if plan to continue to grow you need to invest in a DIGITAL ph meter. Meters can run between 15$ to several 100$.

8. Nutrients/Supplements: Again this will have to do with your budget & access to these items. If your using 1 of the above mentioned soils you
shouldnt need any fertilizers till week 3-4 of grow. For the vegetation cycle you want a Vegetation/all purpose fert with a N-P-K like 20-20-20 or 6-2-4.
You want the NPK values to be equal or close to equal, & in vegetation you want the N & K levels higher or equal to P. In the flowering cycle you want
a Bloom/Flowering fert with a N-P-K value like 15-30-15, or 5-15-10, where the N values is always lower than P &K, & you want your P values the
highest or equal to K. Some good recommended Nutrient Companies: Advanced Nutrients, Fox Farm, General Hydroponics, to name a few. Some lesser
quality but more available Fertilizers are: Miracle Gro All Purpose & Peters All Purpose (both come in bloom versions too), but youll need to
supplement Epsom salt (1tsp per gal) with those to ferts because they lack the micro nute Mg or Magnesium. A really cheap, easy, & good quality
Nutrient program is the Lucas Formula (google it). Start your ferts out at a low dose of strength & work up slowly feeding every other watering. A
recommended supplement to use is Superthrive, I would also recommend some kind of rooting stimulant & growth stimulant.


This should get you started in the right direction to growing great cannabis, for further questions, go here:
http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/166293-so-you-want-grow-marijuana-your-s-answered-here.html