Annie's Personal Medical Grow Journal

hey i read your other thread about finding a doctor for your recommendation. have you been studying up on how to grow? growing is pretty addictive. the plants become your babies haha. do you know what kind of grow you will do yet? this site is a fantastic place to learn. there are tons of people on here who would be happy to help. id like to see some pictures of the bathroom youre thinking of doing it in to think of some ideas.

for now, i would recommend going onto that weedmaps site to find a local dispensary. make sure to bring your paper recommendation and ID. ask the budtenders to see their indicas(indica-dominant hybrids may also work for you too), preferably ones for pain relief. most budtenders arent that knowledgeable though, so dont necessarily go with the first one they show you. dont be afraid to look around. maybe even try some edibles if they have them(they usually do have a taste to them that some people dont like. it is an acquired taste)

it is kind of hard to explain what to look for visually, but ill try. on the buds, there are tiny stalks called trichomes. inside these are the substances that give us the medical benefits. heres a picture


when looking at buds, try to find the ones that have a lot of trichomes. something like this http://fadedfools.com/medical_mariju...fidentialn.jpg (the pic is too big to post here). after a little while you will know what to look for.

smell is also a big factor in bud selection. lower quality or poorly cured buds will smell like plant material(kind of a leafy smell). good buds will have very pungent smell. some smell fruity, others smell bad(but are still good to use). its hard to explain smells, so you just have to check them all out and see for yourself. it will take some time

DONT BE AFRAID TO CHECK ALL THE STRAINS. sometimes people will ask for a sativa and choose the first one the budtender shows them. it may not always be the best one FOR YOU

welcome to the cannabis community let us know how your first smoke session goes! oh that reminds me... only take one or two hits and wait about 10-15 minutes. sometimes it takes a little big to kick in fully. smoking too much can cause some undesired effects. nothing serious, you just feel anxious for a while. you cannot die, so dont worry

i would like to add that you now have the legal right to possess cannabis. there is nothing to worry about when carrying it. it is your medicine, just as much as your opiates.

maybe instead of growing it yourself, you can find a caregiver to grow for you. they have the nice equipment and the ability to grow the plants well(most of the time). they can give you sample of their product and you can see if it helps your pain

have you bought anything to smoke out of yet? or are you going to vaporize? let us know what you think and we can show you what is what. theres a ton of different devices out there.

Originally Posted by Luger187

i would like to add that you now have the legal right to possess cannabis.

I wish that were true but it isn't. Cannabis is still a schedule 1 drug and as such has no actual legal standing. So how legal Cannabis is depends on who you bump into. If it's the DEA or any Federal officer then no it isn't. If you watch the shenanigans going on right now in CA it becomes obvious that Cannabis is only allowed if you behave VERY quietly. It is so sad but I digress.

I have waited so many years hoping for full legalization while my pain continued to eat my life away until now I have very little of any life left. Hence my decision to engage in using to try and gain some bit of what is left of my life back. An extremely kind person has stepped in and helped me and I can not express my gratitude. I sincerely wish I could say how good, real and compassionate this person is but I would never put someone that kind into any potentially compromising position. I just hope he reads this and knows I am able to sit here and use my computer ONLY because of his help.

Anyway due to the current legal climate I am going to try to learn to grow so that I have a back up plan of some type. I think it is insanity that I have to even attempt to do something like this but based on the climate I must.

So to that end I have acquired a few Aurora Indica seeds and am allocating a spare bathroom. I plan to attempt to grow 2 plants through each stage, seedling, vegetative and flowering in a perpetual arrangement.

I am hoping you all can help me with input on how to do this and keep me from murdering these few plants. I have some older equipment I purchased in 1998 when I first thought I'd try it, grew a few tomatoes (boy were they good), using NFT technology and then chickened out on a MMJ grow.

So here's what I have, 2 6" PVC tubes with several 3" holes drilled into it, net pots, pellets and flora grow/bloom/micro (I probably need new this is so old) I plan to put 1 tube in the tub and 1 tub in the closet. That way I can flip flowering/vegetative areas between tub & closet by moving the light fixture.

I will keep the seedlings and any mother plants I may get out of this on the bathroom counter under flourescents.

I have one 250 watt metal halide and an old magnetic ballast. I need to purchase a flourescent for the seedlings and an HPS for the flowering.

Here is the area I plan to use:
bathroom-lt.jpgbathroom-counter.jpg

The room is roughly 11' by 6.5'. Only my hubby and I live here so there is little chance of anyone coming it and it does have 1 external wall and of course the roof.

How best to set this up? What type of fluorescent fixture would be best for seedlings, vegetating mother? Can I use the same fluorescent fixture for the seedlings as the mother initially? Will the 250 watt metal halide be ok for vegetative growth or do I need more wattage? What to get for the flowering? Should I remove the shelves in the closet?

Anything else?
Thank you,
Annie

Originally Posted by curious2garden

I wish that were true but it isn't. Cannabis is still a schedule 1 drug and as such has no actual legal standing. So how legal Cannabis is depends on who you bump into. If it's the DEA or any Federal officer then no it isn't. If you watch the shenanigans going on right now in CA it becomes obvious that Cannabis is only allowed if you behave VERY quietly. It is so sad but I digress.

I have waited so many years hoping for full legalization while my pain continued to eat my life away until now I have very little of any life left. Hence my decision to engage in using to try and gain some bit of what is left of my life back. An extremely kind person has stepped in and helped me and I can not express my gratitude. I sincerely wish I could say how good, real and compassionate this person is but I would never put someone that kind into any potentially compromising position. I just hope he reads this and knows I am able to sit here and use my computer ONLY because of his help.

the feds wont do anything to you. unless you were growing a ton of plants or selling it. you have what sounds like a very legitimate reason to use it, and you are only growing for personal use. im not saying you should flaunt it or anything. just saying they have better things to do, like go after big grow ops that are for profit. most of the busts in cali are on dispensaries. the majority of dispensaries arent even following state law anyways because they make a profit.

Anyway due to the current legal climate I am going to try to learn to grow so that I have a back up plan of some type. I think it is insanity that I have to even attempt to do something like this but based on the climate I must.

what do you mean by backup plan? growing is a very fun hobby! they become like your children

So to that end I have acquired a few Aurora Indica seeds and am allocating a spare bathroom. I plan to attempt to grow 2 plants through each stage, seedling, vegetative and flowering in a perpetual arrangement.

perpetual is usually done with clones. i dont think ive seen anyone use seeds for perpetual, except at the beginning to find a good mother. seeds are a pain because some turn out male(which you must throw away, unless you want pollen and/or your females filled with seeds), and they take longer to get started.
id suggest germinating some seeds, and vegging them a bit. after they get big enough, cut a clone off each and flower the clones after they get some roots. make sure to tag each one!! this will reveal your males, and if you let the females grow, will also reveal which female is the best of the batch. after this, you go back to that mother you took that best clone off of. this will be your mother plant for use in the perpetual. or you can use one of her clones as a new mother too. there are more than a few cloning threads on this site.

im guessing you didnt ask your doctor about a higher plant limit since you are talking about 6 plants. if you have a condition requiring a lot of mj, you can get a recommendation for a higher plant and/or possession limit.

I am hoping you all can help me with input on how to do this and keep me from murdering these few plants. I have some older equipment I purchased in 1998 when I first thought I'd try it, grew a few tomatoes (boy were they good), using NFT technology and then chickened out on a MMJ grow.

So here's what I have, 2 6" PVC tubes with several 3" holes drilled into it, net pots, pellets and flora grow/bloom/micro (I probably need new this is so old) I plan to put 1 tube in the tub and 1 tub in the closet. That way I can flip flowering/vegetative areas between tub & closet by moving the light fixture.

so the 3" holes are drilled in the side of those tubes all in a straight line, right? are you just using the tubs for reservoirs? thats a good idea to have 2 separate areas like that. much easier to move the lights than the plants. you will need to think about how to move air around as well. if you switch the lights, but the new flowering area(which used to have a smaller MH light) isnt ventilated enough, it can cause a ton of problems, including fire. in my old grow box, i used a thermostat connected to a relay, which caused the fan to turn on when it rose above a certain temp.

I will keep the seedlings and any mother plants I may get out of this on the bathroom counter under flourescents.

sounds good. are they going to be hydro as well? you need to think of a way to stop light from leaking from the mother are into the shower/closet. whichever is flowering needs total darkness during night.

I have one 250 watt metal halide and an old magnetic ballast. I need to purchase a flourescent for the seedlings and an HPS for the flowering.

do you have a ph/ppm meter? those are kind of important with hydro.

Here is the area I plan to use:
bathroom-lt.jpgbathroom-counter.jpg

The room is roughly 11' by 6.5'. Only my hubby and I live here so there is little chance of anyone coming it and it does have 1 external wall and of course the roof.

does the hubby know electrical and how to cut holes in walls without destroying it?
i do see a window in there. that will be nice for ventilation. maybe black out the top part, and put a box of some sort in the window sill. this will contain your fan(hidden from the outside), with a carbon filter on the interior side. so the fan is sucking the air through the filter. im not too sure on how to hide a big box in your window. maybe if you made it look like an ac unit or something.

does it happen to be on the second story? that would be nice.

How best to set this up? What type of fluorescent fixture would be best for seedlings, vegetating mother?

look up T5 and T8 bulb fixtures. i think those are the ones most often used. theyll have slots for like 6-12 bulbs. not sure which ones are most effiecient. and i dont remember if the diameter of the bulb gets bigger or smaller as the number goes up. i think they get smaller as it goes up.

Can I use the same fluorescent fixture for the seedlings as the mother initially?

yes but after a while your mothers will be getting big, and may need to switch to the MH. this will make her grow faster anyways. you could also use an MH for the seedlings as long as it doesnt get too hot or too close. if you just keep one mother(which is the best seed of the batch, as mentioned earlier), using a whole MH just for her seems like kind of a waste. id say just get the MH and use that for both. some ppl like to use 24/7 light on seedlings though, and not the mother.

Will the 250 watt metal halide be ok for vegetative growth or do I need more wattage?

how big do you want them to get before you flower them?
i just realized you will also be using the MH to veg the clones taken from the mother too. but id say 250 would be an adequate size. 400 would be better probably, but if you dont want to spend money on more electricity get the 250. just know you will get less growth.

What to get for the flowering? Should I remove the shelves in the closet?

as big as you can go. i used a 600w HPS in my bedroom closet. it worked beautifully. it got a little hot sometimes and the light kept me up at night, but it was worth it in the end
i used the shelf in my closet. since the plants werent that high, i used the shelf to hold the light. i drilled a hole in the shelf. then put an eye screw in the hole. i took 12 gauge insulated wire and tied it to the screw and the other end to the light. if you use a long enough wire, you can adjust it as the plants get bigger, or when you put a new small batch in you can lower it.
as for the front end of the light, i did this. if you have an attic up ontop of the closet, take a piece of wood in the attic. i laid the piece of wood across 2 beams in the attic. i drilled a hole in the middle and took 12 gauge insulated wire and ran it through, and tied it off on the top so it wont fall back down through the hole. then i ran the wire through the ceiling, and tied it to the end to the light. this will easily support the light and is also adjustable.

Anything else?
Thank you,
Annie

yeah. if you want to do multiple quotes in a message like i just did, highlight the text you want to quote. then click this icon . it will wrap the text in a quote. this way you can respond to certain parts of the text as opposed to just the whole thing in general.

also! have you smoked much yet? where did you get it from? how was it? do you like it?

Hi Luger,
Thank you for helping! I actually have quite a bit of equipment left over from my hydroponic tomato grow back in 1998 when I first thought about trying medical marijuana. So I'm planning on re-using what I can.

I have:
1. Hanna EC meter,
2. 6" circumference tubes (6 of them) but only 2 have 6 3" circumference holes.
3. 250 Watt Metal Halide
4. 10 gallon reservoir, 3 gallon reservoir etc....
5. General Hydroponics Flora Grow, Flora Bloom, Flora Micro.
6. Associated drip tubing, drippers, sprayers, pumps, heaters, pH testers, buffers, heating mats, seedling trays, net pots, hygroton etc......

I've added:
1. 24" 4 T5 fluorescent fixture
2. 5 Nirvana Aurora Indica seeds
3. Wireless thermometer

I have expanded the coir pods and placed each seed in a coir 'pot'. I have placed the 5 seeds in their coir pots inside the small plastic greenhouse inside a 3 gallon rubbermaid container on top of a heating pad. As below: (this will be turned into an aeroponic cloner when it's done with the seedlings)
seedling.jpg

The temp is now 70 degrees and 92% humidity. The seeds have been in here for 22 hours now. I plan to check them daily. As soon as they sprout I will take the top off the container to give them light and prop the side of the humidome to reduce the humidity from near 100% and reduce the temps.

After the seeds pop I plan on putting the seedlings under this light:
fluor.jpg
After the seedling stage I plan on putting the coir pots into my 3" net pots with hygroton and put them in the tube:
tube.jpg
Allowing the seedlings to get in some vegetation time under the metal halide. After a couple weeks I plan to take clones and then put up a HPS and turn the plants to flower.

I was going to add a second tube and HPS light if necessary and add the rooted clones, and another HPS if necessary flipping back and forth between tub & closet. I'm going to keep back the mothers (from clones) and clones to be flowered under the fluoro's and possibly the metal halide if needed depending on the number of seedlings that survive and how they turn out. Anyway those are my plans so far. I plan to decide what mothers to keep based on health/growth and possibly medical effects.

So it is a bit hazy but will flesh out as I move forward, experience and learn.

I have been reading on ballasts and though I would prefer a digital ballast I'm not sure the problems have been worked out of them. I'm also not certain the best ballast to get. I'm thinking of getting a 600 HPS but wonder if a 1000 would be better and which bulb? I'm a couple weeks away from needing it but best to get it on order soon.
Thank you for all your help Luger, I really appreciate it.

Today, day 3, when checking all my seeds had germinated. So I got 100% germination! WOW! placed the T5 fluoro's over them to see the temp and it immediately soared to 80. So I pulled the fluoros and am working on my PVC light holder now. Sometime today I will remove them from their dark rubbermaid container. I already turned the heating pad down 1 notch and I've also cracked the lid to reduce the humidity from the 93% point to regular room humidity in the 30% range. I need to do that gradually so as not to kill the seedlings but quick enough so they don't damp off. OH GEEZ this is how I kill things........... I am just shaking over this!

germ2.jpggerm1.jpg

Your doing great so far, I also had 100% germination with my Aurora Indicas. They are very short stout plants, I will be harvesting in 7 days. Have you thought about odor control, the last few week of flower get a little stinky. They are very resilient plants, this is my first try and I have had great luck.

Originally Posted by Jessy2287

Your doing great so far, I also had 100% germination with my Aurora Indicas. They are very short stout plants, I will be harvesting in 7 days. Have you thought about odor control, the last few week of flower get a little stinky. They are very resilient plants, this is my first try and I have had great luck.

Thank you Jessy2287 that means a lot coming from you. I haven't thought at all about odor control could you give me some suggestions?

I was actually planning on taking it easy through Thanksgiving and sometime this weekend transferring them to net pots to go into the tube. Imagine my surprise tonight when I checked on them and found all except the 1 that died (seed damaged in shipping), had roots that shot through the entire coir pod and was curling around the bottom of the plastic tray!

So tomorrow instead of starting on the pies for Thanksgiving (Pecan, Syrup, Banana cream, Coconut cream and Apple), I will be instead focusing on transferring to the net pots and putting them in their tube!

I am wondering if I need to put up the metal halide. They seem to be getting a little to stretchy under the T5s.
Thank you for checking my journal I am grateful for your input,