Water

Some people swear by distilled water. It usually has a ppm of 1 or less. Or you can get you a couple of 5 gallon bottles and go to the local walmart and fill them with reverse osmosis water which is almost as clean as distilled. Or you can buy an osmosis filter for your home. They waist allot of water and need the filters changed regularly but the water sure does taste good. And you will have as much as you want on hand. Like I said it waist allot of water so expect to see the water bill go up.

I use plain tap water. The chlorine in it will burn the tips of the leaves. I usually let my water sit out for a couple days to allow the chlorine to dissipate. You can also use those drops for the fish tank. I hear that works too.

One thing thats helps is to keep a fish tank pump bubbling in your water so it doesn't get stagnate. Try not to leave fertilized water laying around for a long time. Molds will grow and use up nutrients. And it just looks bad. But if you have a hydroponic system you will need to keep a reservoir. So just keep it out of the light for the most part. Also keep an air bubbler in your reservoir to keep oxygen in the water. The roots will like this.

These are my water containers. I usually keep fresh clean water in one and when I decide to water I fill up the other can so I can mix my solution. I only use what I know I will need. So I dont ruin my solution from sitting over time. Notice the air pumps and I have a submergable pump/hose that I feed with.


Here is an osmosis filter.

More water Having problems posting...

Misting your plants is a good thing to do. You can foilar feed at I believe 1% fertilizer. I use plain water so I dont have to look at salts on my leaves.The misting helps keep dust and bugs off your plants. Try to spray the underside of the leaves too. Its not a good idea to mist your buds. It can mold the buds.

Spider mites like to live under the leaves. Misting underneath helps keep them away. Trust me you don't want this dreaded pest in your garden. They are hard to get rid of and can destroy your entire crop.

DON'T MIST WHILE THE LIGHTS ARE ON. THEY WILL BLOW UP!!!!11!!ONE11!!

If you over water you can drown your plants. They usually turn yellow and may fall over. The side of the leaf will curl. Let your medium dry before watering.

I almost lost my entire crop from this.


You have to watch your mothers too.


Since I brought up spider mites. This is what I used to kill them. Actually I used it 3 weeks in a row. And I am a happy grower again. This is not just any bomb. I got this from the hydroponic store and is safe for fruits. It takes care of most of the pest out there. Avid works even better but isnt very safe for smoking.

If you under water your plants they will fall over or start to look droopy. Try not to let them get this way.


Use a meter like this to make sure death doesnt accure.

Grow seasons

Basically a mj plant grows during the summer and buds in the fall once it senses winter is getting close. The female plant wants to produce seeds so when it freezes and dies it will have life next year. Different strands flower at different times during the fall. So you will have to research your strand to see when it harvest.

Indoors we manipulate the seasons by keeping long hours of light for growth. 18-24 hours of light will keep the plant in grow mode. I usually leave my clones on 24 hours. And then when I put them under my mh light I keep it on 18 hours to save some money on my electric bill.

Once you are ready to bud the plants you will change the lights to 12 on 12 off. Mimicking fall/winter. We do not want any light getting into our room while the lights are off. Ever!

One thing to think about when you purchase a timer for the lights is the amps your lights will use. You don't want to melt your timer or even worse burn your factory down. A 1000 watt light uses about 9 amps. So make sure you buy the right stuff.

My plants in the vegetative (grow) cycle. 18hrs of light.


The bloom room. 12 hrs of light.

Co2

We breath o2 and breath out co2. Plant are the opposite. They grow faster under a higher concentration of co2. You can get a co2 tank and regulator and put it on a timer. I have never used co2 this way so I'm a little ignorant of how much to use.
What I use runs off a propane bottle and is basically a pilot light that burns when my lights are on. I bought it at the local hydroponic shop. It raises the temperature in my room about 10 degrees. Its kinda bad but when you are in a co2 enriched environment the plant actually does better at higher temps. 85*+.

Here is a co2 generator that burns propane.

Temperature

Pot plants like the temperature around 75*-85*F. So basically that means 75* at night when the lights are off and 85* when they are on. Like I said before about the co2, you can grow good at 90* with co2 but without it you will slow growth at 90*+. I believe you don't want to go below 60* either, But that probably wont be a problem since these rooms make a lot of heat.

Ventilation

Your whole room will need good ventilation. The lights will need some exhaust ducting to help cool them. You will probably be ok with not having vents if you only have one light.

I have oscillating fans that blow on my plants. It keeps them breathing fresh air and makes the stems strong. You will need strong stems to hold up those huge buds you are going to grow. Basically the wind rips the plant cells just like building a muscle.


Here you can see a few fans, ducts and a/c.

Sexing

The female plant is what grows the buds. The male plant produces pollen and little to no thc compared to the female.

To sex a plant you will have to put it into the budding cycle. So basically you will need to grow your plants(mothers) for about a month or two and then take a clone/ cutting from your new plants. I will get into cloning later. Anyways you will need to let your clone grow for a week or two till it has roots, grows the size you want. Then put them in your budding room. Make sure you label your clones so you don't get them mixed up from the parents. After about 10 days in the flower room you should start seeing the clones flower.

The female flower looks like a tear drop with two hairs coming out of the top.

The male flower looks like a very small bunch of grapes. These (grapes) burst open and release pollen. The pollen will float or be carried by pest over to the female flower and impregnate the female. This is not good because now she is going to produce a seed(s). And puts the plants energy into seeds instead of buds. Unless you are trying to get seeds you don't want the males around anymore. Kill them all and the moms they came from. Or should I say dads. I wouldn't even keep them in the same house cause pollen is known to travel many miles much less a hallway. Just kill them.

Edit: With the seeds I won I had a couple of males and took a pic. Veiw attachment.


I am sorry but I have no males in my garden to show you guys. Here is a female plant about 3 week into flowering.

Attached Images

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Odors

If your going to grow pot then expect to stink up the place. Specially when you are budding. We have to prevent the neighbors from smelling skunk all the time.

The best way to do this is to buy a charcoal canister. These things work very well. I was doubtful myself but ended up buying one for about $600. They have smaller ones that are cheaper. You will just need to know how many cubic feet is in your grow room and select the right size for your garden. You will have to change the charcoal every year. I have heard that if you put the charcoal in an oven on warm setting for 1-1.5 hours then it will reactivate the charcoal.

Another way to eliminate odors is to buy an ozone generator. Ozone generators can be dangerous and can kill you if your exposed to large amounts of it. You will know when its on because it will burn your eyes and can burn your lungs. These don't work as good as I would think in your garden but putting one in-line with your exhaust duct (from charcoal canister) works pretty good. You will need a tumble box in-line and at least 25 feet of duct to make sure all the odors are neutralized. If you use one that is how I would use it.

There are many air fresheners you can buy to mask the smell too.

You will want to make sure your room is sealed or odors may get out.


Here is my charcoal canister. Works awsome!


A smaller one.


Notice how we sealed the window. Light cant get in and odors cant get out.

Clones

Clones are easy to make. And they are the exact genetics as their mother. I keep 8 mother plants and grow them about 3-4 feet. Large enough so I can take 50 or so clones from each mother. Moms wont ever bud cause we keep them in the grow (18 hours of light) room. Sorry I had to throw that in real quick.

To make a clone you will need some sort of cloning solution or powder. These have hormones that help the clone root.

I take a clean razor and cut the shoots off the plant at a 45* angle in between the nodes. I try to make them around 4-5 inches tall. Usually about 4 nodes will do it. I have had good success with larger clones too. The node is where the plant branches out from the main shoots. We need to cut the clone and put it in our root solution pretty quick. We don't want to get an air bubble in the stem of our new clone. That slows things down if the clone even takes. So I just dipped the clone in the root solution and now I'm going to place them in my 1 inch rock wool cube. I push it in the cube till I feel the stem kinda rip through the wool some. This assures me that its held in tight and isn't just sitting in the open air. Don't go all the way through the wool cause that would be pointless.

I mist my clones with pure water daily. Some people use a clear top for their clone tray to help keep moisture in but I don't practice this. If you do use a cover make sure you open the top a few times a day or you can mold the new clones pretty quick. That is why I don't practice this style. I just mist them a couple times a day for about 10 day to 2 weeks. You will start seeing roots. I keep the clones under florescent tubes at 24 hours of light. For the first 3-4 days I keep them about 4-5 inches from the bulb. After that I place them about 1 inch from the light till I see roots. Once we have roots then I transplant into dirt cups or slap them in baskets for my airoponics system. We can now put the clones under our hid light and grow them like no tomorrow.

Edit... Lately I have benn using "Woods" cloning dip and soaking my rockwool with "Clonex". I have seen roots in three days using this combination.