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Issue #395 - Sunday, November 10, 2019
Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's issue...
- What makes those first few grows seem so tough? Not reading this issue before you get started!
- One of the toughest things about getting started is...getting started! Anyone new to growing is bombarded by a dizzying number of products. Luckily, we have the solution to that problem!
- Uh, oh! We got something wrong in the previous newsletter! Luckily, an astute reader caught the error and helped us get it fixed. Check out the pest that fooled us both of us, but couldn't fool our readers!
- We got mentioned in a post on the High Times website! 🤩 I'd be lying if I said we weren't super-excited! (Check it out here)
- Insane colas, pretty buds, and a praying mantis looking like a boss. This week's trophy pics are a mixed bag that's super easy on the eyes!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that?
We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained."
~Marie Curie
Why the First Few Grows
Can Seem So Tough…😓
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by Sirius Fourside
I’m not ashamed to admit that my first few grows ended in complete failure. I had some bad information, and I combined that with some over-priced products and a dash of over-zealousness. For most of my early attempts, I ended up with plants that never got the chance to make even tiny buds I could harvest.
This plant was doing so well, but it suddenly got sick less than a month away from harvest!
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After some time and practice, I can now grow more high-quality bud than I can use while expending a minimal amount of time and effort.
This was some of what we had as the latest harvest came in. Time to make Hash Oil and rosin!
But I’m not special…I can honestly say that I’m no artist, prodigy, phenom, or anything even remotely close to those things. I just learned how to fix a few mistakes that were holding me back as a grower, and today I’m going to go through some of those common setbacks and make sure they don’t set you back!
Too Much Love
Is it possible to love something too much? I’d say Nebula might love cats too much. A baker in my neighborhood once told me I love desserts too much (that really happened, and he was right).
Loving your plants too much isn’t the problem, it’s the extraneous attention we give as a result of our love. When it comes to growing cannabis, that extra love can mean that growers check on their plants more often than needed. While there’s nothing wrong with checking on your plants regularly (that’s actually a good thing), these extra check-ins increase the chance that the grower is going to do something to the plants. A poke here, a trim there, maybe a little
extra water…
The fact is, plants spend a lot of time not doing much. Or rather, they spend a lot of time doing things very slowly. That means that there will be stretches of time where there isn’t much for the grower to do besides give water.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a trick to beating the waiting game. Just treat these times like the perfect opportunity to practice patience, because the flowering stage requires a ton of it!
Is My Plant Really Thirsty?
The best instructions are specific. Well-made, specific instructions can teach anyone to do almost anything! Ideally, instructions can tell you precisely what you need to do from beginning to end.
Conversely, the bane of specific instructions is telling the reader to make a judgment call. And unfortunately, plant watering requires many judgment calls. How often do I water? How much do I water? Am I watering too much?
It would be nice to be able to tell growers, “Give your plants exacts .5 gallons of water every Monday and Thursday until harvest.” But there are too many variables (strain, container size, growing medium, etc.) to be able to give advice with that level of accuracy.
Luckily, watering is a breeze after a couple of attempts, and here are some tips to make it even easier.
Note: Make sure your pot/container has proper drainage. Excess water should be able to escape the bottom of the pot freely.
How to Water Cannabis Plants
- Soil – Wait until the top inch of your medium feels dry (or the pot feels light).
- Coco coir – Aim to water plants every 1-2 days. If coco is staying wet for 3+ days, give less water at a time until plants get bigger and start drinking more. Don’t wait for your coco coir to dry out, but don’t water if the top 1/2″ (~1.5 cm) feels “wet”. If the container feels light, it’s time to water!
- When watering with nutrients added to your water, make sure that 10-20% of the water comes out the bottom of your container. This helps prevent pH problems and excess nutrient buildup, amongst other things. If growing in soil with no added nutrients in the water, try to avoid runoff so you’re not accidentally washing away all the nutrients in your soil.
- Go back to Step 1.
Note: If you have small plants in a big container, give only a little water at first, maybe just a couple cups at a time. You want to be providing just enough water that it dries up within a few days. If the medium is completely dry by the next day, you need to give more water at a time. If it’s taking more than 3-4 days to dry out, you need to give less water at a time until the plant is a little bigger and drinking more.
Playing the Light Game
There are plenty of ways to deliver light to your plant. Some growers are lucky enough to get their light straight from the sun. *grumble*
As indoor growers, we have to navigate the hotly-debated and sometimes confusing world of indoor grow lights. Every side claims to be the best for one reason or another: T5 users say their bulb is stealthy and low cost, LED and LEC lovers say their lights are the future, and those in the HPS camp claim their light is king!
The fact is, most types of grow lights will work just fine under the right circumstances. If you’re somewhat new to growing indoors and are having a hard time deciding on a grow light, here’s what I would recommend:
Small stealthy grows including PC grows, file cabinet grows, or new growers just trying to get a feel for the process
- T5s if you have the space for them, CFLs if you don’t (or to supplement the T5s)
- As long as you have at least 6′ of height, you can often use a small LED even in a very tight space
A small grow tent (2′ x 4’ or 3′ x 3′), regular closet or something similar
- T5s will work well in this scenario
- A 250w HPS or a 315 LEC would be tough to beat in a small space like this. A 400W HPS would work well in a 3’x3′ tent.
- LEDs between 120-400w (actual wattage) will work in this case, as well!
Larger grow tent (4’ x 4’ or bigger), walk-in closet or something similar
- One or several higher powered LEDs (minimum 400w total) would excel in this area.
- A 600w or 1000W HPS is the golden standard for this size of grow…for now.
Huge grow areas like a garage, shed or an entire room
- Multiple 1000w HPS lights are the standard for big indoor grow operations
- The sun. The price is unbeatable, and sunlight provides the perfect light for your plants!
There's more article left!
Continue on to see how your first grows are impacted by:
- Bad Seeds
- Difficulties selecting nutrients
- Advanced Techniques
- Getting Set Up
and make your first grows as easy as possible!
Just Say, "No!"
(To being ripped off, not weed)
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We spent the beginning of our growing careers by trying out equipment that never had a chance of working the way we wanted.
We kept going back at it until we knew what worked...and then we kept going! By now, we've tried so many nutrients, supplements, lights, tents, etc. that we could spend all day listing them!
Luckily, you don't need to reinvent the wheel! Learn from our mistakes and don't buy junk!
Check out our Cannabis Growers Shopping List!
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Last week we showed you some pictures of a pest and identified them as thrips.
Although these pests resemble thrips, they're way too small to be thrips. Luckily, we had a sharp reader who noticed our mistake and wrote in to help us fix it.
We appreciate the help! Corrections like this help us keep the site (and newsletter) accurate. 👍
Shout out to Daniel Kelley for writing in with the real pest identification (thanks, Daniel!). He had this to say, "...I pray you never have to battle with russet mites." Yeah, me too!
The pests below are far worse than thrips...these are the dreaded Russet mite!
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These are roughly the size of an individual trichome. That's a sign that these aren't Thrips, but are the objectively-worse Russet mites.
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"Subject: Praise
I just wanted to let you and Sirius know what a great site you have here! So packed full of information that I drop your link at least 2-3 times a day!
I'm on about 8 different Facebook groups for growing and I just think your site is the best and easiest to follow with the search bar that I just don't send them anywhere else! So there ya go! Huge pats on the back.! Great job and keep up the good work!"
Dan
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Thanks for positive review, Dan! 🙌
Speaking of praise, we were mentioned in a list on High Times!
A grower wrote in to tell us about an important piece of information you should know if you're trimming weed:
"I loved your trimming tutorial. Well done actual instructions on how to trim weed.
One thing as an experienced grower in Colorado I feel should be added is an additional reason for wearing gloves.
The last time I trimmed without gloves and I used alcohol to clean my fingers I got so much transdermal absorption of THC I was completely spun out and it stepped on my whole day, had to lay down, and I'm a daily pot smoker since the early 90s'.
~Max"
Great tip, Max! Although this hasn't happened to me personally, it totally makes sense! If your hands are coated in trichomes and you add alcohol, you're essentially making a tincture in your hands. A lot of the psychoactive stuff will still be THCA, but that doesn't mean you won't get messed up by the available THC.
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"I'm growing with amended super soil under a 600 watt hps and two led arrays from Galaxy hydro in a 3' X 5' space. Orange Krush and Lemongrass plants from the Bank seeds , an offshoot of the Clinic dispensary.
For eight years I've been using their seeds and [description cuts off abuptly]"
~Max
I think Max was attacked by the praying mantis in the pic below. They can pretty territorial...
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"I have no idea what the strain is, it was bagseed, several years old. Stuck them in some soil in the front window, and they sprouted. Since I am a first time grower, I had to research what to do next and luckily I found this site and used it as my guide all
the way through. Grew outdoor in potting soil, 5 gal buckets. Used Sensi Coco Grow and Bloom and some molasses. Plants grew 5 - 7 ft tall, yielding 4 - 5 ounces each. Very happy with the results, as good as or better than what I was buying."
~Jim
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Hey! What are you doing way down here?!
Well, since you made it this far, have a sneak peek at next week's newsletter, where we'll have an in-depth look at Nebula's 'Viparspectra vs. HPS' grow. In short, it was a fun experiment and the results were very interesting...
Viparspectra LED plants before harvest
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250W HPS plants before harvest
Check the newsletter next week for all the details!
We encourage you to forward this email to a friend in need!
GrowWeedEasy.com has more text than "War and Peace"!
Check out some articles you may not have seen...
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Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
I'll be honest with you, when I first started growing, I struggled. Now, it is my mission to make it easier for
new growers to get started as well as help advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We are updating and adding articles every single week and our goal is to eventually build a comprehensive growing resource so anyone and everyone can grow if they want to! If we all share the knowledge there's more buds in the world for everyone :) |
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Learn which seed sources are personally recommended by Nebula Haze |
Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium (deep water culture, bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis can be a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water
doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
Get Your Seeds Delivered Safely! |
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GrowWeedEasy.com has put together a hand-picked list of all the available seed
banks including what type of payment they accept and where they ship in the world!
List of trusted seed sources:
http://www.growweedeasy.com/seeds Get Seeds!
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Disclaimer: Grow Weed Easy only recommends products that we've either personally checked out ourselves, or that come from people we know and trust. For doing so, we may receive a commission. Nothing in this e-mail should be considered personalized Financial, Legal, or Medical Advice. The contributors to this magazine grow legally under their
local laws but are not lawyers or medical professionals. Any decision to grow marijuana should only be made after consulting with an experienced lawyer or other legal adviser. Any medical decisions should only be made after speaking with a doctor or other medical professional. Be safe!
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