Issue #14 - Sunday, July 22, 2012
Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's issue you'll discover...
- Exactly how you can cure 99% of cannabis growing problems by checking only 6 things!
- Your answers to all your questions about nutrients and why you need to pay attention to pH in Check it Out
- Learn how you can give back to the marijuana growing community
- The answer to a question about CFL grow lights and marijuana yields
- A review of an advanced marijuana grower's handbook in the Marijuana Growing Book Review section
We hope you enjoy this issue of Grow Weed Easy!
Happy Growing!
Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself."
~Jimmy Carter
Fix 99% of Cannabis Problems By Checking These 6 Things
By Sirius Fourside
Last week, we showed you how to identify many common growing problems on sight.
And
the truth is, when it comes to growing cannabis, it's inevitable that
you will eventually run into problems. I've never met a single grower
who's never had ANY problems.
So don't beat yourself up when growing problems happen.
Just
remember, how you REACT to problems is what determines whether you
harvest pounds of potent buds... or end up totally killing your plants.
Growing
cannabis can be easy, and when you have the right information, you'll
know exactly how to react to problems when they arise.
Luckily, bringing your plant back to peak health is actually pretty simple - which explains why I can do it!
Arm
yourself with the knowledge of these 6 simple things to check when your
plants get sick, so you know how to give your plants a 100% recovery.
These tips were specially made to fix a whole host of possible issues with minimal work.
Catching and solving problems quickly means bigger, bulkier
, more potent buds; your cannabis will love you for it!
1.) Heat Kills - Grow Area Should Be a Comfortable Room Temperature, or a little warmer
 Heat
saps the strength of your plant and forces it to drink more water than
normal, which can have unexpected consequences. Often, especially when growing hydroponically, hot temps can cause nutrient burn because your plant is absorbing more nutrients than normal alongside the extra water.
If
there is a particular source of heat that is harming the plant(like a
hot light ballast), you'll know because the leaves closest to the source of the problem will wilt and turn a brownish color.
A generally too-hot environment will cause the branches and main stem of your plant to droop as if it were under- or over-watered.
Plants that suffer from extreme heat stress for too long won't recover and will be unable to straighten their posture and continue growing.
What to Do: Reduce heat by whatever means necessary and make sure your grow area has good air ventilation.
Indoors, vent out hot air using a fan and/or an exhaust system. Make sure any heated air being vented outside grow room/house gets filtered
to remove the scent of cannabis. For example, you could get a fan with a built-in carbon scrubber to blow out the hot air.
An
oscillating fan will circulate air in the room as well as provide a
gentle breeze for your plants, and a small one will cost less than $20.
Outdoors,
it can often take a few weeks for plant to recover after a heat wave.
Just baby heat-stressed plants as best you can, and offer shade if you
can during the hottest days.
2.) Cannabis likes especially bright light.... but not too much light
When
growing cannabis, the mantra when it comes to lights is usually "More
is better!" To be honest...it's true! More light usually is better!
The problem occurs when the lights are too close to the plants, which essentially gives them their own version of sunburn.
 The
intensity of a light that is too close will dry up a plant, and turn
the edges of its leaves brown and crispy, almost like nutrient burn.
High
Pressure Sodium(HPS) lights have the meanest reputation for
'light-stressing' plants, but many of the newer, more powerful
LEDs(Light Emitting Diodes) and CFLs(Compact Fluorescent Lights) do it,
too!
The main way you know your plants are suffering from light burn is if only the leaves closest to the lights are affected.
What to Do: Most
importantly, pay attention to your plant and watch out for signs of
light stress, which will only affect the parts of the plant closest to
the lights.
For HPS, Metal Halide and CFL grow lights, use the 'back of your hand' test: Set up your
lights and gently place your hand right - palm down - above your plant.
If the heat coming from the light feels too warm for your hand after
10-30 seconds, then it's going to be too much light for your cannabis.
LEDs generate very little heat, but can still light-stress plants, so it's
best to keep high powered LEDs (above 90 watts) at least 10 inches away
from your plants. When the individual bulbs are bigger than 1W (for
example if it has 3W or 5W bulbs), you'll want to keep the lights even
further away, up to 2-3 feet for some of the newer, extremely powerful LED grow lights.
To determine if your plant is getting light stressed from LED grow lights, you use the appearance of your plant's leaves to determine if the lights can be moved closer.
If leaves closest to the lights start showing signs of stress (leaves turning brown/crispy or buds being bleached white), move the lights further away.
Use
extreme caution when attempting to move your grow lights closer, and avoid
moving them more than an inch closer in a day, so you can watch the plant's
reaction.
3.) Bugs / Mold
At
GrowWeedEasy.com, we believe that growing marijuana hydroponically is
often simpler for beginners, because this automatically eliminates many
of the bug problems growers run into when growing in soil.
So many growers struggle with bugs, and just by growing cannabis with a soil-less medium like coco coir, you dramatically reduce the chances of bug infestations.
 However,
even when growing hydroponically, the right conditions can make your
cannabis plants themselves, not the soil, a breeding ground for bugs
such as whiteflies, caterpillars, spidermites, and gnats.
When growing in soil, bugs are a common pest to marijuana gardens.
Mold can be just as annoying as bugs, and can be contagious between plants in the same room, and even the same house!
As
with bugs, your soil-less growing medium is relatively safe from mold
when growing with hydroponics, so only the plant and its environment
need the treatment.
What to Do: If you notice any signs of bugs or mold, don't wait, act quickly!
For most bugs, pests, and molds, SM-90
is miracle cure with a uniquely delicious citrus scent. It's perfectly
safe for humans and animals, so you can use it even when you're just a
few weeks away from harvest.
Mix 1 part SM-90 to 5 parts water, and mist the leaves of your plant (I use a mister
) when the lights are off.
This
will stop mold and shield the treated parts from further mold
infestation. SM-90 also deters many types of bugs including caterpillars,
gnats, spidermites, aphids, and other creepy crawlies.
SM-90 kills most bugs/mold instantly on contact, and will protect your plant from being attacked again.
Gently wipe off the mold and dead bugs after your first treatment, then mist the plant once more for an armor plated plant.
Also consider adding an oscillating fan to your grow room to get air moving over the leaves.
Good
air circulation and a slight breeze is not only good for the plant by
itself, but will also disturb bugs AND prevent excess moisture on the
leaves which acts as a major deterrent for mold.
4.)
Watch Your Humidity - High Humidity Helps Young Plants, While Low
Humidity Is Crucial To Prevent Mold During Flowering/Budding
Humidity is a term used to describe the amount of water vapor present in the air at any given place.
 It
is common for new growers to not pay attention to humidity at all, and
this causes many otherwise unexpected and unexplainable problems.
Young cannabis plants enjoy having the humidity in the 40-70% range.
In
fact, it's common for young cannabis plants to show false signs of
nutrient deficiencies when the humidity of the grow area drops below the
optimal range, especially when things get really dry.
In the flowering stage, humidity should be kept below 45% to prevent mold.
When
humidity gets too high in a grow room, the plant pulls excess water in
through the leaves which increases your chances for mold.
Younger plants are more resilient, but high humidity
is especially dangerous in the flowering stage when the insides of the
buds can grow mold and look fine from the outside.
What to do: Get a humidity monitor, and start paying
attention to the humidity of your grow room.
A humidifier adds moisture to the air while a dehumidifier takes moisture out.
Controlling your grow room humidity is one of the tricks
that separates the expert growers from the beginners.
You can get some
pretty fancy humidity gauges for under $10 to place in your grow room, and (de)humidifiers to change the humidity are commonly found at department stores, hardware stores, or most stores that sell home appliances.
- Ideally, your grow room will have a humidity of 60% during the vegetative stage, and should be lowered to around 45% at the beginning of the flowering stage.
- As your buds fatten up, it is beneficial to continue to drop the humidity of the grow area, if you can.
- During
the last 2-3 weeks before harvest, I use a dehumidifier to dramatically drop the humidity of my grow area as low as I can, which prevents bud rot during the
last few weeks.
- As
an added bonus, dropping the humidity this way during the last few
weeks of your plant's life increases trichome production, so you harvest sparkly, crystal-covered extra-POTENT buds.
With
the right tools, the task of maintaining humidity can be close to automated, and you will see
huge benefits compared to the amount of time and money you invest.
5.) Maintain Healthy Roots
 In a metaphorical sense, the roots are the heart of your cannabis plants.
When roots become sick, the health of the entire plant quickly falls apart.
Many times, cannabis plants with sick roots show no signs that there are any problems until things become grim.
Luckily, it's easy to check for issues and even easier to solve them with one of a few options.
To check for root problems, smell the root area of your plants. Go on, no one's looking!
If
you can, smell the bottom of the pot where the excess water comes out.
The water that runs out the bottom should generally have a neutral
smell; a 'stinky' smell is an indicator that your plant may be suffering
from 'root rot' or other problems.
What to do:
If you think you may have root problems, there are two easy ways to deal with this.
1.)
You can purchase Hydrogen Peroxide in 3% - 35% strength.
Mix 1 cup of
3% Hydrogen Peroxide with a gallon of water. For 35% strength Hydrogen
Peroxide, mix one tablespoon to a gallon of water.
Water your plants
with the mixture to kill any bacteria living in your root area.
Unfortunately, hydrogen peroxide also kills good bacteria, which can
protect your plant from future infections.
2.) (My prefered method) Conversely, you can start adding Aquashield
to your nutrient-water when you feed.
This will build up colonies of
good bacteria that out-compete the bad bacteria and actually promote
plant growth.
In addition, the beneficial bacteria will offer protection
for those times when the temperature of the grow area rises at a time
when you can't control it. When I first got started with bubbleponics, I
had a few tough bouts with root rot.
Over the last few years, I've tried many
"good bacteria" products including the ($$$) Great White and Subculture
B additives, but no product has ever worked 1/4 as good at maintaining
healthy roots as super cheap, readily available Aquashield.
6.) Still Not Sure? Here Are Your Exact Next Steps
Going
through the previous steps will solve quite a few different problems
you could be running into, but what if it's none of the ones mentioned
so far?
If
you've gone through all the above steps, and you're still having an unexplained
growing problem, there's a good chance that your plants might be
suffering from a nutrient deficiency.
But
fret not! If you're doing this step as the last step in
troubleshooting, you've covered all the bases and your plant will be
back to making fat buds in no time.
What to Do:
The goal is to give your plant exactly the kind of nutrients she needs
to thrive, and at the right pH so that she can properly absorb the
needed nutrients.
Note: Marijuana plants cannot absorb nutrients properly if the pH at their roots is too high or too low. So even if the nutrients are there, if you don't maintain the right pH, you'll still get what look like nutrient deficiencies.
First,
check your plant's food to make sure that they have all the necessary
nutrients and minerals for proper growth. If you're not sure what they
need, General Hydroponics Flora Trio will definitely do the job for
hydroponics, and Fox Farms Trio for Soil works great for soil grows.
Learn everything you need to know about marijuana nutrients here: http://growweedeasy.com/what-marijuana-nutrients
Once
you're positive you're providing the nutrients your cannabis needs, and
you've adjusted the water pH to the proper levels (how to check and
adjust the pH of your water when growing weed: http://growweedeasy.com/how-do-i-check-the-pH-of-my-water), add some Hydrogen Peroxide OR
Aquashield to your plant feeder for good measure and give it another feeding to 'flush your system'.
This will replace missing nutrients in addition to getting rid of excess salts that build up over time.
Because
you've just flushed your plant, provided the exact nutrients she needs,
and adjust the pH to the proper level, you will clear up any possible
causes of nutrient deficiencies.
Congratulations!
By
now, you've obtained the knowledge to give your plants a crucial and
important check-up to ensure that they can live to make you some great
cannabis. You've gone through the time and effort to raise your cannabis
from seeds or clones, and now they have health insurance!
Take care of your cannabis now, and your cannabis will take care of you later!
Here's that nutrient deficiency guide for you one last time...
About Sirius Fourside
Sirus co-founded GrowWeedEasy.com in 2008 with fellow grower Nebula Haze.
A huge proponent of
hydroponic growing, especially bubbleponics, Sirus is dedicated to
getting information out there so other growers see how easy it can be to
grow pounds of marijuana out of your closet.
Check It Out!
BUGS OR MOLD?
Most mold and pests can be eradicated with SM-90: Mist your plants in a solution made of 1 part SM-90, 5 parts water. When you spray the plants, make sure you get the undersides of the leaves. If you can't get SM-90, Neem Oil is a good alternative (it just doesn't smell as nice).
NUTRIENT PROBLEMS?
We Need Your Help!
Ever wondered how you could help overgrow the world?
Interested in getting exposure for your growing skills
while helping other growers around the world produce bigger, more
potent buds?
Do you have experiences, pictures, or lessons learned that you believe will be helpful for other growers?
If so, we want to hear from you!
Nebula
Haze and Sirius Fourside, founders of GrowWeedEasy.com, have dedicated
their lives to building the most comprehensive, easy-to-follow marijuana
growing resource in the world.
We
know that the best way to get medicine into the hands of those in
needs is to provide people with information that makes it easy for
anyone to grow it themselves....
From a newsletter subscriber...
"The growing info you send every week makes me feel like a fat kid who loves cake!!! Keep it coming, this
gets better with every tidbit of info!!!!! The info is so difficult to
find out there and 3/4 of it is bogus. Everything I've tried from the
info I've gotten from GrowWeedEasy.com has worked like a charm !!! FTW!! ((FREE THE WEED)) KEEP UP THE
GOOD WORK ONE DAY WE ALL GONNA BE FREE!!!!!!"
Thank you, you made our whole week!!!!! -Nebula and Sirius
On Twitter...
I love helping other growers out on twitter! Together we can overgrow the world! - Nebula
Question: Hey I'm just wondering... I want to grow two plants in my spare cupboard room, it's pretty big so it should work well.
I was thinking pf using an autopot system as I'm at work a lot of the time
and won't have much time to attend to feeding the plants.
And just a question about yield... on average, if I grew them for 6
weeks and flowered for 6-8 weeks what kind of yield should I expect?
Answer: Generally, the more attentive you are
to the plants, the better, especially when they're growing in a small
place like a cupboard. An auto-pot system isn't going to save you much
time because you still need to make sure that you are checking on the
plants regularly and maintaining a proper root pH.
You won't get much yields with just two 65W CFL bulbs, especially for two plants.
I'd opt for four(4) 65W bulbs per plant, which
will yield about 6 oz of buds if you give the plant enough time in veg
to let it get about a foot tall and maybe 2 feet wide. Shorter and wider
plants produce better yields, especially when growing with CFLs.
Here's more information on growing short and wide plants for maximum yields: http://growweedeasy.com/how-to-grow-short-bushy-marijuana-plants
Marijuana Growing Book Review
Marijuana Grower's Handbook: Your Complete Guide for Medical and Personal Marijuana Cultivation
by Ed Rosenthal
 Knowledge is POWER.
Learn how you can consistently grow HUGE, potent buds from Ed Rosenthal, one of the most world-renowned masters of growing marijuana.
Ed Rosenthal is passionate about teaching and learning the science of growing, and has been teaching people how to grow marijuana for over 35 years.
This
book is structured almost like a college textbook, with clearly defined
sections full of pertinent and well-organized information.
I
continue to refer back to this book often, because the science is so
sound and Ed offers a uniquely experienced perspective on growing
marijuana..
"Marijuana may not be addictive, but growing it is." ~ Ed Rosenthal
Whether you're growing Indoors or Outdoors,
this book has you completely covered with all the information you need
to dominate your grow and produce the kind of top-quality buds that
leave marijuana enthusiasts buzzing.
And with over 500 gorgeous
pages of full color photos and clear illustrations, this book covers
everything from the standard beginner's grow guide to much more advanced
techniques.
Watch a video interview with author Ed Rosenthal
Ed
is passionate about the marijuana cause, and his obvious affection and
helpfullness towards other growers comes through beautifully in his
writing. His patience and compassion are two of the main things that makes this book stand out from the pack of other grow bibles.
This
book can be considered an "all-in-one" grow bible, though I must warn
you that the information leans more towards bigger gardens than smaller
closet grows.
Additionally, this book contains an extreme amount
of information, which is what really qualifies it as an inclusive
"marijuana growing handbook". However, because of this, if you're just
getting started and only want to grow just a couple of plants, this grow
book may be total information overload.
On the flip side, if you're thinking about starting your own, larger-scale grow, then honestly you need to invest in this book. You won't regret it as you'll easily save yourself thousands of dollars.
Order your hard copy or get instant access to this awesome grow bible on your Kindle
Read More GrowWeedEasy.com Grow Book Reviews
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