Issue #19 -
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's issue you'll discover...
- How to avoid the 5 most common mistakes new growers make when cultivating cannabis!
- See marijuana buds grown under an LED grow light, so you know what they really look like.
- Learn how you can give back to the marijuana growing community
- The answer to a question about a strange problem with white dots appearing on a readers cannabis stems.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Grow Weed Easy!
Happy Growing!
Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world."
Carl Sagan
5 Most Common Mistakes New Growers Make
By Nebula Haze
The Unfortunate Truth of Growing Marijuana is That Many New Growers Actually Unknowingly Sabotage Their Own Grow
Don't let this happen to you!
Today,
we're going to share the 5 most common mistakes new marijuana growers make, so your first grow
goes ultra smooth and you get to harvest pounds of extremely potent buds.
Avoid These 5 Common "New Grower" Mistakes
Mistake #1: Watering Plants Too Much or Too Little
 An
incorrect watering schedule can kill your plants. The most common
symptom of over or under watering is drooping, though other signs of
root problems may show up, such as discolored or wrinkly leaves.
I've found that many "unexplainable" problems are often the result of over and under watering.
How to Water Your Marijuana Correctly
- Marijuana loves well-draining soil or potting mix, hates mud. Add something like perlite to your mix if you think you need better drainage.
- Every time you water your plants, keep adding more water until about 20% extra runoff water comes out the bottom.
- Then, wait until top inch (to the first knuckle of your index finger) of growing medium is dry before you water again.
It's that simple.
*Now some people grow their weed directly in water. If that's you, don't worry about Mistake #1. You are likely taking care of your plant roots in other ways, such as using an airstone to supply oxygen and improving root health by adding "good" root bacteria with products like Aquashield.
Mistake #2: Not Providing The Right Amount or The Right Kind of Nutrients for Your Growing Marijuana Plants
 Now
if you start with a good soil mix, you may not need to
supplement with nutrients for the beginning of your marijuana's
life.
If
you start out with poor quality soil, if you're growing hydroponically,
(or are using a non-soil potting mix like coco coir), then you will need to supplement nutrients basically from the beginning.
In either case, you will always get the best yields if you give the marijuana plant exactly what she needs during budding/flowering stage.
Some growers make their own supplements, but most small-scale new growers will get the best highest yields and best results by using pre-formulated nutrients made especially for plants like marijuana.
Plus using nutrients is way easier and more convenient than mixing your own nutrients.
Myth Busted: More nutrients IS NOT always better. Get the best yields by aiming for just enough nutrients to prevent deficiencies.
If plant growth is already healthy, adding more nutrients won't make your plant grow faster. In fact, adding more nutrients than needed can seriously hurt your plant, stunt growth, and dramatically reduce yields.
So it's incredibly important to make sure you get the right kind of nutrients. Yet there are literally hundreds of different nutrients used by growers to successfully grow marijuana.
You may be wondering... Why do growers use so many different nutrients and nutrient systems, and keep creating more, if there are already so many that work for growing marijuana?
The answer is that growers are constantly trying to improve overall quality, yields, flavor and potency of their marijuana. Everyone is looking for that "extra edge."
At
GrowWeedEasy.com, we're focused on helping growers find the cheapest
and simplest nutrient system that consistently get fantastic results and the highest yields.
That's
why I've tried to make it easy by creating a list of "approved"
nutrient systems that are commonly used by marijuana growers below, so you can get straight to growing.
Marijuana Nutrient Picks for:
Growing in Soil:
Growing in Coco Coir:
Growing in Water:
Best supplements:
- Pro-tekt (silica, stronger branches/sturdier plants, better heat/cold
resistance, more resistant to mites)
- Aquashield (banish root rot for good and
promote root health, in our tests Aquashield works better at getting rid of root rot than the 10x more expensive Great White supplement)
***Note:
Advanced Nutrients (Grow, Micro, Bloom) is an expensive nutrient system which is
formulated for plants like marijuana, and many growers swear by it. It definitely will work for growing marijuana, no question about it. However, in side-by-side comparisons, cheaper nutrients like the Dyna-Gro system often outperform Advanced Nutrients as far as marijuana yields. I've never tried this due to the
expensive price tag, especially since I've had such great results with
these other systems, but I felt the need to mention it because it's so often used to grow marijuana. Here's the Advanced Nutrients calculator to figure out how much you'll need to use: http://www.advancednutrients.com/hydroponics/calc/
***Note 2: You may have noticed that Dyna-Gro can be used for pretty much any grow. Unlike other nutrient systems, Dyna-Gro apparently works great whether you're growing in soil, water, or something else. This is my personal favorite system right now because it's super simple. Use Grow for Vegetative stage then switch to Bloom when first pistils/hairs show up in flowering stage. Has great pH stability (if you've ever grown marijuana directly in water, you know why this is important).
***Note 3: Please feel free to reply to this newsletter and tell us about your
experiences with different nutrient systems. We will be conducting some
side-by-side experiments with clones soon, so we'd love to hear what's
been working for you.
With all nutrient systems that you're trying out for the first time, I highly suggest starting at half the recommended nutrient levels when growing weed.
Only increase the concentration of nutrient if you see signs of nutrient deficiencies.
This is because, for whatever reason, most nutrient recommendations are way too strong for growing most strains of marijuana.
So if the included nutrient schedule say add a teaspoon to a gallon of water, I'd say you cut that in half and add a ½ teaspoon to a gallon of water. If it says to add 2ml to a liter of water, than you add 1ml to a liter of water.
I've found over and over that you get the best yields by erring on the side of "too little" over "too much" nutrients. I always start a half strength and only move up when I see deficiencies.
For
example, I do increase nutrient levels if I notice yellowing leaves
towards bottom of plant. Now yellowing leaves towards the bottom of your
plant is okay if you're late in the flowering stage, but this symptom needs to be
corrected at any other time earlier in the plant's life (to make sure
you have enough leaves that last all the way to the end).
Mistake #2B: Nutrient Problems Caused By Not Monitoring pH
Ok, so you've got the right nutrients, so you're done right? Sorry, not quite...
The
fact is, if the pH of your root zone is too high or too low (too acidic
or too basic) then unfortunately your plants won't be able to properly
absorb nutrients through the roots.
That's why many "nutrient problems" that we see are actually the result of pH problems. In fact, I would say nearly 1 in 4 submissions to our plant doctor diagnosis service ends up being the result of pH problems.
 Some
growers get lucky even when they don't pay attention to the pH of their
plant's root zone. Maybe you happen to have the perfect tap water, in
which case you can skip this step.
Otherwise,
you will be doing yourself a huge service as a grower to start paying
attention to pH by getting a simple pH adjustment kit or pH meter.
Soil: Maintain root pH between 6.0 - 7.0
Hydro: Maintain root pH between 5.5 - 6.5
Full
tutorial of checking and adjusting your pH here (with a video by me
walking you through the whole thing, so you can see how easy it is!): http://growweedeasy.com/how-do-i-check-the-pH-of-my-water
Mistake #3: Letting Plants Get Too Big During Vegetative Stage
This
may seem basic, but it's important to understand that there are two
stages of the marijuana's life.
Just like humans are "children" then
"adults," a marijuana plant goes through the "vegetatative" stage then
the "flowering" stage, where their growth is completely different.
During the vegetative stage, the plant grows just leaves and stems, gaining size.
During the flowering stage, the plant turns the focus away from getting bigger and starts producing the flower / buds we love so much.
As the grower, you are in control of when your plant goes through these stages.
Now
there's a special kind of strain called "Ruderalis" or "Auto-flowering"
which goes through the life cycle on it's own with no light changes
needed. If you didn't particularly get an "auto" seed from a seedbank,
you most likely have the 'regular' kind of marijuana that's controlled
by light periods, as discussed here.
 In Vegetative Stage...
I
recommend growers allow plants to stay in the vegetative stage and keep gaining
size until they get to half the final desired height.
You can
dramatically change and control the shape of the plant sin this stage
with marijuana growth control methods.
When Should I Switch to Flowering Stage?
Once
she's reached half her final desired height, change over to the
flowering light schedule (12-12).
This means you need to ensure that the
plant is getting at least 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness each
night.
The
plant thinks the days are getting shorter as winter approaches, and so
this change in light schedule signals the plant to "start" flowering /
making buds.
You'll see the first signs of new buds forming a few weeks after you change the light schedule, for most strains.
Mistake #4: Not Paying Attention to Plants in the Critical Second Half of the Flowering Stage
As
your marijuana is focusing completely on making buds - in the second
half the flowering stage - she may need a little extra TLC as she's not
really putting much effort into her own health.
Unfortunately, this happens to be the time that most growers tend to start forgetting about their plants.
Biggest things to watch out for:
- Watch for hermies (hermaphrodites; girls that grow "male" parts) or unexpected male
plants. Basically, look for balls/pollen sacs growing among all your
beautiful buds.
- Seriously, watch out for hermies and male plants, even a single pollen
sac can ruin your whole crop if it bursts, by spreading pollen and seeding all the females.
All pollinated female buds will stop fattening up and instead focus on making seeds. As a result, you get seedy buds and low yields.
- Make
sure lights don't get too hot/too close. Even though plant is not
growing upwards dramatically in the flowering stage, she may still continue to gain height for most of
her life, and may be inching closer and closer towards your
lights without you realizing it
- Continue to monitor pH, don't get too comfortable and let this slide
- Beware of overdosing plant with nutrients, especially late in the flowering stage, it will ruin your yields! It's
normal for your oldest, lower leaves to start yellowing and falling as
harvest approaches, this doesn't mean add more nutrients. Plants need
less and less nutrients as they approach harvest, it's natural for
leaves to start yellowing
- Flush your plants, even if just a few days. Many
growers recommend you flush plants by feeding just plain, pH'ed water
for the last 1-2 weeks before harvest to leach out any extra nutrients and
improve the taste/smell of your harvested buds.
- Watch for the right time to harvest! (more on that in just a second...)
Mistake #5: Harvesting Too Early (Which Causes Low Yields and Non-Potent Buds)
 When you harvest at the right time, you get the best yields and ensure that you're harvesting buds that produce the exact effects you desire.
Recently a grower in the UK told me that he's never been able to grow the ultra-potent buds like the ones he gets in Amsterdam and other places. He told me his buds were only giving him a "3 out of 10 buzzy high".
After consulting with me, we discovered he was harvesting buds nearly a month too early (he was harvesting at 6 weeks for a strain that needed about 10 full weeks in flowering).
Simply by waiting an extra 4 weeks to harvest, this grower now gets nearly 40% more yields, and he has explained that his buds now "hit me like a train and take away my legs."
Here's
a complete guide to knowing exactly when to harvest your marijuana:
http://growweedeasy.com/how-do-i-know-when-to-harvest-marijuana
More about different levels of potency and harvesting buds based on cannabinoid levels:
http://growweedeasy.com/thc-cbd-cbn-when-to-harvest-marijuana
About Nebula Haze and Her Own "New Grower" Mistakes
In my 8 years of growing marijuana, I've made a lot of mistakes.
In fact, this was my very first plant to the right (click for a closeup).
I made Mistake #3 (Letting Plants Get Too Big During Vegetative Stage) which made taking care of her a huge pain the neck.
I also made Mistake #4 (Not Paying Attention to Plants in the Critical Second Half of the Flowering Stage) by making Mistake #2 (I overdosed her on nutrients).
I realize now that my yields were much less than they could have been, plus all my buds were marred with unsightly nutrient burn (but hey, the great thing about marijuana is you can mess up a lot and still harvest a pile of sticky buds that do the job!)
Unlike me when I first started growing, you can now permanently avoid the top 5 most common new grower mistakes.
Join Nebula Haze on Twitter
Check It Out!
FOR SERIOUS GROWERS ONLY
Are you interested in... LED Grow Lights?
So you've probably heard the incredible benefits... low electricity usage and even lower heat
output.
But do they actually work to grow marijuana?
Some LED grow lights work pretty good but...
The Pro Grow X5 Grows Bigger Buds Than Any LED Grow Light I've Ever Seen!
And I've used dozens of different models...
The Pro Grow X5 is make just for plants like marijuana, and it grows HUGE buds in all our tests so far.
As far as I know, the Pro Gro X5 is the first 5W chipset LED grow
light from a tried-and-tested company that has actually has been used
for growing marijuana.
He's about to harvest next week, and just click the picture below to watch his latest update and see for yourself his awesome grow room with dozens of fat buds!
You don't normally see yields like this with an LED grow light; his results are much closer to the what you'd expect to get from an HPS or MH/HPS combo.
See for yourself!
We Need Your Help!
Ever wondered how you could help overgrow the world?
Interested in getting exposure while showing off your growing skills
and 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:
"Hello again friends and thanks for the great site. A few newsletters ago, the process of Rodelization was described in detail. I have been growing feminized seeds with great success and have also clipped each of the girls to provide mothers... Had I not read your article, I would have pushed on thinking I had a Hermie and maybe even have [killed it]. Instead, I was a bit more informed, and now the proud owner of my very own seeds. Thanks for the info and keep up the good green work."
Free. Homegrown. Feminized. Seeds. That's awesome, and you should be proud of yourself!
Sirius
Question: Hey there. I've started growing my first plant from seed. I had it in a small pot but now it's in a 10 liter pot that's only half full with soil. The plant is two feet tall, and I've started to notice small white spots on the very bottom of the stem. Is there a problem?
Answer: Don't worry about those! I've asked many people and heard all kinds of theories on what those white dots are(salt buildup, mold, roots, stunted growth, etc...). What I can tell you, is that I've raised many plants with that, without any issue whatsoever.
Remember, sharing is caring!
Forward this email to a friend in need!
Copyright © 2012 GrowWeedEasy.com
NOTE:
If URLs do not appear as live links in your e-mail program, please cut
and paste the full URL into the location or address field of
your browser.
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
any other kind of Advice. The contributors to this magazine grow legally
under their local laws. If you cannot legally grow where you live, we
DO NOT recommend that you start growing marijuana, as you can be
arrested, put in prison, or worse!
Any decision to grow marijuana should only be made after consulting with an experienced lawyer or other legal adviser. Although
our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they
are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular
investment or legal situation. No communication by our employees to you
should be deemed as personalized Financial or Legal Advice. Any
investments and steps recommended in this letter should be made only
after consulting with your lawyer or other legal or investment adviser.
Nothing
in this e-mail should be considered personalized Health Care Advice.
Although our employees may answer your general customer service
questions, they are not licensed health care professionals. No
communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized
Health Care Advice. Any Health Care recommended in this letter should be
made only after consulting with your Doctor and licensed Health Care
Advisor.
|
