Introduction
Twenty years.
To quote the Dead, "What a long, strange trip it's been."
I never anticipated the longevity of the Ask Ed column. When
I first suggested it to my editors in January 1983, they thought
it might last three months. They put a little blurb soliciting
letters in a spring issue of High Times, and the first column
appeared in the magazine in August of that year. The letters
have never stopped.
The most fascinating part of my work has been the breadth
of interests and the depth of understanding and complexity
that you, my readers have presented. You direct the "Ask
Ed' column. It's reader driven. In a way, we've written this
book together.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing
me to serve you. You provided me with the time to do research
and the resources to seek out the answers. You allowed me
to remain a student all these years. It has been an adventure
and a great way to spend my time.
You have taken me down avenues that I never would have explored-on
hidden trails and invisible highways. Once again, I thank
you. I hope I answered some of your questions and you find
this collection enjoyable and satisfying reading.
The questions that appear in this book were all sent in by
readers over the span of the column. Some things have changed
over the years; for instance, new products, new varieties
and new methods of cultivation. I have revised and updated
the answers to make the information in this book the most
up-to-date current thought about marijuana and its cultivation.
Although the book is a twenty-year collection, it has the
answers you need now.
Basics: The Frequently Asked Questions
As you can imagine, some questions get asked more often than
others. Here are the top 12 questions asked by readers. The
answers here will point you to the section of the book you're
looking for. If you don't find your question here, try the
alphabetic list, table of contents or index.
1. How do you set up a garden?
2. Where can I get seeds?
3. My plants/seedlings are stretching, what do I do?
4. What lights should I use?
5. Is it better/easier to grow hydro or soil method?
6. How can I tell a male from a female?
7. How do you force flowering?
8. How can you tell that plants are ripe?
9. Does co2 work? How do you use it?
10. The bottom leaves are yellowing, what do I do?
11. How to I get rid of mites?
12. How can I minimize the telltale smell of my garden?
1. How do you set up a garden?
Here are a few questions and answers that address this very
general, very frequently asked question.
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ADVICE TO BEGINNERS
I am looking for tips on how to grow my own. I don't know
anything about it. What should I do?
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Before you plan a garden or buy any equipment you should
read at least one book on growing marijuana. There are a number
of good books out there by several authors. Although the techniques
described in the books differ, all of them will improve your
success rate.
Rather than attempt starting a garden using trial and error
techniques, which often results in buying expensive but unnecessary
equipment, use others' expertise to create a productive garden
the first time. Information is the cheapest, most effective
equipment you can buy. Think of it as software for your garden.
Even with equipment worth thousands of dollars, the garden
cannot be run well without knowledge of how to do it.
Ask Ed: MQ&A supplements grow guides and growing web
sites. You can also write to me by e-mail or snail mail. Information
about equipment and setups for indoor gardens are discussed
in chapters 2 Lighting and chapter 4 Indoor Environment. For
outdoor gardening, see chapter 5.
In addition, before starting the project, you should acquaint
yourself with the repercussions of the laws should an accident
occur. Chapter 8 on Stealth and Safety discusses the law.
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SETTING UP INEXPENSIVELY
How can I set up an inexpensive closet garden?
Plants require light, water, nutrients, CO2 and mild temperatures.
As long as these needs are met, and the plants have good genetics,
the garden will produce a plentiful yield of potent bud. The
cheapest way of doing anything is to read the instructions
before beginning.
Questions and answers about lighting equipment are in chapter
2. For lighting amount and the light regimen, see chapter
6. CO2 is covered in chapter 3. Watering and nutrients are
covered in chapter 4. Questions and answers that discuss the
plant's needs as it matures are grouped in chapter 6.
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LEARNING TO GROW
I know nothing about growing. Do you believe I could learn
about it if I went to Amsterdam? Would a grower really show
me how to do it, if offered to pay to learn? I hope we meet
in the future to smoke some Brazilian Homegrown!
Roberto,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
-----
You don't have to go to Amsterdam or anywhere else to learn
how to grow marijuana. There are many books available on cultivation,
Some of them are written specifically for the personal cultivator.
You can order them through the internet and learn all you
need to grow a successful crop in the privacy of your own
home. Seeds are also available on the internet, and chapter
1 discusses obtaining seeds.
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FACTORS FOR KILLER WEED
What's the most important factor with growing killer weed?
Would it be soil, temperature, nutrients, or something else?
Bud Lover,
Internet
-----
The most important factor that affects the quality of the
weed you are growing is the plant's genetics. No matter how
well a plant is grown, it can only reach its genetic potential.
The cheapest way to improve your garden is to find better
varieties. Chapter 1 discusses seeds and sources for good
genetics. chapter 11 discusses plant genetics, differences
between sativa and indica and different varieties. Finally,
chapter 7 talks about how to create mothers in order to maintain
a reliable stock for continuous gardening.
Environmental conditions enhance the potential of your crop,
or rather, they can hinder your plants from reaching their
full potential if the plant's basic needs are not met. Light
is foremost: lighting equipment and the best lights to use
are discussed in chapter 2, and temperature is also discussed
here. The light regimen and dark period are discussed in chapter
6. Soil, nutrients and other factors are covered in chapter
4.
2. Where can I get seeds?
It is illegal to possess or sell seeds anywhere in the U.S.
Any domestic company which advertises is either a rip-off
of some kind, or a set-up, in either case a losing situation.
Several other countries with more relaxed laws have seeds
available for sale, but as a policy, most companies claim
that they do not ship to the U.S. You are taking your chances
by ordering seeds through the mail.
Some resources for seeds are suggested in chapter 2. Other
ways of acquiring seeds or perpetuating a garden are discussed
in this chapter and chapter 7 as well.
It may also be possible to acquire or produce clones. Clone
basics are discussed in chapter 2. Learning how to create
clones may eliminate the need to buy additional seeds, thus
lowering risk. If you are interested in selection and breeding
to develop your own specific variety of killer weed, you can
find questions and answers about it in chapter 11.
It is illegal to import seeds into the US. People who are
caught with them can face severe penalties although seizure
usually results in a fine. There is a small chance that an
individual will be caught. Be sure to know your rights. Legal
questions are included in chapter 8 on stealth and safety.
3. My plants/seedlings are stretching, what do I do?
The plants are probably suffering from insufficient light.
This is a common problem.
You can read about seedling and plant stretching in chapter
9 on troubleshooting, which allows you to look up many problems
by their symptoms. Then follow the cross-references to find
solutions. Additional problems, such as pests, are described
chapter 10.
In the case of stretching, if you suspect that insufficient
light is the problem, find out about the type and amount of
light you should be using in your space in chapter 2.
4. What type of lights are right for me?
Outdoors, marijuana likes full sun. Indoors its growth rate
and yield are sensitive to the amount of light it receives.
Although marijuana may grow and flower using as little as
20 watts per square foot, the yield increases with each increase
to the light. However the more light in the garden, the more
heat that is generated which must be dissipated.
Read about the different lighting equipment, including the
types of lights and reflectors, the amount of light to use
in chapter 2. Ways to manage the heat they produce are covered
in chapter 3.
5. Is it better/easier to grow hydro or soil method?
Each method has its advantages. Compare methods in chapter
4, Indoor Environment, which talks about the different methods
and elaborates on how some setups work and what types of problems
people encounter.
6. How can I tell a male from a female?
This is the most-asked question in my 20 years of writing
the column.
Marijuana is an unusual annual plant since the plants have
separate male and female sexes. The part of the plant that
growers prize is the ripened, unpollinated female buds. In
order to keep the female unpollinated, males are removed from
the garden.
The female reacts to this by producing more flowers, which
eventually "ripen," that is, the stigma of the pistil
recedes into the ovary, behind, forming a false seed pod.
Since they have not been pollinated, these females produce
no seeds and are called "sinsemilla."
Male plants are easily distinguished from females if you
know what you are looking for. Males produce little rounded
buds, which open in clusters of white or yellow flowers. The
female flower consists solely of pairs of pistils protruding
from the ovary. See photos in chapter 6 for a visual identification,
which also covers how to recognize males, and when and how
to sex the plants.
Marijuana plants ordinarily produce male and female flowers
on separate plants. If they produce both male and female buds,
they're called hermaphrodites. These plants are often unwanted,
but they can have some use in breeding. To find out about
hermaphrodites an their use in breeding, see chapter 11.
7. How do you force flowering?
Marijuana is called a short-day plant because it flowers
in response to a long night cycle. The plant measures the
number of hours of darkness each night by producing a hormone.
When this hormone builds to a critical level, the plant is
triggered into flowering. The hormone is destroyed by the
presence of light, even for a few short moments. Then the
plant starts its count over. When the gardener intentionally
alters the plants' environment to include the critical period
of uninterrupted darkness in each 24-hour cycle, it is called
"flower forcing."
When and how to force flowering is discussed primarily in
chapter 6, which covers the growth cycle from young plant
to full bloom, including the changes to lighting, which is
the key to flower forcing. It also covers critical changes
to nutrients and other environmental conditions that optimize
flower growth. This chapter also addresses some problems you
might encounter including advice on how to visit your garden
during the dark period.
8. How can you tell that plants are ripe?
Plants range in how long they take to ripen based on their
variety and the conditions provided. Ripeness can be recognized
when the ovaries recede and swell to bulging with THC. Specifics
on how to recognize ripeness, problems ripening and techniques
for harvesting and returning plants to vegetative growth (called
revegetating or regenerating) is all discussed in chapter
7.
9. Does CO2 work? How do you use it?
CO2 (carbon dioxide) is an inert gas composed of carbon and
oxygen. Plants use light energy to combine water with CO2,
which produces sugar and releases free oxygen in a process
called photosynthesis.
The growth rate climbs in a linear ratio to the presence
of CO2. Find out about the levels, when to run CO2, and various
ways to supply CO2 to your garden (and a few ways not to use
for supplementing CO2) in chapter 3.
10. The bottom leaves are yellowing, what do I do?
The plants are likely suffering from nitrogen (N) deficiency.
To build tissue, the plant uses N. When there is a deficiency,
the plant moves the N from old growth to the new growth. The
solution is to add a high N fertilizer. Nitrogen, phosphorous
and potassium are always listed in fertilizer packages in
the same order, commonly known as the fertilizer's N-P-K.
To find out about potential deficiencies, see the troubleshooting
section, chapter 9. In this chapter, you can look up the problem
you are experiencing by common symptoms to identify the specific
culprit causing the problem and get solutions.
Since yellowing plants are caused by nutrient deficiency,
you may also want to see information on fertilizers for soil
and hydro in chapter 4, and how to change nutrients for flowering
plants' needs in chapter 6.
11. How to I get rid of mites/powdery mildew?
Mites are common indoor pests. These and other pests are
listed by name in chapter 10. Powdery mildew and other molds,
bacteria and viruses are also discussed in this chapter.
If you aren't sure what the problem is, and want to try and
identify the problem based on symptoms by browsing through
the descriptions in the troubleshooting chapter, chapter 9.
12. How can I minimize the telltale smell of my garden?
In chapter 8 learn about the different equipment that reduces
odor and get tips to make sure you don't accidentally reduce
the taste and smell of your buds in the process. It is worth
the time and effort to consider stealth measures: making sure
no light leaks, minimizing smell, quiet equipment, ballasts,
discretion in talking, how to order goods, detection technology,
so forth, covered here.
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