The Joys of an Herb Garden at Home v3 - Part 1 of 3 UPDATED

The Joys of an Herb Garden at Home - Part 1

THIRD Edition
by

Legal Lie Zitt

Statement of Intent: GROW POT!

REMEMBER, it's up to you to inform your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers that we have been lied-to, cheated, relieved of freedoms, happiness, privacy, civil rights and liberties by the WOD.

Hemp prohibition is a political issue driven by big business interests and it's damn well time we turn these policies around through extreme civil-disobedience. Grow it everywhere, they can't get it all...

Stop political prison sentences in our time.
Stop the promotion of poisons and the prohibition of medicines.
Stop the lies.
Tell the truth.

Legalize It!
-- Bob Marley

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

OVERVIEW
GENETICS AND THE PLANT
INDOORS & OUTDOORS - CONSTANT HARVEST STRATEGY
PLANTING INDOORS
SHELF GROWING
RECYCLING
LIGHT
SEA OF GREEN
GERMINATION
VEGETATIVE GROWTH
FLOWERING
HYDROPONICS
PLANTING OUTDOORS
GUERRILLA GARDENING
SOIL GROWING
SECURITY
PLANT FOOD AND NUTRIENTS
PH AND FERTILIZERS
FOLIAR FEEDING
CO2
VENTING
TEMPERATURE
PESTS
TRANSPLANTING
EARLY SEXING
REGENERATION
HARVESTING AND DRYING
CLONING
BREEDING
SINSEMILLIA
SINSE SEEDS
ODORS AND NEGATIVE IONS
OXYGEN
SAFETY AND PRIVACY
DISTILLED WATER
BIRTH CONTROL PILLS
SEED AND BUD STORAGE
REVIEW
OVERVIEW

There are few things in life as good as your own herb, grown by yourself at home out in the garden and indoors in pots... Oregano, Dill, Basil, Sage and other herbs are all easy to grow. Mint will take over the whole yard if you let it. Fresh mint and cilantro are incredible in salads and oriental dishes. But it all comes down to a truly motivational herb that is your friend and mine, a great healer and teacher to those that know it well.

Most people think of gardens as a seasonal, yearly project, but it's actually less time consuming and more rewarding to keep the garden going year round. If one were to attempt to grow year round, indoor gardening techniques will be needed at least during winter to keep the garden producing. You will have herb fresh at all times, there is no worry of mass storage through the winter and spring, it requires less space, and once established, requires only minimal attention every week to keep it producing at optimal levels.

The best part of being a gardener is it connects you to the earth. It connects you with nature, and you will have a wide variety of species to choose from and include in your garden. This helps keep things interesting.

GENETICS AND THE PLANT

It's very important to start with good genetics. You should attempt to find seeds from local gardeners that are acclimated and bred for local climate and best floral characteristics. Potency, aroma, fast growth, early maturation, resistance to fungus and pests. All of these factors are considered by the seasoned gardener and you will benefit enormously by finding a friend to get you started on the journey that never ends...

Attempt to find an Indica/Sativa hybrid if possible, as this will have the best high and good characteristics for indoor growth as well. Indica plants have a heavy, stony high that is tiresome, and sativas' are hard to grow indoors due to high light requirements, so a hybrid of this type can be bread that will have the energetic, cerebral high of the sativa and the early maturation tendencies of the Indica plant.

I prefer Sativas for when I need to be awake, and Indicas when I want to sleep or relax at end of day, and it's nice to be able to try some of the strain both recreationally, and medicinally, before deciding to grow it.

The Indica plant is easily recognized by its extremely broad leaves that are very rounded on the sides.
The Sativa has very narrow, finger-like leaves.
A hybrid will have qualities of both and have leaves that are a cross of these two types, thinner than an Indica, but much broader than a Sativa. It is possible to recognize a good hybrid by the leaves once you know what to look for.

Look for seeds that are dark brown or light gray. Some may have dark lines inset into these colors, like tiger stripes. White, small seeds are immature and should not be planted.

INDOORS & OUTDOORS -- CONSTANT HARVEST STRATEGY

One of the best solutions to energy vs. output for most home gardeners is to use outdoor light for flowering and use continuous light indoors for germination and vegetative growth. This will take advantage of the natural light/dark cycle and cut your energy use in half compared to the same operation indoors. A small greenhouse can be built of Filon fiberglass sheets that is innocuous and looks much like a storage shed or tool shed so it's not likely to raise suspicions.

In winter, indoor space is used to start new seedlings or cuttings to be placed outside in the spring, using natural sunlight to ripen the plants. This routine will provide at least 3 outdoor harvests per year. If more space is available to constantly be starting indoors and flowering 2nd harvest plants outdoors, harvests are possible every 60 days in many areas, with a small indoor harvest in the winter as a possibility as well.

The basic strategy of year round production is to understand the plant has two growth cycles. At germination the plant enters into a vegetative state and will be able to use all the continuous light you can give it. This means there is no dark cycle required. The plant will photosynthesis constantly and grow faster than it would outdoors with long evenings. Photosynthesis stops during dark periods and the plant uses sugars produced to build during the evening. This is not a requirement and the plant will grow faster at this stage with continuous photosynthesis (constant light).

Once the plant is 12-18" tall, weather permitting, it can be forced to start flowering by placing it outside. Moving the plants to 12-14 hour light periods (moving it outside) with uninterrupted darkness will force the plant to flower. It will ripen and be 2-3' when ready to harvest. When a plant is moved from continuous indoor light to a 10-14 hour day outside, it will start to flower in anticipation of oncoming winter. Vegetative starts moved outside April 1st, will be ripe by May 30. Vegetative starts moved outside on May 30 will be ripe by July 30. Starts moved outside Aug. 1 are picked by Oct. 1st and so on. Operations are moved indoors and a winter crop is planted for seed in anticipation of planting outdoors the next summer, or just for some extra winter stash.

Keep in mind that the "man" is looking for plants in the Sept./Oct./Nov. time-frame, and may never notice plants placed outside to flower in April. Be smart, make your big harvest in June, not October!

PLANTING INDOORS

A small indoor space should be found that can be used to germinate seeds; these vegetative starts are placed outside to mature in the spring after last freezes are over. The space can be a closet, a section of a bedroom, a basement area, an attic or unused bathroom. Some people devote entire bedrooms to growing.

The space must be light leak proofed, so that no suspicious light is seen from outside the house. This could invite fuzz or rip-offs.

The space should be vented. Opening the door of a closet can be enough ventilation if the space is not lit by big lights that generate a lot of heat. Separate exhaust and incoming air vents are best. One at the top of the room to exhaust air into the attic or out the roof, and one to bring in air from an outside wall or under-floor crawl space. Use fans from old computer cabinets, available from electronic liquidators for $5-10 each.

Line the walls with aluminum foil, dull side out to diffuse the light and prevent hot-spots, or paint the walls bright white to reflect light. Aluminized mylar, 1 mil thick is about $20 for 25 feet of a 4' wide roll is best. Mirrors are not good to use, since the glass eats light.

Line the floor with plastic in case of water spills, etc. Set up a voltage interrupt socket and be sure the electrical wiring will handle the lamps you're going to use. Always place ballasts for HID lamps on a shelf, so they are above floor level, in case of water spills. Spacers place on the floor under a ballast will work too.

A shelf above the main grow area can be used to clone cuttings and germinate seedlings. It will allow you to double the area of your grow space and is an invaluable storage area for plant food, spray bottles and other gardening supplies. This area stays very warm, and no germination warming pad will be needed, so this arrangement saves you $.

Hang a light proof curtain to separate this shelf from the main area when used for flowering. This will allow constant lights on the shelf and dark periods in the main grow area. Velcro can be used to keep the curtain in place and ties can be used to roll it up when tending the garden. Black vinyl with white backing works best.

6" square containers will allow for 4 plants per square foot. You may also gauge by the size of your growing tray (for passive hydroponics); I like kitty litter boxes. ($.80 each, on sale.) Planted 4 per square foot, a 12 sq. ft. closet will be enough space for 48 plants if you have all floor space available. Planted 1 per sq. ft. in 12" containers, a 12 sq. ft. closet will hold 12 plants. If you grow more, smaller plants in the same space, the time to grow will be shorter, and the harvest larger. However, you may find 48 plants to be too many for this size area.

Now you need light. A couple of shop lights will be fine if you just want to start plants inside and then take them outside to grow in a small greenhouse. Shop light fixtures waste some light, so some growers mount 4 lamps on a piece of plywood, with individual reflectors made of curved aluminum sheet bent into a U shape to focus all the light downward from each lamp.

This is for advanced gardeners that have run out of other projects in the garden and I recommend just using the shop light fixtures as is, at least to start with. They can be purchased with bulbs for about $10 each, or without bulbs for around $8. Try to find them on sale. Use one Cool White and one Warm Light type bulb in each to get the best light spectrum possible for plant growth. Do not use expensive Grow Lux type bulbs, as they do not put out as much light, and therefor do not work as well in most situations (go figure). If Cool White is all you can find, or afford, use them. They work fine, and are by far the cheapest (About $1-2 each.)

SHELF GROWING

Shelf gardening with fluorescents may be the trend of the future, since the materials are so inexpensive, and easy to obtain. Fluorescent lamps are great for shelf gardening. In this system, many shelves can be placed, one above the other, and fluorescent lamps are used on each shelf. Some shelves have 24 hour lighting, some have 12 hour lighting (for flowering). Two areas are best, perhaps with one other devoted to cloning and germination of seed.

Shelf gardening assumes your going to keep all plants 3' or shorter at maturity, so all shelves are 3-4 feet apart. Less light is necessary when you have plants that are this short and forced to mature early.

One drawback to a shelf garden like this is that it is very time consuming to adjust the lamp height every day, and it is impossible to take a vacation for even a week with no tending of the garden. This applies mostly to the vegetative stage, when plants are growing as much as an inch per day. Lamps on the flowering shelves are not adjusted nearly as often.

An alternative is to use fluorescent lamps for cloning, germination and early seedling growth, then switch over to HPS for growth and flowering. This may be the best solution for the average home grower, since it will allow you to go on vacation if you don't have new starts to attend to. Start new plants when you get home, and position the HPS such that it won't need adjustment for several weeks. Most HPS installations will not require lamp height adjustment. Just attach the lamp to the underside of shelf or ceiling as high as possible, and if you want to get a few plants closer to it, put them on a box or table to get them closer to the lamp.

A shelf is all that is necessary with this type of setup, preferably at least 18" wide, up to about 24" maximum. This area must be painted a very bright white, or covered with aluminum foil, dull side out to reflect light back to the plants. Paint the shelf white too. Or, use aluminized mylar, space blanket, or any silvery surface material. Do not use mirrors, as the glass soaks up light.

Hang the lamps from chains and make sure you can adjust them with hooks or some other type of mechanism so the lamps can be kept as close to the plants as possible at all times. If the lamps are too far from the plants, the plants will grow long, spindly stems trying to reach the lamp, and will not produce as much bud at maturity as a normal plant. This is due to internode length being much longer. This is the length of stem between each set of leaves. If it is shorter, there can be more internodes, thus more branches, thus a plant that provides more buds in less space at harvest time.

Shelf gardening is sometimes referred to as Sea of Green, because many plants are grown close together, creating a green canopy of tops that are grown and matured quickly, and the next crop is started and growing concurrently in a separate area of continuous light. Clones are raised in a constant light shelf, until they start to grow well vegetatively, then placed on a 12 hour per day shelf to flower. Of course, sunlight is free, and the wise grower understands the meaning of the word: subterfuge.

LIGHTS

Indoor lights have undergone a renaissance in the last decade and it's a growers paradise for excellent, efficient indoor lighting, with much less heat generated than in the age of Metal Halide lamps! ;-)

Indoors, 2000 lumens per sq. ft. is about as low as you want to go indoors. If you get under this mark, plant growth will certainly not go as fast as possible, and internode/stem length will increase. Also, light distance to plants will be much more critical.

2500 lumens per square foot should be a good target, and 3000 is optimal if you're going to inject or enrich CO2 levels (more on that later).

Daily adjustments to the lamps will be necessary, meaning you get no vacations; or at least once per week, so keep those outings short, or find a (very trusted) helper.

LED lamps are available for inexpensive prices these days via mail order, or grow shops for cash. They come in various wave lengths and some wavelengths are better for vegetative growth, vs flowering light. In general, BLUE light is good for vegetative growth, and you can keep these lights on 24 hours per day, or have short breaks of 4-6 hours to save energy.

Color spectrum of LED chips used in grow lighting (from different vendors) is generally in the following frequencies:

460nm BLUE - is below 500nm
630nm Red
660nm Red
740nm Infra-red
2700K wavelength Cool-White bulbs in general, incandecent, LED, fluorescent

FULL SPECTRUM - This Led grow light provides a targeted full spectrum for both veg and fruiting.
The lights I see constructed for generic growing are a combination of various LED chips put together in one enclosure for Full Spectrum lighting, something like this:

Number of LEDs of a purpose build grow lamp (single enclosure):

15 - Red
7 - Blue
1 - IR
1 - UV
2 - White
2 - Warm White

Red(627nm) and blue(470nm) can provide the most efficient wavelengths to enhance photosynthesis performance, hence improving healthy growing.

The wavelength of light for plant photosynthesis: 620 and 470nm are respectively peaks of growth spectrum for maximum chlorophyI A and B production.

Sources rich in red light are more efficient and beneficial for photosynthesis, best for blooming and fruiting in the later stages of growth.

Red （wavelength: 610~720nm）
Blue (wavelength: 400-500nm)

Best lighting distance: 13 inches

Full Spectrum lamps work as indoor sunshine, accelerating plants photosynthesis and shorten the period of growth, absolutely suitable for all stage of plants veg and flowering. For flowering stages, adding additional red lamps is highly suggested.

Compared to metal halide lamps, 130 Watt LED lamps produce much higher lux and lumen output than traditional 300w HPS/MH light while consuming much less power. It is perfect for a 2.5x2.5’ growing area at 24” height. (Max coverage 3x3’)

Best Heat-dissipation: A built-in fan in the casing help prompt heat dissipation, protect your plants from heat damage and extend the lifespan of the lamp.

LED lamps will pay for themselves with the first crop, when compared to MV or fluorescent lamps, since it is easily twice as efficient and grows flowers faster and bigger.

SEA OF GREEN

Sea of Green is the theory of harvesting lots of small plants, matured early to get the fastest production of fruit available. Instead of growing a few plants for a longer period of time, in the same space many smaller plants are grown that mature faster and in less time. Thus, less time is required between crops. This is important to you when the electricity bill comes each month. One crop can be started while another is maturing, and a continuous harvest, year round can be maintained. 9 plants per square foot will be a good start for seedlings, and perhaps even maturity. 4 plants per square foot will allow plenty of room for each plant to grow a large top area, but will not allow for much bottom branching. This is OK since indoors, these bottom branches are always shaded anyway, and will not grow very well unless given additional light and space. Cut these bottom branches and use the cuttings to start new plants. This creates more air flow around the plants and helps avoid fungus and humidity problems.

The plants, if started at the same time, should create what is called a "green canopy" that traps most of the light at the top level of the plants. Little light will penetrate below this level, since the plants are so close together. The gardener is attempting to concentrate on the top of the plant, and use the light and space to the best advantage, in as little time as possible. Use of nylon poultry fence or similar chicken wire laid out over the green canopy will support the plants as they start to droop under the weight of heavy fruiting tops. Stakes can be used too, but are not as easy to install for plants in the middle and back of the room, where reach is more difficult.

It's easy to want big plants, since they will produce more yield per plant, but it's usually better with limited space to grow smaller plants that mature faster and pack into smaller spaces. This is called Sea of Green, and was developed in Holland. Instead of fitting 4 large plants in that small room, fit 12 small ones on a shelf above 12 other small plants. These plants take only 3-4 months to mature, and harvesting takes place constantly, since there is both a vegetative and flowering area devoted to each, with harvests every 45-60 days.

It's not the size of the plant, but the maturity and quality of the product that counts, and it's a sure bet you can fit many smaller plants into a small space with less wasted area than 4 large ones. You can also grow them twice as fast, so harvests take place twice as often. The key here is to get good at picking early flowering plants, and to propagate only those that are of the best quality. Get good at cloning, and your monocrop will be incredible.

It's good to avoid "topping" your plants if you want them to grow as fast as possible. It's better just to grow 2 or 4 times more plants, since they will produce more, faster, in the same space. Sea of Green entails growing to harvest the main cola (top) of the plant. Bottom branches are trimmed to increase air flow under the "blanket" of growing tops. Use these cuttings for clones, as they are the easiest part of the plant to root. It's also the fastest part of the plant to regenerate after flowering has occurred.

Don't pre-force plants so you can discard males early. This takes a lot of time. Just cover one branch per plant with black paper (light tight, breaths air) to force pre-flowers and differentiate early. How many plants to grow indoors per square foot? You will have to experiment, and I would venture the optimum is somewhere between 1 and 4 per sq. foot. If you subdivide one square foot, 6" square containers would allow 4 plants per square foot. This is about the size of a 1 gallon rectangular water jug, cut-down to make a 3/4 gallon plastic growing container.

GERMINATION

Germinate seeds in sterile soil (for planting outdoors) or a hydroponic medium of vermiculite. Do not use a Jiffy cube #7 to germinate seeds in. Informal tests and experience show these peat cubes do not work well and stunt the plants growth. Planting in vermiculite gives the seedling so much oxygen, the plants looks large at 1 week after germination!

Keep them moist at all times, by placing seeds in vermiculite filled 16 oz. cups with holes in the bottom, placed in a tray of weak nutrient solution, high in P. Rockwool cubes also work extremely well, but PH is an issue for these (more on that later). When the seed sprouts, place the rockwool cubes into larger rockwool cubes. No repotting or transplanting, and no soil mixing!

You can germinate seeds in a paper towel. But don't do it! It's easy to ruin roots if they dry out, or are planted too late. Paper towels dry out real fast! Always transplant as little as possible by germinating in the same container you intend to grow the plant in for a significant period of time. Just plant in vermiculite or rockwool. You will be amazed at the results! 90% germination is common with this method, as compared to 50% or less with Jiffy Cubes.

5-55-17 plant food such as Peter's Professional will stimulate root growth of the germinating seed and the new seedlings. Use a very dilute solution, in distilled water, about 1/3 normal strength, and keep temperatures between 72-80 degrees. No light is necessary and may slow germination. Place seedlings in the light once they sprout.

Plan on transplanting only once or twice before harvest. Use the biggest containers possible for the space and number of seedlings you plan to start. Plants will suffer if continuously transplanted and delay harvesting. You will suffer too, from too much work! 13 liter sized plastic coke bottles filled with vermiculite will fit in a cat box tray, and will not require transplanting for the first harvest, if you intend to grow hydroponically. Transplant them for a second regenerated harvest.

Cut holes in the bottom of containers and fill the last few inches at the top with vermiculite only, to start seeds or accept seedling transplants. Since vermiculite holds water well, wicks water well, but does not hold too much water, roots always have lots of oxygen, even if they are sitting in a try full of water. A hydrogen peroxide based plant food is used to get extra oxygen to the plants when the pans are kept continuously full. The water can be allowed to recede each time after watering, before new solution is added. This allows the plants roots to dry somewhat, and make sure they are getting enough oxygen.

Use SuperSoil brand potting soil, as it is excellent and sterilized. If you insist on using dirt from the yard, sterilize it in the microwave or oven until it gets steamy. (not recommended) Sterilize the containers with a bleach solution, especially if they have been used a previous season for another plant.

VEGETATIVE GROWTH

Once sprouted, the plant starts vegetative growth. This means the plant will be photosynthesizing as much as possible to grow tall and start many grow tips at each pair of leaves. A grow tip is the part that can be cloned and propagated asexually. They are located at the top of the plant, and every major internode. If you "top" the plant, it then has two grow tips at the top. If you top each of these, you will have 4 grow tips at the top of the plant. (Since it takes time for the plant to heal and recover, it is usually faster to grow 4 smaller plants and not top them at all.)

All plants have a vegetative stage where they are growing as fast as possible after the plant first germinates from seed. It is possible to grow plants with no dark period, and increase the speed at which they grow by 15-30. Plants can be grown vegetatively indefinitely. It is up to the gardener to decide when to force the plant to flower. A plant can grow from 12" to 12' before being forced to flower, so there is a lot of latitude here for each gardener to manage the garden based on goals and space available.

A solution of 20-20-20 with trace minerals is used for both hydroponic and soil gardening when growing continuously under lights. Miracle Grow Patio or RapidGrow plant food is good for this. A high P plant food such as Peter's 5-50-17 food is used for blooming and fruiting plants when beginning 12 hour days. Epsom salts (1 tsp.) should be used in the solution for magnesium and sulfur minerals. Trace minerals are needed too, if your food does not include them. Miracle Grow Patio includes these trace elements, and is highly recommended.

Keep lights on continuously for sprouts, since they require no darkness period like older plants. You will not need a timer unless you want to keep the lamps off during a certain time each day. Try to light the plants for 18 or more hours, or continuously at this point. Later, if you want to mature the plants indoors, you will need to cut back light to 12-13 hours with strict, regular uninterrupted darkness to get plants to produce flowers.

Bend a young plant's stem back and forth to force it to be very thick and strong. Spindly stems can not support heavy flowering growth. An internal oscillating fan will reduce humidity on the leave's stomata and improve the stem strength as well.

HYDROPONIC VEGETATIVE SOLUTION, per gallon:
Miracle Grow Patio (contains trace elements) 1/2 teaspoon
Epsom salts 1 teaspoon
Lime (if not added to medium) 1 teaspoon
Human Urine 1/4 cup
Oxygen Plus Plant Food (OPTIONAL) 1 teaspoon
This mixture will insure your plants are getting all major and minor nutrients in solution, and will also be treating your plants with oxygen for good root growth, and potassium nitrate for good burning qualities. Another good growth phase mix is 1/4 tsp. Peter's 20/20/20 fertilizer per gallon of water, with trace elements and oxygen added.

FLOWERING

The plant will be induced to fruit or flower with dark cycles of 11-13 hours that simulate the oncoming winter in the fall as the days grow shorter. As a consequence, it works out well indoors to have two separate areas; one that is used for the initial vegetative state and one that is used for flowering and fruiting. There is no other requirement other than to keep the dark cycle for flowering very dark with no light interruptions, as this can stall flowering by days or weeks.

Once a plant is big enough to mature (18"-18 feet), dark periods are required for most plants to flower and bear fruit. This will require putting the lamp on a timer, to create regular and strict dark periods of uninterrupted light.

Give flowering plants high P plant food and keep them on a strict light regimen of 12 hours, with no light, or no more than a full moon during the dark cycle. 13 hours light, 11 dark may increase flower size while still allowing the plant to go into the flowering mode. Use less light, longer dark periods to speed maturity toward the end of the flowering cycle.

Two shelves can be used, one identical to the other, if strictly indoor gardening is desired. One shelf's lights are set for 12-13 hours, and one is lit continuously. Plants are started in continuous light, and are moved to the other shelf to flower to maturity after several weeks. This flowering shelf should be bigger than the "starting" or "vegetative" shelf, so that it can accommodate larger plants. Or, some plants can be taken outside if there is not enough space on the flowering shelf for all of them near harvesting.

A light tight curtain can be made from black vinyl, or other opaque material, with a reflective material on the other side to reflect light back to the plants. This curtain can be tied with cord when rolled up to work on the garden, and can be velcroed down in place to make sure no light leaks in or out. If the shelf is placed up high, it will not be very noticeable, and will fit in any room. Visitors will never notice it unless you point it out to them, since it is above eye level, and no light is being emitted from it.

Flowering plants like very high P level foods, such as 5-50-17, but 10-20-10 should be adequate. Nutrients should be provided with each watering when first flowering.

Trace elements are necessary too; try to find foods that include these, so you don't have to use a separate trace element food too.

HYDROPONIC FLOWERING SOLUTION, per gallon:
1/2 strength high P plant food, such as 4-12-6, or 5-50-17, etc.
1 tsp. Epsom salts
1 tsp. lime (if not part of the medium)
1 tsp. Oxygen Plus Plant Food (Optional)
1/2 tsp. Trace Element food
I cannot stress enough that during the flowering phase, the dark period should not be violated by normal light. It delays flower development due to hormones in the plant that react to light. If you must work on the plants during this time, allow only as much light as a very pale moon can provide for less than 5 minutes. Keep pruning to a minimum during the entire flowering phase. Bring the dark period down to 10 or 8 hours to hasten maturity after flowering for 4-6 weeks.

A green light can be used to work on the garden during the dark period with no negative reactions from the plants. These are sold as nursery safety lights, but any green bulb should be OK.

Flowering plants should not be sprayed often as this will promote mold and rot. Keep humidity levels down indoors when flowering, as this is the most delicate time for the plants in this regard.

Early flowering is noticed 2-3 weeks after turning back the lights to 12 hour days. Look for 2 white hairs emerging from a small bulbous area at every internode. This is the easiest way to verify females early on. You can not tell a male from a female by height, or bushiness.

4-6 weeks after turning back the lights, your plants will be covered with these white pistils emerging from every growtip on the plant. It will literally be covered with them. These are the mature flowers, as they continue to grow and cover the plant. Some plants will do this indefinitely until the lights are turned back yet again. At the point you feel you're ready to see the existing flowers become ripe (you feel the plant has enough flowers), turn the lights back to 8-10 hours. Now the plant will start to ripen quickly, and should be ready to harvest in 2-3 weeks.

Look for the white hairs to turn red, orange or brown, and the false seed pods ( you did pull the males, right?) to swell with resins. When most of the pistils have turned color (~80%), the flowers are ripe to harvest.

Don't touch those buds! Touch only the large fan leaves if you want to inspect the buds, as the THC will come off on your fingers and reduce the overall yield if mishandled.

HYDROPONICS

Most growers report that a hydroponic system will grow plants faster than a soil medium, given the same genetics and environmental conditions. This may be due to closer attention and more control of nutrients, and more access to oxygen. The plants can breath easier, and therefor, take less time to grow. One report has it that plants started in soil matured after hydroponic plants started 2 weeks later!

Fast growth allows for earlier maturation and shorter total growing time per crop. Also, with soil mixtures, plant growth tends to slow when the plants become root-bound. Hydroponics provides even, rapid growth with no pauses for transplant shock and eliminates the labor/materials of repotting.

By far the easiest hydroponic systems to use are the wick and reservoir systems. These are referred to as Passive Hydroponic methods, because they require no water distribution system on an active scale (pump, drain, flow meter and path). The basis of these systems is that water will wick to where you want it if the medium and conditions are correct.

The wick system is more involved than the reservoir system, since the wicks must be cut and placed in the pots, correct holes must be cut in the pots, and a spacer must be created to place the plants up above the water reservoir below. This can be as simple as two buckets, one fit inside the other, or a kiddie pool with bricks in it that the pots rest on, elevating them out of the nutrient solution.

I find the wick setup to be more work than the reservoir system. Initial setup is a pain with wicks, and the plants sit higher in the room, taking up precious vertical space. The base the pot sits on may not be very stable compared to a reservoir system, and a knocked over plant will never be the same as an untouched plant, due to stress and shock in recovery.

The reservoir system needs only a good medium suited to the task, and a pan to sit a pot in. The pots are filled with lava/vermiculite mix of 4 to 1. This medium will store water, but has excellent drainage and air storage capacity as well. It is also reusable to the extent it can be recaptured from harvested plants. Use small size lava, 3/8" pea size, and rinse the dust off it first. Wet the vermiculite (dangerous dry, wear a mask) and mix into pots. Square pots hold more than round. Vermiculite will settle to bottom after repeated watering from the top, so only water from the top occasionally to leach, and put more vermiculite on the top than the bottom.

The pan is filled with 1 1/2 - 3 inches of water and allowed to recede between waterings. Every two weeks the plants are watered with no nutrients from the top to leach out mineral deposits. If you go away, reservoirs made of 2 liter soda bottles inverted into a container to fit, and hosed over to the pans with a water level mark and position similar to a pet watering dispenser can be made to keep the plants watered for 2-3 weeks at least.

One really great hydroponic medium is floral foam. Stick lots of holes into it to open it up a little, and start plants/clones in it, moving the cube of foam to lava/perlite later for larger growth stages. Foam rubber, or most types of porous foam, as well as rockwool will be good for this as well. Many prefer floral foam, as it is inert, and adds no PH factors. It's also pretty cheap if you buy the generic brands.

Planting can be made easier with hydroponic mediums that require little setup such as rockwool. Rockwool cubes can be reused several times, and are premade to use for hydroponics. Some advantages of rockwool are that it is impossible to over water and there is no transplanting. Just place the plant's cube on top of a larger rockwool cube and enjoy your extra leisure time.

Some find it best to save money by not buying rockwool and spending time planting in soil or hydroponic mediums such as vermiculite/lava mix. Pearlite is nice, since it is so light. Pearlite can be used instead of or in addition to lava, which must be rinsed and is much heavier.

But rockwool has many advantages that are not appreciated until you spend hours repotting; take a second look. It is not very expensive, and it is reusable. It's more stable than floral foam, which crunches and powders easily. Rockwool holds 10 times more water than soil, yet is impossible to over-water, because it always retains a high percentage of air. Best of all, there is no transplanting; just place a starter cube into a rockwool grow cube, and when the plant gets very large, place that cube on a rockwool slab. Since rockwool is easily reused over and over (with sterilization), the cost is divided by 3 or 4 crops, and ends up costing no more than vermiculite and lava, which is much more difficult to reclaim, sterilize and reuse (repot) when compared to rockwool. Vermiculite is also very dangerous when dry, and ends up getting in the carpet and into the air when you touch it (even wet), since it dries on the fingers and becomes airborne.

Rockwool's disadvantages are relatively few. It is alkaline PH, so you must use something in the nutrient solution to make it acidic (5.5) so that it brings the rockwool down from 7.7, to 6.5 (vinegar works great.) And it is irritating to the skin when dry, but is not a problem when wet.

Hydroponics should be used indoors or in greenhouses to speed the growth of plants, so you have more bud in less time. Hydroponics allows you to water the plants daily, and this will speed growth. The main difference between hydroponics and soil growing is that the hydroponic soil or "medium" is made to dry quickly, and drain well so that there are no over-watering problems associated with continuous watering. Also, hydroponically grown plants do not derive nutrients from soil, but from the solution used to water the plants.

Hydroponics allows you to use smaller containers for the same given size plant, when compared to growing in soil. A 3/4 gallon pot can easily take a small 3' hydroponically grown plant to maturity. This would be difficult to do in soil, since nutrients are soon used up and roots become cut-off from oxygen as they become root-bound in soil. This problem does not seem to occur nearly as quickly for hydroponic plants, since the roots can still take up nutrients from the constant solution feedings, and the medium passes on oxygen much more readily when the roots become bound in the small container.

Plant food is administered with most waterings, and allows the gardener to strictly control what nutrients are available to the plants at the different stages of plant growth.

Passive hydroponics is easy with a reservoir system. Only a pot filled with the correct low-moisture medium and a water tray to sit it in are needed. No pumps, hoses or other apparatus is required. The pot is placed in the pan, and watered from the top or directly into the pan. Holes in the bottom and side near the bottom of the pot allows water into the pot, and is wicked up to the roots by the vermiculite. A pot filled with lava and vermiculite should be moist at the top after water is added to the pan. Kitty litter pans can be purchased at five and dime stores on sale for as little as $1 each, and make great water pans. 12-16 cut-down paper milk cartons will fit in each pan. A small closet can easily hold a hundred plants at a time when starting, and can hold 12-48 for harvesting.

Watering can be automated to some degree with simple and cheap drip system apparatus, so take advantage of this when possible. Hydroponics will hasten growing time, so it takes less time to harvest after planting. It makes sense to use simple passive hydroponic techniques when possible. Hydroponics may not be desirable if you're growing outdoors, unless you have a greenhouse.

CAUTION: it is necessary keep close watch of plants to be sure they are never allowed to dry too much when growing hydroponically, or roots will be damaged. If you will not be able to tend to the garden every day, be sure the pans are filled enough to last until next time you return, or you can easily lose your crop. Plants in soil are much easier to care for in this respect, since moisture storage crystals can be added to the soil to buffer water for long periods between watering. If you need to, it is possible to automatically regulate the water level in hydroponic pans by toilet bowl float in a master reservoir, or using a gurgle bottle that holds water and adds it as the level recedes, like a pet watering bottle used for dogs and cats. Also, a pump can be put on a timer to add water to the pans.