SOIL GROWING BASIC
cherry popping grow technic for indoor soil growing
(get a few grows under your belt before jumping into advanced cultivation, learn the basic)
a good location, soil, nutes, lights, and co2 can only take you so far
big buds and good yeilds are based on genes and growing skills
plant life is tipicaly
2wks-1month veg 24/0 or 18/6
2-3 month flower 12/12
4 months (maybe 3) all together from seed to cured smoke
everything can be found at any bigbox store
place seed in a cup of water
check every day untill you see seed crack and or tap root
then place in a 1in deep hole covered with soil, in a 1 gal pot full of soil
water plants ever 2-3 days or when soil is dry
now get a digital thermometer, one with a temperature and a humidity gauge
optional items : heater, a/c, dehumidifier
maintain lights on temps of 70-80 (with co2 you can let it go as high as 95) at lights off stay above 60.
during flowering keep humidity around 40%-60% lights on or off (the dryer the better)
when you see a sprout
re. young plants can live on the nutes that are already in every soil no need to add any nutes at this time just water
water plants ever 2-3 days or when soil is dry, try not to over water and add no fertilizer
place light (26 or 42 watt CFL 2700k warm with hood and clamp) over it keeping light as close as 2-4 in.
one bulb type can be used from start to finish, but better results can be had by switching bulb color at dirferant growth stages
...........cfl 6500 Kelvin (cool blueish/ white color spectrum) =to mh used for vegging bushing stem leaf
...........cfl 2700 Kelvin (warm redish/orange color spectrum) =to hps used for blooming fruiting budding
as the plant gets bigger add more light (if you use mh or hps follow light distance
guidelines, you'll find out more about them as you advance in you grow skill)
now time for veg growth
get a light with hood (and put it on an on/off timer set timer for 18/6)
water plants ever 2-3 days or when soil is dry
after 2 weeks of just plain water introduce nutes at 1/4 strength, every other water
when picking nutes (fertilizer)NPK try to keep it simple
for veg pick a nute high in N and low in PK
for flowering pick a nute high in P and low in NK
N: nitrogen is used to stimulate new vegetative growth and overall health.
P2O5: phosphorus oxide is used to stimulate flower development and rooting.
K2O: potassium oxide is used to stimulate stem growth and overall health
a great fert for beginners are any tomato plant ferterlizer
inrich air with co2 if you gat it (not needed if less then 6 plants, just open a window or pump in fresh air)
after 2wks too a months of vegging its time to sex and flower
tranpants to a 3-5gal pot
if still useing CFL's double or triple the amount of lights (the more light the more dence and bigger the buds will be)
set timer for 12/12 (depending on strain plants can double even triple in size (height) in this stage)
this will show sex and flower your plants, giving you smokable buds
keep the female's they grow white hairs
discard the males they grow grape like ball clusters (pollen sacs)
discard the hermi they grow both sex (re. if it has balls on it discard it)
give it 2 wks of 12/12 then increase nutes
lights will stay on 12/12 untill finish which could be 8-14 wks depending on strain dominates :
short plant with fat wide leaf = indica dom = 8-10 wks,
tall plant with long skiny leaf = sativa dom = 10-14 wks
by far the best way to tell when the plant is ready to harvest is by looking at the trichome
you want to harvest at about a 40%-50% red to white ratio. you will need a minimum 30x zoom microscope (radio shack)
flush plant by feeding plain water no nutes for last 2 wks (improves taste)
cut, hang, dry 5-7 days @ 40%-50% humidity
smoke
or
cure:
place in mason jars sealed tight for 12hr in a dark place
open jar and take buds out and let dry for 30m to 1hr or untill dry to touch
replace in jars resealed in a dark place
repeat this for 2wks to a month or untill buds nolonger become wet in jar after 12hr
now smoke
or seal away for long term store
