I'll try to keep this brief. You will need:
Lights: CFL's and HPS are the best choice. You will need a light spectrum of 6400k for vegging the plant and a light spectrum of 2700k for flowering it. You will need at least 100W per plant i'd say.
Soil: Any soil will do really. If it has nutrients like nitrogen and potassium in it all the better. You will need the soil to be mixed with perlite(sand) to provide good drainage
Nutrients: These help the plant grow big, strong and give them good yields. They cant grow well without them. Any liquid plant nutrients will do as long as they contain nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium
Water: Obviously..
Air: It will need a good air supply so it can get Carbon dioxide to photosynthesis and also oxygen so it can respire. All stops grow area getting to humid or hot.
Grow area: Could be a cupboard or anything, just as long as it has reflective surfaces to reflect light and somewhere for air to get in and out
To grow:
Germinate: place seeds onto some damp kitchen roll and fold the kitchen roll over. Place kitchen roll into a sealable air tight container (i use those re-sealable freezer bags) place on window sill and leave for 3 days, when you open it all up a sprout should be coming out the seed. NOTE: not all seeds with germinate
Veg the plant: Fill a large pot (5litres) with your soil. Dig a small 2cm hole and place the sprouted seed in the soil. At this point the lights should be on 24/7. You should spray the surface of the soil whenever it looks dry. After a few days it should pop out the soil. Now you can water normally but dont over do it. Keep vegging for about 3-4 weeks (depends on how much space you have). After 2-3 weeks your plant will need to be fed its nutes, just follow the instructions on the nute bottle. You may need to give it nutes every 3-5 days.
Flower: This is the best part. Just the same as vegging but change light cycle to 12/12. 2 weeks before the seeds harvest date only give the plant water, no nutes are needed now. Once the white pistils on the plant have turned 90% orange the should be ready to harvest.
Sexing your plant: Around a week into flowering you can tell the sex of your plant. If it is female it will grow little white hairs called pistils. If it has little spherical sacs it is a male, so you will probably need to throw it out unless your breeding.
-when your plant is ready to harvest just cut the bits that are ready off and hang them up to dry and a cool dark place. (there are loads of really good harvesting and curing guides on the site!)
As you can probably tell from my equipment list im super cheap compared to some growers but i still get amazing yields with only CFL's and a cupboard layered with tin foil.
I've probably forgot stuff but hey, im high
Make sure you give your plant lots of time and love and it will reward you nicely.
Good luck.
