Marijuana Grower's Handbook

By Thomas Valentine

This small ebook is comprised of what I've learned over 30 years of growing marijuana. I've provided for a complete and detailed set of essays about growing our favorite green, marijuana.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781304875860

Book preview

The Marijuana Grower's Handbook

By Thomas Valentine

Table Of Contents

Chapter One - Lighting

- Fluorescent

- Mercury Vapor

- Metal Halide

- High Pressure Sodium

- Light Intensity

- Fluorescents

- Mercury Vapor

- Metal Halide

- High Pressure Sodium

- Tailor to Your Situation

Chapter Two - Hydroponic Methods

- Peat & Perlite

- Ebb & Flood

- Aerated Solution

- Nutrient Flow Technique (NFT)

- Aeroponics

- Aquaponics

- Some Considerations

Chapter Three - pH & PPM

- PPM (Parts Per Million)

- Temperature & Light

- Measuring pH & PPM

- Adjusting pH & PPM

Chapter Four - Growing Mediums

- Peat

- Pea Gravel

- Perlite

- Sand

- Rockwool

- No Medium

Chapter Five - Pests & the Growing Area

- Dust

- Aphids

- Tobacco Mosaic Virus

Chapter Six - Hash Oil & Pure THC Refinement

Chapter Seven - A Closet Grow Operation

Chapter Eight - Outdoor Growing

Chapter Nine - Harvesting & Curing

Chapter One - More Lumens, Please!

Ok, so if you’ve ever talked to anyone about growing their own greens, the subject of lighting has come up. Chances are, they said that they couldn’t get enough of it! It’s true, the more light you have per square foot, the more plant you will get. This is a scientifically proven fact, and it makes sense. Now let me expand on that.

We’ll delve first into lighting options. You basically have four general lighting options – fluorescent lighting, metal halide lighting, mercury vapor lighting, and high pressure sodium lighting. Each has its own pros and cons, and you should be familiar with them.

The intensity of light is measured in lumens. Each type of lighting has different light intensity values per watt of power, and in different spectrums. By spectrum I mean the color of the light that is produced. Peruse the following to get a feel for what each lighting option offers.

•      A fluorescent bulb at 40 watts will put out 3000 lumens. The light is pure white, with very little heat generated.

•      A mercury vapor bulb at 175 watts will put out 8000 lumens. The light has a tinge of blue to it, and there is a lot of heat generated.

•      A metal halide bulb at 400 watts will put out 36000 lumens. The light has a lot of blue to it, much higher than the mercury vapor. The metal halide bulb puts out less heat than does the mercury vapor, which is  good thing.

•      A high pressure sodium bulb at 400 watts will put out 45000 lumens. The light has a visibly orange color to it. The high pressure sodium bulb puts out about the same amount of heat as does the metal halide.

See the differences between your lighting options? Now let’s look at each in more detail, and in which situation you would use them.

Fluorescent Lighting

Fluorescent lighting has been around pretty much since electricity, and is a very efficient way to light a large space like an office building. For growing, though, it isn’t what you’re looking for. The spectrum is pure white and isn’t very intense for the amount of power it sucks up. Even with a bank of four bulbs in use, fluorescent lighting isn’t the choice you’re looking for during the later stages of growth. For the first stage of growth, though - rooting clones or seeds - it can’t be beat. Fluorescent lighting in this situation is excellent because it is a soft and gentle lighting source that generates very little heat.

Your clones will thrive under the light of a bank of gentle fluorescent bulbs. The rule of thumb for clones under fluorescents is that you put them under a more powerful light source when the roots take or when new growth sprouts from the top of the plant. You don’t want to keep them under for too long because the plant will go phototropic. A phototropic plant is one that has expended all of its energy in attaining height to reach a feeble light source. The space between the leaf branches (the inter-nodal space) will be large, and the plant will be weak and feeble.

Mercury Vapor

Mercury vapor is stronger than fluorescents, but you still don’t want to use them for the later growth stages. The light isn’t strong enough for the amount of heat the bulb puts out. You’ll end up baking the topmost branches of your plant.

Even for rooting, mercury vapor isn’t the way to go. There’s too much heat and the light is a very harsh shade of blue-white. Although this bulb is cheaper per lumen than any of the following lighting methods, because of its heat it is not used much