High 101 Essay, Research Paper
MARIJUANA HORTICULTURE:
Growing and Cultivating the Weed
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NEW 8/3/99! MARIJUANA FAQS!
* alt.hemp: from the newsgroup of the same name
* Bongs and Pipes: bongs, pipes, etc
* Gravity Bongs: gravity bongs
* Growlights: for marijuana
* Marijuana Consumption: more stuff on bongs, pipes, eating, etc
* Marijuana Eating: p.o. consumption of marijuana (butter, brownies,
etc…)
* Marijuana Law: state laws
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Marijuana is a deciduous plant which grows from seeds. The fibrous
sectionof the plant was once used to make rope.The flowering tops, leaves,
seeds, and resin of the plant isused by just about everyone to get HIGH.
Normally, the vegetable parts of the plant are smoked to produce
this”high,” but thay can also be eaten. The axtive ingredient in
marijuanaresin is THC (tetahydrocannabinol). Marijuana contains from 1 – 4
percent THC (4 per cent must be considered GOOD dope).
Marijuana grows wild in many parts of the world, and is cultivated
inMexice, Vietnam, Africa, Nepal, India, South America, etc.,etc.
Themarijuana sold in the United States comes primarily from, yes,
theUniited States.
It is estimated that at least 50 per cent of the grass on the streetsin
America is homegrown. The next largest bunch comes actoss theborders from
Mexico, with smaller amounts filtering in from Panama,occasionally South
America, and occasinally, Africa.
Hashish is the pure resin of the marijuana plant, which is scraped fromthe
flowering tops of the plant and lumped together. Ganja is theground-up tops
of the finest plants. (It is also the name given to anysort of marijuana in
Jamaica.)
Marijuana will deteriorate in about two years if exposed to light,air or
heat. It should always be stored in cool places.
Grass prices in the United States are a direct reflection of the lawsof
supply and demand (and you thought that high school economicswould never be
useful). A series of large border busts, a short growingseason, a bad crop,
any number of things can drive the price of marijuanaup. Demand still seems
to be on the increase in the U.S., so prices seldomfall below last year’s
level.
Each year a small seasonal drought occurs, as last year’s supply runslow,
and next year’s crop is not up yet. Prices usually rase about20 – 75 per
cent during this time and then fall back to “normal.”Unquestionably, a
large shortage of grass causes a percentage of smokersto turn to harder
drugs instead. For this reason, no grass controlprogram can ever be
beneficial or “successful.”
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GROWING IT!
[Image]Marijuana Growers G Deluxe
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There is one surefire way of avoiding high prices and the grass DT’s:Grow
your own. This is not as difficult as some “authorities” on thesubject
would make you believe. Marijuana is a weed, and a fairly vivacious one at
that, and it will grow almost in spite of you.
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OUTDOORS
[Image]Marijuana Grower’s Handbook: The Indoor High Yield Guide
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Contrary to popular belief, grass grows well in many place on theNorth
American continent. It will flourish even if the temperature doesnot raise
above 75 degrees.
The plants do need a minimum of eight hours of sunlight per day andshould
be planted in late April/early May, BUT DEFINITELY, after thelast frost of
the year.
Growing an outdoor, or “au naturel”, crop has been the favored methodover
the years, because grass seems to grow better without as muchattention when
in its natural habitat.
Of course, an outdoors setting requires special precautions not
encoun-tered with an indoors crop; you must be able to avoid detection,
both fromlaw enforcement freaks and common freaks, both of whom will take
yourweed and probably use it. Of course, one will also arrest you. You
mustalso have access to the area to prepare the soil and harvest the
crop.There are two schools of thought about starting the seeds. One says
youshould start the seedlings for about ten days in an indoor starter
box(see the indoor section) and then transplant. The other theory is
thatyou should just start them in the correct location. Fewer plants
willcome up with this method, but there is no shock of transplant tokill
some of the seedlings halfway through.
The soil should be preprepared for the little devils by turning itover a
couple of times and adding about one cup of hydrated lime persquare yard of
soil and a little bit (not too much, now) of good watersoluble nitrogen
fertilizer. The soil should now be watered severaltimes and left to sit
about one week.
The plants should be planted at least three feet apart, getting toogreedy
and stacking them too close will result in stunted plants.The plants like
some water during their growing season, BUT not toomuch. This is especially
true around the roots, as too much water willrot the root system.
Grass grows well in corn or hops, and these plants will help providesome
camouflage. It does not grow well with rye, spinach, or pepperweed.It is
probally a good idea to plant in many small, broken patches, aspeople tend
to notice patterns.
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GENERAL GROWING INFO
[Image]Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the
Scientific Evidence
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Both the male and he female plant produce THC resin, although the maleis
not as strong as the female. In a good crop, the male will still beplenty
smokable and should not be thrown away under any circumstances.Marijuana
can reach a hight of twenty feet (or would you rather wish ona star) and
obtain a diameter of 4 1/2 inches. If normal, it has a sexratio of about
1:1, but this can be altered in several ways.
The male plant dies in the 12th week of growing, the female will
liveanother 3 – 5 weeks to produce her younguns. Females can weigh twice
asmuch as males when they are mature.
Marijuana soil should compact when you squeeze it, but should also
breakapart with a small pressure and absorb water well. A nice testfor
either indoor or outdoor growing is to add a bunch of worms to thesoil, if
they live and hang aroung, it is good soil, but if they don’t,well, change
it. Worms also help keep the soil loose enough for theplants to grow well.
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SEEDS
[Image]Marijuana Law
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To get good grass, you should start with the right seeds. A nice
startingpoint is to save the seeds form the best batch you have consumed.
Theseeds should be virile, that is, they should not be grey and
shiriveledup, but green, meaty, and healthy appearing. A nice test is to
drop theseeds on a hot frying pan. If they “CRACK,” they are probably good
forplanting purposes.
The seeds should be soaked in distilled water overnight before planting.BE
SURE to plant in the ground with the pointy end UP. Plant about 1/2″deep.
Healthy seeds will sprout in about five days.
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SPROUTING
[Image]Marijuana Flower Forcing: Secrets of Designer Growing
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The best all around sprouting method is probably to make a sprouting box(as
sold in nurseries) with a slated bottom or use paper cups with holespunched
in the bottoms. The sprouting soil should be a mixture of humus,soil, and
five sand with a bit of organic fertilizer and water mixedin about one week
before planting.
When ready to transplant, you must be sure and leave a ball of soilaround
the roots of each plant. This whole ball is dropped into abaseball-sized
hold in the permanent soil.
If you are growing/transplanting indoors, you should use a greensafe light
(purchased at nurseries) during the transplanting operation.If you are
transplanting outdoors, you should time it about twohours befor sunset to
avoid damage to the plant. Always wear cottongloves when handling the young
plants.
After the plants are set in the hole, you should water them. It is alsoa
good idea to use a commercial transplant chemical (also purchased
atnurseries) to help then overcome the shock.
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INDOOR GROWING
[Image]Marijuana Hydroponics
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Indoor growing has many advantages, besides the apparent fact that itis
much harder to have your crop “found,” you can control the
ambientconditions just exactly as you want them and get a guaranteed
“good”plant.
Plants grown indoors will not appear the same as their outdoor cousins.They
will be scrawnier appearing with a weak stems and may even requireyou to
tie them to a growing post to remain upright, BUT THEY WILL HAVEAS MUCH OR
MORE RESIN!
If growing in a room, you should put tar paper on the floors and thenbuy
sterilized bags of soil form a nursery. You will need about onecubic foot
of soil for eavh plant.
The plants will need about 150 ml. of water per plant/per week. Theywill
also need fresh air, so the room must be ventilated. (however,the fresh air
should contain NO TOBACCO smoke.)
At least eight hours of light a day must be provided. As you increasethe
light, the plants grow faster and show more females/less males.Sixteen
hours of light per day seems to be the best combination, beyondthis makes
little or no appreciable difference in the plant quality.Another idea is to
interrupt the night cycle with about one hour oflight. This gives you more
The walls of your growing room should be painted white or covered
withaluminum foil to reflect the light.
The lights themselves can be either bulbs of fluorescent. Figure about75
watts per plant or one plant per two feet of flouresent tube.
The fluorescents are the best, but do not use “cool white” types. Thelight
sources should be an average of twenty inches from theplant and NEVER
closer than 14 inches. They may be mounted on a rack and moved every few
days as the plants grow.
The very best light sources are those made by Sylvania and othersespecially
for growing plants (such as the “gro lux” types).
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HARVESTING AND DRYING
[Image]Marijuana Cultivators Handbook
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The male plants will be taller and have about five green or yellow
sepals,which will split open to fertilize the female plant with pollen.The
female plant is shorter and has a small pistillate flower, whichreally
doesn’t look like a flower at all but rather a small bunch ofleaves in a
cluster.
If you don’t want any seeds, just good dope, you should pick the
malesbefore they shed their pollen as the female will use some of her
resinto make the seeds.
After another three to five weeks, after the males are gone, the
femaleswill begin to wither and die (from loneliness?), this is the time to
pick.In some nefarious Middle Eastren countries, farmers reportedly put
theirbeehives next to fiels of marijuana. The little devils collect the
grasspollen for their honey, which is supposed to contain a fair dosageof
THC.
The honey is then enjoyed by conventional methods or made into ambrosia.If
you want seeds – let the males shed his pollen then pick him. Letthe female
go another month and pick her.
To cure the plants, they must be dried. On large crops, this isaccomplished
by constructing a drying box or drying room.You must have a heat source
(such as an electric heater) which will makethe box/room each 130 degrees.
The box/room must be ventilatedto carry off the water-vapor-laden air and
replace it with fresh.A good box can be constructed from an orange crate
with fiberglassinsulated walls, vents in the tops, and screen shelves to
hold the leaves.There must be a baffle between the leaves and the heat
source.A quick cure for smaller amounts is to: cut the plant at the soil
leveland wrap it in a cloth so as not to loose any leavs. Take out any
seedsby hand and store. Place all the leaves on a cookie sheet or
aluminumfoil and put them in the middle sheld of the oven, which is set on
“broil.”In a few seconds, the leaves will smoke and curl up, stir them
around andgive another ten seconds before you take them out.
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TO INCREASE THE GOOD STUFF
[Image]Marijuana Herbal Cookbook: Recipes for Recreation & Health
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There are several tricks to increase the number of females, or the
THCcontent of plants:
You can make the plants mature in 36 days if you are in a hurry, by
cuttingback on the light to about 14 hours, but the plants will not be as
big.You should gradually shorten the light cycle until you reach
fourteenhours.
You can stop any watering as the plants begin to bake the resin rise tothe
flowers. This will increse the resin a bit.
You can use a sunlamp on the plants as they begin to develop flower
stalks.You can snip off the flower, right at the spot where it joins the
plant,and a new flower will form in a couple of weeks.
This can be repeated two or three times to get several times more
flowersthan usual.
If the plants are sprayed with Ethrel early in their growing stage,
theywill produce almost all female plants. This usually speeds up the
floweringalso, it may happen in as little as two weeks.
You can employ a growth changer called colchicine. This is a bit hard toget
and expensive. (Should be ordered through a lab of some sort andcosts about
$35 a gram.)
To use the colchicine, you should prepare your presoaking solution
ofdistilled water with about 0.10 per cent colchicine. This will causemany
of the seeds to die and not germinate, but the ones that do comeup will be
polyploid plants. This is the accepted difference betweensuch strains as
“gold” and normal grass, and yours will DEFINITELYbe superweed.
The problem here is that colchicine is a posion in larger quanities andmay
be poisonous in the first generation of plants. Bill Frake, authorof
CONNOISSEUR’S HANDBOOK OF MARIJUANA runs a very complete
colchicinetreatment down and warns against smoking the first generation
plants(all succeeding generations will also be polyploid) bacause of
thispoisonous quality.
However, the Medical Index shows colchicine being given in very
smallquantities to people for treatment if various ailments. Although
thesequantities are small, they would appear to be larger than any you
couldrecive form smoaking a seed-treated plant.
It would be a good idea to buy a copy of CONNOISSEUR’S, if you are
planningto attempt this, and read Mr. Drake’s complete instructions.Another
still-experimental process to increase the resin it to pinch offthe leaf
tips as soon as they appear from the time the plant is in theseedling stage
on through its entire life-span. This produces a distorted,wrecked-looking
plant which would be very difficuly to recognize asmarijuana. Of course,
there is less substance to this plant, but suchwrecked creatures have been
known to produve so much resin that itcrystallizes a strong hash all over
the surface of the plant – mightbe wise to try it on a plant or two and see
what happens.
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PLANT PROBLEM CHART
[Image]Click Here
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Always check the overall enviromental conditions prior to passingjudgment -
soil aroung 7 pH or slightly less – plenty of water, light,fresh air, loose
soil, no water standing in pools.
SYMPTOM PROBABLY PROBLEM/CURE
Larger leaves turning yellow – Nitrogen deficiency – add nitrate of
smaller leaves still green. soda or organic fertilizer.
Older leaves will curl at edges,
turn dark, possibaly with a purple Phosphorsus deficiency – add
cast. commercial phosphate.
Mature leaves develop a yellowish Magnesium deficiency – add commercial
cast to least veinal areas. fertilizer with a magnesium content.
Mature leaves turn yellow become
spotted with edge areas turning Potassium deficiency – add muriate of
dark grey. potash.
Cracked stems, no healthy support Boron deficiency – add any plant food
tissue. containing boron.
Small wrinkled leaves with yelloish Zinc deficiency – add commercial
vein systems. plant food containing zinc.
Young leaves become deformed, Molybendum deficiency – use any plant
possibly yellowing. food with a bit of molybendum in it.
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EXTRA SECTION: BAD WEED/GOOD WEED
[Image]Marijuana Growing Tips
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Can you turn bad weed into good weed? Surprisingly enough, the answerto
this oft-asked inquiry is, yes!
Like most other things in life, the amount of good you are goingto do
relates directly to how much effort you are going to put into it.There are
no instant, supermarket products which you can spray on Kansascatnip and
have wonderweed, but there are a number of simplified,inexpensive processes
(Gee, Mr. Wizard!) thich will enhance mediocregrass somewhat, ant there are
a couple of fairly involved processeswhich will do up even almost-parsley
weed into something worth writinghome about.
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EASES
[Image]Marijuana Growers Handbook: Indoor – Greenhouse Edition
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1. Place the dope in a container which allows air to enter in a
restrictedfashion (such as a can with nail holes punched in its lid)
and add abunch of dry ice, and the place the whole shebang in the
freezer for afew days. This process will add a certain amount of
potency to the product,however, this only works with dry ice, if you
use normal, everydayfreezer ice, you will end up with a soggy mess…
2. Take a quantity of grass and dampen it, place in a baggie or
anothersocially acceptable container, and store it in a dark, dampish
placefor a couple of weeks (burying it also seems to work). The grass
willdevelop a mold which tastes a bit harsh, a and burns a tiny bit
funny,but does increase the potency.
3. Expose the grass to the high intensity light of a sunlamp for a
fullday or so. Personally, I don’t feel that this is worth the effort,
butif you just spent $400 of your friend’s money for this brick
ofsuper-Colombian, right-from-the-President’s-personal-stash,and it
turns out to be Missouri weed, and you’re packing your bags toleave
town before the people arrive for their shares, well, you mightat
least try it. Can’t hurt.
4. Take the undisirable portions of our stash (stems, seeds, weak
weed,worms, etc.) and place them in a covered pot, with enough
rubbingalchol to cover everything.
Now CAREFULLY boil the mixture on an ELECTRIC stove or lab burner. DONOT
USE GAS – the alchol is too flammable. After 45 minutes of heat,remove the
pot and strain the solids out, SAVING THE ALCOHOL.Now, repeat the process
with the same residuals, but fresh alchol.When the second boil is over,
remove the solids again, combine the twoquantities of alcohol and reboil
until you have a syrupy mixture.Now, this syrupy mixture will contain much
of the THC formerly hiddenin the stems and such. One simply takes this
syrup the throughlycombines it with the grass that one wishes to improve
upon.
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