this is illegal don't do it...just kidding

This guide will cover growing small amounts of cannabis in the home for personal consumption. Although the following is not well suited for a large operation, the same techniques still apply (plants need light and water) should you want to... expand your market...

Among the benefits of home grown cannabis are the often high quality of the product as well as its very low price. Often, the main reason for taking an interest in such plant growth in the home is the yield of investment. For a small amount of money input, a product that would otherwise cost very much more is output. Such an investment can make the good times better, reducing dependence on sketchy dealers and leaving more money in the pocket for other purposes.

Because this project will be done on a small scale, more attention can be given to the individual specimen. This attention manifests itself in an often higher quality product, even when working with seeds of middle quality. Such amounts of high quality cannabis can make one quite popular among one's friends.

A read through this guide will reveal some ambiguities in method and production. Growing cannabis is more an art than a science and much is left to the individual to decide and to make his/her own. The pride of having your own method leads to another point.

Some may find that growing cannabis in the home is much easier than previously believed. Taking care of the plants is only one part of the process. In many countries, it is illegal to grow certain types of plants, and so secrecy is a main ingredient. Control your desire to brag to anyone about the height of your plants, or their color, or the number of leaves, but if you do, be sure not to mention you are doing it at home; you may be surprised at how quickly news travels. Growing cannabis seems to swell the pride, something that may be difficult to control, but if you must tell someone, tell few, and be sure they can be trusted.

A Home for the Children

Materials

• Wooden Cabinet

These can be found in home improvement stores everywhere. Look for something with a decent but concealable area in the bottom, it should fit in a closet. Three or four feet in height should be appropriate. The cheapest cabinets seem to be composed of press board with a white layer on top; this has the added bonus of reflectivity.

• Florescent Light Fixture

This should fit in the top of your cabinet from corner to corner.

• Florescent Lights

Although soft white is widely available, it is not the best for growing plants. Look for something full spectrum or, if available, manufactured specifically for growing plants.

• Light Timer
• Small fans

12v computer fans are good for this job, but if you use them, you will have to splice them onto a wall wart power supply and adjust the resistance to keep this from overheating. If not so electrically inclined, look for something very small that you can put into the side of the cabinet and plug into the wall.

• An Assortment of Tools

Saws, drills, screwdrivers, are preferred, but even a kitchen knife can be used for much of the construction.

Put It All Together

1. Cut a small hole in a top corner in the back of your cabinet. Screw the light fixture in from that corner to the corner opposite on a diagonal. Then thread the cord of the fixture through the hole and plug it into the light timer.
2. Cut a wide hole at the bottom of the same side of the cabinet through which the light cord comes. The fans will be located here. Screw, glue, or otherwise attach them so that they blow into the cabinet.
3. Cut a wide hole about the same size as the fan hole in the top of the opposite side.
4. Plug in the timer and the fans to be sure it all works.
5. Move this to a discreet area of your house, the classic place being the closet (but make sure it is ventilated).

From Seed to Sprout

The scavenger hunt has ended, now the fun begins.

Materials

• Paper Cups

Cheap little things. The cheaper, the better.

• Potting Soil

There are soils that advertise three months of fertilization, those are excellent, but anything that grows tomatoes is fine.

• A Bag of Seeds

Start collecting seeds. Think twice before you toss a seed aside when breaking up your stash, save it. If a friend is tossing his/her seeds, get those too. As a general rule, if the weed gets you high, the seed will get you higher.

• Water

Yeah, water, plants like it.

• An Object for Poking

Use a pencil, dowel or something in that general shape.

The Birth

1. Fill a few paper cups with soil nearly to the top.
2. Using the "object for poking", push a single seed in to the center of each cup of dirt about 3/4" from the surface.
3. Water all the cups with maybe a tablespoon or two of water.
4. Put all the cups in the cabinet and set the timer for a twenty-four hour cycle, eighteen hours on and six hours off.
5. Keep an eye on the cups for the next couple days and water them as necessary. Sprouts will soon appear.
6. After two weeks, or when ever your patience decides, push another seed in to the cups that haven't sprouted.
7. Hopefully or eventually, you will have sprouts in all cups. Let them grow as they may, but you may choose to stake plants that grow sideways.

From Sprout to Adult

Cannabis plants go through what is called a vegetative period. In nature, this happens during the summer months (simulated by the lights). During this time, the plant works on building foilage, expanding leaves and branches and prepares for budding.

Materials

• Potting Soil
• Medium Plant Pots

Sturdy but light plastic is a good choice here. As far as capacity, a half gallon is great. Get as many as you can fit on the floor of the cabinet (but be careful of the fans).

The Game of Life

Once the sprouts are pretty looking plants and heavy root growth is evident in the cups, it is time to move forward.

1. Fill your pots will soil, nearly to the top.
2. You may have too many plants for pots at this point. You may have to consider selecting for the strongest and generally best plants or trying to fit more than one plant to a pot, this is a personal decision.
3. If planting one plant per pot, push the paper cup and plant down in to the soil in the center of the pot to make a hole.
4. Remove the paper cup from the plant by slowly tearing it away.
5. Place the rootball of the plant into the hole and sprinkle any remaining soil around the pot. Water immediately.
6. Repeat this to fill all the pots.
7. At this point, little has to be done but to sit and wait.

From Adult to Buds

Once the plants have grown to be strong, it is time to once again move forward. Cannabis plants coordinate their life cycle based on the photoperiod, the length of night and day which they experience. Summer (longer days) has passed and autumn is coming (shorter days) and it is time for budding.

Materials

• Magnifying Glass

It makes things look big.

• Large Plant Pots

A gallon should do here.

The Sex Life of Cannabis

1. Switch the timer to periods of twelve hours of light and twelve hours of dark.
2. Eventually growth will appear at the nodes (the area where the branches meet the stem) on the plants. It is time to separate the males from the females.
3. It is not nearly as hard as some think to differentiate the sexes in these plants. Using the magnifying glass, inspect the growth at the nodes. Females will put out wispy white calyxes (structures to capture pollen) while males quite literally grow "balls" or buds that look much like tomato flowers.
4. This may be emotionally hard to do, but the males must be separated or they will pollinate the females, severely limiting potency. If you have the space, perhaps another cabinet in another closet could be used to grow the males should you want to keep the pollen and produce seeds for a new generation, but generally it is best to just destroy them.
5. Transplant the females from the half gallon to gallon pots to allow them to grow further and put them back in the cabinet.

Drying and Curing

Much work has gone into these plants and their life cycle is nearly completed; now the fruits of your labor are realized.

Materials

• Twine

If the space is not available for hanging, an alternate method for drying using "Dry-Rite" is discussed.

• Glass Canning Jars

Like Grandma used to use.

• Knife
• Plastic bags

Like Fine Wine

1. Choosing the right time to harvest comes from experience and personal preference. The calyxes, when past the time for reproduction, will wilt and change color from white to orange to red to brown or perhaps other colors and the trichromes (the little crystals on the buds) will turn a milky white. Somewhere in that time period is the time for harvest. Just cut the plant at ground level.
2. Using the twine, tie the plant upside down (this does not make "the fluids stay in the buds" or any of that nonsense, it is just convenience) from a shelf in the closet. If space is limited, the buds can be cut off, wrapped gently in a thin layer of newspaper and put in a drawer with a bit of Dry-Rite, but this does not result in the same taste. Regardless of the method of drying, it should be done in a dark place at about room temperature.
3. After about two weeks, the stems will be more brittle. Cut them off and pack them in to canning jars, but not too tightly, they need a bit of room.
4. Every couple of hours, check the jars for condensation on the insides, if it appears, allow further air drying. If, after a day, there is no condensation, let the jars sit in a cool, dark place.
5. Every week or so, open the jars and let some fresh air in for fifteen minutes to half an hour.
6. Once the buds are highly enjoyable to both the eye and nose, the job is finally done and the cannabis can be packed into plastic bags for storage.

Conclusion

After a few months, cannabis finer than anything one could buy at a reasonable price is the result. Sample your results and take a look back on the work you've done; it was worth it.

After the first successful crop, take liberties with the method, explore and innovate and make use of the opportunity to better cannabis for us all.