Growing Cannabis

I shot the this video footage of me trimming my plants

in my Outdoor Growing Area in Long Beach, CA.

My most successful and economical method of growing cannabis is based on potting soil and 5 gallon paint buckets from home depot as the most important elements, other than the plants and seeds themselves and the light to make them grow. I will write several blogs about how to become a cannabis “dirt farmer”, as you will be growing in real soil and not a hydroponic root support system. I use an indoor / outdoor method of growing whenever possible, as it saves huge amounts of money to depend upon the sun for light instead of paying the electric company for it. If you need to be stealthy or hide your weed plants in a closet, this is not the method for you. This method is for growers with a medical marijuana license, or those living in Colorado or Washington where recreational use is legal and you don’t care if someone sees your plants unless they want to steal them.

There are many methods of growing medical cannabis, and many weed farmer “wanta-bees” brag to me that their method is the best. So many hours of sunlight, so many hours of complete darkness, the right chemical as the flower begins to form, etc. So artificial, so fake, but really big nuggets! A professional Cannabis grower recently told me that the distinctive flavors of OG are mostly the result of the chemical fertilizer they are given during the flowering stage. Most of the largest nuggets, the densest bud sold in shops today are with hydroponic methods. An organic substance, often coconut shell shredded, is the medium that the cannabis roots develop in. That is not what you are doing with the “dirt farmer” method.

Sometime in December or January, you will want to take a trip to Home Depot, Lowes, Osh, or a similar home and garden supply. My shopping list will look like this:

12 Five Gallon Paint Buckets, around $3 each, one for each mature plant you want to grow.

4-6 bags of Miracle Gro Potting Mix, around $5 each

Burpee 72-Cell Self-Watering Greenhouse Kit        $20

2 inch pots for growing seeds into young plants    $5

Miracle Gro Perlite $6.99

Grow light - $10 - $500 (I already have mine, but you are going to copy my list)

To prepare the 5 gallon paint buckets to grow plants, you must create drainage holes on the bottom. I normally use a screw driver or knife to poke 5 or 6 holes near the inside edge of the bucket where it is thickest. Poke too close to the center, and the whole plastic bottom will crack, and make the bucket useless. Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has relatively high water content. It makes the soil less heavy, and stores water after the soil is dry. I often put a two inch layer of Perlite in the bottom of my buckets, then add 5 inches of potting soil and mix that up with a stick. I do not add any Perlite to the upper portion of the soil. This will cause the roots of the marijuana to go deep seeking moisture. Fill the 5 gallon paint buckets to within three inches from the top with potting soil, then set them aside until you have plants to put into them.

To get your green garden growing rapidly, I suggest you buy some clones to start with. I normally buy clones that are 2-4 weeks old, and cost $5-$15 each. 

To be as safe as possible from arrest and prosecution, patients and caregivers should stay below the medical marijuana immunity law passed by the California legislature, HS 11362.77, which sets a minimum statewide guideline of 6 mature plants OR 12 immature plants AND up to 8 ounces of processed cannabis flowers. So you can buy up to 12 clones, but you can have no more than 6 in flower at any one time.

Clones will give you a jump start on your garden, but growing from seed is much cheaper if you find the right source for seeds. As I am smoking a strain that I like, when I find a seed I put it in my seed container, to sprout later. If you plan to buy seed, feminized seeds are bred to contain no male chromosomes, which ensure that every plant grown from a feminized seed will flower as a female and produce buds. If you want to avoid the learning process of identifying and removing your male marijuana plants, then feminized seed is a good choice. Priced at about $5-$10 a seed, you get a woman every time.

If you follow Doctor Smoke That Shit’s method of growing cannabis, you will take advantage of the summer sunshine. With a 4-6 months average maturity time, I try to have most of my plants at least 6-10 inches tall at the beginning of May. Then they will have the long, hot days of summer to produce big flowers. This will save you the money of keeping artificial light on the plants 24 / 7. So you need to have all of your growing supplies, seeds, buckets, lights, etc. ready to go by February or March.

My Former Outdoor Growing Area

About two years ago I lived several blocks away from my current ocean view apartment in Long Beach. My last home where I had a large cannabis garden was a few blocks north, where I had a huge back yard the size of a soccer field, all fenced with a 6 foot redwood fence. Right next to my house, I fenced off a 20’ x 30’ area with 8 foot tall bamboo screening material from Home Depot. I drove 2” x 4” wooden fence posts into the ground at each corner, and made a totally private, screened in garden area right next to my house. I would carry my plants in the five gallon paint buckets outside every morning so they would get sun. The ones in flower would be taken to a dark room at night in the house; the ones in vegetative stage would get artificial light all night long in the house. So in the vegetative stage, the plants are getting fresh air and sunlight during the day, and electric light all night long. The ones in flower get 12 hours light, 12 hours dark, but I am not nearly as picky about the 12 hours as many growers. Once the plants start flowering, another hour of dark or light will not change anything.

If your home does not allow for an outdoor growing area, then you will be confined to window light for your “outdoor” light during the day. Not as good, but better than artificial light all the time. Note that the visitors to your home will ask about your house plants if you keep them in the living room, and your neighbors might comment about them as well. If you grow a jungle in the room where you are keeping your indoor cannabis, the other plants may fool the casual observer into thinking that they are house plants as well.

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