Bl0nd3s Mean Green
Entry posted by bl0nd3
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Since this is a Blog/Glog/Diary i thought i would start where everyone starts, and thats with obtaining the knowledge and information needed to start growing. I'll start my Growing in my next Glob entry (feel free to skip to the next entry As this one will just be ramberling some weird and wonderfull shit iv learnt in the last few weeks which was probably common sense to everyone else)
So pretty much to the point, i want to grow weed, not only for myself to assist with relaxtion at the end of the day, but also to make canabis oil for its many health benefits, and with hope it could provide some relief or even ressession of my mums very rare cancer which we are yet to find a cure its carcinoid cancer and gives of spores which float in the bload and attatch to other parts of the body and grow another cancer, kind of like how plants reproduce. This cancer is uneffeted by chemo or radation therapy. Mum had an operation which was suppose to be a 5 night stay in hospital with an excision of 1 meter of lower intestine and bowl. The surgeon was incompetant and had made an error, and admitted to nurses he sat in his car on the side of the road contemplating whether he should go back to work/hospital and fix the error he made or go home....He went home. so it was pretty much 12 weeks in hospital after that as her intestines fused to her diaphram and where unable to function, and parts of internal staples came appart which causes septocemia, long story short she had a collapsed lung, septocemia, non-fuctioning bowl, and a blockage in the left artery. She was rushed to perth intensive care and was operated on...three more times in her 12 week stay - my mum is my life, im her clone, we look alike, we think alike, and were best friends and i would do anything for my mum, whether the cannabis oil can be the miracle we prey for, or whether it can take her pain away and give her some relaxation time, its so very worth the risks and if im able to make a little money on the side to help with my 2yr olds therapy sessions, while im at it then thats just dandy.
What did plants need to survive and thrive?
Plants need water, air, nutrients, and sunlight to grow. The energy from sunlight is used to chemically change water and carbon dioxide (air) into sugar. This process is called photosynthesis.
what tyoe of lights will i use?
First i looked into light, and the colour spectrum required to grow plants.
so i wanted around 380nm - 750nm / wavelength of light
for a great read up on lights check out http://www.weedfarmer.com/cannabis/lights.php
Im taking a bit of a risk with LED lights, but i feel its my only option as where we reside gets really hot (38degrees average in summer)
so HID lights were out of the question. Theres so many negative reveiws out there on LED grow lights but iv found most of the negative comments come from those who have been growing hydroponically for ages, and have grown familiar with particular methods, but as LED lights require a different balance of moisture and nutrients it means their technique would also need to change. For example if you were to work out maths as you usually would, then someone comes along and tries to show you another way of solving the same maths problem but with a different method you will always stick with what you know, as its easier.
Also alot of threads are from 2011 and back in which LEDs werent as advanced as they are now. For example i purchased two LED lights from Ebay, One was a more recent design, the other was the previous design which did infact have crappy reviews but i figured for $55 with free shipping ill get it anyway, so here i have the old model, and the very next model
As we can see the build and design has come a long way from a visual perspective, so perhaps the same could be said about the LED technology itself as all negative comments where mentioned at a time where people where purchasing the older cheap LED lights, but since new technology has hit the shelves, people are showing alot of great results using LED - especially the TOPLEDSELLER and MARSHYDRO on ebay. Here are some good reviews of LED growers which gives me hope it will work just as well.
http://www.rollitup.org/t/marshydro-led-grow.839368/page-25
http://forum.grasscity.com/lighting/1233611-cheap-direct-china-led-grow-lights-work.html
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/grow-lighting/206191-mars-ii-400w-led-topled-6.html
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/420-sponsors/190983-top-led-grow-light-discount-461.html
for the older 300W
Full Spectrum design:
● 645nm~660nm,
● 620nm~630nm,
● 452nm~462nm,
● 430nm-440nm,
● 3000~4000K,
● 6500~7500K
● IR 730nm, looks dim/dull
Product Specifications:
● Enhanced spectral output covering full PAR (400-730nm) promotes photosynthesis for Growth & Bloomming
● High Power Efficiency 3Watt Single Chip BridgeLux LEDs, Low Energy Consumption
● Active Cooling with Quasi-Mute Fan, Cool and Quieter
● Revolutionary Heat Aluminium PCB, Run 70% cooler than high intensity discharge (HID) lights
The latest model has 5w chips, with "reflector panels" so it puts out more light.
LED Layout:
● 650~660nm,
● 620~630nm,
● 460~470nm,
● 440~450nm,
● Warm White,
● Neutral White
Key Features::
● Enhanced spectral output covering full PAR (400-660nm) promotes photosynthesis for Growth & Bloomming
● High Power Efficiency 3Watt and 5Watt Single Chip BridgeLux LEDs, Low Energy Consumption
● Active Cooling with Quasi-Mute Fan, Cool and Quieter
● Revolutionary Heat Aluminium PCB, Run 70% cooler than high intensity discharge (HID) lights
As you can see with the LEDS being 660nm i am going to need a more intense light added to get the complete spectrum im after, but im sure ill be able to sort something out with a seperate globe. Also people seem to search for the Watts of lights - but i learnt the Watts measure the amount of energy required to light the globe, where as lumens measure the amount of light produced. The more lumens in a light bulb, the brighter the light.
Generally speaking, the higher the wattage of the bulb, the more lumens it produces. The more light that is produced, the better your plants will grow. An excellent way to measure the amount of light you are getting per square foot is through the use of lumens. Wattage and lumens tend to go hand in hand, but can vary system to system. Even though lumens tend to correlate with wattage, it is the design of the light that can have drastic impacts on the actual amount of lumens emitted. It basically comes down to this, the more lumens cast over your grow area, the stronger your cannabis plants are going to grow. Each plant will require an absolute minimum of 2,500 lumens.
i found this easy calculator converter ... i hope its acurate 
....
http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/light/lumen-to-watt-calculator.htm
In the above calculator (not taking into account grow area or reflective space) the very minimum i require is
2500lm to 60W . So at the very minimum i require 60w of LED light to each plant, And in the full spectrum of waves (nm) 350-750nm
the 300W LED light is said to give out 18000 lm
*Cool colours for growth
*warm colours for flowering/
So What was i going to use for growing medium?
After reading countless diary entries, blogs, and articles, it looks as though coco coir is the more controlled option for a growth medium, as only the grower has control over the exact nutrients their plant will be receiving, and the more control one has in providing the best environment for a plant to thrive, i imagine the better the results. More to the point that my main concern is odour, insects, especially Gnats, i fricken hate those damn things!!
so being such a newbie i thought pfftt, so many threads on people asking about growing medium, how hard can it be to simply choose one? well i didnt know each has advantages and dissavantages,
which is why there are lots of receipes around for medium bases with great reccomendations, but i figure aslong as i know how each one will benefit my ladies, aswell as how it may cause her problems, well i will simply mix the knowledge into a pot itself.
perlite = a form of obsidian consisting of glassy globules, used as insulation or in plant growth media.
Vermiculite = Vermiculite is a hydrous, silicate mineral that is classified as a phyllosilicate and that expands greatly when heated
coco coir= Coir is a natural fiber extracted from the husk of coconut . Its found between the hard, internal shell and the outer coat of a coconut
Clay Pebbles = pretty self explanatry
Rockwool = Rockwool is a man-made mineral fiber.
Vermiculite
+ Vermiculite- due to the silica, Vermiculite can absorb water and hold it for longer periods of time, and prevent medium drying out
- Apparently a medium mix of more than 80%+ of vermiculite will cause the medium to become sludgy, as the silica exorbs the fluid
Perlite
+ Lightweight, readily-available, great for rooting cuttings, inert, chemically stable.
- Has no buffering qualities, leaches nutrient easily and tends to float when flooded
Expanded clay
+ Expanded clay is firm and holds Structure
- If feeding or pump where to fail, the plants could completley die within hours as Expanded Clay holds no addition liquid.
Coco Coir
+ Naturally contains the beneficial fungus Trichoderma, slowly releases potassium.
- Draws down calcium, easily over-watered.
Rockwool
+ The primary reason for using Rockwool is to provide a buffering reservoir of nutrient solution in the root zone while maintaining an adequate volume of air (oxygen) in contact with the roots
- i am yet to read any negatives about rockwool besides skin irritantion - but if you find a square of rockwool large enough for a full size cannabis plant to flower in, give me a headsup .
I have Chosen canna coco coir - i will update the ingredients here later
vermiculite, explanded clay, and perlite, so a little bit of everything until i get the feel of what im doing, and how i want my medium to be.
Anywho 
- Im gonna have a choof, eat skittles and Watch South Park, and will try finish my pointless ramblings and bad spelling tommorow hahaha. If ya read all that, then i kind of feel sorry that i wasted 30 mins of your time hahaha 
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