Greenhouse Growing/harvesting/storage

[miickEe]

Hello there, my dear mates

 

I could have used the search feature but I thought my questions would not have been asked before like this.

 

Okies, so here's the scenario - my friend and I, total newbs at growing, would like to grow a marijuana plant in his greenhouse. I would like answered the following questions.

 

1) How would we go about doing this? What size pot should this plant be housed in? What kind of soil, what pH, and how can it be monitored effectively?

2) How much water is needed for optimum growth (volume and frequency)? What other substances can be used to benefit the overall growth and condition of the plant?

3) If we were to go about planting it, how many seeds are we to plant? I am assuming, on ym basic and very, very limited knowledge that to plant 1 seed, we will have 1 plant, right?

4) When do we harvest, and how? How do we dry the buds, and what else can be done with the leaves/rest of the plant?

5) How can the buds be effectively stored and maintained to ensure that they can be smoked a long time after harvesting

 

Any other additional information/links would be MUCH appreciated.

 

Keep on tokin' chums

 

miickEe./

[WantDaChronic]

1) How would we go about doing this? What size pot should this plant be housed in? What kind of soil, what pH, and how can it be monitored effectively?

 

firstly i would clear the greenhouse of as many plants as possible and give it a decent clean on both sides of the glass to make sure the marijuana plant recieves as much light as possible.

 

if you want big buds, plant the marijuana plant in the ground because regardless of the pot size, if you get a full season in an outdoor greenhouse the plant will get rootbound but if you must grow in pots, i wouldnt bother with anything less than a 30L pot per plant.

 

if money is of no concern, lots of people have said that the dynamic lifter brand soil works awesome, but if money is of a concern you could just use cheap shit from big-w

 

pH for soil plants i believe is around 6.5 for optimal growth, have a look at the plant problem link in my sig to confirm that if you want as it has 2 pH charts at the very start to check the pH i would use minimally a liquid pH checker for the water and would also recommend buying a soil pH checker as the soil could have a major pH swing that you might not be aware of untill its too late.

 

2) How much water is needed for optimum growth (volume and frequency)? What other substances can be used to benefit the overall growth and condition of the plant?

 

you should water the plants when about the top 2-3cm of the soil is dry, but that varies depending on the size of the plant. imo the best way to work out when to water and how much is by watering the plants gradually untill you get some run off and then stop and wait untill the plant starts wilting...this will tell you how much water to give them and if the plant wilts after 3 days, make sure to water it on the second day.

 

you could add something like perlite or clay balls to the soil to aid in drainage, supplying oxygen to the roots, etc. but if money is of a concern there is no real need to do so.

 

3) If we were to go about planting it, how many seeds are we to plant? I am assuming, on ym basic and very, very limited knowledge that to plant 1 seed, we will have 1 plant, right?

 

while 1 seed will produce 1 plant, that doesnt account for any male plants that you happen to grow which would be a waste of a plant. if you can only have the one plant, source a cutting from someone as the chances are not good that you'll get a female from a single seed. if clones are unavailable to you, i would plant a minimum of 10 seeds to ensure you get enough sprouts to account for males, any that die off, etc. + since you'll be growing for 2 people, you have to take into account both your smoking habbits.

 

4) When do we harvest, and how? How do we dry the buds, and what else can be done with the leaves/rest of the plant?

 

you harvest when the resin changes colour from milky to amber depending on how you like your high....but since viewing the resin effectively is only possible using high powered cameras or microscopes, most people just harvest the plants when the hairs are mainly brown.

 

harvesting means cutting the plants down, there is nothing else involved other than cutting it down, removing the leaf and hanging the buds to dry.

 

drying can be done in many ways, i tend to favour hanging them up in a wardrobe on coat hangers, works a charm. lots of people just lay the buds on news paper, in cardboard boxes, in paper bags, etc. but the main thing you should aim for is a slow dry over a period of about a week. a week long dry gives the bud time to convert nitrogen, starches, etc. into sugars which will make the final product sweeter and tastier.

 

as for leaves, well the larger shade leaves imo should just be put in the compost bin if you have one or simply binned if you dont. the side branch leaves can be suprisingly potent in times of desperation, but if you cant handle that shit you can always make cannabutter with it. the resinous leaves on the other hand can make for a fantastic smoke, especially when your out of buds and can make some wicked cannabutter too

 

5) How can the buds be effectively stored and maintained to ensure that they can be smoked a long time after harvesting

 

vacuum sealed bags inside of a fridge would work best imo, but only if the stash is expected to last 6-12 months or longer....if you expect it to last 6 months or less, then i would simply eat alot of pasta and collect the pasta sauce jars as they make for really good curing jars and will continuiously make the buds a better product over time, but only to a certain extent.

 

Any other additional information/links would be MUCH appreciated.

 

read a few grow books, then a few diaries on here and get a plan in your head as to what you want to do in the greenhouse. going in there with half baked plans of growing pounds will only result in heart break so get everything planned out in advance before planting the first seed.

 

also make sure that you dont put all your eggs in the one basket with your friend. i dont mean to offend you or your friend, but 9/10 rips from what i have seen are done by those close to you who know you are growing and if you are growing with someone else and get ripped, you have a 9/10 chance it was the partner that did the ripping i would say that you want to see how a few plants grown outdoors do after being grown in a greenhouse and plant several patches in the bush or where ever you can. if you get asked about them and he wants to see them, take him to a single patch and remember which one it is incase that gets ripped + you dont want him knowing about the other plants untill you need some extra hands for manicuring hehehe if all that sounds too devious for you, think of it this way, if he rips you or you just get ripped in general, atleast you'll have a nest egg to fall back on. but even if you dont get ripped and pull the greenhouse plants and all the outdoor plants as well, that just means more pot for everyone

[miickEe]

Na mate, getting ripped is not an issue, he's my best mate, we live within a kilometer of each other and none of us really have developed a big enough smoking habit to need to rip each other off in this circumstance.

 

Okies.. I don't know whether his greenshouse is a glass one or the one with the green covering over it, I dunno.. Does this matter?

[WantDaChronic]

Na mate, getting ripped is not an issue, he's my best mate, we live within a kilometer of each other and none of us really have developed a big enough smoking habit to need to rip each other off in this circumstance.

 

if he is as good as you believe, then keep him as a friend for life but in all honesty greed is a powerfull motivator and when you have tens of thousands of dollars worth of bud growing, that can be mighty hard to resist

 

oh and a glass greenhouse would do better imo, but the green shade cloth type will still do a great job + hide the plants better

[miickEe]

HAHA.. na dude, we are not looking to sell any of this, not to make profit at all. This is merely going to provide us with as much weed as we could need. He has made it adamantly clear that he doesn't want to sell it.

[pipeman]

Canna has just released a specific outdoor soil mix and nutrient range for mj. If I was starting an outdoor grow I'd look into that...

[tony2wheelsgood]

imo the best book about at the moment is

 

"marijuana horticulture. the indoor/outdoor medical growers bible" by Jorge Cervantes.

 

ISBN 1-8788823-23-X.

 

good read, keeps it simple, lots of pictures, available from all good growshops and booksellers (including amazon).

[smoke p]

ph lvl 6.5-7.5

[smoke p]

u could put hydros in there

[123abc]

hey m8, if u growing in a greenhouse like smoke p said.. a hydro system would work well.. even a simple wick system

 

or u could use a coco mix with some non soil or little bit of soil additives..

 

i know its all confusing - just using something other than soil, or with a mixture will help the plant grow alot faster.. u can still keep it natural too!