Cultivating means continuously learning

Some months after my flop crop of the summer of 99, I began to get the unmistakable urge again. i wanted to grow again. I checked out Internet for information and came across some excellent and informative sites. Through these I was able to find out a lot more about growing. I found a list which indexes all the grow shops throughout the Netherlands and that has proved very useful.
Via Internet, I also found out about clones. Clones are very interesting, as they are 100% female and identical copies of their mother. That was precisely what I needed. However, I could not find out where to get them, so I had to leave it at that.

Time flies as they say, and now it was a few months later and early spring was happening. There was no more frost, but it wasn't really pleasant yet. Because the plants prefer a temperature of 18 degrees minimal, below this temperature, the root growth will be restricted. I had to be patient before I could start outside and I am not a patient person. What else could I do? I decided I had to buy a lamp, as I knew I could order one from the Internet and I knew of no grow shops any where near my neighbourhood. A high pressure sodium light would be perfect as it would mean I would no longer be completely dependant on the sun and could be assured of a good harvest.

I went once more to the smart shop I mentioned in the previous article in order to buy a specific book about indoor growing. The owner asked me if I was growing under lights as he had a spare lamp. I flew home to grab some money and get back there before he might sell it to someone else. That's how badly I wanted the thing. Now I had the lamp and the knowledge about clones but still no idea about how to get my hands on some.
Whoever says that television is useless is wrong. I caught a really informative documentary about our favourite weed and all that goes with it. This documentary really helped me as it had a piece in about cloning also. Eventually I was able to track down an address.
The place was quite far away, but it still seemed worthwhile to go there. Once I was there though, it felt a bit shady. It was very small and not very professional looking. A few products were stored haphazardly. I ordered several clones, which the owner assured me, were White Widows. I paid _6.00 a piece for them which turned out to be daylight robbery later when I found out that they were also available for considerably less. Even later I would find out that they were not white widows either.
I've since found another more reliable address where good quality is available from _2.00.

Safety first

So now to make a grow space. Before you start doing anything, make safety your first priority.
For myself I was in the fortunate position of having a cellar that was perfect for recreating a clement climate. Ventilation would be easy too. Where you choose to grow, has some vital considerations that need to be taken into account. There is a big difference between the cellar and your living room. In my cellar I would not have to worry if I spilled water or made a mess with mud. In your living room you would have to be a bit more careful.
Everything has to be made waterproof and everything that has to stay clean should be covered. You also have to take the humidity factor into account. For example, should there be wallpaper in a room, it will not take long before mould starts to set in and other diseases will quickly follow. It's one thing to have a good crop but not so fine if it is at the expense of your room.

The major problem I encountered with my room was trying to hang my light, as the ceiling is made from reinforced concrete. Not so easily screwed! But after repeated effort and much sweat, I did finally succeed. After overcoming that obstacle I could proceed. I had never seen a high pressure sodium lamp before and it looked most impressive. It has an enormous shade with a huge bulb in the centre. And so to see if it would work. I put the plug into the contact point; I heard some humming and the globe started to flicker, faintly at first, before coming into full glow. It certainly is more of an experience than changing your average household light bulb.

Herewith follows an important tip for new lamp owners; the top of the reflective shade has plastic foil attached to it. Do not do as I did and leave it on. This foil is part of the packaging and if not removed, it will melt into the reflective surface where you will be unable to remove it without scratching and damaging your lamp. Currently, this foil comes in colour so that you notice it, but in my case, it was an older lamp and so the foil was still transparent. That is how I came to wreck my reflector, not smart, but, live and learn, hey!

After much experimenting, some setbacks, good luck and misfortune, the ball had started rolling. I had managed to get some really sturdy and they had been standing proudly under my 400watt lamp. They were K2's and what a wonderful white and powerful weed it is! It is a strong Indica that does not stretch up very high. They are small plants but the return for size is incredible. Does size matter? In my case, it would seem not.
I also had a few seedlings going, they were supposedly Big Bud, but you can never be sure unless you get your seeds from a recognised seed retailer. They struggled through the first week with an underrated root system and had to adapt to the new climate. Because I kept humidity to a minimum, it took a long time for them to adjust and get going. I noticed that if I kept the humidity level on high, approximately 80%, growth will appear within a few days.

Learning and observing

Cultivation means continuous learning. Step by step you find out about new developments and techniques until you reach optimal harvests. Fertilisers are an example. I also used liquid fertilisers in addition to the fertiliser granules that you can mix into the soil and which are available at any garden centre. In order to achieve a good harvest and to know when the plants are experiencing shortages, it becomes essential to observe your crop closely. Otherwise you will have no idea what is really happening. The most frequent problems are caused by deficiency of nitrogen, potassium or phosphorous. With a phosphorous deficiency, the leaves will become darker with a purplish tint. Be aware that purplish leaves can also indicate stress or cold, so do not jump to conclusions. With my knowledge, I could see if my plants were showing a lack of something and so whether they needed boosters or not. Because the granules from the gardening centre seemed to not be doing much, I went to the grow shop and got some Canna Groei en Bloei. This fertiliser works wonderfully. Within a few days all deficiency symptoms had vanished. Do not be too generous with fertilisers though. Better too little than too much of a good thing, I learnt to my peril. For sure, do experiment, but only with a few plants at a time, or else should something go wrong, you could just lose the whole lot.

You have to develop a feel for fertiliser. You can do this by closely observing your plants and trying to determine what their needs are. Leave them without any stimulation for a few days until some yellowing starts to show. In this way you can work out how long they can go without and what it takes to get them back on track. A shortage is filled up quickly, whilst an overload can be devastating.

It's now some three weeks later and I switch over to 12 hours of light and so start with the blossoming phase. The three weeks that followed were unbelievable. The K2's doubled in size and had good strong stems. It was really impressive how they rocketed upward, developing white hairs everywhere.
Yet I was restless. Something could still go wrong. A crop is only a successful harvest once the heads are dried (and even then!). There you have it again. Once the initial three weeks of the growing or should I say, blooming phase was over, a phosphorous deficiency began to become apparent. What else could I do but rush to the grow shop for a bottle of phosphorous supplement. It was either that, or watch them wilt. My first crop was not much other than rushing off down the grow shop for another necessary product. I did not mind at all as I was determined to achieve a successful harvest. For sure!

It's a month later and the plants are developing wonderful buds. Delightful. That's got to be what we do it for. I read somewhere that pk-13-14 produced firmer tops so I had to have it. I added that to what they were already getting. No harm, I thought, yet I sat waiting as if before the chopping block, waiting for the worst to occur. Once in a while, a friend of mine would come by and check them out. He was always amazed by how much they had changed. Because I saw them on a daily basis I was not so aware of their growth as he noticed on his weekly visit.

With only two weeks to go and much expert advice from the grow shop, everything was looking very promising. The heads were firm and full with resin. All those glittering THC particles under a bright light is certainly something to see. And yet I did manage in my clumsiness to destroy one plant completely before the end.

By the way, when I had fetched the clones, I had also put a few of them into the ground outside. Under the intense spring sunshine, they had grown into a thick hedge, a meter high and a meter wide. The temperature was staying above 20 degrees. The goal was being achieved.

Snipsnipsnip!

Grab those scissors, it's time to get snipping. Now comes a few days of snipping and sticky fingers full of resin. A word of warning: don't use mothers finest, because the scissors you use for this job will be rendered completely useless afterward. This stuff is very difficult to remove.
All in all, I had achieved a respectable harvest. I reaped 240 grams from under one 400-watt lamp. Not bad for a first try! I had eight K2's, plus four so called White Widow, amongst which was a Sativa. Return per plant averaged out between 15 and 25 grams.

Nothing tastes better than weed you've grown yourself! I shared some within my circle of friends in order to get some feedback. All I got was positive reactions. I used to think the Nederweed from coffee shops was the very best, until I tried my own. Nothing beats your own. For a start, I can be sure of how it was produced and am therefore certain that it does not contain pesticides or such like nasties that are in fond use by commercial growers. And you get to smoke that.

With my four outdoor K2's, things did not go so well. That September just happened to be the worst September of the century, just my luck I suppose. The K2's succumbed quickly to mould. They did hold out until the end of the month, a month of non-stop rain. The K2's proved themselves really tough. But no despair because from their demise, something positive occurred. But about that, more next time.