Ian & Stuart's Australian Mac: Not for Sale/Another.not.for.sale (Australia).iso/Dr. Doyle/marijuana growers/pot.cultivation

Text File | 1994-10-06 | 34KB | 571 lines

Greetings.  This is a pamphlet that I typed up from a handwritten copy
that I received a couple years ago.   I've just finished typing it in
but there's still some proofreading to do.  While there are still a
few typos in here, I would like to post it to alt.drugs.  With the
anon server gone, I'm hesitant to do this however.  Call me a coward
or paranoid, but I just don't feel comfortable posting something like
this with with my name on it.  If you could, would you post this to
alt.drugs for me?  I don't want credit for it, but I think its a decent
pamphlet worthy of posting, especially the section on lighting.  Tell
them its from an anonymous source or take credit yourself if you like,
it's not important to me.  Also, let me know what you think of the
file, I honestly don't know how valid some of this information is.
When typing it in I edited out a couple paragraphs of truly absurd
advice so I'm sort of suspect about the rest of the file (but it sounds
good at least).  I also added the editor's note at the end.



                  Indoor Marijuana Cultivation


Introduction:

     Growing  marijuana  indoors  is fast  becoming  an  American
Pastime.   The reasons are varied.   With the increased  interest
and experimentation in house plant cultivation, it was inevitable
that people would apply their knowledge of plant care to  growing
marijuana.   Many  of those who occasionally like to light  up  a
joint may find it difficult to locate a source or are hesitant to
deal  with  a perhaps unsavory element of  society  in  procuring
their grass.   There is, of course, the criminal aspect of buying
or  selling  grass;   Growing  marijuana is just  as  illegal  as
buying,  selling, or smoking it, but growing is something you can
do  in the privacy of your own home without having to  deal  with
someone  you don't know or trust.   The best reason  for  growing
your own is the enjoyment you will get out of watching those tiny
little  seeds you picked out of you stash sprout and become  some
of the most lovely and lush of all house plants.

Anyone Can Do It

     Even  if  you haven't had any prior experience  with  growing
plants in you home, you can have a successful crop of marijuana by
following the simple directions in this pamphlet.  If you have had
problems in the past with marijuana cultivation,  you may find the
solutions  in the following chapters.   Growing a marijuana  plant
involves four basic steps:

1.   Get the seeds.   If you don't already have some, you can ask
     you friends to save you seeds out of any good grass they may
     come across.  You'll find that lots of people already have a
     seed collection of some sort and are willing to part with  a
     few  prime  seeds  in  exchange for  some  of  the  finished
     product.

2.   Germinate the seeds.   You can simply drop a seed into moist
     soil,  but  by germinating the seeds first you can  be  sure
     that  the seed will indeed produce a  plant.   To  germinate
     seeds,  place a group of them between about six moist  paper
     towels, or in the pores of a moist sponge.  Leave the towels
     or  sponge  moist  but not soaking  wet.   Some  seeds  will
     germinate in 24 hours while others may take several days  or
     even a week.

3.   Plant the sprouts.  As soon as a seed cracks open and begins
     to sprout, place it on some moist soil and sprinkle a little
     soil over the top of it.

4.   Supply  the plants with light.   Flourescent lights are  the
     best.  Hang the lights with two inches of the soil and after
     the  plants appear above the ground,  continue to  keep  the
     lights  with  two inches of the plants.   It is as  easy  as
     that.   If  you  follow  those four steps you  will  grow  a
     marijuana  plant.   To ensure prime quality and the  highest
     yield in the shortest time period,  however,  a few  details
     are necessary.

                              Soil

     Your prime concern,  after choosing high quality  seeds,  is
the soil.   Use the best soil you can get.  Scrimping on the soil
doesn't  pay off in the long run.   If you use unsterilized  soil
you will almost certainly find parasites in it, probably after it
is too late to transplant your marijuana.  You can find excellent
soil for sale at your local plant shop or  nursery,  K-Mart,  Wal
Mart, and even some grocery stores.  The soil you use should have
these properties for the best possible results:

1.   It should drain well.   That is, it should have some sand in
     it and also some sponge rock or pearlite.
2.   The  ph should be between 6.5 and 7.5 since  marijuana  does
     not do well in acidic soil.  High acidity in soil encourages
     the plant to be predominantly male, an undesirable trait.
3.   The  soil should also contain humus for  retaining  moisture
     and nutrients.

     If you want to make your own soil mixture,  you can use this
recipe:   Mix  two  parts moss with one part sand  and  one  part
pearlite or sponge rock to each four gallons of soil.   Test your
soil  for  ph  with  litmus paper or  with  a  soil  testing  kit
available at most plant stores.  To raise the ph of the soil, add
1/2 lb.  lime to 1 cubic foot of soil to raise the ph one  point.
If  you  absolutely  insist on using dirt you dug  up  from  your
driveway,  you  must sterilize it by baking it in your  oven  for
about an hour at 250 degrees.   Be sure to moisten it  thoroughly
first  and also prepare yourself for a rapid evacuation  of  your
kitchen because that hot soil is going to stink.   Now add to the
mixture  about one tablespoon of fertilizer (like Rapid-Gro)  per
gallon  gallon of soil and blend it in thoroughly.   Better  yet,
just  skip  the whole process and spend a couple  bucks  on  some
soil.

                           Containers

     After you have prepared your soil,  you will have to come up
with some kind of container to plant in.  The container should be
sterilized as well,  especially if they have been used previously
for growing other plants.   The size of the container has a great
deal to do with the rate of growth and overall size of the plant.
You  should  plan on transplanting your plant not more  than  one
time,  since  the process of transplanting can be a shock to  the
plant  and  it will have to undergo a recovery  period  in  which
growth  is slowed or even stopped for a short while.   The  first
container you use should be no larger than six inches in diameter
and  can  be made of clay  or  plastic.   To  transplant,  simply
prepare the larger pot by filling it with soil and scooping out a
little  hole about the size of the smaller pot that the plant  is
in.   Turn the plant upside down, pot and all, and tap the rim of
the pot sharply on a counter or the edge of the sink.   The  soil
and  root ball should come out of the pot cleanly with  the  soil
retaining  the shape of the pot and with no disturbances  to  the
root  ball.   Another  method that can bypass  the  transplanting
problem is using a Jiffy-Pot.   Jiffy pots are made of compressed
peat  moss  and can be planted right into moist soil  where  they
decompose and allow the passage of the root system through  their
walls.   The  second container should have a volume of  at  least
three gallons.  Marijuana doesn't like to have its roots bound or
cramped for space,  so always be sure that the container you  use
will  be deep enough for your plant's root system.   It  is  very
difficult  to  transplant a five-foot  marijuana  tree,  so  plan
ahead.   It is going to get bigger.   The small plants should  be
ready  to  transplant  into their permanent homes  in  about  two
weeks.  Keep a close watch on them after the first week or so and
avoid root binding at all costs since the plants never seem to do
as  well  once they have been stunted by the  cramping  of  their
roots.

                           Fertilizer

     Marijuana likes lots of food,  but you can do damage to  the
plants if you are too zealous.  Some fertilizers can burn a plant
and  damage its roots if used in to high a  concentration.   Most
commercial  soil will have enough nutrients in it to sustain  the
plant for about three weeks of growth so you don't need to  worry
about  feeding your plant until the end of the third  week.   The
most  important thing to remember is to introduce the  fertilizer
concentration  to  the  plant gradually.   Start  with  a  fairly
diluted  fertilizer solution and gradually increase  the  dosage.
There  are several good marijuana fertilizers on  the  commercial
market,  two of which are Rapid-Gro and Eco-Grow.   Rapid-Gro has
had  widespread use in marijuana cultivation and is available  in
most  parts of the United States.   Eco-Grow is  also  especially
good for marijuana since it contains an ingredient that keeps the
soil from becoming acid.   Most fertilizers cause a ph change  in
the soil.  Adding fertilizer to the soil almost always results in
a more acidic ph.

     As  time  goes  on,  the amount of  salts  produced  by  the
breakdown  of fertilizers in the soil causes the soil  to  become
increasingly  acidic  and eventually the concentration  of  these
salts in the soil will stunt the plant and cause browning out  of
the foliage.  Also, as the plant gets older its roots become less
effective  in  bringing  food  to  the  leaves.    To  avoid  the
accumulation of these salts in your soil and to ensure that  your
plant  is  getting all of the food it needs you  can  begin  leaf
feeding your plant at the age of about 1.5 months.   Dissolve the
fertilizer in worm water and spray the mixture directly onto  the
foliage.   The leaves absorb the fertilizer into their veins.  If
you  want to continue to put fertilizer into the soil as well  as
leaf feeding, be sure not to overdose your plants.

     Remember to increase the amount of food your plant  receives
gradually.  Marijuana seems to be able to take as much fertilizer
as you want to give it as long as it is introduced over a  period
of  time.   During the first three months or so,  fertilize  your
plants every few days.   As the rate of foliage growth slows down
in the plant's preparation for blooming and seed production,  the
fertilizer  intake  of the plant should be slowed down  as  well.
Never fertilize the plant just before you are going to harvest it
since  the fertilizer will encourage foliage production and  slow
down  resin production.   A word here about the most  organic  of
fertilizers:   worm castings.   As you may know, worms are raised
commercially for sale to gardeners.   The breeders put the  worms
in  organic compost mixtures and while the worms are  reproducing
they eat the organic matter and expel some of the best  marijuana
food around.   After the worms have eaten all the organic  matter
in  the compost,  they are removed and sold and the  remains  are
then sold as worm castings.   These castings are so rich that you
can grow marijuana in straight worm castings.   This isn't really
necessary  however,  and  it  is somewhat  impractical  since  the
castings  are  very expensive.   If you can afford them  you  can,
however,  blend  them in with your soil and they will make a  very
good organic fertilizer.

                              Light

     Without light,  the plants cannot grow.  In the countries in
which marijuana grows best,  the sun is the source of light.  The
amount  of  light and the length of the growing season  in  these
countries  results in huge tree-like plants.   In most  parts  of
North America,  however,  the sun is not generally intense enough
for  long  enough periods of time to produce the  same  size  and
quality of plants that grow with ease in Latin America and  other
tropical  countries.   The answer to the problem of lack of  sun,
especially in the winter months, shortness of the growing season,
and other problems is to grow indoor under simulated  conditions.
The rule of thumb seems to be the more light, the better.  In one
experiment we know of, eight eight-foot VHO Gro-Lux fixtures were
used over eight plants.   The plants grew at an astonishing rate.
The lights had to be raised every day.   There are many types  of
artificial  light  and all of them do different  things  to  your
plants.   The  common incandescent light bulb emits some  of  the
frequencies of light the plant can use,  but it also emits a high
percentage  of far red and infra-red light which cause the  plant
to concentrate its growth on the stem.  This results in the plant
stretching  toward  the light bulb until it becomes so  tall  and
spindly  that  it just weakly topples over.   There  are  several
brands  of bulb type.   One is the incandescent plant spot  light
which emits higher amounts of red and blue light than the  common
light bulb.   It is an improvement,  but has it drawbacks.  it is
hot,  for  example,  and  cannot be placed close to  the  plants.
Consequently,  the  plant has to stretch upwards again and is  in
danger of becoming elongated and falling over.   The red bands of
light  seem  to encourage stem growth which is not  desirable  in
growing marijuana.   the idea is to encourage foliage growth  for
obvious  reasons.   Gro-Lux lights are probably the  most  common
flourescent plant lights.  In our experience with them, they have
proven themselves to be extremely effective.   They range in size
from one to eight feet in length so you can set up a growing room
in  a  closet or a warehouse.   There are two  types  of  Gro-Lux
lights:  The standard and the wide spectrum.  They can be used in
conjunction with on another, but the wide spectrum lights are not
sufficient on their own.   The wide spectrum lights were designed
as a supplementary light source and are cheaper than the standard
lights.  Wide spectrum lights emit the same bands of light as the
standard  but the standard emit higher concentrations of red  and
blue  bands  that the plants need to  grow.   The  wide  spectrum
lights also emit infra-red, the effect of which on stem growth we
have already discussed.   If you are planning to grow on a  large
scale,   you  might  be  interested  to  know  that  the  regular
flourescent  lamps  and  fixtures,  the type  that  are  used  in
commercial lighting, work well when used along with standard Gro-
Lux lights.   These commercial lights are called cool whites, and
are  the  cheapest of the flourescent lights we  have  mentioned.
They  emit  as much blue light as the Gro-Lux standards  and  the
blue light is what the plants use in foliage growth.

     Now we come to the question of intensity.  Both the standard
and  wide  spectrum lamps come  in  three  intensities:   regular
output,  high output,  and very high output.  You can grow a nice
crop  of  plants under the regular output lamps and  probably  be
quite satisfied with our results.  The difference in using the HO
or  VHO lamps is the time it takes to grow a crop.   Under a  VHO
lamp,  the  plants grow at a rate that is about three  times  the
rate  at which they grow under the standard lamps.   People  have
been  known to get a plant that is four feet tall in  two  months
under one of these lights.  Under the VHO lights, one may have to
raise the lights every day which means a growth rate of ate least
two  inches a day.   The only drawback is the expense of the  VHO
lamps and fixtures.   The VHO lamps and fixtures are almost twice
the price of the standard.  If you are interested in our opinion,
they are well worth it.   Now that you have your lights  up,  you
might be curious about the amount of light to give you plants per
day.  The maturation date of your plants is dependent on how much
light they receive per day.   The longer the dark period per day,
the sooner the plant will bloom.   Generally speaking,  the  less
dark  per  day  the better during the first  six  months  of  the
plant's life.   The older the plant is before it blooms and  goes
to  seed,  the  better the grass will be.   After  the  plant  is
allowed  to  bloom,  its  metabolic rate is slowed  so  that  the
plant's  quality does not increase with the age at the same  rate
it did before it bloomed.   The idea,  then,  is to let the plant
get  as old as possible before allowing it to mature so that  the
potency will be a high as possible at the time of  harvest.   One
relatively  sure way to keep your plants from blooming until  you
are  ready  for  them is to leave the lights  on  all  the  time.
Occasionally  a plant will go ahead and bloom anyway,  but it  is
the  exception rather than the rule.   If your plants receive  12
hours  of  light per day they will probably mature in  2  to  2.5
months.  If they get 16 hours of light per day they will probably
be blooming in 3.5 to 4 months.   With 18 hours of light per day,
they will flower in 4.5 to 5 months.  Its a good idea to put your
lights  on  a timer to ensure that the amount of  light  received
each day remains constant.   A "vacation" timer, normally used to
make it look like you are home while you are away,  works  nicely
and can be found at most hardware or discount stores.

            Energy Emissions In Arbitrary Color Bands
                    40 Watt Flourescent Lamps
             In Watts and Percent of Total Emissions

                      Daylight    Cool White   Gro-Lux    GroLux WS
Light Type    Band   Watts   %    Watt   %    Watt   %    Watt   %
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~
Ultra-Violet    -380 0.186  2.15  0.16  1.68  0.10  1.42  0.27  3.16
Violet       380-430 0.832  9.60  0.72  7.57  0.70  9.67  1.07 12.48
Blue         430-490 2.418 27.91  1.98 20.78  1.96 27.07  1.22 14.29
Green        490-560 2.372 27.38  2.35 24.67  1.02 14.02  1.24 14.49
Yellow       560-590 1.259 14.53  1.74 18.27  0.10  1.42  0.83  9.77
Orange       590-630 1.144 13.21  1.69 17.75  0.44  6.05  1.36 15.93
Red          630-700 0.452  6.22  0.81  8.47  2.86 39.55  1.86 21.78
Far Red      700-780 0.130  1.53  0.07  0.81  0.06  0.80  0.69  8.10
==================== ===========  ==========  ==========  ==========
Total                8.890 100.0  9.52 100.0  7.24 100.0  8.54 100.0

                     Temperature and Humidity

     The ideal temperature for the light hours is 68 to 78 degrees
fahrenheit  and  for  the dark hours there should be  about  a  15
degree drop in temperature.  The growing room should be relatively
dry  if  possible.   What you want is a resinous  coating  on  the
leaves and to get the plant to do this,  you must convince it that
it needs the resinous coating on its leaves to protect itself from
drying out.   In an extremely humid room,  the plants develop wide
leaves and do not produce as much resin.   You must take care  not
to  let  the temperature in a dry room become  too  hot,  however,
since  the plant cannot assimilate water fast enough  through  its
roots and its foliage will begin to brown out.

                           Ventilation

     Proper ventilation in your growing room is fairly  important.
The  more  plants you have in one room,  the more  important  good
ventilation becomes.   Plants breathe through their  leaves.   The
also  rid themselves of poisons through their leaves.   If  proper
ventilation is not maintained, the pores of the leaves will become
clogged and the leaves will die.   If there is a free movement  of
air,  the  poisons can evaporate off the leaves and the plant  can
breathe and remain healthy.

     In  a small closet where there are only a few plants you  can
probably create enough air circulation just by opening the door to
look  at them.   Although it is possible to grow  healthy  looking
plants  in  poorly  ventilated rooms,  they would  be  larger  and
healthier  if they had a fresh supply of air coming  in.   If  you
spend  a lot of time in your growing room,  your plants will  grow
better because they will be using the carbon dioxide that you  are
exhaling  around them.   It is sometimes quite difficult to get  a
fresh  supply of air in to your growing room because your room  is
usually hidden away in a secret corner of your house,  possibly in
the  attic  or basement.   In this case,  a fan will  create  some
movement of air.   It will also stimulate your plants into growing
a  healthier  and  sturdier  stalk.   Often  times  in  an  indoor
environment, the stems of plants fail to become rigid because they
don't have to cope with elements of wind and rain.   To a  degree,
though,  this  is an advantage because the plant puts most of  its
energy into producing leaves and resin instead of stems.

                 Dehumidifying Your Growing Room

     Cannabis that grows in a hot,  dry climate will have narrower
leaves than cannabis grown in a humid atmosphere.   The reason  is
that  in a dry atmosphere the plant can respirate  easier  because
the  moisture  on  the  leaves  evaporates  faster.   In  a  humid
atmosphere,  the moisture cannot evaporate as fast.  Consequently,
the  leaves have to be broader with more surface area in order  to
expel the wastes that the plant put out.   Since the broad  leaves
produce  less  resin per leaf than the narrow there will  be  more
resin  in  an ounce of narrow leaves than in one  ounce  of  broad
leaves.  There may be more leaf mass in the broader leafed plants,
but  most  people are growing their own for  quality  rather  than
quantity.

     Since the resin in the marijuana plant serves the purpose  of
keeping the leaves from drying out,  there is more apt to be a lot
of resin produced in a dry room than in a humid one.  In the Sears
catalog, dehumidifiers cost around $100.00 and are therefore a bit
impractical for the "hobby grower."

                             Watering

     If you live near a clear mountain stream,  you can skip  this
bit on the quality of water.  Most of us are supplied water by the
city and some cities add more chemicals to the water than  others.
They all add chlorine,  however,  in varying  quantities.   Humans
over the years have learned to either get rid of it somehow or  to
live with it, but your marijuana plants won't have time to acquire
a  taste  for it so you had better see that they  don't  have  to.
Chlorine will evaporate if you let the water stand for 24 hours in
an open container.   Letting the water stand for a day or two will
serve  a dual purpose:   The water will come to  room  temperature
during that period of time and you can avoid the nasty shock  your
plants suffer when you drench them with cold water.   Always water
with  room temperature to lukewarm water.   If your water  has  an
excessive amount of chlorine in it, you may want to get some anti-
chlorine drops at the local fish or pet store.  The most important
thing  about  watering is to do it thoroughly.   You can  water  a
plant in a three gallon container with as much as three quarts  of
water.   The  idea is to get the soil evenly moist all the way  to
the bottom of the pot.   If you use a little water, even if you do
it  often,  it seeps just a short way down into the soil  and  any
roots  below the moist soil will start to turn upwards toward  the
water.   The second most important thing about watering is to  see
to it that the pot has good drainage.   There should be some holes
in the bottom so that any excess water will run out.   If the  pot
won't drain,  the excess water will accumulate in a pocket and rot
the  roots  of the plant or simply make the soil sour  or  mildew.
The soil, as we said earlier, must allow the water to drain evenly
through it and must not become hard or packed.   If you have  made
sure that the soil contains sand and pearlite,  you shouldn't have
drainage problems.   To discover when to water, feel the soil with
your finger.  if you feel moisture in the soil, you can wait a day
or two to water.  The soil near the top of the pot is always drier
than  the  soil further down.   You can drown your plant  just  as
easily  as  you can let it get too dry and it is  more  likely  to
survive  a  dry spell than it is to survive  a  torrential  flood.
Water  the plants well when you water and don't water them at  all
when they don't need it.

                               Bugs

     If you can avoid getting bugs in the first place you will  be
much  better  off.   Once  your plants become  infested  you  will
probably be fighting bugs for the rest of your plants' lives.   To
avoid bugs be sure to use sterilized soil and containers and don't
bring  other plants from outside into your growing room.   If  you
have bets,  ensure that they stay out of your growing room,  since
they  can  bring  in pests on  their  fur.   Examine  your  plants
regularly  for  signs of insects,  spots,  holes  in  the  leaves,
browning of the tips of the leaves,  and droopy branches.   If you
find  that  somehow in spite of all your precautions  you  have  a
plant  room full of bugs,  you'll have to spray your  plants  with
some kind of insecticide.   You'll want to use something that will
kill the bugs and not you.  Spider mites are probably the bug that
will  do  the most damage to the marijuana  plants.   One  of  the
reasons is that they are almost microscopic and very hard to spot.
They  are  called  spider  mites because  they  leave  a  web-like
substance  clinging to the leaves.   They also cause  tiny  little
spots  to appear on the leaves.   Probably the first thing  you'll
notice, however, is that your plants look sick and depressed.  The
mites suck enzymes from the leaves and as a result the leaves lose
some  of their green color and glossiness.   Sometimes the  leaves
look like they have some kid of fungus on them.  The eggs are very
tiny black dots.   You might be wise to get a magnifying glass  so
that  you can really scrutinize your plants closely.   Be sure  to
examine the underside of the leaves too.   The mites will often be
found clinging to the underside as well as the top of the  leaves.
The sooner you start fighting the bugs,  the easier it will be  to
get rid of them.   For killing spider mites on marijuana,  one  of
the best insecticides if "Fruit and Berry" spray made by  Millers.
Ortho  also  produces several insecticides that will  kill  mites.
The ingredients to look for are Kelthane and Malatheon.   Both  of
these poisons are lethal to humans and pets as well as  bugs,  but
they  both detoxify in about ten days so you can safely smoke  the
grass ten days after spraying.  Fruit and Berry will only kill the
adult mite,  however, and you'll have to spray every four days for
about  two  weeks to be sure that you have killed all  the  adults
before they have had a chance to lay eggs.   Keep a close watch on
your  plants  because it only takes one egg laying  adult  to  re-
infest  your  plants and chances are that one or two  will  escape
your  barrage  of insecticides.   If you see  little  bugs  flying
around your plants, they are probably white flies.  The adults are
immune to almost all the commercial insecticides except Fruit  and
Berry  which will not kill the eggs or larva.   It is  the  larval
stage  of this insect that does the most damage.   They  suck  out
enzymes too,  and kill your plants if they go unchecked.  You will
have  to  get on a spraying program just as was explained  in  the
spider mite section.

     An  organic method of bug control is using  soap  suds.   Put
Ivory  flakes in some lukewarm water and work up the suds  into  a
lather.    Then  put  the  suds  over  the  plant.    The  obvious
disadvantage  is it you don't rinse the soap off the plant  you'll
taste the soap when you smoke the leaves.

                             Pruning

     We  have  found that pruning is not  always  necessary.   The
reason  one does it in the first place is to  encourage  secondary
growth  and  to allow light to reach the  immature  leaves.   Some
strands  of grass just naturally grow thick and bushy and if  they
are  not clipped the sap moves in an uninterrupted flow  right  to
the top of the plant where it produces flowers that are thick with
resin.   On the other hand, if your plants appear tall and spindly
for  their  age at three weeks,  they probably  require  a  little
trimming to ensure a nice full leafy plant.  At three weeks of age
your plant should have at least two sets of branches or four  leaf
clusters and a top.   To prune the plant, simply slice the top off
just about the place where two branches oppose each other.   Use a
razor blade in a straight cut.   If you want to,  you can root the
top  in  some water and when the roots appear,  plant the  top  in
moist  soil  and it should grow into another plant.   If  you  are
going to root the top you should cut the end again, this time with
a  diagonal  cut  so as to expose more surface  to  the  water  or
rooting  solution.   The  advantage to taking cuttings  from  your
plant is that it produces more tops.  The tops have the resin, and
that's the name of the game.   Every time you cut off a  top,  the
plant seeds out two more top branches at the base of the  existing
branches.  Pruning also encourages the branches underneath to grow
faster than they normally would without the top having been cut.

                      Harvesting and Curing

     Well,  now that you've grown your marijuana, you will want to
cur  it  right so that it smokes clean and won't  bite.   You  can
avoid  that "homegrown" taste of chlorophyll that sometimes  makes
one's  fillings taste like they might be dissolving.   We know  of
several  methods  of curing the marijuana so that it will  have  a
mild flavor and a mellow rather than harsh smoke.

     First,  pull  the plant up roots and all and hang  it  upside
down  for 24 hours.   Then put each plant in a paper  grocery  bag
with the top open for three or four days or until the leaves  feel
dry to the touch.   Now strip the leaves off the stem and put them
in a glass jar with a lid.   Don't pack the leaves in tightly, you
want air to reach all the leaves.   The main danger in the  curing
process  is mold.   If the leaves are too damp when you  put  them
into the jar,  they will mold and since the mold will destroy  the
resins,  mold will ruin your marijuana.  you should check the jars
every day by smelling them and if you smell an acrid  aroma,  take
the weed out of the jar and spread it out on newspaper so that  it
can dry quickly.   Another method is to uproot the plants and hang
them upside down.   You get some burlap bags damp and slip them up
over the plants.  Keep the bags damp and leave them in the sun for
at least a week.  Now put the plants in a paper bag for a few days
until the weed is dry enough to smoke.   Like many fine things  in
life,  marijuana mellows out with age.  The aging process tends to
remove the chlorophyll taste.

Editor's Note and Important Warning:

     This  pamphlet  was written about 8 years  ago.   While  the
facts,  figures,  and methods described here are still valid,  an
important  note  must  be  added  concerning  the  purchasing  of
equipment and supplies.   The information age is upon us and  and
increasing  amount of data is being kept about all of us  whether
we realize it or not.   With the war on drugs in full effect, the
D.E.A. is using this information at every possible opportunity.
     When you make a purchase with a credit card,  every last bit
of  information  regarding  that purchase is filed  away  into  a
database,  both  at the store and with your credit card  company.
Not  only the price,  but the exact  date,  location,  and  items
purchased are recorded and stored away.   Many stores and  credit
card  companies routinely sell their databases of  customers  and
transactions  to  anybody  who can  afford  it.   The  D.E.A  can
certainly afford it.  After all, they're using your tax dollars.
     The D.E.A.  as well as other government agencies DO purchase
these  databases for their own uses.   They feed them into  their
computers  and  the  computers spit out a list  of  anybody  with
"suspicious" purchases.   Any purchases that could be  associated
with  drug  production,  use,  or selling could  be  flagged  for
further  investigation.   These  "suspicious"  purchases  include
unusual chemicals,  medical supplies such as syringes, lights and
timers, and even potting soil and fertilizer.
     The point is,  if you are planning on purchasing supplies to
grow  marijuana don't take any chances.   While the average  home
grower,  who  is  simply growing enough for his  own  use,  would
probably never be flagged by the computers,  you never know.   If
you are purchasing equipment or supplies, PAY CASH!  In addition,
many  supermarkets  and  discount stores now have  some  sort  of
"Preferred Customer" cards.   When you buy something,  regardless
of how you pay,  you give them your card to scan and all of  your
purchases are recorded.   They then send you some sort of  coupon
depending  on  what and how much you purchased  each  month.   It
sounds  like  a good deal,  but you wind up having  all  of  your
purchases  recorded  and sold just like with  the  credit  cards.
DON'T  use  one of these cards when you are  purchasing  anything
that might be deemed suspicious.  For that matter, don't use them
at  all.   They  just result in a ton of junk mail and a  lot  of
people knowing exactly what you buy and when you buy it.