If you can smoke it yourself, you can grow it yourself. My goal is to eliminate dealers, big commercial growers and governments, from kidnapping our special plant. We have the right to grow our own plants. Especially Cannabis.

 

If you have trouble reading the text, use the zoom function of your web browser, or copy the text to Word.

 

I have written this stuff a while ago when i was on top of my micro grow game, if i can put it like that ;) Im now growing in a bigger setup, with more equipment so i will definitely update this grow guide.  If you like my content, consider supporting me as a Patreon.  

 

Also, take a look at my Youtube channel! I upload videos frequently and you can find a lot of info there and you can comment on a video for help.

 

Enjoy! Much love.

1.       Micro grow?

 

 

 

Since the moment I started with my pc grow box, a lot of people asked me if it would be any worth it, and next to that if it would even work properly. I have proven that it is possible and that you can get a decent harvest from it. But obviously when you are a full time smoker, starting a micro grow isn’t the smartest option to get your own personal stash. Or maybe it is? Some people smoke a joint a day and that’s cool! Some people smoke 1-2 grams a day and some people even smoke more then that.

 

 

 

There are no specific measurements or specifications for the term micro grow. I call a pc grow box a micro grow. But bigger growers would can a grow box of 60*60*120 cm a micro grow. When growing in a small pc box, and when you don’t have a lot of experience, the harvest will be between 10-20 grams of dry bud. For some people that is really a lot. Some people smoke that in two weeks easy. So it’s important when someone uses the term micro grow, you need to know what dimensions this person is talking about. When your grow space is larger then a pc box, and you have a grow tent of 60*60* 120 cm. In that case you can harvest 50-100 grams dry bud easily.

 

 

 

I think another interesting factor is that when you are doing a micro grow. It’s clear that you won’t do that to supply your neighborhood with Cannabis. It is for personal use. When you have a big setup. A room full of plants. People will ask questions a lot faster and they will assume you are dealing. This is somewhat understandable. I mean when you have like half a kilo I your house because your are growing much more then you can smoke, it's logical that people will ask questions like that faster.

 

 

 

Another advantage of micro grow is that you can make a stealth setup. Like you probably will know I grow in a PC grow box and I do this because I don’t want people asking questions. And with that I mean family that is coming over, little nieces of nephews that are playing etc. A PC grow box is stealthy because people will think it is a pc box. But of course you can do the same with a speaker or a server box or a kitchen cabinet! There is so much possible. People even grow with passion in a carton box. That is something I would not advise. But it is definitely possible.

 

 

 

A lot of growers look down on micro grow. I had a lot of times when big growers laugh or disrespect my pc grow. They get 200 grams or more per grow cycle and I'm trying to get 50 grams. So I can understand why they think it's funny. But there is a Dutch saying: wie het laatst lacht, lacht het best. It means that you shouldn’t laugh to fast because you don’t know the end result yet. I think you learn much more in a micro grow, where you need to be very careful and effective with everything you have. For example, when people are building a very large complex. They first make a small model of the building. With a micro grow you are doing exactly the same.

 

 

 

For a lot of people, to get 30-50 grams out of a grow, that’s still an amazing accomplishment and when you think about what that weed would have cost you. It's even easier to understand why micro grow is definitely worth it.

 

 

 

When you are growing in a small place you also have a disadvantage. All electric devices produce heat. Same goes for lights. They produce some serious heat as you probably will know. When growing in a small place the heat can be a problem. A cannabis plant needs a steady temperature around 26,5 degrees. To much heat gives the plant stress and will force the plant to produce fluffy buds. Using lights in a small place also has an big positive aspect. Light looses its intensity when it shines at a far distance. So when you use lights in a small space, that light keeps it intensity and almost all the light gets straight to the plant. The light that doesn't shine directly on the plant, easily gets reflected back on the plant. That's why good reflection material is super important.

 

 

 

When I started my micro grow, I used a nice big flowerpot. I did that because I wanted a big harvest. You can have the best grow lights in the world. If the flowerpot is small. The plant will stay small. Picking a decent size flowerpot is clearly very important for the quantity of the end result. I had a pretty good grow with a big flowerpot in my small pc grow box. I was very happy that I got more then 25 grams of dry bud from that grow. But if you would look at that grow, you can see that I applied a lot of low stress training. Low stress training is a technique where you bend the main stem and or side branches so every part of the plant gets light. An advantage of this technique is also that you can bend th branches in the exact way that you want.

 

 

 

Like I mentioned I was happy with a harvest of +25 grams dry bus, but I just could see very clear that there was, much more possible. The more LST you apply, the more you will stress the plant. The Cannabis plant can take a lot of stress but off course you don’t want to stress the plant unnecessarily. In a grow 99% of th times you will make a big or small mistake. That also causes stress to the plant. So when you apply LST and you also make a couple of mistakes. You are seriously stressing the plant. When you grow non Autoflower Cannabis plants ( feminized or photoperiod plants), under a lot of stress these plants can even start to produce seeds and can even turn hermaphrodite. Hermaphrodite is that a plant is both male and female. With Autoflowers you don’t have that problem.

 

 

 

It’s important in a micro grow is to pick the right flowerpot so the plant will grow big, but not so big that you need to apply so much LST that the plant stresses a lot during the whole grow process. You can also use several smaller flowerpots. This is called a sea of green setting. More about that, later in this book.

 

 

 

 

 

2.       Getting started.

 

 

 

It’s important when you start, that you do proper research. But when you read this book, you will have done your research. I have done it for you, and I will share it all in this book. The reason I mention this, is because the basics are very important and you can make mistakes by doing small things wrong. Believe me I am talking from my own experience. I messed up a lot of plants and that is not I nice experience.

 

 

 

Even before you start you need to check if the grow space you are using is suitable for growing. The most important factor in the temperature. So are you living on the top floor? Then you will probably have hot summers. I know everything about it. This makes growing a lot more difficult. A high temperature causes heat stress. A low temperature on the other hand is not a problem and even has advantages. The light will work as a heater. When it is extremely cold, there are simple and cheap heating matts that you can buy and place under the flowerpot. But the high temperature is most of the time the biggest problem.

 

 

 

A room where the humidity is to high or to low, that can also give problems. A high humidity is good to have the first weeks of the grow cycle, but when the humidity is to high the last weeks that can give bud-rot and that is catastrophic and makes the buds unusable. When the humidity is to low, the plant will have a difficult start. The science behind humidity in a grow cycle is like this: When the humidity is high, the plant will take water/ moist from the leaves. When the humidity is low, the plant will take water/moist from the roots. Every stage of the grow asks for a different humidity level. But it’s better when you have a low humidity. The reason is: rising the humidity humidity is easier to do then lowering the humidity.

 

 

 

You can rise the humidity by doing these simple things:

 

1.       Spray the plant with water

 

2.       Spray the inside of the grow box/ grow tent with water (watch out with wiring)

 

3.       Store a wet towel on the grow box

 

4.       A cup of water

 

 

 

When the humidity and temperature is correct, you can start checking for the equipment and off-course t he grow box, grow tent or whatever you are going to grow in. You can make something yourself. You don't have to be super handy it's basically building a box and make holes in it for ventilation etc. But you do need to have some tools of course to build what you want. An advantage here is that you can make it exactly how you want. With specific dimensions. But on the other hand, the grow boxes and grow tents that are available, come in a lot of different sizes. When you build a grow box or a grow tent you have the option to buy it empty or with everything in it. Grow boxes are a lot more expensive then grow tents. When you buy a grow box you also pay for the design and nice or expensive materials etc. You have some beautiful grow boxes out there.

 

 

 

When you found the right space and you have all the equipment, there is a choice you need to make. Are you going to grow one or two big plants. Or are you going to grow a lot of small plants so you cover the whole floor (this is called a sea of green setup SOG). Both can give you great results.

 

 

 

An advantage of a nice big plant is that you are very much in contact with that plant, it’s easy to spot problems because you are constantly focused on that one plant. A negative aspect is that when you mess that plant up. You mess up your whole grow. When you have several plants, you can experiment a little. You give one plant a bit extra or other nutrients then the other one, to check and compare how they develop. But this is just to give you a insight about the possibilities. Your precious plant is not something to take lightly and try crazy stuff on. You need to be prepared and know what you are doing. In that case growing can be super easy.

 

 

 

I would like to mention some more important differences between growing one or two plants in stead of filling the whole floor of your grow box ( sea of green SOG). Like I mentioned, both have their advantages and disadvantages. A big plant is strong and has a thick stem and thick side branches, making it easy to carry heavy buds. But going for several smaller plants in a sea of green setting also has a big advantage. I will explain it.

 

 

 

A Cannabis plant (like other plants) needs to carry nutrients and water etc, from the soil to the leaves. That means there is a process where fluids inside the plant gets transported from one place to the other. When you cut a stem, you will see what I mean by fluids. You see see clearly that there is a hole in the stem where the fluid of the plant goes trough. When you have a big plant with long branches, it takes longer for the plant to transport nutrients from the soil to the leaves. I mean the road (branches) are longer so it’s almost logical that it wil take longer for the leaves to get the nutrients and water from the soil. So it’s very simple. You want the plant but also the branches to keep short. This way the plant can do its work efficiently. Having several smaller plants means you need to buy more seeds, but if you are growing non Autoflower/ photoperiod plants, you can take cuttings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.       Window grow

 

 

 

You can setup a very serious pc grow box or fill up a whole room with plants or you can plant some nice Cannabis plants outside in your garden. But what also is a interesting option, is to place a Cannabis plant by the window. The sun will grow the plant. The sun is still the best grow light you can get so if you do it correctly, a window grow can be interesting.

 

 

 

An advantage of a window grow is that you are growing indoors with sunlight. So you don’t have bug problems that you can have outside. But if you let windows open all day, you can definitely still have bug problems inside. Some bugs also come with soil (these are most of the time not harmful).

 

 

 

With a window grow it’s important to know that you need to turn around the flowerpot daily, so the whole plant can catch sunlight. Also you need to check when the sun comes up, if it shines on your window! Mayb your room or window is on the other side (where the sun goes down) and if your plant is constantly in the shade it won’t survive. Plants need light to live, this is called photosynthesis. It’s also a very good option to place the plant on different positions or move it into different rooms where the sun is shining. You can also take the plants outside but watch out for bugs. Also when the sun shines very bright, it can burn the plant.

 

 

 

But there are definitely a lot of people that have succeeded with a window grow. Believe it or not. That is actually how I started. I bought a complete set with soil, 2 seeds and even a small bottle of nutrients was included. This set was for starting your own window grow. But I think the people who created that set knew that the users will think about an extra light source ;) That’s how I started growing. I thought: hey why not put in a extra CFL. And I could see how much that helped the plant growing.

 

 

 

But back to the window grow. A important factor is that when you are doing a window grow. You have a Cannabis plant behind your window. Even people who don’t smoke can recognize a Cannabis plant faster then you think. The reason for this is because you see a lot of times where police forces are proud to show on the news how they destroyed a Cannabis grow setup etc. So be aware for neighbors that will rat you out! Where I live they will only take away the plant but there are countries where you can get in a lot more trouble.

 

 

 

But a window grow can definitely work out for some people. Just think: you have a big nice window where you could put several plants behind. A window grow won’t give a big harvest but when you have several plants you will still have a nice stash of homegrown buds to smoke. But again, remember that a window grow won’t give you a big yield. Even in a pc grow box the harvest will be much bigger. Or when you have some Cannabis plants outside in your garden, the plants can get seriously big and in that case will give you a great harvest. A plant behind the window only gets a part of the sunlight. The glass absorbs some of the light. So there is not much light for the plant, and minimal reflection like in a grow tent or grow box.

 

 

 

I think a very good option is to put the plant s under some CFLs for a part of the day and for a part behind the window. That way you use sunlight which is cheap, but you fill up the needs of the plant with CFL bulbs.

 

 

 

4.       Guerilla grow

 

 

 

I have described several ways to grow: micro grow, window grow, outdoor grow. But there is another interesting option that relates to outdoor growing. With a outdoor grow you put some Cannabis plants in your garden or on your balcony. With a guerilla grow you place a Cannabis plant in nature, on a secret spot where only you know off.

 

 

 

This is done in a lot of places around the world. An big advantage is that no one can relate you to the plants. So you won’t risk the bad consequences because the plants grow free in nature now. But a negative aspect is that other people can take it away. Like I mentioned. Cannabis plants have a look that a lot of people will recognize. And also when flowering they will give a strong smell. And who says your friends won’t harvest it before your? Or friends of those friends who indirectly heard indirectly that some beautiful plants are growing free in nature to grab? I think you understand my point. You need to keep your stuff secret. But more about that later in this book.

 

 

 

When you are planning to setup a Guerilla grow, it’s important to know that just planting a seed in nature will have a very low success rate. The first days the seedling is super fragile and the chance is very big that without care, the seedling will not survive in nature. But when the Cannabis plant is a few weeks old, the plant will become much stronger. At that point the plant will have some serious roots. When the plant is a few weeks old you can transfer it from your flowerpot to the soil in nature. From there the plant needs to take care of itself.

 

 

 

But you can definitely help the plant. You can do a couple of things before you put the Cannabis plant in the soil on your secret spot in nature. One of the most important things that is highly advisable to do: is preparing the soil. A Cannabis plant needs special soil. It needs to be light so the roots can grow without to much resistance. Soil for tomatoes or pepper can work also but watch out that the soil doesn’t contain to much nutrients.

 

 

 

By preparing the soil, you pick the specific spot and you remove some of the soil on that spot and replace it with Cannabis soil. While you are doing that you can also add raw nutrients. Liquid nutrients will officiously wash away very fast when raining etc. Its advisable to go for the organic way since you are growing in nature, your organic nutrients will blend in with nature nicely. The brand Plagron sells raw nutrients, you also have the brand Fertafort the makes tablets that you can add to the soil.  They stay in the soil for a long time making it perfect for a micro grow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.Everything about grow lights

 

 

 

Lights are everything for a plant. In nature the plant can enjoy the nice sun. That is absolutely the best grow light you can get! But when growing indoors you need to pick the correct light. What food is for human beings, that is light for the plant. So definitely not nutrients, not water, but light is food for the plant. Just as we get nice and thick when we eat good. When the plant gets enough light it will grow big and because of that can create big buds. When the plant doesn’t get enough light, it will stretch. The plant itself and the branches will get unnecessary long. Also the plant will create large inter-nodes when it doesn’t gets enough light. Internode is the space between the branches. You want small inter-nodes and strong branches. Light has a very big impact on the growth.

 

 

 

A lot of people add extra nutrients and water their plant as much as they can. This works contra productive. Plants live on light, simple as that. This is called photosynthesis. So it’s important to remember that whatever you do. If the lights aren’t powerful you cannot get good results. We also cannot be healthy if we don’t eat. Or if we don’t eat in a right way, to little, bad quality, we will see the symptoms very fast. So when you start a grow, be aware that a good grow light is essential to get good results. More wattage means a bigger plant = a bigger harvest. So wattage is very important when picking a grow light. Professional growers even measure how much they will harvest, with how much light they are using. So if they grow with 100 watt, they can get 1 gram per watt = 100 grams. But I’ve got to mention that 1 gram per watt is unrealistic to expect as a beginner. You will always make mistakes on your first grow and you learn during the grows. 0,5 grams per watt is more realistic and very  possible to achieve, even when you are a beginner. Read this whole book  carefully and you must succeed. If I can do it. You can do it also.

 

 

 

There are a lot of grow lights used by growers over the whole world and the type of lights have changed over time. I know that Dutch growers years ago, used lights that also generated heat. Nowadays that kind of grow lights would be classified as total garbage. Heat is one of the biggest negative factors when growing. When you grow in a place where it is super cold. To me that is a advantage. The grow lights you use, function as a heater. HPS and CFL give a lot of heat. LED also give heat but it is much less then HPS or other systems and LED is the most powerful light available. Most of the older growers use HPS lights because they have been used for a long time now. The older growers sometimes don’t want to hear about LED because they have so much good experiences with HPS. But research shows that LED is more powerful and efficient then HPS. If you grow in a place with a very low temperature. Then a HPS light can be a very good choice. Just like CFL bulbs they give a lot of heat. So that can work as a heater function. Another option is to use heating mats that you place under the flowerpot so the flowerpot has a steady temperature. This is a very cheap and simple to use product. But I never had problems with rising the temperature. Lowering the temperature was my problem since day one of growing. An air conditioner is the only solution when it is to hot. Or you can use ice blocks or ice elements to lower the temperature. Sadly this only works in small places and you need to replace the ice within hours.

 

 

 

CFLS are the most cheap option but they are very reliable. They are very strong and they can be used for a long time. More about CFL grow lights in the next chapter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.1 CFL grow lights

 

 

 

When you start a Cannabis grow. Grow lights  are the most important factor. You can have the best soil but if the light doesn’t do anything, the plant will not grow. You can’t use lounge LEDs that give a color to a room for decoration. Those lights simple won’t work because they aren’t powerful enough and they don’t have the correct light  spectrum. The correct light spectrum but also the wattage are important.

 

 

 

CFLS are very easy to use and they definitely do the job. If you live in a country where you can buy good quality Cannabis, I wouldn’t advice to use CFLs. They only contain a small part of the total light spectrum that the Cannabis plant needs. That’s why CFL growers use Cool white light bulbs for the grow (vegetative) stage and warm white for the flowering stage. So for the best result you need two type of CFL bulbs. But to be honest. I just use warm white CFL bulbs because I don’t see any problems in the grow stage when I use warm white CFL bulbs. But I think with cold white CFL bulbs the plant would grow a bit faster. I use LEDs after a few weeks of using CFLs, so the plant gets as much different light (colors) as possible. So to be clear: I start with 2* 23 watt CFLs for one plant. And after 2-3 weeks I start adding LEDs. I think CFL and LED together is a very good combination.

 

 

 

But back to the CFL bulbs. You can literally buy them everywhere so you won’t have to search for lights when you want to start a small grow. It’s definitely possible to grow and harvest a plant with CFLs only. I did it. And it gave me a nice harvest. CFL bulbs are also easy to use. You just place them as close as possible. Just watch out that you don’t burn the plant. A method I use is: I set my hand between the light and the plant and if my hand can stand the heat then the plant can stand the heat also. Because of the fact that a CFL needs to be close and because of th facts that the Cannabis plant grows very fast: you need to move the CFL bulbs a lot. If you won’t place the CFL bulbs higher the plant will grow into the light and that will cause light burn. Because you need to move the CFLs a lot, this makes working with CFLs intensive. You could chose to place the CFLs higher, so they won’t cause light burn fast etc, but a CFL bulb looses its strength very fast when it shines further away. So when the CFL bulb is to far away, the plant will grow but slowly. Also it will stretch because that’s how a plant gets more sun in nature.

 

 

 

So, you have two different CFL bulbs. Cool,White for the grow stage and warm white for the flowering stage. They are easy to use. Available in every country. When you start a grow I think, CFLs are a very good choice to start with. The light they give off is very bright also. The purple light of LEDs can make it difficult to spot problems.

 

 

 

One thing I’ve got to mention is that CFL bulbs do use a lot of power. They are not very efficient. And with a lot of power I don’t mean that th police etc will spot you. Because you are using a enormous amount of power. None of that. A airco uses a lot more power for example. But what I mean is that a Cannabis plant needs about 50 watt. So you would say: with 2 *23 watt CFL bulbs I’m almost at that level. But 50 watt of CFLs is not very powerful or impressive.. on the other hand 50 watt of LED power, that is serious stuff. So please understand that the wattage is important. But CFL wattage is not the same as LED wattage. And then you understand why I ,mention that CFLs are not very efficient as a grow light. They use a lot of power when you compare to what they put out. Also, CFLs generate a lot of heat. And believe me LEDs produce a lot of heat also. But the big differ nice is that LED shines very far and because of that, the light itself is further away from the plant, which results in less heat problems. But with a micro grow the light is most of the time close to the plant so understand that both generate heat. Like every electrical device. But LED gives you a lot more power for the same amount of watts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.2 LED grow lights

 

 

 

Now let’s go to LED grow lights. When you talk about LED grow lights there are two systems. You have bug LED grow systems. Most of the times growers use those. They have a square form and have the size of a birthday cake (good example right). In my opinion for what they put out, the size of a system like that is very decent. You have LED grow systems from 100-600 watt in very different price ranges. You will even find a 200 watt LED for less then 100$ and another LED light of 200 watt close to 400 euro. That is because LED technology is changing very fast. When LEDs were introduced, HPS growers laughed about it and the argument was that HPS could never replace LED. But the LEDs are becoming so strong and the quality also gets better and better. So when buying a grow light you will see LED grow systems from different generations. But even the most simple (but decent) led grow system will give you some amazing buds.a led grow system has a electricity cord, so it’s plug and play.

 

 

 

The other LED grow light is in a e27 form. E27 is the code for the lights that you see in a table lamp. The one that has a screw head so you can install it and remove it when needed. You must have seen on before! The advantage of e27 LED grow systems is that that they are not expensive. Big LED grow systems are getting very cheap also but you will never find a LED grow system for $10 dollar. You can definitely find a e27 led grow light for $10 dollar and maybe even two pieces. But let’s be clear. When you have a decent size grow box. So minimum 1,50 meter in height, e27 bulbs are not what I would advice. Just go for a nice LED grow system because there is one very important rule when growing: more light = more weed.

 

 

 

Now that I’ve mentioned the importance of enough lights. LED grow lights are more difficult to use then LED grow lights. It’s no rocket science but when you don’t have any experience with using LEDs you need to do some research.what makes it even more difficult is that when you would look online, and check what the makers of the lights advice. You will see different answers! Does that mean everyone is just talking nonsense? No, definitely not. What makes LEDs very different from CFLs, is that the way they are build and the LED diodes they use, the material etc, so you understand my point: e27 grow lights are very different from each other. You got Chinese quality (some of those are getting very good) you got decent German quality. Some of the e27 LED grow bulbs are of the highest quality and can be compared to the bigger led grow systems. But you also have some very bad quality led lights. It’s not difficult to spot those. But you need to be careful.

 

 

 

You can spot cheap LED grow lights because they use a lot so LED diodes. A LED diode is the actual light in a e27 LED grow light or in a bigger led system. With the cheap LEDs you will see that they use a lot of non powerful LED diodes in the led light. Because of that, the light contains a lot of LED diodes. It’s logical that a weak light like that contains a lot of LED diodes, because they need to make up for the weakness, so they place more. And to be honest, I don’t think that the people who made those LED systems wanted to make a weak, bad grow light. But again th reason for this is technological developments. The first e27 LED grow system just contained weak LED diodes. And over time they will disappear.  But this doesn’t mean they cannot do the job. Because of the fact that a LED light needs distance between the light and the lamp to work, when you don’t have enough space. Using a weaker light can be a option. So it’s not all drama with weaker LED lights. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages (dutch saying).

 

 

 

After all this information in this section about LEDs, I think you now have a idea how different LEDs actually are and how fast the technological developments are happening. CFLS are easy to understand. LEDS are a bit more difficult to understand. But believe me it’s no rocket science! Although some people sometimes want to make it look difficult so they look smart.

 

 

 

Like I mentioned before, when you purchase a LED grow light or a e27 LED grow system, watch the LED diodes they are using. To give you an simple example: I bought a E27 LED grow system of 21 watt. That’s quite powerful I can tell you. And that led light only contains 7 LED diodes. So it puts out 7*3=21 watt. But some e27 LED grow lights of 10 watts have close to 20 LED diodes. I think you understand what I mean.

 

 

 

A LED grow light, most of the time gives off purple light. The light is actually not purple but this is a combination of red and blue LED diodes, and together they give that identical purple light. The blue light is comparable with the cool white CFL bulbs, and this color spectrum is for th grow stage. The red LED light is comparable with the warm white CFL bulbs, and this spectrum is for th flowering stage. LED grow bulbs contain red and blue so you can use the bulbs during the whol grow stage.

 

 

 

So, I’ve mentioned why there are red and blue LED diodes. But when you would look online, you will see that some of the more expensive LEDs also contains other light colors then red and blue. Like I mentioned, red is for flowering and blue is for growing, but does that mean a LED bulb with red and blue, is perfect for the whole stage? Well in theory it is. Red and blue LEDs are essential. But to create the perfect spectrum, a light needs some other color tints next to blue and red. Such as orange, pink and even infrared. But you will see that the biggest part are still red and blue led diodes.

 

 

 

If I may advise you with your LED grow light purchase, I would go for a LED system with a light switch. A light switch gives your LED system the best possible spectrum for the grow stage and with the switch you can switch it to the perfect spectrum for the flowering stage. This way your plant gets exactly what it needs but you also save energy! And nowadays you can buy a led grow system with a light switch for a very nice price.

 

 

 

LED is the future. HPS has been used by a lot of growers and most of the Cannabis Cup winners, are grown with HPS. The reason for this is because they just didn’t had other stuff years ago. But times are changing. It has been said that HPS gives bigger buds, but LED a better quality and more frosty buds. But again LED is the future.you even see growers of fruits and vegetables are using LEDs now. That says enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Autoflower or Non Autoflower?

 

 

 

There are some big differences between Autoflowers and Non Autoflowers. Autoflowering Cannabis is pretty new in the business. Cannabis is thousands of years old. But the Ruderalis gen that has been crowned later to Autoflower is not even a 100 year under us humans. Off course it was longer in nature. We just didn’t discover it. In my opinion, we will discover some more stuff. Or it will evolve with us.

 

 

 

But back to the question of this chapter. Which one is the best? Well actually I can be very clear about that. A non Autoflower, soa strain that does not contain the Ruderalis gen, is in theory stronger. I will explain that. Ruderalis is different then the well known Indica or Sativa. It has been found in Eastern Europe and parts of Russia. And where Indica and Sativa are different from each other but both still contain a lot of THC. Ruderalis contains almost no THC. Just like Hemp. But Ruderalis does has a very special ability. It can grow itself from seed to harvest under literally any light schedule. Growers knew that was a special ability so they started with crossing Ruderalis with Indica and Sativa and Autoflower was born. The first Autoflower was Lowryder from the seed makers Joint Dockters. The first Autoflower strains were not very potent. Some older growers laughed about Autoflowers and labeled it as not a real strain. What they meant is that whatever you do, a Autoflower still contained the Ruderalis gen and because of that, was not the real deal. And they were partially right. Like I mentioned the first Autoflower strains were not very potent. But that is changing rapidly. The downside is that Autoflowers stay a bit smaller. But that also can be an advantage when doing a micro grow.

 

 

 

After the release of the first commercial Autoflower: Lowryder, different seed makers started making their own Autoflowers. And since then they are only improving them. And we already have come to a stage, where there are a lot of Autoflowers that surpass the older non Autoflowers with THC content and terpene profile. The seed producers even started making XL Autoflowers. As the name suggests, they grow bigger then the regular Autoflower.

 

 

 

Especially outdoor growers are very happy with Autoflowers. Indoors it’s easy to control the circumstances the plant is growing in but outside that is a lot more difficult. So when you plant a Autoflower outside, you actually don’t have to do anything! In nature you have rain for watering and the plant can even use natural nutrients in the environment. However it’s important that you create a nice spot when you plant your Autoflower, so you add special soil and raw nutrients are advisable. But after that is basically waiting for harvest. This makes Autoflowers so special.

 

 

 

But also indoors Autoflowers can be handy. You don’t need to use a timer because Autoflowers grow under any grow cycle. You can grow them under 24 hours or light if you want.