Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible

L) of water weighs eight pounds (3.6 kg); 50 × 8 = 400 pounds (180 kg) of water a week! It is much easier to run in a hose with an on/off valve or install a hose bib in the room than to schlep water. A three-foot (90 cm) watering wand attached to the hose on/off valve makes watering easier and saves branches from being broken when watering in dense foliage. Hook up the hose to a hot and cold water source so the temperature is easy to regulate.
    Step Six: Ideally, the floor should be concrete or a smooth surface that can be swept and washed down. A floor drain is very handy. In grow rooms with carpet or wood floors, a large, white painter’s drop cloth or thick, white Visqueen plastic, will protect floors from moisture. Trays placed beneath each container add protection and convenience.

These plants are growing in 3-gallon (11 L) pots and spaced on 6-inch (15 cm) centers. The 5-foot (2 m) high walls are covered with white Visqueen plastic.
    Step Seven: Mount a hook strong enough to support 30 pounds (14 kg) for each lamp. Attach an adjustable chain or cord and pulley between the ceiling hook and the lamp fixture. The adjustable connection makes it easy to keep the lamp at the proper distance from plants and up out of the way during maintenance.

Keeping heat inside the room is as important as keeping it out! Insulation will keep heat out, and the heat generated inside the room will be easy to control.
    Step Eight: There are some tools an indoor gardener must have and a few extra tools that make indoor horticulture much more precise and cost effective. The extra tools help make the garden so efficient that they pay for themselves in a few weeks. Procure all the tools before bringing plants into the room. If the tools are there when needed, chances are they will be put to use. A hygrometer is a good example. If plants show signs of slow, sickly growth due to high humidity, most growers will not identify the exact cause right away. They will wait and guess, wait and guess, and maybe figure it out before a fungus attacks and the plant dies. When a hygrometer is installed before plants are brought into the grow room, the horticulturistwill know from the start when the humidity is too high and causing sickly growth.
    Step Nine: Read and complete: “Setting Up the HID Lamp” at the end of Chapter Nine.

This drawing shows how to install a vent fan. Adding rubber feet or padding around the fan will dampen noise.
    Step Ten: Move seedlings and rooted clones into the room. Huddle them closely together under the lamp. Make sure the HID is not so close to small plants that it burns their leaves. Position 400-watt lamps 18 inches (45 cm) above seedlings and clones. Place a 600-watt lamp 24 inches (60 cm) away and a 1000-watt lamp 30 inches (75 cm) away. Check the distance daily. Hang a precut string from the hood to measure distance.

A vent fan and an oscillating circulation fan are essential to maintain a healthy environment.

Greenhouses and Cold Frames
    This simple overview of greenhouses and cold frames will give you a feeling of what to look for and how to plan your project and reap a heavy harvest. Several links below will help you tap into the wealth of information on greenhouses and cold frames.
    Greenhouses, cold frames, and hot frames are all useful in extending the growing season and/or protecting new plants and seedlings. Which type of structure you select depends on the size and location of your growing area, how much money you have to spend, how much time you have to grow, and security issues. Simple cold frames and hot frames can be assembled from common materials like old framed window panes and hay bales. Greenhouses are generally larger and more complex. They can be expensive to build and maintain but offer more flexibility for growing time and building use.

A watering can works well in small gardens and to apply small amounts of fertilizer.
    When deciding on a growing structure, first carefully analyze the project on paper. Consider how much space you have for the footprint and how many plants you can grow safely. Cold frames are small and can be as simple as a glass or plastic frame set on the ground with no artificial heat source. Their basic function is to protect young plants and seedlings from wind and cold in the early spring, but they can also be blacked out to induce early flowering and harvest. Hot frames are similar in size and structure but provide heat through manure, electricity, steam, or a