_________ SWAT MAGAZINE ISSUE TWENTY NINE MAY 2000 __________ / \___________________________________________/ \ / Hemp For Victory! \ / John Shaft \ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (a guide to good growing in the weather disfunctional british isles) This file is dedecated to enable you (the reader) to create and maintain a steady supply of Great Ganja for ever and ever…cool eh? J And your first crop will be ready in 7-8 weeks!!! Despite what they might tell you, Growing ganja is easy! Piss easy in fact, and given optimum conditions it’s the fastest growing plant on earth! So discard all the myths that you’ve heard previously, forget everything you know, and read on… So, firstly we must assertain what it is you wish to do and who you are, no wait, Ill tell you! 1) You enjoy a good smoke, be it resin (probably) or weed (definitely) 2) You aren’t the richest guy on the planet L 3) You can’t really afford to smoke as much as you’d like Most of the ganja we get in england/scotland/wales is resin, for a couple of reasons: a) we don’t have the climate here to grow good weed and b) resin is more compact, and therefore easier to smuggle into the country. What you want to be able to do is supply yourself with the best smoke possible, for fuck all cost. (you can even make a few quid if you feel like selling a bit(!) this file will guide you to growing, step by step Things you will need: 1) Seeds (most people who smoke will have a collection of seeds they’ve collected over the years from good weed, or you can quite legally buy these seeds from many places) 2) Soil 3) Pots 4) Lights 5) An exclusive space (i.e. a room, or a cupboard) Seeds You need high quality seeds in order to grow high quality cannabis! This much is simple. You may already have a collection of seeds which you’ve collected from good ganja over the years. Or you may have friends who do, they’ll usually be more than happy to give you some seeds in return for some of the finished product J If you don’t have seeds from these sources, you can always buy them from a distributor. I suggest seedbank (www.seedbank.co.uk) for quality seeds, although there are many other distributors. (try to buy Dutch Passion seeds, or Sensi Seeds as these are by far the best) Good seeds should be light green and meaty looking! Soil Soil is a fairly important part of growing your dope. You need sterilised soil to make it grow vigourously, but hey! I’ve saved you the trouble of searching the stores, buy this: B&Q multipurpse compost. I’ve found this to eliminate the need for separate potting soils and planting soils Pots Okay, you need a selection of sized pots. Start very small and move gradually to a large one. (don’t just chuck your seed in a big pot, this will encourage the roots to grow straight down, as opposed to spreading out) Lights Lights are definitely the most important part of any growers equipmet. Let me explain. If you give your plants the wrong light spectrum, they will grow, but Will Not produce any THC, which is the active ingredient, and therefore they won’t get ya battered! Do not use a normal lightbulb. So, why kind of light do you need? Well there are several kinds, the best being HPS (High Pressure Sodium) this however is a fairly expensive light, (about £100) Bu there is another alternative! You can also use normal fluorecents, (the kind your mum has in the kitchen) An exclusive space You need an exclusive place to grow your plants, because in order to get them to produce the right stuff, they need their condition controlled (especially light) Try to find a cupboard or a room you don’t use (okay finding a room might be a little hard if you live with your parents, but a wardrobe should be easy) Okay, so now you have the seeds, you need to germinate them. Pop them in some little plant pots filled with the soil. Push them down gently, so they’re covered by soil, but not too much (about 2cm is good) Now, place them on the windowsil where they’ll get good light, and water them slightly. GROW!!! Once germinated, your little plants are ready to put under the light. You should keep the light about 30cm’s above the seedlings. Until they’re at least 3inches tall (I know I keep switching between metric/imperial systems but hey they teach us this shit at school right?) You should have the seedlings in your cupboard/room and have the light fixed directly above them. When the seedlings are 3inches tall, move the light closer to them, (about 5 inches from the top) this will encourage the plants to be bushy and not as tall. Now as I’ve previously stated, light is the most important factor in growing good weed. You need to set a light cycle, for the plants. Set your light cycle for eight weeks. For the first six weeks, your plants should be given 18 hours light a day. This will make them healthy and delicious! Now for the last two weeks you need to give the plants 12 hours of light (this will force the plants in to the flowering stage, and create juicy buds) Note, in the final two weeks your plants will have 12 hours light a day, and you must ensure they have complete DARK when the light isn’t on. The plants have a hormone, which will notice when the light cycle drops to 12 hours, and then begin the flowering process. Cool eh?? Preperation for Consumption Okay!! give yourself a pat on the back and get someone to shake your hand. Hell give yourself a cigar, and a blowtorch to light it with! So you’ve grown some killer weed, and now you want to reap your crop. No problem. There’s a couple of ways to give your ganja a better “cure” or taste, and stop it tasting like homegrown hillbilly shit. Firstly, pull out your plants, roots and all, and hang them upside down in an airing cupboard. Put a paper bag round them loosely and leave the for a day. Check em in the morning and they should be sweet! Or, if you just can’t wait to try your dope, pick a few buds off, (enough to keep you happy for a day) and pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, turn the oven off and then pop the buds in for about 5mins. Before you hang the plants, if the leaves are any good (sticky-see below) take the leaves off first, and out them in empty jam jars. Keep them sealed and in the sun. Check them often to make sure there’s not too much moisture in the jar. If there is, then take the leaves and spread them on some newspaper until they’re dry. Hints and Tips Here’s a few hints and tips to help you on your way to superweed! 1) Try and keep the room/cupboard where you’re growing your plants hot, generally the hotter the better, to about 85 F. This will make the plants think they’re in danger of drying out and they’ll produce resin on their leaves to keep themslves cool. Nice sticky plants are the best kind ! 2) If you can sell some of your first crop, save £40 and buy yourself a Hydroponics Unit. If you can afford one anyway, all the better. Hydroponics, control the root system of the plant, and will ensure you produce probably the best weed you’ve ever smoked. 3) Try to keep a supply of fresh air to your plants, they need air (well carbon dioxide) to survive. A fan (not too close though) will encourage the plants to have stronger stems 4) Buy some baby bio or other plant food and follow the instructions (usually means givinng them the food about once a week) 5) Never tell anyone about your operation. People tell people and it’ll soon be out, not only do you run the risk of being busted, but also having your house turned over! Okay, that about wraps up the basics in a pretty small guide, hope you’ve learned something! Any questions/comments feel free to mail me direct, the more people who grow for themselves, the better!!! John Shaft Shaft_is@hotmail.com