DIY CLONER HYDROPONICS SYSTEM

-=- READ WHOLE FIRST PARAGRAPH BEFORE MOVING -=-
First this system is based off the full plants design found Here in another post on this same website.
so make sure you build that system, the changes will be to the lid so do not build the lid in that post.
Simply save the lid.
You should also use a cloning size bubbler, so a smaller basin then you would normally use or is suggested
in that post, perhaps a 2 foot wide by 1 foot deep, but half foot tall would do well.
-=- End -=-


What you need:
Bag of sponges, the non abrasive ones that are nice and fluffy. The one pictured here will also work
if you keep the abrasive side UP.




 Typical Sponge for washing dishes, ETC.






Plastic cups, Standard size - Cut the middles out of the bottom but not the whole bottom.
Center your cut and leave 10% of the bottom on around the edges, this will be to support
the sponge. Now cut the sponge so it will fit loose on the bottom of the cup.
Now remove a portion of the sponge, to accomodate a stem of a cutting.


Now design your lid as per instructions found Here but to accommodate the small cups.
Now you cuttings stems should go down through the center of the cups "which will help humidity if the walls go up the plants as well"
The stems should go at least 1 inc below the sponge, then drop the sponge into the cup.
The stems should be into the nutrient solution of your bubbler, when they root. simply slit
the sponge and remove them, now plant your new clones in pots or a permanent hydro system.


For more information comment below and I will answer within 12 hours.

How to plant seeds.

While this I know there are "Effective methods" that doesnt mean they make sense.
For example, ive never understood why anyone would want to use paper towels, even for older seeds. Silly.
IF your seeds are old, soak in a small amount of water to assist, dont germinate in paper.
Even if its worked perfectly for you, why be so paranoid, if it germinated in the paper towel it would
have germinated in soil, or rockwool; exactly the same.

Now, im not going to tell you plant cannabis seeds at this depth, or tomato seeds at this depth, instead
im going to give you the tools you need to always know how deep to plant a seed. lets get started

First note the shape of the seeds your planting, are they long like this  ===  ? or round like this (O) ?
Is one end knotted like so [)  where it appears to have been connected to the plant?
Cannabis seeds are round and knotted for example, lets keep going.
Are your seeds 6 inches long "Mango" or half to 1 milimeter in diameter "Poppy / Tobacco"
Are your seeds flat with a center bump "Tomatillo/Tomato/Peppers of any kind"
Golf balls? "Bulbs such as garlic or tulips".
Region, is it from africa? "Leonotis leonurus aka Wild Dagga" or Mexico? "Salvia divinorum / Diviners Sage"
All of which ive grown and they need very different things!


Now normally I wouldnt do this, but I want this information to sink in so write this down as you see it below.

Size:____________________________________
Shape: __________________________________
Color:__________________________________
Knots:__________________________________
Flat:____________________________________
Region:__________________________________
Notes:__________________________________

Now lets fill in that list, For size simply write how big it is.
Shape is also easy, flat and round or long and tubular, oval and partially flat or diamond like.
Color should be filled in with the color of fertile, ready seeds, White strawberry seeds wont grow, see what im sayin?
If theres a knot in your seed simply put yes here, knotted seeds should planted a certain way, we will get to that.
Flat seeds also should be planted a certain way, and while theres debate if its important or not ill fill ya in on
what it is, and why.
Region should be filled with country, then that countries information on climate, why you ask?
Well this determines many things, some seeds wont germinate above or below temperatures, or will
require a cold freezing period to break dormancy, these things are relevant to where a seed came from.
And in cases after germination, humidity and how much water will play a roll based on this information too.
Notes should be filled in with whatever else you got to remember, the internet is a big place and you
can get notes from there, for example, to grow Diviners Sage, humidity has to be 70% or greater or
the plant will stagnant and not grow at all, it can become brittle and die.
The web will tell you otherwise, but ive grown 3 of these plants and found all othter information to be false.
Even if you train the plants to live in low humidity it will just stagnate. Lets get started
For cannabis, simply using "Indica or Sativa" is generally enough, but different enough to be important.
Sativas like warmer soil to germinate, while indica can germ in cooler. flowering for indica and all hybrids is 12/12 while for sativas should be 11/13.


WHAT SIZE TELLS YOU:
For the size of the seed, excluding overly large ones, the seed should be planted at a depth, 3 times the sizeof the seed. excluding "long" seeds, more on that in a second.
So cannabis seeds should be at about 1 inch deep, tiny seeds like strawberry or tobacco should be place on top of soil, then lightly dusted with dirt 1 mm to 2 mm deep only, then misted so as not to wash them in.

WHAT SHAPE TELLS YOU:
Round seeds should be planted anyway you see fit UNLESS its knotted or abnormal, more on that in a minute.
Rounds seeds generaly are placed into thier holes whichever way they fall and left to grow.
Flat seeds should be planted with the broad sides up and down, this assist in shedding when the stem bend comes up, as it will leave the seed head in the dirt just a little longer this way, this is a good thing as it keeps
the seed coat moist longer, and when it finally pulls out the seed leaves will be larger leaving the seed in the ground. Not doing it this way can sometimes cause it to come up with the shell still on the seeds, at which
time it will harden in the air, and the plant will have to fight harder to remove it, sometimes a plant can also
die.
Long tubalar seeds like many flowers should be planted side to side, not up and down for the same reason
flat ones are planted that way. The exception to this is large seeds that do not grow out of the dirt and
just send up a plant from it, Mango, Garlic, Onion etc do this. As well as most bulbs.
The seed of a Mango tree for example, does not turn into seed leafs, but is more like "a hunk of root"
It will send a root tip down "which starts off as an amazing 1cm diameter :O" and then will send up
a tree stem, which creates brand new leafs. I grew one of these to 2 feet tall before it died and to
this day im not sure what caused it, going to do it again :)

WHAT COLOR  TELLS YOU:
Simply put you wouldnt plant a white seed when it should be green, (cannabis)
or a green seed that should be white "Tomato, Strawberry"
Or white that should be black "Watermelon, Poppy(some are blue and white though, check your variety)"
Its a safe bet if you bought your seeds that majority color is correct, if your harvesting your own
try to remember the color the seed was, or use the internet, dont even waste time on immature seeds.
Even on the rare chance they grow, the plant will look like it has retardation and will never be quite right.
The odds are less then 5% though, dont bother.

WHAT A KNOT TELLS YOU:
The knot side will NEVER be the side the root time extrudes from.
Its the side that some seeds have from a connection to a stem.
This side should be planted UP, for some plants it doesnt matter "Like cannabis" but will shave a day
or two off when youll see the plant come into the air. The sooner a plant is in the air the faster
it will start to grow. 2 days sooner into vegetative stage is 2 days sooner to everything else too.
Some will argue to plant it down, so when the tip emerges going up, it will turn to go down and make a stronger stem and root system. This is just retarded as it will do that anyway with or without your help, so
why choose to stagnate progress.

WHAT A FLAT SEED TELLS YOU:
Using the shape of the seed to determine orientation theres a small tidbit more information.
Flat seeds generally grow up a bit differently, usually showing stem before leafs.
Cannabis does this too without being flat, but I believe some knotted types show this behavior, not all.
Flat seeds will (90% of the time) have large amounts of stored energy, and larger then average seed leafs.
"For the plant types of course that have them", and while this information isnt critical, its good
knowledge to have in case you want to grow a vine. More on that in another post, another time.

WHAT REGION TELLS YOU:
Seeds come from plants, its no secret, but where that plant comes from, might be.
So if your having no success in germinating perfectly viable seeds, you can be your ass its because
your not satisfying the region it came from.
Some seeds like poppy will not grow in warm soil, above 22*C
Some seeds like cannabis will stagnate "but may still grow, slowly" outside of the range 22-30.
With sativas probably 24-32*C.
Youll need to find this out on your own as im not going to make a list here, would be huge but if your
reading this chances are you already know how to use yahoo or google to find what you need.
I will say this though, soil temperatures are going to be lower then the room temperature.
Dont assume because the room your in is 24*C that the soil will be, because it wont.
Heating mats and fridges, TVs tops etc can warm soil, while using frozen sheets or towels can bring it down some. Just be patient and experiment with the stubborn stuff.
Simply applying air flow can also lower soil temp without affecting room temps.
Humidity will play a roll too, stubborn seedlings can die if they emerge into 30% RH.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KEEP FOR NOTES
Region information is a good idea, or what you successfully did to pop stubborn seeds.
Information on what a seed hates is good too.
Does a seed germinate better in clay or sandy soils? put that here as well.
Does it prefer rich damn rainforest like dirt, or desert sands as far as nutes go.
Put that here as well.



What you now have is a small information card to hang on too for your seeds. Keep them in a small book
or something, dont loose it.
You could do it for everything you grow, or what different strains like of the same plant "Tomato or Cannabis are good examples of this"
But remember, im not responsible for what you do, im not doing it, you are.
Use code names, anagrams, nicknames, make up shit for the names if your doing it for
Cannabis or Papaver somniferum, more shit to help lock you up isnt what your intention is, so be smart.

Making hash the easy way.

Kief, Hash, Pack, Brick, Brown, Bowl rubber, sticky icky.
Whatever you call it, its the same thing; and making it is a pretty easy task.
You can use anything from left over cut/trim from harvest, or entire buds.


The Screen Method

You will simply need "bubble bags"
or a mesh screen of about 125-150 micron.
The larger the mesh, the more youll have, but the lower the grade.
With the opposite being true as you reduce screen size. Do not go over 175 is my diagnosis.
Going below 110 is also a pretty bad idea.
You will also need a few liters worth of ice if using bubble bags.

For the screen, suspend it over the whitest brightest paper you can find, and "gently" wave the grass
back and forth across it, the good stuff will go through and the bad stuff will not.

For bubble bags, "which will separate your shake into 'grades'", you put the smallest micron bag in first
then each other in that order untill your bags are in place, then your ice, your shake, and water untill
your bags are 80% topped up. Now vigorously mix with a hand blender for 10-15 minutes and then allow to sit
an hour.

Fill cellophane with your mixes "or if in grades, separate cellophane" and wrap tightly.
Wrap in 5 layers of newsprint and wet, tape it up. Use a rolling pin, cough leg and then have sex on it :)
whatever it takes to compact and tight that as much as you can.
Rewet the paper, make sure your tape is holding and bake in an oven of 100*F for 10minutes
then repress.

The Blender Method

Put water in a blender. Add a large handful of leaves, stems, seeds and weak weed. Put it in 3 or 4 ice cubes and blend it for 3-4 minutes or so. Just make sure everything is chopped very finely. Second, you will need a gold reusable coffee filter. Get a large mouth quart mason jar, and strain your Slurpee mixture through it. Once you have strained all the liquid through, run some more water through the leaf material to wash any extra trichomes through.

After a few minutes you will notice a white collection at the bottom of the jar, this is the trichomes. Let the trichomes settle at the bottom for about 20-30 minutes. Next, pour off the top 2/3's of the filtered green water, leaving the settled trichomes at the bottom. Add more ice water to get the green stuff out, and let the trichomes settle at the bottom for about 20 minutes again. Repeat this step one more time. Pour off as much water as you can without pouring off trichomes, filter the resulting trichome/water mix through a paper coffee filter. The trichomes will not go through the paper, but the water will. When all the water has gone through, slightly wet, cold, mass of trichomes will be left. They will be easy to handle and to press.


Never store wet hash! it can mold.

How to prune/top cannabis.

Pruning marijuana isnt hard, in fact you should prune every plant at least once regardless of its lineage.
That may be a bold statement, but i'm sticking to it until proven otherwise ;)

Weed can be pruned any number of times, And at each site will cause two top, and in addition all
side sites will also begin to grow, causing a Christmas shaped plant to bush like a rose bush.
Stubborn indica plants, or with sativa traits as well, to bush out the same. View the image here:

Note at each internode, there is a small set of leaves there, but they do not grow on a stem, they just
exist at the joints while the plant shoots straight up the middle.

 

If you cut the top of that plant, growth will stop in the main cola/stem and then the leaves that existed
in the joints before will stem up and grow. This causes as much as double the bud sites as before.
In addition, each new bud site can be pruned again and again.


To do the prune, you seek the growing top "Technically any growing 'tip' will be what you need"
Look for the 3rd internode from the top, and cut about a half centimeter above the joint.
Growth will appear to stop for a day or so, then youll notice your new tips growing :D

Do not prune closer then 1 week of flower.
Do not prune when you have transplanted at least 2 days after. And wait untill growth resumes
if it hasnt in that 2 days time.
Do not prune sick plants.
Do not prune baby plants.
Do not prune clones before they are sturdy and growing fast.
Do not prune insect infested plants.
 Although I never do it, you could apply a small bit of cooler wax, or gel to the cut site on the mother plant
to help against drying out, ive never had the problem. If you do keep it in mind.
You can easily "clone" anything you cut off the mother.
Not only will you get a bigger yeild from the mother plant
But you can get another tiny plant with a few more grams on it, Remember its all free anyway, you wernt
cloning, just topping :D

Questions?

DIY BUBBLER HYDROPONICS

This is a simple bubbler system, the easiest to DIY, and operate.
Bubbler systems also use less nutrients then a flow system "usually 1/3rd" but read your product labels.
I cant find my camera wire :/ and its proprietary so im shit outta luck at the moment, ill use
microsoft paint to demonstrate every step that needs it.


Notice: To make a cloner DIY Bubbler make the lid according to THIS POST.
So do not do your lid as make here, do the rest then click that link!

What you need.
1) A bucket with a lid - Any bucket size really will do,  but remember the size will determine plant size
or how many plants you can even plant. A margarine container would work for example, but would be silly.
2) Plastic cups / Net Pots. "You can make your own net pot, just put holes half way up the side of your cups, and evenly along the bottom."
3) Aquarium air pump, aquarium tube about 4' long should be enough, and an air stone.
If your bucket is really large, 2 airstones, a Y splitter, and a 2 smaller " 5 inches? " air tubes.
This will allow an air tube at each end of your water tank.
4)Grow medium, Typically anything will do, find some online. For me Ive used even aquarium gravel for with
success, give it a try!

Heres an image of your final setup.

Lit should be flat without curvature, preventing problems holding the plants pots in place.

The cuts should be about 1/4 inc smaller then the actual pots, then cut slits out to the width of the
pot, this will allow a tighter grip against your pots.

Image two shows great patterns to follow when putting in your pots.

Make sure the  holes you cut "carefully" into the lid do not overlap, keep pots of equal space apart.

Water level should be just above the pots, as roots grow, lower water level "and nute level" accordingly.

Pots should be tight and snug, not loose or weak. use thicker plastic. Make sure holes they are in
support them up well, dont let them fall in.

Your reservoir "the largest bin" should be as light proof as possible. This reduces fungi, mold or
water Bourne  algae, which will suffocate your plants and use up your nutrients.

Keep PH according to the plants your growing, easy to use testing strips are available all over.
 If you wish to buy bigger you could get a digital probe.

Your pumping air inside, so make sure its fresher air. Roots actually need both Co2 and oxygen.

Water should be topped up if needed. And the entire water should be changed each 7-14 days.
Cannabis and tomato, 7 days. Lettuce and herbs, 14 days; etc. use your judgement here.

Dont grow root vegetables silly ;p

Check daily! Hyrdoponics "this system is the most forgiving type" is not a forgiving way to grow
the plants react fast to toxins, Ph problems, etc. check your system daily "several" if permitted.
If your used to soil growing forget what you know "some of it lol". Soil is the most forgiving way to grow.

Hydroponics isnt for the the less intellegent, if you cant use the image above in all its simplicity, you may
not be ready to operate one. Harsh but truthful, believe me.



Questions and comments go below, happy growing!

How to avoid the big bust. Dont get busted, dont get caught.

A) Smoke at home, why smoke in the open? You have little to no protection against search and seizure law when your not in your home.

B) Do not keep drugs in the glove box, thats just silly. Its the first place fuzz will look if searching.
Be clever, or leave your stash at home, theres no reason to take it everywhere with you.

C) This goes for your ashtray too, leaving roaches or dimes in the ashtray will only get you busted.

D) Ganja, lighters, pipes, bongs, hookah's, never should be left in plain view, and again if you keep
the smoking at home, theres no reason to have it with you anyway.

E) Driving under the effects of marijuana is the same as drunk driving, its cause for DUI/DWI charges, will
get you searched. I also dont condone it, drunk/high driving is selfish, and dangerous. walk or cab it.

F) If you must transport something, keep it in a locked box, locked suitcase, locked ****** etc.
It will require a warrant rather then a search and seizure law. If they dont have one they will break
the law and it will be unable to be used against you. They know this however and will not.

G) Hide you stash well, waterproof baggies in a vial of lotion for example. better yet, but that vial of lotion
in your locked bag.

H) IF you have something on you, dont speed, run stop signs, U-Turn or hit a cat; etc. Youll get pulled over.

I) High in public? Dont appear to be high if you have drugs on you. If you cant do that, keep your stash in the home.

J) If you keep everything together, youll have one place to worry about if you know they are comming.
Beats running all over the house looking for stuff. In addition having legal herb around will give a good
reason to have a bong for example. Just make sure that the legal smoke is also in view if your going to
go that route, and explain it slowly, and dont be beligerent. Keep the stash hidden will and you
may not even suffer a search.

K) If you have to carry dope around, keep 1 small amount. if you have to carry alot keep it in a single bag.
You dont wanna add selling to your list of charges. In addition, dont have weapons of any kind on you, even
an innocent looking pocket/swiss army knife can add very serious charges. even if it was only used to cut
your bud. The police can be real shit heads, and make it look different, weither they know the truth or not.
Remember, your not the only one who wants to look good at your job.

L) Never, ever, ever give permission to be searched if asked. This usually means they cant search without
permission because they have no grounds, so dont give it to them. If you think your clean make sure of it
before you give the OK, if your unsure, just say no. Id say no regardless if i was carrying or not.
If you dont have grounds, dont waste my fukin time, simple.

M) If arrested in the home, police can search a limited area around you without a warrant, usually within
10-15 feet, and anything you can see/reach under, over, jump or crawl at.
Generally the room your in and everything in it. Remember that when choosing where to hide your stash.

Tips added below that are valid will be added directly to this list for all.

Growing Onions - The chefs master ingredient.

How to grow onions?
Onions are planted much like garlic; from seeds, or bulbs.
Onions are terrific at being "Macho" and will do well pretty much anywhere, indoors and out.
In the crack of your walkway, or down the mud at the side of your house.
Of course it would do better if you didnt grow there, but they would!
There is such a fantastic array of onions to choose from too; bunching green, leek, white, brown,  spanish and red.
and of each color is another myriad of choice for each, as example, white onions then have:
Sweet baby, tiny tott, table top, welsh. and this list goes on. Hundreds to choose from.
So once you have your bulbs/seeds in hand here goes!
----
TIP: You can plant the bottom root portion of a grocery store onion as a bulb!
 Simply cut it off the bottom intact, and leave a small portion of flesh, bury 1cm deep.

---
TIP: For bunching onions, leave 1cm of green growth left, and slice off half off the bulb.
Leave the small green plant sticking above soil, and the half bulb below ground.
The bulb will redevelop and the plant will regrow.
---

If planting from seeds, place seeds about 1.5 to 2.0 cm deep and about 30cm apart on all sides.
Soil should be moist of course, with fresh potting soil added for nutriment. But will grow from sandy to clay like.
Onions are frost resistant and can be grown in most climates, but for best results late march is a good time to start.

Keep weeds at bay, they tend to make onions very angry and cry :D weeds do well around onions
and will ruin a good onion if you let it. And like garlic can slow and delay onion growth.


To harvest onion, pull up the vegetable, and remove any dirt, leave it on the ground where it was picked
in the wind/sun for about 48 hours. After, remove the onion tops, leaving 2cm of papery husk left behind
to help prevent rot, much like garlic; this will happen fast if you do not. Remove roots leaving 1/8" behind.


Watch for "onion fly" and treat promptly.

TIPS:
1) Onion fruits based on photoperiod unlike other similar/same family vegetables "eg garlic"
12-14 hours of light per day, the start of fall, will trigger the bulbing to occur. Remember this if groing
indoors under HID.

2) Onions and Garlic are a main ingredient in many insect repellents, you could make your own.

3) Using soapy water "to break down water skin" will drown most problems attacking onions, from thrips to root maggot; which will eat your bulbs with a bib on and laugh at ya.

4) After harvest, if you remove the bottom "when cooking for example" you can replant the root portion
Just place the intact root piece with a bit of flesh still intact in soil, and cover with 1cm.
Technically youll never need to buy seeds or bulbs again "or ever if you do this from a grocery store onion."

Growing Garlic - Very Easy to do!

How to grow garlic?
"Garlic can have a dormancy, and 4 weeks in the fridge can break it"
"Most times the grocery store one will just grow! so give it a go."
"After you plant a clove or two, the rest should go in the fridge, in case it doesnt take"

Garlic can be grown indoors or out, greenhouse or grow-tent, and living room or open sky!
First, unless your looking for a very specific variety theres no need to buy garlic bulbs from
a nursery or walmart's gardening department.
A simple visit to your local grocer will do just:
A) Make sure you like it, cook with a clove or two first; which helps you determine if.
B) It is fresh, brown spots or rotting garlic shouldn't be planted, it may still grow however;
    Probably slow at first.


If growing in pots ensure you put it right into its home, no transplanting of garlic, it doesnt like it.
You will probably want a long pot to grow 4 or 5, or deep pots with a low circumference as its a root
and doesn't need much as far as lateral growth goes.
If growing in soil in a outdoor garden, or greenhouse keep them to themselves away from other plants.
Planting in fall for spring harvest is ideal if growing outside, simply plant just before first frost,
mulch area well with clippings or leaves, and dampen ground; plant 2" deep.
Many garden veggies tolerate each other, garlic will not. Ive seen garlic stop growing when a weed
popped up near it, keep this in mind.
Garlic is extremely easy to grow if left to its solitude, both from you and other plants.
Use high quality soil for bigger and better garlic, manure or compost is great for this and should be
added to the hole before you plant your clove/bulb. Regular potting soil will also do well.

Growing garlic from seed is possible, but its very moody, hard, and needs generations to adapt to
the area your growing, keep it to bulbs. Bulbs are literally just the cloves of garlic, remove the papery
cover and plant rooted "rough" side down, pointed side up about 1 or 2 inches below soil level.
If growing in a pot, 1 inch is enough, going too deep will be bad if your pot isnt deep and it should be!.
Do not remove the hard bottom off your cloves, the piece that was connected to the flat basal plate
is where your roots are born, and damage could delay or prevent growth.


Like potato, garlic needs pretty even soil moisture for uniform and healthy growth.


When its ready, the plant "which looks like green onion" will brown and dye back.
This is where you pull your garlic from the ground, carefully!

After garlic is harvested it needs to be cured. In curing the energy from the leaves goes into the bulbs as they dry. Remove any chunks of dirt from the roots, being careful not to bruise the garlic. Leave the roots on as they have a moderating effect on the drying rate. Root removal will be done after curing is complete.

Two weeks of drying/curing is ideal but ive always just left it for 1 week. If unsure
or new to garlic leave for 2.

TIPS:
Garlic can be sunburned, do not allow it to dry in the sun, or grow above ground. The taste becomes
gawd-aweful.

Move the crop! do not plant garlic in the same spot each year, every two years only. This means
Switch spots with your peas, or lettuce.

Do NOT compost garlic plant, Im not sure why, this is just what i was taught. And have never done it
if you try, or have, please let me know below. it will be added to this post directly for all to share.

   Addition by Ryan - Below poster thanks for helping me complete this.
  """ Garlic can be composted, but the cloves do have a tendency to sprout. If you chop them up before adding     them you should be alright. Worms don't seem to care for garlic, so keep it out of worm bins. """ -3.15.2011

Soil bourne disease can spread in garlic very fast, if you suspect this problem, pull it and dispose
clean any tools "shovel, spade etc" after to prevent spreading.

Before storing, remove as much root as you can without touching the basal plate.
You should have about 1/8" left of roots. and about 1" left of paper above the actual garlic.




Remember, garlic grows above ground fast, try it and be amazed!

Can you believe this crap? BLOOD FROM A TURNIP - An Alimony Story

NOTE: This is an offtopic post and has nothing to do with gardening.
Its about the judicial system and all of its flaws, and how one x-wife (or husband?)
can be cruel and vindictive.




Blood From A Turnip: An Alimony Story


It is commonly said that you cannot get blood from a turnip. Apparently the legal system in this County has found otherwise. Over the past few months, I have been a witness to a case where they have certainly succeeded and continue to try. I apologize if this is lengthy but it is 5 years condensed. I tried to be as brief as possible.

R was disabled in 2003 after working for 17 years for Nonprofit Corp. He received long term disability insurance payments until the Spring of 2004 when he received a lump sum payment. He used the majority of this sum to pay off both marital bills and his wife’s credit card bills. (I mention this simply because this is not a case of a spouse who quits his job or becomes ‘disabled’ to avoid paying support. R was out on disability almost a full year before he was separated from his wife.)

He waited the appropriate period of time and applied for Social Security Disability. As anyone knows who has ever applied for disability, this is an ongoing and lengthy process of denials and appeals. In the meantime, he has been left to earn whatever meager income that he can.

He was separated from his wife in the Summer of 2004. She filed for spousal support and was awarded $1300 per month. This is from a man who had no regular income. At the time, he had a small amount of income from his horse business. The judge stated at that time that he had no idea how to figure spousal support payments in this case. He used an average of the deposits from the past three year’s bank statements. Two of those years, R was working and the final year he was receiving disability payments. He never took into account that his current income had been drastically reduced from that amount.

Having little or no income and not being able to pay a retainer, R was forced to represent himself in his divorce. Nothing was mentioned about spousal support until the very end of the trial when his ex-wife’s attorney asked the judge not to address it at that time but to remand it back to the juvenile and domestic court. Not being an attorney, R had no idea that this would make it a permanent part of the divorce decree and so he did not object. The divorce was granted in the Fall of 2007.

Since then it has been found that R has a degenerative joint condition that is affecting both hips . The hip joints are collapsing and they cause him extreme pain. He has gone from taking over the counter pain relievers to taking 3 different prescriptions for pain. On good days, he can walk without crutches. On bad days even the crutches don’t help. He is scheduled for one hip replacement in a few months. Hopefully, if he recovers well from the first replacement then the second will come soon after.

R’s ex-wife filed a show cause for non payment of support last fall. Even though R is living below the poverty level and is currently receiving food stamps and has not been able to work for years, the court ordered him to pay $5000 within 30 days. Needless to say, it was not possible. Not having any source of income, R could not even borrow the money. In April, he was incarcerated for contempt until the $5,000 was paid. With the help of his family and some very, very good friends, I was able to raise the money to have him released.

R appealed the court’s decision and asked for either modification of the spousal support or preferably termination as he is currently unable to work. Monday, July 6th, the judge denied the appeal. His reasoning was that R could not work when the support was ordered, he could not work when the divorce was final and he still can’t work so nothing has changed.

After hearing of R’s medical conditions and lack of income, his ex-wife requested a sheriff’s sale so that the court would force the sale of the rest of his personal belongings. Apparently both she and the court believe that you can get blood out of a turnip.

No one who is familiar with R’s circumstances and the details of the case can believe that this was ordered in the first place much less that it has been confirmed again. His attorney was in shock. No one could believe that our legal system would order him to pay something that was more than his annual income. To my knowledge, he has never been asked what his current income is.

Due to the denial of the appeal, R will no doubt end up incarcerated again because there is no possible way for him to pay this. The people of the Commonwealth of Virginia will end up paying for the senseless incarceration of another person. According to the Denver Post, the cost of incarcerating one person was $23,876 or over $65 per day and that was in 2004.

Neither of us have a clue as to what to do next. An appeal to a higher court would cost more than both our annual incomes combined. We just sit and wait for the next “Show Cause” and wonder how long it will take her to file it. We have both been so depressed that it has been hard to do anything.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please leave a comment or send me an email. There seems to be no hope.

Post below or Contact 'R' if you can help, or have ideas/suggestions.

- - - - -
My 2cents.

The x-wife should be sued for emotional distress, or something along those lines.
Shes is probably aware he cant pay and continues to knowingly do this.
may be something there?

12 Vegetables that can be grown in pots!

1) Beets - I hated beets for years until a friend convinced me to try fresh ones last year. Fresh beets have a whole different taste than pickled ones. These can be grown in as little space as a cake pan and are better picked small and tender, about the size of a silver dollar.

2) Spinach – Fresh spinach is good both cooked and raw and it is another vegetable that can be grown in a small container. The leaves are best picked young and tender. One of the best things about spinach is that it doesn’t have to grow fruit so it doesn’t need a large container to support it. This is a cool weather plant and does not like hot summer days.

3) Leaf Lettuce - Like spinach, leaf lettuce can be grown in a small container and doesn’t need hot summer days to mature. Pick when leaves are young and tender. Start pots at different times so you have a continuous supply. There is also a variety of miniature head lettuce that can be container grown.

4) Patio Tomatoes – They are coming up with more and more types of tomatoes that are suited to container growing. Traditional tomatoes take a huge amount of dirt and grow to be 3 or 4 feet tall and wide if not supported. Patio tomatoes are more compact and were bred to retain a small size and be grown in a pot. Here is a variety of cherry tomatoes that can be grown in a container.

5) Radishes – Like beets, radishes don’t need a huge pot to grow and mature fairly quickly. These are fun to grow and make a great addition to any salad.

6) Green Peppers – These take a fairly good size pot and are definitely warm weather plants but they are not difficult to grow. They can be used in a variety of dishes and freeze well. If you are feeling a bit experimental, there is a new variety of mini peppers that you can buy. They are small and colorful.

7) Green Beans – While I would normally not recommend growing green beans in a container, they have come up with several varieties of dwarf green beans that are recommended and actually as you can plant 16 green bean plants in a square foot I would imagine these would do fairly well in a container.

8) Squash – Again, while squash is not something you would normally consider a container plant, new varieties are very compatible. This mild summer Patty Pan squash is only 2 ft high and 2 ft wide. It may be too big for an apartment but then maybe not.

9) Eggplant – Eggplant is a mainstay in Mediterranean cooking. It’s compact size makes it an ideal choice for container growing.

10) Garlic Chives – This is one of my favorites. It’s a beautiful flower and every part of the plant is edible.

11) Swiss Chard – Fresh Swiss Chard has a sweet buttery flavor that is delicious. The grocery store variety loses SO much of the flavor that it barely resembles the garden variety. Try it fresh and sauted in a bit of olive oil with a hint of garlic.

12) A pot of Herbs - You can mix and match herbs in a container. Basil, thyme, sage, tarragon, rosemary will all grow fine. My choices to put together would be basil, thyme and sage. Basil is an upright annual plant while sage is kind of sprawly. Thyme is a low grower so the three together make an interesting potted arrangement. All but basil are perennial.


Being a clever gardener means being clever, a pot could be anything from the bottom of a coke bottle.
An old 5L ice cream tub, imagination is key; so is the drainage holds you should remember to add
with a drill or screwdriver :D


C achingdebts.

The Urban Farmer: What to grow inside easier!

1) TOMATO or TOMATILLO
These are silly easy to grow, needing only a little time, support (stakes or cage), and a south
facing window. Most of the horror stories about this wonderful plant are from gardeners that plant them
in too cold of an area. They need warmth. Tomato will grow themselves if they are in the right spot.
Id recommend a small heirloom type for indoor cultivation. If you have a HID grow area you can pretty
much grow any type you want "remember though, support the plant, they will not be able to hold up
the tomatoes on their own! For tomatillo follow the above recommendations, do not eat the papery husk
the fruits inside. They look like tomato and taste like pineapple, awesome indeed.

2) SQUASH!!!!
1 plant of squash "or pumpkin/watermelon but those are harder, this post is about what is easy"
will grow to a 6x6 foot area and give you 100s of pounds of food, easily. in 3 months time.
You can just water and forget, they will sprawl all over in SPITE of you.
They dont need as much light as tomato, but still need brighter light.


3)  CARROT!!!
Easy to grow, and fast too, but the problem here is they get deep.
When i grew carrot i used 710ml pepsi bottles "the taller, skinny ones"
and put 1 carrot to a bottle.
If you get the baby type. That grow 2-4" then you can use a balcony planter.
You know the ones, they are half a foot but 3 feet. and go about 7inches deep.
You could easily grow 20-30 baby carrots in there. It should be noted that carrots
can grow in pretty cold areas, if your place is drafty and you been unsuccessful in the past
try carrots, youll have your first taste of success.


4) DWARF TREES
These trees are fantastic, they grow in a single pot, get no more then 3 or 4 feet tall and can provide you
with pounds of fruit like lemons, limes, oranges, kumquats, blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, etc.
Remember they tend to produce starting second year. "Citrus from seed, even dwarf will be longer"
and will give you pounds and pounds of produce.
Some dwarf trees "can produce" from day 1, but will never produce unless they have the
required number of branches, and if you keep cutting them off and pruning they will never bear fruit.
Remember that all plants use different things to tell its age, and citrus trees counts it branches.
 "Not all branches, just nodes off the main trunk of the tree"
Again, only citrus does this, from what ive been told; other trees, like apple, do not.


5) PEA / BEAN
These 2 plants would grow using your carpet if it was "shag" enough ;D
Drop a seed in a pot, keep moist and be prepared.
3 plants of either will give pounds of food in about 50 days to 65.
Of course, type will determine. Not much to say here, but try. Peas love light but shade more.
try to keep it bright and indirect light.
Peas are vines, but climbers. just give them something, anything to grip onto and they will
grow faster and thrive then if they freestand on thier own.
The plant "knows" when it has support and looks for it before growing faster.
The little thin stems are actually "hands" in a matter of speaking, and if they rest against something will
curl around it, then the plant in that area will grow.
Pinching the top will assist in horizontal growth.


6) Any herb, nuff said.

Reduce your food cost, easier then you think.

Food for thought!
Since your already a grower, you have the tools, and skills needed to adapt
and grow pretty much anything.
We all know; since it no secret; that the cost of oil, food
and basic necessities required to live are going up in cost.
With that being said, i have some advice here for the home
grower to help offset a small bit of this cost: here goes!

1) Allocate a small area of your grow tent/room to food.
With all this space and light and technology in place already
it would be nothing to change a few plants out for peas,
tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cabbage, leek, or peppers; to name a few.
Each of them require similar care and conditions and seeds for
each is $1-2 for a 10-50 pack. (neeting $100-300 in food value)

2) Make more efficient use of your space, you may not have to even
reduce your medicine plant count.

3) No space in your hydro system? well if you still got room in and
around your equipment, you may have room for a pot with soil. remember
its all for your own benefit in the end, and besides, soil tastes better
and has more micro-nutrient value "probably due to the slower growth".

4) If your a constant grower, maybe skipping one grow cycle for an
entire crop of vegetables would be beneficial, youll be shocked by
how many vegetables you can grow in a smaller area.
Peas, tomatoes, corn, onions; all very prolific, and take about
the same amount of time to grow.

5) Growing in pots/containers? make sure they are square! a square pot of
equal size has more root room and takes less grow room space then thier
round bretheren. Simply changing to square pots can allow you to add
as much as 20% more pots "depending on sizes of course" under the
same amount of HID light.

6) This doesnt really fit here but ill say anyway; Heirloom and home
grown varieties vs commercial types taste so much better, have better
nutrition, store better, etc. Youll be surprized if you havent grown
your own before. seriously, your going to shit yourself.
Have you ever eaten an heirloom yellow tomatow. damn.

Enemies of Cannabis - Diseases

Looking for pests and not diseases? Click here.
Before we move into this remember 1 thing - PREVENTION IS BETTER THEN A CURE -
Moving on:

Deficiency - This is the easiest to solve, simply find whats deficient and fix it.
A shortage of iron produces yellowed leaves that may fall off the plant. The pH plays a role in the prevention of deficiency disease. Keep the pH value around 5.8. If this value is too low, the plants can't absorb calcium as well. Consequence? The osmotic processes are impeded. Too low a pH number causes less iron in-take, with the well- known results. A second form of deficiency disease is caused by a shortage of the primary nutrients (NPK). It often involves a lack of nitrogen (N). A nitrogen shortage delays growth, and makes the lower-most leaves turn yellow and again, they can drop off.

Molds can completely destroy a garden in a short time. If the climate in the grow room is well-controlled, molds, in general, have little chance. Molds and fungus thrive very well under humid conditions, preferably without much air circulation. Under these circumstances, mold spores, which are always present in the air, search for a spot to grow into mold cultures. If you don't succeed in preventing mold growth, then you must do something about it as quickly as possible. With light mold growth, immediately remove the affected plant parts, and then create a climate in which cannabis does well, and molds don't (good ventilation, control of humidity and temperature, and putting your plants on a medium which is not too wet, but holds water).

Pythuim Mold (Root rot) This affects roots and inter nodes up to the first set of leaves usually. Only in
the most extreme cases will it go any higher. As its the wet soil it lives on, but again, rare.
Root/stem rot can go unnoticed in soil, If ya love your plants though, youll notice it before they cause
the plants to fall over at the mercy of gravity. If this happens and the plant in general is in "ok" health.
Clone the entire plant, or chop it down into many. the base will be destroyed beyond recognition.
To avoid this, constant soil/rockwool temperature will work. extreme dips and spikes increase its growth.

Mildew (aka toprot) attacks plant tops, but can technically attack in opposite of root rot "anything above the first
inter node is susceptible It also looks the same, it will begin to rot plant tops, branches and those bud
sites your working so hard to protect.
Mildew is white, "Powdery white" is a specific type, but describes most mildew well.
You will need to remove the part of the plant and then a bit to ensure safe removal.
sadly in some cases this means the whole plant top. All is not lost, as the plant will recover
and act as if it had been simply topped, and will side branch, it simply sets you back weeks.
Humidity during the dark period is what helps here, if its too high during lights out, mildew can take hold.


Im pretty sure im missing something here, let me know in the comment box below.

Enemies of Cannabis - Grow room pests!

Looking for diseases and not pests? Click here
The list below tells of cannabis, err marijuana and grow room pests.
Even tomato, bean etc are easily over taken by whats listed here.
Ive always been "pro-organic" but i lost a crop worth hundreds to that and now i dont play games.
Get them anyway you can, or youll lost months and hundreds, its just not worth it.
There are non-organic pesticides that break down in 24-48 hours into byproducts of
nitrogen, water, etc. theres no longer an excuse in todays world, 5 years ago yes, but not any more. read on!

WARNING: Any pestitide will do, AS LONG as its label reads safe for vegtable, if in doubt
use a pestiside safe for "tomatos". If your flowers are exremely heavy into budding, you may have problems
and may have to harvest and kill pests in 150*c Oven "any higher you risk vaping THC.
Most insecticides are safe to the day before harvest however, read the bottle. use your head and be safe.

SPIDER MITES - Come in red, clear, and white. These are actual spiders and not a typical insect, they feed off the bottom of the leaves and you wont see them on the tops. If left uncontrolled and entire plant will end up coated; and dead, in a silky very small tightly wound web of pwnt. Although ive never experienced these on cannabis, Ive had them on strawberry plant, no organic method worked, they are as resilient as the prohibition.
Treat with Pyrethrins of Chrysanthemum. "Bug spray with Pyrethrins as its active ingredient", breaks down in oxygen "air" after about a day or two", threat according to the bottle.

WHITEFLY -Tiny white flies found on your plants, they behave the same as spider mites, sap your plant. They lay eggs that are impossible to pull off the leaf without doing subtle damage. While draining sap and sugars from
the leaf. They are noticed sooner then spider mites usually, because you can
easilly notice the white spec flying around your plants. Their flight pattern is similar to that of a moth, and are 2 - 2.5 mm in size. These should be eliminated as soon as possible, they are hungrier then mites, and seem "at least in my experiance" to expand thier ranks faster. Eliminate the same as you would spider mites with Pyrethrins.

THRIPS  - Very fast moving with wings " In later life stages" and look as it is pictured to the left when young. They are sap suckers that leave a shiny residue everywhere. Once they can fly they become very hard to control
and you must take action before this happens. Treat with anything that controls Thrips, including Pyrethrins sprays. Aside from sap they will
also "ravage" leaves penetrating it half way through to eat the
chlorophyll inside, then coat it in slime. The damage is not reverable because of that action.

PILL BUG  - These are not actually a harm to any plant taller then a few centimeters, but ive listed them as a threat to the outdoor garden. They are about a half cm long and curl into balls when they are afraid, they arent actually an insect either.
These things like to nibble on the new stems of new plants for water and food.
While harmless to some plants, they tend to chop down cannabis seedlings
like little DEA lumberjacks, if you start your seed inside/clone inside first you
will not even known these enemies. Treat an area with Spinosad if seeding
directly outside. or dome each grow spot with a pop bottle for the first part of life.
they can hide a bit under soil so kick around and treat the area with spinosad well.




Im probably missing a few, and will add them if i remember, leaving comments below for types not listed
will help me remember lol :)

Making clones / Taking cuttings, easier then you think!

First and foremost keep three rules in mind.
1) Never cut from a sick plant, it wont end well.
2) Clones and cuttings, regarless of thier "cut" age or size, are actually the same age as thier parent.
3) Leave enough on the mother plant, as well as the cutting for both to move on with thier life healthily.

Whats a node?
A node is a spot on any branch that gives off new branch or leaf growth.

Whats an internode?
The stem area between two nodes on any branch or main stem is an internode "inter-node"

There are countless ways to take cuttings the 3 easiest ways are as follows
Directly into water. Directly into Soil, Directly into rockwool.

Find an idea spot on the mother plant, to take your cuttings from.
Each cutting should consist of 2 or 3 nodes, with 1 or 2 internodes.
The bottom of the plant should be about 1" long and be cut at a 45 to 35 degree angle.
This is not too important as many believe it wont work if you dont, which isnt true at all.
The reason for this is to increase cellular exposure from under the harder skin.
More exposure means more roots to begin and a faster start.
Dip your end in rooting hormone "gel or powder" and place 50-75% of the bottom into the
growing medium of your choice, if using plain water plant in a permanent medium once small roots form.

Warnings: Do not allow air bubbles to form where the roots are expected to grow.
If you  do as above, and also remove a node "leaves" and plant deeper, remember
to cover that area in root hormone as well. This gives  a sturdier plant and more rooting areas.

Use weaker lights while it prepares to root, heat will dehydrate a plant faster then it can get water at
this stage.

Confortable humidity is a must, for the same reason as using weaker lights. If you cant do this
provide a humidity dome for at LEAST 7-12 days. Remove it once in awhile to prevent
mold, fungus, insects, stemrot. "Twice per day, off for 5minutes"

Taking cuttings messes with growth hormones inside the plant, you will likely see alot more
latteral and side bushing on the mother if you clone the top of the main stem.
This can be avoided by taking cuttings from the bottom or sides.
If you are growing cannabis this side shooting is a good thing if you have the room.
Most but not all vegtables, like peas, would also benefit but tomato should be cloned from
sides.



I had a plant 5 or 6 years back that just got way too big for the area it was in, if it went to flower it would
have hit the roof, so what I had done was cut the plant down the middle, rooted the top half and flowered
two plants! Keep this in mind if a plant grows bigger then expected.
like growing a sativa in a bunch of indicas.
Cutting that sativa in half would give alot more equal sizes at harvest. But not always; check your strains.


PRO-TIP:
Using a single clone, ahead of time "remember its the same age as the parent, will also be the same sex!"
can be used to determing if a plant is male or female without having to flower all your plants
this can also prevent accidental pollination but using a small clown cupboard and culling all the males
long before they even go to flower.
Remember to keep track of what clone came from what parent. simply writing on each pot will do.
1 and 1 is a pair, 2 and 2 is another pair. "or A and A etc"


And lastly, your going to want and water with PLAIN water.
They just cant handle any food for awhile, give it 12 days, no less, even if they rooted by then.
You chance death, burns, stunting or slowing thier growth otherwise.
The organ "roots" like our stomach, is just not there to handle nutrients properly.
and although it can handle some, it cant handle most and can lock a plant uptake, ive actually
seen this.

If you have most ideas and suggestions please post them below, good stuff will get put in here!

The life cycle of cannabis "And most any flowering or fruiting plant"

Annual plant, single season completes a life cycle/generation.
The mother bore seed, which is harvested or drops "in the wild" to the ground, and life begins.

SEED STAGE:
At this stage the gender of the plant is already encoded into the seed, Stressed parents that have hermaphrodite
and created both flowers "male sacs and female calyx" polinated itself, can create or guarantee female seed.
More on that in another topic "Feminized cannabis seed".
Warm soil, damp, water seeps in the thin shell, life begins inside.
Seed inside will swell, cracking the outer shell, a tap root will emerge and seek down using gravity as a tool.
Once it feels safe enough it wills tart to grow up "by increasing seed leaf / cotyldon size rather then root size"
It will cast off its outershell, crow upwards and open to the light The next stage in life begins.

SEEDLING STAGE
This will occur till the first set of trueleaf, this does not include the first set of rigid leafs with less then 5 fan blades. The growth will appear slower then other plants at this stage, but the roots in cannabis at this stage
like to get a strong foothold, and will grow rapidly, once this is complete you will notice an almost double in
speed of growth in the leaf sets. this stage lasts from 3 days to 10 days. with an average of 6.


VEGITATIVE STAGE
The cannabis plant is photoperiod sensitive "with the exception of the ruderalis line of genes that are
age sensitive, and do not have a vegitative stage longer then about 48 hours. and go from seed to bud in about
65-70 days. Any cannabis plant recieve 13+ hours of light per day, regardless of how directly will remain
in vegitative stage. Some strains or weaker types may show preflowers, or stress if kept in this stage too long.
4 to 8 weeks is ideal based on what strain or gene your growing.
Indica plants should have about 16-18 hours of light
Sativas, near the equator prefer an equatorial light regimen of 13-14 hours of light tops.
Plants like Ruderalis strains "Autoflowering" or "Tomatoes" for example will automatically start
flowering / fruiting stage


FLOWERING/FRUITING STAGE
In cannabis and some other plants, this stage is regulated by a photosensitive hormone
When the hours per day are 12 hours "11 for for sativa, this is important" this phase begins.
Lots of people have trouble flowering sativas for this reason, they are not flowering sensitive at 12 hours
and will begin slowly and produce badly at 12/12 of light, and should be 11/13
Indica or any mix "90%" of the two in the genepool will like 12/12
For plants that are age sensitive, cut back a few hours but 12/12 isnt really required, but wont harm plants.
Check your plant on google for assistance, if you cant find anything just look at its region of origin.



Questions? Post below and ill get back promptly.

Using a Credit card to order? read this!

I was asked how to place a CC order online "this goes for anything really"and still remain
private, so this is what I wrote on that forum reply.
It is actually so good i put it here.

Get a prepaid vanillamastercard Mastercard.
They come in 25, 50, 100, 150, 200, 300 denominations, and it costs $3 to $7 to activate. Depending on size.
1 time use, no fuss no muss.

You go on the website for the card www.vanillamastercard.com (.ca) and click register your account
It just asks for postal code
You can literally use whatever the fuck u want on the order form
Eg:
Sombuddahz name
152 bitemeon my ass avenue
some city, NV
12752 <--- as long as that matches to what u put on the website it will go through
Now of course ur going to want your address to match
but what i do is i lie on the name like

Mr Andrew Kennedy <use different one each time>
<my address>
<my postal code>

Then if it gets stopped, and im ever questioned. i can deny that shit like OJ.
simply tell them you put "return to sender" on the envelope/box and dropped that shit in a post box.
because no mr kennedy lives there lolwut

as long as the postal code matches, youll get approved.
Once ur done, cut up and toss the card.



As a side note, any card thats prepaid would work
If you have to register the card you can still register it to a fake name.
Since its a 1 shot deal it wouldnt matter, just make sure the name appears real
if you have to ever call the card people; rare but happens; it would suck to say your name
is "Some bitch in the midwest", only to try and convince the lady on the phone
thats how your card was registered haha!
remember, when they ask your name, they have no way to verify your real name
and dont really care, as its a 1 time card.  GL all and stay safe.


_ Remember any prepaid "NON REFILLABLE" credit gift card should be used.
The refillable "secured" ones have as much a paper trail as a line of credit.

How to buy seeds online:

First and foremost, purchasing cannabis seeds isnt legal in all countries, even if its legal to posses them.
"I know.... lol"
Doing it online doesnt put you outside of those local laws and furthermore in countries where you are
allowed to buy them "like Canada" they will confiscate them, and can still charge you with intent to
produce a sched II narcotic, and its not usually hard to prove. Why else would you pay $15 for a seed.
And remember, just because you can buy them its pretty much illegal to plant them anywhere.
"Few places are legal, and if you have government ID to do it as well, like in USA".
Check your local laws
This post / website in no way shape or form is promoting illegal activity, even where it can be legal
its still frowned upon, which leads us to this post.


1) Keep your shit a secret dawg! No litterally, its your secret, keep it. Others have nothing to lose by spreading
around your buisiness, and its easy for friends to slip up or enemies to get even. How can you expect them
not to tell, or keep a secret, if you cant?

2) Never pay by money order, or check, use credit card. but not a named card.
Go to your local shops and find prepaid Mastercard, Visa, American Express; etc gift cards and use that
to do your purchases. Remember that most sites now destroy this information 'most' after the deal is done
and a certain amount of time has passed. You should do the same.
Cut up and destroy the card "after your seeds arrive", and unregister or change online registration information
if you have that ability. Discard of the card, its now used.

3) Never ship to where youll be growing "If youll be growin em, heh". Ship to a friend
brother, mother, sister, aunt etc. Just make sure they wont open your mail, if people come looking
theres nothing left at this address, legally they cannot get a warrant for another address, theres no link.
Police have known to lie however to get what they need, especially for marijuana, if they put this much
effort into finding rapists and murderers we would be better off. Anyway, stay informed.
Keep pointer (1) in mind when choosing a donor address.

4) ship that shit to a real name and address. Mailmen arent stupid, and know an abandoned house when they see one. Use some initials in the address if you feel better about privacy. Make it deliverable. Deliveries are very stealth nowadays so dont be overly retarded about it. Brings me to my next point.

5) Avoid customs checks! Mail from "out of the country" risks a check by your local customs officers.
If you have to buy out of the country use one known to get through, some just arent as smart as others.
Ordering from overseas is the biggest dumb move as EUR is known for shipping seeds, happens alot.
Western world keep it in the west, Eastern world keep it in the east.

6) Use public email services when ordering, Yahoo or MSN/Hotmail are perfect here, dont use your
@myisp.com  because everything else would have been useless, a call to your ISP would just
reveal you and your address. Remember, stealth all around. I recommend Yahoo, used it for years
as a primary mailer "15+" and have the same address after all this time, and guess what; ive chained ISPs a few
times and would have had to change emails :)

7) Dont have your package sent requiring a signature, thats just proof you took the seeds if you ever
have to defend yourself. Some seeds companies will send this way regardless, and I say shop somewhere else.

8) Be patient, going to the postal website to track your package twice a day for  2 weeks sends up red flags.
Especially if from overseas. Wait 21 days before you start looking and talk to them first.
Remember what your ordering here, drool all over your mailbox is a giveaway.

9) Order in pieces, If possible get a few seeds from one company, and a few from another.
I dont think I need to explain why here. If your order is just 1 or 2 packs id not bother but remember.
If confiscated, its better to recover some then to lose everything, they arent cheap!

 10) Dont order your whole life, its silly, Start cloning "learn!!" your favorite female, or grow out a male
once in awhile and make your own seeds. If you only have to ever order seeds once your alot safer
then having to do it every 4 months. remember once its in privacy less can go wrong.

11) Dont order from the new guys, you risk ripoff or worse, a sting. This actually occured once
where police had set this up, never sent seeds then made a list of buyers for themselves.
Use seed bank review sites that are "newer" and order from "older" companies.
Nothing worse then paying $20 a seed for that high times cup winner to get $5 seeds
of "skunk crossed with errr ??? i forget" seeds...

12) Double check for the liars!
A guy I knew once ordered from a seedbank with the canadian flag on its face, canadian in the name
a had a canadian number "turned out it was magicjack!" they were actually located in the UK
and when he got caught "customs confiscated his seed" he didnt grow for like 2 years.
Personally Ive never grown, but I cant imagine the heart attack he must of had when
he expected police to come knocking. He also moved to Alberta he was so paranoid.










Comments?
Please post seed companies you have done buisiness with and give it a rating from 1 to 10
and thier buisiness location.
Furthermore, seed bank reviews are here Seed bank reviews!

How to clone plants into soil!

This method can be used on anything from cannabis, to tomatoes; and everything in between.

1) Keep a small 4" pot with soil for each cutting within reach
2) small dish with rooting "powder, gel, water" on hand within reach
3) Small bowl with water "suitable enough to water plants with" within reach, and deep enough plants wont touch bottom if dipped.

Dont worry about air bubbles if cut properly, Ive NEVER had this issue so long as its treated and planted within about 30 seconds to 45 seconds.

Cut your cutting on a 30 - 45 degree angle off its host mother "or father if your in to that sort of thing lol"
make sure your cutting has at least 2 leaves "1 set" and a stem at least 1.5" long for best results, however technically 1 leaf and .25" stem is enough, its not recommended.
take the cutting and put it into the plain water, count to 5, place directly from water to rooting material.
Now plant into soil


To prevent soil from drying out the pots can be placed into bowls of water that have the water come 1/4 of the way.
the pots will continually wick the water and stay wet
- method 2 -
Place a pop bottle bottom "cut off the top" over the entire plant pot so the bottle comes over the table. another good reason to keep the planters small 4" types or Styrofoam cups etc.

Ive done both methods to keep dirt wet, both work.
Keep very light air flow to prevent mold.


What to expect:
Wilting, bad wilting. will start anywhere from 5 to 60 mins after the cut occurred.
then if your cutting took, and it should have. within 3 to 24 hours under light it will look healthy again.

Perfect guide to finding your CFM Requirement.

This is a formula with 4 variables; A, B, C, and D.
Assign each variable the value based on this guide, then put those numbers into the formula down
at the bottom.

-== A ==-
A is equal to your total Cubic Feet  WxDxH   for this example we are going to punch in 4x4x6.5
A common dimention to the growing popular grow mylar tents.
4x4x6.5 = 104 Cubic feet Divided by 3
A=104 /  "rounded to 35"
If your grow is a TENT, divide A by 3
If your grow is a "Closet or ROOM" divide A by 2
If your grow is a larger then a small bedroom or walk in closet, do not divide A
A = (104 / 3 )
A = 35
With active intake you can move up that formula one step.  2 becomes 3, etc.
Although I would use active intake and not move up a step, its always good to have a bit more.


-== B ==-
For each non-tube/air cooled HID light add 1.10 to 1.15 (250 watt - 1000 watt respectfully)
   (Tube cooled lights do NOT heat the room as much so)
    For each air cooled/tubed HID add 1.05
for this example we will say a 600 watter, not tubed. going to go the high end of 1.15
for 100-250 i would use 1.10  for 400 up i would just use 1.15, for 1000 you could do 1.17
Add each one up together for your grow room.
We have just the one 600 watter so
B = 1.15


-== C ==-
The value of C starts at C = 1.00
If your using CO2 add .05
If your using a Carbon scrubber add .20
For our example, No CO2 and a carbon scrubber is used, so 1.00+.20
C = C + CO2 + Carbon;                            "Sorry for the C++ syntax"

C = 1.20


-== D ==-
The value of D is either one of these 3
If your outside temps and humidity is normal for your "plant" then the value is excluded from the formula or use 0
If your temp is higher like California, as example, its value is 1.20
If your temp is high, while being humid. the value is 1.40
This example is normal
D=0

A + (A x B) + (A x C) + (A x D) = Minimum CFM for your room

35 + (35 x 1.15) + (35 x 1.20) + (35 x 0) <--- Yes, 35 x 0 = 0, thats right!
35 + 40.25 + 42 + 0
= 117.25 CFM required for this room "Bare minimum"

In a hot climate with humidity that would be
35 + 40.25 +42 + 49
=166.25 CFM

Remember this is the bare minimum and i suggest you follow this precisely then add 20%
Adding active intake will also boost CFM on the exhaust fan.

Active intake should be directly across on an angle from the exhaust
Exhaust should always be at the top where air in hottest.
This will pull intake up and across your space, through all your plants before being exited again.
Use screens on the rooms venting to prevent bugs.


Post below for comments or suggestions.

Growing outdoors?

  I was emailed this question a few weeks back and thought now is a good a time as any to put it in.
Considering  the nature of the topic ive decided it best kept in a point format and questions/suggestions can be
made below, here goes:

1) Dont grow on your own property if not legal to do so.
2) Dont tell anyone your growing at all, let alone where.
3) Dont visit often, keep the path as nature would have it.
4) Avoid patterns of any kind, spread it out.
5) Dont trek around carrying seeds, buds, harvest. its foolish; do it under cover of dark, dont leave the car around.
6) Planting near a water source is better then having to visit in a drought with 20L of water in bottles.
7) The "plants" outdoors dont need constant light directly like indoors, so using tree canopies is a good idea.
8) Refering to point 7, make sure at least 3 hours of direct light, regardless of angle.
9) Dont grow strains outdoors that will reach 3 meters in height, no matter how tempting lulwut ;D
10) Treat the soil as you would indoors, use ferts, manure "not yours...", compost etc BEFORE planting in a way you wont have to feed it at all again.
11) Caught at the site? you stumbled upon someone elses grow. deny everything.
12) Dont go crazy, you gotta take home your harvest. make it small enough to do in ONE trip!
13) If you want to cull males, time your visit so you need to go once, and bury them on site 2 feet or deeper.

Im probably missing a few tips! add them below, the good stuff will get added with credit. Peace+Love

The internals of HID

 Sodium Lights
Sodium lights function in a very similar method to fluorescent, mercury vapor, and metal halide lights. The primary difference between sodium lights and fluorescent lights is the absence of coatings in sodium lights. Fluorescent lights produce light by energizing an inner coating on the bulb through the gas, while sodium lights actually energize the sodium gas trapped inside the bulb to produce the light.
Lighting Process
Sodium lights have an element inside the bulb that allows an electrical current to circulate through the light system. This current is carefully controlled by a ballast that reduces the voltages and current cycles to the proper levels. As this electricity passes through the gas, it gives some of its energy to the sodium atoms. The electrons of the atoms rise in energy levels, and as the current cycle passes they drop back again, releasing their excess energy in the form of light photons.
High Pressure and Low Pressure
The primary physical different between high pressure and low pressure sodium lights is the amount of gas used. Since high pressure gas lights contain more sodium gas, they tend to be brighter and produce a brighter, more golden glow. Low pressure lights take longer to start because they have fewer atoms to react to the electrical current, which in turn needs to build for a longer period before being channeled through the bulb.
Advantages
High pressure sodium lights are very energy efficient, especially compared other high intensity discharge lighting options. This allows users to save money if they plan on having the lights on for long periods of time. High pressure sodium lights have low color rendition index, which limits their application to areas where color in lighting is not important.


MH
No High Intensity Discharge Light has  a filament. Instead light is created from an electrical discharge between two electrodes in a micro-environment of xenon gas and metal halide salts. The light is emitted by an electrically energized gas -- a plasma discharge-- formed and sustained between the two electrodes. The distinctive blue-white light of MH lamps is great for vegitative growth, and reflects better then HPS. Additionally, the increased light output is designed to illuminate a wider area then non-hid. HID lamps have over three times the lumens per watt of traditional halogen light sources and are more efficient at converting electrical energy into light. They produce at least 70% more light than traditional lamps, and use less power while producing less heat. This gives designers new freedom to explore the frontiers of front end design. By creating more compact headlights to fit smaller spaces, better aerodynamics are possible.
Better on the eyes too!


- This document is not written by me, if its your document please contact me for credit as I cannot find
the original author.

Human urine for fertilizer is top notch!

Its no secret that urine contains everything plants need, its been that way in nature since animals first started
to piss; that being said theres rules to follow.

::: HOW TO USE IT:::
1) The smell of urine is actually ammonia, urine; in a healthy person; is absolutely sterile and clean.
2) The stronger that ammonia smell, the less nutrients are available to plants, and less nitrogen.
     - Nitrogen actually binds as it sits with other chemicals to create ammonia -
     - After 24 hours, your going to need new urine -
3) Never pee directly on any plant, mix in a solution of water at a ratio of 10:1 or 15:1 water:urine.
4) Do NOT mix with any other bodily fluids, and do not use any other bodily fluids, including stool.
     - The reason for this is the human diet -
5) Urine needs to be fresh, re-read post 2.
6) Urine should be applied to the soil, consider it an untreated fertilizer; do NOT foliage feed with it.
7) The nitrogen content is really high, keep that in mind as nitrogen can inhibit flowering of "SOME" types of plants, with that being said; vegetative stages will benefit tremendously from nitrogen.
8) Direct urine can burn and kill plants undiluted; if weeds are a problem, apply undiluted directly to kill weeds, oddly will turn grass yellow, which will recover and turn greener then it was before; weeds don't recover.
9) Urine is the best composting activator you will ever find, anywhere. It will also increase the micro nutrient value of your final compost by 50-100%.
10) Collect directly into the bottle, then mix with water, not the toilet. use as you would any fertilizer and don't overdo it, you can over fertilize plants.
11) For hydroponics about 250ml for 3.5 galons will do it.


:::WARNINGS:::
1) If your sick, have infections "urinary, bladder etc" do not use your urine. Urine is sterile in the bladder all the way to the exit so long as its not introduced through infections.
2) Most drugs/medications wind up in urine, if your on prescription drugs, your urine is probably off limits. The exception to this is birth control, marijuana, 90% pain killers. A study actually suggests that estrogen helps a lot of different flowering plants, Google is your friend here.
3) Do not use the urine of someone else for the first 2 reasons. You just don't know.
4) Don't use pet urine, its probably safe but there could be, and may be things in pet food your unaware of, could be unseen infections, since they cant tell you of discomfort. And some animal; such as cat; urine, is much stronger and could kill plants.
5) Lots of people feel theres a yuk factor involved, just don't tell people about your homemade super crops secret, even if it is safe.


This may vary slightly based on diet, contents based on every 2L of urine
"about your daily total"
Nutrient Levels
Alanine, total ..... 38 mg/day
Arginine, total ..... 32 mg/day
Ascorbic acid ..... 30 mg/day
Allantoin ..... 12 mg/day
Amino acids, total ..... 2.1 g/day
Bicarbonate ..... 140 mg/day
Biotin ..... 35 mg/day
Calcium ..... 23 mg/day
Creatinine ..... 1.4 mg/day
Cystine ..... 120 mg/day
Dopamine ..... 0.40 mg/day
Epinephrine ..... 0.01 mg/day
Folic acid ..... 4 mg/day
Glucose ..... 100 mg/day
Glutamic acid ..... 308 mg/day
Glycine ..... 455 mg/day
Inositol ..... 14 mg/day
Iodine ..... 0.25 mg/day
Iron ..... 0.5 mg/day
Lysine, total ..... 56 mg/day
Magnesium ..... 100 mg/day
Manganese ..... 0.5 mg/day
Methionine, total ..... 10 mg/day
Nitrogen, total ..... 15 g/day
Ornithine ..... 10 mg/day
Pantothenic acid ..... 3 mg/day
Phenylalanine ..... 21 mg/day
Phosphorus, organic ..... 9 mg/day
Potassium ..... 2.5 mg/day
Proteins, total ..... 5 mg/day
Riboflavin ..... 0.9 mg/day
Tryptophan, total ..... 28 mg/day
Tyrosine, total ..... 50 mg/day
Urea ..... 24.5 mg/day
Vitamin B6 ..... 100 mg/day
Vitamin B12 ..... 0.03 mg/day
Zinc ..... 1.4 mg/day

TIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have gone though an entire grow using urine without any deficiencies, but many feel that during flowering your phosphorus levels are too low. If you desire, a bloom fertilizer may be used in tandem during the flowering phase.

A tea made with the Russian comphry plant (3.6-1-10.6) is an excellent organic bloom fertilizer for those of us who do not wish to use chemicals at any step. Also a tea of bone meal, or bone meal in your soil mix is probably the best way to add Phosphorus.

 Your body can only absorb about 10-15% of a multivitamin/mineral pill the rest is flushed out with your urine. Taking a multivitamin/mineral about 3 hours before your urine collection can give you many vital micro nutrients.


PH
The PH value for human urine can range anywhere from 5 and 8.5 but most often is found between 5.5 and 7.5 in healthy individuals with a balanced diet. A value of 6 is average. High protein diets can lower PH (more acidic) and Vegetarian diets raise PH values (more alkaline). Urinary infection will increase PH value. Test your PH and lower it (coffee, lemon juice, or vinegar are great organic PH downs) if any higher that 6, especially if in a hydro system, or increase your protein consumption. If the soil you are using is fairly acidic, like peat moss you will want to make sure you are not dropping it too low with acidic urine; dolomite lime can help you buffer this up, or increase your vegetable intake and lower your protein.

Pro's

It Works
Tried and true. In my (and a few others) opinion it works as good as commercial fertilizers when used properly. A side by side clone to clone test has not yet been done (to my knowledge), but there is no question that urine produces healthy, frosty, dank nugs, as good as anything out there.

Cheap
You can't beat free can you? Not likely. Weather you are growing for pleasure or profit saving money is something that I think we all desire. If you have no problem with spending the money, then go right ahead. Call it ghetto if you want, I call it natures gift, and I intend to make the best of it.

Available
It’s like fertilizer on tap. No hasty visits to the hydro/garden shop. No “I’ll have to do without for a while”. It’s always there when you need it.

Environmentally friendly
Many of us would like to preserve the earth. Well organic fertilizers are the way to go if this is part of your ethos. Chemical fertilizers are produced from petroleum products, natural gas, and coal. Minerals are made more soluble with acids. After the compounds are used by the plant the contaminants left over in the soil can become poisonous and over time can leave the land depleted and ‘dead’. Using organic fertilizers closes a cycle of life that has existed for millennia. We feed the plants and they feed us, much like the oxygen and carbon dioxide cycle.


:::Con's:::

Salt content
Human urine will contain various salts. Depending on diet your urine can contain up a max of 2.2% salt, this is because the human kidney cannot concentrate salts to greater than 2.2%. On average salt content will be about 30g/L Total dissolved solids constitute about 5% of urine volume. As previously stated it will be to your benefit to allow some run off when watering and toss it, this will rid your soil of excess salts.

Imprecise
Urine fertilizing is not an exact science. Exact nutrient levels and concentrations cannot be accurately established without the proper equipment. Notwithstanding some trial and error is necessary in every fertilizer regiment. Certain strains can have differing tolerances, different growing conditions and methods vary in their ability to deliver nutrients reliably.

All these lights, whats the difference. Here it is!

There are many types of lights, and Ive used them all, even incandescent; heres the skinny.


Non-HID types:
Incandescent lights 

Suitable spectrum and color for growing, however the power use and heat they produce is just
ridiculous. The lumen output is also retarded, but you could start a few seeds under one if you  
don't have any florescent. Just don't keep them there too long, they start to stretch right around when
the second set of leads begins "Not counting seed leaf, cotyledons".

Light Emitting Diodes "L.E.D / LED "

Make no mistake, you can grow full plants under these regardless of what the HID die-hards will
let you believe, the problem is unscrupulous manufacturing practice has screwed many people over.
Simply put, you cant grow with just any LED. The most famous BAD panels where the "Gro 45"
they had 90 LEDs so I knew without even further inspection they were trash. 1 LED per watt or
better, simple as that. Beyond that when compared to HID as saying "90 watt is equivalent to 400 HPS"
they are right, but what they aren't telling you is the comparison is to area of coverage without
intensity loss, not growth of the plants. it would take 220watt LED of the right spectrum's to grow like
an HPS. So 4'x4' 90watt LED will cover the same area as a 400watt HPS, but youll see growth like
a 250 HPS. make sense? There will be more on LED later.



Fluorescent Lighting / Compact fluorescent Lighting "CFL  /  TFL"

Absolute best lighting when it comes to spectrum's, but second when it comes to growth over HID.
Im not including LED in that comparison because there is just too many variables.
These produce less heat, much less; require much less energy for a equal crops, and are lots cheaper.
A single light of 150watt equivalent "42 watt" can do 2 plants, if you do the math on that you are
covering 1/3 more area then HID, using 2/3 less energy, but will have 1/2 the yield. Well thats good and bad.
The good is for the energy your getting the crop size your paying for, alls fair in love and grow.
the BAD is youll need more plants, time or a second crop if you wanna keep up with HID.
Oh, and you can use these in the smallest areas and have great success, doing that with a HID will
burn your house down. Seriously, get some space from those HIDs and any surfaces.



Halogen Lights

Suitable spectrum for "vegetative growth", not much else, however the heat again, pretty intense.
Unless you want to be spending way too much on air conditioning, you better look the other way, and
since theres no spectrum in here for flowering, youll need a whole new light system for that.
Look away !!!




HID Types
Mercury Vapor "MV"

 Also a great spectrum, most people aren't even aware the HPS/Pressured sodium systems are based
off the mercury vapor design. However they heat to light output is pretty  bad, even though its useful light
you should go for Fluorescent before Vapor. heres the why.
175watt MV lights produce 8000 lumen, but generate heat like 300 watt incandescent.
compared to
150 watt HPS will put out about 15000 lumen, generating the same heat.
Moral of the story? Even though its suitable, id not use this even if given to me free!


High Pressure Sodium / Low Pressure Sodium

LPS is a good option but takes up huge amounts of space, produces the least lumen to watt then the other
HID types, and gets longer and longer the higher the wattage. BUT is closest to sunlight spectrum.
Produces little heat because of the coating of the indium tin oxide coating on the inner glass. Almost
no UV, also blocked my the tin oxide. Can you use it? yes, should you?  hells no.
It would cost way too much to get equal results comparing LPS to HPS.
The LPS color is also a nice yellowing orange, like mid day sunlight.

High pressure sodium is the "current" best light if you have the space, and money to run it.
Its also the light you should get if you can only get ONE light, as it will do all phases of plant growth from
seed to harvest. If you will buy one of these absolutly get a DIGITAL ballast! they dont kill the bulbs
give a bit more lumen per watt, dont get hot, make less noise, and will run HALIDE!!! without a second
ballast. they are king "currently" of the indoor grow. "I give 5 more years and it will be LED, maybe less"



Metal Halide  "MH"

This is the absoulute best light to have for vegitative growth, and most vegitables/herbs.
Lettuce, onion, chives, celery, all best to just use a MH light. they produce less lumen.
However this is a prime example of spectrum, as it will produce better then 3x t he lumen from a
high pressure sodium on plants not producing any type of flowering hormones.



Costs to run a system of any type can be found here, you just need to know the wattage
of that system, and it helps to know your KWH prices, but 10 is a good guess if you dont.
Go here for costs

Do to heat generated by lights, and the varied amounts of that heat its good to know what height
you should be above the plants, Small wattage systems like 100-250 should be about 2-3 feet
above the tops, 400-700 at about 4, and 1000 about 6.
For CFL/Tubes the height should be about 6-12 inches, use your hand as a guide, if its hot to your skin
move it up a bit, keep them close as you can.

Light duration for Indica should be about 16-24 hours a day, but i recomment never above 18.
For pure sativa, 13 hours a day, youll be shocked, try it.

For flowring Indica should be 12/12, for sativa 11/13 "11 on" to get best results, has never failed.
If your sativa just wont flower, give it another week "up to 4" then try 10/14.
Most hybrids will follow the 18/6 12/12 rule. }



lights the affect plant growth!!!

200-280nm            UVC ultraviolet range which is extremely harmful to plants because it is highly toxic.
281-315nm            Includes harmful UVB ultraviolet light which causes plants colors to fade.
316-380nm            Range of UVA ultraviolet light which is neither harmful nor beneficial to plant growth.
381-400nm           Start of visible light spectrum. Process of chlorophyll absorption begins. UV protected
                             plastics ideally block out any light below this range.
401-520nm          This range includes violet, blue, and green bands. Peak absorption by chlorophyll
                             occurs, and a strong influence on photosynthesis. (promotes vegetative growth)
521-610nm           This range includes the green, yellow, and orange bands and has less absorption
                             by pigments, but still useful as proven, but its still unknown why.
                             Which is why LEDs are starting to come with a bit of orange "This range".
611-720nm            his is the red band. Large amount of absorption by chlorophyll occurs,
                              and most significant influence on photosynthesis. (promotes flowering and budding)
                             This range will give you the die hard nugs your looking for. especially around
                             630 and 660 ranges.
721-1000nm         There is little absorption by chlorophyll here. Flowering and germination is influenced.
                             At the high end of the band is infrared, which is just heat.


Remember you can have lots of cannibinols without it being visible "LED has proven this"
The reason is the plant secrets it as crystals to protect itself against UV ranges and far-red
Then will produce MORE inside of itself again "Increasing potency without increasing yield by
using UV/REDS" Something LED hasnt caught onto yet, but you can get UV LEDs if you wanna make
it yourself.







Quick space coverage facts that I wouldnt bend too much
100 watt HID = 2'x2' area
250 watt HID = 3'x3' area
400 watt HID = 4'x4' area
600 watt HID = 6'x6' area
1000watt HID =  8'x8' area
Remember to VENT your area!

you can double these numbers by using  moving / automated lighting.