An often overlooked detail, and yet a very important detail of your personal grow is your data log. At a minimum you should be using a Min/Max Thermometer/Hygrometer to track the daily values. You will be surprised at what this can tell you. Take the following picture for example.
Remember the ideal conditions: Temperatures between 65 and 85 degrees. Relative humidity (Rh) between 55% and 65%. The far right three columns are Rh and middle three are dual readings for two temperature zones. Do you see the issues?
That’s right, on 8/16 my temperature was higher than normal (although still in the tolerable range). Seeing this allowed me to quickly identify a ventilation leak that was trapping hot air from my AC.
Check out that Rh as well. That’s running high, which befuddled me for a couple weeks. I had a dehumidfier, so what gives? Well, as it turns out, once I added live plants and moist soil to the system, the dehumidifier had a hard time keeping up. After repeated changes and investigations I finally realized that the dehumidifier was set to economy mode, which prevented it from keeping up in the more humid environment.
I have the luxury of painting a chalkboard on my wall and can keep a couple weeks of data up at a time. This allows for me to watch for breaks in trends which pop out like sore thumbs because the data is clearly visible. As you can see, it doesn’t have to be a high tech database solution or spreadsheet. The data just needs to be tracked and examined from time to time.
I recommend setting up your space and tracking these numbers before you put any plants in the space. Watch the numbers shift when you add moist soil, and then living plants as well. Facinating!
Finally, I also track other details about individual cultivarA cultivated variety, often mistakenly called a 'strain.' More (strain) characteristics like; how long does cloning take, how long does flowering take, how much stretch occurs in the first two week of flower, etc. This helps you get to know the plants you grow and how they react in the space you have set up for them. This effort will go a long way toward making you a better cultivator.
$5 Data System Upgrade: Whatever you decide to track, labeling for your plants should not absorb water. Otherwise, it can and will eventually harbor mold or mildew. The solution?
Vinyl folders, cut and labeled with permanent marker.
Vinyl folders or dividers can be had in a variety of colors and very inexpensively. One folder can make a couple dozen small labels. They’re durable, water proof, easily cleaned, and you’re now only a legend away from keeping it all straight.
Most water-only organic living soils on the market will cost the cultivator $20 per cubic foot or more, before shipping. I’ll share with you how to get this done for half that price, with a higher quality product. I don’t take
DIY and Save!
credit for these recipe’s as they were established many years ago by academics and refined over the years by experienced cultivators. What I can say for sure is that it is effective and grows some really high quality cannabis.
Peat is commonly available and often comes in compressed bales which can expand up to twice the starting volume. You’ll want to get a nutrient pack designed for peat as it contains additions that moderate peat’s acidity.
Aeration is important and, while perlite is the most commonly used aerator, it tend to be light enough to literally float to the top of your mix. You can also use pumice (my preferred), lava rock, or even hydrotons (little clay balls). Stay away from gravel that may contain too much calcium.
Compost can be substituted with worm castings and are the magic component of a good soil mix. A good compost and raw worm castings are full of the microbial activity that we need in our living soils. As long as it’s well aged compost it also makes a good top dressing.
Bio-char can be difficult to source at times and might also be the most expensive component of this mix. However, I believe it is a key to making your soils tolerant to abuse and encourages long life at full production. The Amazonians developed it long ago, so why wouldn’t you? Add this amendment based on your total soil volume. 10% is good, 15% might be a little better, but 20% is too much. Example: If you just mixed 10 cubic feet of soil, add 1 to 1.5 cubic feet of bio-char.
Nutrients & Minerals You can mix your own nutrients as well, but it may be more fool-proof to buy some pre-mixed. One of my all-time favorites is Coot’s Mix. I’ve followed his work for a long time. These nutrients are essential to making your soil ‘water-only.’ This means that you will only keep it watered and will NOT need additional bottled nutrients and so forth.
Note 1: It is crucial to properly hydrate your newly mixed soil and will take more water than you expect. You should get the soil to field capacityThis refers to the water content of soil. The easiest way to... More in order to properly activate the microbial life and make it possible for it to break the nutrients down into plant usable forms.
Note 3: Water your soil even if no plants are in it. In order for the microbes to do their work they need that field capacityThis refers to the water content of soil. The easiest way to... More soil to operate in. Letting the soil go dry will kill some microbes and force others into hibernation. I like to put a cover crop on it when not in use otherwise.
Note 2: Once you have your ingredients mixed you will need to let it ‘cook’. After a few days, put your hand in the pile – it will probably feel warm. If it is noticeably warm inside, re-hydrate to field capacityThis refers to the water content of soil. The easiest way to... More, remix the pile, and wait a few more days. Repeat until the pile cools off. Check the temperature before you add water. Pro-tip: the more nutrients you add, the long it takes to cook.
Let us know how your custom built soil works out, or what improvements you might have.
There is a huge selection of lights to choose from and you’ll get 12 different recommendations for every 5 people you ask, so what can you do? Read on, we’ll make this simple.
Good lighting is a critical component.
We will eliminate high-intensity lighting (HID) given that these lights are not good for a beginner for a number of reasons. Fluorescent lighting is not sufficient for the entire growing cycle either. So, we’ve already narrowed it down to LED lighting.
Choosing your first LED grow light comes down a few simple factors:
Cost (how much can you afford)
Amperage (how much your circuit can afford)
Footprint (how much space you intend to illuminate)
Brightness (is the light bright enough for cannabis)
Cost: Get the light you can afford on your current budget. Don’t feel intimidated by the guy who insists that you should spend a ton of money on it. The fact is, you will eventually buy a different light for some reason, which is a good thing. You can then use your first light for a backup. Believe me, the only thing worse than having a light fail on you, is having a light fail and not having a backup. Don’t sweat that for now though, just decide what you can spend.
Amperage: How much amperage do you have available on the circuit you intend to use? Inventory that circuit! As long as you have 5A or more, you should be in business. If a light manufacturer doesn’t clearly indicate the max wattage and amperage consumption for the unit, pass! Also, keep in mind that you’ll at least need a couple fans (circulation and ventilation) and they’ll need some power as well. Plan for it, and don’t skip this step!
Footprint: A manufacturer should also clearly display the area of illumination for a given light, often called a light’s footprint. Pretty common sense here, just measure your space and find a light that matches it. A light with a footprint bigger than your space is ok too. You can find 2’x4′, 2’x3′, 3’x3′, 4’x4′ and more. If you are lucky enough to have a lot of space, a 4’x4′ footprint is ideal for flowering your limit of 6 plants. Do know that a thorough manufacturer may show a footprint for “Veg” that is larger than the flowering footprint. In these cases, focus on the smallest footprint advertised and compare that to your space. As before, if the manufacturer doesn’t make this information available, pass!
Brightness: This can be quite confusing, but I’ll render it down simply; in order to grow from seed to finished flower you’ll be looking for a light that produces 600+ PPFD. Anything over 1000 PPFD may be too much for the plants unless you take steps to help them utilize that intensity of light, but is usually something easy to work around as long as your ceiling is tall enough. I’ll say it again; if you can’t find a specifications sheet with this information, puff-puff-pass on that light!
Finally, I do recommend making friends with folks at your local garden supply store. They can help you immensely and a really good store may have lender-lights if you need a repair done to yours, or may even swap you out on the spot. Sure, you’ll pay a little extra, but I’m ok with that as long as I receive solid, personalized service. Besides, I like to support my local merchants.
According to Missouri state guidelines, patients who receive their certifications to grow cannabis can do so in any locked and enclosed area that is not accessible from above and not visible to the public. The cultivator should be the only person with access to this location. This means you can grow just about anywhere you have legal access to (yes, your landlord needs to know). It does not need to be your house and you can elect to team up with another cultivator in the same space provided you notify the state that you are doing so.
Personal grows for a single patient can be accomplished just about anywhere and on any budget, but here are some things to keep in mind when selecting your space:
You will need at least one 15A circuit
Ventilation is not optional
Temperatures must be controlled (65-85 degrees F)
Humidity must be controlled (55%-65%)
The grow area must be light proof
Odor must be controlled
The most common mistake I’ve seen are patient cultivators who ignore one or more of the points above and start growing plants before the space is ready. I strongly recommend setting up the grow space and ensuring that the cultivator can maintain the temperatures and humidity needed for healthy cannabis plants. Only then should seeds be germinated.
Electricity:Every device you plug into a circuit has an amperage (A) requirement. Add up all the devices you intend to use; a 15A circuit (determined by the rating of the breaker and the rating of the wiring for the circuit) can handle 12A (75% of rating) of load safely. Likewise, a 20A circuit can handle 15A safely. Keep in mind that a single high-intensity light can be 10A, which nearly maxes out a circuit on its own. My space is designed to accommodate 3 patients, so I have (3) 20A circuits and (1) 15A circuit dedicated to this space; all of which were professionally installed.
Ventilation: Don’t skimp here as this is very much a key component as you will see. Like other organisms, plants need to breath (transpire). They will need a regular supply of CO2 in order to thrive. As such, you should have a fan to circulate air within your space as well as a vent fan to exchange air with a larger space (inside the house). Any circulation fan will be fine and a happy plant dances merrily without being whipped about. A good rule of thumb is to acquire a ventilation fan that has a CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating 3x the volume of your grow space. Example – if you use a grow tent that is 5’x5’x7′ you have a 175 cubic feet of space and a 500CFM ventilation fan will fit the bill. Adjustable speed fans are nice as you won’t always need the full 500CFM capacity. As the reader will notice, CO2 intake isn’t the only thing proper ventilation will help with.
Temperature: Ideal temperatures for cannabis cultivation are between 65 – 85 degrees F and the perfect environment will be about 10 degrees cooler at night. Move outside those parameters and growth will slow. Move even further and your plants may get stressed, which invites disease and pests. Because dedicating an air conditioner to the cause is expensive, most home-growers will do well to leverage their ventilation fan to vent hot air out of the grow space and into a thermostatically controlled room. Finally, a min/max thermometer/hygrometer is a mandatory tool and you should log those values every single day.
Relative humidity (Rh): Cannabis can tolerate a wide rage of humidity without becoming stressed, so the benchmark of 55%-65% (some will say 45%-55%) Rh is mostly a guide. However, it is well known that high humidity invites molds and powdery mildews, which can decimate a cannabis crop. Further, very low humidity coupled with high temperatures is the ideal environment for mites – the bane of a cannabis cultivator’s existence. For Missourians, the solution is a dehumidifier. Just be aware that these handy devices usually have a high amperage requirement and they do produce heat as a byproduct. Since you will have your space ventilated for heat concerns, it will be most effective to dehumidify your entire house and allow your ventilation to pull in low-humidity air. Once again, get a min/max thermometer/hygrometer and log those values every single day.
Light proofing: With some exceptions, cannabis tends to be very sensitive to light. Light determines the growth stages of cannabis and should be monitored closely. More important than seeing your grow lights outside the space is allowing light infiltrating into that grow space when it should be dark. Any light brighter than a full moon could confuse and stress your plants. Do you want seeds in your flowers? Because this is the most common cause. Fixing light leaks is usually low-cost and common sense so do yourself a favor and periodically stand in your darkened room (until your eyes adjust) and then carefully look around to check for light leaks.
Odor: Last, but not least; odor can be a real issue. The plants could care less, but your spouse, neighbor, and local law enforcement will feel differently. Complaints can earn you a surprise inspection or worse and is the leading cause for such. The good news is that a quality active-carbon filter integrated into your ventilation will usually do the trick. You know you like your flowers to be danky-dank so get a carbon filter and use it all day, every day.
One could write an entire book on this topic alone, so there is a lot of content I elected not to add here. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to us!
One of the first decisions a home grower will need to make is whether they should grow their cannabis hydroponically, or in good old fashioned soil. My advice is simple: Unless you are certain you want to try hydro, you should be growing in real, living soil.
Although we are unaffiliated with KIS Organics, whose product is shown above, we have used this ‘water-only’ soil for our cannabis with very good results. BuildASoil makes a fine water-only product and we have used Sohum in trials with cannabis and have achieved fine results using only tap water (no other inputs).
Don’t be confused by soil-like mixtures. Products like Coco-Perl and similar are simply platforms for adding bottled nutrients throughout the growing cycle. A good and proper ‘living soil’ will require very little, if any inputs during the growing process. Hence the term ‘water-only.’
When using a high quality living soil you only need to make sure you get your water content correct. You don’t need to worry about pha measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution More, nutrient density (PPMparts per million More), water temperature, flushingthe act of rinsing nutrients from a medium as well as leechi... More, etc. Instead, you will work to create and evenly moist (but not soggy) soil that is a paradise for microbes, bacteria, fungi, and cannabis alike.
By providing such a perfectly watered, nutrient rich environment, you put the plants in charge. When plants want calcium, its there for the taking. When plants want Nitrogen or Potassium, there it is. You see, in hydroponics you must know what your plants need, when they need it, and how much they need. Make one of a thousand possible mistakes and your plants will suffer.
Finally, although a quality water-only soil isn’t cheap, it’s far cheaper than the nutrients alone used in a single hydro growing cycle. Further, it’s an investment in sustainability because you can reuse that soil over and over for years with minimal inputs. We’ll chat more about that part soon.
In the meantime, consider simplifying. Consider Organic Living Soil.
If you are working on an application for Missouri Medical Marijuana Program Patient and/or Cultivator certification and have questions, we have the answers.
If you are trying to riddle out the best way to setup a personal grow space, we have the answers.
While we can’t provide legal advice, we are very familiar with Article 14 of the Missouri Constitution as well as the subsequent rules/processes and are willing to provide opinions as to what they mean.
We understand that the online application process can be a hurdle for some people and are willing to help.
Eric McSwain is a board member for the Missouri Cannabis Industry Association and is an applicant for cultivation and dispensary licenses in the state of Missouri. He’s dedicated to helping patients first and foremost. If he doesn’t have the answers, he has access to those who will know.
Finally, we respect the privacy of anyone who should reach out to us and pledge to keep our conversations confidential. Contact us today!
Tolerance can be an issue with any medicine and medicinal marijuana is no different. Most research regarding cannabinoid tolerance has to do with THCTHC is the most famous cannabinoid and is psychoactive. TH..., it’s primary intoxicating ingredient. This is likely because THCTHC is the most famous cannabinoid and is psychoactive. TH... produces the most pronounced side-effects and is the compound some users can become dependent on.
Most patients should be able to use cannabis therapeutically without fear of developing a tolerance. Some tolerance has to do with a your mind’s ability to cope with some of these side effects. As with other drugs, it can take a couple weeks for the body to adjust and everyone has a different sensitivity. However, the tolerance we’ll talk about here is physical tolerance.
THCTHC is the most famous cannabinoid and is psychoactive. TH... produces its effects through interaction with what are known as CB1 receptors, primarily found in the central nervous system. Exposure to an excess of THCTHC is the most famous cannabinoid and is psychoactive. TH... can cause receptors to down-regulate – meaning simply that some receptors turn-off, or become inactive. With less receptors to bind to, the effects of the compound are diminished.
Tolerance is a problem for a few notable reasons. Foremost, it reduces THCs effectiveness as a therapy. There’s no point in consuming it when it doesn’t work. Tolerance can also lead to dependence. The more THCTHC is the most famous cannabinoid and is psychoactive. TH... you consume the more likely a person is to become dependent on it. At the end of the day, if you’re tolerance is high (see what I did there?) then you’re going to spend more money at your local dispensary. So, if for no other reason, keep your tolerance low and keep your money in your pocket!
-Learn how to avoid tolerance to cannabinoids with proper dosing.
Let us know if there are other clinics/doctors to add to this list.
Lit Naturals, LLC makes no guarantees about the organizations above. It is the prospective patient’s responsibility to research providers in advance of a visit.
Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) is defined by the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as a condition that leads to repeated and severe bouts of vomiting. It is rare and only occurs in daily long-term users of marijuana.
Readers may have caught on to the fact that we prefer to give the straight scoop – the good and the bad. The fact is; too much of a good thing (cannabis in this case) is almost always bad.
CHS was only recently discovered, but it does seem to be limited to regular, heavy users of cannabis and cannabis concentrates. The condition can result in severe, uncontrolled nausea and may sometimes be preceded by periods of mild nausea. It also seems to be specific to THCTHC is the most famous cannabinoid and is psychoactive. TH..., but more research and clinical observation is needed.
We would also like to emphasize that the condition is rare, and from the reports we have seen it seems to be most likely for users who are not taking marijuana for medical reasons.
My Conjecture: I posit that this condition presents itself due to the bi-phasic effects of THC in particular. Isn’t it a wonder that THCTHC is the most famous cannabinoid and is psychoactive. TH... can help reduce nausea, but can also cause uncontrolled nausea? Thus, if you manage your tolerance and take only enough cannabis to address your symptoms – you’ll probably never have to worry about this affliction.
Seriously, this is impressive; keep up the good work!
Around noon on June 28, 2019, I began the online process for requesting a Missouri Medical Marijuana Patient Card. The process was reasonably painless, though I do have a scanner at home for the Driver’s License, utility bill, and physician’s certification that I needed to upload as attachments. I uploaded a photo as well, taken with my smart phone. It took about 20 minutes from start to finish. Not bad.
Beyond that, my expectations were low. By law, those administrating the Missouri Medical Marijuana Program (MMMP) had 30 days to approve or deny my request. I assumed that it would take nearly that long – if for no other reason than MMMP is a government program.
I was very pleasantly surprised when I was proven dead wrong on this topic. Not only did it take less than 30 days, it took a mere two business days. Yes, folks. Just a bit more than 16 working hours. Just, wow!
I’m waiting for statistics on how many people are signing up at this stage and any other data that the state provides. However, I would forego any and all of that sort of information if the MMMP keeps up this pace. The speed at which this was done is a true benefit to the patients that need such a therapy.
It appears as if we have a cadre of topics for future posts – all regarding “how to grow your medicine.”
