General Questions/Concerns/Rant from a Guy Considering Growing (long)

Hey, all.

I talked about this a bit in another thread on the main board, but not wanting to hijack it any further than I already had, I decided to start my own thread in a more suitable section.

I've been smoking for a long time now. I remember a time when I could get pretty much any smoke I wanted and would smoke a lot of quality weed and hash. In the last few years in Montreal, I've seen the weed scene change dramatically from being quality-oriented to quantity-oriented. Once upon a time, I paid little or no attention to what kind of weed was being smoked, as strains were plentiful and many of them were quite nice.

Now over the years, I may have lost many old contacts, but it's become really difficult to get good weed. Everyone in Montreal seems to have the same watered down M39 strain (I believe it's crossed with something called "Basher") with very little THC. I haven't seen a good crystal-encrusted bud here in a long time. Sure, every dealer and his little sister claims that they can get me "exotic" (which here basically translates as "not M39") at exorbitant prices, but none of them seem to come through when the money's laid down. If they did, I doubt that my ounce-a-week habit would be easy to support for a long time playing nearly twice my usual price for weed, but having something nice once in a while wouldn't suck.

So far, no luck.

I'm sick of weak weed. Since nobody can come through for me, I've really been considering growing my own plants.

Now, some questions/concerns:

-How many plants would I need to support a heavy smoker's habit? I realize that (as you'll understand shortly) I wouldn't be able to have that size garden anyway, but I am curious.

-What would you experienced growers recommend for someone who's living in an apartment, and whose wife is not a smoker and probably doesn't want to see my plants all the time? She's not opposed to my habit, but she's not a part of it either and I don't want it to get in her way too much, since I'd rather keep her unopposed to my habit. Is it actually possible to use a closet as a growing space? I'm not talking "walk-in closet" either. Assuming I can set up proper lighting in there, would there be some humidity issues? Would ventilation actually be required for a closet-sized garden?

-If a closet-garden is indeed possible, are there any seriously potent couch-locking types of weed that thrive well in such growing conditions?

-Assuming that the life-cycles are relatively similar, are there any reasons not to grow two strains simultaneously?

-This may not be an issue if I'm talking about a potential closet-garden, but I want to ask anyway: do any of you growers have cats? Are my cats likely to start chewing my plants and risk getting all fucked up on some mature White Widow (for example)? They do chew other types of house plant, so I've always had to be careful as to whether the plants we brought home were potentially toxic to cats.

OK, I'll stop for now, since every extra word is killing one more potential reader.

BTW, if you live in/near Montreal and have access to nice potent bud, feel free to become lifelong friends with me.

Too long and/or random to generate much response, I guess.

It's a new day, and my lonely little thread nearly drowned.

Oh well, at least it got a few views, so it wasn't completely ignored.

I don't have a lot to offer yet, I just wanted to say I'm in the exact same situation. The best thing I can tell you is to READ as much as you can on this site. There is a lot of info, and some really helpful, knowledgeable people.

Closet dimensions would help, but as a general rule of thumb 1 gram per watt of light is considered an excellent yield. An oz a week might be tough to grow in a closet, but I'm sure there's someone here who's done something like that.

Sorry I don't have any more to add, I've only been doing this a couple weeks. I'd say if you have the space, privacy, and patience needed to learn you should go for it. I think becoming self-sufficient is always the best way to go. Good luck.

yeah too long
get to the meat

your best bet is to look into cabnet growing
I am sure you can find many on this site and build your own (and save a ton of money)or you can look into one of the pre-fab one's, here is one I seen in high times that look's pretty nice
High Times > TURN KEY GROW BOXES FOR DUMMIES

ok ill try to help much as i can since it was kinda a rant some of my answers might not be in the irght order

1. when i first started growing i used a closet that was ment for like to just hold a water heater exact size was roughly 2'x2' giveing me enoguh room for 2 plants which usually gave me 1-3 ounces a harvest also using a mother plant and cloning it will shorten you grow time i had my set up for a harvest every 2 months. as since ur space is limited i would suggest cloning and flowering clones to sex becuase if u only have space for a few plants growing from seed could net u all males. so when u grow from seed take a few clones from each after 2months of veging can do it earlier but i have best results around two months. then flower the clones they will show sex after a week kill the male plants keep the best strongest bushiest one as amother to keep cloning from since the clones are exact genetic copies of the mother they will be femal and grow just as nicely long as they dont get sick

2 Cats just dont let them in there as far as if they got some and ate it wouldnt hurt them i have tow himalayn cats who i bong out give shotguns to and have seen eat buds it fucks em up they sleep for like 24 hours instead of 16. also if they are outdoor as well as indoor cats becareful becuase pets can carry spider mites and other weed unfreindly pests. just dont let them in your grow room

Humidity/heat in confined space this can be an issue but if u use some good cfls heat wont be as bad if ur not exhausting the air i would suggest letting the cloest open at lights on for about an hour and for about an hour before lights out . get a baby gate or somethign to keep cats out.

as far is getting a good couch lock stone thats the buzz u get from indica weed which as it so happens is easy and durable for closet grows some strains vary. I would suggest white widow. strong durable good high good yeaild its a good beginer strain or u can start with bagseed which i also reccomen since it lets u get everything down before you spend some serious cash on serious seeds.

as for multi strains there is no problem long as u flower them together

hope this helps if it does +rep me if not its all good

i just cant understand how u where able to rant so much, after about 10 words im good all day!

on a serious note listen to aesthargis, grow an indica strain, im going to have to say get some autodwarf white russian seeds, from seed ur looking at about 11 weeks until u will be smoking awesome buds! if grown right u will prollly end up with 1/2 to 1.5 oz per plant, they stay small, grow fast, the bud is prolly going to make u retarded when u smoke it, kinda like stuck on th couch with a wierd look on ur face bud that u hope no one else can see bud! and ur girl will prolly think ur plants are cute, maybe name them and prolly even start smoking them lmao! this is the best plant for someone to grow to begin with because its going to allow u to learn everything u need to know and ur going to learn fast!

heres a couple pix of what u can expect, 3 different strains including sativa and indica, check out the different sizes and hieght requirements, dwarf plants will stay bushy and mostly small as well so u will not need to worry about raising lights all the time! i mixed in a little haze, because i like to sit on the couch half retarded, knowing i have a wierd look on my face, but not really give a shit cuz imm triping that im the only one that reallizes this! hope this helps

You can do a closet grow no problem, 4 plants with an expectation of 1oz off each is not unreasonable. You just need good soil, good lights, correct temperatures and humidity, fertilizer and water. Expect 3-4 months to grow from seed to harvest, there are many many strains to choose from that flower in 10 weeks and under. Read the GROWFAQ .

lol if ur growing in soil dont waste ur time, look up deep water culture hydroponics, its so simple even an idiot like myself can do it! u can get all the stuff u need to get started for less than a hundred bux and be smoking all kinds of strains in about 3 months with about 1/4 of the headache and mess u will have with soil!

drama im surprised ur growing in soil

seriously i grow plants in soil only when i have no room for them in my bubblers, if u choose an auto dwarf strain, u will actually be smoking ur buds in 11 weeks( not flowering) plus in my opinion hydro is a much easier, less complicated grow system to work with especially for beginners!

Hey, nice turn of tides for my thread after all!

Thank you very much for all your feedback. It's actually all quite helpful and informative.

Those grow-boxes don't seem like a bad idea at all. They might even resolve the whole cat issue. Buying them's expensive as hell, though. I'd look more into building one.

Thank you, Aethersaegis, for the time you took on your answer. I thought that cloning would be the way to go and your comments confirm this.

I've lost a lot of my contacts over the years. Marriage can really do that to a guy. I guess while this growing idea is still in the planning and heavy-research stages, what I'll need to do is find someone locally who grows good killer weed privately so that I can get some nice kind bud at better prices. I'm tired of fueling the local biker economy by buying their mass-produced crap (indirectly, since I don't buy from them, but I'm sure my current sources do). While I do this, I can slowly set myself up so that my very first grow is a complete success. Fuck. Let me tell you something: the older you get, the trickier it is to get good contacts for smoke. I'm no longer really up to walking up to random strangers and asking them for some weed. Mind you, I still look like a smoker, so it's not like people usually worry about me being a cop or anything, but I'm just no longer comfortable with approaching some kid in a club for some weed. Besides, it's not like I buy dimebags.

By the way, as noobish as this sounds, can I really grow good weed with a simple 400 watt bulb??

first off anytime u need help feel free to send me a pm.

second a 400watt hps would grow 4 plants easly and u would get a decent amount providing ur take time and care for them.since your doing the research before you grow im sure u will succed.It pays to do your homework.

and the only reason i suggest soil first is its easier and gives u more room for error anytime i change strains in my grow room i grow one harvest on soil so i can get an idea what to look for. with soil u get days to diagnose symptoms and warning signs but on hydro u get only 24 hours or so before it goes from bad to worse

For some reason, I seem unable to send PMs. Maybe I don't have enough posts yet, or something.

im on here daily so if u got moer questions ask in here or make a grow journal when u start . or just make a new topic im always glad to help out

zaph said:

Hey, nice turn of tides for my thread after all!

Click to expand...

Someties you gotta do the bump at the right time. I typically only check the first page or two of a section. (lots of traffic here)

Those grow-boxes don't seem like a bad idea at all. They might even resolve the whole cat issue. Buying them's expensive as hell, though. I'd look more into building one.

Click to expand...

Do a hybrid. Buy a cheapo wardrobe and mod it.

By the way, as noobish as this sounds, can I really grow good weed with a simple 400 watt bulb??

Click to expand...

Oh hell yeah! Just don't try for really tall plants. I'll get 30 - 45 grams per <1M plant.

You top and train the right strain and one plant could keep you smoking, IF you can also get one veggin' a month before the other's final harvest all the time.

I can't imagine anyone actually deeply inhaling and holding the smoke of an ounce a week of many of these exotic, dominant Indica exotics. Guess I'm a light weight. For a great daytime, I don't see Chemdog Paint being beat. I can't handle the night stuff anymore.

zaph said:

I've lost a lot of my contacts over the years. Marriage can really do that to a guy.

Let me tell you something: the older you get, the trickier it is to get good contacts for smoke. I'm no longer really up to walking up to random strangers and asking them for some weed. Mind you, I still look like a smoker, so it's not like people usually worry about me being a cop or anything, but I'm just no longer comfortable with approaching some kid in a club for some weed. Besides, it's not like I buy dimebags.

Click to expand...

I feel exactly the same way! I wish I could find a good dealer the only thing I can get is fucking seedy crap. I think I need to invest in some good lights and take over my wife's walk in closet ;p

MrFishy said:

You top and train the right strain and one plant could keep you smoking, IF you can also get one veggin' a month before the other's final harvest all the time.

I can't imagine anyone actually deeply inhaling and holding the smoke of an ounce a week of many of these exotic, dominant Indica exotics. Guess I'm a light weight. For a great daytime, I don't see Chemdog Paint being beat. I can't handle the night stuff anymore.

Click to expand...

In fairness, I'm smoking an ounce a week of regular Montreal street-weed. I am hopeful that switching to more potent strains would allow me to decrease my consumption. Right now, I feel as though I'm always chasing a good buzz that never seems to come along.