Mad Mike here.
Long-time toker (since 1984), first-time grower living in Portland, OR.
Bought some greenage from my guy last spring (MTF/Northern Lights hybrid is what he said it was. I grew up in Alaska, only 50 miles from the Matanuska Valley, and God do I miss real MTF.) and it was rife with seeds.
He was very apologetic and kicked in some extra bud because of it, and all I could think of was trying my hand at growing them.
Out of about 1.5-oz of herbage, I got about 150 really nice looking seeds.
(My guy told me later that his grower was shitting bricks when told about my seed count, heh, heh, heh)
Researched what I could on the interweb, got the basic supplies together, and stuck one in the potting soil and did what I could to keep it alive & healthy.
It's now over 24" tall, and I topped a few times and now have 14 main stalks, and it's been flowering since 9-11 (so 24 days of flowering so far) using 8@ 28-watt CFL's and 4@ 48" double-tube FL shoplight fixtures (40-watts each tube) in a growbox that's 9 square feet @ 50" tall (attached pics of the grow box are right after it was finished. Underestimated the needed size twice, so the box pictured is "Growbox mk. III" right before covering the outside in foil, and also before adding the 4 shoplights).
The grow box is built around a Gorilla Rack frame and enclosed with white foamboard.
It has 3@ 6" fans: one cool air intake down low, one mounted opposite up high to blow across the 8 hanging CFL's toward the exhaust port which is a blowhole light trap with the last fan sucking air up & out.
The 4 shoplight fixtures are in each corner standing vertically.
All seams (inside & out) are taped with white duct tape, and the outside is covered with aluminum foil (it sits behind me in my computer room, so the foil makes it possible to do my digital artwork & game playing without any reflections in my monitor).
I don't need stealth, just don't want extra ambient light outside of the box to interfere with my computering (I spend about 8 to 10 hours a day on my computer doing Sword & Sorcery art using Painter 10.1 and Photoshop).
It's looking pretty good so far (maybe another 3 or 4 weeks before harvest), but I know there is so much to learn to get better in time.
Thank Jebus for all you green-thumbed stoner's who went before us newbie-ans!
And double thanks for those who create & maintain such websites as this one to help us all live life a lot better.
I'm a medical MJ user who is amazed at how well MJ works for my problems, and who also happens to love the high (love toking & playing my bass, or painting while buzzed/high/stoned).
Lots & lots to read through on this website, and lots of great info & tips, too!
Peace, love & herb to all!