Also by Greg Green
The Cannabis Breeder’s Bible
Acknowledgments
My deepest thanks go to open-minded and open-hearted people everywhere who understand the need to research and explore our world. I would like to say thank you to Simi and family. I love you. I would also like to say a special thanks to my publisher and editor for their always-welcome words of wisdom and their dedicated effort in bringing you the best presentation of cannabis cultivation methods possible. They have helpfully criticized various chapters for me. Without them this book wouldn’t be what it is. I would like to ask that if you smoke tobacco, make a promise to yourself to stop. Trust yourself in the hope that you will quit and enjoy the new lease on life you will get from it.
Publishers Acknowledgements
First I’d like to thank Greg Green who has worked tirelessly on the first edition of the Cannabis Grow Bible and was then willing to return to the material and expand it into what became a truly amazing book. He was hugely motivated to get the best possible information out there to all who wanted to learn about cannabis. Then of course, behind the scenes was the Green Candy Press crew of Patrick, Steph and Ian who all contributed in major ways to the book that you hold in your hands. I’d also like to thank some of the other authors who were amongst the earliest pioneers of cannabis education; Ed Rosenthal, Mel Frank and Jorge Cervantes have all contributed a great amount to our knowledge of cannabis. To all the growers and breeders who’ve shared their knowledge and experience, you have helped the cannabis community take great strides forward. In particular I’d like to thank Delta-9 Labs, DNA Genetics, Dr. Greenthumb, Dutch Passion, Green House Seed Co., KC Brains, Paradise Seeds, Sagarmatha Seeds, Sensi Seeds and Serious Seeds for their years of work on producing amazing new strains. Finally, it would impossible to produce a book like this without the help of amazingly talented photographers; Andre Grossman, David Strange, Ed Borg, Hydro Garden, Kissie, Mel Frank, MG Imaging, Pepper Design, Sativa Steph, Subcool and Zoe Yonge. Overall this book has been a true collaboration and it’s been a real joy to work with such a talented group of people and to bring you the second edition of the Cannabis Grow Bible.
Preface
Cannabis cultivation and research continues to take place, and although the amount of care we take is vital, more important is to do things right. In the first edition of this book I proposed the rule, “Never Tell a Soul that You Are Growing Cannabis!” This principle, when examined in practice, turns out to be completely baseless and practically impossible, leaving me hard-pressed to believe it and forced to relegate it to myth. In order to gain good cannabis genetics, you will need to make and cultivate contacts somehow. Don’t panic if you have bought this book and suddenly find yourself feeling as if you’ve done something wrong; you’ve done nothing wrong, and in fact you’ve made the right choice for a guide. Writers can write whatever they please, you can read whatever you like, and this book will show you how growing cannabis is done correctly.
his book was written with growers in mind; we listen to and talk with growers. The need for this second edition of The Cannabis Grow Bible became clear thanks to questions raised by the first edition as well as The Cannabis Breeder’s Bible: The Definitive Guide to Marijuana Genetics, Cannabis Botany and Creating Strains for the Seed Market. There is a constant need to revise and update previous systems with new advancements and progress in the world of cultivation. More immediately, there is a need to draw the cultivator’s attention to a change in botanical orientation and circumstances that maximize yields. No longer are growers just satisfied by the look of one plant in two dozen that might be of book- or magazine-publication quality. No longer are they content with half the yield’s potency and expectations. The natural cannabis grower is consumed by an urgent and ever-increasing need to generate productive, efficient grows that instantly meet expectations and exceed in results the first time. For these reasons, this second edition contains immediate information to acquaint the reader with the more impressive techniques that result in consistent, verified, high-yielding, potent crops. However, the onus is on the reader and potential cultivator to think everything through before considering buying a single seed. This especially means thinking about the impact on one’s own family, which should be put before everything else.
There is also a growing awareness that many sources for quality seed genetics in the West may be facing tougher legal issues, coupled with concern over Internet security and even the worldwide distribution of seeds.1
A little know-how, which this book teaches, will immediately allow you to avoid common mistakes and achieve higher rates of success than even experienced cultivators. This book will cover all the groundwork for you.
Claiming to know everything is a strong assertation to make. I believe that a growing manual should try and reference source material as much as possible. I believe growing is a science but I am also aware that it is an art. Every grower has his own point of view, and being critical of another grower’s opinion is not the way to improve. The best grower is critical of himself, always.
This book is not about me, it is all about you. This is a circular process of giving out better growing information and seeing better grows as a result, and then writing about them. You are part of that process.
I try to present this data as a case for growing cannabis in the context of the most optimal ways of producing results. Our methods are documented and repeatable, catering to the needs of both the small home-grower and the outdoor breeder. Yet, we recognize there is a greater need to be concerned with the small home-grower (large-scale breeders may prefer to read The Cannabis Breeder’s Bible) and to this end we offer synoptic plans on how to go about getting the results that you need. Frequently, we include our own brief recommendations, but we do so knowing that the work you put in will finally generate exactly what you need. Take this advice.
A good grower is not a grower who knows lots or pretends to know everything, but one who gets into the rhythm of growing the right way. The truth, however, is that there is no right way. Some ways are just better than others. It is your grow. It is your fun. It is your love. Never forget this when people dangle their steroidpumped-up buds before you. This is about enjoying your time. Remember to grow cannabis without love is to never experience the joys of cannabis cultivation. Some growers with the biggest buds in the world have never grown at all!
Foreword
This book is all about symbiosis. Symbiosis is the relationship between two different living creatures that live in close proximity and
