Grow weed for dummies

1- Growing marijuana in soil is easy, but it requires preperation.
The 1st step in growing is setting aside a space for it.
This can be as elaborate as a spare bedroom, or as simple as a closet.
Some people use those portable closets available from home depot.
http://www.greenpass...ow-closet-2455/

2- So once you've gotten your space set aside, what is next?
Lighting! This is where you are on your own, there are several avenues for you to take.

CFL's are gaining in popularity, but the long time standard is HID lighting.
Do your research here, and you'll be rewarded with some tight nugs.
Personally, I use several 400 watt hps lights.

3- So we have our space allocated, and have installed our newly purchased lighting.
Things are looking good! So lets move on and plant some seeds now hey?
Slow down there, and dig your heals in for a bit spike! Before we even think about starting a seedling, we need a very good exhaust/ventilation system. Please re-read that above sentence and you'll notice I said "exhaust/ventilation".

Two seperate and distinct functions, lemme explain for ya those two seperate, yet important functions.

We need an exhaust system, to exhaust the heat produced by our lighting system. It dosent matter if you use CFL's or HID lighting, you need to exhaust the heat produced, and they will produce heat. Here is a link that supplies a formula I've used for years in helping me determine the cfm required in my exhaust. This link assumes HID lighting is being used.
http://www.greenpass...area-size-3704/

The secondary purpose here, is that as plants grow, they use up the available co2 in the growspace, and by exhausting the space, fresh co2 is than drawn into the growspace. This is a necessity for a healthy grow.
4-Are you ready to germinate some seeds finally? Not yet buddy, you could germinate your seeds, but you'll also end up in the slammer if your not in a legal state. We need to also take into account the smell. Even if you are living in a legal state, you should be concerned about the smell, as it will attract "rip offs" too.

The standard here is a carbon filter, but there are many DIY substitutes too, such as:
http://www.greenpass...ng-machine-297/

The truth be told is, marijuana plants do not emit a huge smell, unless your touch the plants, kinda hard not to touch those lovely flowers, and/or at harvest. So being prepared, only makes sense.
There are only a few scenarios where you wont need to worry about the smell. Like where I live, the smell is never a concern. This is not the norm however, and I would never recommend someone to not worry about the smell. A mistake here will result in disaster.

5-Now we have a ready to use grow space, and we can get our seeds ready. Of course some people will grow from clones, and thats fine. Alot of people have a seperate vegging/cloning area too, and for all intent purposes, I am going to consider that advanced growing techniques, and will not be covered here. This is to just cover the basics.
There are many ways to germinate seeds, the easiest of which is to pop the seed into some dirt and wait.

My preferred method, that I've used for years is to get a paper plate, on top, place a damp paper towel, place your seeds on the damp towel, and fold the towel in half, to cover the seeds. Than place the paper plate into a large plastic freezer bag, and close the bag, but as you do, blow air into the bag. This will form a terrarium atmosphere for the seeds, and as the water evaporates, it will cling to the baggie and re-distribute itself back onto the towel again. Place in a dark place. I place mine in a drawer next to my stove. This keeps it dark and warm. Usually within 24 hours, my seeds are ready, 48 hours at the very most.

6-vegging, it is now time to veg your babies, get a soil recipe that you are comfortable with. Marijuana plants determine between vegging and flowering by it's light cycle, typically an 18/6 schedule is used for vegging, and 12/12 for flowering. You'll also need some nutrients to feed them with. There are lots of nutes available to you, foxfarm come to mind for one. Of course if you have a good soil recipe, you wont need any nutes at all, here is a recipe I've used with above average results. http://www.greenpass...orks-well-5083/
You want to place your seeds into a small container, not clear, as light is bad for the roots. I use small dixie cups to start with. Place seed about one inch into the cup. Plan on re-planting your babies about every two weeks.

Please dont skip the re-potting step, I've seen people start off in 5 gallon grow pots, and this is a waste of space. Re-potting forces the plant to grow a healthy root system. there is a good rule of thumb that says to use one gallon of soil, for every 12" of growth you expect to have. This is a minimum. You may want to double that.

How long should you veg for? That all depends on your space, and other factors. However you should never flower before a plant is sexually mature.There are 2 features that distinguish mature veggie plants from immature ones. They are alternating nodal arrangement and leaves with 5 or more blades. You can flower before those features are present, but the plants perform a whole lot better if you wait. Most strains except for equ. sats have these by 12" or so. Personally, mine have always had these features before they reach 30 days old. My best plants have been vegged for atleast 5 weeks, I find that to be a bare minimum.

7-Flowering, once you have finished vegging, it is time to re-pot the plants into there final grow pot, you want something between a 2 gallon grow pot, upto a 5 gallon size. Now flip the light cycle to 12/12.
Dude....your growing some pot and will have a harvest soon! Pretty cool hey? there is absolutely nothing like smoking the weed you've grown with your very own hands. It tastes sooooo good too!

Now please understand, this covers only the basics. we have not touched upon things like what to do if you get infested with some ugly creature who wants to eay your ladies. Alternative light cycles, sexing, cloning, these are all advanced topics. I hope you find this useful.
Peace