So where do you as a new grower start?

As a basic checklist you will need the following:

• Containers
• Grow medium
• Grow space
• Light
• Water
• Nutrients
• Seeds

Every grower has his or her own favorites, and also their own opinions. As I learn (and you will never stop) more about growing I see more conflicting opinions. or rather personal preferences. I will touch on a few here and you can decide which route will be best for you.

Containers : Bags, pots or hydro containers or air pots. The choices are wide and there are certain times when a specific container makes more sense or even when it is the only choice.

Your grow medium : I love reading all the opinions on this. For every time a person asks “what is the best soil” you will see 6 or seven different opinions. There are a lot of different companies out there, all of them striving to be the best and carving out the biggest piece of the market. And if you decide that you want to go soil less and grow hydro you will need to get educated nice and quickly.

Grow space : this is totally dependent on you and what you have available. You will need at least a 45 x 45 x 60cm area with to grow a single small plant. ef space is really at a premium a hydro makes more sense as you will get better results in the space avaiable. Check out this PC grow box :

Light : My first choice is the sun. We have lovely long sunshine days in Cape Town and since it is the brightest light that I can get for free – I am using it. But if you are growing indoors you will need decent lighting to make sure you get the growth and the potency that you want from your growth.

Water : For your plant to absorb all the nutrients that it needs you need to make sure your water is in a PH range of 6 to 7. Also try to make sure that your water is clean and if using tap water that you leave it in the sun to break down the chlorine before using it.

Nutrients : In the photo above you can see all the nutrients that your plant will need. Depending on what stage it is in it will need more of certain nutes. During the veg stage it needs more Nitrogen and during flower you will need to boost Phosphorus.

Seeds : Bagseed, breeder seed, seed gifted by a buddy. Without these little pips you are going nowhere. Get your first seed and start germinating.