Any author with the audacity to call their book a ‘bible’ better be prepared to really produce the goods. You don’t have to look too far to see that there are bibles for just about everything. The Holy Bible aside, there are wine bibles, cooking bibles, fashion bibles, watch bibles, and a whole trainload of car bibles. There is a screenwriter’s bible, a compounding money bible and even, thank God, a green smoothie bible. Publishers know that the inclusion of the word ‘bible’ in a book’s title immediately gives it a scholarly, authoritative air. Of course, sometimes the content doesn’t live up to the title so you are wise to ask: How does this bible stack up?
Fourteen years ago last August, Greg Green wrote his first version of The Cannabis Grow Bible. We were starting to see glimmers of the lifting of prohibition in North America and the time was ripe for a grow book that gave growers a reference source that was written by a real botanist who could draw us deeper into the science of the plant without getting deep enough to bore. Over 50,000 copies were sold, so obviously the author hit a vein. Green, who originally hails from Ireland, certainly deserves his place in the pantheon of great grow authors like Ed Rosenthal, Jorges Cervantes and D.J. Short, and this new edition keeps him at or near the top of that small list.
Now before you think I am just a shill who could be easily bought with a winter vacation in the Caribbean, (make it Negril, please), this book is not perfect, but I really have to pick nits to criticize it. I personally know that editing past written work is painful but the exponential explosion of cannabis growing demands regular revisions to stay current and sometimes these additions were integrated a bit bumpily in this tome. That very minor quibble aside, there is a wealth of solid information, lots of glorious bud pictures, useful tutorials, bonus goodies like the regeneration info from J.B. Haze and a breeding chapter that demands, and deserves, two or three rereads. You will also find chapter summaries for handy review and a great index for getting back to the pertinent bits when you really need them. Make note that this is a reference for all growers, home and commercial, indoors and out and as such, it can only drill down so deeply into specific techniques.
If you are anything like me, sometimes your headstrong enthusiasm for a project can get the better of you. I jumped into my first grow with nothing but an Internet education. By the time I had opened this book, I was mid-veg cycle with my plants and I had already deprived them, baked them and over-nuted them. I had generally done every stupid thing that I could have to bring them to the brink of death. Thankfully, the genetics were hardy and the teeny bit of experience I had earned had humbled me enough that I was now willing to accept any and all advice to finish successfully. I was really happy to see this book arrive and I quickly read it cover to cover. You should too. As the author points out: “This book will cost you the same as a pack of reasonably good quality seeds.”
So, buy one less bag of beans, get this book and have nothing but great grows.
Author: Greg Green
420 Magazine Book Review By: Ian Bastage
Publisher: Green Candy Press, San Francisco CA
For More Information: The Cannabis Grow Bible
