I was born the year of the Rosenberg execution so i qualify to be here.
I want to start by stating that when most people think of pot users they think of teenagers or college students. I admit I had the same preconceived notion but if you want to see the face of marijuana users go to a dispensary. The majority of the ones i have seen are wellllll over 55. You will see the same blue haired people that hold up the line at Krogers on Senior Citizen Day looking for their coupons.
Growing a few plants is a great hobby for seniors and can even supplement our social security checks. Most seniors are going to be puttering around in the garden anyway growing tomatoes or roses. Not only do we get free (well, kinda free) medical marijuana but just growing and caring for our plants is very therapeutic. I enjoy listening to Iron Butterfly or Hendrix when caring for my plants. I even have a lava lamp.
I am on my 4th grow. My 1st grow i had just tossed a few seeds in flower pot with some old dirt in it on the back deck. By accident it was the right time of year and i actually grew 5 little plants about a foot tall that yielded almost an ounce of free weed! My next grow was at the bird bath with my zinnias and grew about 6 ounces of perfectly acceptable smoke. Growing outside has some negative aspects to it especially if you are growing in a state where it is not legal. I strongly discourage outdoor grows in that situation.
My 3rd grow was inside. i grew 9 plants using 400 watt cfl for veg and 1000hps for flower. I made just about every mistake possible and still harvested 17 ounces of mid grade weed. Maybe not medical grade but definitely as good as any mexican street weed.
I am now 2 weeks into flowering of an indoor grow and I'm ready to offer some advice.
1st off STRAIN MATTERS. I buy clones from my dispensary. It saves about a month of growing over seeds and being some strains take longer then others to grow it's good information to have. you will also be assured of getting female plants. male plants are baddddd and you don't want your girls anywhere near them or you will lose most of your usable yield and you can't even get any effect from them. IMPORTANT NOTE: learn about male plants and destroy them on sight. If you are growing for your own use (and maybe a little more) i suggest 4 to 6 plants to start. i'm of the mind that it's important to just grow the 1st plants to prove it can be done. You'll probably wind up getting all the different kinds of lights and hoods and nutriants and gauges at some point but for new growers you can get by with a couple of the large 300watt cfls from loews for the veg stage (get the big ones, not the 3 way ones, they wont work.) the longer you veg them the bigger the yield but do yourself a favor for the 1st grow and veg for 4 weeks. you will need some "nutes". there is a big debate about the evils of miracle grow but keep it simple this time (believe me, there are enough different nutes out there to make your brain explode). for the flowering and budding stage you are going to have to invest a little money in a 600 watt ballast, hood and bulb. check craigslist. there is a lot of grow equipment and broken dreams out there. you should get by with about 150 bucks or less. if you decide growing is the right thing for you you will want to step up to the 1000watt grow lights for future grows. Expect a 50 or 60 dollar hit to your power bill for 4 months or so. your plants are going to flower for about 9 weeks before they are ready to harvest. that gives you plenty of time to study for the next crop.
There is a very special feeling about growing your own stash. You will probably start to treat "your girls" as pets and you will want to nourish and care for them. Go ahead and crank up some Santana and give it a shot. Let us know how it turns out.
