February 17th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
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Follow these easy steps to make a homemade gravity bong.
1. First, you want to find a two litre bottle or some other soft plastic container with a skrew cap that can be the body of the gravity bong.
2. Find a socket or some other small round object that will work for a bong bowl. You can actually use a real bong bowl if you have one handy.
3. Heat the bottle cap until the plastic is soft, and then push the bowl into it to make an airtight seal. Make sure it punctures the cap so that smoke can be drawn through the bowl.
4. Cut the bottom off of the bottle or container that you have chosen for the gravity bong.
5. Find a bucket that is big enough the fit the cut off gravity bong (bottle) inside of it. Fill the bucket up with water.
6. With the cap off, push the gravity bong all the way down to the bottom of the bucket, or so the water line is just below the top of the bottle.
7. Pack the bowl, and screw the top back onto the bottle. Then you can light the bowl while slowly pulling the bottle up. You will notice smoke being drawn into the chamber.
8. Once the bottle is almost completely out of the water, and then unscrew the cap and inhale the smoke as you push the bottle back into the bucket of water (thus forcing the smoke out).
Enjoy your new homemade gravity bong time and time again! Check out this homemade gravity bong below.
February 14th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
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Part 1: Finding the right grow spot
Before you can sow your seeds you must find a suitable location to grow your plants. Don’t be showing your new plant of to the neighbors. No not grow near roads, park trails, railroad tracks, power lines and any man made structures. A lot of this is common sense, but pricker bushes, muddy areas, uncleared woods, water, and steep hills are all people deterrents. Try growing between a grouping of pine tried so that when the leaves die in winter, your plants are hidden. Make sure no hunters roam your grow area. The last thing you need is some hunter finding your new grow project!
The more sunlight your marijuana plants get the better. In an ideal situation, you plants would get 10+ hours of sunlight a day, and this would cause the quickest possible growth. However such hidden spots are hard to come by, so try to get your plants at least 5 hours a day. Wrapping tin foil around the plant may also help reflect light back on it. Be sure to scope out a grow site that will be able to provide light.
Soil is crucial to any grow operation, and this is where a lot of beginner growers mess up. First off, the soil must drain well. Use perlite, sand, or some one aerator to improve the water flow through the soil. PH is crucial to a plants ability to absorb nutrients and function. Marijuana prefers a pH of 6.3-6.7 for ideal growth. Lime will increase the pH and sodium bicarbonate will lower it. Be sure to add the correct proportions to each!
A source of water is necessary at the grow site. There are a few methods for solving this issue (if there is not enough natural rain). First off, you can hide buckets at the grow site to collect water. If water is close, you can divert a small stream to your plant. For the more crafty, you can run a hose from a high elevation water source and bury the hose underground. Only bring equipment to the grow site at night, but never water at night, as you increase the chance of mold. Come back and water the plants quickly the next day if necessary.
The level of the water table at the grow site is also important. If the water table is too high and the soil is too wet the roots will not receive enough oxygen and die. If the water table is too low then the soil will dry out quickly and you will have to water often. If the ground is too wet then the plants must be grown in pots. The larger the better. The pot should have a one inch layer of gravel for good drainage. The rest of the pot should be filled with potting soil.
Part 2: Choosing the right seed
Selecting the right seed for your grow site is the next important step. You want a seed that is well adapted to the area that you plan to grow in. There are many seedbanks you can choose from, Sensi Seeds happens to be my favorite. You can view the average time each strain takes to harvest right on the website, and compare that with your local growing season. If you have enough time to grow the plant before the first frost of the fall, you will be golden. Many people also look at the yield per plant of each strain, and the average potency of the buds. Like I said earlier though, the more sunlight, the more potent the plant.
Part 3: Sprouting Your Seeds
With your dank seeds in hand, you are not almost ready to start growing! Make sure an appropriate site is selected and prepared and then sprout the seeds.
To sprout seeds in a paper towel, wrap each seed individually in a paper towel, folding the paper towel over itself several times. The paper towel should be wet thoroughly and placed on a flat dark surface, preferably warm. Once the sprout is about 1/3 inch long you can place the sprout in a jiffy pot. Make sure you use a similar mixture to what you will be using in the larger pot later. Use a pencil or pen to push the soil down about an inch. Place the sprout in the soil and cover with loose dirt. Keep the soil wet, and if you can use a weak concentrated phosphorus mixture. Within a week or two you should start to see some plant growth.
Part 4: Vegetative Growth
The plants should now fully be experiencing vegetative growth. Several levels of nodes should be apparent by now. Never let the water dry out at this stage, it is essential to the growth. At this point no fertilizer should be used. Keep an eye on plants if there have been a lot of storms recently (especially at night) as the plants will start to mold. Carefully remove any plants that due begin to mold as mold will easily spread to the other plants. 3-4 weeks into vegetative growth you can start fertilizing with a 20-20-20 outdoor fertilizer.
The growing plants should be looking stronger and healthier every week! At this point it is up to you if you want to use insecticide to insure no bugs get at your plants. You will have to reapply any insecticide after it rains. The plants can be fertilized every other week at this point, and with adequate sunlight, should be growing 1 ft+ a week! It is worth it to check the pH periodically as well, if it is falling below that 6.3 mark discussed earlier, apply some sodium bicarbonate or ashes with the water.
As you get closer to the flowering stage, the roots of the plant will become less and less effective at absorbing nutrients into the marijuana plant. Many people use foliar feeding at this stage (spraying the leaves directly with fertilizer. Be very careful with this method as you will severely damage the leaves if you over fertilize. A light spraying once a week of a fertilizer half the strength will be plenty. Feed the plant in the early morning when the stomata (leaf pores) are open and ready to absorb nutrients. A day after make sure to wash the leaves with water to take off any excess leftover fertilizer.
Part 6: Pruning Depending on how tall your plant is getting, you may want to consider pruning it to control growth. If you clip the growth bud at the top, the plants will stop growing in the vertical direction, and growth hormones will be transferred to the stems growing horizontally. The inverse is true as well, if you want the plant to grow tall and skinny you can clip the buds on the side. Most prefer to clip the top growth bud however, as a wider plant increases sun exposure for flowering, and a shorter plant is harder to spot. Be sure to always cut less than 4 inches off when pruning.
Part 7: Flowering – The Fun Part
Before you start to flower the plant you are going to want to make sure you have no males in the bunch. A female plant will have started to sprout pistils at this point, which look almost like little hairs sticking out of a branch. These will eventually become dank buds. The male plants will start to develop pods where pollen will develop. Males need to be removed immediately or they will pollinate the females and thc resin production will be stunted (and seed production will start)! Carefully remove all male plants to avoid pollination.
Once the male plants are gone, it is time to wait for flowering. Flowering occurs when the plant senses a ratio of 12 hours light / 12 hours dark. Once flowering has begun, the marijuana buds will start to form and produce resin (unless they are pollinated by a male). Do not disturb the plants at night as even the smallest amount of light can offset the growth hormone that controls flowering and revert the plant back to vegetative growth. Use a red light if anything, as it is less disruptive to the plant. Also cease using all insecticides and fertilizers, only add a small amount of phosphorus if you want to promote bud growth.
Part 9: Picking, Curing Marijuna, And Gettin High!
It is almost time for your reward. When the white pistils that told you the plant was a female start to turn brown, it is bordering on being late to harvest. You can use a magnifying glass to detect early when the pistils will go brown. A brown pistil is rapidly losing thc, while a clear one has not reached full potential. Cut off the marijuana branches and put them in a container or bag for later curing. Be gentle handling the plants.
Take the buds out and remove any big leaves. The buds should be placed in containers and given about 2-4 weeks to sit. If any bud begins to mold remove it from the others and put it in the microwave to kill the mold. The containers should be kept in a dark place. Once the buds are mostly dry you can take out the rest of the leaves and stems that have little THC potency and hang the buds up in a dry warm (preferably dark) place to dry. Once the buds are dry and brittle enjoy all your hard work and take a smoke break! If you liked this article please drop us a comment or link back to us!
February 13th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
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What Is Hydroponics and Why Is It Good For Growing Marijuana?
Growing marijuana with hydroponics can be described as placing a plant’s roots in a bath of highly oxygenated enriched water. In soil, natural biological decomposition breaks down organic matter for the plant go get its basic nutrient salts. The advantage to hydroponics is we can have this perfect combination of water-soluble nutrients prepared in the water and applied directly to the roots, instead of relying on soil to carry them. This gives the grower much more control over the plants diet.
The roots will still need some support. So perlite or sand, anything that the roots can get a hold on is good. The medium must be very porous to allow the plants to retain water and air. The roots will suffocate if there is no breathability. The hyrponic plant as another advantage in that root growth requires much less energy in a hydroponic system. The short roots are able to still absorb a huge amount of nutrients, and thus energe can be reverted to growth instead.
Should I Use Soil or Hydroponics?
Soil is much easier to grow marijuana in, but hydroponics is going to give you the better results. Hydroponics will take the nutrients right to the plant via water, where as in soil plants have to rely on the natural breakdown of nutrients. This allows the roots to stay smaller and the rest of the plant to grow. A hydroponic grow system will take some time and money to set up, but it will be well worth the results in the end!
FYI - Aeroponics
Aeroponics works exactly the same way as hydroponics, except that the plant is suspended entirely in the air and there is no growing medium for the roots. The water/fertilizer mixture is sprayed directly on the roots, allowing maximum oxygen and absorbtion potential. Using this technique will enable your plants to grow at over a dozen times the rate it would in soil.
February 11th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
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Finally away from home and at college, everyone loves to smoke trees. A tough class or a bad day never felt more enjoyable than after a big bowl of that special herb. But the day comes to finally move in and you found out you got shafted with the room right next to the RA! Don’t worry because you can still smoke in your dorm room! Follow these guidelines and you’ll be toking in your dorm room stress free!
1.Control The Smell
It is essential to control that pot smell from unsuspecting passerbys in the hallway (or your RA). As much as you love the smell of herb, not everyone does, and its hard to find someone on a college campus that still can’t recognize the smell of burning weed. Controlling the smell really comes down to air flow. If you have a window in your room that will fit a fan nicely, place a fan in the window and seal any gaps around it with pillows or towels. If a fan will not fit in your window, consider buying a vaporizer to practically eliminate the smell problem all together. Also keep in mind that a blunt will smell more than a joint and a bubbler or dry piece will smell more than a one-hitter.
2.Stash Spots
Any good stoner would tell you the first thing to do when moving into a new residence is to establish some stash spots. A lot of colleges now a days let RAs look though the room at their discretion, although most will prevent them from searching any container that belongs to you. That means don’t leave your weed sitting in your desk drawer or university dressers. The best places are the ones that nobody expects. My favorite spot was a footrest ottoman that I got at walmart for $50. The lid was hollow with fabric that I could pull apart and hold in with pins. To hide the smell I kept my shoes in there to cover the stench!
3.Essential tools – Air freshener
Always keep some spray on hand, should your RA ever come to the door to bring you some bullshit notice or something, you can always buy time by pulling the “I’m getting dressed” excuse and spray some air freshener. Make sure to use eyedrops as well, as this can be a dead give away. Try to quietly and quickly hide all your shit, so as not to arouse suspicion.
4.Keep your music down
In regards to the point above, the most common reason for an RA to come to the door isn’t because he thinks you’re smoking in the dorm room, it is because your music is too loud! Keep that music at a reasonable volume, and you’ll be strait. The RA isn’t usually out to get you, so don’t cause problems and smoke safely.
5.Vaporizers – The Piece De Resistance
Vaporizers are where it is at my friends. I switched to the vaporizer fad about 4 months ago and I can smoke constantly all day in my room without raising an eyebrow. I don’t even have a fan. I just stick a towel under the door and smoke the vaporizer. The smell is so subtle me RA has come in multiple times mid session and not smelled anything! For more information about vaporizers check them out here.
Have fun smoking in your college dorm and hopefully next year you’ll have an apartment!
February 11th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
filed under: How-To, Random
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One of the most popular things around that I’ve seen lately are a kind of smoking device called dugouts. Dugouts are ideal for the college student or anyone who wants to smoke discreetly on the run. They run from $10-$30 and come in a variety of colors and materials. Most dugouts are wood on the outside, and contain a metal one-hitter pipe. You can even get dugouts now where the pipe is painted as a cigarette. The basic dugout design consists of a block of wood with two holes drilled through it, one filled with ground marijuana and the other with a small spring that holds the pipe. There is a sliding top piece and you can press the pipe down into the chamber and slide it closed, sealing all smell. When you want to smoke, just slide the top off and press your bowl into the marijuana chamber for an instant smoke. You can easily walk down the street at night and fool anybody into thinking you are smoking a cigarette, and even during the day its hard for the unsuspecting eye to tell the difference. Check out dugouts here!
February 6th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
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The ability to roll a joint is crucial to any stoner’s arsenal, and you’ll find yourself extremely embarrassed if your joint burns uneven or goes out because of poor rolling technique. Almost everyone I know claims they can roll a joint, but I find it is a rare find to see perfect cylinders or cones now-a-days. I will attempt to save the ancient art by writing out the steps to rolling a perfect joint (all other guides I found online were junk).
First you want to get a pack of rolling papers (I prefer “smoking” brand papers but anything will work fine). Some people don’t put a roach (or filter) in the tip, but I find it provides nice support at the end for anything but very skinny joints. For a roach take a business card or index card, anything that is stiff, and cut a piece of paper that is about ½ inch by 2 inches. Put it aside for later
Lay the paper down, glue side up on the edge furthest away from you. Most people mix tobacco and weed together in their joints, it will help your joint burn better. Make sure that your weed has no seeds or stems in it, seeds taste terrible, and stems will rip the paper when you try to roll the joint up. Mix the weed and tobacco in about a 50/50 ratio or whatever you want really.
Next, you will want to take the paper filled with tobacco and weed and spread it across evenly. Move the tobacco/weed mixture into the center crease. Pick the paper up and pinch the two sides of the paper together and using your index finger and middle finger pinch down to where the weed and tobacco are at and make a cylinder. You will find you are able to roll the stash around to round it out while pinching the papers together.
When you are finally ready to roll, shift the cylinder down so that the paper with the glue on it is coming up, and there is enough paper on the side that doesn’t have the glue to just cover the cylinder. This part takes a little practice, but you need to tuck the paper that has no glue on it around the cylinder and then tightly wrap the rest of the paper around the cylinder, licking the glue at the end to seal it.
Once you have a sealed cylinder, some of the weed will have fallen out of both ends (nobody is perfect) and I like to take a pen cartridge or some other skinny utensil and pack down both ends of the joint. Whichever end is wider or looks more unstable, pack the weed into that end. On the smaller and more stable end, roll up the roach you made earlier small enough so that it will fit in. Once the front end of the roach is in, let it expand to fill the gap and then press it into the joint.
You should now have a fully functional joint, enjoy!
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