If this is your first TLO grow, you will most likely need to change the style or layout of your grow area somewhat, just as you’ll have to change your mindset. Your basic environment for TLO is broad; the same rules that apply to all natural/organic growing also apply to TLO growing. I myself have grown with TLO in many different styles, in very different spaces. TLO growing is very flexible, and can be adapted into both small and larger outdoor grows, as well as almost any size of indoor grow. For this book, we’ll stick to the indoors environment, and I will suggest recipes and whatnot on smaller scales for most of you newer medical growers who want to grow, and use, the highest quality medicine possible. To up the scale of your garden, simply do a little math, and you can increase the ratios to any level you like.
Any size or style grow space can support True Living Organics
Here’s a little note regarding your grow area. I just moved from a very large space out in the east county in southern Oregon. Now I am confined to one 8x8x8-foot bedroom and part of a small garage. I use the garage to store and mix my bulk soils and do my recycling. I have pulled the whole enchilada off in just one bedroom before, recycling and all, without a single problem. Don’t let the restrictions of your grow area put you off TLO growing.
Although much of the TLO growing technique is different to ones that you might have used before, the basics are still the same. No matter what situation they’re grown in, cannabis plants always need light, food and water, and lighting especially is a huge factor in growing the biggest and best buds possible.
Choose your lights wisely to get the best buds, like these, from your grow space
I’m going to be fairly straightforward about this: for lighting, I prefer using bulbs with better overall spectrums for growing all-naturally. One of my all-time favorite bulbs for full term, sprout to harvest TLO growing is the Eye Blue Metal halide (MH). My least favorite is the High Pressure Sodium (HPS) bulb. HPS bulbs do not seem to allow the plant to absorb and/or process nutrients as well as the MH bulbs, unless you are growing with a synthetic set up or a “Soup-Style” organic set up, which I will discuss later in this book. The MH and HPS lights are both High Intensity Discharge (HID) lights, which use a decent amount of electricity and create a lot of heat as well. Both these issues must be considered, in terms of both your wallet and the venting/air exchange in your grow room. The cash flow problems aren’t so easily solved!
Eye Blue MH bulbs are my all-time favorites for the full term of TLO life
LED grow lamps have come on leaps and bounds in the recent past, and if you have issues with heat and high electricity bills, you may want to think about using LEDs for the vegetative growth stage. I used to laugh at the very concept of LED grow lights, but I now use them religiously as they seem to work great with TLO growing in the vegetative state. I have essentially replaced my 400 watt HID Blue MH bulbs with 205 watt LEDs for this growing period, and the results are even better than they were previously; the growth is very stacked with über-short internodes. However, at the time of writing, I have still yet to see an LED grow lamp that rivals my MH light for flowering stage.