from weedbay.net

and from weedbay.net

A Class With No Drop Outs! Many of us just started growing medical marijuana recently. Some have been growing ‘forever’. Others are old farmers at heart and take to it naturally. Still others show up at the Bulldog Coffee Shop in Oakland and bring their best questions. From great questions come great answers and the whole medical marijuana cultivation process is broken down into plain old’ English. There is a tremendous sense of enlightenment from just a 2 hour grow class. You walk away with a new vigor for gardening and rightfully so. You know more than you did when you first came in and you feel empowered to grow pot better and safer with buds that are bigger and frostier. You feel that you can do it and you are on a mission - then you notice a gleam in the eye of the farmer next to you and you know it’s contagious. Welcome to….. Location, location, location - you’ve heard it before but this time it also involves security, security, security. Tis the season to grow outdoors and with some real life tips on concealing from and dealing with the neighbors are lessons better learned in the grow class than through life experience. We learn from our close calls and if we’re smart we can learn from others near misses too. This is a good place to start the class, it got everyone interested and everyone felt like we were on the same page. We’ve already bonded! With the bonding process complete the group moved into a discussion on safety and new grow and lighting equipment. Here’s where the new advancements in digital ballasts were explained as well as climate control issues. C02, H202, PH and water quality were discussed as were cleanliness and pest control. The benefits of clones over seeds were discussed. The need to quarantine new additions to the garden was emphasized too. We were urged to share our genetics and to help the other patients we know. Strains under development were discussed and we heard about a new purple kush that is going to be available soon. Then the discussion turned to fielding questions from the friendly crowd. This is where we spent most of the 2 hours and it was interesting. A sense of community developed from the good-sized crowd. The instructor kept things moving with handouts and the props made a real show out of it. Good job buddy! Forums and websites offer a lot of help, but with that help comes flames, nit picks, politics, nitwits and posers. By the time you filter out the static noise from the actual information the message can get lost. If you are serious about growing enough medicine to become self-sufficient then you owe it to yourself to attend some of these grow classes. It’s the best investment a patient can make to provide for their future medicine needs. Classes are planned for every third Saturday of the month, 2:30 – 4:30. Watch here for updates. http://growlove.blogspot.com/ The bulldog Coffee Shop 1739 Broadway, Oakland CA