Thursday, June 28, 2012

Anthony Taurus has sorta moved....

Yes folks, it was time to step the game up. I always had the domain but always used a redirect to http://usanthony.blogspot.com/. Now, I'm hosting the site directly because I want to do more than blog, naturally.

Most likely, you came here from a direct link. Just head on over to the main site @ http://anthonytaurus.com/. All of the posts are available for viewing and commenting.

However, I am still updating SOME things (links, theme) and adding more in the future (store, photos).

Get@Me
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Friday, October 9, 2009

Marijuana Growers Were Newbies Once Too

New Location


Usually when we hear about these marijuana grow operations,. we hear about, or see video, of the good ones. With indoor grow ops, we see these complicated setups - tubing, meters, lighting, buckets or tables. With outdoor ops we see these huge trees, some standing upwards of 9 feet tall or 9 feet in diameter.


When I first started growing, I got excited and inspired by these setups, especially indoor grow ops. It gave me encouragement but I still didn't have all the know how. I had the access to information but nothing will ever replace the knowledge you gain from experience. You don't gain experience from growing perfect marijuana every time. You learn more by making mistakes and grower error.

I want to show people - that are interested in growing marijuana and even those that may have lost faith in their ability - that we all make mistakes because we were all new at this job at some point. Even the professionals, some with 5 to 30+ years of experience still make mistakes.

Here are some great errors admitted by marijuana growers [I'll let you know why, if it's not obvious]:
"I remember my brother's first attempt at hydro. It was a damned mess. He was hot gluing everything instead of using grommets and tubing. Eventually, it ended up with him flooding the damn bedroom and you could see wet spots in the ceiling of the garage above the room lol."

"My big error was using tape on a water pump that was too damn strong for one dripper ring. I walked into the room and just heard that empty water pump sound. I ran to the closet to see an empty bucket. Luckily it was only about 2 gallons of water total. I unplugged everything just in case and used a lot of towels."

"First several times I tried to grow with 100W incandescent bulbs. Other'n that, I got nothin'."
[Incandescent bulbs, or regular light bulbs, do not have the right spectrum of light that will promote plant growth]

"I've heard of people that are convinced their herb tastes like grapes not because of the strain but because they pour in a gallon of grape Koolaid the last week of flower."
[Usually people who don't know much about marijuana either make up or believe made-up stories of how marijuana gets its scent or flavor. Different marijuana strains have their own natural scents and flavors. Sometimes some scents match those already in nature, some desirable, some not. For example, who wants their marijuana to smell and taste like a skunk?]

"When I first went indoor, I couldn't fer the life of me get em to flower. Mel Frank and High Times helped me feel like an idiot. 12/12 huh...who knew???"
[12/12 refers to the light cycle of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark to mimic the changing season. 12/12 signals the plant to start flowering or growing buds. Marijuana won't show buds indoors unless you signal it to do so.]

"I remember my first 'real' indoor grow (8 x 4' flouros mixed cool/warm) back in 93 or 94. "You can tell if you have a female by the sets of two white hairy pistils that originate at the base of a branch in a calyx" "preflowers can be seen much sooner, and you might need a magnifying glass"...was what the text read. Little did I know you couldn't see them when the plant was two or three sets of leaves tall! LOL. My god, I was right in there with my face looking for the 'preflowers' trying to figure out if I had boys or girls! After a few weeks of wondering, I saw my first sets of preflowers and I was hooked! Thanks, now I have to go back to my corner..." [Preflowers]

"I got a couple good stories about a buddy of mine out here. I gave up on trying to help him because he just doesn't like to listen. 1# He use to stab the dirt through out his whole grow to aerate the soil. I told him don't do that you are killing the roots. Still didn't listen, **** knew best!!!! 2# He use to cut off all the leaves in about the 5th week of flower. Said lets more light reach the bud. Said this way he would get bigger buds, Because the buds need more light than the leaves. Don't want big leaves just big buds. I love this guy but his head is thicker than the walls out here."
[First problem is obvious, I think. The second problem is that the buds do not support themselves. The fan leaves are the light gatherers and process the light, air, and nutrients for the buds, THC, seeds, etc. In other words, YOU NEED FAN LEAVES]

"...sold a newb a 10" can fan that he wanted to use to exhaust a 10'x10' bedroom.. Told him it was overkill for the room and he needed at least double the surface area of the fan for intake.... A big f'n hole lol. he didn't think so, thought the small gaps around the door was fine. Couple days after runnin the fan it sucked the bedroom window right off the frame into the room onto his plants hahahahaaa.. best lessons learned are the hard way I guess."
[Negative Pressure]

"When I first got my 1k set up going...I was trying to cut corners an had a vast supply of boxes that were 10 inches deep an were 7x7inches around...they were cardboard so I lined with 2 thats right 2 plastic grocery store bags....was my first encounter with black mold....lol"
[Cardboard and moisture is a breeding ground for black mold which can cause/aggravate asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia]

"I was told by a friend, that shwagg seeds grow shwagg plants, dense, compressed brown nugs......according to him....he saw a shwagg plant lol."
[example of what can be done with schwag seeds]

"I once thought that a 2k room didn't need any cooling in the summer, with temps hitting the mid 40s Celsius. Had a nice bubba S1 clone that produced great looking buds with no smell and practically no high, musta cooked all the volatiles and cannabinoids right out of them...lol"
[2k refers to 2 kilowatts of light which gets pretty hot. This could have been worse than what occurred. Please make sure to use proper ventilation in any grow room.]

"Heres one I heard few years ago....some dude was going out of town for a week an asked a buddy to feed an water his girls...second day into it the friend mistakes ph-up for being a nute an gave em all a healthy dose of ph-up...couple days later entire dead crop..lol"
["pH up" is used to balance the pH (acidity/alkalinity) of hydroponic solution. Proper pH is important to aid in the plants uptake/absorption of nutrients. Too high or low will cause "nutrient lockout".]
Don't think you can't do it because you don't have a green thumb. Don't get discouraged because your first, second, or even third attempt failed. It's the mistakes that teach you the most important lessons. So, don't be afraid to admit your humanity by asking questions or getting information if you need help. Tens of thousands of growers around the world go in and out of marijuana growing forums just so they can help others. And, it's all free of charge. Dust yourself off and get dirty again.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Converting BongSpirit to BongMarijuana

New Location

The Quest
About a year ago, I came across a link for Bong Spirit. It's a vodka from Holland, "distilled 6 times". Be it far from me to act as a liquor expert, I couldn't say if the vodka was that good as I don't drink more than once a month if at all and it's only amaretto on the rocks - not too classy yet not too cheap. I enjoy one vice and I am sticking to it.

Marijuana.. duuh

Anyway, when I saw the site, I simply had to get a bottle. It's mass produced liquor so I already knew it would be cheap. But, the most attractive thing about Bong Spirit are the designs. I appreciate the artwork. Unfortunately, I was having trouble finding it - in New York City of all places. The website lists the distributors but when I called the two closest, I got no answer. The others were too far away for me.

That's what always sucks about calling some businesses; you never get an answer. I think, as a marketing person myself, you've got to be available when customers call even if it only comes out to a few dollars.
/endrant

Fortunately, one day as I was coming from dinner at Vento on 14th street and 9th ave (great restaurant) on my way to the train station on 7th, I came across a liquor store with a Bong Spirit bottle in the window on 8th Ave. Even if that's the last bottle, I was going to buy it. I didn't want to waste a second looking for the bottle. I headed straight for the counter and asked the clerk, "Where's your Bong Spirit?" It came out to about $31, tax included.

I got the Capacitor design. It's not in the pic above but you can see it on the main website (3 bottle from the left, orange in color. You can see it in the pics below (all the way at the bottom).

It took me a week to drink that vodka! Hey, even I know, you're not supposed to waste liquor. And then the delicate process of conversion began.
Educating Myself
There are some YouTube videos about the conversion but most only talk about it. One guy actually did it but he didn't do the most important part which is getting the hole in the glass for the bowl. He took it to some glass company.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (just kidding)

Then he proceeded to explain how to drill the plastic cap as though people need help with that. As many people pointed out in the comments.. JUST REMOVE THE CAP.. duh (not kidding).
The Conversion Process
I got a drill bit that was made for drilling holes in glass. Then, I drilled the damn hole myself. I didn't have anything to secure the bottle so I took the chance of securing it between my feet at an angle and on carpet. The reason I did that was to minimize the chance of breaking using my softer feet and rug as a vibration dampener. Normally, one would use rubber clamps to hold the glass in place. But, I'm a pothead and we're fucking DIY geniuses.
Warning
If you're working with glass, be sure to wear a mask and be in a ventilated area. You do not want to breathe in glass dust. With that, I applaud the guy on YouTube for taking his project to a professional. It's always better to be safe, than sorry. Don't worry, I wore a mask and real, straight-from-Home Depot eye protection.
Unfortunately, as I got through the glass, I saw that it was chipping the hole on the inside. So, I had to bring out the Dremel which is like a smaller handheld hobby drill. I had parts for the Dremel I could use to etch glass but not drill a hole, not yet. Fortunately, the hole was already drilled for the most part. Now I just had to widen it and keep the edges smooth. It took some time but I literally etched that hole wide enough for another Dremel drill bit that would finish the job for me. I also smoothed the edges at the top and inside so that there wouldn't be any sharp edges. I could run my fingertips over the hole and not worry about getting cut.

I had a perfectly working bong.
Trials and Tribulations
Unfortunately, again, the one bowl I had fell off the table and cracked when it hit a hard surface. I know I should always have more just in case but I was never big on bongs. I'll go get more whenever I get back to West 3rd St/6th Ave (between the Subway sandwich spot and the kinky video store sits my favorite tobacco/head shop).

Anyway, here are some pics:

As you can see, I am currently using it as a pipe until I get a new bowl. I used black electrical tape to sort of seal the edges and keep it secure by taping over the hole and cutting slits in the center. I also used a razor blade to trim the excess tape off the sides so it looks a little cleaner. It works well and protects the glass until I get the proper fittings and such. It's not 100% completed or finalized but it's a working model for now. I will do this again but I want the proper tools so I can do this quickly.

$31, a little hard work, a small liver sacrifice to the marijuana gods, the right tools and a steady hand is all it took.

And, yes, it smokes smooth - oh so smoooooth - with the glass bowl, before it broke, and even as a pipe. It's great!
Cleaning Tip
That glass dust will get inside the bottle. I found it difficult getting the dust out. A little bit of water and soap did NOT do the trick. I used epsom salt (a lot) with cold water (don't want it dissolving) as a sort of abrasive. Everyone should have epsom salt in their home. It has too many beneficial uses for folks to not have it. If not, any Rite Aid, CVS, Pathmark, drug store, or even a discount shop should/would have it.
I finished this post just in time to spark up a bowl. Happy 420 folks!

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