Hey everybody, this is Shane McCormick from the cheap homegirl podcast and on today's show. I have Jenna from Happy seeds project on Instagram. She comes on the show today to talk about common household tools. You can use to help grow your own at home. We both talked about how a new or experienced home grower can use these everyday items to better their Garden. This episode is perfect for anyone that is growing on a tight budget. Please remember to press subscribe. Tibe and enjoy the show. Hello and welcome to the cheap home grow podcast a show for individuals that want to learn more about growing cannabis indoors. This is a podcast dedicated to helping you with your indoor growing Adventure. You'll learn how to grow your own and not have to rely on others for your medicine. The cheap homegirl podcast will also feature a timely interviews with cannabis industry veterans shaping the culture and politics of cannabis. All right here is your host Shane McCormick and the cheap home grow podcast. Hello everybody. This is Shea McCormick from the cheap home grow podcast on today's show. We have home grower Jenna who can be found on Instagram at happy. Need project she is going to be coming on the show today to talk about the tools and resources around your home that you can use to grow your own. So Jenna, if you could could you please tell my audience a little bit about yourself and then we can get right into the heart of the conversation. Hi, my name is genetics and I'm the CEO of happy seeds project Hafiz each project came about From my desire to help the medical community up here in Canada at the time for years ago. There was very little support for us medically who would like to grow and I can about to and decided that there need to be some resources out there and I've been successfully collecting resources to help. People with issues in growing cannabis growing just about anything as well as items like making temperatures and all those extracted my extraction methods that are coming very popular these days that don't require highly flammable substances to extract in your cannabinoids from your plant matter. Okay? All right, Jenna. Well, yeah. No, listen, not you know, thank you for coming on the show. I do appreciate it. But you know, as I said, let's let's get right into the meat of the conversation and really, you know, my first question here for your is I mean what you know what tools what resources can your average home grower use around the home to you know to grow their own. Like to use common household items the first being that you you see everywhere now is and you do looking at posts and so forth. Everybody's Into The Silo cups. Okay, so that would be the first thing you've put some medium in a silo cup drop a seed in there. You're starting. All right, you're getting there right? It's yeah it's exact. I mean I see that stuff on in store. It's tough but you know, I see those Silo cups on Instagram all the time and you know, and I mean they're they're pretty easy. They're pretty effective. You know, I mean, what's I mean what's wrong with a silo cup, you know, it's pretty pretty straightforward. Yeah, there's also in regards to home grow. We would look at it and you see this on all over the place in regards to the pH of your water and how important that is to the plant and a lot of the the garden issues that I see that people have asked me about always seem to revolve around. PH so it's always important to actually get a pH meter and believe it or not. One of the best places to buy one would be were you buy your home brewing supplies again? This is you know, we're talking about places where you what we nobody wants to walk into a hydroponic store because you know you get tagged and that's not a good thing. So, I've always been you know reluctant to go into these specialty stores because of that and I found that you know, you can buy a lot of things online. Of course, you know, the line shopping is also a gamble as well but things like okay so so now we're talking about pH so we managed to get a hold of a pH meter. So, how do Without buying all these fancy chemicals that they're selling. How do you deal with a pH? Well, you know, we're blessed with the fact that food supply in our food supply. We have lemons you thought that works. We have vinegar that works but you know things like citric acid to to you know, adjust pH. Okay. Yeah, of course, you're not going to want to use is that and let's say you're growing in Hydroponics where you're using all water you wouldn't want to use that because it loses its pH very quickly it off guess it's right. Okay. All right. Well, well, I mean, how would that how would that work and say soil? Well when you do soil soil the soil has its own natural pH buffer. So you really don't it's really not something that you need to pH water. It's You want to do that? Right? So yes, it would and citric acid is part of our our own if we looked at the life cycle of a cell citric acid is one of the chemicals that ourselves who do you know in in the breakdown of carbohydrates? Okay. So some citric acid is something that's very, you know, and it can be found at health food stores. Oh, yeah. It's pretty it's a pretty common right pretty common. But I mean, I'll tell you what though. I mean, how how does that work? When you're trying to figure out your your pH? I mean, I mean, how would you actually use it? Well you again you'd have to use it. You would have to purchase a pH me anybody is growing cannabis. It's one of those tools that are it is very invaluable it and if you can't get a meter you can get those pH strips, okay? Right point being is that if you're lucky enough to grow in soil that is perfect. And you don't see the usual things of that says that the plan is telling you I got a pH problem the plant of the leaves just don't look right, you know there there's also a yellowing and so forth. So if when you see those types of things you'd want to adjust your page and one of the key ones is citric acid. Okay. So let's say you're you're you're mixing a batch and you put too much citric acid. Well, you know again chemicals this is like what high school chemistry well put some baking soda in there sodium bicarbonate which is a base which is going to neutralize the acid. So so there you have from your pantry right to two items that are Really good for growing cannabis, which is citric acid as for adjusting your pH and and sodium bicarbonate which is also adjust adjust pH. And by the way sodium bicarbonate that the bicarbonate is very good for our bodies as well. But that plants love it too. It's not toxic, right? Yeah. You're not yeah, and you see this is part of like a holistic organic approach. Well, yeah, there's there's certainly no pesticides in you know in in that material for sure. Absolutely not. Yeah, you know, okay with their deemed safe for food consumption. So we're going to we're going to go with that and you know, we don't know what the regulations are surrounding that but I'm just gonna write get your stuff from reputable. Your sources like I wouldn't buy anything from my personally. I don't buy anything that's imported. All right. Yeah, so so for you it's all locally sourced pretty much. Yes, pretty much. So yes, yes, you know, I don't go in and Port items and and I don't and the things that I buy can be bought at any like home garden show it. There is you don't need any special material specialized tools and specialized Tremors and you don't you just need to love it enough to throw as much, you know, passionate as you can. Mmm, right? Yeah sure. I mean that you know, it's like Shannon enough. If you love The Plant enough then you know, you know giving you know, you should be able All to you know, learn how to how to grow in a very cost-effective way with with tools that are that are around your home. But Jenna with that being said, I mean we have Solo cups, you know, we have you know, we have baking baking soda or baking powder baking soda, right? Right, but not baking powder baking soda. I mean what I tell you what let's let's delve. Little bit there. I mean what other you know what other tools or common tools a a home grower can use around their house. Let's make a clear. There's there's it's quite different growing indoors than it is growing Outdoors. Sure. Yeah, absolutely. So so I'm I'm not I can't say I'm really good at growing outdoors. I haven't really done much of that because it's being so look frowned upon and in my section of the world, I you know this new grow season come, you know, May June July August that's it's a change, right? We haven't seen this before because Canada now in my section we can grow for plants for our own recreational use or some I'm a licensed I have A girl license bestowed on me because I have a prescription to use this product for those that which tells me because I'm a migraine sufferer. Okay. All right. Well, you know, I'm glad that you know, I'm glad that you have your cultivation license. That's that's certainly important for sure. Absolutely and and you know something I mean, I'll tell you what here's here is I guess. Three more tools that a home grower can use right and I just thought of these off the top of my head you can and the reason being is because I'm in the process of building my own space bucket, which is going to be a very interesting thing to do. But with that being said, right, I mean you can you can get or you know, you're most common homes. Probably have a bucket. Right. Yep, you have a bucket you are even if you probably have a power strip a bucket a power strip and extension cord a timer. I mean, you know most most homes have a timer. I know that I didn't actually well actually I did buy a timer online, but that's a believe that's not a digital timer and quite frankly. I don't really know how to use the friggin thing. So I I have a I have a digital timer which is a lot simpler to a you so I'm going to be using that one. That's just that's been you know, I've had that one for years. I you know, I used to put up Christmas lights and so on so forth. So I mean, you know, you have a timer you have a bucket or a couple of buckets. You have an extension cord. You have a power strip. I guess, you know, I mean and of course, you know to build sale. A space bucket you need duct tape, you know sort of fan should write some sort of fan, right and and you know, if anybody has say an old computer around and I actually found this out too late because I bought a computer fans which I mean they're not they're not very expensive. But you know, I think I bought I think for for I don't know like 15 bucks online, but if you have a old computer in your Home, right. You can just get a just get a just use that. I mean it's and it's essentially free and and I mean let's let's be honest with you. I mean this is you know, just turned 20 1919 most homes probably have a old computer, you know, so you can take you can take that. You can take that that PC fan and use that to grow your own. So it's a pretty it's a pretty simple pretty simple process or knots. I mean, it's not so much. Simple but it's basic and if you know what you're doing it is fairly simple or so. I hope that it will be so yeah, I mean that's what three or four common household household tools. And so I mean, you know, I mean, how about how about you I mean do you have do you have any more that you would like to Rattle off? Yeah these days you know that and it's been suggested. That you start making your own nutrients. For example. Okay, okay out of simple household items. And and the first thing is that the concept of what what is the best food for your cannabis cannabis? Oh, okay. So when you do your Harvest or Your deflating. All right, what if you just collect that stuff and you you you put it in a bucket and you put some water in it. All right, and you let it ferment. Hmm and it's picking up what we call Imo which is indigenous microorganisms those which are native to where you're at and you let the sport ferment and then you start using This on your plants. Okay. All right. Yeah, I've never tried that but okay. I know that sounds bizarre, but that's what they've been doing for for Millennia because you know, you can think of your plants as being cannibals. They they will devour the you know, whatever you throw at them and that in terms of nutrients and so forth and most nutrients you buy in the store where they where they soar. From especially things like kelp. Kelp. What scalp again. It's you know, you seek help me a little all over the place. It's just helping ground up or helping it in a jug. It's just alluded. It's the same thing. It's a fermented are all this stuff is fermented in other words predigested, right? Sure, and it's in a in a it. All comes down to what do we feed our what can we feed our plants that is beneficial to them rather than a detriment to them. I really it comes down to literally not we're not really not feeding the plant what we're doing is we're trying to create a an environment that would be inclusive to to the plant that it would grow massive sure. And that's that is Certainly doable indoor outdoor and it comes down to whether you want to use a natural form of doing that or whether you want to use a synthetic form of doing that weight, which is where we're at with going to going into a store that sells nutrients for plants and you know, the aisles and aisles of them General let's let's go back there a little bit when you talked about fermentation. I Um, how how long would you say the family's the excuse me? The fan leaves would have to for meant it would be probably depends on first of all temperature. Okay? Yep. Okay, and you know, you're let's say let's look at it this way if we add their processing step to it, let's say you take all those leaves, but I have a little bit of water and run them run it through a blender. Okay, and you leave it in. Jar for that's open to the air with with the cloth over it. So the prevent stuff from floating in there. Is this this this is fermentation. This is not aeration aeration is who I'm going to put are and aerate my that's a different form of so you get different microorganisms in a in a aerated solution versus a fermented solution. It's I've done done extensive research on making cheese. So I ended it and making kombucha and making all kinds of fear all kinds of yogurt and cheeses and so forth because it was just a hobby of mine. I wanted to learn how to do that because some you know, I'm like that. Okay. So rather than buying a bucket of yogurt, how do you make yogurt? So that's where it started. Well, how do you make feta cheese? But how do you make cheese in? General so, you know fermentation, you know, what what what kinds of bacteria and at what temperature to use, you know, those types of things. So that's that's where fermentation comes from it then that's the research I've done in fermentation. Okay, so so it comes down to how processes it is. So When we're going to ferment this cannabis, then it's going to need probably a month or two to sit there and basically spoil. All right. Yeah, right exactly spoil and you know, probably not smell very good. But but however that that, you know that soil mix that you have that self-made soil mix will probably be rich in nutrient and for the intake of your plan. I mean that Be I mean that will be great feed absolute in and you know that that's going to be very well. That's what I feed the soil which will feed the plant right? Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, and that's what we're trying to instill in people that I've talked to you about growing and I don't talk to a lot of people grow about growing because frankly everybody will always have the opinion there. Is this the best I'm not here to make those judgment calls. I'm only here to say. Hey, look what I'm doing. Does any of this make sense to you does it help you? If so great if not move on. Right, right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. That's right. I'm not selling anything for her. You know, I'm not trying to get anything. I'm just here trying to help people who really want to you know move away from using a lot of the commercial. Show fertilizers and nutrients and so forth on their plans. It's not healthy for them quality over quantity and especially mine is the medical community and they're they're very susceptible to any and chemical and and so for them being myself, I'm highly sensitive to chemicals and I just don't want to be around it can't touch it or want to smell it just you know just interested in more. More of a holistic, you know not to say that I haven't gone down the nutrients way. I have a bucket full of nutrients. Hmm that dumb slowly giving away to other people so that they can least start with with the caution that you will eventually want to wean yourself off of this because it becomes rather expensive. You're right. Yes. Yes, it does. But you know, I would I would caution to say that, you know, there's a reason why this podcast is called cheap home grow, right? I mean we You know, we figure out the most cost-effective ways of growing your own. I mean or are so I think you know, so yeah. Yeah, that's the n and I mean, you know growing your own newts and you know going going down that road that is certainly a very cost-effective way no doubt about it and using and using products around your home. That is a very cost-effective way. There's no doubt about that. And actually, you know when you just talk in there a few more ideas. Just popped into my own head and I don't know if you mention this one. But how about a thermometer, you know that you can stick in your soil and you know, you can check, you know, you can check. Well, I mean that man a so I'll put them you can stick in your say grow box and you can you know, check the the the temperature of the space that you are a growing in right? I mean, that's a pretty that. I mean that's a pretty common household item. Would you say? Yes, especially the ones The Have and you buy this and I bought mine off of Amazon they have these temperature it's a little box and although it doesn't do remote temperature you'd have to open but there are there's other you can use a meat thermometer, you know as well if you want it and I did take a look at your your grow box there and then I think it's fantastic. Oh, well, thank you, right it is looking very promising. And you know, I I want to see it working. I want to I've got to see that tester on you know, the right Yes. Actually I just yeah. Well, thank you very much. I do appreciate that and you know just as a shout out to my friends who have been on the show Vincent Petty and Eric Robichaud that is their box from the Green Goddess apply. They had one just laying around and you know, I I mean, you know not to get super person or anything like that. But I play hockey with with Eric pretty much every weekend and you know, he just says like hey man, you know, like I know you have a cannabis podcast. Here's my box. Check it out. I mean I had to do a few things to it, but it's in good working order and I am I am looking forward to germinating seed shortly in that box. So yeah, I mean it should be Be it should be fun. And in addition to that as I've mentioned on this podcast and others I will be building my own space bucket. So I will take in time. I would take my listeners through that through that Journey. So it you know, it should be fun. It should be a interesting experience. And yeah, I am I am really I am really looking forward to it with that being said, I mean, let's I mean So, I mean let's put our heads together here. I mean what I mean what other tools I mean there must be some other tools, right? I mean, how about I'll tell you what, how about scissors, right? I mean, that's a pretty I mean, that's a pretty common household, you know household to that that a home grower can a can of use. Yeah. Sure. Absolutely the you know, those heating pads. We all like to have every once in a while a slut snuggle with and the cold weather. Other mmm. Yes, you definitely you need one of those but but moreover if you're really serious about okay, you can use that as a go to go to but if you're really serious about it, then they have, you know, go to a pet store. They sell reptile heating pads with thermostats. Okay, that's essentially what a what a seat and an advisor anybody who is in the northern climate. That if they want to germinate seeds you need a heating pad, you know, I've tried it every which way you get only a the the pretend percentage of positive. It's like you're going from a twenty percent that this seed will germinate to a more than 85 percent just by the fact of heating pad really just just simple just a simple heating just a simple. Yeah. Now if if I was your boss. Hmm, and I was and I don't know if you're going to use the soak method or not. I don't II just I just make sure it might medium and everything is moist and and at temperature right if I would put it in that box. I'm sure that box is going to be warm, right? Oh, yeah. Yes. Yes, it will be right there. You put it in a tupperware container and in the darker, you don't this and you you put a cover over it and just keep warm and it right. Yeah, just keep it warm. We my my mind light cycle. It's going to be 18. Yeah, it's going to be 18 6, you know, which is you know, which is pretty common. So yeah, I mean that's you know, that's that's something that I am going to be working on. I have a temper engage in there. I'm going to monitor that and I mean, I you know, I like to shoot for around maybe like, you know, 74 75 76 in that in that range I suppose. Yeah. I personally would suggest you leave it on 24 hours for the for the germination just to keep it. Yeah, keep it even even temperature I noticed and this is another thing that we talked about in and around the house. You can take a old open bookshelf metal metal shelf, you know, those those storage shelves and you can transform that into a nursery by simply taking you know, those in mylar emergency blankets the oh, yes. Yes. You just you drink the drape it over the the and I found that over the years that the thing that kills my plants the Most is draft not really right in their in their infant stages. Sure, right and it seems to slow down the grow when you don't have a consistent temperature. So, you know after so many years of growing on a table with mylar sheets hanging from the ceiling I went and I I decided to purchase some some tense because I was tense these days are very inexpensive. Right and of course the being it's legal here and I already had my license over wouldn't wasn't that an issue for me. If they were ever going to track me that that was my observation was correct. As soon as I started with growing in a tent I was getting better and I tribute that too close. And environment meaning they don't have a lot of temperature fluctuation. The temperature goes up when the lights are on and the temperature goes down when the lights are go off. Right? Right sure, but that's fine because that's just like what happens in the outside so, you know, but the worry if you had a draft like you had it on an Open Table somebody opens up the door. It's like all of a sudden you got. Five five, you know degree drop bartender. Yeah plants just all why why are you doing that? They're not, you know, you gotta treat them like little babies, right you do until you put them in the flour and then it's like oh, how long can I get my temperature? 1917? Yeah bring on the purple. Right? Right. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, you know, you are, you know, you bring up a good point about About you know having to baby having to hand feed your plants, but I mean, you know, that's just I mean that's just part and parcel about about growing your own. You know, right? I mean that's just the way it is, but I mean, that's but I mean, that's okay though. I mean there's there's nothing wrong. There's nothing wrong with what they're doing that in my humble opinion. I've recently gotten into again the the whole organic concept of Korean national farming and so forth, but I Nice that I can't do the large-scale stuff that they're doing. But but but that being said there are little pieces of that you can do and I'm going to tell you that like fortunately I don't have to do the parts with that. It did come with the worm castings and so forth. So so we're lucky nowadays. You can buy that stuff. You can buy manure. If really that's what you're you're planning to do as well. When you grow indoors, you just have to be careful where the source is coming from because you really don't want to incur any fly any any fungus gnats, or worst case scenario thrips which are pests that while once you get them. You're kind of stuck either waiting for them to destroy your Crop or you manage them with whatever means you can but you won't get rid of them. You'd have to just dump all your your soil. You'd have to just Purge your whole grow right start again tips or you get your your medium if you're doing an adoring book, that's where why people like Hydroponics because you don't need a medium and we're talking about real life Hydroponics or aquaponics use fish and so forth right through that, but but I recently, you know, I started buying items like organic worm castings, right and I've also used and you can get that as a said Home Depot. I've also tried out although I'm not a very big fan because I don't like the fact that were killing our peat moss beds. It's not sustainable. So I don't buy a lot of it. But it's there organic pro-mix right that that does that stuff is really good. They you know, I started adding that to my vermiculite Coco coir mixture that I've adopted using. I've tried all kinds of grow methods. I'm I'm I'm certainly I'm partial to what I've I've developed that works for me and I like the cocoa medium with some supplements of worm castings and organic promix because there's some good Imo's and those products that again IMO step for indigenous microorganisms that that I want to propagate in the medium because I don't because cocoa and Mika like they're sterile material. Mmm. There's nothing there right Roots sure how how am I going to roots without how am I going to make this plant without having some sort of and with that also adds that buffering agent which you know, your pH doesn't fluctuate as much so, you know, there's so many and and you know, everybody's got their own concept. That's my my concept of Super soil, which is the worm castings a bit of pro-mix thrown some Coco coir and vermiculite and there you have it. Right? Right. Yeah, you know something I mean you are you are mentioned Coco coir I have you because I have out of you ever heard of dr. MJ from cocoa for cannabis.com. Have you have you ever checked out his site? No. Yeah. Yeah, you should you should go there and check it out. Just go to just got a cocoa for cannabis.com. And you know, I know it's the second of this recording but you know, he is he announced his grow Challenge on the first I'm part of his growth challenge. So, you know go there and sign up. Absolutely. I made a mention of that. That's interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a big fan the Hydroponics with pumps and airfare and so forth and constant pH measurement and newts and so Fourth that's some serious girl their hand people grow monsters. That way I'm looking for plants that are you know healthy and the quantities is substantial, but I don't want to put out all that effort and money and you know incur all those chemicals in my home. All right? All right, Jenna. Well, you know something we got a Amount of tools that we mentioned here now, I mean as a final question, this is a question that I like to ask everybody that comes on the show. Are there any questions or in this case? Are there any any home tools that we are missing and you have any any excuse me any final thoughts for the show put together put yourself together cloner? I would say it will save you a lot of time. All right, right, you know clock make loans learn how to make clones and there's no special gear required. Okay. Well, how do you I mean I just can be a separate show but can you give me and the in the listeners a bird's eye view of how to make a cloner? There's sure there's there's the method worm. What you would do is, you know, take your soul. My little cups filled with your medium right? Make sure that there's it's humid make your cuttings drop your cuttings into that it right into that soil right and Dome the the container and leave it closed for five days. And then after five days you start opening it up. You know more and more each day until the Clones, you know respond and you know, don't Wilt over right? That's right, you know, it's pretty simple. I mean, it's very simple and then you can get more elaborate with one of the DIY cloners that I've been playing with and the you can find that on my Instagram I've posted. Okay. All right. All right, Jenna. Well, you know, I think You know, I think we covered quite a bit in Today Show and you know, and and for you listeners out there, you can check you can check Jenna out at happy seed project on Instagram. I'm sure you know, you can send her a message ask her questions and also, you know everybody that is listening in you guys can send me questions as well. I can be found on Facebook Twitter and Instagram all All all that cheap home grow. So yeah Jenna. Listen, I appreciate you coming on the show. And you know, I hope to talk to you again soon. Yeah, my pleasure. Hope so. Thank you. Now you everyone thanks for listening to my podcast with Jenna. You can follow her on Instagram at happy seeds project. That's H AP PE y SE e DS PR OJ EC T. I hope you've enjoyed this episode. And please remember to press the Subscribe button. You can visit cheap home grow.com / episode 51 to get show highlights. And please remember to sign up for my email list. Thanks guys. I'll see you this upcoming Tuesday. Thank you for listening to the cheap home grow podcast. We do our best to bring you quality content. Let's grow together. Please hit the subscribe. Scribe button and take time to share this podcast with a friend visit cheap home grow.com for our database of interviews and information until next time be safe and grow easy.
I was fortunate to interview Canadian home grower Jenna. She's been growing for many years. I've gotten to learn Jenna over the past few months and her knowledge about growing and genetics is unmatched to any past guest I've ever had. To say she's passionate about cannabis and it's potential would be a massive understatement. Jenna and I put together a list of common household tools and equipment any domesticated house will probably have laying around. A lot of these tools are basic and will help you become a better cannabis grower. At the end of the podcast, she also stresses listeners to make there own clones. She explains a simple procedure on how to do so. 