Marijuana Grower's Guide Deluxe: Revised Color Edition [Paperback]

Mel Frank (Author), Oliver Williams (Illustrator), Linda Kallan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1996

Scientifically rigorous enough for a professional botanist yet accessible to anyone who wants to grow their own marijuana, this book is illustrated with 164 photos, 64 in color, 29 line drawings, 30 tables, charts, maps.

Product Details

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Red Eye Press; Fourth Edition edition (November 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929349032
• ISBN-13: 978-0929349039
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #642,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let The Harvest Begin, August 3, 1998

By 

allan wade - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marijuana Grower's Guide Deluxe: Revised Color Edition (Paperback)

After owning 4 copies of this book and now into my 5th, i can say with out any shadow of a doubt that The Marijuana Grower's Guide has got to be the best book ever published about how to grow your own, it starts with a history of the plant (where it was first grown)and then tells you how to go about growing your own inside and out...This book even tells you how not to get caught, and after all this fact every grower should know about...From planting the seeds to the final harvest, Mel Frank and Ed Rosenthal have published a book that would have been a best seller (it is now with grower's)in every book shop around the world, if it was not for the stigma that this poor plant has recieved over the years...If your into growing, or thinking about how to get started then this book is for you...As Mel and Ed say in Marijuana Grower's Guide..."why spend hundreds of dollars on buying dope when you can grow your own" [e-mail]

***** Good on you guys from the! land of the kangaroo...

59 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book has been left behind., March 28, 2002

By 

Grass (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marijuana Grower's Guide Deluxe: Revised Color Edition (Paperback)

I have a very old copy of Mel Frank's "The Indoor Outdoor Highest Quality Marijuana Grower's Guide" which is out of print now - so that goes to show how long I have been following this man's work. Back in the 1970's he completed that little pamphlet sized book which basically discussed methods of growing cannabis. It had a few black and white photographs and some back pages explaining light dispersal patterns and strengths. The inaccuracies of that first book can be seen by comparing it to this volume of work. This pattern is found in all of Mel Frank's work and if you compare any of these old books to any new good grow book then you will understand why.

Mel Frank's contribution to the cannabis literature world is good but fails to grasp what a grow book should be about. Basically this book describes what cannabis is, where it can grow and how it grows. Unfortunately it does actually explain in detail how it is done but simply dictates the cannabis cycle both indoors and outdoors by talking about the different stages of growth in each environment. This is done by addressing cannabis in a series of chapters which briefly cover history, species type, techniques, harvesting, curing and smoking.

This book is not a grow book which is a common misconception about it. It is an overview of cannabis from the perspective of Mel's experiences with the plant and what he has learned through studying the plant and it`s life cycle. The chapters are not as deep as one would like them to be (expect chapters that only last a couple of pages on a vast topic such as species type, cloning, making seeds).

The idea behind this kind of book is that it should back up it's concepts and views with references to actual experiments and garden designs. You will not find them here in this book. If you are looking for a full analysis of the cannabis plant and gardening designs (which is extremely important if you want to learn about HID light systems, hydroponics etc. ) then you should try out books like - "The Cannabis Grow Bible: The definitive guide to growing marijuana for recreational and medial use" by Greg Green or "Indoor Marijuana Horticulture - The Indoor Bible" by Jorge Cervantes. As many of the other reviewers have correctly pointed out - this book is old and even the revised edition is old. So do not expect to find any of the new growing methods (or new equipment!) in this book. Times have changed and this book has not. Can anyone here say that they would use a grow guide that is over a quarter of a century old to conduct a growing project? Many have done so but no one in the 21st century would consider it. The reality is that there are many new and better books on the market.

For example, the problem with Mel Frank's work is that there is an extremely limited botanical foundation to his work. Some of the concepts like force flowering are now void and replaced by a more correct approach to calyx development. The nutrient advice is not as solid as it is today and cloning techniques are very different. Where and how to get seeds is not covered. Also it fails to hit home with extremely important points like - obtaining good genetics is a primer to getting good yields! People will not be impressed with bag seed by any means. There are so many important areas not covered in this book and they are extremely important to know about.

Do not let this review put you off buying this book though. We all have it because it is an oldie. My advice is to get something new as well so that you can keep up with the times and produce better results. Also you can compare this book with the new ones and see the difference for yourself.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a must-read for serious growers of anything., May 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Marijuana Grower's Guide Deluxe: Revised Color Edition (Paperback)

If you have come to check out this book, odds are you are not a tomato grower. Still, the information contained herin will put you nose-to-nose with serious gardners. While this book does not cover the latest in indor cultivaton tecnology, its discussion of the plant and it' needs is so thorough that you will personally be able to judge everything you hear or read in the future by this benchmark. An indepth understanding of growing media, nutrients, photosynthesis, and pruneing will be yours for life. Just accept that I know what I am talking about (I do), and buy the damnd book. If you are not interested in serious book, don't bother. This is one to read, re-read, and study. My first copy (from 1987) is dog-eared.