So I have decided to attempt to grow about 5-10 plants outdoors next spring. I have downloaded "How To Grow Elite Marijuana" as a guide to help me on this venture. I'm not getting my hopes up too high as I know that this will be a learning experience and I likely wont get everything right the first time. Any pointers, suggestions, or tips would be greatly appreciated.
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CD Moderators: nepalnt21
First attempt at growing planned for next spring.
- Thread starter lippoldw
- Start date
Livinginthealps
Bluelighter
Educate your self throughout this year. I don't know what book that is but, personally I wouldn't use it as my sole source of info. I never heard of it... But, it seems your might of downloaded for free. I suggest the grow bible or ed rosenthals books for your reading. But, there is only so much you can know through reading. Before I give you any advice I will ask what country do you live in? If the US are you in a medical state? Do you have any goals? Any size restrictions? hidden?
I will give you a run down in the most simplified way of how I would go about it.
I will say get two 600 watt lights and some seeds from attitude seedbank. Depending on where you live depends on when you start this. For the purpose of the brief rundown I will use Northern california as the location.
In febuary...Germinate the seeds by dropping them into a room temp glass of water for 24 hours then place seeds into a damp paper towel and place in plastic bag in dark place (kitchen/desk drawer) fo48-72 hours. You should have fully germ'd seeds.
I suggest placing them into small containers (plastic solo cup or 6 inch (or less) diameter planting container) and placing them 2 ft under a Fluorescent "T5" light for a few days to two weeks or so. Basically, until the newly germinated seeds are all through the soil and shows some healthy root structure.
After they beans have showed a week or so of decent growth above the dirt you should transplant them into 5 gallon containers. The 5 gallon containers should be under the two 600 watt lights. Yes, you can get away with one 600 watt light if you must/ But, I still recommend two. You should grow the 10 plants out accordingly until the last frost has passed or use your judgement based on your location. By the time they are ready to go outside they should be 2ft-5+ ft. (chances are in the low-middle depending on start) Once again I suggest you to start in febuary or earlier.
I put my girls out in april even though the amount of light is still very short (puts plants right into flower) and in the mountains here we still have frost "warnings" until mid-late may.
What I do is use supplemental lighting that goes on for maybe an hour or few after dark. Even just a little bit more light keeps it in veg. It is ok though, flowering plants will revert back to a vegetative state once the days get longer.
The next major thing to think about is container/hole/bed size. This relies heavily on if your need to remain hidden or not. If you need to be hidden (which you didn't mention) then most of this plan is not going to work... Unless you have a private spot which is possible. If you don't need to remain hidden then I recommend using anything above 200 gallon containers (smart pots) or the equivalent bed/hole. This will allow room for the plants root structure to flourish.
Soil is another major factor and watering system will be as well. I can cover this another time once you answer the questions I asked.
By following this advice you will achieve very very large plants that can yield upwards of 10 lbs. I would shoot for 4 lbs a girl if you follow these instructions your first time. Plan on the plant to be over 10 ft when finished. I understand there are a lot of people who could not do this for various reasons. Especially, risk of being caught/not a patient. But, you didn't mention this being a "guerilla" grow.
If you live in a state where there is legal cannabis or medical cannabis i highly suggest following these basic guidelines. If your serious about this I can give you a much more detailed plan that will include making a supersoil, pest control, water system, growing techs, training techs, etc.
I will give you a run down in the most simplified way of how I would go about it.
I will say get two 600 watt lights and some seeds from attitude seedbank. Depending on where you live depends on when you start this. For the purpose of the brief rundown I will use Northern california as the location.
In febuary...Germinate the seeds by dropping them into a room temp glass of water for 24 hours then place seeds into a damp paper towel and place in plastic bag in dark place (kitchen/desk drawer) fo48-72 hours. You should have fully germ'd seeds.
I suggest placing them into small containers (plastic solo cup or 6 inch (or less) diameter planting container) and placing them 2 ft under a Fluorescent "T5" light for a few days to two weeks or so. Basically, until the newly germinated seeds are all through the soil and shows some healthy root structure.
After they beans have showed a week or so of decent growth above the dirt you should transplant them into 5 gallon containers. The 5 gallon containers should be under the two 600 watt lights. Yes, you can get away with one 600 watt light if you must/ But, I still recommend two. You should grow the 10 plants out accordingly until the last frost has passed or use your judgement based on your location. By the time they are ready to go outside they should be 2ft-5+ ft. (chances are in the low-middle depending on start) Once again I suggest you to start in febuary or earlier.
I put my girls out in april even though the amount of light is still very short (puts plants right into flower) and in the mountains here we still have frost "warnings" until mid-late may.
What I do is use supplemental lighting that goes on for maybe an hour or few after dark. Even just a little bit more light keeps it in veg. It is ok though, flowering plants will revert back to a vegetative state once the days get longer.
The next major thing to think about is container/hole/bed size. This relies heavily on if your need to remain hidden or not. If you need to be hidden (which you didn't mention) then most of this plan is not going to work... Unless you have a private spot which is possible. If you don't need to remain hidden then I recommend using anything above 200 gallon containers (smart pots) or the equivalent bed/hole. This will allow room for the plants root structure to flourish.
Soil is another major factor and watering system will be as well. I can cover this another time once you answer the questions I asked.
By following this advice you will achieve very very large plants that can yield upwards of 10 lbs. I would shoot for 4 lbs a girl if you follow these instructions your first time. Plan on the plant to be over 10 ft when finished. I understand there are a lot of people who could not do this for various reasons. Especially, risk of being caught/not a patient. But, you didn't mention this being a "guerilla" grow.
If you live in a state where there is legal cannabis or medical cannabis i highly suggest following these basic guidelines. If your serious about this I can give you a much more detailed plan that will include making a supersoil, pest control, water system, growing techs, training techs, etc.
Most the best outdoor grows I have seen have been done with superb attention to detail. It's way tougher than indoor growing imho.
But preperation and attention detail are the two main ingredients. That and a little bit of lady luck of course !
That said you may be living some place where the conditions are ideal. Uk outdoor growers can often get bud rot due to our shitty/wet summers then there is the possibility of an early frost fucking things up..
But preperation and attention detail are the two main ingredients. That and a little bit of lady luck of course !
That said you may be living some place where the conditions are ideal. Uk outdoor growers can often get bud rot due to our shitty/wet summers then there is the possibility of an early frost fucking things up..
Livinginthealps
Bluelighter
Yes, outdoor requires good attention to detail but, I am not sure it is harder than indoor. Maybe to produce the prettiest flowers indoor is easier, but outdoor generally is not as pretty but often more potent. I notice there is much more room for error in outdoor. But, with that said there are so many external environmental factors that can contribute to problems for many inexperienced growers. Compared to indoor, you have a fully controllable climate that has little to no surprises. I will say out has much more work to be done if you are doing it proper. Lot's of making the super soil you plan on using, watering system, etc. Indoor you set up, plant, water (or indoor drip system), feed and then its good until you want to take it down. So, I partially agree with your post.
As you stated, preparation is a key factor as well. The outdoor growing season here is in reality most of the year. I would say around 9 months. ~6 months in the ground and 3 months of prep work such as starting them inside and letting them bulk up. For some, their outdoor is a year round project. Between, planning, Setting up, starting inside, tplanting out, grow, harvest, cleanup and takedown and then do it all over again.
As for bud rot and mold that is a problem for many growers depending on location, beginners and experienced alike. There are a good amount of areas in the "emerald triangle" that are very prone to mold from humidity late in the season. And this area is one of the best grow climates in the world. That is because of certain areas close proximity to the ocean. If they are experienced they generally don't run into problems. They would know how to plan accordingly, whether it is done in commercial greenhouses or overcompensating for the loss in the end. (planting more). Another factor is lots of local breeders have bred ultra tolerant strains that don't rot.
Yeah, the uk gets rain in the summer so that's a big contributor for you. This area I am speaking of doesn't other than an odd quick Tstorm. Commercial greenhouses would work wonders but, that remains a problem due to the law.
As you stated, preparation is a key factor as well. The outdoor growing season here is in reality most of the year. I would say around 9 months. ~6 months in the ground and 3 months of prep work such as starting them inside and letting them bulk up. For some, their outdoor is a year round project. Between, planning, Setting up, starting inside, tplanting out, grow, harvest, cleanup and takedown and then do it all over again.
As for bud rot and mold that is a problem for many growers depending on location, beginners and experienced alike. There are a good amount of areas in the "emerald triangle" that are very prone to mold from humidity late in the season. And this area is one of the best grow climates in the world. That is because of certain areas close proximity to the ocean. If they are experienced they generally don't run into problems. They would know how to plan accordingly, whether it is done in commercial greenhouses or overcompensating for the loss in the end. (planting more). Another factor is lots of local breeders have bred ultra tolerant strains that don't rot.
Yeah, the uk gets rain in the summer so that's a big contributor for you. This area I am speaking of doesn't other than an odd quick Tstorm. Commercial greenhouses would work wonders but, that remains a problem due to the law.
Yeah generally people here in the UK have to go for a hardy/tough strain when growing outdoors, especially so in the North of England and Scotland Growers in the south have it a bit easier so for sure weather is a big factor.
I'd say if I lived some place like Spain I'd be doing loads of balcony/outdoor grows and would back myself to do good grows with that kind of climate to work with. But the great thing with outdoors is the yield you can get. I have seen people do grow diaries where they get a years supply(and that is smoking daily a nice amount) from the single grow, with some left over if they want to sell a bit on to m8's.
Good soil perp seems to be another thing which all the best grows outdoors feature. basically you have to put more work in, but you can get very well rewarded ! And you have of course f-all in your house/apartment so it's safer, just make sure you find a good spot where no-one will find it as I have also seen peeps hard work get robbed at the last minute, what a sick feeling that must be.
I'd say if I lived some place like Spain I'd be doing loads of balcony/outdoor grows and would back myself to do good grows with that kind of climate to work with. But the great thing with outdoors is the yield you can get. I have seen people do grow diaries where they get a years supply(and that is smoking daily a nice amount) from the single grow, with some left over if they want to sell a bit on to m8's.
Good soil perp seems to be another thing which all the best grows outdoors feature. basically you have to put more work in, but you can get very well rewarded ! And you have of course f-all in your house/apartment so it's safer, just make sure you find a good spot where no-one will find it as I have also seen peeps hard work get robbed at the last minute, what a sick feeling that must be.
Livinginthealps
Bluelighter
Yeah generally people here in the UK have to go for a hardy/tough strain when growing outdoors, especially so in the North of England and Scotland Growers in the south have it a bit easier so for sure weather is a big factor.
I'd say if I lived some place like Spain I'd be doing loads of balcony/outdoor grows and would back myself to do good grows with that kind of climate to work with. But the great thing with outdoors is the yield you can get. I have seen people do grow diaries where they get a years supply(and that is smoking daily a nice amount) from the single grow, with some left over if they want to sell a bit on to m8's.
Good soil perp seems to be another thing which all the best grows outdoors feature. basically you have to put more work in, but you can get very well rewarded ! And you have of course f-all in your house/apartment so it's safer, just make sure you find a good spot where no-one will find it as I have also seen peeps hard work get robbed at the last minute, what a sick feeling that must be.
Absolutely agree the yield is the best part. It's not uncommon here for people to get upwards of 8-10 lbs a plant. But, even 4 lbs a plant is excellent in comparison to indoors. Even here where it does not need to be out of LEO eyes, people get robbed. Though, it only tends to happen in areas with close neighbors and that is not too common.
Artificial Emotion
Bluelighter
^ Anywhere like the UK there's no way you would be able to yield that much unless you were growing under cover, like under a polytunnel and started early indoors to give the plants a head start. However, he lives in the Emerald Triangle where the climate is ideal for cannabis cultivation, so it's completely different over there.
People here can only dream about getting yields like that. You can have all the growing experience in the world but unless you have the climate and the environmental conditions, it isn't going to happen.
I started in containers early this year, planting out in May and my plants were healthy but as you can see from the photo, there's no way a plant like this could yield like that. It's just a completely different situation.
People here can only dream about getting yields like that. You can have all the growing experience in the world but unless you have the climate and the environmental conditions, it isn't going to happen.
I started in containers early this year, planting out in May and my plants were healthy but as you can see from the photo, there's no way a plant like this could yield like that. It's just a completely different situation.