-Edited on 6/21 to reflect the changes to my grow-
So I am a rookie and take a shot at this whole growing thing.
My current setup is an indoor setup in a 2x4x60" tent. I just got a 600W (276 True) Viparspectra and I already had a 1000W (250 True) Jeteven light. I’ll be using the 600W through Veg because it is bigger so it will cover more footprint. I will add in the 1000W for flowering. I am running a 4" 204 CFM carbon filter exhaust and a 4" 100 CFM intake.
The seeds were given to me by a friend, all I know is that they came from Denver and are all females. I just received my White Widow Photo’s from ILGM so I will use those for my next grow and use my learnings from the first.
I germinated my seeds in a peet moss plug and they popped on 6/14. I transplanted them into small pots but didn’t get them under the light in my tent until 6/17. I have since transplanted them into some bigger pots with Fox Farm Ocean Forest because they were stretching and I needed to bury the stem down a bit.
I think I finally have the grow room set up the way I like and now it’s time to ride the wave!
You might want to grow some sativa dominant strains, also this year if you starting this late the 5 gal pots may be ok, you will get something out of it, but next , start indoor and then move it out to at least 20 gal pots or better yet in ground.
I do both in ground and in pots, the final pots for the outdoor photo plants is 50 gal and up…
If you have the option, chose morning sun and try to have them in shade by 3pm…
Also you can help reduce heat stress by supplying additional potassium…
I am making my own soil, but I like the Happy Frog if you need to buy some…
Yeah, its getting late , but you can still make something out of it and get experience…
Thanks for the advice! I don’t know what strain these are, just that they are females.
I am starting germination tomorrow so hopefully they take and I can get them out into the sun soon!
I read that I should start the germination process inside and then slowly transition them into the sunlight.
How long should I wait before I start that transition?
I’m not expecting a huge yield, but want to get some experience in before I try my hand with the WW- hoping to talk the wife into letting me buy a tent so I can grow indoor too
It’s definitely not too late, and I would recommend the Afghan, or any strain that has Afghan in its genetics! You can’t go wrong with the Gold Leaf either!
The summer equinox or the 12 hours of daylight doesn’t start until like September the 22nd on the east coast, so give or take a few days you will have around 3 months of growth before they start to flower.
Thanks everyone. I’m so glad I found this website because it’s helped so much!
What are your thoughts on water that I should use? I’ve read a lot about the importance of Ph. Does that matter as much for outdoor? And how do I measure the pH? Is it the water pH, the soil pH, or the runoff?
I use distilled water and learning about PH myself, but every grower on here with knowledge will tell you that the PH level is a the very top of the list that you need to monitor. I’m only a sophomore on growing, but the big time guys or gals on here are rocket scientist.
Yes PH is very very important, Im not a outdoor grower but have seen some bad ass outdoor gardens, they use barrels to catch the rain water then drop the PH down - I run at 5.8 On veg and move it up just a slight amount to 6.0 for flower.
once you have a 100 gallons of water just use a sump pump to water your plants - simple and easy - not sure what your rain comes down at ours in florida is about 6.2 for the rain and ground water -
Wish i could do a outdoor grow would be fun to have 10 foot tall weed plants
I live in Southern California… I don’t think I could get 100 gallons of rain water if I tried! Haha! @StormTrooperweed
I was going to use tap water (which is hard water where I live) and let it sit out for a day and then measure and adjust the pH as necessary.
Is it true that the runoff is the most important to measure? So if my soil is a 6.5 then I should be adding in 7.5 water to that the runoff is closer to 7??
Happy first grow!!! Welcome to the grow life. I just got back into growing after a long long break. Used to grow a ton when I was younger. Any hoo, this is a great place to ask questions and get great advice. I did a ton of research before starting to grow again. Back in the day there was hardly any info, and most growers horded their secrets. I love the community of growers these days.
For my first grow back, I went with 50/50 fox farm ocean forest and happy frog. This blend will give you all the nutrients for an easy first grow. I took some advice from a grower on how to extend my nutrients, here is what he told me. The nutrients will last about 3 to 5 weeks in your soil. So start in a smaller container and transplant. I started in a Dixie cup for 3 weeks. Transplanted to a 1 gallon for 4 weeks. Transplanted to a 3 gallon for 4 weeks. Transplanted to a 5 gallon smart pot ( final home). This allowed me to have all the nutrients I needed for a simple first grow.
There are plenty of ways to grow out there, and it doesn’t sound like a grow adding nutrients will be to hard, if that’s the way you want to go. Just read up on it and ask questions. I’m really happy with starting off with this’s simple method. My next grow will be more complex for sure, just to try something new.
I also did some training 5 days after transplanting into the 3 gallon pot. Topped her. Then topped her again 5 days after transplanting her to the 5 gallon pot. 2 weeks later I started to tie her back to open her up. A lot of people say you don’t need to do any training outdoors, but I have had great results.
I put brita filtered water on my girl with a ph of 6.6 . Since I’m not putting any nutrients in, I don’t worry about run off ph. Haven’t had a problem what so ever. No crazy leaf root lock symptoms.
Happy grow my friend. I will be looking forward to reading all about it and seeing pics. Here are a few of my baby Mary.
Forgot, she is 16 days into flower. I started her by putting her in my garage to before the sun went down to get 12 hours of dark. Now she just sits outside loven life.
I have found out so much information that has helped me to prepare for my first grow.
So have you not added any nutes at all? You just continued to transplant and that carried enough nutrients throughout the grow? I thought it was a forgone conclusion that you had to add nutes during flowering.
I guess this being ‘green’ at growing thing has shown me I have a lot to learn!
I am planning on germinating in peat pellets. How much light do I need to keep on the babies? I don’t have any type of indoor setup so I can’t just leave light on them for 24 hours like some recommend. If I leave them by a window will that be enough?
Indirect sunlight is preferable for sprouts. Something as simple as putting a white curtain up to block the direct sun. I actually used my garage fluorescent light. Set a ladder under it and stacked books up till I was one inch down. Removed a book every couple of days as she grew. Had her there fore two weeks after she popped up.
I have also done the window behind the curtain many times with great success.
I always germinate in a glass of water for 18 hours, then wet paper towel till tap root shows. Then soil in a Dixie cup. I do flush the soil in the Dixie cup a day or two before I plant in it. Some soils have way to many nutrients and can burn your baby. She has everything she needs already in her for the first week of her life. I burnt many seeds in organic soil before I learned this trick. Like I said, back then it was hard to find tricks.
I germinate in a wet paper towel, so it’s % humidity
The key is to keep your medium wet at all times for a successful germination. Humidity doesn’t really play a role in it. A dark, wet medium will trigger her to pop. If your medium is drying out quickly, then I would cover it to keep in the moisture.
There are a bunch of videos on YouTube of ways to germinate cannabis seeds. I would hate to rob you of better suggestions, so check them out.
I was back and forth on whether to go with the paper towel or not. But I read that handling the seedling once it shoots its taproot can damage the plant. So by planting it in starting soil I just pop that into a small pot once it sticks its head out.
% humidity
