Looking at sites such as ILGM, some strains are labeled suitable for beginner strains. Just asking what makes a plant suitable for beginners as opposed to strains considered for more advanced growers. What is the criteria for these differences for indoor growing specifically?
I think they are more tolerant to rookie mistakes
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Like @anon78295680 says, they are more tolerant to stresses. āHardā strains may also be more susceptible to disease and other ailments.
I bought the White Widow auto beginner set up. I really stressed my plants by overnuting them, which led to very high ppms and bad pH, which really hurt my plants (along wiht overheating and lights being too close). They survived what I put them through (with some help from folks on this site) and I got a good harvest.
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LOLā¦they stood up to beginner abuse and gave you a harvest anyway! Makes sense. Maybe a less hardy plant (not beginner friendly) would have folded up and expired on you?
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Exactly. I had a lot of issues 
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White Widowā¦The zucchini of the cannabis world. LOL
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@MT3 along the lines of what others have saidā¦
Some strains are more nutrient tolerant, temperature tolerant, as well as mold resistant. If you have any environmental conditions that are unsatisfactory the plant will tell you.
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Personally, I feel like thereās a few issues with the way some are labeled. Like most of the autos are labeled for beginners, and I feel quite the opposite. The only advantage they really offer is not needing a light tight space, which is more of a setup issue than skill. They can be very intolerant to stress, and if flowering is triggered thereās really nothing you can do about it.
Another mistake I think new growers make is chasing the biggest yielding plants with the most dense bud structure. Those strains are usually more prone to mold, especially in a beginner type of grow space. As opposed to something thatās genetically a little more airy and lower yielding is more tolerant to a space that doesnāt have the best environmental controls.
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Your post, Rob, plus the input of others on this thread add up to real good advice going forward. I am finishing up a White Widow Photo as my first grow and having good success. I chose this strain since it was labeled āBeginnerā, and at that stage of the game I had no real insight what that label really meant.
I had good advice from lots of folks (including you) in my first grow and learned tons of good info to carry me forward. BUT, I donāt want to get overconfident and think I am very far beyond the beginner level with a whopping one grow under my belt. Basically, Iām looking around to see what may be a sort of āintermediateā plant to try in my next grow. Kicking tires if you have suggestions. Sam likes Blue Dream but I hope that strain may not be too advanced for me to try soon.
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Ok forgive me for being dense but this expression is lost on me lol. kindly explain 
I actually grew a Blue Dream from ilgm and it was a very fast-growing and tall plantā¦ but it handled low-stress training topping all that stuff beautifully. Heat wasnāt a ton of an issue because I have a ceramic metal halide 315 watt, so Iām not real sure how finicky it is when it comes to heat but I canāt imagine it would be too finicky. But Blue Dream was a winner for me and seemed to be an easier plant to grow, etc.
Also from ilgm I found that Gorilla Glue 4 was a beautiful plant and didnāt seem to have any problems. It was an easier grow in my opinion. Something to read into and think about. Good luck with your growing and have a nice evening
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go with a beginner strain again.!
i know, but it is best.!!
better to max out a low weight ābeginnerā strain then to flop on a heavy hitter.!
get another few grows in, then go to intermediate.
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I recon you can now grow what ever strain u wana try as u have got your first grow under your beltā¦ ā¦
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@MT3 I second @anon78295680 ās suggestion of anything you want. You have basic principles of growing down, you know what they need to thrive, you can do it. If you screw up, then you learn from it.
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Zucchini is probably one of the easiest plant to grow. Stick a seed in the ground and stand back. Iāve broke the stems and stuck them in the dirt and they thrive. They produce so much fruit you finally canāt give away enough so you pull up the plant. In the context of this thread white widow seems to tolerate abuse.
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Lol . Makes sense now 
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Mistakes are by far the best teacher for sure @Covertgrower. Of course I have had great mentorship on this and the lab side, and my first grow has taught me LOTS of valued information. One issue I had was deciding to do an all natural grow w/o training so I could see the natural pattern as a learning tool. She got pretty tall in my 5ā7" tent plus I ended up doing a lollipop bottom trim to allow airflow. I have bought a new 6ā11" tent and new QB LED to use next grow. I did ok with her climate, nutes, ph, ppm and overall health, so that is all positive. I think I have a firm grasp on what is needed to grow successfully, but again, I donāt want to become overconfident too early on. Next grow Iāll focus on training methods.
I am watching trichomes now on my WW P as she is looking as she may be heading into the last 2 -3 weeks prior to harvest.
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And sheās looking awesome @MT3 I think you could grow anything by the looks of that beauty.
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doing okay and wanting to learn training is a good reason to stick with tolerant strains,
i would suggest going with WW again, u now know what sheāll do elā naturāelā,
try her again with some topping and/or SCroGāing.!
u seem to be doing way better then average, but one grow is not much experience.!!
i know staying at ābeginnerā is a drag, but it is the best way to become successful.!
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I always approach new ventures with a degree of humility as nothing is as off putting as an arrogant person with a know it all attitude, especially when Iām a novice grower. Thanks to our ILGM familyās input, I honestly believe I did pretty well on my first grow and my plant is rewarding me with what appears to be a nice harvest forthcoming. But I donāt want to sound like a jerk by hollering look how well I did - so I simply phrase it as it seems I did ok.
Now that I know the basics, I can keep moving forward with those skills into my next grow plus add a whole new dimension of learning with LST and other training methods. Iāll be learning a new and larger tent, plus growing 2 plants instead of one. Looking at @dbrn32 comments on auto grows makes sense in that they are maybe not as beginner friendly as advertised. In fact, they respond very poorly to being mis-handled by improper training techniques. Since I already have these seeds, I may try 2 WW-Aās since I have limited time to get this indoor grow done, and simply see if I can learn to do some very low stress bending and tying to learn LST.
I really appreciate all your feedbackā¦thank you!
This is a wider view taken this morning. Iām getting there.
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