Right, First time grower and i'm lost, i'm planning to grow outdoors and have yet to come across a good guide to growing outside. I am only planning a personal crop, i have access to seeds and all the kind of gear that i might need for such a venture (well acctually my dad grows cherries so he has all the gear)

i had sucsess getting germination last year but planted way to late (hoped it would be a mild winter like last year...but oh no) so i think i have that bit sorted, what i really need to know if how to keep things from eating them, how to keep them watered, i have the space to plant them so thats not an issue, how much light they need, what kind of time frame i'm looking at all that sort of thing,

if there is a good guide can someone put me onto it. i repeat i am growing outdoors (but can set up a small nursury indoors to get them going if needed)

if there is not a good guide then can someone help me out

drop me an e-mail at trebor_159@hotmail.com if you can help

thanks

Rob

(ps. i'm in NZ, so conditions are similar to ....err......france?)

You will probably have better luck starting inside till they get strong enough to throw outside. When you do take them outside you will need to either do it on a day with cloud cover or put them in the shade. The bright light of the sun can shock the plants. A day or two should be fine. Then put them in direct light. As far as pest you may want to get a insecticide that you can spray on fruits. Good luck with that. Its a losing battle. Maybe spray the ground 10-20 feet around your plants with something stronger.

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thanks for that man, i'm going to look into putting up phisical barriers as well. i'm going to try and stay organic if possible, its the big beasties i'm looking out for, if i just want to get them going indoors how should i go about that, i am living with my parents so i can't set up an amazing grow room like yours (i'm green with envy over that btw)

I just recently started growing indoors having moved out of my parents house. I have had many successful outdoor crops though. one of the main ways people lose an outdoor crop is to other people finding it. this happened to me my first time growing. i showed my friend, who showed his friend, and so on. then whoever chopped our buds off did it 1 month too early so its not like they got anything out of it really. pick a spot that you have trouble getting too. the more thorns and bushes and nasty shit in the way, the better a spot it is. and if you can take a different path everytime you go back to avoid making a trail. visiting at night is another way to lower your risk of getting caught. and use flashlights sparingly, because they are very noticable, obviously. once you find a nice spot, then worry about sunlight penetration. when i found my spot, me and my growing partner spent about 8 hours total clearing out small trees and large branches to allow for more light. then use the bushes, trees, branches and thing and create a barrier-like wall around the grow spot. you can buy some stakes and chicken wire too and fence off your plant area as well. i suggest spraypainting the chicken wire and wooden stakes for increases camoflouge. and depending on how the soil is in your area, you have a couple of options. you can simply add nutrients to the water you use, or you can be a badass and do what i did. i decided to dig a 6' by 6' area, and about 2' to 3' feet deep. this took about 2 days. then fill this space with good soil. i used foxfarm. but again you have to be careful with this because many top quality soils contain blood and bone meal, which can attract critters. i found the best way to keep them away, seriously, is to piss around the perimeter of your spot. some people find this weird but it really works. also human hair, from like a barbershop, can be spread around your area and this can work too. but urine is a way stronger smell and will work better. i would hold it in until i got to my spot and tried to do this everytime. another thing you want to do is LEARN YOUR WOODS!. i cant stress this enough. in the event of an emergency, youll have a much better chance of escape if you know whats around the next corner. i dont know about the local parks in NZ or the amount of wooded area, but if youre still having trouble finding a spot, try volunteering for the parks and recreation service. like a "volunteer park ranger" or something. this is what i did and it worked beautifully. it gave me access to everything, and reason to be there after the parks closed. preparation is the hardest step to growing outdoors. its a lot of work but the results are drastically better and yield is extremely larger than an indoor grow. if you have anymore questions just pm me or email me at sublime1@tmail.com . i hope this helps

I would stash a florescent somewhere out of site. They dont make a lot of heat so you can cover it up if you need to. Just start a buch of cups until they are ready for the outdoors.

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Hell yeah, just like Widow said. One or two CFls make almost no heat and will give plants a nice jumpstart. I used a rubbermaid bin and 2 cfls with a 3" computer fan for exhaust. I cut a 3" by 3" hole in the top left, and stabbed a couple holes in the bottom right side to act as passive intakes. Then I just shoved the whole setup in my closet and tucked the wires into the carpet along the wall.

oh man, i should have said before sublime posted all that helpfull info on keeping your patch secret, i live on a farm in the middle of nowhere. i have already selected a peice of land that noone ever goes to, (mainly because its a bit of a jungle) but there is a perfect patch in the middle that is just great for growing, sorry sublime...

one more question is... I'm growing with one friend, just for personal use, how many plants (roughly) do you guys think we will need to keep us very *happy* i would like to have a bit of exess to last us through the winter... maybe

I would say 500 should keep you pretty happy

Really about 20-30 should keep you smoking for a while.

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exactly, pretty much the more the merrier. and if you live in the middle of nowhere, that is spectacular. im a little jealous now haha. i lived in guam for a few years and one thing that place taught is that jungle soil is top notch. very good for your cause