First Outdoor Grow

Hows it going guys? Going to try a new thread for some reply’s.

I’m 2 weeks into veg on my first indoor rdwc grow, which is going pretty well.

But with summer coming around I would like to use my acre of land to my disposal to grow some outdoor monsters!

I just would like some advice on soil and pot sizes and transplanting and that jazz, the stuff that I don’t really do in hydro.

I’m in VT, last year we had like a 20x20 vegetable garden that actually yielded really well and everything tasted awesome. Tomatoes, strawberries, squash, lettuce, broccoli. That said I’m not going to be growing in that same exact area, going to grow up above it where it gets sunshine all day and no body can see it.

Do i Till a big area for the girls, assuming the soil is good ? Or do I just put them in pots?

I don’t really want to create my own soil and do all of that, at least first go, what would be a go to soil suggestion if I decide to go that route?

Should I really try to harvest before Oct 1, due to Vermont’s cold and unpredictable weather after that, would that entail starting them indoors first?

Anything else i’m missing ?

You may want to get some outdoor seeds going real soon if you're going to try to "grow monsters".

In New England, the sun isn't as warm or as bright in other areas, so an indoor head start is a good idea if you're swinging for the fences. Good luck.

Yeah I have a ton in my shopping cart, just got to pull the trigger.

Any suggestions for the north east ?

Monsters are subjective haha, I just don’t have many restrictions!

trapdevil said:

Yeah I have a ton in my shopping cart, just got to pull the trigger.

Any suggestions for the north east ?

Monsters are subjective haha, I just don’t have many restrictions!

Click to expand...

Get at least one strain that has mold resistance and / or finishes early. Better chance of getting something to fully finish that way.

I'll be running some Kodiak / Freezeland crosses and a few other pollen chucks that should have high mold resistance for the "for sure" finish and a few other more glamorous ones in hopes of catching a winner or two. I've had decent luck with getting Green Crack and Iranian Haze to "go big" in the past.

Consider reading the threads here, lots of good growers and info. Keep in mind what people grow in Cali etc. might not cut it in the northeast. You sound enthusiastic, which is a good thing.

Rob didnt mean to reply to your post ment to reply to the OP

Good genetics, good soil, and good sunlight are the keys to outdoor growing. Growing in the ground will produce bigger plants than growing in pots. Unless your looking at 100g plus pots. Only water when they need it. Come sept I very rarely even have to water because of rain. So make sure your soil already has the nutrients in it. All the strains I grow are "mold resistant" strains and more than half the time they still mold so trial and error will help on that front. I'm still a newb as well. And this forum has helped tremendously.

one rule of thumb is if your in a mould prone region steer away from indica dom strains or get minimum 50/50 hybrid, sativa or sativa dom hybrids are the way to go with cool wet temps late summer early autumn. especially stay away from heavy indicas, buds grow too thick for air circulation and the water won't evaporate very easily, I'm borderline growing south eastern Australia just out of the temperate zone cool evenings and high humidity late summer early autumn and I successfully battle botrytis with indica dom hybrids but it would only get worse in a much cooler climate like yours,we get just cold enough to not get snow barely. good luck and happy growing.

check your average humidity levels late September through to November. if it's high forget indica.

Rob Roy said:

Get at least one strain that has mold resistance and / or finishes early. Better chance of getting something to fully finish that way.

I'll be running some Kodiak / Freezeland crosses and a few other pollen chucks that should have high mold resistance for the "for sure" finish and a few other more glamorous ones in hopes of catching a winner or two. I've had decent luck with getting Green Crack and Iranian Haze to "go big" in the past.

Consider reading the threads here, lots of good growers and info. Keep in mind what people grow in Cali etc. might not cut it in the northeast. You sound enthusiastic, which is a good thing.

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Haha yeah i currently have a blown out knee( freestyle snowboard coach) so i can’t work or anything so i’m just researching all day lol. Don’t have surgery for another month at least then probally not much work this summer, so decent amount of time to tend to the girls.

Yes vermont can get super humid around that time of year . So maybe i’ll be forgetting Indicas!!

Yes deffitnly realize a cali grow and a vermont grow will be pretty different, haven’t found a lot of threads related to vermont which seems odd too me.

Hemp Depot has a good selection of hardy outdoor selections, in particular Beanho crosses like Texada / C99 and several Durban / Freezeland crosses that will finish and have good botrytis resistance. They sell other older seed companies too, like Dutch Passion, East Island etc. that have outdoor hardy strains.


If you get some plants that show resistance, it's a good idea to use the pollen you thoughtfully stored earlier in the summer (in the freezer) to make your own seeds for next year. Wink.

trapdevil said:

Hows it going guys? Going to try a new thread for some reply’s.

I’m 2 weeks into veg on my first indoor rdwc grow, which is going pretty well.

But with summer coming around I would like to use my acre of land to my disposal to grow some outdoor monsters!

I just would like some advice on soil and pot sizes and transplanting and that jazz, the stuff that I don’t really do in hydro.

I’m in VT, last year we had like a 20x20 vegetable garden that actually yielded really well and everything tasted awesome. Tomatoes, strawberries, squash, lettuce, broccoli. That said I’m not going to be growing in that same exact area, going to grow up above it where it gets sunshine all day and no body can see it.

Do i Till a big area for the girls, assuming the soil is good ? Or do I just put them in pots?

I don’t really want to create my own soil and do all of that, at least first go, what would be a go to soil suggestion if I decide to go that route?

Should I really try to harvest before Oct 1, due to Vermont’s cold and unpredictable weather after that, would that entail starting them indoors first?

Anything else i’m missing ?

Click to expand...

I grew Indica dominant strain last year outdoors (similar climate to yours, but with heavy temperature drop from End of September onwards. Weather turned real bad, so had to move indoors. Try fitting 10 plants in ur spare Bedroom!

Anyway, lost about Half my crop due to mould, which had started B4 I moved the plants. The only ones I got a good crop from were mould resistant 50/50.

Other option is Autos, that way u get 2 crops and smaller plants. I usually hide mine in normal crops (tomatoes, beans, vertically grown pumpkins.

Don’t overwater; I usually water twice a week at the height of summer. I use well draining soil.
I use pots, which I bury in the ground, so I loose some of the height.

Get started today, time is ticking; days are getting longer...

I start mine up in the G-house, then move them outdoors.

Good luck with it!

RW

Rainbow Warrior said:

I grew Indica dominant strain last year outdoors (similar climate to yours, but with heavy temperature drop from End of September onwards. Weather turned real bad, so had to move indoors. Try fitting 10 plants in ur spare Bedroom!

Anyway, lost about Half my crop due to mould, which had started B4 I moved the plants. The only ones I got a good crop from were mould resistant 50/50.

Other option is Autos, that way u get 2 crops and smaller plants. I usually hide mine in normal crops (tomatoes, beans, vertically grown pumpkins.

Don’t overwater; I usually water twice a week at the height of summer. I use well draining soil.
I use pots, which I bury in the ground, so I loose some of the height.

Get started today, time is ticking; days are getting longer...

I start mine up in the G-house, then move them outdoors.

Good luck with it!

RW

Click to expand...

haha damn half of the crop to mold sounds shitty, but probably a realistic thing that can happen every so often to a crop.

I read that if your soil grows good tomatoes( we grew some amazing tomatoes last year) then it’s good for bud, any truth to that? Then I could just till out a few spots and have them in the ground =optimal root growth ?

Was going to stick a few autos in there just to see how they do. Never grew one before.

Seems like overwatering is a aspect in every phase of growing, cool i’ll let nature
so it’s thing and once or twice a week feed and water her, unless it’s a super dry spell.

I can start them inside under a T5, then move outside, was contemplating a greenhouse for the veggies this year.

It’s 18 degrees at myhouse right now with a ice skating rink for a driveway

trapdevil said:

haha damn half of the crop to mold sounds shitty, but probably a realistic thing that can happen every so often to a crop.

I read that if your soil grows good tomatoes( we grew some amazing tomatoes last year) then it’s good for bud, any truth to that? Then I could just till out a few spots and have them in the ground =optimal root growth ?

Was going to stick a few autos in there just to see how they do. Never grew one before.

Seems like overwatering is a aspect in every phase of growing, cool i’ll let nature
so it’s thing and once or twice a week feed and water her, unless it’s a super dry spell.

I can start them inside under a T5, then move outside, was contemplating a greenhouse for the veggies this year.

It’s 18 degrees at myhouse right now with a ice skating rink for a driveway

Click to expand...

You’re correctomundo about tomato soil being ok to use, good for root growth; soil round here is sandy about a foot down, so good drainage.
In the summer do the knuckle test or get a soil hygrometer to make sure u don’t over/underwater. See pic below, but there are million different types.
Good idea to start off indoors, but put them outdoors for the day when it’s sunny and not too windy, so the stems grow nice and strong; last thing u want is for the plants to break.
Autos are a good option for outdoors; quick turnaround; grew AK 47 last year, tasty and a good smoke...

BTW, remember that monsters in any shape or form are extremely visible; I grow sweet corn to make the plants almost invisible...

If you do end up using a G-house, make sure it’s got windows in the top to let the heat out and watch humidity; I have a polytunnel, so I can open both sides for a bit of a breeze...

Anyways, don’t want to tell u how to suck eggs; just don’t want u to f*** up ur crop.

Now get ur skates on and have fun on ur drive way

RW

trapdevil said:

haha damn half of the crop to mold sounds shitty, but probably a realistic thing that can happen every so often to a crop.

I read that if your soil grows good tomatoes( we grew some amazing tomatoes last year) then it’s good for bud, any truth to that? Then I could just till out a few spots and have them in the ground =optimal root growth ?

Was going to stick a few autos in there just to see how they do. Never grew one before.

Seems like overwatering is a aspect in every phase of growing, cool i’ll let nature
so it’s thing and once or twice a week feed and water her, unless it’s a super dry spell.

I can start them inside under a T5, then move outside, was contemplating a greenhouse for the veggies this year.

It’s 18 degrees at myhouse right now with a ice skating rink for a driveway

Click to expand...

BTW, nice pooch; how old is he/she?

She is about 10 months old.

German shepherd/ Rotty.
Her name is storm, she’s pretty rad.

I live on a dirt road in a pretty quiet town and going to do these on a plot of land almost above our house so no one will up there but us. So not
super worried about someone seeing.

Yeah i heard I should put them in the shade for the first few days outside.

Might get one of these meters seems like a solid investment to make sure i’m not over watering and stuff.

I’d like to till out spots where i’ll put them in and then just water and nutres.


Would be awesome to be able to save on soil and pots if planting in the ground is smart if the soil is good. Is doing like a 25/75 mix good to give the soil some nutrients it may be lacking ?

trapdevil said:

She is about 10 months old.

German shepherd/ Rotty.
Her name is storm, she’s pretty rad.

I live on a dirt road in a pretty quiet town and going to do these on a plot of land almost above our house so no one will up there but us. So not
super worried about someone seeing.

Yeah i heard I should put them in the shade for the first few days outside.

Might get one of these meters seems like a solid investment to make sure i’m not over watering and stuff.

I’d like to till out spots where i’ll put them in and then just water and nutres.


Would be awesome to be able to save on soil and pots if planting in the ground is smart if the soil is good. Is doing like a 25/75 mix good to give the soil some nutrients it may be lacking ?

Click to expand...

10 month old dawg, must be a bit of a handful; my avatar sadly past away beginning of the year. When we first got him, he ate my glasses, kids shoes and started chewing the staircase; that was only in the first week! He was also very fond of flip flops....

Back to farming: sounds like a lovely spot; I live in a similar set up, but have to be a bit careful of the redneck farmer that’s working the fields in the area...

Enriching the soil with fresh soil is a good idea; enrich it with some well rotted manure.
Easy on the nute front. Begin with half the recommended dosage and see how they go.

Less nutes for Autos...

RW

trapdevil said:

Yeah I have a ton in my shopping cart, just got to pull the trigger.

Any suggestions for the north east ?

Monsters are subjective haha, I just don’t have many restrictions!

Click to expand...

If you can find frisian dew fem seeds I have had really good luck with that strain. Also Ceres Seeds orange bud did really well for me the one year. you could also try some auto's as they finish before all the cooler fall weather.

Check out www.maineclonecompany.com they sell seeds for your local, I grew some of their new England skunk I see they have a few more strains this season good prices to boot

What would be everyone's suggestions for mixing into native soil?

Perlite, some worm castings? what else?

What ratio of each should I use?

Water +nutrients as normal?

Ive got 6 holes dug. about 3x2 and 2.5 deep.

Going to do 10, see what happens.

So theres a good amount of native soil from each hole next to it.

Hoping to get them in the ground early may

trapdevil said:

What would be everyone's suggestions for mixing into native soil?

Perlite, some worm castings? what else?

What ratio of each should I use?

Water +nutrients as normal?

Ive got 6 holes dug. about 3x2 and 2.5 deep.

Going to do 10, see what happens.

So theres a good amount of native soil from each hole next to it.

Hoping to get them in the ground early may

Click to expand...

If you're in Vermont, early May in the ground is probably pushing it, weatherwise.

You may want to veg them in a decent sized container (5 gallon pails work great ) and if you can't wait, begin hardening them off outdoors on nice days in May, but keep your options open for sticking them in a shed or basement if the forecast is for bad weather. End of May is a better idea for Vermont, maybe even June 1st etc.

Rob Roy said:

If you're in Vermont, early May in the ground is probably pushing it, weatherwise.

You may want to veg them in a decent sized container (5 gallon pails work great ) and if you can't wait, begin hardening them off outdoors on nice days in May, but keep your options open for sticking them in a shed or basement if the forecast is for bad weather. End of May is a better idea for Vermont, maybe even June 1st etc.

Click to expand...

yup, date is weather subjective. They will be vegging indoors until they go out under T5s in rockwool cubes