This n00b one year later....

SunJ

Member
Been just over a year now since I first started growing seriously and thought I'd post a little for all those looking for that magic tip that is going to make their first grow the most sticky, stinky and tasty bud around.

Forget it! Not gonna happen right out of the gate! But I can guarantee you will have a lot of fun and fall in love with this wonderful plant on a level you haven't previously been acquainted! That, or you're doing something wrong!

Now I can only speak to soil grows. If you're looking for DWC, flood table, aeroponics, bubbleponics, fogponics, frogponics or anything fancy like that, this post won't apply much to any of that, so far as mediums are concerned. This is also mostly concerning indoor growing, I have only one summer with a few outdoor plants and need some more experience there.

-You don't need a huge pot to get huge results. I'm running 2 gallon pots now, and they seem to be optimal after running 10 and 7 gallons previously.
-Fabric pots are worth their weight in weed! Nearly impossible to over-water and they stave off root circling by air-pruning the roots.
-Stay away from Miracle Gro! Your plants may look good in the beginning, but that's the last of the fun you will have that run. You might not even save them in the end!
-Your soil is your foundation, don't skimp! Get good quality base soil and follow SubCool's Super Soil recipe and you don't need any additional nutrients! (I do supplement mine with Nectar for the Gods every 3-5 waterings.)
-Some say pH isn't as important when using soil, I still like to know what mine is. My tap is about 8.2 and I like to bring it down to 6.8-7.0 before I use it. I also let my water sit out for at least 24 hours before using it to allow those nasties like chloramine to off-gas.
-If you start seeds, they are likely to fall down a few times if they are struggling to receive proper light. Lower your light or raise your babies with a book or something underneath.
-If you start with clones, be prepared to fight your first insect infestation. Always quarantine for a few days!
-Seedlings don't need much water! Leave them alone and let them do their thing!
-Don't be afraid to be a little rough with them while training.
-If you are a little too rough with them while training, immediately taping the tear with even just clear tape will heal it quickly and quite well.
-Temperatures and air flow are very important! Relative humidity can have some affects, but I live in a desert climate where even a humidifier has trouble breaking 40% during dark cycle. I've been as low as 15%, but usually no lower than 25% and the plants seem to adapt just fine, so long as it's not a widely swinging range.
-They are going to STINK! While I had ventilation, I held off on getting a carbon filter until I could easily smell my exhaust across the yard. Don't make that mistake for yourself!
-Relax, have fun, and don't over love! Biggest mistake is over watering and over feeding. Best to not give any nutes for the first 3-4 weeks, and then start them on a 1/4-1/2 strength dose for the first few feeds and see how they respond. Burnt leaf tips mean you are pumping her too much!

I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but these are the ones that stand out in my mind the most at the moment. I welcome all questions and comments and pictures, too!

:weed::joint::)
 

Bucees

Well-Known Member
Great advice. Especially the part about container size. I've completely switched to 3 gallon smart pots and coco.
 

fanboyz1231

Active Member
do you find that humidity is a great factor?where i live we have trouble keeping our humidity in the air down(55% humidity is low for us,it goes up to 70% some days)...my box currently has a humidity of about 60%,is that to high??

also for watering sake,im running all my water throught a RO system,i dont have a ph tester,should my water be okay?
 

Widow Maker

Well-Known Member
Nice info! Thanks Sunj for the helpful info. As for the ro question if your ro is working correctly it should be a ph of 7. Get a tester or some ph drops to know for sure.
 

fanboyz1231

Active Member
alrighty thanks,i just changed the filters on my RO system,so i would presume that its doing very well.


Anyone have an idea on that humidity question?
 

Widow Maker

Well-Known Member
High humidity 80%+ can cause mold. The standard is about 60%. It is OK if it's lower even 20%. The problem is its going to go threw water like crazy. I would lower my ppm since the plant will use it up so much faster. I'm from Houston and it's usually 100% humidity.
 

fanboyz1231

Active Member
wow 100%,i could not imagine that,im from canada,and i thought when we were hitting highs of 70% that was bad...

if i begin to see mould then i will get a dehumidifer,otherwise i will leave it
 

lilroach

Well-Known Member
I too have been growing for a year and agree with everything you posted.....except I didn't have any problems with Miracle Grow.
 

SunJ

Member
I too have been growing for a year and agree with everything you posted.....except I didn't have any problems with Miracle Grow.
My very first grow I used MG soil with a MG fert that I picked up at Ace Hardware... I think... maybe it was Ace brand soil... who knows... it was dirt to grow stuff in...

I was reading MG horror stories at the time and seeing the warning signs for myself so I decided to switch to a more natural nute and went with Nectar for the Gods. Have loved that shit ever since!

One last thing I forgot to mention.... Get a GOOD feel of what that dry-pot feels like when you first put the soil in.... that is your target weight for watering in the beginning and you can easily get a "feel" for it from there!
 

Bucees

Well-Known Member
wow 100%,i could not imagine that,im from canada,and i thought when we were hitting highs of 70% that was bad...

if i begin to see mould then i will get a dehumidifer,otherwise i will leave it
At 70% mold is already forming. Do yourself a favor and stop the problem before you can actually see it. Having a dehumidifier is fucking awesome anyways besides the damn noise.
 

Kasnitch

Member
I too have been growing for a year and agree with everything you posted.....except I didn't have any problems with Miracle Grow.
I'm just about done my first grow of a few plants, and I agree with you on the becoming passionate about growing. Some of us don't have any choice but to use MG soils and nutes. Location and money in my case. I did nute burn my plants a bit, as MG soils are a bit hotter than expected, but next time I won't. The buds are covered in trics, fat and dense, so it can be done by noobs with MG and smaller cfl bulbs.

I envy the people who have hydro stores, and can afford to buy tents, proper lights and vent systems.
 

lilroach

Well-Known Member
In my signature link there's a journal of my Miracle Grow. The whole secret of using MG is NOT to add nutrients until they head into 12/12 and depending on strain, use about 1/2 of the recommended dosage until the last 3-4 weeks in 12/12....then go full strength.

I water differently than you, especially in 12/12 where I feed and water every day. I give 1/2 gal to each plant (yes, there's a ton of run-off) and I never get nute-burn or lock-out. For those of you that don't have a a grow-shop around, I prefer nurseries for my nutrients to begin with. I highly recommend JR Peter's stuff (Jacks Classic 20-20-20) and feed 1/2 tspn per gal.....again...every day.

Any of my grows in my signature link reflect what I'm recommending.
 

SunJ

Member
Perhaps I should restate my position on MG. I know there are those that have had great success with it, myself included. I was able to recognize what was happening with the salt build up in the soil and take measures to reduce it. Like any tool, you just have to know how to use it!Lots of new growers would simply panic and make the situation worse. My recommendation would be for anyone to just buy a base soil and build a super soil for your first few runs. You simply can't go wrong with that. I still have that MG on my shelf and may attempt to use it again someday... and that day may come sooner than later now that I'm "out of the closet" and vocal advocating for full legalization and decriminalization of marijuana along with the release of all non-violent drug "offenders" and an end to the war on drugs!

I had been reading this site and numerous others like it for years, but I chose this one to be my home and make my first posts since it has discussions like this that give readers opposing viewpoints instead of just name calling and bashing one product over the other.... well, it does have that, too, and it's usually pretty entertaining to read some of the back and forth commentary. But there is a lot of good information stored here as well, just takes a little effort to find it sometimes!
 

slump

Well-Known Member
Chloramine takes 2-3 days (as opposed to chrlorine's 24 hours) to dissipate if you're not using a filter specifically for it.
 

SunJ

Member
Chloramine takes 2-3 days (as opposed to chrlorine's 24 hours) to dissipate if you're not using a filter specifically for it.
Good to know! I always refill for my next watering as I finish my watering that day. So given that I have 48-72 hours in between, I think I'm still good. There have been a few occasions where I couldn't allow this time, but they were rare and haven't noticed any sign of damage from it. Taking water straight from the tap and dumping it in the soil, however, I definitely saw some degradation in the plants' overall health.
 

SunJ

Member
I'm just about done my first grow of a few plants, and I agree with you on the becoming passionate about growing. Some of us don't have any choice but to use MG soils and nutes. Location and money in my case. I did nute burn my plants a bit, as MG soils are a bit hotter than expected, but next time I won't. The buds are covered in trics, fat and dense, so it can be done by noobs with MG and smaller cfl bulbs.

I envy the people who have hydro stores, and can afford to buy tents, proper lights and vent systems.
Glad to hear you are having success! I was in a fortunate position at the time to get a decent tax return to set up a nice little indoor grow. I still don't have a tent and my exhaust system isn't the best, but I do realize I have it better than some, and I am very grateful for that!

Keep growing that green!

#growinggood
 
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