1st ever grow (outdoors)

Hello everyone, I've read the forums for a while now, and did tons of research online, and the information is never consistent. So I've decided to take the best advice I could find online, mix it with a little of my common sense and see what happens.
I didn't order any special seeds, the seeds I have are all bag seeds from a good smoke I got, was just reggie, but good none the less. I started this whole process a bout 10 days ago with the germination. I used the paper towel method, and the first tip or advice I have about that, is make sure you use tweezers and distilled water. I soaked the seeds and let them sit in the paper towels for about 48 hours, got a good little tail sprouting out of most of the seeds, so I planted them in Styrofoam cups and set them in the dark, another 24 hours later and i've got a good 12 sprouts, in about 3 days one of my sprouts has been taking steroids or something, it's shot up a good 6-7 inches in a 3 day period, the others are chilling at about the same 3-4 inch height. again this is an outdoor grow, but where i am down here in the south its still a little chilly, and i'm just trying to figure this all out as i go, but i'm bringing them in at night, during the day they are in the sun. I read something about pruning and cutting the sprout so it will grow 2 new branches, I'll try to post some pics later tonight of my babies, but Im not sure if i should prune yet or not, any advice is welcomed, I just really wanted a place i could keep notes and post pics, and get quality advice, which is why i chose this site. thanks for reading, and like I said, i'll get those pics up tonight. thanks

[/URL][/IMG][/URL][/IMG][/URL][/IMG][/URL][/IMG][/URL][/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

sorry it took me so long to get the pics uploaded. ok so here's the deal, these are all bag seeds, all i've done is germinate them, and drop them in the cup, only water, nothing else other then the soil, which is just miracle gro potting soil. as you can see from the pics one of them is significantly larger then the rest, i say it's on roids but i don't know, i've done nothing diffrent from that one to the rest, any how the largest is prob a good 7in tall, im not sure about the pruning process or if i'm even going to do that, right now during the day i put them outside in the sun, and at dusk i bring them in and put them under the lights this group is about 6 days old, with 6 sprouts with leaves, and another 6 sprouts that haven't dropped the leaves yet for a total of 12 plants, and i also have another 24 seeds germinating as we speak, i figure the more i get going the better off i'll be, practice makes perfect again would love to hear any advice.

ok, so i broke down and decided to use a plant food, just a simple miracle grow good for tomatoes and stuff, i figured since the hercules plant is doing so well and the others are right on its tail it'd be time to give em a little food, we'll see what happends in the next 24 hrs

I had a great surprise this morning, i planted another 12 seeds and all 12 have sprouted, the plant food seems to have done wonders for the plants already doing well, Hercules has even sprouted another 2 leaves, and grew another 2 inches....that thing is a beast, so far so good, things are looking good, I'm still stressing a little on the pruning or don't prune situation, I'm not really sure what the right time and spot to do it at is, more research to be done there, if anyone has any thoughts on it i'll take all the help i can get. thanks

Looks good bud. And welcome to the site. If ya don't mind, I'll throw some tips your way.

I wouldn't use my photobucket account for pics. Call me paranoid... but those link back to you, your name, etc. Maybe make a separate account. Or upload pics here from the computer. Better to be safe.

Becareful with the food early on. Generally want to wait until at least the second true set of leaves. Those first round leaves, called cotyledons, don't count. Start easy. Maybe 1/4 the recommended dose or less. If you are using miracle grow soil, it may have enough to grow without extra fertilizer for the first few weeks. Sometimes less is more.

Tons of ways to "top" or manage the canopy. I would suggest reading up on the different methods, and which one would work best for you. Toppping. F.I.M. technique. LST. Supercropping. and more. Generally cannabis will want to grow in one main cola, or large bud, with some other small side branches. Topping can turn that one main cola, into two. There is a lot more to it, so I suggest reading up on it.

Lastly, read. Lots of tutorials online. Youtube has videos of "how-to's" Remember, not all is good advice. Got to be able to filter it. Maybe pick up a book or two on the subject. Put in the extra effort, and it'll show.

Best of luck!

thanks man i appreciate it! this is my first time ever growing, and i have some lights and such inside, and during the day i'm putting them out in the natural sun, once it warms up a bit and the plants get bigger i was planning on transfering to a larger pot and keeping them outside. I've seen some of the youtube stuff, and i've been trying to absorb as much info as I can, so i appreciate the help. I was reading another guys grow journal and he kept wanting to do do do do to his plants, and everyone kept telling him the same thing, less is more, I should definitely learn from his mistake lol. as far as the food i've mixed the 2 qt of water for the one tab and i filled up a spray bottle, and misted it on the top of the soil for a little moist-ness, i'll wait till they mature a little more before i start messing with that.
Good looking out on the photobucket situation, didn't even think of that lol. I don't really know how to upload them here, when i was trying to upload those pics it kept asking for a site, so photobucket was the only thing i could think of.
Anyways, I apreciate you reading and throwing the tips my way, keep them coming along the way if you have the time

sorry i know its been a minute since my last post, i've been pretty down with pneumonia, the plants are coming along niceley, can't wait to take a few pics of them and show yall what hercules is looking like now. which kind of concerns me i guess....hercules is huge, with probably 10 leaves or more, the rest are slowly but surely just coming along, no where near the rate of the one plant, makes me wonder if i'm doing something wrong, or if the one plant is just more eager then the rest...i don't know, pics soon though

Wow, sorry to hear about the pneumonia bout. Never a fun thing. Hope things are better for ya?

Sounds like the plants are doing good? Good deal. The one growing super fast and tall, may end up being a dude. Not always, but generally the faster growing ones end up as dudes. They are attempting to grow tall, so that they can more easily spread there pollen over all the lovely ladies. Pollen mostly gets about through wind, so being taller gives them a chance. Now, don't go killing all tall plants. It's just a general guideline, and not always the case.

As long as the plants look healthy, you are doing nothing wrong. Some plants grow taller then other (think siblings... rarely do two look much alike, even though they have the same parents). Some grow fast, some slower. Some bushy, some lankier. Just different "phenotypes" being displayed.

Hope this helps you some. Keep on growing! Look forward to some pics.

yea the pneumonia had me in and out of the hospital for a couple of weeks, but all is well now thanks.

The plants are doing great, I've been putting them outside in the fresh sunlight during the day for about 9 -10 hours, then back inside in my grow room, where I have them sitting under 2 4ft sunlight fluorescents. I have a few concerns, I think some of the stems or main stalks on a few of these are a little weak, some of the plants have drooped sideways, like it's leaning towards the light, but the light is straight over head, I don't know, maybe i need to just get some sort of stick and thread and tie them upright. anyways pics are uploading now, should be up tonight or in the morning, I'm pretty happy with the over all development of the plants, this is my first time to ever grow so I'm pretty stoked lol

Looks to me like maybe the indoor light could come down a little closer? Are the lights on constantly indoors? How far away?

Also, a small fan inside would help build up some stem strength. Like a muscle, a little movement will help the stems "exercise" and "bulk up". You want a slight breeze, not beating them up. A small circular fan lightly blowing over them, plus lower lights, should help them bush out some.

thanks man, yea i raised the lights to take the pic, i keep the lights about 3 inches off the top of the plants, and there is a fan in there as well, just can't see it in the pic. I'm worried I need to get a big light for the flowering, was looking at lowes, and they have 400w sulphur bulb, I'm still not sure what the red and blue lights are for, or if i need them. you have any experience using colored bulbs RP?

and yes, i keep the lights on constantly, isn't that right, 24hrs of light till time to flower??

so thats my set up, i added 2 250 watt lights, and they were on for 2 hours and they burned a couple of my leaves to a wilt, hope they aren't lossed. i've turned the big lights off, i think 500 watts was to much, should just use 1 250 light, and move it all the way to the top of the closet, im not sure, any advice would help. thanks