Help.. So much has changed in 25 years!!

Not a newbie but my last grow goes all the way back to 1984 and the Super Sativa Seed club and good old Skunk #1, NL,Swazi,and a hash plant. It was all grown outdoors in very small patches of three or four plants in some of the best natural soil known to man. Even was successfull with a few crosses. Sorry to say that the internet and all it's sources were NON-Existant and my knowledge base came from a little paperback book that I read cover to cover dozens of times. Now rather than 20 varieties I'm looking at 100's.

So in a nut shell here are my issues....I will be planting in five gallon buckets up to say 15 gallon. I will be using some of the best compost ever (Made it myself) which is loaded with everything from seaweed, crushed clam shells, Gury and lobster bodies as well as premium aged turkey dung. All well aged and sweeter than candy.

I won't have an opportunity to sex them prior to putting them out so would you put a few in a say 10 gallon container and cut out the males when they show themselves and just let any pots with more than one fems just struggle more? What varieties might lend themselves to tight quarters other than something like Low Ryder? Of course I'm looking for a decent yield but I want plants that will stay four feet and under. I also require a short season plant (Sept harvest here in Boston)or as short as possible without using auto's which is a new thing in my book.

So for you folks with far more strain knowledge than I help me out with a couple of suggestions?? Is going with feminized seeds in my situation worth it despite the cost? I would of course prefer to grow directly in the ground but if rocks were potatoes I would be a well fed man and digging 20 good holes would be a challange to say the least. Prybars,picks and sweat are the only way to dig even a marginal hole and a single 30" by 20" hole would take over an hour unless you ran into bedrock which would stink.

I have kids in the house so I will be lucky to get them to a foot in height before moving them out. I'm hoping tomatoe labels will buy me enough time..

Thanks folks and please toss out some random sugestions which might work. Thanks alot from an old guy who is just so out of touch...

sounds like your best bet would be to order some femd seeds but is kinda late for an outside grow....

Thanks am... I am really trying to do all my prep work for next season right now while the surrounding foliage and such is at it's max. I hope to get all the legwork done now so I'm ready to go next Memorial day. I really do appreciate to the response. A lot of these guys are so experienced they have little intersest in answering questions they have answered before and that's cool.
It's still easy to learn alot just listening..

Yeah you could order some fem seeds, I personally don't have any experience with them myself, but I've heard good things. Usually when you order them they will give you a rough estimate on flowering time and some other details.

Also, if you get an idica strain they will tend to stay shorter than a sativa would. You could do some researching on TOPPING, SUPERCROPPING, or LST to also keep them at a desired height.

Well Mezzy.. I guess I was doing LST back in 1985. Frankly I had no idea what it was called or if it even had a name back then. I sure wish I could remember that rotton little paperback I used for all my grow info. Done right I could get a very healthy plant that was pretty much laying right on the ground or opened up to expose the interior to more sun. Both techniques were easy and usefull. I have a great pic somewhere (35mm) around somewhere that shows the towers of UMass in the background with a few beauties snaking along the ground maybe 20 yards from the well worn path hundreds of college student used every day. Hidden right in plain sight Yuk Yuk...

For me I guess I also topped as well. Don't know the technical aspects of it but an early pinching or two worked great in overall yield. Maybe sacrificed a bigger cola but it worked.

The one thing I know nothing about is "super cropping". Is that something that can be done outdoors or is it more akin to a sea of green type indoor grow. Thanks for the imput but.

In some ways like basic culture nothing has changed and in other ways it seems everything has. I Always found outdoors with good natural sweetening pot grew just like a weed. I was thinking indica over sativa just cause I was hoping for bushy over tall and a relitively short season. Rock on bud!!

I still can't get over the price of femmed seeds but I may not have a choice.

Rottedroots said:

Well Mezzy.. I guess I was doing LST back in 1985. Frankly I had no idea what it was called or if it even had a name back then. I sure wish I could remember that rotton little paperback I used for all my grow info. Done right I could get a very healthy plant that was pretty much laying right on the ground or opened up to expose the interior to more sun. Both techniques were easy and usefull. I have a great pic somewhere (35mm) around somewhere that shows the towers of UMass in the background with a few beauties snaking along the ground maybe 20 yards from the well worn path hundreds of college student used every day. Hidden right in plain sight Yuk Yuk...

For me I guess I also topped as well. Don't know the technical aspects of it but an early pinching or two worked great in overall yield. Maybe sacrificed a bigger cola but it worked.

The one thing I know nothing about is "super cropping". Is that something that can be done outdoors or is it more akin to a sea of green type indoor grow. Thanks for the imput but.

In some ways like basic culture nothing has changed and in other ways it seems everything has. I Always found outdoors with good natural sweetening pot grew just like a weed. I was thinking indica over sativa just cause I was hoping for bushy over tall and a relitively short season. Rock on bud!!

I still can't get over the price of femmed seeds but I may not have a choice.

Click to expand...

Well heres a nice thread on super cropping for you https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/288113-step-step-how-super-crop.html

And yeah the majority od seeds available definitley do come for a price lol, but add that with the wonderful genetics we have available today, and somehow it evens out haha

Happy growing post a journal if you get a chance

If I was in your shoes id prepare for next year and get some fem seeds and get them going indoors and plant outside as early as possible.or you could start a couple plants inside and clone them before planting outside (to save some money on seeds)

good to see your back in the game, but i think it may be to late for outdoors.

Welcome back! I went with all femmed seeds. AND, the 3 freebies that came with my order are autoflowering. A strain called "Big bud". Very high yeild for an auto and the two that survived (my first grow), are almost ready to chop. only 16 inches tall but, I figure 2 ounces per plant. Fat buds everywhere. I ordered from www.marijuana-seeds.nl. Good luck.

First off welcome to RIU! I can only imagine how daunting it may seem. I'm sure a lot has changed in the indoor arena with HID lighting, but if you were sucessful in the past with outdoors I'm sure you'll do fine.

Let's take this step by step. You can plant directly in the ground if you have to, but I would STRONGLY recommend starting them indoors if you can. Even if you can only veg them inside for a few weeks, it is well worth it. So, you'll need some light. What does your budget look like? Personally, I like to use flourescent lighting for starting seedling to go outside. You can pick up some cheap T8 fixtures and put some 6500K bulbs in. Whatever you choose, 6000K-6500K is the spectrum you want. If you have a little more to spend, you might want to invest in a T5 fixture. They generally come in 2' and 4' length with 1 to 8 bulb fixtures. This past winter, I picked up a 2' 4 bulb T5 unit and it can easily fit 6 plants for 2 weeks or so. I've used it for up to a month with 4 plants and it provided more than enough light. How many plants are you looking to do?

Second would be genetics. Honestly, I'd stick with the classics. Northern Lights, Skunk #1, Haze, White Widow, etc. are still among the most consistent and most popular strains. A lot of people might disagree, but I would definitely consider going with feminized seeds. I've never had any problems with them so far. If you go with a reputable breeder I think you will do fine. In Boston, you might want to stay away from anything that is sativa or sativa dominant since it might not finish before the frost hits.

Thanks for the imput folks.. All my work is being devoted toward next year. It's like cooking Thankgiving dinner.. It's all in the prep.
Sorta funny that the most reliable strains are pretty much the same ones I was using almost thirty years ago. Might just make sence to grow what has worked for me in the past.
Never started or used anything other than four foot lights with grow bulds in them. If I had eight weeks with them indoors I could usually sex them.(usually) with no change of lighting. I am hoping to start 20 indoors and hope for ten solid survivors but may only have a few weeks to grow them before going out. Maybe that alone is reason to INVEST in fems. Now to determine if there are any strains that can thrive in less than full sun.
As complicated as things MAY sound in the growing world I am just greatful it's just a weed but I do remain slightly frightened of the logistics of a good indoor grow so thats on hold until the last chick leaves the nest.

Hey bud, no I would not recommend putting more than one plant in a 10 gallon container. They'll strangle each other.

I recommend doing one plant each in 5 gallon containers, and then weeding out the males.

Im up in your neck of the woods. I started with FEM seeds in 4" SQ pots under a 4FT 4 bulb T8(2 5000K,2 6500K bulbs) ,Roots organic soil, end march/beggining April-waited till roots filled the pot, transplanted to appx 1/2 Gal pot, waited till roots filled the pot again then went to 1 GAL pots around end of May when they went outside, Mid June they went into 5GAL buckets, then mid/end July into 10GAL pots to finish. I mixed-up some Super Soil(excellent water only soil recipe- look in the Organics forum) once I went to 1GAL pots. I have 1 Indica plant that just started flower I'm nervous if it will finish in time so watch the flowering times. Funny thing is I have a pure (Dutch Passion's Durban Poison) that is already 4weeks in flower and bulking up so the whole Indica/Sativa thing is only a guideline.I went up till end of Oct last yr , then frost started becoming an issue.Later this yr I'm digging holes(big holes-MIN 3x3x3- Yeah the rocks are gonna suck!) and filling them with SuperSoil and going right in the ground next spring.

Now is the time to find good spots, you'll see where light gets in and where it's blocked.

I don't know any non-Auto strains that stays under 4FT so some sort of training is going to be needed. Mine are about 3-4FT tall but 4-6FT wide,I've pinched/tied/topped alot to keep em small,well short. I'm considering doing an outdoor scrog(SCReen Of Green) to control height.

I'll be around,always willing to help out a neighbor .

Hey RottedRoots.....They just cut all that foliage down along side the University Bridge because of all the wild plants growing!!!!