Maine Outdoor 2020 (first timer)

Going to take my first crack at growing and would love to ask questions and share my progress and experience (seeds from GPS are on their way).

This will be in Maine, a few miles in from the coast, nice sheltered spot with great southern exposure and decent wind protection.

First question: should I use containers or plant in the ground? Like the idea of being able to bring plants inside the shed if weather gets dicey, but seems like letting them root deeply into the ground would make for a bigger more productive plant. Thinking of using Coast of Maine Stonington Soil Mix , which was created just for cannabis. If I go in the ground I will probably dig a hole and fill it with this mix since native soil is pretty acidic and I don't have time to properly amend the soil this season.

Will start seeds indoors (still snow on the ground!) and probably move them outdoors sometime after Mothers Day.

Thoughts?

I'm not an outdoor expert by any means but I've used Stonington Soil mix plenty (hello fellow New Englander!) and I just don't think it's cost efficient if your planting in the ground. If you go the container method sure, but if your putting the plant in the ground I'd go with a mix of Coast of Maine Quoddy Blend and biochar. It will cost half as much and you don't need a lot of the stuff in Stoningtons if your going in the ground.

Mother's day (May 10) is too early to put plants outside imo. You're not going to do them any favors by putting them outdoors if there is shitty weather. Which happens in May. I wait till after June.1st.
I agree with gentlemen, that stonington mix would be better indoors, a good outdoor mix is coots mix which doesn't need any "cook" time and there are recipes on riu for that mix. Personally I dont plant directly in the ground. Very rarely would I be able to find good soil naturally, without clay. I'd go with 35gallon cloth bags (if you want to move them, youll need to go to the smaller 20 gallon) buy a yard of good organic compost from your local supplier, and follow the ingredients in coots mix. Youre going to need a lot if you go with 35 gallon bags. A yard of compost, plus peat, plus aeration (perlite or rice hulls)will be a good start(if you follow coots mix) . I think i was able to do 6 35gallons with that, might have needed a little more. This soil can be amended every season as well, so you'll spend a little money up front, but its worth it, you can reuse it. Water only soil, no bottle feeding necessary, but maybe a little top dressing of earthworm castings and insect frass once every few weeks.

What gps gear do you have coming? Some of his strains flower a long time. You want early finishing strains in Maine, like September early if you can find them. You may want to shop around locally for clones if you can, find something that is known to finish before shitty weather sets in.
Nothing is more heartbreaking than caring for plants all summer to watch them rot before you can harvest them.

Good luck with your season

Gentlemencorpse said:

I'm not an outdoor expert by any means but I've used Stonington Soil mix plenty (hello fellow New Englander!) and I just don't think it's cost efficient if your planting in the ground. If you go the container method sure, but if your putting the plant in the ground I'd go with a mix of Coast of Maine Quoddy Blend and biochar. It will cost half as much and you don't need a lot of the stuff in Stoningtons if your going in the ground.

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Thanks for the tip. What do you think about in ground vs. container?

NewEnglandFarmer said:

Thanks for the tip. What do you think about in ground vs. container?

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On that note hopefully some more experienced outdoor growers chime in. My recommendation on the medium revolved more around my general gardening experience than cannabis specific experience. I'm really just an indoor grower looking to dabble in outdoors.

But from what I've seen I'm not sure there's a right answer. Might be best to start with a container grow. Easier to control and as you said, you can bring it in if a gnarly storm is heading our way. I'm planning on a raised bed myself for this season. Best advice I can give is to read a bunch of outdoor grow journals and find one that you want to imitate.

natureboygrower said:

Mother's day (May 10) is too early to put plants outside imo.

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That makes sense--plus those seedling probably won't be ready for the great outdoors anyway until June. Do I really need a grow light for them or can I just set them by the window?

natureboygrower said:

What gps gear do you have coming?.

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Tomahawk, Chinook Haze, Copper Chem. You try any of those?

NewEnglandFarmer said:

Thanks for the tip. What do you think about in ground vs. container?

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Im on the coast of Mass, and after last falls northeasters i will be using containers so i can hide them in the shed

NewEnglandFarmer said:

Thanks for the tip. What do you think about in ground vs. container?

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In the ground, they can withstand the light frost a little better, allowing you to flower longer. If you go with containers though, go with either raised beds or fabric pots. Check the other threads in this section. Some of the growers are in your same grow zone and have pulled off some very nice frosty harvests.

And, I def. agree with @natureboygrower. May 10th is way too early. The general rule of thumb for your area, for any type of gardening, is after the first full moon of June, or the first week of June.

Boatguy said:

Im on the coast of Mass, and after last falls northeasters i will be using containers so i can hide them in the shed

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Yeah we got clobbered twice in two weeks up here. Did you suffer some damage?

Boatguy said:

Im on the coast of Mass, and after last falls northeasters i will be using containers so i can hide them in the shed

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I too am on the coast of MA and now I'm questioning my raised bed idea haha

NewEnglandFarmer said:

Yeah we got clobbered twice in two weeks up here. Did you suffer some damage?

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Just an early harvest... Disappointing and wont happen again

NewEnglandFarmer said:

That makes sense--plus those seedling probably won't be ready for the great outdoors anyway until June. Do I really need a grow light for them or can I just set them by the window?


Tomahawk, Chinook Haze, Copper Chem. You try any of those?

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Have you thought about using clones instead? While those crosses are nice, they're longer flowering due to the chem genetics. Particularly the haze and CC.
I know some folks have found quicker finishing phenos, but with seeds its going to be toss up and getting an 75-85 day strain to finish in your region will be tricky.

Looked briefly into clones locally but the places I checked out had pretty mixed reviews. I told GPS my location and asked for recommendations, that's what they suggested. I suppose using containers would allow me to bring them inside for protection if need be during any cold nights or heavy weather events next fall.

NewEnglandFarmer said:

That makes sense--plus those seedling probably won't be ready for the great outdoors anyway until June. Do I really need a grow light for them or can I just set them by the window?


Tomahawk, Chinook Haze, Copper Chem. You try any of those?

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Yes. I've grown 3 different gps strains, all taking a minimum of 10-11 weeks. I just harvested a copper chem at 77 days. It was putting out a lot of nanners. I think you may have a little difficulty finishing those strains up. If you can move them daily/nightly you'll have a better chance, but I'd go with 20 gallon fabric pots to make moving manageable. That will still be heavy. Keep in mind, if you put those plants in 20 gallons in the beginning of june, those plants are going to get huge. They may get top heavy in those bags if not pruned or spread out. And they will more than likely need additional feed. Imo, 20 gallons of soil might not supply the plant with enough nutes for the whole grow(3-4 months)

And definitely get a light or your seedlings will get stretchy and possibly start flowering. I use a t5 high output fluorescent on 20hrs a day.

I am from the York County coast, and grow in the ground. I will be putting mine on about the third week of May. Yes our late summers/early fall can be wet and shitty. Sure you can do pots, but in ground you'll get bigger plants.

I'm south of Boston using 30 gallon pots (Grassroots Living Soil Pots); first time grower. Using Coast of Maine Castine Blend Organic Raised Bed Mix with added aeration (rice hulls and Pitt Moss), compost and worm castings. Also, other amendments like Kelp, Neem/Karanja mix, Oyster flour, Gaia Green and insect frass. Will water once per week with Recycle-Sil and Thrive.N for veg. Planning to plant out side by late May, mid May only if the weather looks good. Growing fem seeds from Humboldt Seed Co, 00 Seeds, and Kannabia Seeds.

I grow outside every summer, (though on the other side of the country), but it's basically like everybody else is saying... In the ground can produce bigger plants, (if the dirt is good for it), but if you grow them in containers you can bring them in if you need to. I had a freak cold front last year in early fall, and it wasted a few plants that could not be moved. Like, totally fucking destroyed them. Then the weather got nice and my other plants that I brought in for that short cold bout and put back outside, finished without any other issues. Sometimes one night can ruin the whole harvest. Hail can also be a big thing where I am... Golfball sized hail storms in July are common and can straight cut a stalk in half. Up to you... Tomahawk should be fine whatever you do. I've grown all 3 of those and Tomahawk was done the earliest. Copper chem can take a long time, but is also a little more dependent on pheno... some finish surprisingly fast, while others take a really long time. Chinook haze will probably take the longest.

I'll be growing outdoors this yr as well. I always grow in the ground. But I'm down south eastcoast. We transplant end of April to early May depending on the weather.

Its still winter here in Appalachia. ️

I'm in York county Maine. Last year was actually pretty warm and I did pretty good outside. 150g fabric pots and 50/50 compost and 1/2" screened loam supplemented with Greenleaf MC nutes. 10x10 net screens scrogged Down low. Triple to quadruple levels to support the colas. Last year's noreasters didn't phase my plants. Usually get 3-5lbs per plant this way.

I use 7ft bamboo for stakes, drive 1ft deep. first net 4ft off the ground the. 2 more every foot. I Weave the branches into the first net all the way until august.

And 3.5" mesh netting

If you can spread out weed barrier underneath your pots and spread it out so you arent trying to weed wack under your scrog or have weeds growing up into it.