Hello everybody, I'm trying cannabis for the first time to see if it helps manage my condition effectively, and would love
any insights on the best strains and methods for growing at home, whether indoors or outdoors. Looking forward to this knowledgeable community.
I’ll give u some advice that I wish I’d been given years ago. First of all, it doesn’t take nearly as much as most people think to grow a healthy vibrant plant.
You DO NOT need 14 different bottles of this that……furthermore, the more variables you introduce, the greater the chance of failure.
You first need to decide if you want to grow using synthetic nutrients or organic.. I use organic and it’s been a far easier option with stellar results.
Most growers start in soil and I would suggest it. It’s far more forgiving. And as a new grower, I’d go with some sort of amended bag mix….and find out if it’s heavily amended, lightly amended or somewhere in between.
Then select a good dry organic fert, like Gaia Green or Happy frog. Typically the company will produce one for the vegetative cycle and another specifically for the flowering period. You’ll need both.
Other than the 2 dry ferts, you’ll need extra perlite and some worm castings.
Before you even germinate your seeds, mix up your base medium……simply add about 20% more perlite, 10-15% worm castings and an appropriate amount of your dry fert(the one for veg cycle).
If your medium is heavily amended already use 1/3 of the recommended dry fert. Gaia Green for example has a 4-4-4 for veg and a 2-8-4 for flowering. The dose on the bag says 3 tablespoons per gallon of medium. If your bagged soil is heavily amended, use 1 tablespoon per gallon…….if it’s lightly amended use the full dose….if it’s in between use 1/2 to 2/3 of a dose.
It would be great if you could mix this up well ahead of time, water it lightly and let it sit.
Once your seed pops, start it in a small container, no bigger than a solo cup.
Plan on transplanting to a larger pot twice during the grow. I usually grow my seedlings in a solo cup until it gets a couple sets of leaves and then move it to a 1 gal pot.
Watering is the key make or break variable for all new growers. Early on as a seedling, they need very little water. The roots need to breathe…..so don’t drown the roots….think moist and fluffy so the roots can move through it.
Once in the 1 gal, U wanna water ONLY when the medium has dried out. U can tell by lifting the pot before it’s ever watered and after. You’ll feel how light it’s become and know it needs water.
When watering, do it slow……it’s a big deal….go super slow. Water from the outside in and stop after you cover the entire surface. Wait 5-10 min, the longer the better, and hit it again. You wanna stop just you’re getting a few drops of runoff coming from the bottom of the pot.
A 5 gal pot full of medium can usually hold about 1.5 gal before any runoff……if you do it slowly. You do not want a lot of runoff…..your nutrients will be leached out of the soil if there’s too much runoff.
The initial mix should carry the plant for 4-6 weeks…..meaning only give water……and maybe a low dose of cal mag depending on your water source.
When that 4-6 weeks is up, or if the plant is showing signs of being hungry, you’ll simply top dress with the appropriate level of the same dry fert + worm castings that went into the base mix.
After you flip the lights to start flowering, you’ll need to begin using the flowering mix of whatever dry fert you chose. In general, u simply want to begin decreasing N and increasing P & K.
I usually try to time a top dress a week or two after if I’ve flipped……and I’ll use 1/2 veg & 1/2 flowering mix. I’ll do a lighter top dress every 2 weeks and each time I’ll decrease the 4-4-4 and increase the 2-8-4.
Man, I’ve gone on a long time.
If this style of grow interests you, lemme know and I’ll answer any questions and help you along the way.
Make sure you’ve got a quality light……without one it’s impossible and a huge waste of time and money.
good luck.
