Outdoor Growing On A Budget...HELP!

I am growing outdoors for the first time (I've grown indoors a few times before). I need some experienced people to help me out. I have a budget of maybe $120 (USD), and 40 of that is to buy my clones. I plan on growing in 5 gallon buckets I bought from Home Depot. Location and all the other specifics relevant to guerilla growing don't really apply. I live in the middle of nowhere, am surrounding by woods that nobody ventures in, my county is too poor to pay for helicopters with FLIR cameras to spot crops, and I have a great supply of RO water. Also, I am only bound to supplies that can be purchased from Home Depot and Walmart. With this in mind, what should I use for organic soil and fertilizers, as well as pest repellents? I am already planning to build a small fence around the area to keep deer and other local animals out of the grow patch. Can anyone help? Keep in mind, I am on a strict budget, and I can only get supplies from HD and WM. Thanks in advance to all who can assist me. Oh, and from what I've seen, this particular strain is all Indica. It's a 3 foot tall bush when grown outdoors.

Sounds like you have everything. Water soil location. What do you need help with? Late in the grow you will need nutes but the simple organic dry fertilizers from HD will work fine added to topsoil and watered.

grow in the ground. dig holes 3 feet buy at least 2 foot deep. dump two five gallon buckets of water in the hole and see how long it takes to drain. if it takes all day your goin to have to dig anther foot at least. and your going to have to add perlit sand and some kind of organic soil. peat mushroom soil. something and mix that all in with your native soil and back fill. now depending on what your native soil is like. your going to need bone meal. for sure that never hurts. your going to need lime. and you should be ok with that. now if you wan to grow killer stuff take a soil sample to your farm office and tell them your tamtoes wont grow can they send it out to be checked and theyll tell you what your soil is missing. or you could fill your hole with bags of soil from homedepot.


i have hard clay soil. what i do is. dig a huge hole 10ft by 10ft 3ft deep and lay in a layer of straw 4 inchs the i put in a layer of clay 4inchs. some perlit bone meal and some sulfer not alot. clay alkaline i do this to lower the ph. then i do it again tell its a foot higher the the ground level. i then take five gallon buckets of water and put back strap molasses about 5 table spoons per bucket a coffe can of alfpha pellets some fish emulsion. and i let that sit for a week. it smells great. i then dump it on my spot. i uaslly make 6 buckets. i also add a few tubs of worms i pay the local kids to get. a penny a worm. this is all done a yr before i plant. in spring i usally have to add anther foot of clay and straw to the top. i aslo add other thing as they grow and feed them but that makes a good base. best thing to do is read up and see for yourself.

Warlock1369 said:

Sounds like you have everything. Water soil location. What do you need help with? Late in the grow you will need nutes but the simple organic dry fertilizers from HD will work fine added to topsoil and watered.

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I need help in determining what organic nutes from HD or Walmart that I should use. I'm growing from clones that will be rooted and already flourishing when I buy them. The soil in the area seems fertile enough because there's lots of peat moss covering the ground, and it doesn't need amendment, but I'm sketchy on it. That's why I opted for buckets. And since planting season around here is the first week in May, I don't think I have time to prep the soil. I could be wrong, cause I have never grown outdoors, but that's why I am asking for help. And since my overall supply budget will be roughly $80 after buying clones, I don't know if I can afford nutes plus soil amendment supplies. I'm still a noob to growing. That's why I have come to this forum. I don't wanna waste my investment.

You might need caterpillar killer they mess your buds up bad.They eat from the inside out so you can't find them really.If you have them out there buy something.

CR500ROOST said:

You might need caterpillar killer they mess your buds up bad.They eat from the inside out so you can't find them really.If you have them out there buy something.

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Ok. Thanks. Will neem oil be enough for that, or should I invest in something more specific?

good luck with your grow

So does anyone have any ideas what nutes from HD are okay for mj? There's quite a bit of them in my store. But none are veg or bloom specific. Also they sell something called Organocide. Anybody know if it's effective or should I use neem oil?

don't use 5 gallon buckets...too small..
use rubbermaid totes...get them on sale for like 3-4 bucks..
or grow bags (online)

could you buy your nutes online?
i use something called jack's classic...its cheap...
it's not organic....but that's something i don't want to get into...
i wouldn't worry to much about bugs...

the bigger containers you get the better...

babysas said:

don't use 5 gallon buckets...too small..
use rubbermaid totes...get them on sale for like 3-4 bucks..
or grow bags (online)

could you buy your nutes online?
i use something called jack's classic...its cheap...
it's not organic....but that's something i don't want to get into...
i wouldn't worry to much about bugs...

the bigger containers you get the better...

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I can't buy anything online because I don't have a debit card or credit card. How big should the rubbermaid totes be? I don't want to get too big, because the bags of soil I have found at HD are $13 a bag (they contain mycorrhizae).
I was told by my cousin that natural predatory insects will keep pests off my plants. Is that true? I live way up north in NY and there's not many bugs that I know of that will destroy crops (my family grows lots of tomatoes each year), but I don't want surprises. I have heard of spider mites in my area.
Thanks for the help.

Sevin for bugs and epsoma for ferts. HD should carry all of this.

Ndodson79605 said:

Ok. Thanks. Will neem oil be enough for that, or should I invest in something more specific?

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I think so but check just in case.

Kellogg Patio Plus is a good base soil. Blood meal, bone meal(by Miracle Grow) and dolomite lime are all available on the cheap at Home Depot. You have the neem oil. Serenade if you get bud worms. I don't know if they carry it, though. Now grow.

Thanks everybody for y'alls help. I'm glad I came to this forum. As soon as I get everything set up I will start posting pics and a journal. I am planning on putting the clones out in mid May, during the waning moon. I read that's supposed to be best for them. Take care y'all and I will keep y'all up-to-date on progress.

Sounds like you have an ideal setup. Grab some MG potting soil to mix with the surrounding soil for the pot mix, and the fence, and that should be all you need!