Why is marijuana growing so daunting?

I was recently diagnosed with a congenital disease of the brain, seeing as my symptoms only began shortly after my 30th birthday (I just turned 31). I was always an occasional cannabis smoker but I started smoking more frequently to help me cope with both the emotional stress of learning I have something for which there is no cure, and the pain. With this increase in frequency I have learned through friends that practically everyone is reluctant to put you in direct contact with their "dealers" and feel safer playing the role of middle-man, perfectly happy to pick-up and/or drop-off a baggie for you. While this arrangement worked when I was an "occasional" smoker it is not working now that I rely on it to merely get through my day. Writhing in pain, or being forced to deal with the horrible side-effects of those nasty pills the neurologists like to prescribe - by the boatload - all because I am waiting for when is most "convenient" for my friends, does very little for my quality of life, or outlook on it.

Which brings me to my point. I have decided to grow my own. I am not interested in starting any gardens or "growing operations" of any sort. In fact, I would be perfectly happy with one plant - assuming (since I know nothing about this stuff but currently go through roughly a 1/2 quarter bi-weekly) that one plant is sufficient for someone who smokes everyday (not joints, but through bongs and/or pipes). I have been doing as much research as I can tolerate each day (the strain of staring at anything for longer than say 1 hour at a time i.e. the computer/television screen; the glare from lights if driving at night; the glare from the sun if driving by day etc. limits me somewhat) but I must admit, despite the "beginner's guide to growing" or the "marijuana growing for dummies" type advise/tips out there, it is still very daunting. The extent of my plant growing experience came about by fluke when I threw a tamarind seed on a wet napkin some eight years ago. I paid it little to no attention and kept it moist on that paper towel for nearly a month before I transferred it to a run-of-the-mill pot with run-of-the-mill soil. It is now a small tree but it has not yielded any tamarind. Reading about the various stages of mairjuana growth (and it seems if you have no idea what stage you're in you'll have to "guess-timate" using online photos) the types of soil and light, and whether or not you have a male or female (again, no choice but to "guess"), PH levels, something called worm castings and other such grower jargon just further confuses and frustrates me. I plan to get my seeds from a seed bank, and they are described as "feminized" seeds - so this takes some of the "guess work" out (hopefully). What I want to know is, can I follow the same procedure I used to initially start the growth of the tamarind tree (naturally I will get the things that I know I will need for my marijuana plant i.e. a humidifier/de-humidifier etc.) or am I just setting myself up for failure?

Honestly any body can grow marijuana, i say go for it and see if it works for you.

You can germinate in a papaertowel yes. If you only smoke 1/4 a month it honestly might be easier to just buy weed by the ounce. If youre set on growing though one or two plants need a lot less gear than a full blown grow op. Plants will grow in a lot of conditions...the better conditins the better the yield and taste though.

Get a 400 watt switchable ballast and a mh and hps bulb...some perlite and some good soil...like Fox Farms or some Sunshine mix. Then get a couple bottles of General Hydroponics fertilizer. Read up on Newbie central when possible and youre set.

Growing can be as "daunting" as you want it to be. Or it can be quite easy. As an analogy, I can fish with a cane pole or I can buy $250 worth of fishing equipment and perhaps catch a few more than the cane pole.

This can be a simple as a bunch of CFLs and soil from the local hardware store, with chemical fertilizers like Miracle Grow to feed. It really is that simple, if you just pay attention to not overdo things, as well as not overreacting whenever you see the slightest spot on a leaf. As you learn with the basics, you can upgrade and get into better lighting, soils, organic fertilizers, etc or you can stick with the basics. Its really up to you.

ill throw my first grow out here so you can compare. there are many ways of growing, some more labor intensive then others. it was a window sill grow, no lights and basic store bought nutes. i never ph'd my water or used filtered water. i pretty much did everything they said not to do except for over watering and over babying my plants. i yielded over 3 oz off of one plant, the strain was mandala sadhu, very easy to grow. tolerant of mistakes and abuse, very low nute requirements. it wasnt the strongest smoke around but it was a impressive sized plant for what i put into it.




so its possible to grow while putting very little effort into it but you need realistic expectations out of a grow like this. you have to choose a easy to grow plant and not choose ones that are intolerant of mistakes and require high levels of care. check out some of the mandala seeds, they old school land race hybrids with alot of hybrid vigor and are easy to grow. seeds are cheap too but arent feminized.

what are you smoking right now?

Check out this website www.growweedeasy.com you can find a great step by step for a small little grow. Good luck!

I agree that you are much better off buying weed by the ounce.

What else would you do ?
Mix up some soil, about enough for a five gallon bucket...
40% Seedling soil/peralite 30%/Vermiculite 30% for starting your seeds--start in a Dixie Cup...
Mist soil lightly...
Use 4- 23 watt 6500k CFL's place within 4" of plant top...
Now you are started... Get some seeds, and do it!

If you have fun, then continue, if it's a pain in ass, then buy, the quality of your own smoke every time you light up, will convert you to growing more and more for yourself, as you need more and more pain relief...
Good Luck Man...

You can do it! Many things you read here are tweaking plants for max potential. Just jump in and go for it. Very sorry about your med issues. I have some myself.

Good soil/light/environment, don't overwater or overnute. Heck start with autos or an indica clone or three. Once you get a grow under your belt..it will make sense. If lights bother you use sunglasses when working with the plants.

Your just overwhelmed by information buddy, get orbit downloader and hit youtube and search grow videos Jorge Cervantes has some good ones. Watch them they are fun to watch over and over, it seems daunting for the first while but it gets much easier man. There seems to be a set of mistakes that new growers do pay attention to what they say about this and you have it licked the plant grows itself you just have to follow the rules. Get a pen and paper and write some notes of what you think is something you need to know, I promise in a year you will be a average grower producing more medicine you ever dreamed of, pay attention to do it yourself, or DIY guides you will save shit loads of cash with some iniciative.

Peace I hope all works out for you bro

Becase lot's of first time growers never so much as grew a bean seed in third grade. They get on forums and try to learn from other newbies who post what they read. They make it out to be ridiculously complicated, more like a combination electrical engineering and mysterious voodoo chemistry project. Other people really understand what they are doing, and enjoy doing cutting edge grows with all the best toys. But your average new grower should K.I.S.S. in my opinion.

In nature the plant drops seeds on the soil, they overwinter and germinate in the spring, and grow back to maturity. In 1984 I put out a sprouted plant in a weedy fencerow between 2 cropfields. Took a shovel added half a bag of potting soil, threw in a handful of dolomite and some fert and the plant and walked off. We had several plants growing in that part of the county, enough that we kind of lost track of that one. Well we were doing some scouting for grow spots next year as we checked on our plants nearly ready to cut. Anyway when checking out this "new" fencerow we stumbled across the abandoned plant, about 6' tall and 13 ounces when it got cut a week later.

So it can be as daunting or simple as you like.

I wish you luck kashmir.

We are here to help if you need it.

The investment into growing pays for itself after the second or third grow.

If you smoke less than an ounce a month you should be able to get away with 1-2 plants at a time.

I think you will be very happy in a small grow. 4 plants. Get a pack or two of feminized seeds and go for it. Leave the unreliable "friends" behind. Post questions and they'll get answered. I'm going strain hunting for you right now. Any experts out there who can recommend a great strain for our friend?

G13 Labs OG13 Feminized The Kush is one of the most sought after strains for 2012 and G13 Labs are here to make their stamp on the famous OG Kush. G13 Labs OG13 is a great producer of extremely dense nugs which smells and tastes like fuel. OG13 stretches but seems to fill out upon flowering, ideal for stress and pain management. Warning: A strong high Flowering Time Indoors: 9 weeks.

It seems daunting the first time out because you have to make a lot of decisions. Soil? Hydro? Seed strain? Lights? Ventilation? Temperature control? Nutes? Ph/ppm monitoring? 24/0? Weeks to flip? Topping? LST? Harvest markers? Drying time? Jarring?

It's a lot!

But you don't have to make every decision all at one. This is a four-month growing process, so just take each step at a time. You can look at my link in my signature to see my decisions laid out. I just took one step at a time. I knew I was going to grow in a small tent, with 400 W and with hydro. I went with rockwool for germination and hydroton as growing medium. I choose a 3-part Advanced Nutrients line. Went with 24/0 for the veg light schedule. That got the little seedlings on their way.

Other decisions had to be made as I became more ambitious or realized I didn't have everything I really needed. But that's the learning curve!

Good luck.

Lots of help here for ya man, and remeber No smell No Sell, and especially No tell and you will have an event free grow.

Cheers Bro

Peace

growing is one of the most simple things to do try getting up after a long night of drinking and taking a piss now that's hard well at the time it was easy but in the morning it looks like you have a pee fetish

1/4 a month.... LOL thats a long weekend for me... but ya man, buy it if thats all you need!
The effort and time involved, however satisfying and yielding may not be worth it for someone
in your case.
Either way , I say why not, God put the plant here, Man is meant to grow it.

Shivaskunk said:

You can germinate in a papaertowel yes. If you only smoke 1/4 a month it honestly might be easier to just buy weed by the ounce. If youre set on growing though one or two plants need a lot less gear than a full blown grow op. Plants will grow in a lot of conditions...the better conditins the better the yield and taste though.

Get a 400 watt switchable ballast and a mh and hps bulb...some perlite and some good soil...like Fox Farms or some Sunshine mix. Then get a couple bottles of General Hydroponics fertilizer. Read up on Newbie central when possible and youre set.

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I actually would prefer to buy it, but as I mentioned it leaves me too dependent on the schedule of others. My aunt in Florida suggested I simply do as she did and put out an ad offering $15K for an already producing plant between 1 & 2 meters high. I like the idea of harvesting the "fruits of my labor" - probably because my physical activities are so limited. I thank you and all who replied. You have taken away the "overwhelming" feelings and now I'm actually quite excited to get started!

GandalfdaGreen said:

I think you will be very happy in a small grow. 4 plants. Get a pack or two of feminized seeds and go for it. Leave the unreliable "friends" behind. Post questions and they'll get answered. I'm going strain hunting for you right now. Any experts out there who can recommend a great strain for our friend?

G13 Labs OG13 Feminized The Kush is one of the most sought after strains for 2012 and G13 Labs are here to make their stamp on the famous OG Kush. G13 Labs OG13 is a great producer of extremely dense nugs which smells and tastes like fuel. OG13 stretches but seems to fill out upon flowering, ideal for stress and pain management. Warning: A strong high Flowering Time Indoors: 9 weeks.

Click to expand...

I can't thank you enough for your help. I was reading about and thinking to buy "AK-47" but I will look into ones that state they are for novice growers.

Galvatron said:

ill throw my first grow out here so you can compare. there are many ways of growing, some more labor intensive then others. it was a window sill grow, no lights and basic store bought nutes. i never ph'd my water or used filtered water. i pretty much did everything they said not to do except for over watering and over babying my plants. i yielded over 3 oz off of one plant, the strain was mandala sadhu, very easy to grow. tolerant of mistakes and abuse, very low nute requirements. it wasnt the strongest smoke around but it was a impressive sized plant for what i put into it.

so its possible to grow while putting very little effort into it but you need realistic expectations out of a grow like this. you have to choose a easy to grow plant and not choose ones that are intolerant of mistakes and require high levels of care. check out some of the mandala seeds, they old school land race hybrids with alot of hybrid vigor and are easy to grow. seeds are cheap too but arent feminized.

what are you smoking right now?

Click to expand...

Another down side to relying on others to bring you your herb is that you never know what strain you're getting. And if you do, it's rarely the same strain twice - more of a "whatever the dealer has is what I'm getting" kind of thing. I'm still reading about the types of strains that would be easy for a novice. So far the AK-47 difficulty level is not stated anywhere but it sounds good. Thank you for the advice and the pictures