How much research did you do before finally planting?

Greetings 'uppers!

Quick question, how much time did you put into research before you actually jumped into your first grow? Did you spend hundreds of hours reading and prepping before the launch? Did you throw some seeds in the dirt and fly by the seat of your pants?

How were the results of said grow (be honest here ladies n gents)?

I a big believer in research and planning, if you are going to do something, do it well and do it right the first time. While nothing beats experience, this community is incredible at sharing their experience with folks just starting out. I'm certain that this site and its members have prevented many newbs from having to "take their lumps." For that I say thank you!

First grow, no research, killed the plant with too much nute.

Second grow little research on growing but none on harvest so when I harvested it was way too early and smelled like hay for months I threw it away.

Third grow and on and on, lots of research lots of discussion lots of attention and great smoke!

5 years. But only because I did not have a place to do anything.

I have a feeling many have followed a similar path as chrishydro. There is certainly something to be said about learning by doing. You undoubtedly pick up a better understanding of the ramifications of your actions on your final results.

KodiaKSE said:

5 years. But only because I did not have a place to do anything.

Click to expand...

That's my kinda guy right there.

Join date: Sept 2008
posts: 18

been doing much reading?

I decided on a whim to do it. I had been a smoker for twenty years. Luckily I had a buddy doing stuff on drip tables. We simply duplicated his set-up, which was 2 x1000, actively exhausted, and two 4x4 tables, and I followed the Advanced Hydroponics recipe to a tee. The AH system is ridiculously wasteful, and so now i do completely different nute mixes, but I will say I got like 20 oz. dry from the first grow ( i just about double that now with two 1000s) . It really freaked out a couple of my buddies who had failed a few times. Growing pot is pretty damn easy when you use the right gear.

it was 1977, and i guerrilla grew in buckets of rabbit shit. no research. good results. i started true research when i moved indoors. read several books.

When I decided to grow, I studied for about 2 months. I came home from work and read, I also found rui and got tons of info here. I spent about $2000 and turned My spare room into a grow room. I was very successful! Its a great hobby! I went to Barnes and noble and got the grow Bible, it was a big help. I made sure I had the best equipment, lights ,1000 lumitek ballast, hotilux Hps, a good mh for veg, a blue lab guardian, good nutes ect. Its worth the money and time to do it right. IMO

Grow to learn; not learn to grow.

VonNonymous said:

Grow to learn; not learn to grow.

Click to expand...

Huh? If I had done that I would have failed. I think learning to grow is the smart way to do it.

marc88101 said:

Huh? If I had done that I would have failed. I think learning to grow is the smart way to do it.

Click to expand...

75 degrees lights on, mid 60s lights off, lots of air, 40%ish humidity, 5000 lumens per sq. foot and a modest feed regiment. If you can just accomplish these 6 goals you are all but guaranteed nice buds.

read forums and watch the long movies on youtube, grow movies . "High times present" is really good and he guy who paints his face green (Mr green??)

And then its pretty much common sense, and be relaxed

3 years cause I always wanted to but never could and now that I am my first real grow went great cause of it

idk, i've been reading hightimes and other weed related prints for well over a decade before i ever attempted to grow mj on my own.. plus, i've been growing veggies for about a decade or so as well for practice and food..

there is something to be said about having an idea of what you're doing before you do it, but at the same rate, i'm the type of person who learns better hands on then out of a book..

i used to hate drugs but due to injuries and with no drugs that could get me to sleep without pain i spent 4 months studding the origins and history of cannabis and how to grow and pretty much anything related to cannabis( i was also studding at uni )
and finally decided to give it a go.i can get a good night sleep after i have tripped the fuck out then its lights out no pain untie i wake up.

nonuggets said:

i'm about to harvest my first crop...i knew the basics, but i don't think there is any way to plan for the problems, i.e. pm, bugs. gotta learn by doing. i'm hoping to get a couple pounds off my 8 plants, but probably about a pound. next summer i will definitely triple my yield with half as many plants. i'm doing a lot of research into indoor growing...i've got it all planned in my head...just want to get this grow completely under my belt then move forward.

Click to expand...

The fact that so many have mixed results with their first grown says a lot. You can research research research, and you can have good results your first try, but until you truly understand your plants it's tough to get all the components right (quality, yield, appeal).

Working with the plants gives you a much better understanding or the concepts you spent all that time researching. I'd venture to say, with all things being equal, you will do better the second try, third try, and then on until you get things so dialed in you have maxed out your strains potential.

I am lucky enough to know someone who has been growing for awhile and he took me under his wing but allowed me to do what I thought would work for me..

like using fan leaves for canna oil (did not work for me... but works on others)

He buys new soil every season... I reuse and compost all my prev soil adding ammends as needed..

first year I was 100% gung ho on everything from making hash to trimming...

2nd year. hate trimming... and as much as I still love to check my plants out... it's getting more tedious.

I wont EVER... spend a ton on my grow as I have smoked high end weed and stuff in between smoked what I grew and I noticed NO difference.


I do love to see what other creative minds here have done and plan on doing.. always gives me more of an incentive to try out other ideas.

4 years of trial and error- small cfl grows, and alot of research, grew indoor and outdoor this year with great results, minus getting ripped, I think doing research is defiantly important, but real growing experience is when you will learn the most especially if your a hands on learner like me. Having a trustworthy freind who knows his shit is really helpfull.

-well said racerboy

racerboy71 said:

there is something to be said about having an idea of what you're doing before you do it, but at the same rate, i'm the type of person who learns better hands on then out of a book..

Click to expand...

racerboy71 said:

idk, i've been reading hightimes and other weed related prints for well over a decade before i ever attempted to grow mj on my own.. plus, i've been growing veggies for about a decade or so as well for practice and food..

there is something to be said about having an idea of what you're doing before you do it, but at the same rate, i'm the type of person who learns better hands on then out of a book..

Click to expand...

Agreed. a book can't teach you everything. Hands on is the only way to become proficient.

However, these people that keep showing up and starting threads along the lines of: "Hey guys! I have had these seeds going for a while now! What kind of lights and nutes should I use? Can I grow a QP with this 25w MEGA GRO brand led? The seller on ebay says it's better than a 600w HID, so it must be awesome!" could stand to spend 5 minutes on the internet, at the least. lol

I read for about a month, but didn't actually find this site. I watched tons of youtube video's, and read a lot, but much of it was conflicting information so I really had no idea. I started my seeds out all wrong, but so far they are in nice shape. I'm on my very first grow, and I'm looking forward to seeing what I get. I planted bag seed so that I could have a good learning experience for my first grow because I was finding so much conflicting information. Everyone has a different idea of what is best. I've kept it very simplistic on this run, nothing but good soil, light and water. I've yet to add any nutes to anything. I may not add any because they are looking good without them and I wouldn't mind getting a good "control" for my growing. I figure with no extra nutrients will give a good idea of what I need to do. I just topped my plants for the very first time, and it seems to be a successful one. I got about 2 more weeks of veg, then off to flower! Can't wait to see what I get.