People do make growing cannabis into a very complicated endeavor. After reading numerous posts, magazine articles and watching youtube videos, I got the impression that marijuana was a very discontented, captious and fastidious plant. Also a very supple plant in that there are magic potions that will make your plant grow to be a monster with indestructible leaves, make it turn pink, and grow peppermint flavored buds.
I've grown up on a farm and have been gardening most of my life. After following the more authoritative sounding advice on RIU, I've found that what is often recommended is not always the best. I'm still a newb to cannabis, so I hope the more experienced folks will correct any incorrect statements that I make. I wish someone had told me the following in the beginning BEFORE I'd started growing and buying all that crap from the hydrostore.
1. Simple is best- In my experience, you don't need tons of products. Often you don't really need any fertilizer if growing in the ground especially not if you are buying a decent soil from the store. Adding a little more doesn't hurt usually and a soil test is never a bad idea. In my experience, a balanced fertilizer or one formulated especially for the crop you are growing works best. One that I've found that works great for MJ in soil is Happy Frog Tomato and Veggie; there are plenty of others that work just as good and possibly better. Don't make the mistake of thinking that a high NPK rating is better than a lower. I've killed off so many plants because I bought a triple 17 when a triple 8 would have been much better suited for my purposes. Jack's Classic seems to be a popular fertilizer among people I trust. I guess my point is, why buy 15 different products for 15 different benefits when you can get them all in just 3 or 4 (some would say 3 or 4 is still too many). Just incase someone is wondering and in order to run it by those more experienced... the products I use regularly are: Dyna-Gro Grow, Fish emulsion (during veg for extra N), BioWeed, Liquid Karma (Humic Acid) and will use Microbe Brew in my compost tea. In the soil I add worm castings and Happy Frog Tomato and Veggie.
2. Plants are living things too- All you have to do is give them what they need and want and they will do the rest. There is a big difference between indoor and outdoor growing when it comes to light. I'm not an indoor grower, so my indoor related information may be a bit off. Indoor growers need to get as much light to as much of the plant as possible. This involves super bright lights coming from several different angles. When growing outdoors, you have a great source of light that moves throughout the day. This means the light will reach most of the plant throughout the day. If there are a few leaves that don't have light shining directly on them... it's okay! Calm the f down. Just because the leaf isn't glowing bright in the sun, doesn't mean it's not getting sunlight. To be honest, most plants do not like to be in the blazing hot 30.4066 latitude noon summer sun. The plants I have growing under the shade of trees seem to do much better than those planted out in the open. There is a different between filtered sunlight and hard shade.
I don't know the magic numbers, but cannabis growth slows when the temps are too low perhaps 50F and below. Cooler temps do not harm MJ plants, so don't worry. I've had mine survive a frost unprotected, they are hardy little plants for being as tropical as they are said to be. The temps here are already in the high 80's low 90's and the growth has slowed significantly on my plants.
Plants do like water, but how much they need depends mostly on the temperature of the plant and soil. Where I live, I can get away with watering everyday, but in some areas it is not necessary. Cannabis can survive quite a while with no water. A plant of mine had been dug up by a coyote (is my guess) and it sat out, roots exposed for a couple of days; dried completely out, leaves and stems were soft and wilted. I buried it back and gave it some water. After a couple of days it was happy again. On the other hand, too much watering should also be avoided. This is nothing new and one can find many threads on overwatering, so I will leave it.
3. Just leave them alone- Don't defoliate. Even in low light, leaves produce more good stuff than they use up. It wasn't until I started reading cannabis forums etc that I EVER heard anyone suggesting the removal of healthy leaves. If they are dried up, yellow, soft and brown, then go ahead. More often than not, if they should come off, they will come off easily. Try it and see, if you have a dried yellow looking fan leaf, just tap the stem and see if it doesn't fall right off of the plant. Normally, the only time I remove leaves is if they are touching and the area is staying moist. I will first just try to separate them somehow, but if I can't then I will remove one to avoid fungus and disease.
I don't do much training, so I won't comment much. I have done some LST on a few plants, but as a newb I find they do better when left as they are. No training also reduces the risk of damaging the plant. If you've tried a technique and it works for you... GOOD! More power to you, but I suggest that the new growers spend time learning how the plants grow naturally before you start wiring them and pruning them etc.
4. Be patient- Stop comparing your plants to those of other growers. Sure it will sometimes give you an idea of what they should look like, but it will often discourage you or make you want to up the ferts or something else equally as drastic. When I first started, I would have plants a month old that would look like plants so and so was growing that were only two weeks old. I knew I had to be terrible a growing. Like I mentioned before, when growing in soil fertilizers often aren't that important and plants do well in filtered sunlight. I believe temperature plays a greater role in cannabis growth than most people realize. It wasn't until the soil temp warmed that I realized the reason for the slow growth.
I also don't understand the "hurry up and bloom" state of mind. I know many people do it for the profit, but when you're new... you should be learning the plant before pushing it to the limits. Sit back, watch and learn the different stages of flower. Watch how the plants and buds grow. See how long it takes when left alone. Everything develops at it's own pace. Wait till later to buy the ripeners, sweeteners, bulkers, etc. I don't use those products, imo using them is just asking for trouble or a waste of money at least. I do know that many people swear by them, so maybe there is something to it... idk.
Good luck. I hope this helps those that are newbier than myself and please if I'm wrong about any of this... please correct me. I don't want to pass on bad information.
