Help! Growing advice

Hi! I need help. I have been researching and looking into growing and picking the right seeds.
The only thing missing is an experienced voice.

The long and short of it.
I just want to start super small, like one or two plants, and indoors. I don't want to mess it up by getting the wrong seeds or lights.

well if your in a legal state you should be able to get clones, what do you like to smoke? thats what i would grow...

Meimei said:

I just want to start super small, like one or two plants, and indoors. I don't want to mess it up by getting the wrong seeds or lights.

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If I were you I would start with autoflower seeds. They're not sensitive to light (meaning you don't need perfect darkness, or any darkness during flower). They are on a slightly faster timeline. Tend to be smaller, which means you won't have as much concern about choosing the right light (less concern about penetration). And, they switch to flower on their own. Plant it and feed it. 18 hours of light. 6 hours of lights out (but there can be ambient roomlight, etc.). Don't need a tent to start. Just set it on the kitchen table and position some lights around it.

Some complain autos aren't potent because it's crossed with ruderalis. But, the strain I grow is plenty strong. I have friends with high resistance who get baked.

I was growing photosensitives and got an auto freebie. Wasn't too thrilled about it, but I ended up falling in love with autos. I'm thinking about growing them exclusively after I run out of photo seeds.

That's would be true if it were legal in my province. Unfortunately I do not have that luxury
Autoflower seeds you say? Cool! Thanks for point in a direction! Appreciate it!

Go to a seed site, i like herbies myself, and do some research. I recommend going photo and an indica dominant. Height is the main thing in picking.

If ur like me you dont want to be ordering all the time. So get photo, set up a second grow cab, and then you can clone from your plants. i pull clones right before I go into flower. Finishing up in flower now is the fifth run. First was seed, next four were clones.

Auto's? I would avoid them for your first grow.
Grow a real photosensitive plant and learn more about growing then you ever would with a "fussy" to feed auto!

Dad's right. A nice, non fussy, easy to grow Indica or Indica dominate strain will go along way in your learning to grow and be less stressful the first grow.

GrowinDad said:

Go to a seed site, i like herbies myself, and do some research. I recommend going photo and an indica dominant. Height is the main thing in picking.

If ur like me you dont want to be ordering all the time. So get photo, set up a second grow cab, and then you can clone from your plants. i pull clones right before I go into flower. Finishing up in flower now is the fifth run. First was seed, next four were clones.

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Just checking out herbies and it's amazing!
What seeds have you had good luck with?

I agree autos are the way to go for your first time. I only grow autos and love em. The best I have come across is sweet tooth auto. Some people say they had problems but iI never have. Grown right they can produce up to 200g per plant, I only used CFLs on them and was getting around 2oz per plant. I love this strain so much I got a hps and tent kit. They are the strongest and least fussy auto I find. What are you thinking for a setup ?

furious248 said:

I agree autos are the way to go for your first time. I only grow autos and love em. The best I have come across is sweet tooth auto. Some people say they had problems but iI never have. Grown right they can produce up to 200g per plant, I only used CFLs on them and was getting around 2oz per plant. I love this strain so much I got a hps and tent kit. They are the strongest and least fussy auto I find. What are you thinking for a setup ?

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Good to hear another opinion about autos.
As for set up. Honestly, I've looked at tents, boxes and everything in between.
So far my idea was to germinate using the paper towel method, transfer to small pots using soil. This is going to sound dumb, but I have a terrarium I was going to use. It's a large-ish tank that I was going to set on its side (L-shaped)
. Have the plants on a tray on the bottom, and have the light up top. It will have a door and cover so that it'll be closed off when it needs to be.
God it sounds ridiculous! I hope that made sense.
I'm really trying to take it slow and absorb all the knowledge people are passing on.
I don't want to rush into it thinking it's a fucking lark lol!
I do think I will start with an autoflower just because of the easier seeming maintenance.
It's already kind of mind bottling because of Everything that it entails.

Another query I had. How can I grow and feed these little guys with minimum chemicals?
Granted they are needed, but what would you recommend by way of nutrients and flushing to make sure it stays gold?

Ps- seriously tell me if I'm a moron for the above mentioned idea!

That I dear isn't too great. You need to have drainage. Mj likes semi dru environments and lots of oxygen around the roots. If you are going auto then and don't want chemicals then get biobizz all mix (ignore reviews for seedlings) pot in final pots and use bio buzz bio bloom and bio bizz bio grow. Do not feet for 18 days and only use grow twice. I keep a 24/0 light cycle to boost my yeils up to 5 percent and I keep hidity very low to get a extra kick if you have anymore questions please just ask

furious248 said:

That I dear isn't too great. You need to have drainage. Mj likes semi dru environments and lots of oxygen around the roots. If you are going auto then and don't want chemicals then get biobizz all mix (ignore reviews for seedlings) pot in final pots and use bio buzz bio bloom and bio bizz bio grow. Do not feet for 18 days and only use grow twice. I keep a 24/0 light cycle to boost my yeils up to 5 percent and I keep hidity very low to get a extra kick if you have anymore questions please just

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That's what I needed to hear! That's really good sounding. And drainage was something I was wondering how I would do it.

What would you recommend then instead?

Meimei,

I have only been growing for just under two years. I hate science and botany, but am the chef sort if that makes sense. My grows would win no awards, but I have a stable, safe system and comfort that I will take a plant to harvest.

Your first grow will be a learning experience. Any harvest is a win. the more research you do the better. And like most things in life, planning and a little investment drastically improve the odds of success.

get your whole layout planned an in order before you start popping seeds. I recommend a tent of some sort. Mine is built primarily out of PVC and reflectix insulation from lowes.

The terrarium idea sounds loco to me though maybe I am not pondering correctly. You need ongoing ventilation. You will need odor control/exhaust.

As for seeds, I don't enough under my belt to say. I do not recommend the Barnies Pineapple Chunk. If you need to keep it small, from limited experience the cheese varieties are good. I had a g13 cheese (but came from attitude) that i wish I had cloned. I think there is a good deal of variation from crop to crop with the seed companies. And the vendors have little control over that. But I liked Herbies timing and stealth methods. Cool stuff for my kids in their stealth

GrowinDad said:

Meimei,

I have only been growing for just under two years. I hate science and botany, but am the chef sort if that makes sense. My grows would win no awards, but I have a stable, safe system and comfort that I will take a plant to harvest.

Your first grow will be a learning experience. Any harvest is a win. the more research you do the better. And like most things in life, planning and a little investment drastically improve the odds of success.

get your whole layout planned an in order before you start popping seeds. I recommend a tent of some sort. Mine is built primarily out of PVC and reflectix insulation from lowes.

The terrarium idea sounds loco to me though maybe I am not pondering correctly. You need ongoing ventilation. You will need odor control/exhaust.

As for seeds, I don't enough under my belt to say. I do not recommend the Barnies Pineapple Chunk. If you need to keep it small, from limited experience the cheese varieties are good. I had a g13 cheese (but came from attitude) that i wish I had cloned. I think there is a good deal of variation from crop to crop with the seed companies. And the vendors have little control over that. But I liked Herbies timing and stealth methods. Cool stuff for my kids in their stealth

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I don't think I'm explaining it right either, but I'm leaving that to side .
It's good to know that you've started up and it's worked!
How was your first grow?

An absolute joke. Went hermie and yielded about an eighth. But it got me reading hereand of the second hadn't been clones off a herm, it would have been stellar.

My first grow was bs lighting, bs nutes, and no research on really growing weed. Started out trying to figure out how to grow basil really. It is doing great now too!

But it becomes a hobby like obsession. next thing you know, you want to have impressive grows, you need a second veg area for cloning, etc. And you will never yearn for weed again. You will have more than you need. You will start playing around with it. All good!

az2000 said:

If I were you I would start with autoflower seeds. They're not sensitive to light (meaning you don't need perfect darkness, or any darkness during flower). They are on a slightly faster timeline. Tend to be smaller, which means you won't have as much concern about choosing the right light (less concern about penetration). And, they switch to flower on their own. Plant it and feed it. 18 hours of light. 6 hours of lights out (but there can be ambient roomlight, etc.). Don't need a tent to start. Just set it on the kitchen table and position some lights around it.

Some complain autos aren't potent because it's crossed with ruderalis. But, the strain I grow is plenty strong. I have friends with high resistance who get baked.

I was growing photosensitives and got an auto freebie. Wasn't too thrilled about it, but I ended up falling in love with autos. I'm thinking about growing them exclusively after I run out of photo seeds.

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did not know that autos are not light sensitive. nutty

dabhe4d said:

did not know that autos are not light sensitive. nutty

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That's why they're called autos. They should begin flowering on their own at 4-5 weeks after breaking ground. You switch to higher PK nutes around week 6. At week 10-11 you go water only for 10-20 days. Harvest at week 12-13.

I've pulled 180g (6.5 oz) from an auto. The last one I harvested was 105g grown under 85w of light. Not huge harvests, but they're smaller plants. Still comes out over 1g per watt which is pretty good.

Maybe the one downside to growing an auto as a newbie is that autos are on a fixed lifespan. If you screw up in common newbie ways (ph, over-water, feed too much/too little, insufficient light) there is no time to recover. With a photo, you can hold a plant in veg forever.

az2000 said:

That's why they're called autos. They should begin flowering on their own at 4-5 weeks after breaking ground. You switch to flower higher PK nutes around week 6. At week 10-11 you go water only for 10-20 days. Harvest at week 12-13.

I've pulled 180g (6.5 oz) from an auto. The last one I harvested was 105g grown under 85w of light. Not huge harvests, but they're smaller plants. Still comes out over 1g per watt which is pretty good.

Maybe the one downside to growing an auto as a newbie is that autos are on a fixed lifespan. If you screw up in common newbie ways (ph, over-water, feed too much/too little, insufficient light) there is no time to recover. With a photo, you can hold a plant in veg forever.

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So, (please forgive my ignorance) was that just one plant? Or several under one light?
And the amount seems like that would be an ideal amount just for personal.

Meimei said:

So, (please forgive my ignorance) was that just one plant? Or several under one light?
And the amount seems like that would be an ideal amount just for personal.

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That was one plant occupying half a 2x4x4' tall space.

180g under T5HO (6 4-foot 54w tubes). Because the flowering plant occupied half, that was 162w of light. I added a couple CFLs in mid flower. So, let's say 200w in a 4 sq. ft. area. That was 50w/sq. ft.

105g under a 130w (85w actual) UFO. 21w/sq. ft. My lighting was too low, and I was also fighting an acidic soil condition. But, still did well as a g/watt measurement. LEDs are more efficient, but the UFO isn't the highest efficiency. So, I probably needed 30-35w sq ft at that 4' height. A more efficient (more expensive) LED would be equivalent at 20-25w sq. ft.

That's probably too much info. Just wanted to say that the size of the plants are much the same. It's the quantity (quality) of light that controlled the quantity. Either way it was above 1g/watt.

Another cool thing about autos is that you can run a perpetual harvest. Let's say you had 4 plants in an unused bathroom. The way they share the light, you can harvest one every 3 weeks, replacing it with a new seedling. 80-200g every 3 weeks depending on light.

People do that with photosensitive strains by starting their veg at 12/12 lighting. But, you have to have that absolute darkness which can require more setup than a new grower wants. (I'm not sure it works as well. I haven't tried it.).

One downside to the perpetual harvest I mentioned is that you're running 18/6 all the time. A third more electrical costs, wear and tear on lights.

But, I like autos. In some way they're fun. I guess it's the ability to look in on them whenever. Also unlike the feast/famine (boring/overwhelmed) nature of growing photos, my perpetual 2 autos are a little more steady work and supply.

Another benefit is that I can try new things and learn in less time. Going back to the 4 plants in the bathroom, you can recognize a salt-buildup condition and start a corrected regimen on the next plant that's 3 weeks younger. I've been able to fine-tune my technique (knowledge, skill, etc.) much faster than if I waited 4.5 months for another round of photos to refill the tent.

az2000 said:

That was one plant occupying half a 2x4x4' tall space.

180g under T5HO (6 4-foot 54w tubes). Because the flowering plant occupied half, that was 162w of light. I added a couple CFLs in mid flower. So, let's say 200w in a 4 sq. ft. area. That was 50w/sq. ft.

105g under a 130w (85w actual) UFO. 21w/sq. ft. My lighting was too low, and I was also fighting an acidic soil condition. But, still did well as a g/watt measurement. LEDs are more efficient, but the UFO isn't the highest efficiency. So, I probably needed 30-35w sq ft at that 4' height. A more efficient (more expensive) LED would be equivalent at 20-25w sq. ft.

That's probably too much info. Just wanted to say that the size of the plants are much the same. It's the quantity (quality) of light that controlled the quantity. Either way it was above 1g/watt.

Another cool thing about autos is that you can run a perpetual harvest. Let's say you had 4 plants in an unused bathroom. The way they share the light, you can harvest one every 3 weeks, replacing it with a new seedling. 80-200g every 3 weeks depending on light.

People do that with photosensitive strains by starting their veg at 12/12 lighting. But, you have to have that absolute darkness which can require more setup than a new grower wants. (I'm not sure it works as well. I haven't tried it.).

One downside to the perpetual harvest I mentioned is that you're running 18/6 all the time. A third more electrical costs, wear and tear on lights.

But, I like autos. In some way they're fun. I guess it's the ability to look in on them whenever. Also unlike the feast/famine (boring/overwhelmed) nature of growing photos, my perpetual 2 autos are a little more steady work and supply.

Another benefit is that I can try new things and learn in less time. Going back to the 4 plants in the bathroom, you can recognize a salt-buildup condition and start a corrected regimen on the next plant that's 3 weeks younger. I've been able to fine-tune my technique (knowledge, skill, etc.) much faster than if I waited 4.5 months for another round of photos to refill the tent.

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. Wow. That was a lot of info however! What you're describing with your bathroom idea is actually what I had in mind.
And I thought auto would probably be a safer bet just because of time, height, management etc.
I'm probably going to need a dictionary and a guide for what you described but hey! That's fucking great to hear tho!
Seriously this has been good to read. I feel a lot better about wanting to grow and getting started.

OK Meimei. I'll still say that growing out a photosensitive plant on your first grow, might be the best for over all learning to grow. If you would care to learn more about that method. I would suggest this book by Ed Rosenthal. Available directly from this link.

http://www.amazon.com/Marijuana-Growers-Handbook-Complete-Cultivation/dp/0932551467

This one is not bad and has a lot of set up advice with designs.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/187882323X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0932551467&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1SB70WYCCW0G39AT3S1M

Now then. You have found some great advice from az2000 on Auto's with a why and how. I had feeding problems (fussy) with the one I tried. Yes it was an early auto strain and I hear good things about the new ones as far as the problem I encountered goes.
So with that said and after reading the whole thread,,,,,maybe what az says to try might be your ticket to happiness.

I would ask this of az2000. "az, would it be to much trouble to ask you exactly what you feed the auto's and how often?"

If the answer is a private thing, maybe you could PM the answer to her directly......?

I like your perpetual harvest suggestion and have become a bit interested in maybe trying out a couple of these newer auto strains myself again, just to learn more about them it's not like I don't have the room to. So why not.

I see that a company called Dutch Pro has a line of synthetics formulated just for auto's and that's got my attention too. I hear through the grape vine that other fert makers will be following suit with their own auto specific lines soon too. That should be a boon to auto growers of all abilities.

Good advice az !