So, I've been reading around on these forums for the past 2 months as I took a dip into growing this magical little plant. I am about as new as you could possibly be at growing, especially considering I've never grown before, and if not for these forums, this would have failed a long time ago. For example, I honestly thought dirt from outside would suffice as soil, and I was growing out of containers that had no way of draining water. Needless to say, my first batch quickly passed.
With that being said, once I did look around on these forums and actually got myself properly setup with good soil, lights, and pots, I took what seeds I had left and planted them in! With everything in place, they did grow, and I thought I was on track to get myself some cheap bud! However, they are male plants, and as such it is pretty much pointless. Except for hash, of course. Even though I have no clue how to make it.
But, I still figured I put up some pictures and my experiences, because male or not I still have thus far successfully grown two plants, and would like to share my experiences to other newbie growers like myself who could use my mistakes for their success.
To start, I had about 6 seeds from a bag I bought about a month and a half ago. Weed was great, but it was seedy as fuck. At first it was kind of annoying to have bought a bag with all these seeds (seriously about two dozen seeds almost in an 8th), but it still got my lit and I figured why not toss 'em in some soil and see if they grow. Little did I know that I would really get into it, and for more reasons than just smoking it. Growing it was surprisingly enjoyable and rewarding, even if not financially through actual bud.
Like I said, I started with some shitty soil from outside, and let them crack first. Once the taproot was showing, I tossed 'em in. At first they grew, but it didn't take long for me to realize I was doing it wrong. I had them on my window seal whenever I could for the sunlight, and watered them once. After pretty much dying once they sprouted, I decided that I would put a little more effort into the next seeds. So, I read up a bunch on here and went to my local hardware store. I got myself two ballasts and two packs of three CFL's. One pack was 3500k for vegetation, the other was 2700k for flowering. I soiled up the pots I got and dropped the cracked seeds in and watered.
It didn't take long before I had them sprouting:
Everything was looking good, but then I started reading up on different nutrients and how it's good for plants because lack of proper nutrients won't let them grow. So, I went back to the hardware store and grabbed some Miracle Grow nutrients. It was organic, and was a Nitrogen nutrient derived from sugar beet molasses. Seemed solid.
After "feeding" them a bit of nutrients daily, and keeping them watered, I ran into a new problem. The plants seemed to be stuck where they were, and I wasn't happy about that. After some reading, I decided I wasn't doing something right. If you look at this picture and can guess what it was, kudos to you!
Basically, I was overfeeding them unnecessary amounts of nutrients, and if you look at the picture you can see my lights are WAY too far. So, I flushed the plants, sort of half re-soiled, and moved the lights almost to within touching distance. Finally, I made a very specific schedule for my lights in which I woke up at 5 AM, turned the lights off, and then turned them back on around 10 AM when I got up for work. This obviously just being my vegetation schedule. A couple of weeks with that, and they literally blew up. It was awesome to see my precious children growing up!
Eventually, the plants got a good size, even without topping them (I learned this later), and I decided my pots were much too large to keep in vegetation. So, I switched to a 12 on/12 off schedule for flowering.
As expected, the plants got much larger. I constantly had to readjust lights because of the plant growing into them. At this point, I also realized I simply did not have enough lighting. Even with a total of 3 lights, it was too little. So, I bought two more ballasts and a few more bulbs and threw 'em in there. About a half a week later, I really started to notice what I didn't want to, and that was that the plants were most definitely male. And that brings us to today!
Although I am very bummed they didn't turn out females, I am trying to make a positive out of it by sharing my first grow story, and finding out how to make hash out of them! I hope any new growers like myself got SOMETHING out of this, even if just a little weedporn fix.
With that being said, I appreciate ANY feedback and wouldn't mind answering questions myself as best I can. Also, if any experienced growers here in the states that do so in an area where it is not exactly legal wouldn't mind PM'ing me and giving me a hand on a couple of questions, I would GREATLY appreciate it.
Good luck!
With that being said, once I did look around on these forums and actually got myself properly setup with good soil, lights, and pots, I took what seeds I had left and planted them in! With everything in place, they did grow, and I thought I was on track to get myself some cheap bud! However, they are male plants, and as such it is pretty much pointless. Except for hash, of course. Even though I have no clue how to make it.
But, I still figured I put up some pictures and my experiences, because male or not I still have thus far successfully grown two plants, and would like to share my experiences to other newbie growers like myself who could use my mistakes for their success.
To start, I had about 6 seeds from a bag I bought about a month and a half ago. Weed was great, but it was seedy as fuck. At first it was kind of annoying to have bought a bag with all these seeds (seriously about two dozen seeds almost in an 8th), but it still got my lit and I figured why not toss 'em in some soil and see if they grow. Little did I know that I would really get into it, and for more reasons than just smoking it. Growing it was surprisingly enjoyable and rewarding, even if not financially through actual bud.
Like I said, I started with some shitty soil from outside, and let them crack first. Once the taproot was showing, I tossed 'em in. At first they grew, but it didn't take long for me to realize I was doing it wrong. I had them on my window seal whenever I could for the sunlight, and watered them once. After pretty much dying once they sprouted, I decided that I would put a little more effort into the next seeds. So, I read up a bunch on here and went to my local hardware store. I got myself two ballasts and two packs of three CFL's. One pack was 3500k for vegetation, the other was 2700k for flowering. I soiled up the pots I got and dropped the cracked seeds in and watered.
It didn't take long before I had them sprouting:
Everything was looking good, but then I started reading up on different nutrients and how it's good for plants because lack of proper nutrients won't let them grow. So, I went back to the hardware store and grabbed some Miracle Grow nutrients. It was organic, and was a Nitrogen nutrient derived from sugar beet molasses. Seemed solid.
After "feeding" them a bit of nutrients daily, and keeping them watered, I ran into a new problem. The plants seemed to be stuck where they were, and I wasn't happy about that. After some reading, I decided I wasn't doing something right. If you look at this picture and can guess what it was, kudos to you!
Basically, I was overfeeding them unnecessary amounts of nutrients, and if you look at the picture you can see my lights are WAY too far. So, I flushed the plants, sort of half re-soiled, and moved the lights almost to within touching distance. Finally, I made a very specific schedule for my lights in which I woke up at 5 AM, turned the lights off, and then turned them back on around 10 AM when I got up for work. This obviously just being my vegetation schedule. A couple of weeks with that, and they literally blew up. It was awesome to see my precious children growing up!
Eventually, the plants got a good size, even without topping them (I learned this later), and I decided my pots were much too large to keep in vegetation. So, I switched to a 12 on/12 off schedule for flowering.
As expected, the plants got much larger. I constantly had to readjust lights because of the plant growing into them. At this point, I also realized I simply did not have enough lighting. Even with a total of 3 lights, it was too little. So, I bought two more ballasts and a few more bulbs and threw 'em in there. About a half a week later, I really started to notice what I didn't want to, and that was that the plants were most definitely male. And that brings us to today!
Although I am very bummed they didn't turn out females, I am trying to make a positive out of it by sharing my first grow story, and finding out how to make hash out of them! I hope any new growers like myself got SOMETHING out of this, even if just a little weedporn fix.
With that being said, I appreciate ANY feedback and wouldn't mind answering questions myself as best I can. Also, if any experienced growers here in the states that do so in an area where it is not exactly legal wouldn't mind PM'ing me and giving me a hand on a couple of questions, I would GREATLY appreciate it.
Good luck!
