I have been looking at this, and the beginners grow forum for a couple weeks now, and can't help but notice that nearly everyone is using special watering systems, or fancy timed lights or both. I am wondering if anyone here has ever done a casual grow; by this I mean growing a plant in a regular pot near a sunny window with minimal special care. I have recently been working on an indoor herb garden, growing various herbs like basil, cilantro, anise and catnip. I remembered that I have some bag seeds I've been saving and was thinking of picking up another pot to get a mj plant going. However, due to space and roommate circumstances, I just want to grow a small plant in my room, with minimal special treatment. I have bought a ~0.8 Gallon terracota planter (about 6x6x6"), along with some organic potting mix and organic fertilizer. I plan on leaving the pot near a medium sunlight window indefinitely, watering and fertilizing as needed (still need to do more research on these). I don't want the plant getting any bigger than 2ft tall for discretionary purposes. Does this sound like a feasible grow setup? I mean, it is still a plant, therefore the normal planting techniques should still yield some sort of results, no?
I'm sure people have, but it's not a great idea. Marijuana is high maintenance, to say the least. The way you're thinking of doing it MIGHT get you some weed, but it probably won't be very good. The more energy you put into your plant, the more it'll yield. Using sunlight in the winter, assuming your in CONUS, won't work very well, there isn't very much of it. Simply getting a 5 pack of CFLs would do you better, and only cost 10 bucks or something.
if you did it now all youd get is a stretched out plant with a couple elaves. it wont bud. wait until the spring, or do a dedicated indoor growing area. also, MJ really isnt high maintenance. like with anything, the more time and money you spend on it, the better your outcome, but it will grow with dirt, some water, and some light.
You are confused. MJ does not require "special watering systems", and lights on a timer are not "fancy." There also is no such thing as "normal planting techniques." Basically, it seems you are taking one frame of reference (other plants) and trying to apply it to a different plant that has its own particular needs. As an analogy, it's as though you are looking at a cow and a dog and saying, "well they are both mammals and the cow eats hay, so that means I can just feed the dog hay as well, right?" No. MJ is a sun-loving plant and wants full exposure all day long. A flat window cuts down the angle that the sun can shine in, limiting the number of hours of sunlight, and also household window glass typically is treated to block certain rays that can fade carpet and upholstery but that MJ needs. I grow in plastic kitty litter buckets and water with a plain watering can, and you know what? My plants don't know the difference. These are just the tools I use, all that matters is delivering the right conditions and meeting the plants' needs. That can be done just fine with a "casual" approach. You mentioned the need to do more research -- absolutely. Learn what the plant needs and then you will see that it really isn't that complicated, but it does need to be right. I disagree. As I am stating above, MJ has its needs, meeting those isn't necessarily high maintenance but meet them you must.
lol its not very high maintenance whatsoever... i grew some real bomb looking (its drying now so i cant attest to its potency) shit with like 50 bucks worth of shit in my closet hahahahah All the work it took was watering/feeding it and trimming it when it was done.... its harder to learn how to tie your shoes as a kid man
Basically, what you are telling me is growing a MJ plant indoors without some kind of extra "environmental control" isn't feasible... I know lights on a timer aren't "fancy", but it does seem to be a necessity for MJ that is not necessary for my other plants. And more-so what I meant by the "fancy" comment was the different lighting cycles for vegetative vs. flowering and what have you. I was thinking you'd be able to just use natural indoor light, but your comments about window glass and angle interfering with that light source makes sense. I guess I was just hoping to hear that a simple execution such as what I'd envisioned would be somewhat fruitful. Wasn't looking to harvest ounces of the world's greatest weed, just thought it might produce a semi-viable plant. I suppose I will have to wait til I have the space and time available to look into micro-growing (just noticed that sub-forum today). I wouldn't mind having to have a controlled environment for some MJ plants if it were in a compact space such as those PC growbox setups. Unfortunately my 10x10 bedroom with no closet doesn't really afford me the space for even that. Thanks for the informative comments though. EDIT: Perhaps I will still plant one or two as I'd planned. Couldn't hurt to learn-by-trying, using some techniques that I've been reading. It is after all, bag seed, and several of them are quite light; they may not sprout anyway. I just don't know where I'll get seeds for real growing later. Haha. I haven't had seeds in my bags for a loooong time.
Dude i grew a sweet ass plant with, 6 CFL bulbs... a small oscillating fan..... a 2 gallon pot, some FFOF soil FF big bloom and tiger bloom and molasses, and a cheap little thermometer.... hoping pics will work lol its fuckin EASY man
MJ is an annual plant so it responds to the photoperiod to know when to focus on growing and when it's time to focus on flowering, that's why you have to control the lights and have separate veg and flower light cycles. It's really not suited to be an indoor plant, compared to houseplants that originated in rainforests or small herbs and spices, but we bring it indoors for stealth purposes and to grow year-round. I'm not a big fan of micro-grows, usually you take on all the risk and it takes just as long but end up with too little payoff to be worth it -- if you can get something a little larger, even a 1x2x4h will be enough space to grow two decent plants that can yield a few ounces each.
do it man, its not high maintenance at all. 3/4 of the stuff is gimmiky anyways, buy a $10 2 bulb florescent from lows and learn on your own. and yes miracle grow works beautifully
You get out of your grow what you put in. So yes you can use MG and skimp on your lights and still get results, but it can always be better. I don't know about you but I'd rather get the absolute best results possible for my risk. If doing that means trying a few "gimmicks" I'm ok with that.
do not get me wrong i was just trying to encourage him by saying if he treats it like his herbs it will grow and if he wants better results he can modify his setup. i had an outdoor grow that i didn't put anything into and i put the whole harvest in a job 1.5 lol. But in my opinion and everyone's is different, starting off cheap and basic is the easiest way, you learn what does this and what does that, and what YOU need as an individual to make it happen
My goal is to eventually live somewhere I don't feel as restricted growing. I want to be able to have experimental gardens, different techniques, such as hydro and aero, with different light sources, etc. Then also be able to have a few outdoor and/or greenhouse gals too. I have a 5 bulb CFL fixture that I want to use on one of my girls from the tent. That could be my casual setup.
I have been looking more and more at the micro grows, and it seems like people were getting a few ounces off each harvest (if they had pretty good results). That would be more than enough for me. I don't smoke an ounce in a month, probably not even in two months-- though maybe that would change when the hassle of finding weed is removed. haha. Though I still haven't read enough to know how frequently they harvest that much. Due to my tiny room, a micro grow is really about all I can handle, unless I ditch my nightstand and replace it with a cabinet for growing (would be able to get a 1x3x3 cabinet for growing in that scenario). I may still do the straight up throwing the seed in a pot on the floor and let it grow just for pure experimentation as you've suggested, but I am more so leaning towards setting up some kind of micro grow, I don't mind getting a CFL or two and setting up a timer. With more reading I realized running a couple low watt CFLs isn't really an expensive feat. haha. Der.
There's non hard and fast definition of "micro" grow, but to me 1x3x3 is bigger than micro. Go for it.
Haha. The 1x3x3 would be the best case alternative to a micro setup. I can either keep my nightstand and add a pc micro grow, or ditch the nightstand for the 1x3x3 cabinet. Imma go to some thrift stores this weekend to see what I can find. Hopefully something that can be both my nightstand and grow box.
For sure. I'm really pulling for finding a perfect cabinet. This room is like a Rubix cube to furnish. :/