Hey this is my first post on the forum I was just wondering if u guys think my grow plan will work. My plan is I'm gonna germinate the seeds using the paper towel method then transplant them to organic moisture retaining soil with perlite for the first couple weeks then use the organic fertilizer from miracle gro and some worm castings transplant them to 7 gallon smart pots and give them the fox farms trio nutrients every other watering this is gonna be an outdoor grow so I was wondering if my plan would work also how can I keep pests away and if anyone has had experience with miracle gro organic fertilizer any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Plants need nitrogen during the beginning. Miracle gro has that, but it doesn't have nutes for flowering. I don't use the paper towel method. Skip a step. Soak the seed or seeds in water for 24 hours. Switch from water to soil. Easy. I tried miracle gro at first. IT's not right for cannabis. Peace.
MG is hot...meaning it is loaded with slow release fertilizers. That just means you don't need to add nutrients. You also don't need MG in the fact that it has ingredients that retain water. MJ plants need a soil that is light and arid with excellent drainage. The plant doesn't like water constantly around it's roots. You can use MG, but I would find some good rich normal soil to cut it with and add about 40% perlite to my soil. You can plant your seed in a Solo cup...you don't have to do all that soaking and germinating and crap. Give the seed a little warm, a little moisture and some soil to grow in and it will come up. Leave it ALONE until it does come up and has a chance to create a root system. You need to temper it to the sun by exposing it slowly, but the sooner you get it growing in the sun, the faster your plant will grow. Leave it in the cup only watering when the cup is almost dead dry, until the plant itself is larger than the cup it's in (wider and taller). At this point, take it into a 1 gallon pot and do the same thing...cut the MG with some good rich normal dirt and add 40% perlite and repeat with only water. Every time you put a plant into a new container, it gets fresh soil and fresh feed. Nutes are plant food. Any container plant growing in soil will eventually use up the nutrients in the soil and need to be fed. But not until they need it. You can do the cup, the 1 gallon and then we usually go to a #3 size pot...but each time you go up, you've got to let them reroot and get back to growing before you start doing stuff. Your aim should be a 5 gallon bucket to finish the plant in. The summer solstice is around June 21, 22...not sure which, and the daylight hours will decrease from there. It takes an outdoor plant a while before the hours decrease enough to throw it into bud, but until that point, you are growing that plant out for size and bud sites. Once you see buds, know the plant is going to put less effort into growing and more into making nice buds. Watch for bugs, pests, anything that will get your plant and be ready to treat what comes your way...because something most likely will. Read up on outdoor growing. That's how you figure things out. If you've never grown, you have no basis to make a plan. You've got to learn the plant first, then figure out your best way to grow it.
The plants have sprouted in the organic soil there true leaves are coming through and starting to grow quite nicely the stems are growing pretty tall they seem healthy