Anyways, I've been reading up a lot on growing for a couple of months now, lurked the forums etc. and decided to do it next year. I apologise if this kind of question is being asked way too frequently, I just don't want to get my hopes up too much. So, I've decided to grow outdoors as that is the only available option for myself, using an organic soil mix (super soil or something like that, but all in due time), and I plan on getting top shelf seeds. I am located at approx. 45 degrees north of the equator, but not sure how much exactly that affects quality. I'll also start my babies indoors and transplant them later on. Now, I've never smoked anything better than high mids, mostly because of lack of education and that's just what people around here smoke. Now, let's just assume I do everything that's essential right on my part, what kind of quality should I expect (after all the proper drying/curing is done)? Compared to those mids I've been smoking. Also, I'd be very grateful for tips on what should I do after germination and how long should it be kept inside before transplanting it to it's final growing medium.
Yes, the ganja you grow should be better than the ganja you have been buying. Was there another question in there?
Well thank you, I'm just looking for all the extra motivation I can get. "Also, I'd be very grateful for tips on what should I do after germination and how long should it be kept inside before transplanting it to it's final growing medium." After germinating, I plan on growing the seedlings inside under a blue cfl light for a couple of weeks, with a generous amount of ventilation. Any tips related to that period are welcome, that's pretty much the only thing I'm a bit confused about currently, maybe I'm overthinking it.
Just relax and remember this is supposed to alleviate stress, not cause it. Your gear will dictate your outcome. I you dont use the right lights and environment, you wont have great results. You can't expect 4 oz off a plant grown under a CFL (not saying you are just making a point). That being said, once they grow tails, put them in soil/peat puck/rockwool. Don't worry about transplanting yet. Walk before you run. It will be obvious to you when it needs to happen. They will just drink silly fast and stop growing if they get bound.
You probably know how it is, I'm just excited about the whole thing and I want everything to be as close to perfect as possible, even if I still have a couple of months time to get started. And they'll be inside only for a short period of time, so I thought the CFL's would be enough for that early stage, but fuck it they're gonna grow in the sun eventually so might as well use HID lights with caution (metal halide ones).
CFLs are fine man, as long as you use ones big enough or enough of tthem Keep the plants indoors until the average temps stay above 15 degrees. Below that growth pretty much halts. Starting too early can leave you with 2m monsters by the time autumn comes around mind so you might want to hold of until a bit later in the year. Is there any reason you don't want to grow indoors? There is quite a wait before you would get to harvest outdoors. Not far off a year in fact
45 north is Portland-ish latitudes....need to know WHERE along that line (not specifically, just "high desert", "rocky mountains", "midwest", or whatever), so climate/weather conditions are known. Over here on the wet side of the Cascades, worldwide reputation outdoor weed out of WA, goes outside early to mid March, cropped in mid to late October, you get anywhere from 550-900 grams per sq meter of plant footprint, from what I've personally seen, and have been told is "normal", for full sized full season plants. Depending on strain, conditions, talent of grower, etcetera. I'm at about 48 north Don't expect that for a first grow...it's just what the long-term medicinal growers manage. As for quality....ehhhh...I'd argue "you'll get better quality". You MIGHT get equal quality, on a first grow. The stuff coming from dispensaries out here is stellar, as a rule, and the new commercial producers mostly have a decade or more of medical growing under their belt, and are working from the same strains/sources medical co-ops do. (I'm assuming you're southern WA/Northern border of OR, since CO is further south for the most part. Never seen anything that's been run through one of the analytic labs (required for medical) below 17.4%, and have seen above 25% in several strains...up to 27.7% (and I know, folks who haven't been here are coughing and calling "bullshit"...next time I go to the dispensary, I'll take a few pics of lab reports). So run a bit north, get your seed/clones... You'll DEFINITELY get better than the crap that used to hit the streets, as even when that was "I get it from a medical grower", it tended to be the crap their dispensary wouldn't take. Was still good compared to street in most places, but "crap" for here. For that matter, crap for NoCal street, when I lived up there. As for "how location will impact growth"....well, they can grow decent weed anywhere from the equator to Alaska....but outside the tropics, you have relatively short daylight hours at the beginning and end of season, but a true 18/6 naturally at the height of summer (heaviest vegging period, if you plan to go full season) at 45 degrees. While in the tropics, it's a steady 12/12 all the time, or close enough...it balances, really. Lots of variables based on WHERE along the 45 degree latitude line you are, but they should do just fine, so long as you treat them right.
Yeah that's the thing, I don't mind the plants being as big as I can get them, that's primarily why I chose to grow outdoors, guerilla style. I would be too paranoid growing it in my home as I often have friends and family over, I don't want to detach myself from anybody just so I could be at peace. And I don't really mind the wait, as long as there's a hefty reward come autumn Ehh, I'm European I should've mentioned that I guess, so where I'm located resembles the American midwest the most I would presume. We get loads of rain during April/May with temperatures exceeding 20 degrees celsius (around 70 F), a relatively dry summer, and I'm not sure about this but the first frost doesn't come till November. And the stuff on the streets here varies a lot, I think most of it are good genetics treated poorly, you can tell it's quickly dried and compressed.
Expect possible deficiencies, nute burn, overwater or under. Dont want to bum you out but that way yuo can buy supplies to prevent some of these. When I started 6 weeks ago I didnt think of these issues and I wish I would of.
Midwesterner weather, all you really have to be concerned with on an outdoor is midsummer heat can get high enough to cause trouble, over an extended period. Won't kill them, if cared for properly, but not prime grow conditions...which means that despite the sun and hand watering, they may be a bit stunted. MAY be.
Oh I definitely thought about it, I'm a type of person to put countless hours into research when something intrigues me (I sucked majorly at school because of it). I have a pretty good grasp on these kind of issues, it's the experience I lack. Well that shouldn't be too big of a deal, right? Anyways thanks for the insight, once I get started I'll definitely put up a grow journal here, just in case I screw something up.
Wouldn't think so...we don't get really good weed out of our midwest, but that's the Bible Belt, and half those states still aren't legal, or JUST became legal, even for medical. So they haven't had real pro growers exchanging seeds and strains of top notch quality and able to use the best breeding practices to really get the "kill your ass" stuff. And transporting across state lines is still high-risk, so that's going to change relatively slowly. But we DO pull some kick-ass growers from the WA/OR border high desert (same latitude), where it takes a lot of additional watering, and temps will get into the 90's to 100's for a couple weeks at a time...but they drop relatively low overnight, which saves the plants a lot of stress. It's really *extended* periods in untenable conditions that harm plants, not occasionally going "outside ideal tolerances".