Ok, I live in Portugal, where it is incredibly sunny and warm for over half the year (can get up to 35 degrees c in summer). I live in a detached house with a large, private garden. I have got some seeds and I was thinking of sprouting them then putting them in the garden, but...we have an irrigation system which comes on every single night, would this kill the plants? (Too much water) Alternativly, would it be ok to just grow in pots on my balcony? Is there anything I need apart from soil, seeds, pots and water? Thanks
Yes you could very well just put your plants in some pots on your balcony and they would grow. If you want to get the most out of your grow your gona want to get a good premixed-soil or mix a good soil of your own(Don't I repeat DON'T get Miracle grow soil, alot of their soils have time released ferts that can kill your plants). As far as the irrigation system goes, idk. Its a little to hard to judge that over the internet. It all depends on how much water it sprays out, how the drainage is in the soil, how big your plant is when you put it there.
i'd probably start the plants in pots 'till they're about a foot high or so. and then planting them in the garden to give em virtually infinite root space. i would assume that a foot tall + plant won't suffer from a dily irrigation system, especially since summer in portugal is rather dry, no? as long as the irrigation comes on at sundown or later (no water drops acting like magnifying glass and burnin your plants this way) you should be good. also, if you have enough space, you could try to grow a few plants in the garden and a few in pots on the balcony and compare the 2 batches. this way you'll know for sure whether or not you can grow plants with that irrigation system on. (withouth risking losing all your crop) happy growin! -zog
First off don't use ferts when your plants are real young or you might give them nute burn. Also if your soil allready has ferts in it you most likely wont need to furt untill your flowering stage. For ferts to use in the veg stage try finding one that has a higher Nitrogen % as this is what they need most at this stage. For exmaple I use a 20-10-10. In flowering you want a higher Phosphor and Potassium % and lower Nitro. If you can find one thats 10-40-20 go with that, I use a 10-60-10 fert myself(Tryed somthing new didn't like it). Rememeber when ever your mixing your ferts with water to dilute the ferts recomended dosage by at least half for the first time. Watch and see how your plants react to it. If they like it up the ferts, if not cut back. Hope this helps.
for ferts, if your planting in the garden, i usually don't like to add any chemical ones. just mix up the soil already there with a few dozen liters of good organic store bought soil, some cow dung, blood meal, bone meal, oyster powder, guano, ... and just add a little organic compost and wood ashes as the grow goes along (now if anyone wants to correct me, please do)